Ball!

Niko's official best word is BALL! He uses it continually . . .

When I picked him up at daycare yesterday he greeted me with a ball in each hand and ran up to me saying "ball, ball, ball, ball, ball . . ."

Then last night, after playing with balls for a couple hours, he insisted upon taking a tennis ball to sleep with him. When I went to go get him this morning, he sat up in his crib, threw the tennis ball at me (and hit me in the shoulder with it) and said . . . (wait for it) . . . BALL!

He fussed when I dropped him at daycare this morning, so I suggested that he go find a ball to play with. All of the sudden there were 3 little kids at my feet all saying "ball, ball, ball" like little lemmings. Except for Niko. He just pulled on my legs and cried, but I imagine as soon as I left he took off to find a ball :)

Big Cedar Weekend

We returned from a long weekend at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri on Monday evening and we had a GREAT time. We were long overdue for a vacation, and we got to spend the weekend with both sets of grandparents, Uncle John, and Uncle Jack & Aunt Margaret. Niko went boating and HATED the lifejacket, but otherwise had a good time, even taking a break for a little on-board napping. We also enjoyed the good life floating in tubes on the lazy river and taking a wildlife tram tour at Dogwood Canyon, where we hung out with some buffalo and fed the trout. Niko was great at tossing the trout food in the water, and only tasted one piece before he decided to keep throwing it in the pond. We had some over-the-top delicious steaks and other great food, and lucked out with an un-seasonally cool August weekend.

We promise to get some photos and video up soon - it was a weekend to remember :)

What I did Today!

Drag Racing Nikolai (Men will be Boys)

Boys will be Boys

Hi Grandma!

Hi Grandma!

Bad Mommy!

Yes, I've been a very bad mommy. With the exception of a few cell phone photos, I've failed almost entirely to document the past few months of life with Niko! My numerous excuses include four business trips in June and July, with one more coming up next week. Also, Colin and I have put our house on the market, so we've been trying to keep the house clean(ish), which is not my strong suit! But, I promise to do better with the blogging.

On with business . . . Niko is 15 months now and absolutely a wild man. He sprints rather than walks, and climbs rather than sits. He is still the smallest kid in his class, but on occasion he eats more than Colin or I at a meal, so I imagine we're on the verge of a growth spurt.

He can say 'more milk' in sign language, wave, and say the occasional word. His most understandable words include "George" (as in Curious George), "drop" (as in, "I just dropped my food/milk/toy") and da (dad). We're pretty sure he also says "mine, mine, mine." He also can brush his own hair and teeth and pull his shirt over his head.

A special thanks goes out to Daddy, Grandma & Grandpa Donegan for covering for me the past two months and making sure that Niko had a good summer and didn't become the smelly kid in his class due to lack of a Mommy.

I'll chase down some photos and post them soon, I promise!