dump trump

Niko Loves the dump truck that Grandma and Grandpa Humphrey got him!

Christmas at the Humprey's

Aunt Christy and Uncle Steve got Niko a Mr. and Mrs Potatoe Head.  He played with this for a good ten minutes at the table, that is some serious play time.
Dad was deeply involved with a Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity when he wasn't chasing Niko.
Mom and Kat model their gifts.

Christmas at the Donegans

Merry Christmas from the Donegan's and Humphrey's!
"For Me?" Niko couldn't believe that he was allowed to play with the fire truck that Santa left him.  He just stared in shocked amazement for about 2 full minutes before he even tried to get in it.  I think he's still surprised to see it when he gets up in the morning.
"Hows about a Nutcracker Ale?  Right Now."   Maureen got kegerator full of Boulevard's best, I got to test for quality. 

Santa Claus!

Santa Claus visited the Donegan Household, Niko wasn't too sure about the big guy but was happy with the fire engine that santa gave him

Curtain Monster

Much To Be Thankful For...

The happy family at Santa's playland at Crown Center after a successful day shopping...

We had a terrific Thanksgiving weekend this year. From perfect turkey to an epic Kansas win over Missouri at Arrowhead, it couldn't have been better! Except for some tummy trouble on Wednesday night that resulted in a very tired Thanksgiving day, Niko was a great participant in all the festivities. He let Grandma feed him mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner (no veggies or protein, please!) while Grandpa held him on his lap. On Friday he shopped with the Donegans like a champ, even picking out clothes he wanted at Von Maur's (anything with a truck or train on it.) He loved the walking characters at Crown Center and the Christmas chorus, but prefered playing in Santa's playland to actually sitting on Santa's lap! He didn't cry though, just refused to smile....

We put up our tree on Sunday while Niko was napping, and he thinks it is pretty amazing. It has lights and trains and balls and stuffed monkeys on it .... what isn't amazing about that??! I've held him up to see the miniature train ornaments about a dozen times since yesterday. This morning he helped feed breakfast to all the ornaments with faces that he could reach. He is very into sharing his food, which results in a houseful of stuffed animals that smell like old milk. Luckily my mom took photos, since I've misplaced my camera....

Niko picking out the best ball at the sporting goods store.

Santa's playland.

Decorating Grandma's tree after the big KU win!

Fall Leaves

I know, I know! It has been way too long since I’ve written about Niko’s latest exploits. With the coming holiday weekend I will attempt to catch up on my entries so that everyone gets their Niko fix!

The most incredible thing about Niko lately is his exploding language skills. While he still just says one word at a time, he understands way more than we’ve been giving him credit for. He can pick up objects from across the room and bring them to you if you ask (comes in handy for having him bring me laundry off of the floor to put in the machine. He will drop clothes in the washer if I pick him up.). He will also “throw the ball to daddy” or mommy, and understands if I tell him that we’re going upstairs or downstairs together. If I tell him that daddy is almost home, he will go to the front door and look out the window for him. He will also bring you his shoes and socks if you ask him to.

Nikolai is a master house cleaner, and loves to sweep, pick up dust bunnies from the floor and wipe things off with paper towels. He also likes to share his food and milk with his stuffed toys. Yesterday, for the first time, he was pretending to eat food. He would pick up imaginary food from his pile of blocks and nibble it, and then give Colin and me a bite of it. It was hilarious!

Over the weekend he enjoyed playing in the leaves with our next-door-neighbors, his good buddies Gretchen and Otto. They shared some fantastic photos with us…

Tonight Colin and I are enjoying his birthday present, two tickets to see KU basketball at the Sprint Center. I haven’t been to a game there yet – we’re looking forward to seeing the new team live. Grandma and Grandpa are going to come watch Nikolai. They will get to see Niko’s new play table that we bought yesterday for him. We couldn’t wait until Christmas to give it to him, and it was awfully big to wrap. We put it together after he went to bed last night ….hopefully he will like it!