Twins

So silly, he loves to have people 'get his belly' he even lay down on the floor to let his belly hang out!
Smiles, smiles, smiles when he plays with his Grammie!
Grammie and Nicholas got matching Jack-o-lantern shirts. He is such a cutie pie!

Such a happy little guy!

Pumpkin carving

One of these days I will figure out how to get the pictures in order, until then. Here is the great pumpkin carving. Nicholas really got into it. He doesn't really like his hands sticky so he liked using the spoon. He would stick it into the pumpkin, twist his wrist around (like he was scraping) and then tap the spoon on the table (like he was getting pumpkin guts off) it is amazing how smart he is!

Poppie is HERE

Nicholas and Poppie reading a book, the only time Nicholas isn't running around.
That FACE!!!!!!!!!

Neighbors

Here are Emma and Nicholas. There were cute running around playing together. We lived across the street from them in WV. Emma is 2 months older than Nicholas. It was really great to visit with Rebecca and Chad and see Emma.

Fall leaves

Nicholas thought he was such BIG stuff running around outside in the leaves. He is such an outdoor kid. He must take after his Poppie.

Paden City

Here are a few pictures of the Nichols crew. Nicholas was more interested in running around playing than with having anyone hold him!

An October to remember

Talking to his girlfriend (DINA) on the remote.
Nicholas (1), Jenna (5), Lucas (3 1/2 weeks), and me.
Nicholas on the rocking horse Uncle Duane and Aunt Sue gave him.

It has been a while since I have posted on the blog. Things are going well. The month of October was SO busy. We went to WV for 5 days and had lots of fun. We were able to see everyone on our list. We met Lucas and got to visit with Jenna, Bryan, Amber, and Aunt Mary Jo. We drove up to Paden City and saw Grandma June, John and Uncle Duane. Michelle gave me a grand tour of her school. We saw Alex and Stevie and their parents. We drove by our old house and 'dropped' in on Emma, Chad and Rebecca. Our last night was spent with Aunt Brenda and Uncle Randy. A fun, busy trip.
The day after we got home MY parents flew down for Halloween. Nicholas LOVES his Poppie. It is so sweet. I will pick a few pictures and start posting them!

21 pounder

FYI - We had Nicholas' 15 mo check up. He now weighs 21 pounds 5 oz, up 13 oz from just 2 weeks ago. He is now in the 40% for weight and 80% (32 1/4in). The Ped was excited and so was the GI Dr at Shands. He is drinking the magic potion more and more so I guess that is what is helping add the pounds. He is still SO active. I will post pictures later. I wanted to share the good news for those who check for updates!

Busy busy house

We have been pretty busy here in the Valentine house. We had to make 2 trips to Shands last week and got good results from testing. Nicholas is starting to respond to 'new' strategies of eating. He gets weighed on Friday at our Ped here, hopefully he has gained a little and we won't have to go back to Shands for a while.
Over the weekend Nicholas has figured out our door handles, they aren't knobs, but the latch things. He can open ANY door including the door to the garage. Thankfully the sliders are trickier and he hasn't figured that out, yet. We now have gates and locks on the pocket door to the laundry room that leads to the garage. He isn't interested in listening and is simply TOO busy to stop and have a conversation with me about what NO means. Last night I was talking to my friend Voula on the phone and in a matter of 20 seconds (no I am not exaggerating) he moved his tent (it was supposed to deter him from opening our bedroom door) opened our door, opened the pocket door to our bathroom, opened the door to the camode (I am not sure how to spell that) and started SHREDDING toilet paper. Of course I was just two steps behind....I felt like I was moving in slow motion and he was moving at warp speed. Nicholas is so active. My mom told me that Christie and I weren't like that....was that supposed to make me feel better? I hope he calms down a little soon. And where does he get the energy? I mean he hardly eats anything.......monster man. He are some pictures of him sitting...I know that I need to capture the 'active' times, but I am too busy chasing him around to stop and get the camera!

Thank you God

Looking for his belly button or 'bee bo' thank you Sandra Boynton.



Thank you God for a happy little boy, a boy that can run and sing and hear and see. A little boy that smiles and hugs. A little boy that signs cat, dog, hat and boat. A little boy that points and says 'look' seeing the world for the first time. A little boy that climbs into your lap so you can read a book together. A little boy that runs to the door to see his dad when he comes home from work. A little boy who is healthy and THRIVING, no matter what the Doctors say. Yes, Lord thank you for such a special gift, for the opportunity to care and love for him. Please help us to have patience and understanding for what we don't understand and that which we cannot change. Help to take one day at a time and know that Nicholas is the most important responsibility we have. Thank you God for our baby boy.

Mama got a haircut

While in MI I got 7 inches cut off, I should have taken a "before" picture, but didn't. I think I may want to go a little shorter next time. All that hair, I sure don't have time. I also think I need a CHI....I will have to ask my friends Voula and Erin what kind they have.....their hair always looks great.

Apples

Visit with Auntie

What a busy month we have had. My sister came down at the end of August for a week. We got to hangout and have lots of sister and Auntie time. This is the first time she has been here by herself. Nicholas loves to read books. He will bring books to anyone that will read to him. Well it is mostly Matt and I and the occasional visitor.
Relaxing after church reading the paper......
I am not sure if I know of anyone who LOVES the beach more than my sister. I am not sure if it the ocean, water, or just the sun, but she could spend ALL day there. She is such a good sport, we only made it there once.
My little man....looking WAY too old. We had such a wonderful time with Auntie that we just couldn't say good-bye. We got on the plane with her and flew to MI for two weeks! WE LOVE YOU AUNTIE!

Shh I'm reading

Nicholas now reads by HIMSELF! He will look at books in his room without anyone else around. What a big boy. I am not sure when he decided that he liked to play in his room alone, but that has happened too. He is looking at a book that goes with his LEAP PAD.

Funny story today:
I was getting ready for our playgroup and was brushing my hair. Nicholas wanted to use my brush, but I decided that it wasn't a good idea so I gave him a comb to use instead. He held his hand out, took the comb, and threw it on the floor and pointed to my brush. Excuse me! I tried again and he did the same thing. Okay so now he reads AND has an opinion....the books didn't say anything about this!

blogger

Little man brushing his hair with Daddy's brush.
Blurry but still sweet.
Oh Mama, you look so pretty. (Because you haven't brushed YOUR hair yet today.)
Should I hit Boo Boo with this long pointer?
Look Mama it is a big Boo Boo.

I must tell you that I have TRIED to posted several times both this month and last and every time I tried to upload photos it took me to an error screen. HATE THAT. So I usually give up and walk away. I am glad it worked tonight...I just might post another blog!

13 on the 13th

13 months old! Nicholas is just on the ball. We took him outside to play with his 'tricycle' on the driveway. He was sooo cute. We have long pine needles all over our driveway. After about 2 minutes on the tricycle he was off to pick them up. He had two big handfuls and was just walking all over. I really like the pic with Matt and Nicholas. He is even turning around to see where Mama is....my precious little boy.

Say a little prayer

More like say a BIG, FAT, LONG prayer. Nicholas is continuing to have feeding/eating problems. We have officially stumped the GI Dr here and are being referred up to Shands Children Hospital. At the last apt she wasn't happy with his growth/weight (or lack there of) so she started mentioned a feeding tube....my heart just broke. He has had such a difficult time with eating, all of the allergies. Now that we finally have that under control we are trying everything we can think of to get him to EAT. I let him play in all the food I offer and try to feed him while he plays so he is distracted. We are thinking about an ENT, just to rule that one out. Please say prayers, a 13th month old should not have all of these problems.

He is so happy and so active. He is officially walking more than crawling (has been all week) and is very happy. He finds Mr. Giles extremely funny...always laughing at him. Here is a pic....

I love YOU so much Mr. Monk!

Playing telephone

Here are some adorable pictures and a short story to make you smile!
On Sunday night we were walking around the neighborhood and Nicholas started to to get fussy. He wanted to be held and it was about 120 F. (Not really, but it was HOT and HUMID) Finally Matt gives Nicholas his cell and has it on speaker phone. Nicholas' eyes got huge and he looked back at me and SMILED. You could hear the ringing and then my voice came on....Matt called our home number getting voicemail. I figured out that I had my cell too so we called my cell then I used my cell to call Matt's cell, Nicholas was so cute. Finally we put both phones on speaker and spoke through my phone to Nicholas through Matt's phone. His whole face lit up. He would get SO excited when Matt's phone would ring and then he would hear Matt talking to him. When he gets excited he puts his fists in the air and tenses up scrunching his nose. Too sweet. This went on for a while, until we got home. I should have taken a picture of his precious face when the phone would ring....I can see it when I close my eyes. Angel baby.

It's official

Nicholas is walking. He stands up from the floor on his own and waddles around all over the house. He still crawls, but he is definitely walking ALL around. He gets this look on his face, he is so proud of himself and happy that he can do it all by himself. So sweet!
He has also cut the 2nd bottom left tooth and I can see the 'buds' on either sides of the two top teeth. Growing, growing, growing!