One Year Old (Tomorrow)!!!

A year ago today, I went to the doctor in the morning because I thought my water broke. Turned it hadn't and was only at 1.5 cm dilated. So I went back to work. Several hours later, I was definitely in labor. Thank goodness my friends, Paul & Ally were there to help with the twins and my mother-in-law for coming to watch the twins overnight.

At 4:17 a.m. on February 25, Nicholas James was born. My little snugglebug. This little boy LOVES to cuddle and give the biggest hugs. He giggles a lot when he gives those big hugs. You can just feel the love coming from him. And right now, he doesn't seem at all anxious around strangers though he does seem to have more of a comfort level with his parents and siblings or his little friends at school. Our daycare provider told me that Nicholas won't play in the infant room if his little friends are gone - he wants to be out where Ben & Ella are.

In huge milestones, Nicholas took his first independent steps this past Saturday when were in a hotel in Vancouver, WA. He was so excited to walk between myself and Jon. Ella thought she would get in on the action and have her baby doll learn to walk (have I mentioned that Ella is calling her baby Andre after Paul & Ally named their baby Andre?). Then, she acted like a small toddler that was just learning to walk. She found it hilarious when we would clap and applaud her taking her "first steps".

It's amazing that he is going to be a year old tomorrow because it really does seem like yesterday that I was pregnant with him. I remember the shock when I first found out I was pregnant with him. I remember seeing proof on an ultrasound that I was somehow, miraculously pregnant. I remember feeling him move inside me for the first time. I remember the anticipation of finding out whether I was pregnant with a girl or boy. I remember his whole birth (including the pain! - who says you forget!?!) and feeling his head as he came into this world. I remember holding that little guy in my arms for the first time and seeing Jon hold him for the first time. I remember feeling so shocked that he was 8 pounds and 9 ounces. Since then, he has learned to hold his own head. To sit all on his own. To crawl. To cruise along the furniture. To pull out all the toys and books onto the floor. And now to walk. He says momma and hi (haaa) and something that sounds like gawok (for go walk, I think). He has said papa a few times. He waves hi and bye. He knows how to give a "high 5".

Happy birthday to my youngest miracle baby, my snugglebug, my Nicholas. I love you so much!

Pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/heathercim (though I need to update this)

ATB

ATB - that's what I call Nicholas these days. He's my All-Terrain Baby. He'll just crawl over anything. No obstacle can get in his way. He could take an easier way around things, but he'd rather just go straight over the obstacle. It's quite cute!

Stories

Some cute stories to share:

A while ago, I started singing a little song alone the tunes of "are you sleeping? Are you sleeping, Brother John?..." with the words of "Where is papa? Where is papa? I don't know. I don't know. I hope he comes home real soon. I hope he comes home real soon. Yes I do. Yes I do." Well, Ben and Ella have since started singing whatever they are looking for with that song and instead of saying "I don't know", they say "Don't I know! Don't I know!" It's rather cute. And if I ask them where something is and they don't know, they will say "Don't I know." I tried to correct them, but they won't change, so I let them go on saying that.

The other night, we went to Cos&tco to get some gas. When I got back into the car after getting the gas, they asked me where the gas was. I told them that I put it in the car, so the car would go. They seemed to accept that explanation. On our way home, Ella asked where the Cos&tco was and I said we just went there to get gas. Then we drove by Safeway, and she excitedly said "oh, I found it! I found it, mommy!" me: "what did you find?" Ella: "the cosco!" Funny.

Nicholas is now walking around with two hand assistance. If you even dare to think about stopping walking around with him because your back is killing you, he will CRY! One night, I thought he just wanted me to walk around with him as he didn't seem to want to go to Jon, but Jon works - he just wants to walk around. It's so AWESOME. I look forward to when he'll just do it on his own. My back will be much happier. While he walks, he also goes "ahh ahh ahh" like we do when we play our little crawling game - the same game we played with Ben & Ella when they were that age.

Nicholas also hates to be put into his car seat. He is doing a bit of arching his back or locking his legs so I can't bend his knees without some effort. That little guy is strong when he wants to be. He is almost a year old. I find myself reminiscing(sp?) about his birth. I have a calendar here at work and this month is a picture of me holding him shortly after his birth. How has it been a year already?

Right now, it is serious potty training time. We put them in their training underwear when we are at home. Last night, Ella FREAKED when she peed her pants, but when I went to go change her into new pants and sit her on the potty, she decided she could live with the wet pants. I don't like that - she's supposed to hate that feeling!

People keep telling me I'm on the early side of things, but I feel as if we are late. I hear of friends whose children are the same age as mine and they are already trained or seem closer than we are. My goal is to have them trained by the time they turn 3 in 4 months. I hope that will happen - I would LOVE to not have to buy diapers anymore or pull-ups (well, except for Nicholas who I hope will train early after seeing his brother and sister trained).

That's all for now. Time to start thinking about work stuff again. Blech.