Quick Update

This is probably the last time Joseph will have free evenings for the next three years (or more), so we are determined to party as much as possible this summer. We have done a lot of fun things. A few of the highlights include:

• Twisted Root. We went to Twisted Root in order to celebrate Joseph getting done with his first year of medical school. The restaurant has fabulous gourmet hamburgers and surprisingly good shakes.

• Wicked!!! It was a first class production. We were lucky enough to get cheap group tickets through Joseph's medical school connections. We absolutely loved it and it will be one of the highlights of our summer.

• Chickasaw National Park in Southern Oklahoma. We heard about this place through Mary Ruth's blog (Joseph's cousin). It was a wonderful break from city life. We went hiking in the morning and saw some beautiful spring. We had a picnic lunch and then played in the cool water the rest of the afternoon. It was worth the two and a half hour drive.

• Gaylord Texas. We went up to Grapevine a week ago. We walked through a lovely botanical garden and then we went to Gaylord Texas and toured this huge hotel. They had an Alice in Wonderland exhibit going on. We then watched fireworks down by the lake.
  
  
  
  
• Hard Rock Cafe. On the 14th, Hard Rock Cafe in Dallas celebrated their founders day by reverting the prices of five entrees back to what they were when they first opened in 1971. I got ribs for $1.10 and Joseph got a hamburger for .71 cents. We had to wait in line for two hours, but it was an adventure. We do a lot of these cheap dates thanks to a website called mydallasmommy.com, which tells us where to get cheap/free meals. In the past week, we ate for free at IHOP and got a really cheap meal at Quiznos.

• Gardening. We have picked a couple of tomatoes, tons of cucumbers, basil, oregano, some okra, some beans, and lots of peas from our garden. The cucumbers have taken over our whole backyard. We are going to do a lot of things differently next year, but we are calling this garden a success.

• Whirlyball and Donuts. On National Donut Day, we went to Krispy Kremes and got free donuts. We then went and played Whirlyball with the med school life support group. Whirlyball is a cross between bumper cars, lacrosse, and basketball. Joseph was pretty good at it, but I spent most of the time trying to learn how to drive the car.
  
  
• Movies. We have spent a lot of evenings at the movies. A nearby theater has 50 cent Tuesdays. We also went to Studio Movies Grill and saw Ironman 2 with some friends. I'm about to call it quits with taking Nicholas to the theater. We still manage to get through the movie with only a couple of grunts getting out, but it is now becoming too much work to make it worth it. I think we will have to resort to Redbox.

Nicholas at 8 months

This month has been so much fun. It contained many firsts:

• First mohawk.
• First cheerio.
• First rice rusk (He acts like these are giant cookies.)
• First time rolling over in the crib and sleeping on his stomach.
• First time discovering his feet. (He wasn't interested in his feet at first because he couldn't put them in his mouth. Three weeks ago, he got his first taste and now he finally finds them worthy of his interest.)
• First time swimming. (He kept a straight face and grunted a lot. I'm not sure if he enjoyed it or not.)

A few more things about Nicholas:

• His mobility has increased exponentially just these past three weeks. He will pivot around on his tummy, but he can't go forwards or backwards. He mostly just rolls from his stomach to his back. He will only roll from his back to his stomach when he is in his crib.
• He loves clapping his feet together. In the morning, I will find him doing his leg lifts and clapping his feet.
• He is a grunter. If he spots someone and wants their attention, he will look at them and start grunting. When you look back at him, he will give you a huge smile, stick his hand in his mouth, and give an asthmatic sounding wheeze/gasp of pure excitement. This trick is a real crowd pleaser at church.
• His new favorite sound/song is "chagachagachagachaga choo choo."
• He sleeps through the night the majority of the time. (Approximately 7-8 pm to 6-7 am)
• He is down to taking two naps.
• He won't take a bottle. He uses it as a chew toy. I even filled it with apple juice to see if I could entice him, but no such luck. He doesn't really like the one sippy cup we have either. He prefers to share a water bottle or a cup with his parents. He also like getting drinks from the faucet when he takes a bath in the kitchen sink. I worry about him getting enough fluid because he sweats a lot when he gets hot.
• As of this morning, he weighs 22 lbs and wears 9-12 month clothing. He still LOVES TO BE CARRIED.
• He still loves his walker. He jumps up and down more than walks in it. His favorite game is to take a few steps towards papa and then papa will push him back. They repeat this until Nicholas gets distracted by the shoe rack or the garbage can.
• Nicholas loves cords.
• He is starting to be a good little eater. His favorite is what I call banana oatmeal mush. He doesn't really like green beans.
• He is a wonderful sitter and enjoys that much more than laying on his back or stomach.
• He always has a big smile for mom every time I look a him. He is the happiest, cutest little munkin in the the whole world. I love my little man.