Nicholas at 22 months

Weight: 32 lbs

Height: 33 inches

Belly Diameter: 25 1/2 inches

Tooth Count: 14

Current Obsessions:

• Dumping out things. He has an overwhelming urge to dump things. He is pretty tricky because he will be helping clean up and then suddenly grab the box/bucket and dump it and laugh hysterically.
• Soon-to-be-uncle Josh. I think Elisabeth has competition for who thinks about Josh more during the day. Every time Nicholas glances at the wedding announcement, we are treated to a five minute ode to Josh.
• Stirring pitchers full of juice or water
• The Kitchenaid mixer
• Playing in the sink
• Playing with buckets filled with coins
• Playing with his bag full of necklaces
• Blowing bubbles in the bathtub
• Stickers
• Kitchen utensils

Current Hates:

• Diaper changes. The only time he is willing to play by himself is when he knows he needs a diaper change. Suddenly something on the other side of the room from me is super interesting. He also tries to tell me that Whitney, the girl we babysit, really is the one that needs the diaper change.
• He loves cooking, but he can't handle when his job is done. If you have him stir something, he has a little breakdown when he has to be done stirring.
• Getting dressed. I don't blame him with the heat.

Cute Quirks:

• Anything we tell him is dangerous, he translates that into meaning that it must be "HOT."
• He can say his ABCs by repeating after me and count to ten. He, however, really struggles saying "W."
• He loves to say, "Ready, Set, Go!"
  

General Demeanor:

• He is a very happy boy. (He gets his happy personality from his Papa.) The only time he is seriously unhappy is when he is tired. (He gets that from his Mama.)
• He is a great talker and very clear for his age. I think it is because he knows he won't get anything from Mama unless he uses his words. Whining gets you nowhere fast with Mama. If he is being too unreasonable to use his words, it usually means he needs a nap.
• He is still super active. He has a quick attention span, but it is getting longer. He goes from one activity to another with lightning speed. Thankfully, his active nature is balanced out by the fact he is a great sleeper. He is super easy to get to take a nap and to go to bed. I just tell him that we should go find his puppies, baby, and blanket. He then lays down and he will say, "Bye-bye" as I walk out.
• He is ALL BOY. He loves tools, getting dirty, dogs, balls, and bugs. He loves to fix things, but refuses help. He wants to do it all by himself.

Favorite Shows:

• Barney
• Beauty and the Beast
• Davy Crockett (He says, "Rock" when he wants to watch this movie.)
• Chip 'n Dale (He says, "Munks" when he wants to watch this movie.)

Favorite Food:

• Peaches

This is a picture of Papa and Nicholas pretending to be pioneers that had to "push" and "pull" things across the plains. We all raced around the house pushing and pulling toys. It was a big hit with Nicholas.

He loves his swing and going "high."

You can tell from this picture he is all man.

Josh! Josh! Josh! Josh!

Nicholas immediately latched onto Uncle Josh when the wedding announcement came. Whenever he sees the announcement, he's good for a minute or two of straight "Josh"ing. This is just a small taste of what has given us lots to laugh about. We are also very proud of him for immediately associating Elisabeth and Josh with the temple where they will get married.

Papa Needs a Nap!

Joseph has been adjusting to his new early to rise schedule. To make matters worse, he pulls an all-nighter every five days. Sometimes he needs a little nap during the day. Nicholas decided to help put Papa down for a nap. Nicholas just happens to be an expert on what is required for a good nap. He shared his blanket and his puppies with Papa and gave him a good love.

Sink! Sink! Sink!

Nicholas has three great obsessions in his life this week. He is always asking for the following three things: Barney, Sink, and Peaches. Now, I just need him to start washing the dishes instead of creating more dirty dishes.

First Two Years of Med School are Officially Behind Us

Joseph got his STEP scores this week and now the first two years of med school are officially behind us!!! I wasn't completely sure his scores would come this week, so when they came on Wednesday we only had a small family celebration that included nutella and strawberries. You can see Nicholas loved this celebration. (Nicholas wasn't sure why we were celebrating, but he was happy to get in on the action. All he really understands about Papa going to school is that he goes on a choo-choo each day. ) We did a slightly bigger celebration on Saturday and went to see Thor and Nicholas got a babysitter!

Dinner at Chick-fil-A

We dressed like a cow to get a free dinner at Chick-fil-A. Nicholas was fascinated by the cow but scared when he got close. We were trying to get Nicholas to say, "Moo." Finally, we used the juice that came with the meal to bribe him into say, "Mmmmm."

Nicholas at 21 months

Weight: 25 lbs (He has really slowed down on how much he eats.)

Height: 33 inches

Tooth Count: 14

Words: Too many to write them all down. He is a talkative little guy. Try as we might, we can't make him be quiet during church. If someone says too long of a prayer, he was shout out, "All Done!" half way through it. If he doesn't like the snack we brought, he is quick to say a very loud "No." If he sees one of his friends, he will shout out their name. He has learned a lot of new words but he hasn't learned to be quiet.

Random Things About Nicholas:

• Nicholas loves cheese. Since he thinks it is so wonderful, he thinks all other animals must also like to eat cheese. So when you ask him what birds, puppies, and cows like to eat, don't be surprised when he tells you they eat cheese.
• We are trying to get Nicholas excited about visiting his grandparents in August. I tell him he gets to go on an airplane to visit them, but he insists he wants to go on a choo-choo to visit them.
• I hear the following every morning when Nicholas wakes up, "Puppy, puppy, uh-oh...Mama, Mama, Mama..." He will wake up and the first thing he sees is his puppy, then he will throw his puppy out of his bed. When he can't get it, he then calls me in to alert me to the situation.
• Nicholas loves to watch Barney and Beauty and the Beast.
• Nicholas loves to wear his fireman hat around the house.
• He still idolizes Papa, but clings to Mama.
• He is becoming a real good climber. He does stairs really well.
• His favorite treat is juice. We use it as a reward as a way to get fluids in the little guy. He sweats so much. He does not do well in the heat. Sweat just drips into his eyes and his little face goes bright red. The heat doesn't slow him down though, but I always get a good nap out of him after he has been outside.
• After a surprisingly successful FHE, Nicholas can now point to the picture of the temple hung up in our house.
• We took him to the aquatic center by our house and he loved going down these really big slides with his Papa. He didn't like the slow slide, he wanted the fast slide and would just get giddy every time he went down. He kept on saying, "Tube, Tube, MORE Tube."
• It is hard to refuse Nicholas when he says, "Please."
• We have a battle every time we have corn on the cob. Nicholas wants to have a large corn on the cob instead of the little one that we cut off for him. He will spend the whole dinner whining about it.

JFK Date

We didn't go on any exciting vacations after STEP. We just stayed home and did chores. We did, however, do a really fun date on Saturday and left Nicholas with a babysitter for around 9 hours!!! (Thanks again Kents!) It was the longest we have ever left Nicholas with a babysitter. It is also the longest I've been away from Nicholas since he was born.

On Saturday June 25th, we left after lunch and started our JFK themed date. I had done some research and discovered that the house that Lee Harvey Oswald's wife lived in and where Oswald stayed on the weekends was only two blocks straight behind our house. This house was searched the day he shot Kennedy and it was in that garage where he kept the rifle. We did a drive by and the house looks abandoned.

Next, we hit the JFK museum. We first went outside and stood on the grassy knoll and where the two shots were fired. We then went in the Sixth Floor Museum. The museum was fascinating. It has a wonderful audio tour that takes you through JFK's presidency, assassination, and investigations following his assassination. The museum lacks actual artifacts. It has Jack Ruby's hat that he was wearing when he shot Oswald. The only other authentic thing is that it is housed on the sixth floor where Oswald shot from the window. The tour was great with just the right amount of conspiracy theory mixed in.

After the museum, we went to Campisi Egyptian Lounge. It is where Jack Ruby dined on the eve of Kennedy's assassination. Jack Ruby was a regular customer there. It is a really good Italian restaurant with fabulous New York style pizza.

Next, we went to Jubilee. (This part had nothing to do with JFK. We were just lucky enough to get tickets.) The prophet wanted the 11 stakes in this area to put on a big Jubilee performance, even though we didn't have a temple being dedicated or any church officials visiting. It was a fabulous 2 hour long presentation with dance and musical numbers. The amount of work that went into this was amazing. The stakes turned it into a three day youth conference.

So that was our big fun splurge post STEP!!