Nicholas at 2 and 1/2

Weight: 32.4 lbs

Height: 36.25 inches

 Nicholas picked me a blue bonnet.

 Joseph and Nicholas posing at the Alamo.

 My parents with us at the Alamo.

 We borrowed a "leash" from our friends to see how it would work with Nicholas.  He had a fit.  He kept yelling, "I don't want to wear my costume.  Get this costume off me."

 Nicholas and Joseph in front of the state capital in Austin.

 Nicholas' favorite part of our trip to Austin was the fountains near where we parked our car.  His Grandma Wells helped him touch each of the streams of water.  

Nicholas loved Sea World and talks about it all the time.  

Nicholas is so much fun. He is a constant source of entertainment.  Here are a few funny stories:

• Nicholas met Bert and Ernie at Sea World. They were huge and he was kind of scared of them. He did pose for pictures with them. About a week later, Joseph was putting him to bed and he told Nicholas that sometimes Bert and Ernie visit Nicholas' closet. This turned out to be a big mistake. We soon heard lots of crying. Despite reassurance that Bert and Ernie only lived on Sesame Street, he cried so hard he threw up. We ended up taking turns sleeping with him. (Something we will also NEVER do again.) We got him a nightlight the next day and he hasn't had any problems since.
• Nicholas loves the book Are You My Mother?. On the cover of the book is a picture of a dog with a bird on his head. I asked him, "What would you do if a bird landed on your head?" He responded, "I would give it swats."  I'm constantly impressed by how caring a child I am raising.
• We have a game called cut the rope on the Touchpad. There is a level where a spider will steal the candy if you are not fast enough. This spider scared Nicholas so bad he threw the Touchpad. I explained to him that the spider could not come out of the Touchpad. He then told me, "Yeah, it is okay Mom. The spider will not get me and throw me in the garbage can so that I am all gone. Yeah, Mom that's right."
• We were visiting the San Antonio temple and Nicholas was dipping his hands in the foutain. I asked him, "Is the water cold or warm?" He thought about it and said, "How 'bout wet."  
• At the condo we were staying at while we were on vacation, there was a large bowl full of lemons and limes. Nicholas became highly interested in it as soon as he walked in. Grandma quizzed him about which ones were lemons and which ones were limes. We then left to get dinner. Nicholas finished dinner quickly and then informed us all that he wanted to go back to the "Lemonade house." We called it the Lemonade house for the rest of the trip.
• Sometimes he tells me that Super Mama and Super Nicholas need to do certain things, like play in the pool or on his bed. What mom can refuse a request like that?
• We have tried every punishment in the book with Nicholas. Taking things away doesn't work because he will just find something new to do. Time outs don't intimidate him, because he knows they will end and then he can just keep doing what he wants to afterwards. So we have tried spanking or "swats" as Nicholas calls them. They don't really work either. The other night I told him that I would have to give him one swat if he got out of bed. When he got out of bed, he told me he wanted "two swats." I told him I was only going to give him one and I held up one finger. He raised the finger next to it and said, "I want two swats." I shouldn't have done this, but I laughed. He kept on insisting he wanted two swats. We ended up giving him one swat and putting him back to bed.
• Nicholas tried grits for the first time.  His response, "That is NOT yummy.  They are NOT my favorite."
• Luckily Lexi is a very happy baby, because if she cries then Nicholas gets scared and starts crying.  
• Nicholas still has a few phrases confused. For example, when he wants us to stop doing something like buckling him in or changing his diaper he will yell, "Stop me. Stop me. Stop me." It makes me laugh so I don't correct him. He also will tell me, "Mom sit on my lap." He does this when he wants to sit on my lap.
• Nichloas loves "snuggles." He will request them A LOT. He likes to snuggle with Mom and warm laundry.
• I lost Nicholas for about five minutes at the Children's Museum.  He had slipped out the door while I was maneuvering the stroller around a line of people.  I finally found him when he came running back telling me, "I did chase all the birds."  I then launched into a lecture about running away and how worried I was about losing him.  Then I told him he had lost the right to walk and carried him to the car.  I didn't think the lecture had done too much, but now every time I go somewhere without him he will tell me, "I was so worried Mom.  I did lose you.  Don't you ever run away again."

Favorite Foods:

• Chocolate Pudding
• Juice