Tiny Tykes

Nicholas & I had our first “Tiny Tykes” gymnastics class today :0) His teachers are Miss Ashley & Miss Erin. There is one other baby in the class! His name is Zachary and he is 11 months. I guess the other “Tiny Tykes” classes may have more kids, but I like our small class :0) Nick & Zachary hit it off right away. We started off with some exploring of the gym. Nicholas was crawling so fast all over the gym. It is all padded so it is nice to let him roam free for a bit. I am thinking of having John do the same thing to our basement :0) Then we had a circle time and welcome song. Nick loved the song. After that, we did some stretching (to a Kelly Clarkson song…haha). Nicholas wasn’t too into the stretching until we were all clapping for him. He sure does love his praise! Once the clapping started, both he and Zachary loved their stretching. Then we danced a bit and learned a forward roll. At first, Nick wasn’t too sure what to think of the forward roll, but with a little praise, he loved it. After that, it was time for more exploring. I took Nicholas into the ball pit and he LOVED it! He also went on the trampoline and slide. Then, we played with some mini hula hoops. Nick was holding one in each hand and throwing his arms up and eating them of course. He also showed some real talent by crawling with one in each hand.

Then, it was time to use some gymnastics apparatus. First, Nicholas hung from the high bar (after he chewed on it for a bit). Then, we practiced more tumbling. Finally, he did some walking on the balance beam. Miss Ashley & Miss Erin brought out some swings for the boys. Nicholas has never been in swing like it before and he LOVED it! After some fun swinging, it was “independent time”. This is when the moms hang back and let the kids interact with each other and the teachers. The teachers assured me that if Nick needed me, he could come get me. I was not worried…I knew he wouldn’t even notice I was gone! He loves to play with other kids. He looked over at me a few times, but had too much fun playing with Zachary to need me! Then it was time to clean up the toys. The moms and teachers did more of that than the boys! We also played “What Time is it Mrs. Fox?” and Miss Annie acted out a song with puppets. Nicholas loved the puppets. Zachary was trying to walk by and leave the puppet show, but Nick grabbed him by the back of the shirt and made him sit and watch! Nicholas was so excited withthe puppets that he started clapping by accident and surprised himself. It was so funny :0)

All in all, we had a great first day of “Tiny Tykes” :0) I am so glad we signed up! It is nice to get out and do something once and a while. We go to class on Tuesdays and get to go to 1 hour of free play a week too. All of the pictures are from the "independent time" today. I will try to get some pictures of Nick on the gym equipment next time. I figured since it is a Mommy & Me class; I better pay attention and do my part this time!!

Our Little Crawling Machine!!

Nicholas has become quite the little crawler! He is pretty much moving all the time. He gets into everything!! He especially loves Jackson’s baskets of toys and bowls. Nick stood up by himself a few days ago!! He used the laptop bag to pull himself up. He did it a few times that day. Now he is trying everyday to stand up using anything he can or from a sitting position. I guess it won’t be too long until he can do that too!! Nicholas and I have our first “Tiny Tykes” gymnastics class today :0) I’ll be sure to take pictures post them tonight! Take care :0)

Happy Birthday Dear Nick's Daddy :0)

John’s birthday was August 26th. We took him to the Blue Iguana for dinner with some friends. Nicholas liked when the band sang Happy Birthday to his daddy :0) But, we was not to sure what he thought of the hat his daddy was wearing! Nick was very interested in John’s Birthday cake. He really wanted to dig his little hands into it! Only a few months until he gets his very own cake for his 1st Birthday!!!! Time sure is flying by!

These Were Just Cute

I didn't know where to fit these in, so I thought I'd just put them up. They were all taken in Vegas. Check out the teeth :0)

Nick's 8 Month Photo Shoot

I took Nicholas for his 8 month photo shoot yesterday. I know, I know…it was a few days late. Believe it or not, there is a story behind the delay! When I called to make the appointment, I received some devastating news!! Marcy (Nick’s personal photographer) was no longer there! I was in shock…I almost passed out!! I didn’t know what to do…you know how I deal with change!! So, I just made an appointment for that afternoon. The girl on the other end could tell that I was distraught, so she told me that I could change the appointment if I needed to. I went in and broke the news to my parents (haha) and tried to find something for Nicholas to wear. After a few minutes, I decided that I just could not take Nick in that day (he was also not having a great day). The girl was not surprised when I called to reschedule.

After a few days of coming to terms with the news I had received (and a trip to Vegas), I decided I needed call to see if Marcy was at another location or gone FOREVER!! I thought I had prepared myself for the worst. But, when I was told that she had gone back to school and was no longer a photographer anywhere, I was shocked! I mean, she didn’t even call to tell me her plans (haha…I am KIDDING!!). So, I had to bite the bullet and take Nicholas in and have some other photographer take his 8 month pictures!! We arrived to the Studio early since I was so nervous (haha…again, I’m kidding. But, that did sound pretty dramatic!). Now, the rest of this really happened. We were taken to Studio B. Nicholas was sensing that things were not quite right…we always go into Studio A! He kinda just stared at the photographer for a few minutes while she got set up and I got him ready. When it was time for the first picture, he just stared at her blankly and wouldn’t even crack a smile. I was trying to get him to smile too, but he just looked at me pretty confused. So, the photographer just took a picture to get him going. I am not kidding, once he saw that first flash, out came the smiles! The new photographer, Angie, said she had never seen a baby react to a camera flash like that. She instantly fell in love with him. I filled her in on our Nicholas…the camera lover. He was just hamming it up for her the whole time. He would roll over, crawl, laugh, show off, etc. Every once and a while, he’s stop to pose for her! Angie said she had never had such an easy photo session with a baby. Needless to say, the pictures turned out great (what did I expect really!?) and Angie is great with him! She happens to be friends with Marcy and she is going to tell her that we said “hi” and that we miss her and that she is going to take good care of us from now on :0)

Viva Las NICHOLAS

While Gretch & Jack were in town we decided to take a trip. We rented a sweet mini van and drove down to Las Vegas!! Yes, I know, Vegas doesn’t really seem like the best place to take a baby, but Nicholas enjoyed himself. He did pretty well on the car trip down. We stayed on the Strip at the Excalibur. We had to walk through the casino to get to our rooms. I’ll have to admit, I felt kinda weird strolling my baby through the casino, but we were not the only ones! Nicholas loved to crawl all over the hotel room. He especially loved the drawer handles and the big bed. He just crawled around being his normal goofy self!

It was really hot in Vegas, so we tried to keep Nicholas indoors most of the time. We took him to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. He loved all of the animals!! I think he is going to be like me and love the ocean. He also liked listening to the tour on his Grandma’s tour “phone”. We took the tram to and from our hotel and he seemed to enjoy it. We also took Nicholas to the Venetian for a Gondola ride. The teenage girl behind us in line fell in love with him right away! She was watching him pose for the camera in line (I posted some of those pictures) and couldn’t get enough of him. Nick was showing off and flirting with her the whole time. We kept running into her and she would just squeal and run over and talk to him. It was pretty cute!! Nicholas loved the Gondola ride :0) He seems to love boats and the water. He really liked the fountains and when our “captain” (I don’t remember what the Gondola operators are called) sang to him. Nicholas was looking up at him the whole time. People who were watching on the sides were enjoying Nick’s smiling and laughing during the serenade. It was a fun outing!

My parents babysat Nicholas while John and I went out at night. We went to 2 shows (my favorite was Carrot Top, he was so hilarious!!) and went up and down the Strip. It was so nice to have the help and to get out without the baby!! It was also nice to get out of the house and have a vacation! I sure do miss having the constant help with Nicholas! Maybe my parents will move out here soon (HINT, HINT!) :0)

Nick's First Trip to the Mountians

Nicholas had his first trip into the mountains while his grandparents were here. We went to the Silver Fork Lodge in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Nick loves to be outside so he LOVED the mountains! This is a good thing since he’s going to be in them a lot as he is training for the Olympics and X Games :0) We ate outside on the deck at the restaurant. It got a little bit chilly so we got Nick a nice warm blanket. He loved being under the blanket and was entertaining himself and everyone around him being his usual goofy self :0) I kept hearing people ask, “Did that baby just pose for the camera!?” HAHA Yep, Nicholas LOVES the camera! He can be having a temper tantrum (shocking, I know!) and if I take out the camera, he’ll stop and pose mid-tantrum! How did that happen!? Hmm…could it be the amount of pictures that he has had taken of him!? I guess we’ll never know ;0)

Dinosaur Park

While my parents were here we went out to lunch with everyone from John’s office. We discovered that Nicholas can sit in “restaurant” high chairs now! I know that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but like everything else with Nicholas, I think it is :0) I kept meaning to get picture that day, but I forgot. So, I took pictures the next morning when we went to Breakfast!! Nicholas loves to sit in the high chairs and he also likes to chew on them and the table. We also took Nick to Dinosaur Park. They have a few robotic dinosaurs there and tons of statues around the park. It wasn’t too hot the day we went so we got to see most of the park. Nicholas also went on his first ride down a slide (my dad took those pictures so I will have to scan them in sometime). Nicholas did pretty well on the hour long drive. Grandma Gretch kept him laughing most of the way :0)