On Sunday, Niko turned 14 months old and to celebrate that and an early 4th of July, we went to my parents house because why not; actually, my dad is a really good griller and it is always nice to get out of our house and go somewhere else. Plus, I like my family!
Although Niko didn’t nap well both ways in the car, the three of us had a very pleasant time. It wasn’t fun having a screaming baby for the final 15 minutes coming home; he was ready to be done and unstrapped and I don’t blame him.
Niko had corn on the cob for the 1st time; it was fun listening to the sounds of him trying to eat it, he got to see a dog up close and personal, but he didn’t get to play with her like he does with Franklin cat; my brother brought his 13 year old black lab who is the sweetest dog I know, and he got to play with new toys; we did bring one musical toy that he loves and when it plays, he does toddler dance and claps and that always make my day, and he got to have a lot of time with other adults who aren’t his parents. My parents house is not baby proofed, but they did a great job in blocking off the kitchen area and shutting all the doors. I was very concerned about the big screen TV, wires, dvd player, cable box, and the radio, but as long as one adult was sitting in front of it, Niko would be OK. I even put his shoes on and we ran around in the enclosed backyard.
Here is a quick Niko update on his world…
Last week, I wrote a lot of about him waking up in the morning and provided daily updates for 3 days. Yesterday, a few minutes after I woke up, he woke up. I know he can hear everything I do; I mean, our house is small and Nina has told me she hears what I do. Tonight and if the fireworks don’t wake him up, I am going to try to sneak downstairs around midnight and sleep on the sofa. Maybe if he doesn’t hear me opening and closing our door and going downstairs, he can sleep a little bit later. I am willing to try anything and if it works, I can bring the air mattress downstairs.
He is still throwing things, but less when it comes to food because we are feeding him directly one piece of food at a time. When he shoos our hand away or takes the food from our hand and throws it, we are done eating whatever it was and we move to another food. We aren’t depriving him of food, but we are feeding him more throughout the day and Nina and I are OK with that.
Niko likes opening and closing thing; doesn’t matter what it is. It could be a bookcase, my legs, or an eyeglass case. He likes hiding, but he isn’t very good because I can always find him by his high pitched squeaks. He understands words and knows what things are and if he doesn’t, he points and we tell him. This boy is smart! We have a lot of books and he will get one and bring it to us to read to him.
I just love making him laugh and smile and I will always do anything to make that happen. And, when it does, I put it on repeat for a few minutes; or at least until he sees mom. Because, he knows with mom, he can tug on her boobs and something glorious and delicious comes out.
He is a cuddle bug boy and enjoys cuddling on the floor with his pillows and blankets, with us on the floor, and sometime when I carry him, he puts his head down on my shoulder.
Since I had today off, Nina worked and cooked and I baby wrangled, cleaned, and took him for a nice walk this morning; kind of felt like a Sunday! Well, hopefully the fireworks won’t wake Niko up tonight, because if that happens, he will probably end up sleeping on me which I like, but I don’t sleep well.
