Nick's Got Some New Digs

Since birth, Nicholas has been sleeping in a bassinet in our room. Our plan was to keep him in that until we'd transitioned John into a bed. As you'll recall, our boy was a little larger than most babies, so his time in the bassinet has grown shorter as he has continued to grow. If you look at the photo on the left, you'll see that he's a bit cramped. Since John isn't ready to transition into a bed just yet (we fear he'll run into our room at 3 AM to request Make Way for Noddy), we needed a temporary solution. Maureen came up with a great idea, a pack and play (aka baby jail). If you'll look on the right, you'll see that our boy is able to stretch out and enjoy the space. He still kicks his arms and legs up in the air during his sleep, but he's got more space to move around and that's all anyone ever really wants, a little more space (just talk to Cyrus of The Gramercy Riffs). Nicholas no longer has to sleep in the coach section. He's moved his way up to business class. When John moves into the bed, Nicholas will move all the way up to first class.

LL Cool N (Ladies Love Cool Nicholas)

Let's hope he doesn't develop a lisp, talk about drinking Courvossier, and change his name to Leon Phelps; however, I think he's going to be quite the Ladies Man!

If All Else Fails He Can Be A Body Double for Kim Jong Il

I still think he's far too good looking to be a celebrity look-a-like for that little toad from North Korea, but if you put a pair of women's sun glasses on Nicholas, there is a slight resemblance to that little toad.

The Baptism

I'm pleased to announce that Nicholas was baptized last Saturday morning. I know the Pope has disavowed the concept of the Limbo of the Innocents, but it existed when I was young and I just don't think it would go away like it never existed. Then again, an annulment in the Catholic Church makes a marriage go away, so I suppose the Pope can say things like that. Enough of my woolgathering on my early childhood catechism. Let's get on to the details.

As always, Fr. Truc was a delightful celebrant. He kept it short and sweet. He didn't preach on and on about the responsibilities of being a good parent or Catholic. He just asked the Godparents, Brent and Shawana, to be good baby sitters because he believes that married couples with small children really need to have their alone time. He's such a good priest and he made the baptism a nice and personal service.

After the ceremony, we had a luncheon at the Brady residence (Thanks Grammy!). As always, no post-baptismal luncheon is complete without sandwiches from the Larchmont Village Wine Shop, pizza from the Village Pizzeria, cake from Hansen's, and beverages from the best beverage company in the whole wide world, COCA-COLA!!! If you live East of the Rockies, be sure to drink lots of Sprite and Fanta!

Nicholas was in better spirits than John was at his baptism afterparty. He just went from person to person without much of a fuss. He's a little friendlier than John and takes after his mother while John takes after his surly father. All in all, the day was quite a success. It started at 6 AM for Maureen and I and proably ended at about 9 PM.

On thing did sort of go wrong. As we were about to cut the cake, one of the guests, Mimi K, was reading the cake. It was supposed to read "God Bless Nicholas", but Mimi said, "Good Bless Nicholas". Trying to correct her, I said, "That's close, but it actually says...wait a minute, it does say, "Good Bless Nicholas". " Boy, did I feel like a Dunderhead. Anywho, take a look at the writing on the cake. Yes, that's Mimi in the shot about to take a bite out of the cake.

Sweater Monkey Birthdays

Happy birthday Matthew and Samantha!

Happy Birthday Grammy

Four Month Check Up

Maureen took Nicholas to his 4-month check up with Dr. K. Nick did just fine and Dr. K said he was looking great and passed all developmental milestones (well, aside from rolling over). Our little guy is like a little tree sloth right now. He is 14-lbs even and 24.5 inches long.

Nicholas has basically outgrown his tub we placed in the sink, so Maureen decided to try out putting John and Nicholas in the tub together. Normally, I'd be opposed because I believe in modesty. Since John is a bit of a naturist, I figure that it's ok. As you can see, John wasn't too sure what to think of his bathing buddy.

Clarification

Maureen reminded me why John couldn't wear his after baptism gown after his baptism. It was an abnormally hot day in November of 2008. So, I guess that weather was Nicholas' Easter gain.

Kickey Kickerstein

I think our Nicholas may have the makings of a star soccer player with kicks like these.

First Easter

The Easter bunny paid a visit to Nicholas while the little guy was sleeping. The night before had been quite a rough night for the Gonzalez Family. We had to take John to the emergency room for a dislocated elbow. Grammy came over to watch Nicholas, but he was being a bit fussy and didn't stop crying for two hours. When all was said and done, everyone was able to get to sleep without any issues.

Since it was a rough night, we decided that the Good Lord would forgive us for not attending Mass. John was still walking around like he wasn't able to use his arm and Nicholas was a little tired. He did enjoy his bountiful basket of goodies. As you can see from the photo, he was rather pleased with his gifts. Thanks Easter bunny!

Later in the afternoon, we headed over to Uncle Ron and Aunt Sally's house for an early dinner, so I suppose you could call it supper, I guess. Anywho, Nicholas was supposed to wear a special outfit that Maureen had selected; however, it was a little too chilly to wear a legless romper, so he wore one of John's old outfits. John was supposed to wear it after his baptism, but I guess he didn't for some reason. Anywho, everyone just loved Nicholas.

After visiting the Zamarin house, we went to visit the Gonzalez Grandparents. There, Nicholas was the star since he is the baby. He'd willingly go to everyone except for Uncle Robert. I'm not sure why, but he just freaked out and cried. Oh well, life went on. That boy was spoiled. He got passed from family member to family member. Let's just hope he doesn't get used to being held too much. I think we may be too late.