DJ NICKY NICK IS IN THE HOUSE

If all else fails, he can be a DJ. He's already got the moves and his Elmo DJ set is pretty kicking.

The Two Nicks

The video is rather grainy, but if you look at it closely enough, you'll see the two Nicks, Gonzalez and Lowe, playing together, sort of. Well, in any event, Nick G didn't hit Nick L, so that was a good meeting.

Happy Belated Birthday

Nicholas would like to apologize for the delay in these wishes. On Monday, December 20th, it was Aunt Kaitlin's birthday. On Thursday, December 23rd, it was Aunt "Wuwu"'s birthday. Happy Birthday.

Christmas

Nicholas still doesn't quite get what's going on. Still, he enjoyed himself. He saw family. He got some new toys, but he'd much rather play with his brother's trains, much to John's chagrin. Santa gave Nicholas a cool fire truck ride along and we gave him a Lil Zoomers Truck. John had more fun with Nicholas' toys than Nick, but that'll change. He just needs to figure things out and he's coming along just fine. He's started to take more than 2 steps at a time, so it won't be long before he's running around like John and making life miserable for Maureen and me.

Plus, he got to go to the Gaunt Ranch and look at Rocket. He didn't get to feed Rocket since he's too little, but he did enjoy the horses and dogs. Thankfully, he's not scared of animals.

First Official Visit to Santa's Cottage

Nicholas did make it over to Santa's Cottage at The Grove last year, but he was still in Maureen's womb at the time, so this was the first time he'd get some actual facetime with Santa. As usual, he really didn't know what to make of the situation. I can tell you that he probably would have rather played with a piece of toast on the floor, but he still had to be introduced to the Man in Red and White.

As we approached, Santa extended his finger. He said that if Nicholas would take his finger, then he'd probably be ok sitting on his lap. Our Nick didn't take his finger and started to cry. Maureen had to jump into the picture in the same way she did last year with John. As you can see, neither boy is crying, but they don't look too happy either. Oh well, there's always next year.

Look Who's Walking

That's one small step for mankind, but one giant step for Nicholas.

Someone Likes His Brother's Milk

As a special treat, I'll mix John some chocolate milk. Guess who wants to drink it? He doesn't quite get the mechanics of using a straw just yet, but I'm sure he'll figure it out soon enough. Besides, who can get mad at this little angel with eyes like these?

Family Dinner

Tonight, we decided to have a family dinner. I made a nice melange of yogurt and pears for Nicholas while I made some ravioli for the rest of us. Nicholas was great. He was happy. He ate everything and allowed Maureen me to finish our dinners. I can't say the same about his brother, but we are used to that. We like to call Nicholas the Good Seed. We haven't quite resorted to calling John the Bad Seed, just yet.

1-Year Check Up

Nicholas went to visit Dr. K yesterday for his one-year check up. He currently weighs 20-lbs( 10%) and is 32-inches tall (97%). Dr. K isn't worried about his weight since he's so long. Plus, the boy NEVER stops crawling around. Dr. K predicts he'll start walking within 2-weeks based on his observations and Maureen's notes.

On a side note, John still didn't like to go to the office, but he did behave himself. Dr. K even gave him a Barney sticker for visiting.

Someone Is Very Tired

Little Goo-Ga (John's name for him) woke up at 5:30 this morning and didn't want to go back to sleep. We came over to Mami and Papi's house to work on Papi's computer network, so the boys were enjoying some fun and lunch. As lunch was wrapping up, look who was falling asleep in his chair.

He's In A Big Boy Car Seat

Look at his face. He's so happy now that he gets to see the same things that John sees. Thanks to the Kaewmanapaset and Brady familys for donating their old car seats. Mommy and Daddy are ever so thankful to save a few dollars.

Grammy's Birthday Present

I think he likes it. Don't you? I know John likes it very much and doesn't want to let his brother use it. He says, "No share, baby!"

Birthday

Some of you may think our Nicholas is getting the short shrift when it comes to his birthday celebration. Don't worry, he'll have a bigger celebration.

Today, we just did what we did on John's birthday. We went to Village Pizzeria for dinner. That didn't go too well. John threw a fit, but Nicholas liked the ravioli. We picked up some cupcakes at Crumbs (the bread is too dense for my liking). And, we opened up gifts. Nicholas enjoyed himself, as you can see from the video.

John was a bit of a pill, but that's life. He had more fun opening the presents that Nicholas.

Yes, that is Cri Cri playing in the background. I'm sure Nicholas will love it when Papi sings it to him.

Year 1 - Posted a Day Early

You knew it was coming.



Music:

Sunrise Sunset - Cast of Fiddler on the Roof
Try to Remember - Jerry Orbach (Such a lovely song)
This is the Day - The The (No, it was not written specifically for the M&M's commercial)

Part 1 is always followed by Part 2.





Music:

This is the Day - The The (No, it was not written specifically for the M&M's commercial)
Cast Your Fate to the Wind - The Vince Guaraldi Trio
Five Days Old - The Laurie Berkner Band

Keep Trying

He just doesn't give up. He's awesome like that.

Big Boy

Nicholas has taken to eating and drinking in a sippy cup much better than John. John fought it all the way. Nicholas loves his chunky foods and loves his sippy cups. He's our little eating machine. And, he'll eat anything we give him. Thankfully, he, like John, take after their mother in the fact that they'll eat greens unlike daddy.

Guess Who Is Going to be 1?

Yes, our Nicholas is turning 1 on Tuesday. We went to Toys R Us this morning to get his gift. He'll probably want to play with the box and not the actual toy, but he's worth it. We also bough a gift for John so he doesn't feel left out. I learned that one from my parents.

Guess Who I Found Sleeping Next To Me This Morning?

Happy Birthday Cousin Dita

Cousin Dita turns six today. Nicholas attened her birthday party last Sunday at Grammy's house. He wasn't able to partake in the cake, pinata, or tacos, but he still did have a great time. He just loves to party down like his older brother.

Happy Birthday Ana

It's cousin Ana's birthday today. Happy birthday.

They Will Make Mama Pay For This

Bowl Cut No More

We took Nicholas to the Yellow Balloon for a haircut today. We had no clue what we could do with his hair since it so fine, but Adrianna said that she could give him a great little boy haircut. In comparisson to John's haircut this morning, this was a breeze. I didn't get coated in hair from holding a child that was kicking and screaming. I just had to take photos, video, and give popcorn to John as we waited. Sorry, I know he's not supposed to have popcorn, but I did anyway.

Nicholas, unlike John during his first haircut in 12/08, sat all by himself in the chair. He did squirm about quite a bit, but he let Adrianna work her magic. Maureen had to distract him every so often and had a lovely chat with Adrianna about John's sensory issues and occupational therapy. Don't get me started. Anywho, enjoy the video of Nicholas in the chair.

Bowl Cut

We have many names for Nicholas. Some of our favorites include: Nick, Nicky, Little Baby Boo Boos, Number 2. My personal favorite is Bowl Cut, for obvious reasons. Even though he has a hairstyle that played well on television in the eighties for cute little kids (e.g. Tootie, Joey on Gimme a Break, and Andrew Keaton on Family Ties), he wears it well.

PS, John is quite partial to Bowl Cut, but he did use Boo Boos the other day.

Trash Boy

At our wedding, we were fortunate enough to have Kenadi sitting at our table. While she regaled us with her tales of her youth, we asked about her little sister, Mimi. She told us, "She's Trash Girl."

Well, it looks like we have our own little "Trash Boy." No, he isn't licking his lips because he loves to go dumpster diving for food. He gets his mush at regular intervals. I think he just liked the Diet Coke.

Happy Birthday Uncle Robert and Belated Birthday to The Juan

Fun at the Park

This was Nicholas' first trip to our local park. He did fairly well and loved crawling around. Maureen was ok with it, but I was thinking about the germs all over the place. Plus, I fear public parks because there are children out there that do not get all their vaccinations. They may be carrying diseases that have long been erradicated in the civilized world. Enough of that nastiness.

Nicholas seemed to enjoy his trip to the park. He especially liked the swings when Maureen was pushing him. When I started to push him, he started to cry. He really loves his mother. He only likes me when I give him his bottle or throw him up in the air.

Peek-a-Boo

While visiting the Grove this weekend, we paid a visit to the Barnes and Noble children's section since there is plenty of room to roam around. Typically, we go early in the morning when there aren't many customers; however, we stopped in mid-afternoon. There were tons of tourists, but Nicholas was able to enjoy himself by crawling all over the area. He loves going up to the stage and crawling all over the place.

As you can see from the photo, he loves to stand up now. It won't be long before I'll be posting video of our little Nicholas running around. We need to enjoy these last couple of weeks before he becomes so independent that he doesn't need us anymore.

Happy Belated Birthday Lex

It was Cousin Lex's birthday yesterday. She turned 18 and was ever so excited that she was going to be able to vote today. Let's just hope she voted for what's right and not what her hippie tendancies were telling her to vote. If projections are correct, let's hope that our taxes don't go even higher in California.

Happy Halloween (2 Days Late)

Someone did really well for his first trick or treating experience. His costume had a big hump on the back, so he probably wasn't very comfortable in it. Still, being a trouper, he looked great and enchanted all.

Hay Hay Hay

While at the Grove today, there were hay bales all over the place. It looks like Trouble Gonzalez had loads of fun crawling around in the hay. As usual, guess who tried to put the hay in his mouth?

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Our Nicholas wasn't able to enjoy the pumpkin patch as much as his brother since he really can't stand by himself just yet, but it did provide a few good photo opportunities. I'm sure he'll see the picture of him and me (below) and wonder why the angry old man who only yells "No Bowl Cut!" when he's being naughty was holding him. It'll be proof that I did do other things than tell him no.

Sorry for the delay

It's been a long couple of weeks. Be on the look out for a trip to the pumpkin patch and Halloween.

Feliz Cumpleanos Mama

I Wonder What He Is Thinking

It looks to me like he's already mastered the teenage "don't bother me" look on his face.

He's So Darned Cute

This afternoon, the boys and Maureen went to lunch with Grammy at Marmelade Cafe. As usual, Nicholas didn't get to eat anything aside from his fun baby food. We're trying to fatten him up a bit. He was on the lean side at his last check up, so we want to put some meat on his bones.

The Real Little Ricky Ricardo

As you can clearly see, this boy has percussion in his soul. Look at the way he strikes the table to make a beat. It's either that or he's conducting the orchestra much like Desi Arnaz used to do on I Love Lucy.





If that weren't enough, we get a surprise cameo appearance by the singer in the house, the Famous Johnny D.

Speedy

This boy will not sit still. He's as bad as his brother. As soon as we put him down, he makes a beeline for another room.

Guess WHo Is Starting To Pull Himself Up Onto Things?

Last week, it looked like he was trying to climb onto the coffee table in my parents' living room. God help us all. It's bad enough we have Goodtime Johnny. Now, we have Chief Crawling Nick.

Flick Is Giving Us Some Problems

Little Flick won't sleep. He won't take his nap. He won't sleep through the night. Maureen is sure that a new tooth is coming in. Still, the Tylenol doesn't help. What to do with our Little Flick?

Also, I'm convinced he hates me. He cries like an onion when his mother leaves him alone with me. John didn't do that, so I'm a little sensitive about that these days.

He Needs A New Nickname

With his great hairdo, I ask you this: What should we call him? We can call him Ringo because he has a mop top. We can call him Moe because he has hair like Moe from the Three Stooges. Or, we can call him Spock since he has hair like Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek. If we keep it that way, we can just get some pointy ears and he can be Baby Spock for Halloween.

Couldn't Resist

Since they are so close in age, we couldn't resist getting them matching jammies. As you can see, Nicholas has the Little Brother jammies on.

Two Little Buddies

After the St. A's Ice Cream Social, we headed over to the Wiseman residence for a pizza party. Nicholas was in heaven because he was crawling all over the place. After about an hour, Jack woke up. When they saw each other, they were just giggling and touching each others hands. They said something to each other in gibberish and continued to giggle. I don't know what they were saying, but they sure had a good time talking.

His Crawling Is Improving

The other day, he just crawled up the step. When John tried that, he went @$$ over tea kettle (as Uncle Sean would say). I'm proud of our little crawler.

God Bless Anyone Who Has To Care for Two Children at a Time

I had both boys for about 3 hours today by myself in the morning since I had to take Nicholas to have a test checked. Now, most people would be able to say the type of test, but since I am my mother's son, I'll have to describe it. In the civilized world, it is known as a TB test, but my mother hates TB. She refers to it as "La Mala Enfermedad/The Bad Illness". Anyway, the boys were driving me absolutely batty this morning. John was crying when he dropped his yogurt. Nicholas was crying when I wasn't holding him. I'd just like to send a personal thank you to anyone who has ever watched these two little angels for us. I know it's difficult, but they are so darned cute.

9-Month Check Up

Our little Tsar had his nine month check up today. It was a so-so check up. His head is in the 87 percentile (he's a good Yucateco like that); however, his weight is in the 7th percentile. He only gained 1-lbs. in 3-months. It sure doesn't feel like that, but he's just a skotch under weight. Dr. K says that we should only give him formula and lessen his food intake. I suppose he needs to take some weight gain 4000 to build up his lean muscle mass.

Crawling at the Park

We took a nice family trip to the park again today. Look at who's motoring around on the grass. These trips to the park remind me of the trips to the park with my family. It's all come full circle.

Teeth

It may be a little fuzzy, but if you look close enough, you'll see his first two teeth. At this point, it looks like he has five. That's five in the span of two weeks. At this rate, he'll have an entire set of teeth in another month or so.

Dr. K Would Not Be Pleased

Nicholas enjoys expressing himself musically. lately, he's take to banging on anything that'll create a percussive sound. As you can see, he's pretty good. He may actually be the drummer in the family.

Happy Belated Birthday Mrs. Lowther

Poor Little Sick Baby

In retrospect, perhaps we shouldn't have gone for a walk to the fountain. Then again, that's just an old wive's tale. The elements have nothing to do with colds.

Anyway, our Nicholas was enjoying himself in the front of the double stroller. He was even banging away with a toy that Aunti Lori sent to John. Being the good brother, John shares his toys with Little Baby Precious.

This Boy Is Moving

I think that he's even faster than Johnny was at this age. His nickname should be Speedy Gonzalez! And, he has the good sense to go after a Coca-Cola product (caffeine free Diet Coke to be precise). Don't worry. He didn't drink it. He won't be allowed to drink it until he is much older.

Teeth Update

As of right now, our boy has two teeth. They are both on the bottom, but we haven't been able to get a good shot of them since he's been a bit under the weather lately. As soon as I can, I'll get a shot and upload it. We waited 9-months for those little suckers to pop out and I want to show the world.

I just realized that we waited 9-months for Tsar Nicholas to pop out and I couldn't wait to show the world! That's just one of many lattices of conincidence in life.

Sickness Update

Tsar Nicholas had a better night last night. He actually slept for longer stretches of time (3 hours or so) before his stuffy nose woke him up.

Happy Belated Birthday

Nicholas' friend, Uncle Albert, had his birthday yesterday. I won't say how old, but it sure is old. ANywho, I was a bit preoccupied with two sick babies and forgot to put up a birthday wish. Sorry.

Guess Who Is Sick?

Last night, Maureen got home from work and said, "I think Nicholas may have a cold. His nose is runny. He's sneezing. And, he just doesn't seem like himself." To that, I replied, "Oh now, he's just teething. He's got the teething symptoms." Sure enough, I talked to my dad who said, "I think Nicholas may have a cold. He's been sneezing quite a bit and his nose is very runny."

Next time anyone asks for my opinion, I'm keeping my mouth shut because I am oblivious to sick babies. My first clue should have been the big boogie that I picked from his nose.

Hair Style

See, we can still do all sorts of interesting things with Nicholas' hair. It's not so bad. It's grown somewhat.

Walking with Dinosaurs

Nicholas slept through most of the first act, but he was wide awake for the second act. He even got a bottle as the asteroid was about to impact in the Yucatan to wipe out the dinosaurs. He had a good time and he was quite good for his first time to Staples Center.

The Crawl

After months of trying, he finally gets the job done. It's been a big week. Nicholas gets his first tooth and he starts to crawl.

Eating Monster

Our Nicholas still has no teeth. The first have almost broken through, but that doesn't stop our little baby (he's not so little any more) from enjoying his savory meals. I'm not quite sure what he's eating, but he does love sweet potatoes.

I'm pretty sure the teeth will break through in the next couple of days. I can see little white tips on his gums. It looks like 2 on the top and two on the bottom are going to break through.

Dumb and Dumber?

Maureen seems to think that I cut Nicholas' hair a bit too much like Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber. Grammy doesn't like the cut at all. We know how particular she can be when it comes to her grandsons' hair. Anywho, I'd like to say that it's not easy to cut a little boys hair. I didn't go to barber college. I didn't go to the Marinello School of Beauty like Jonathan Antin. I'm just a pencil pusher. Don't judge my skills too harshly. I've only been cutting my sons' hair for about 6-months. I think I'm getting better, but obviously, others think differently.

He Just Loves Sitting in High Chairs

Our Nicholas is just so grown up these days. He hates being in a stroller and just loves sitting in his high chair at restaurants. Soon, he won't even need to sit in high chairs. He'll be all grown up. Until then, we'll just treasure our little Nick.

At one point, he was so tired he grabbed his woobie, cuddled up with it, and put his head down on the table. He's good about not trying to disturb others. He's considerate like that. If only we could get Goodtime Johnny to be like that, we'd all be so much happier.

Fun At Trader Joe's

Today, we decided to do something a little different. As much as we hate to admit it, our Nicholas is growing up into a fine little boy. He's no longer the little lumpy baby who can't sit up. This is the first time he sat in cart at a grocery store. He had loads of fun. He's even better than John was at that age. Back then, John would just sag and actually fall asleep in the cart. See how happy he looks. We're going to Tony P's later tonight and I'll post photos of him in his high chair.

Happy Birthday Mia

I hope you enjoyed your birthday even if it was the first day of school.

Congratulations

Nicholas is proud to have a new friend, Rebekah Karin Meneses. She was born today. Congratulations to proud parents, Saira and AJ.