Hi friends! There's a lot of photos below - but first I'm going to catch you up on what's going on in my life and Sister's life right now. I'm still really enjoying being a big brother. I love giving Nyx kisses and hugs every day, and I love that she gets to come drop me off and pick me up from school. It messes with her naps a bit, but maybe she will learn to be super flexible! She is getting bigger and bigger, but she is still pretty small - not even 11 pounds yet! She is still rocking the 2nd percentile for weight, but she is super tall like me. I was fatter than she is at this age, but that's because Mama and Dada stuffed me like foie gras with my "tubie". Miss Nyx is generally skeptical of the world, but she does give us some awesome smiles sometimes. She can roll over, but only when she feels like it - other times she just gives up and lays her head down on her play mat and screams until someone rescues her. I'm not allowed to pick her up yet, but I help her roll onto her back which makes her happy. She really likes to stand up all the time - she is pretty strong, but not as strong as Hercules! She is also more fun now that she has found her voice and she makes all sorts of silly sounds. Mama is working very hard to get her to say "Mama" as her first word!
I'm "four and three-quarters" now, and I like to remind everyone of this fact! I'm still loving my school and my friends. Swim lessons have started again which makes me super happy. I'm learning to float on my back and dive to the bottom of the pool. I even tried the butterfly stroke last week for the first time! I still go to gymnastics once a week and now I've started soccer on Saturdays. I know all my uppercase letters and am learning my lowercase letters (though I don't much care for this whole "reading" thing!). I know what sounds all the letters make so Mama is hoping to get me reading soon! I like numbers more, though I still don't like the number 13 and routinely skip it when counting. I do Splash Math most nights with Dada - I like that its a game and I don't feel like it is work! I'm doing some algebra already!
My favorite things to do at school are working on making "books" with my drawings in them, tracings of different countries and found objects. My plan is to sell them to make a lot of money someday so that I can go to college. I'm loving our new backyard and helping Mama in our flower and vegetable gardens.
When I grow up I still want to be an Engineer and Mama's sous chef! I love to help her chop and cook and am actually getting quite proficient with all the kitchen tools. I make my breakfasts all by myself, except a grown up has to turn on the stove!
We had some more professional family photos done!
Here I am, Talking about my goal to dig a hole to China
In honor of Earth Day, I learned some new songs!
Tummy time!
Take two!
sissy found her feet!
...and she found her voice too!
Here's our new backyard! I finally have grass, but I love the firepit the most. My awesome parents let me help build fires!
Playing on our new lawn!
Nyx can roll over!
Planting flowers with Dada - I got to pick out every single plant (which is why they are all different colors, shapes and sizes!)
All done planting vegetables (and my random rose bush) with Mama!
Sissy Nyx all dressed for our gardening day
Installing a new water hose bib with Grandpa
All cute for a random school day
Loving swim lessons!
Nyx in the Bumbo at 3 months (adjusted age)
Me in the Bumbo at 5 months (adjusted age)
Me in the Bumbo at age 4-and-three-quarters (not adjusted!)...now my bottom gets stuck a little, but I'm so skinny I can still fit!
Nyx rocking Mama's jammies from 1977...she's a little diva!
Mama in 1978 - 3 months old
Baby Nyx in April 2016 - 3 months old - in the same dress!
Super Dada!
Good morning sleepy heads!
I got "breakthrough chicken pox" or some other awesome illness...despite all those awful shots Mama makes me get at the doctor's office!
Mama and Dada have figured out how to handle life with two kids...not sure if it is Nyx or myself who make them drink more...
Nyx gets placed in some weird locations
The colander in the sink!
Sleepy sissy likes holding onto her bottle
Keevah's first swing ride --- she doesn't quite fit!
Teaching sissy how to swing!
Dinner with friends - I got dressed by myself and picked out my own outfit! I love ties and looking fancy
At a party with friends, eating cookies off a string!
With Felix on a rope swing
Loving playing with Felix!
I love helping bathe sissy
Happy girl!
Cute pic of Mama and Nyx
Sissy with Gee
With Grandpa, Gee and Nyx at the park
Loving my moments with Grandpa - they're gone for 6 weeks right now, so I had to get extra fun time in before they left for Italy and Jordan!
...and finally for your viewing pleasure - my favorite photo currently:
I love it when Sissy toots - but this one I found HILARIOUS and laughed for at least 10 minutes! All over Mama's pants and hands. Whoops! I NEVER did that!
OK - so this post is way overdue. My whole family has been sick with a nasty virus for WEEKS! In my short life, I've had pink eye TWICE, along with some yucky tummy aches and snotty noses. We can thank big brother Hercules for this - he brings home all sorts of germs from preschool! I'm still not back to myself yet (though Mama isn't quite sure what that is anymore, as I've had this bug 1/3 of my life!). I've been enjoying lots of extra cuddles with Mama and Dada since I've been under the weather - I'm going to milk this one for all it's worth!
Despite my infirmed state, I've still learning all sorts of new tricks. I can smile and make some funny noises. I'm still figuring out how to use these vocal cord things for laughing, but I can snort and shriek pretty good! I have rolled over from my tummy to my back several times - I'm WAY advanced in this department compared to my big brother. I can hold my head up quite well and enjoy playing airplane game with Mama and Dada. I'm only in the 2nd percentile for weight at 9.5 pounds for a 2.5 month adjusted kiddo, but I'm tough!
Mama is back to work now, which I don't like too much, but I'm getting to know my nanny Miss Heather, and spending extra time with Gee & Grandpa when they come to visit. They can't seem to stay away for more than a week - I'm just too cute for them to resist my company!
First I'm going to show you some gratuitous cute pictures of myself, then some of big brother doing cool big boy things...and then we get to Easter!
This is Declan at 9 pounds as well...do you think we look alike?
Out for a ride in my !
In the "buggy" that Mama and Uncle Ben rode in as babies at Gee's house
Aren't those some adorable pictures of me? Everyone says I look just like my big brother Hercules when he was a baby. Mama and Dada have a harder time believing that since I have way more dark hair, a darker complexion and a more angular face...but they nod and smile whenever people say it!
Bath time with big brother! My face only slipped under the water for a split second!
Freshly bathed! Do you think I'm going to have curly hair? Only I know the truth!
Woe is me!
I visited Elk Grove and met Great Grammie for the first time. She's a pretty cool lady and I really enjoyed her holding me.
Four generations of ladies!
And one photo with big brother in it too!
OK - big brother is a busy busy boy these days. I get hauled around constantly so that whichever grownup I'm with can keep an eye on him. He's pretty responsible and independent, but he tends to think he can do more than what he really can or should. I find it amusing to watch him figure everything out. He is my inspiration!
Declan making a volcano with Dada
...and again with Grandpa!
Declan and Dada hanging the home-made solar system on brother's ceiling!
Hanging out with the men in my life. Life is good!
Everytime we visit Elk Grove, Grandpa gives big brother the most amazing bubble baths! I can't wait to get in on that action
Easter came! The giant bunny rabbit was pretty creepy but I held myself together and went along with the humiliation of being held by a large glorified rodent. Big brother certainly enjoyed it, though it may have been the candy more than the bunny that he was after.
Pre-Easter coordinating outfits! Mama is having way too much fun with this!
Coloring Easter Eggs with friends Clare and Vera
Easter morning we joined hundreds of families at Kennedy Park for an Easter Egg hunt!
Mama made us get all dressed up - even though big brother was going to be rolling around in the grass!
This is how big brother reacts when I cry...sometimes I cry just to see the funny faces he makes!
The House boys
Mama and her babies
Big brother got to go inside a firetruck. My turn next!
The line for the Easter bunny was really long, so we settled on photos with Snoopy!
You're welcome for my cute smile!
Mama loved the back of my dress!
Loving Mama...and wearing my perpetual skeptical look.
Hercules is making a sunshine cake for Dada's birthday, and I didn't make it too easy on them - I fussed until Mama caved and wore me in the Moby wrap - my happy place!
I'm getting stronger! Tummy time!
Gratuitous cute baby photo
We also had an Easter Egg hunt at our house! Somehow the Easter bunny snuck into our yard to hide special treats! I was not particularly impressed but big brother was!
Hercules dressed himself in as many contrasting patterns and colors as possible.
Big brother got stamps in his Easter basket and decided to decorate my tummy. I have a feeling this won't be the last time...
Playing "bed" with Mama and big brother
And finally - my big Nyx Celebration party is coming up in a few months - which means that Mama finally was able to convince Dada to landscape the backyard - formerly known as Declan's mudpit. So here's a preview!
