Two Months Old! Dois Meses!

Hey everyone! Oi gente! I am having a great day today! I hope you are too! Estou muito feliz hoje! Espero que você também esteja feliz!

Today marks Nicky's two month b-day. He is around 14 and a half pounds still and looks very healthy! He is mommy's pal and will soon be helping her write her thesis. He's been very conversational lately, saying ah-goo, ga, and most vowel sounds. Today I think I heard a "la". And sometimes it sounds like he's saying "hi" or "hello"... at any rate, he likes to talk and smile!

Hoje é o "aniversário" de dois meses do Nicholas. Pesa 6.6 kg (mais ou menos) e é muito saudável. Ele é o amiguinho da mãe dele e logo ele dará uma ajuda nela para ela escrever a tese. O Nicky gosta muito de bater o papo, e fala a-gu, ga, e os sons dos vogáis. Hoje eu acho que ouvi uma "la". As vezes parece como se ele estivesse dizendo "oi" ou "alô"... de todas maneiras, ele gosta de falar e sorrir!

A busy week for Nicholas

Sammi and Nicky having a chat!

Sammi e Nicky batendo o papo!

Nicholas is now 8 weeks old (or rather, it's been 8 saturdays since his birth) and is approaching the 2 month mark on August 28th. He's pretty excited about that, since he will be getting his new Rainforest bouncer (from Alicia and Ben), having nearly outgrown the comfy-cozy bouncer he inherited from his girlfriend, Maria Clara.

O Nicholas agora tem 8 semanas (ou melhor, faz 8 sábados desde que nasceu) e alcançando dois meses de idade, que cumprirá dia 28 de agosto. Ele está muito empolgado porque vai ganhar uma nova cadeirinha, pois ele já não cabe mais na cadeirinha que ele ganhou da namorada, Maria Clara.

Nicky has gotten incredibly more social this week. He is smiling much more, and playing games with us (the tongue game, in particular, where we stick our tongues out at each other). He also likes to have conversations. For his Grandpa Tenney's 73rd birthday, Nicky got to see his Uncle Stevie, Aunt Barb, and cousin Sammi. And it was just incredible: Sammi, who is ten, still remembers how to speak Baby! And she and Nicholas had some amazing conversations. I asked her the trick, and she told me, "You just repeat back what the baby says!" Sure enough, Nicholas finds this technique the perfect stimulus for a lengthy chat.

O Nicky se tornou muito mais sociável essa semana. Ele está sorrindo muito mais, e brincando conosco (o jogo da língua, por exemplo, onde mostramos as línguas um para o outro). Ele também gosta de bater o papo. Para o aniversário de 73 anos do vôvô Tenney, Nicky viu o tio Stevie, a tia Barb, e a prima Sammi. E foi incrível: a Sammi, quem tem 10 anos, ainda lembra como se fala o idioma dos nenês. Ela e o Nicholas tiveram algumas conversas longas e animadas. Eu perguntei para ela como ela fez isso e me falou, "Só tem que repetir o que o nenê falar!" O Nicholas realmente gosta dessa maneira de bater o papo.

We continue to be astounded by Nicholas' rapid growth. He is over 14 lbs (our scale is not reliable enough to say anything more exact than this), and about 24 inches long. He also sports an enormous head, with about 16.5 inch circumference. Nicholas, his Grandma Barbara, and I were at the Ithaca Farmer's Market yesterday (it took us 8 weeks to get there; the last time we tried to go, I went into labor!!) and we saw a multitude of babies. All seemed to be older than Nicky, but many had smaller heads, for sure!

Seguimos assombrados com o crescimento rápido do Nicholas. Já pesa mais de 6.4 kg (nossa balança não é muito exata e pode ser que pese um pouco mais o menos) e tem 61 cm de altura. Também é cabeçudo, com uma circunferência de 42 cm. Nicholas, a vóvó Bárbara, e eu estávamos no Ithaca Farmer's Market ontem (só conseguimos ir depois de 8 semanas; da última vez que planejamos ir, eu entrei em trabalho de parto!) e vimos muitos nenês. Todos eles pareciam ser mais velhos do que o Nicky, mas a maioria tinham cabeças bem menores!

Nicky also had a visit from Paula and José Carlos, who brought him some very nice outfits, including a chullu and a chompa from Peru! I have had to put away many of Nicholas' 0-3 month outfits, as he has gotten too chunky for them! But even many of the 3-6 month outfits are getting tight. Sigh... Moral of the story: Don't buy your baby too many clothes!! They grow very fast... but we are hoping we'll be able to use them again in a few years for Nicholas' sibling(s).

O Nicky também recebeu uma visita da Paola e do José Carlos, que lhe trouxeram umas roupinhas lindas, incluindo um chullu e uma chompa do Peru! Eu tive que guardar muitas roupas do Nicholas do tamanho 0-3 meses, porque ele já está gordinho demais para elas! Mesmo assim, algumas das roupinhas tamanho 3-6 meses já estão apertadas. Suspiro... Moral da história: não compre muitas roupas para o seu nenê!! Eles crescem rápido demais... embora nós esperemos poder usar a roupa outra vez daqui há uns anos para o(s) irmãozinho(s) do Nicholas.

And, in perhaps the happiest news, Nicky has slept 6 hours in a row the past two nights! Of course this meant he had to have his dinner when I wanted to have mine, and drank so much milk that I didn't have enough for him.... luckily we had a bottle in the fridge, which he quickly and passionately consumed.

E tal vez a notícia mais feliz é que o Nicky dormiu seis horas seguidas durante as últimas duas noites! Claro que isso significa que ele teve que jantar ao mesmo tempo que eu, e que ele bebeu tanto leite que eu não tinha suficiente para ele... por sorte tínhamos uma mamadeira cheia na geladeira, a qual ele engoliu rapidinho, e com paixão.

He is doing so well, and we feel so blessed! And in fact, Bruno's thumb is healing well, and we made a nice "Hailstorm" relish from the green tomatoes that got knocked off the vine. The summer squash and couve are regenerating as well. And the sunflowers are blooming!

De fato, tudo está indo muito bem. O Nicholas está forte e saudável e nos sentimos muito afortunados! O dedão do Bruno está melhorando, e fizemos uma conserva gostosa usando os tomates verdes que caíram das plantas durante a tempestade de granizo. As abobrinhas e a couve também têm nova vida. E os girassóis estão em flor!

Rock Star Nicky!

At seven weeks, Nicholas has decided he is ready for a new look. Last night, after enjoying a nice bath, he had me spike his hair. Feeling cool, he then asked me to see how he looks with his daddy's shades on. The answer: totally awesome! Nicholas now weighs somewhere around 13 or 13.5 pounds. Now, after his photo session, he is enjoying a good nap with his pacifier.

Agora que o Nicholas tem sete semanas, queria mudar de estilo. Ontem à noite, depois de tomar banho, ele resolveu mudar seu pendeado. Então colocou os óculos do pai dele para ver como ficaria. A resposta: legal para caramba! O Nicholas, aos 48 dias de vida, pesa 6kg. Agora, depois da prolongada sessão de fotos, ele está tirando uma boa soneca no seu antigo estilo: de chupeta na boca e roncando feito um cabritinho...

Day of Calamity!

Bruno's first (Brazilian) Father's Day was memorable, to say the least...not only for his time spent with Nicky, but- unfortunately- also for a trip to the Emergency Room and the near-decimation of our garden by a freak hailstorm!! Bruno injured his left thumb while building the workshop and the cut was severe enough to require stitches (see above). Not exactly a day of fishing and cold beers! We returned home at around 6:30 pm, remarking on the storm clouds one valley over from ours. Around 45 min. later, amidst tentative thunder and lightning, huge hail started to POUR from the sky for around 20 minutes! It was so loud we couldn't go out on the porch. The ground was covered with ice, and some larger accumulations, like where it slid off the roof, remain today! The temperature fell around 15 degrees! My goodness, it was like nothing I have ever seen! Leaves were flying from the sky, and today the whole lawn is covered with shredded leaves, and many trees look denuded. How sad! And worst of all is our garden. The tomatoes are bruised, the sunflowers have holes in the leaves, my gorgeous pepper plants are naked, the squash have NO leaves left at all, the corn is in ribbons... aye... we are hoping, if the sun ever warms up this weird August world, that our plants will regenerate. But it is very late in the season, and it's somewhat unlikely, as the plants were nearly mature and producing vegetables and fruit. Hopefully our tomatoes will still be able to ripen, and our sunflowers bloom!

Still, this odd Dia dos Pais offers us an important lesson: the work of a whole season may be lost in minutes... Our lives, and all that we enjoy and love, are very fragile and brief. Even a notion as simple and common as this can rattle you to your core when it becomes real, present, tangible. It makes me think about how Nicholas, so small and vibrant, so beautiful, and in many senses the culmination of our lives, is also so fragile, and so precious. It's urgent we keep perspective and treasure our time together; the trajectory of our lives may take us in unexpected directions.

Feliz dia dos Pais!

Feliz dia dos Pais!!

Pai, embora sou muito pequeno e meu português está com problemas, queria lhe dezir que no poderia ter pedido um pai melhor do que o senhor: já é, depois de estas seis semanas, meu grande amigo, com olhar de menino, mas também com a sabeduria de um gran homem. O senhor é sempre pronto e atento comigo, tranquilo e meigo. Gosto tanto de assistir disenhos animados com o senhor, deitar na rede ao seu lado, explorar a horta nos seus braços fortes, e escutar as histórias e memórias que o senhor me conta. Com o senhor vou aprender a viver: que menino afortunado sou eu! Muito obrigado, pai, por tudo que o senhor faz por mim e minha mãe, por tudo que o senhor é, e luta para ser. Te amo!!!

Splish-Splash! Six Weeks/ Seis semanas

Oi gente!! Hello Everybody!!

Gosto de tomar banho! Splish Splash!!

Nicholas is now almost 6 weeks old. His growth has slowed, and his weight has been holding steady at 12.8 lbs (5.8 kg) this week. Nonetheless, he's outgrowing his size 3 months clothes already! He is sleeping a bit longer at night, and has decided he really likes taking a bath (he used to scream bloody murder with the sponge baths). He makes lots of fun sounds when he's playing--"laughs", squeals, and coos. Nicky is excited that his Grandpa and Grandma Spofford, as well as cousin Thomas, will be here for a visit in about a week and a half. Nicky also enjoyed hiking with Mommy and Inca at Shindagin Hollow park this week!

Logo logo vou escrever mais em português para os fãs brasileiros do Nicholas! Será bom treinamento para mim ... embora seja um pouco difícil para vocês decifrarem o que eu escrever! Mandamos muitos beijos...

Sorriso do Abobrão!!

Nicholas has been smiling a lot more lately and yesterday we finally captured a few of his cute expressions with the camera. He was very happy talking with his pai in the rede! Earlier he was hanging out in the garden near the giant pumpkin vine!

A true Cornellian...

Nicholas is a Big Red Bear himself: he now weighs over 12 pounds (5.5 kg)!! He is gaining about a pound a week. No wonder his Brazilian grandparents call him abobrão (big pumpkin)!