Happy 11 months birthday!

Dearest Nicky,

11 months! Just one month and you're a whole year old? How can this be?? Now, you are clapping your hands, climbing onto the couch, waving at everyone (our little ambassador), dancing with Grandma, laughing yourself silly... you are a special, bright little boy! You're full of life and light and surprises, everyday is fun by your side. You put the blocks in the box, take them out, stack them up, read your books, climb inside the box, climb on top of the box, throw the ball, bounce the ball, bite the ball...

We are looking forward to your party. Nicky's fans: keep your eye out for your invitation, but the party will be a picnic at our house the afternoon of June 28th, a Sunday.


Dearest Nicky, we'll have a lot of fun on your birthday, and on everyday with your great sense of humor, and your loving and mischievous ways!

Lots of hugs and kisses,

Mommy, Daddy, Inca, Manny, and all the rest of your friends and family!

*****

We'd also like to congratulate our friends on "graduating" this May (anticipating their B-exams for their PhDs this summer): Erik, José Carlos, and Leo!

Unfortunately Nicholas overslept and we missed the ceremonies... oops! But we did get a nice photo of Jose, Bruno and Nicky:

More and More Teeth...

O dentuço... ! Nicky now has 5 teeth on top and, in addition to his two teeth in the bottom front, he has a big molar coming through the gum on the right side. It's already half way through. Toothy baby!

Although this may lead him to be a little testy at times, he is excited: new chewing capabilities! More and more and more FOOD! Mmmmm....

We have been spending a lot of time outside lately, planting the garden, weeding, jogging, and walking.We got a free (older) baby backpack off of Craigslist, which is just great! Nicky loves it and it allows us to go hiking; also, Mommy can actually garden and weed with him in there without too much trouble, though he sometimes gets bored and complains. We all (except for old Manny) went for a short hike over at Shindagin Forest earlier this week to see all the beautiful little wildflowers growing. It was tiring to lug Nicky around in the pack, but definitely enjoyable, and relatively comfortable.

Here in Brooktondale, all the leaves are pretty much out now, after our 6 months of winter... It's great to enjoy our last summer on our beautiful property. Saturday is the annual plant sale at Ithaca High School and we'll get some nice ones for our garden! We are still waiting to see if the financing will come through for the people buying our home, which is taking much longer than we anticipated. We are eager for more certainty so we can plan our move!

We are planning some trips this summer, and we hope to see as many of Nicky's Fans as possible.

Nicky's Mama had a great first Mother's day, complete with pretty topaz necklace, fancy card, and a waterfront dinner at the Boatyard Grill. Oh-- and she got to sleep in! Nicky's Dad did a great job making her feel special and appreciated. Unfortunately, Nicky is boycotting saying "mama"-- he grins and says "Dada!" any time we suggest the word to him... he loves to imitate whatever sounds we offer that are in his repertoire, but not Mama!

Nicholas is also getting better at standing alone -- I have seen him stand for 5-10 seconds before plopping on the ground. I don't think he is very close to walking yet; I imagine around his first birthday he'll take his first steps.

He has been going to playgroup for the past few weeks and his working on learning how to share and play with other babies!

All in all, Nicky is doing just great and would love to wave hello to all of you!