I love my Papai-Dada

Nicky helps his Daddy put on his shoes everyday before work!

Dear Papai,

Today you left for a 3 week trip to Brazil and already I am missing you. So I thought that I would write you little notes on my blog, and tell you how much I love you!

You give great hugs and kisses, so strong that the camera cannot capture them!
You can be fun and silly (and your fierce lion face is getting pretty good!):

I like to sit in your lap, with our big dog Inca nearby:And you understand my innocence even when I throw my cup on the floor...
We play outside on the grass, and enjoy the sunshine and rain alike.
Everyday I wake up, I say, Dada! And I crawl over to you to give you a big hug and a kiss.

Mommy and I are thinking of you all the time and can't wait til you come home.

I will write you again soon, Papai!

Love, Nicky

Party!!! Nicky's Birthday Bash!

Feliz Aniversário! Um aninho de idade!

Before the party started: lots of dogs and balloons made Nicky quite delighted!

Nicky's party was a lot of fun, even though the morning's crystal-clear blue skies gave way to rain and thunder and Nicholas napped from 4:30-5:30 (the party began at 4!). And, Mommy may have bought slightly too much food... but in any case, a good time was had by all, especially Nicky. Nicky wore his new outfit that Grandma gave him, and really enjoyed the food from the barbecue.

Mommy and me!

His great pal Katie was there, and his two"girlfriends" (who are also babies) Maria Clara and Ainsley were there to play with him.

Nicky and Maria Clara play with the Old Mac Donald truck (lots of fun!) from Grazie.

They had a ball playing with Nicky's various toys and books, including his fancy car that he received from his generous Grandma.


We were happy to have Grandpa and Grandma there, but we missed seeing the rest of the Spofford clan. Nicky and his mommy will get to see Aunt Kathy and Uncle Cos and their families this weekend in Old Forge. Uncle Jason and his family will be in the New York area in mid-July, so we can't wait to see them then!

Some of Nicky's gifts

Nicky and his Mommy and Daddy

Notably, Nicky did NOT care for the cake, which unfortunately was storebought, though embellished with fruit meant for his homemade cake. He refused to eat it!

My homemade cake remains incomplete because the heavy cream I bought for it was spoiled (despite the date being July 31st). Oh well-- we froze the cake for now and will bring it to Old Forge where we can finish it and eat it up!

Nicky definitely missed his Brazilian family but luckily we had plenty of Brazilian friends at the party and he got to sing Happy Birthday in both Portuguese and English, while the family in Brazil watched over Skype. Vovó promises we will celebrate again once we all arrive in Brazil in August! The big move is approaching!

Viva o Nicky! : )

Happy 1st Birthday, Nicky!!! Parabéns, Nicolão!

Dearest and most precious Nicholas,

Today marks one year since you were born and we got to finally meet our sweet little boy, after 9 months of eager anticipation... When you were born, you cried so loud and we felt so lucky that you were safe and healthy. Mommy held you close to her chest and Daddy, Grandma, and Tia Ashley gathered round to see -- finally see -- what you looked like. Lots of black hair! That's all we could tell.... you reminded us of your Papai... you were big for a newborn but still so small, so fragile, so amazing! Now, at one year, you are strong, funny, cuddly, vocal, and you look a lot like Mommy with blue eyes and lighter hair: life is full of surprises!

When you were born, Mommy and Daddy had a lot of learning to do: how (and how often) to change diapers, how to fold tiny clothes, how to soothe you and help you to sleep, how to get everything else done on very little sleep. Caring for your life was a tremendous responsibility and a tremendous privilege. Mommy and Daddy would awaken suddenly, scared in the night, in a sleep-fogged panic that we had lost you... and each time we would thank God that you were with us, snuggled in your blanket and sound asleep.

Watching you grow and develop over a year has been wonderful and has totally changed the way we think about ourselves, our family, and life. We are always grateful for your health and your laughter. So blessed, we imagine we have a great responsibility in taking care of you and hopefully not messing up how beautiful you already are! We want you to be happy, curious, brave, and kind... we hope you will have great dreams and seek to help all those around you.

Nicky, you have a special position in life-- you are a dual citizen, you will (and are on the way to being) be bilingual, you will have to navigate the complexity of having two families in two separate, but flowing, hemispheres. We hope it will be a rich, happy life for you! Already you are loved all over the world!

So, you have a year under your belt now, but it's just the beginning! Soon you will be walking, talking more, becoming more and more "Nicholas" with each passing day. We are excited, just as we were a year ago, to meet you and each day we will be meeting you anew.

Happy 1st Birthday, sweet Nicky! We love you with all our hearts!!!!!!!!! Enjoy your day!

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, Inca, Manny, Grandma, Grandpa, Vovo e Vovó, all your aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who love you inside and out!!

Less than a week to birthday #1!

Well, Nicky's fans, our little baby boy is almost 1 year old! The party, as previously announced, will be on Sunday at 4 pm. We will be grilling and should have cake and singing around 5:30 pm. Nicky's bedtime is around 7 or 8, but we'll play it by ear! If you didn't receive an invitation yet but want to come, just contact us in the comments section.

Nicky has been getting precariously close to walking this past week, as he will stand alone for quite some time (20-30 seconds) and will walk if we hold his hand. But he still seems a little shaky and isn't too sure of himself, so I imagine it will be within the month that he takes his first true (and repeatable) steps. Of course, everyone tells me that then we'll really be running after him, so I guess we're not in a rush for this milestone.

Nicky's daddy had a great father's day complete with little gifts, snuggling and playing with Nicky, and a fancy homecooked meal. We hope Daddy felt really special, because he certainly is to us.

In other news, we have decided that Mommy and Nicky will stay this time and not make the trip to Brazil, simply for practical reasons, and because we will be moving there in mid-August. We want a chance to spend some more time with Nicky's grandparents and aunts, uncles, and cousins in this hemisphere before we move. We also have a lot of preparations to do for the move, and someone has to care for the lawn and garden (not as easy to jet off in July as in February!). This was a hard decision but the timing of the interview and conference was less-than-perfect.

Our garden is languishing somewhat because it has been VERY rainy and we haven't had nearly enough sun. However, the collards and lettuce are doing quite well. Hopefully we get some warmer weather to ripen up our cherry tomatoes. The crows that have been harassing our strawberry patch are not as likely to be aficionados of tomatoes... we hope...

The rain has been great for the weeds (sigh!) and the pond (yay!) which is really full this year. The stream by the house hasn't stopped yet either. We enjoy the superabundance of water but a little warm weather wouldn't hurt.... However, I figure this is training for winter in Brazil (although it has been in the 60s here, and is in the 50s there). Now I have a better idea of what clothes I'll need in the winter.

Nicky is getting very excited for his party, and can't wait to see all of you who can join us to celebrate (unfortunately a lot of people are traveling!). Oh, by the way, the theme of his party (or piquenique do Nicky-- Nicky's Picnic) is Dogs! He is so passionate about dogs, and sometimes he even acts like a little cachorrinho, so it seemed appropriate!

The next time I post, Nicky will already be one! Wow! We love our little boy!

Nicky's Garden of Delights

Summer Gardening Fun! Would you like to share a berry with me?

Nicky and his mommy have been busy since mid-May with gardening, which lately has meant weeding and waiting... although we are getting nice lettuce (bunnies, keep out!), spinach, and arugula. Our garden is modest this year in anticipation of our move, but for Nicky's mom, gardening has been much easier without the giant belly (although the crawling, rock and dirt-eating baby is also a slight challenge!).

Our strawberry patch is looking wonderful this year and the early fruits have been small but cute and bright red! We've managed to save quite a few from the slugs. The next batch looks to be much larger and more prolific.

This past week Nicky and his mom worked on the flowerbeds. We found a local greenhouse, Larchwood Farms, which has gorgeous plants at a good price, and Mommy went only *slightly* insane buying six packs of impatiens, marigolds, snapdragons, coleus, etc.... And Daddy had to lug a few bags of mulch around, to his dismay. But the gardens are looking much better (hard to go down from a scraggly weed patch!).

While we were on Long Island a couple of weeks ago, we also helped Grandma plant some of her gardens. We had a great time visiting Grandma and Grandpa, and Nicky's oldest cousin Richard was there, too! Nicky got to try ribs for the first time (beware, vegetarians):


Daddy has been really busy these days preparing for a 3 day job interview in Brazil at the beginning of July. The timing of the interview, and a subsequent conference (on Bruno's 30th birthday) is unfortunate, because most of Mommy's family will be visiting the NY area and she doesn't want to miss them.... especially before she moves. But neither does she want to miss helping Nicky's dad do his best on the interview and celebrating his 30th in style!

We will hopefully figure out a good solution. Until then... we will be enjoying our summer fruits!