Savor The Days

Well, we'll be having our little girl on Monday, October 20th (unless she decides to come sooner) and I don't expect to try to keep up with a blog for each child. Therefore, I won't be posting to Nicholas Footprints anymore. Instead, please check our our new family blog called Savor the Days at www.savorthedays.blogspot.com. See you there!

Hunting Panthers

This morning, Stuart was doing some work in the backyard while Nicholas played nearby. At one point, I went out to check on them and Nicholas informed me that, "I'm hunting panthers so I can make Panther Nuggets!" Oh, yummy Panther Nuggets. Guess I won't have to worry about what to make for dinner tonight!

Making a Birthday Card

Nicholas loves to make birthday cards for people. He has a big "art cart" that we roll out to the kitchen table and he has all kinds of neat supplies to choose from - paint, crayons, markers, stickers, foam stamps, yarn, magazine cutouts, pipe cleaners, craft sticks, etc. Yes, I think my love for arts and crafts has rubbed off on him a little bit.

Here he is working on a birthday card for one of his teachers. He did the art work and wrote his name then he told me what I could help write on the card for him.









Nicholas writes well but he writes really large so he often can't even get his whole name on one line. But this is a common for beginner writers so I don't say much about it. However, it does kind of bug me when he runs out of space and then he just crams the rest of the letters in nearby. See the card above how he wrote the S above the A when he ran out of space. It drives me a little crazy but I just bite my tongue. He's doing great and will work this out in his own time.

Super Sibling!

This weekend Nicholas attended a class at the hospital where his little sister will be born. The class is for 3-5 year olds who are about to become a big brother or sister. The class was really great and we all enjoyed it.

The children started with decorating a foam picture fram that we will put in the baby's bassinet once she is born so the first face she wakes up to is her big brother looking over her.



Next we all watched a video about how to be a "Super Sibling!". It was a great presentation of what to do and what not to do with a little baby. For example, it showed a cat carrying its kitten by the nape of the neck. Then they asked, "Is this how your mommy will carry your sister?" And of course all the children said, "NO!" The video then talked about how to properly carry a baby. Next all of the children got on the floor in a circle for storytime and to look at pictures of real babies.



The next part was really fun. Each children got their own baby doll and blanket and they learned how to properly swaddle a newborn. Nicholas did great and loved holding the little baby.





Nicholas was impressing us with his big brother skills and soft gentle touch. Then we saw this....



Do we squeeze the baby by the head? NO!

Each child also got a medical hat, mask, and gown like all of the daddies will wear in the delivery rooms.



Finally, we all took a tour of the hospital. The children got to see how neat the bed are and how the buttons can make them move in different ways. They also got to see a couple of real newborns in the nursery.

Of course, Nicholas got most excited with the revolving door as we were leaving. What fun!

Starving Our Child?

Tonight we were running some errands and we were all getting a little hungry. Nicholas said that he wanted to go to a restaurant to eat - He loves going out to eat just like his Mommy :) Anyway, we were trying to just get home and make some dinner but he kept on and on about wanting to go to a restaurant. Finally he said, "But we HAVE to go to a restaurant. You don't want me to starve do you?" Yes, he gets a little melodramatic at times :)

Glow in the Dark Tattoos

Nicholas loves glow sticks and flashlights and he loves Halloween. So when I saw this pack of glow in the dark temporary tattoos, I just had to get them.



Nicholas loved going through them all and picking out two that he wanted to try out tonight. He picked a spider web and a creepy guy carrying a pumpkin.







Check out the cool picture that Stuart got of the tattoo glowing in the dark. Awesome!

This Week at Preschool

My birthday was on Tuesday of this past week and apparently Nicholas told his teachers about it because they helped him make 2 birthday cards for me plus a little bouquet of carnations. He was so proud to be able to give me these gifts on his own.

Montessori Works:
Nicholas did a great job on a push pin work. This project takes a lot of time and can be rather tedious but is great for strengthening the pinceer grip used in writing. The student has a small piece of paper with a simple design on it, in this case an outline of a tulip, and he uses a push pin to punch small holes in the outline. He does this until the entire design is perforated and he can just punch out the tulip. Nicholas usually gets bored with it very quickly but this week he finished two push pin projects and he says, "I took my time and worked really hard on them."



Nicholas also worked on metal insets and sorting.

Language:
Nicholas learned the following sight words: the, to, pig, wig, and x-ray. He continued to practice his musical phonics. This week the class focused on the sounds of C and X.

Math:
Nicholas learned how to use the Table Top Blue and Red Rods and he played addition games with them. He is quite good at basic addition and subtraction. He often adds and subtracts numbers together just for the fun of it.

Good Shepherd lesson:
Exodus

The class got to see the x-rays of another student who had hurt his arm. Nicholas really enjoyed telling me all about it.

Baby Shower Fun

Nicholas and I got to participate in a fun event today. Stuart's boss, Karen, secretly invited us to a surprise baby shower for Stuart. I didn't tell Nicholas until this morning after Stuart had left for work to be sure that the secret didn't leak out. Nicholas was so excited about surprising Daddy that he talked about it all morning.

We headed out to Plano later in the day. Karen had people watching Stuart so she knew when it would be safe for us to sneak in. We got to the room where the shower would be and Nicholas instantly discovered the pink and white balloons on the floor. Boy, did he have a blast! I had told him to be still and quiet and not too disruptive since this was where Daddy works and we had never met most of these people that were going to be at the shower. He promised to behave but when you throw balloons into the mix, well, it's all over. He ran around throwing balloons up in the air, kicking them, and rolling around on them for a good 15 minutes before we had to get him to settle down because the party was about to start.



I was so impresed by all of the work that Stuart's boss and his team had gone to in order to make this shower special. There were tons of presents, two cakes, lots of decorations, and about 30 people in attendance.





Karen finally brought Stuart into the room and we all said, "Surprise!" Stuart looked shocked and didn't want to walk into the room at first. He was so overwhelmed that he didn't even notice that Nicholas and I were there at first but Nicholas couldn't help but run over to see his Daddy. It was so much fun.



Everyone had filled out advice cards for raising a little girl and Stuart read them aloud. There were some really sweet ones and some really funny ones.

Next Stuart opened presents and again we were both overwhelmed by the generosity and thoughtfulness of everyone who put this together. Not only did the baby get lots of gifts but Nicholas got three gifts as well - a dump truck toy, a t-shirt that says, "I'm a big brother", and a book about being a big brother. Needless to say, Nicholas was thrilled. He ran over to one of the ladies to tell her thank you and kissed her on the cheek.





Nicholas also had lots of fun playing with the baby toys.



He was also very excited when Karen told him that he could take the balloons home and she got giant bags to put them in. Nicholas was so proud!



As excited as he was all morning and considering all of the exercise he got playing with the balloons, it was no surprise that Nicholas fell asleep shortly after we left the party to head home. He was one tired little guy!



Later tonight we met with our Bible study group. We knew that they were doing "something for the baby" but we were just execting a cake or something. Instead they had the room decorated with pink balloons and a cute banner welcoming the baby. And there were more presents - we are blessed to have such thoughtful friends! Check out the diaper cake. Isn't that cool?! It is made of little diapers wrapped around a tub of baby wipes. I know it will come in handy but I hate to ever have to disassemble it!





We had a great time at the shower and we did actually do a little of our Bible study. While the adults were busy with the shower and the Bible study, the kids were upstairs making a scene from Daniel in the Lion's Den. Each child made their own lion for the den.



Nicholas and his buddy also had fun playing with costumes.



Of course, Nicholas loved getting more balloons, especially the giant baby balloon. Here's a pic of him kissing the baby...

Do They Have A Button On Them?

After school today, I took Nicholas to get a haircut. He loves getting haircuts because he knows that they will give him a lollipop when he's done.

On the way home, I told Nicholas that I had a surprise for him. I told him that I had two new Halloween decorations in the front yard. He got excited and asked, "Do they have a button on them?" I knew what he meant by that question - does it have lights and sound? He just loves going to the Halloween store and seeing all of the ghoulish decorations that have red eyes that light up and make scary sounds. Well, he was a little disappointed that I didn't have anything ghoulish but he did run over to them and hold their hands.

Guess What Nicholas Is Going to Be For Halloween?

Darth Vader, of course!

Of course, depending on what day it is, he sometimes decides that he would rather be a Transformer or Batman or a Skeleton. Fortunately I was able to pick up a couple of different used costumes at Once Upon A Child consignment shop so he actually has several costumes to choose from for Halloween and to play dress up with later throughout the year.

The Nursery is Done!

Woo hoo! The nursery is done! It's a good thing too because the little baby girl will be here in less than three weeks! Now if we only had a name for her.....

The only thing I still want to do is to paint a quote above her crib that reads, "Love like you'll never be hurt, Sing like no one is listening, Dance like no one is watching, Live like it's heaven on Earth." This may not get done before she arrives but I'm working on it on figuring out how I'm going to do it. That's a lot of words to try to freehand in a straight line with a paint brush!

Here are some pictures of the nursery. I've tried to explain the perspective of the shot for those of you who haven't seen this room before.

From standing in the doorway, a view of the right side of the room where the crib is. The two floral shadowboxes above the crib were given to me by Mom many years ago. They had a dark cherry wood frame but that was too dark for the nursery so I painted the frames ivory with a burgundy trim. There is a small bookshelf next to the crib with all of Nicholas' baby board books and baby toys on it. He is enchanted by all of the baby toys that he doesn't remember ever having. If he gets the chance, he will always go in there and play with the baby stuff!



A picture of the left side of the room with the window, glider rocker, baby quilt and a piece of the open door.



This picture was taken from where the window/glider is located looking at the back right corner of the room at the dresser/changing table and closet door.



This room used to be our guest bedroom and as you can see we don't really have a place for guests in here anymore. For Granddad Owen and Grandmother Chance who both plan to visit at different times during October, we will move the glider into the office and set up a twin bed in it's place. The baby will be in a bassinet in our bedroom so you won't have to share the room with a baby crying at 3 am but it will be a little crowded in there for you :)

Preschool Pals

Here is a cute shot from our Monday playgroup. These are just some of the friends in Nicholas' preschool class.

Playing and Sharing with Friends

This morning we went to meet up with our PTA friends at the park. Nicholas had fun climbing on the playground, watching ants, and playing in the pine needles and dirt. He is all boy, isn't he?





When it was time to take a break, he headed over to a blanket where Mrs. Deb had laid out lots of books and games for the kiddos. Nicholas learned how to play the game Perfection and he really seemed to enjoy it (Keep that in mind, Santa Claus).



Then we found a table and got out our picnic lunch. Nicholas said he was so hungry but when his friend came over and said she was hungry, he didn't hesitate to offer her half of his sandwich and then he shared his strawberries with her. When there were only two strawberries left, Nicholas said that they could each have one and he let his friend choose which strawberry she wanted. When she picked the smaller of the two, Nicholas said, "Oh, I was going to let you have the bigger one." I'm so proud of him for being so generous with his friends and for understanding the importance of sharing.

More Jumping on the Bed?

I don't like Nicholas jumping on the beds. I don't care about the beds so much but I worry that the little daredevil will hurt himself with his lack of fear. However, as I was going through pictures on the camera I found several that Stuart apparently took of Nicholas jumping on our bed! Hmmmm. Yes, the jumping makes for cool pictures but now I'm going to be the "mean mommy" for telling him no jumping on the bed!

The Great Trash Bash

Our PTA group sponsors a trash pickup at one of our local parks. Each year we pass around a sign up sheet among the membership and moms sign up for one day to go pick up trash at the park. It's a great way to teach our little ones the importance of keeping our environment clean.

This week is our week for cleaning the park. We went to the library yesterday and found the perfect book to read before our expedition. It's called The Great Trash Bash by Loreen Leedy. In addition to teaching the importance of picking up after ourselves, it also touches on the 3 R's - Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. So we read our book last night and talked about our agenda for today.

I picked Nicholas up from school and asked if he wanted to stop at a convenience store for popsicles/ice cream to eat when we got to the park. He said no. Huh??! Whose child is this in my car? And more importantly, how can I stop for a popsicle if my four year old isn't wanting one? I finally managed to convince him that we should stop so we got our treats and headed to the park.



Yummy treats. Ok, time to get to work. Nicholas was excited about cleaning up the park although the park is always really clean so I knew we didn't have much work to do. Nonetheless, I came prepared so that each of us had a plastic shopping bag for our trash (REUSE!) as well as some disposable gloves to keep our hands clean. Nicholas loves wearing gloves so he was all excited to get his gear. We walked around a while finding little tiny pieces of trash and one piece of an aluminum can. It was so clean that Nicholas got bored with the lack of activity and ended up running off to play on the playground.





I'm not sure what these little plastic pellets are but they can be found at every single park in our area. They may be some kind of little BB gun pellet but I never see any kids playing with such a thing. Anyway, today Nicholas called them treasure and collected a bunch of them along with the help of another little boy who showed up to play.

Your Bedroom Makes a Four!

We were sitting at the dinner table tonight. Nicholas was talking about the running broad jump that he had been doing in our bedroom a little earlier. Suddenly he said excitedly, "Your bedroom makes a four!" It took us a minute to understand what he was talking about. However, if you think of the layout of our bedroom you can see that it makes the number four.



We were impressed at this. Even though he's never seen our bedroom from a bird's eye perspective, Nicholas was able to use spatial skills to imagine that looking down at the walkways in our bedroom would form the number 4. Amazing!

Loving His Baby Sister

Nicholas is going to be such a great big brother. He is always hugging on my belly and telling his little sister how much he loves her. He kisses my belly good night and prays for his sister at bedtime. I asked Stuart to try to take some pictures that captured this sweetness. He did a better job at it than I could have ever imagined.







Of course, it is tedious to try to have any sort of posed photo shoot with a four year old boy, especially when it is outside where there are sticks, bugs, and leaves all around that are just begging to be played with. All things considered, Nicholas did a great job of posing for the pictures. He seems to have fun at everything he does. Take this picture for example. I'm not sure what he was doing but he just looks so happy and carefree!



Once we got back home, Stuart and Nicholas played outside for a little while. They checked out one of my rose bushes and even picked the perfect rose for me. What sweeties!



They quickly headed back outside and Nicholas enjoyed playing with the sword he got at Six Flags and digging for worms.







When they were too hot and tired for any more play time, they made their way back inside where we made sno-cones to help cool off.



Nicholas usually gets a "cold headache" when he eats cold things like this too quickly. He always runs to me to cuddle so I can warm his head - he thinks it makes a difference. But this time, I got the cold headache so he ran over to me and squeezed me with all his might to try to help me feel better.





I sure do love this sweet little guy!