A trip to Chuck E Cheese....

Personally, I don't think they make enough antibacterial gel in the entire world to clean up after a trip to Chuck E Cheese - but Nicholas certainly enjoyed it! I didn't realize they had a whole toddler area with rides. Nicholas' favortie ride was the car ride with Chuck E Cheese sitting in the passenger seat. The best part of the ride was that it took his picture every time he rode it so atleast we got some extra photos! A lot of the rides had steering wheels and lots of light up buttons which are Nicholas' favorite thing to play with these days. Dan was brave enough to climb into the big tunnel system that hangs from the ceiling with Nicholas. Nicholas wasn't super psyched on that but the slide down sure was fun :)

12 month stats.....

Well, Nicholas had to suffer thru 3 shots but was thrilled when the doctor said he didn't have to give up his formula yet! So I guess we will just keep plugging away at offering him real food and see if he likes it. Here are his 12 months stats.. our little guy is trimming down :)


weight = 25 lbs, 5 oz (80th percentile)
height = 31" (86th percentile)
head circumference = 48cm (90th percentile)

Nicholas' Birthday! And a trip to the aquarium....

Nicholas was up bright and early on his birthday morning! We started out the day going to Dunkin Donuts since mommy and daddy were still tired from cleaning up from the party the night before. Then we opened a few more presents before packing up and heading to the Mystic Aquarium. Nicholas enjoyed the beluga whales, sea lions, sharks and some of the different fish tanks at the aquarium. He really enjoyed walking around outside by the whales and playing in the tunnels!

I love my new fire truck! Thanks so much Auntie Cindy, Uncle Jack, Jackie, Ryan & Bethany :)



It's fun to play on my new drum set....



YAY it's my brithday!!! Let's celebrate with EXTRA cheerios!!



These tunnels are awesome! Hope I don't get stuck because it's a tight squeeze for mommy & daddy!



Look at that one dad...



Come on dad .... I'll race ya!



One fish.... two fish .....



Dad, make the sea lion come back around!



Did you see that shark!?



Nicholas was not a fan of the birds. We thought for sure he would love them after having fun touching all the animals at the zoo ...



Whoa .... now that is a big whale!




I could do this a million times ..... and he did!!

Nicholas' Birthday Party

Nicholas' birthday party was a huge success! We had about 50 people come by for the event. It wasn't quite as warm and sunny as we had hoped but with the pool heated to 90 degrees it still got plenty of use :) We ended up hiring a caterer for the event which worked out great since neither Dan nor I had to slave over any of the food. We had hot dogs, cheeseburgers, bbq chicken, salad, potato salad, corn on the cob and watermelon... and of course cake! Unfortunately Nicholas didn't care for his cake at all which really wasn't a big surprise to us. Maybe if it was made of cheerios instead - then he would have loved it :) Nicholas had a great time playing with all the kids and family at the party. Unfortunately they wore him out early so he went back down for a nap after we cut the cake. Some of the family stuck around a bit later to watch him open a couple of presents. But then it was back to the regualr bedtime routine so he wouldn't be too tired on his actual birthday.

Pics of the set up around the pool. I ordered a bunch of balloons to decorate. Nicholas is a big fan of balloons these days!



Here's a picture of the 'smash cake' Auntie Aimee made. Dan required it to be strawberry cake with buttercream frosting :) In the background you can see some of the picture collage I made.



I'll eat some of this hamburger Dad ........



But I am NOT touching this cake !



These golf balls are much more tasty if you ask me!


I'm still tired Dad but I'll open a couple of presents .....

Oooh ... this new Mickey Mouse couch is quite comfy to lounge in .........

A day at the zoo...

We kicked off Nicholas' birthday weekend with a trip to Southwick Zoo. Although Nicholas enjoyed looking at the animals in the cages, he was much more amuzed with the animals he could touch. He really enjoyed the deer park and the petting area. Here are some pics and video from our trip. Don't mind the double stroller :) We never got a single jogging stroller and knew we would need one for the deer park. So we pulled out the new one we bought to try out. Everybody loved it! Even Daddy who thought it was way over priced became a fan :)



Whoa! What is that behind the fence???



So this is the kind of stuff Uncle Steve likes to hunt .....



Look Dad, I touched his nose!



Oooh .... look at this cute little guy!



Don't worry Dad .... I've got him by the ear, he's not going anywhere!