Smell my feet

We smell Niko's feet and then tell him they stink. He loves it when we do this. When we change his diaper, we smell his feet. It's a running joke we have with him.

We catch him smelling his own feet from time to time. He does it a lot in the car when we drive home. Here he is doing it in the living room.

Brobee costume

I found this Brobee costume on Craigslist yesterday.  I planned on making Niko a Brobee costume, but I found this for only $10.  I can't even buy the fabric for $10!  Neil is going to be DJ Lance Rock for Halloween this year... but I think I need to find Niko a bigger size... the 2T just fits him now.

I love Craigslist... I just need to find another Brobee in a size 4T now...  I will be making Neil's costume when I get my sewing room put together... right now it's a room with boxes.  Neil and Niko will be wearing these costumes to the Comic-Con this coming year... I need to figure out what I'm going to be!

Kitchen fun

Time to put away the condiments.

Now let's close the door.

Finally, let's wash the dishes.

The kitchen is still a big hit.  He loves playing with it when I am in the kitchen.  He likes it when you smell his cooking - he will chase you down to smell it.

First sled ride

Our new house has a nice little hill perfect for sledding.  Our house has a walk-out basement so our yard slopes from the front to the back.

Good times!

We only went down the hill twice since the sled I bought is not very good.  I will be returning it and getting one that has a curved front.  Niko did have a good time... until the sled ran into the ground and he face planted... hence the need for a curved front sled.

Christmas 2009

Christmas eve photo.

First toy spotted.

LOVES the kitchen supply toys from Grandma & Grandpa Morris.... should have made them from me....

Rock star.

LOVES the Yo Gabba Gabba toys... I knew he would.

Cooking some pineapple.  Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Morris for the cookware!

We moved the kitchen into the kitchen so he can cook along side me.

Niko's first time in the snow.

He made it past the brick walk way....

He hated the fact that the snow got in his arms.... total time in the snow.... under 4 minutes.  It took longer for us to get him in his snow suit.

We spent Christmas day with the Abuelos... who Niko was happy to see.  He got tons of presents from them... including the baby couch he's stepping on in the photo.

We had a great Christmas... even though the snow stopped us from seeing Godfather Mark, Aunt Shelly and the Flooches.

Kitchen fixed and ready!

Niko's Christmas present is ready to go.  I got this kitchen from a certain job I have... and it was the right price... FREE.  (Thanks Godfather!)  I did have to do some minor repairs to it since it was a display model.  The microwave door was broken... I fixed it with some wood glue and toothpicks.  Good as new!

We are going to put in the the kitchen so Niko can cook with me.

Happy birthday, Daddy!

Neil turned 34 yesterday.  We had pumpkin cake... or frosting.  Depending who you ask.

We gave Daddy a paint-hand print that we framed for his new office.  I'll snap off a photo of it when he hangs it up.

Cat door

Hehhheheh...  we have not put up the cat doors yet because the instructions say to wait until the cats get used to the new arrangements.  I will put the new door up in a few weeks.

Right now it's fun to see Niko chase the cats into the hole and then try to grab them through the hole.

Foiled again

We have been working on child-proofing the new house.  I replaced the glass in the built-in entertainment center with plexiglass and installed some child locks over the weekend.

We had some heavy boxes in front of  the doors before.  We could have put the child locks on, but the real problem was the glass.  He could open and shut the doors enough to make the glass rattle.  It made me nervous that the glass would break on him.

Hahahaha.... try to get in now!

Project complete

It may not look like much... but it took me 3 days to do it!  I uncased all of our DVDs and put them into zippered folios.  We wound up needing 7 folios to get all of our DVDs to fit!

I have been wanting to do this for at least a year.  If you wanted to watch a particular DVD, you would have to dig through 4 double-stacked bookcases to find it.  Now you just have to flip through the folio - nice and easy.

I wound up with 8 trash bags full of empty cases.  A friend of ours who makes movies said he would take them all!

Neil and I have a saying, "New house, new rules."  No more clutter!!

I can turn it on myself

Our bathroom is a magical place for Niko.  He loves turning on the water to the tub and touching the water.  We have to keep a close eye on him in this room... he can turn on both the hot and cold water....

When he sees the tub he automatically thinks it's bath time... no matter what time it is.

Bath time

A quick video of bath time.  He LOVES the big tub in our new bathroom.

New faucets

Ugly, old and leaky faucet.  This is what all the bathroom faucets in the house look like - boo.  They are ugly, but the real reason we are replacing them is that they leak so bad it's like they are on!

A plumber friend of ours is on the bench for those of you who know what that is.  We asked him if we could pay his wife for his services.  :)   Our pipes are all copper so I have no idea what I am doing down there.

Nice new faucet!  We had him replace the upstairs faucets this weekend.  We plan to have him work on the downstairs ones an install my Christmas present in a few weeks.  I'm getting a new sink - can't wait!  :)

First ornament on the tree

I worked on the Christmas tree over the weekend.  This was the first ornament on the tree this year.  I am having to decorate a bit differently this year.... the top of the tree has my Hallmark ornaments... the bottom has only unbreakable bulbs.  Someone likes to play with the ornaments and there is no way to block off the tree in the new house.  

I will post some picts when the tree is done.  It's hard trying to put up the Christmas decorations AND unpack AND make sure someone isn't getting into everything.

Cat update

We are in the process of installing cat doors so the litter can be in the basement.  We have to put in the cat doors because we can't leave the basement door open for Niko to fall down the stairs.

I cut the hole out a few days ago, but I won't put the door in for about two weeks.  You can't see through the door and the cats have to be "trained" to go through the hole first.

Also - Matrix is now declawed.  He was declawed on Monday.  I really didn't want to do it.... but I can't have him destroying this new house like he did the old one.  I tired to see if I could get him to curb is scratching... but no.

We got him back on Wednesday and he has been hiding ever since... I think he's mad at me.  Oh well - I was mad that he was tearing up my carpet - so we are even!

15 month check-up

Niko is chowing down on some banana bread after his appointment.  Daddy took him to the doctor's this time around since he's on vacation this week.

Niko is 32" long (75%) and weighs 27 pounds (81%) and his massive head is 19.5" around (96%).

Overall his is a healthy boy!  His first molar is almost all the way through and his second one is just starting to break the gum.  Busy busy!

Piano man

First piano lesson with Aunt Shelly at the new house!

Ugly sweater party

Tia Teresa holding Niko.... who loved her.

We went to an ugly sweater party on Saturday night hosted by my friend Teresa.  Niko tagged along with us in his version of an ugly sweater... the Christmas jammy.  We had a great time and Niko had a ball!

I think I might use this photo for our Christmas cards.... doesn't Neil look handsome in his kitty sweater?