Niko got these Melissa and Doug wooden fruit and vegetable cutting sets for Christmas. He LOVES cutting them apart with the knife. Niko is highly interested in food.... he likes watching me cook and cut up vegetables for dinner. On Monday, I had him sitting on the counter as I was cutting up potatoes and he went right to his play set and started cutting up his veggies! :)
Woah..... what is this??!?!
Pizza Planet Aliens?!?!?
It took a long, long time for him to open all the presents. He would open one and want to play with it instead of opening other presents.
This was one we knew he would like - a Target exclusive that he STARED at over Thanksgiving day. It was in the newspaper ads for Black Friday.
This is him running toward me so I would open in for him.
Friends Christmas!
Niko and Shelly.... and Sienna... staring at the food bowl next to Niko.
Aunt Katie & Uncle Tommy's present was delivered today so we decided to wrap it up and give it to him after his nap. He saw it right away!
Open! Open!
Ohhhh!!! I help!!!
Ohhhh.... I can't wait to take a bath with that! (Neil hates this joke....)
Proud recipient of a nerdy Transformer dinosaur. GRIMLOCK. **nerd**
Niko helps blow out the candles of Neil's cheesecake birthday "cake." Mmmmmmmm.....
Niko and I made cookies on Sunday. He actually did a pretty good job! He liked smashing down the peanut butter cookies with the fork.
This part was kinda cute, I asked him what that cookie cutter was making (it was the gingerbread man one.) He told me he was making Niko!
Here he is helping me....
Yeah. You knew this was coming.
I have been off the grid for a week attending the Emergency Management Institute put on by the US Department of Homeland Security Department. This course is designed to help people in my field be better prepared if a HUGE incident happened in our area.
These were our course manuals for a 4-day training. Yikes!
The 9/11 Memorial on campus in Emmitsburg, MD.
This is where the rubber meets the road. This is what's called a Joint Information Center and it's where I would be working if there was a large incident in our region. 
This is AFTER graduation!!! This is the Ott House - a famous Fireman Bar in Emmitsburg.
I cannot resist the call of the New Kids on the Block pillow. Its nap inducing powers are too great. ZZZZzzzzz......
I actually put these lights up a weeks ago, but I just got around to taking a photo of them. Yea!
I made this Totoro hat for Niko last year. I specifically made it huge... and now it hardly fits his GIANT head!
We had my parents, Neil's dad and sister and Tracy and Gooch join us for Thanksgiving this year. I'm so glad we have a bigger kitchen this year! No eating in the living room this year! :)
Niko and DoDa go through the sales ads for Friday.
Niko loving up on Doda as they watch Finding Nemo together. 
Niko trying to avoid bedtime by loving up on Grandpa!
Yes, that is a bed tent in our living room. I bought it for Niko a while back and just got around to putting it up. Needless to say, he loves it.
