Video's of Nico and Daddy

Vegas Baby!

Nico turned 1 so we took him to Las Vegas! Who doesn't get to go to Vegas for their 1st birthday??? Just Kidding-we took him to Vegas to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Scheppmann. It was spring break here and my parents have an apartment there with a great pool. We had nice warm sunny weather so we took advantage and hung out at the pool as much as possible. Nico had his first ever sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa so Lou and I could stay at the Hard Rock and have a fun night out. Of course I worried but it turns out it was all for nothing. Nico was a perfect angel for my parents and they had a great time with him. Lou and I also enjoyed a much needed dinner at Nobu and a fun time at Pure. We got upgraded to a suite in the new tower there and there was a big party at the Rehab pool. It was pretty crazy and we even took Nico there for an hour. Bad thing was that the pool water was freezing so Nico couldn't swim there like we wanted. The pool at my parents place was nice and warm and had beautiful palm trees all around so it definitely felt like vacation there. I got a nice little tan going! It also was a perfect time to wean my little nursing son since he was so distracted and off schedule. It worked great! Now he sleeps until about 8am and Lou thinks it is because he is not being nursed so there is nothing to get up early for. Makes sense. The only bummer of the vacation was that my dad got the flu. I had it the week before, gave it to Nico and Lou, then my mom got it then my dad. Apparently it was very contagious. So we had a few fun days and then it was too bad my dad got so sick while we were there. I know it was hard for him not to hug and kiss this little bear!

View from the top of The Hotel. Beautiful!

(Somebody loved the camera this evening!)

I think I have a little fish on my hands! He couldn't wait to get in the pool every day and would cry when we took him out. He was putting his face in, learned to blow bubbles and loved splashing and kicking. We got him some squirt toys but he is obsessed with balls right now so that was his favorite thing to play with.

It was nice for Grandpa to spend quality time with him while mommy got some sun!

Gotta love that smile!

He kept trying to put this starfish in Lou's mouth and then would just bend over laughing at himself. He really cracks himself up lately. He has a pretty good sense of humor. He also speaks some form of Japanese! He can have a 10 minute conversation back and forth with you and can be quite a little chatterbox, especially after he eats. The food must give him lots of energy. If you try to repeat the "words" that he says, he just cracks up laughing. It is pretty funny.

Lou has been working a ton of hours lately and usually 6 or 7 days a week so it was so nice to have a few days with him to just relax and spend some quality time together as a family.

Nico also took his first steps out in Las Vegas. He would take up to 6 and of course we only caught 2 on camera. He is still crawling most of the time but is definitely attempting to walk. I am sure he will be running soon!

Muscle Man!

1st haircut!

I took him for his 1st haircut because he was getting quite a little mullet in the back and his hair is stick straight. I kept hoping it would curl but no such luck. I took him to Kids Snips and they did a great job. He sat in the little car all by himself. They put a Wiggles DVD in for him and I am telling you the kid did not move an inch! I was by myself so I was worried he would be too wiggly and I would have to hold him on my lap but he was absolutely silent and did not move at all. It was almost funny seeing as he is one of the most active little boys I know. He got a good little trim and now has a stylish faux hawk! People stop me out in public all the time and comment on how cute his little hairstyle is. I once told Lindsey I wasn't sure if a faux hawk went with all of the polo shirts he wears and she said that the faux hawk fits his personality though! I think she is right!

Nico's first time at the park for the spring. He loved the swing.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from my little leprechaun!

Nico's 1st Birthday! Party time!

I cannot believe my baby is 1! What an incredible year it has been for us. He is the biggest blessing that we could have ever even dreamed of and Lou and I literally tell each other every day how lucky we are to have this little boy. He is just such a little character and makes us laugh every day. His new accomplishments: walking with a one hand assist, having full conversations in his own "foreign language", dunking his face in the bathtub water and putting his face in the shower water with his mouth open and drinking the water. Now that we have had a few days of warm weather, we have gone on a few long walks and it is the only time of day that he is super chill and relaxed. He loves looking around at everything and is pointing things out...like to a bird and saying "whats that?" I took a walk with my mom to Cosley Zoo by us today and he loved the animals. He has now added the monkey sound to his animal noises and as he does it he shakes his head from side to side. Apparently I did that when I was teaching him and it just cracks me up every time he does it. He is such a little imitator! We had his party with friends and immediate family at a little kiddie gym called My Gym. There were lots of Nico's friends that came to celebrate with him and there were lots of fun activities. As much as he loves attention, he didn't quite know what to do with all of it that day. He was a little wide eyed!

Starting to eat the cake. He did put his face in for a minute but it is on my mom's camera!

Lindsey sewed a 1 on the back of his shirt and a sock monkey on the front...he went with the theme of the day! Mommy likes to dress him for the occasion!

Here is is with his birthday crown and everyone singing happy birthday!

Yummmmmm!

Lindsey and my mom helped decorate his monkey cupcakes. I made them with banana cake and then had fun decorating them. They turned out super cute. I literally spent all day in the kitchen and made 3 different recipes before I found the perfect one for his cupcakes. Good thing I had bought extra bananas! I have a freezer full of extra banana muffins! The kids at the party really loved them!

This is my first ever attempt at cake decorating and I am pretty proud of myself! I think the monkey turned out great and I had a lot of fun doing it. There will be lots of fun cakes for future birthdays!!!

Awww! We love each other!

This is from Nico's real birthday. It is his first taste of sugar and he loved it! He smashed the cupcake up to his face and kept saying "mmmmmmmmmmm" and kicking his feet! We had Lindsey and Jack and grandparents over for a mini celebration on the big day. It definitely was birthday week around here. We were so excited for this little boy's big day!

Auntie Lindsey and Auntie Kristin (in town from NYC) bought Nico a bouquet of balloons to celebrate his big day. He LOVED them! We walked into his room in the morning (see pic below) with the balloons and sang happy birthday to him and now they are tied to his high chair. All day he points to them and says "ball!". He used to call them boons until he learned the word ball and now everything that is round is called a ball!

Happy Birthday baby boy! It was so fun to celebrate all weekend and thanks to everyone who came to his party!

Show me your muscles!

I have some more words Nico has been saying that I forgot to put in the last post. He says "oh, uh-oh, pup" (for puppy). He used to have the idea of uh-oh but now he purposly drops something and then looks at me innocently and says it! He is repeating animal sounds like baa baa, moo, meow, and he tries to snort like a pig but he thinks it is a noise made in his throat not his nose. He cracks up when I do it though. He loves a book called Peekaboo Farm and when I start to walk towards the rocking chair at night he says "baa baa" because there is a sheep on the front and he wants to read that book. I feel like he is going to be too smart for his own good! If he screams and we tell him "No", he whispers a little scream and looks right at us for a reaction. I usually have to turn my head away instantly so he doesn't see that I burst out laughing. Lou and I were crying because we were laughing so hard the first time he did it. He does the same thing when he opens the cabinet in my bathroom vanity. I tell him "No" so he sits back for a second and then with his pointer finger he looks at me and carefully touches a lotion bottle to see if that is ok or not. He is definately testing his limits. I think he is a little young for all of that. Isn't he just supposed to want to play with toys and be a good calm little boy??? He is my wild little man but amazingly he gets instantly calm when I sing the song "Have Patience." I sing it often now. Sometimes it is the only way I can get a diaper on his little tush! He continues to love the water so bathtime is a highlight of his day. He thinks it is funny when we dump water on his head. We let him play with toys on the floor of our shower when one of us are in there because he loves it so much and he is contained and calm for a while. He will stay in there an hour if we let him. He will definately love the pool this summer. We are going to visit my dad over spring break in Las Vegas so I am looking forward to some pool time with Nico. He is going to have a blast and hopefully I can get a tan!

Here is a video clip I took of Nico this morning. He is proudly showing off his muscles! And you can hear him say Baa Baa as he looks for his book. Notice how cute he looks in his Snuggly Baby Power Letter onesie.

Nico has a girlfriend!

This is Nico with his "older" girlfriend, Kassidy. She walks now and he is really impressed by that! She is my college friend's daughter so we get them together for playdates often. They are only 2 months apart. At the end of this playdate, Nico leaned in and gave her a sweet little kiss on the lips, twice...and she liked it! It may have been the cutest thing ever but since both mommies were holding the babies, we didn't get a picture of it. I am sure there will be a next time! We are going to start supervising their playdates a little more closely!!!

By the way, we couldn't get either of them to smile for any pictures. I think they just thought we were weird for doing all of the crazy things that you do to get kids to smile for pictures.

Nico is 11 1/2 months old now and may be the busiest boy I have ever seen. By 7pm I hit a wall and am so tired I can barely clean up dinner and get him to bed. This is more tiring than when he was a newborn! He loves to be chased, pull out the garbage can cabinet and climb in behind the garbage cans, cruising furniture and playing with anything except his toys! I spend all day making sure he is not getting into trouble or getting hurt! He is really talking more and repeating words. He has said..."whats that?" "two" "three" "Jack" .....it seems like he is going to be an early talker. I told Lou he better start sensoring his words!

Poor Nico got sick for the first time ever this weekend. We almost made it one year without even a sniffle! He had a fever and a bad cold and on top of it he scraped his face trying to stand next to the exersaucer and then fell the next day and bumped his head...poor baby looks so beat up and miserable. We are keeping him home so he gets better but Lou and I were going stir crazy by last night.

In this video clip, Lou is turning a "button" on Nico's back to put him into "slow mode". Notice how Nico keeps taking Lou's hand and putting it on his back for more button turning. The next day Lou was rubbing Nico's head in the morning and when Lou stopped Nico grabbed his hand and put it back on his head for more! He cracks us up!

When you go to Iowa City...

You get to go to your first wrestling meet...

Wear your hat from Iceland...

Go sledding on a trash bag covered garbage lid...

Have your mom and auntie take pictures of your sweet face...

And get your first faux hawk!
Is Uncle Tyler proud?!?