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?!?

10 Months!

Nico learned how to crawl up the stairs. If we stand behind him he can crawl up the entire staircase. That meant the baby gates had to come out! He also said his friend Julia's name once when I told him to say "Hi Julia" Laura and I looked at each other with our mouths open. We couldn't believe he said that! He is getting more and more confident with his standing and I am sure it is only a matter of time before he is standing on his own and walking....or should I say running which is more likely! This boy is full of energy. He is ALWAYS on the go! I am exausted when he goes to bed at 8! I cannot believe that my baby is 10 months old already and that I have to start planning a 1st birthday! He has been so fun and a true blessing in our lives. We are going to be sad to see the baby stage pass but I am sure we will love every stage of his life to come!

Cute tushie! Nico and daddy have matching True Religion jeans so they like to wear them together! The big Northwestern game was on so they had their Northwestern shirts on as they cheered on the Wildcats.

Yeah! Lou and I went out to a co-worker of Lou's house for a New Years eve party. We had so much fun. We got back at 3:30 a.m. and of course Nico decided to get up at 5! Luckily he went back to sleep til 8 so I could get some zzzzzzz. My mom and dad came back from visiting my grandparents in Minn and IA that day to watch Nico. Thanks for the babysitting!

Nico's 1st Christmas!

Grandma Renee is nice and comfy to sleep on at the Cozzi Christmas party! Poor boy was so tired from 2 days of Christmas festivities he was zonked out!

And now sleeping on Papa at the Cozzi Christmas party. It was really loud there with tons of kids running and yelling so he must have been tired to sleep through that! Papa usually has a beard and Nico is usually very cautious of Papa and often cries with him. Papa shaved his beard for Christmas and Nico loved him! I guess Nico is not a fan of facial hair! It was so funny to see the difference in how Nico acted towards him.

Silly boy!

Papa and Grandma Renee got him this super fun rocking horse. It neighs and makes clomping sounds and Nico loves riding it.

Yeah! Nico was a good boy this year so Santa came to our house Christmas morning. He got Nico a Rocking Giraffe, a musical table to practice standing up, a mailbox, books, and rubber cars. It was really fun for Lou and I to have our first family Christmas. Lou said it was the best Christmas he has had since he was a child! Nico actually started getting the hang of ripping the paper and trying to play with everything. Although, he did a lot of eating the paper and boxes. You would have thought we never fed the kid! He got so many nice gifts from everyone so I had to organize some toy shelves to keep all of his loot!

Christmas Eve with Jack and Nico in matching Christmas jammies! They looked so cute together! These are two proud mamas! Jack was only 12 days old on Christmas and pretty much slept through all of the present opening. Unlike Nico who was all over the place and had to be watched like a hawk because he kept eating the wrapping paper!

Opening presents!

Uncle Tyler, Dana and Sadie. Nico loves Sadie and he especially liked playing with all of her toys on Christmas Eve. What about all of the new toys you just got Nico??? Nope, had to play with the dog toys!

Nico got this fun dump truck from Grandpa Reed and Grandma Peggy. He can play with it, ride on it, and push it like a walker as he learns to walk! He likes to empty the legos from the back of it one by one.

Grandma Peggy, Grandpa Reed, Nico and Jack. Merry Christmas!

Uncle Andy, Auntie Lindsey and Jack!

Daddy and his minnie me!!!

He looked too cute in his black velour jacket and tie!

My little man!

Yummy! In case you didn't believe me that he ate the wrapping paper...here is evidence!

Brunch Christmas eve morning with Stephanie and Isabella. They loved holding these boys!

9 months!

Yeah! Nico is learning to clap his hands which is is doing because he is so excited to be getting a shoulder ride from my cousin Rebecca. Seeing as Rebecca and I look a lot alike...Nico is a sneak preview of what her kids might look like!

During the holidays Nico learned how to pull himself up to stand and cruise furniture. He is getting super confident and often just lets go to try to turn around or move. He is not worried about the fact that he can't stand or walk yet! Nico says "Dad, Hi Dad, dada, daddy." Now that he has clearly covered all forms of Dad I would really love for him to call me mama! Anytime now Nico! He also sometimes says "All done, gigi (grandma)." I am not making this up....Lindsey, my mom and I have all heard him say "Jack" a few times...he really loves Jack! Sometimes he just says "Ja" when we tell him to say Jack. He is a smart boy!!!!!

Nico has been standing in his crib since the middle of November. He had some trouble sleeping because he would stand up during the night but couldn't figure out how to sit down. Luckily for mommy and daddy we are past that hurdle. Now he just likes to stand there and throw his pacifier and his "Silly Buddy" (the fuzzy frog in his hands that he sleeps with like a little lovie!) out of the crib and onto the floor. Once they are out of the crib that is it...mommy does not go in to get them and keep handing them back! He seems fine with that luckily. P.S. I love his crib so much. I look at it as I nurse him at night and I just LOVE it! Thanks Grandma Peggy and Grandpa Reed!

I used to keep all of the toys in baskets under the coffee table. Nico quickly learned to pull everything out and play under there like it was a little fort. He would even get a book and lay under there on his back reading! So funny! His buddy Burke is the baby I babysit for during the daytime. Burke and Nico love to pull all of the toys out for me to clean up! It is clearly their favorite game!

9 mos. & Ready for Christmas!

Nico in front of the tree eating Rudolf's red nose! Nico actually (and amazingly) left the tree alone this year.

Nico and his buddy Burke that I babysit every day. Burke is 1 month younger than Nico and they LOVE playing together. It is really cute because they squeal with excitement every morning when they see each other and then they spend the rest of the day taking ALL of the toys out and distributing them across the floor for mommy to pick up ;) They also enjoy taking the toys out of each other's hands and I keep waiting for them to cry but they totally don't care yet. They just find another toy! So funny!

Happy Christmas baby! We had to have a toy or ornament in his hands at all times otherwise he was trying to take his hat off!

Nico and 1 day old Jack. This picture is priceless! Nico looks shocked that Jack is crying and poor Jack just wanted to be swaddled and cozzi. Jack had to learn right away that we make these babies do crazy things for a cute picture!

Ready for the snow!

Nico's 1st visit to see Santa. We waited in line over an hour but it was fun to see how mezmorized he was with Santa. Nico just stared at him. We couldn't get him to turn towards us for a picture! At least he didn't cry. Nico has been a very good boy this year and he asked Santa for a Blackberry and a bottle of water....his two favorite things of mommy and daddy's to play with.