February

Adrienne's first official sporting event - Aunt Keri's basketball tournament. Of course they won. Not because of Aunt Keri's masterful coaching abilities but because Adrienne was their good luck charm. Duh!

A pea goatee

She is absolutely determined to pick him up in his carseat. If she wants to do it for me that would be stellar... one less kid to carry. Although the way he's growing he'll be picking her up LONG before she ever gets that carseat off the ground.

And her latest nursery song - Baa baa black sheep wau wau wau wau wauuuu. She nails 'master' but then you kind of have to use your imagination to fill in the rest...

So this just started a few weeks ago - getting to hold her own banana. She thinks it's the coolest thing since crayons & for some reason I think it's adorable.

Over at the Stuve's for dinner... and the line of the night by Traci after Nick toppled over onto Julia, "Hey! Get off my daughter!"

It was a toss up between getting them light up shamrock necklaces or shotglass necklaces. I thought I might not be invited back if I went the shotglass route...


But shortly thereafter Andy set the table for the kids to eat dinner - complete with a bottle of wine. Guess those shotglasses would've come in handy after all...

We learned that Nick just isn't ready to party like a shamrock star just yet...

Saturday Morning Sticker Party

Another Adrienne reincarnation. The walker / oversized chewtoy. He seemed indifferent about it but Adrienne figured out in about 10 seconds that she can drag him around the house now. THRILLED!

Nick 'made' us a Valentine's Day card at daycare...

C'MON! It doesn't get any freakin' cuter than this!!!!

2 big 'firsts' tonight:
For Adrienne ...sushi! We started her off right with eel sashmi (ok, ok... it's a sweet potato roll)

And for Nick.. sitting solo! (ok, ok... more like propping him up & quick like a bunny snapping a picture but at least it's a start)

AND.... the reason there's a big ol' pillow behind him.

So much for our 'no spitting' rule.

Nick's Christening day is here!

I completely missed getting a picture of Nick's basket before it was pulled apart because I was running around after Big Fat Greek Baby #1 trying to get her dress on & her hair done.

Speaking of, here is her token blog shot from NICK'S Christening because the rest are all going to actually be OF Nick!

While Elena was gathering her godmotherly supplies for the Christening she took things to the next level & had Nick's towels monogrammed. (ok, so this picture isn't from the Christening, it's from his bath last night. But I needed to sneak in a good shot of it BECAUSE....)

She pointed out that although his initials are NCB his MONOGRAM is NBC. As in channel 4... Nnnn BEEE ceee... And what 30 Rock themed Christening would be complete without a peacock?!

Prayers of exorcism began the ceremony. Nick truly embraced the physical side of the exorcism as he farted his way through the ENTIRE service. Father Andrew let us know that in the 15 years he has been officiating this was the first (and second) time he has ever been farted on during a Christening. Yup, that's our boy...

Preparing for the actual baptism - three full body immersions in the font.

Father Andrew really needs to run a campaign on baptizing your baby in the Greek Orthodox faith. And there's just no question that Nick should be the posterchild.

The Chrismation...

The Tonsure...

All it took was a wink & a smile and Nicole hopped up to be a candlebearer along with Corinne & Cassandra. A feat attempted by many but accomplished by none - until now - proving at 5mos old, Nick is ALREADY quite the ladies man...

"Did you smell that?"
"Yeah, I think Nick is exorcising the devil again."

His first Communion...

So I sez, "Someone get me a stogie & a scotch on the rocks before the broad gets a handful of dirty diaper!"

For those who know Elena... and Greg... this picture needs NO explanation.

Nick's Christening Posse

Some self-props here. St. Nick was known for secret gift-giving, including putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him. He was also an advocate of sailors & ships. The favors - Christening shoes with Greek coins. The centerpieces - sailboats (ok, I had nothing to do with picking those out but talk about dumb luck!!!). The frames - the story of St. Nick so everyone would know just how brilliant the favors & centerpieces were!

After a long, oily, wet day the newest little Big Fat Greek Baby tried to catch 40 winks as a few of us continued to celebrate into the night.
But that's a story for another blog.

Aside from mastering the Jumperoo & LOVING it, he randomly makes this gasping sound that COMPLETELY freaks me out. Inhaler, anyone?!?


So in our second attempt to feed Nick we decided to let Adrienne do it. She didn't do so bad except for the 6 or so times she stuck the spoon in a little too far... *gaaack*

Making Uncle Wack proud.

Dude... You're head is HUUUUGE...

Nick's first food. Didn't go over quite as well as his first communion.

After a few rounds of gacking (ok, maybe I made it a little on the thick side) I finally gave up & just let him sit there spurting it all back out.

Adrienne demonstrating the modern design principal of 'form follows function' with her latest masterpiece. Not merely a piece of paper with crayon scribble but rather a hat with artful conception. Hey, it IS fashion week after all...

Super Bowl 43 - Adrienne's 3rd, Nick's 1st. Adrienne decided to be a Steeler's fan since the Jets are looo-hooo-ZERS.

Greg does a sub-baritone / slightly demonic voice for Nick. This is her imitation of that. Oh, and her just-got-out-of-the-tub-teeth-chatter.


Funny Daddy
(Look how she's holding his hand... aww! And yes, that's Puccini's O Mio Babbino Caro in the background. Opera in the a.m. - isn't that how EVERY toddler starts their day...?!)