Today was Nicholas's Christmas program at his preschool! Daddy took off work to help video tape the occasion! All three of the two-year-old classes (about 24 kids total) walked down the church aisle together "singing"
Jingle Bells while jingling little Christmas bells. Then, they all stood in their places (or sat relatively close to their places) on the steps of the altar for their performance. Nicholas was one of the kiddos that sat down on the bottom step to ensure that it was pretty much impossible for us to get any good photos or video footage of him. Then, the teachers started singing
This Little Light of Mine. Some of the older kids joined in for a few words or motions. I could barely see Nicholas from my seat, but I did hear his voice a few times and I saw his little pointer finger "light" moving around a few times, too! (He's the youngest kid in the whole school, so I was just proud that he wasn't screaming or crying!!) Just as I'm praising him for his good behavior, I hear him say, "Where'd Mommy go?" Oops. Shortly after that, Nicholas began mission "I'm Bored". He didn't disobey his teachers when they told him to stay seated. Instead, he scooted on his bottom along the bottom step from the far left side of the altar where he was originally seated to the far right side of the altar near the older two-year-olds. Just as he arrived at his new location, the classes began singing
Happy Birthday to Jesus. Nicholas did sing along quietly to this song! I was quite surprised since he's usually so very loud at home!! Then, the performance was over and his teacher walked over to the other side of the altar to retrieve the silly little guy! It was a very cute performance! The three and four-year-old kids took turns performing after the two-year-olds were herded into their pews...they were also very cute!! The four-year-olds actually put on a mini Christmas pageant! The extra girls were angels, of course, but the extra boys were sheep. I've never seen that before. I suppose in two years, Nicholas will be a sheep if he has his mommy's luck! Ah, I was always the angel, never the Mary! Nick, Zachary, and I were very excited to attend Nicholas's very first school performance!! I hope there are many, many more in the future!!
And, since there's been no update in over two months...here's a quick one! The boys are doing very well!! They're already such good friends! Zachary is hitting his milestones so quickly! He can roll over in both directions and he can sit up on his own (for a little while, at least!) He won't start on solid food until he's 6 months old, but he is already suspiciously eyeing the rest of the family during mealtimes. And did you know that Zachary is a master baby pianist!! He bangs on those piano keys like nobody's business!! He also received an Exersaucer as an early Christmas gift from his grandparents and he LOVES it!! Nicholas loves helping him play in it, too!! The Exersaucer has a phone toy that is attached to the Exersaucer by a sturdy ribbon. Zachary pushes the buttons and eats the phone constantly. Nicholas was watching Zachary play with the phone the other day when it fell out of Zachary's hands and dangled helplessly along the outside of the Exersaucer. Nicholas shot Zachary a concerned look and said, "Oh no! Zachary! You dropped your phone! It's okay, Zachary." Nicholas picked up the phone, gently handed it to Zachary and said, "Here you go, little man!!" I LOVE those boys!!
Nicholas has also had many more "Did he just say that?" moments. A few that I can remember include....
Daddy: Eat your veggies Nicholas.
Nicholas: No! I don't like veggies!
Daddy: Nicholas, you need to eat your veggies! They'll make you big and strong. Don't you want to be big and strong like Daddy?
Nicholas: NOOOOOO!!!! I don't want to be big and strong like Daddy!!! I want to be big and strong like MOMMY!!!! :o)
Nicholas singing along to Granger Smith's song,
Don't Listen to the Radio.
Actual lyrics: Don't listen to the radio. If you've got your heart broke. Cuz it always knows exactly what to play.
Nicholas: Don't listen to the radio. If you got your car broke. Cuz you always know Zachary wants to play.
There were more fun phrases, but I just can't think of them right now!!
Wow...it has been awhile since the last post!! Here's a picture update of the major moments:
Zachary was baptized at the end of September. Many people came to watch his Baptism, including LaLa and Great Grandma Neumann! All of his grandparents, aunts, and uncles were also there to celebrate the occasion! Zachary was quite the looker in his Baptism outfit!
The boys had a great Halloween! Dragon Nicholas went trick or treating around the neighborhood, while Pumpkin Pooh Zachary stayed at home to hand out candy to the visiting little ghosts and goblins.
The boys also enjoyed spending Thanksgiving in San Antonio and in Austin. While Nicholas was in San Antonio, he visited Kiddie Park where his Mommy and his grandparents played at kids!!
It "snowed" in Austin!! Nicholas played out in the backyard while it "snowed"! Zachary sat in his early Christmas present highchair to watch his brother out the back door.
Nicholas was very excited to help decorate the Christmas tree this year!! Zachary carefully observed this event from his Exersaucer!! Both boys love watching the train run under the Christmas tree!
So, I suppose that's it for this little update!! We'll most certainly update again around Christmastime!! In the meantime, Happy Advent!! :o)
Zachary is such a wonderful baby!! He is already sleeping through the night!!! :o) Nicholas didn't pull off that feat until he was 7 months old!!! As a matter of fact, Nicholas started screaming at 1am last night (he either had a horrible dream about bugs or there really was a bug attacking him in his crib) while sweet little Zachary slept so peacefully. But don't worry, there never was and never will be any shortage of love and attention for Nicholas!! Zachary also had to deal with the dreaded baby acne!! He looked like a little baby teenager for about a month, but his skin is now recovering!! He's getting pale and soft like a good little baby!!
Poor Nicholas had a run-in (literally) with a wall corner in our house about a month ago. He ended up with a large, 1 inch laceration that had to be glued together in the ER. He now has a lovely scar to show for it. Le sigh. My precious boy is now scarred for life…(again, literally.) But, our optimistic neighbor says, "Chicks dig scars!" So, maybe Nicholas won't fare too badly in the end. Ha!
Well, what's left?! Mommy absolutely loves her two boys and their little brotherly dynamic. Add in Daddy and the two horses….Mommy is completely surrounded by boys!! It took about a month and a half to really get into a groove, but now I feel completely at ease taking care of the boys. The horses are getting a little bit of the shaft at the moment, but hopefully that won't last too long!! They're troopers as well and I suppose that it's not the end of the world if I don't see them everyday! :o/ Daddy is also slowly getting used to the groove, but he's a little more frustrated with the lack of sleep and free time than Mommy. I must also mention that the first month with Zachary would have been absolutely crazy if it wasn't for the amazing grandparent assistance!!! THANK YOU!!! :o) Part of the difficulty for Mommy and Daddy is that we basically live for our boys. We want them to have mental stimulation and play and learning experiences all day long!! I really do feel guilty anytime the TV has been on longer than 2 hours in a day!! (God bless those first 2 hours!! Nicholas is very likely to kill himself running around the house while Zachary eats if he isn't glued to the TV! Nothing else will keep him still…nothing. Yes, we've tried. Plus, I grew up watching plenty of TV and I'm only a half-zombie!)
I suppose this short novella is enough of an update for now!! Stay tuned for the next update in another 2-3 months!! :o)
