Happy Thanksgiving!

Where did November go? Hard to believe its December at the end of the week! We just celebrated Thanksgiving with a weekend full of the famous "Sidell family fun." Jess, John & Mason made the journey north (yet again) for a visit (Thanks guys!). It was quite a sight getting all of the boys together - family gatherings will never be the same again! They are starting to actually notice each other and played together really nicely with only a few little bruises here and there :)


The boys are both doing really well and having lots of fun these days -sometimes, even together too!


Nick's imagination has just blossomed! One of his new favorite games is pretending to be Dr. Nicholas. For each patient, he takes blood pressure, listens to their heart (mine usually says "boop boop boop boop boop"), gives a bandaid, checks their mouth and throat (everyone has 20 teeth!), and of course, gives a few shots (using very avant garde methods as some are in the foot and hair). Very cute :)


Tim is working on his next pair of teeth. We're not sure if it'll be the upper or lower but he sure is chewing alot and drooling up a storm! He's doing much better in the eating department too. He'll eat some baby food these days although he still prefers to feed himself. Tim is also pretty mobile these days, scooting backward or rolling around the room. Plus, he's also on the verge of crawling - watch out! He's up on his hands and knees these days and will likely be moving in the next week or 2!!


A few more pictures in the November album:

November 2007

Surprise!

We did it! Greg, Nick, Tim and I flew out to Seattle a couple of weeks ago to surprise Nana for her 60th birthday. Thanks to careful planning and participation by friends and family on both coasts, we were able to pull off the surprise completely :) Great job to everyone!!
Nick & Tim on the airplane:


Tim & Zoe with Nana & Pepere at the party:


The boys had a great week visiting with Nana and Pepere!



Nick enjoyed a new fun activity every day and Tim was in heaven with all of the attention :)
Monday: a trip to the Point Defiance Zoo:


Tuesday: a trip to Jumpin' Jack and Jill's:


Wednesday: Halloween!:



Thursday: a trip to the Tacoma Children's museum:


Go Sox! (and here comes a tooth!)

To make sure that Nana and Pepere got to celebrate some of his milestones, Tim had a banner week while in Seattle. It started with the arrival of his first upper front tooth the night before we flew out (Oct 25). On Sunday and Monday, he added what we are calling his first words - ball and mama. He said "ba" while playing with the ball,

and "mama" while looking at me - ok, so maybe its a coincidence, but we just like to think that its because he's a prodigy ;) He rounded out the week by learning to feed himself - when we arrived, he couldn't pick up cheerios on his own; by the time we left, he was picking them up with his thumb and forefinger, and getting them into his mouth. And, not to be forgotten, the companion upper front tooth arrived the night before our flight back (Nov 2). Phew - quite a week!



More photos here:

Nana's 60th B'day Surprise

Happy Birthday Nana & Grandma!

Tim & Nick want to wish a happy birthday to Nana (Oct 22) and Grandma (Oct 23)! Here are a few pictures on the theme:

Nick's b'day playgroup:

Opening some truck-related presents:

Helping make some cupcakes with his new apron from Nana:


Enjoying some cake & ice cream at a birthday celebration for Grandma:


There are also a bunch of new photos added to the October album:

October 2007

Happy birthday to ....

Apologies for the posting drought! We've been busy for the last 2 weeks or so with birthday celebrations :) Nicholas celebrated his 3rd birthday last Thursday - WOW! He is quite the big boy these days! He had his 3 yr checkup last week with his new doctor (who is awesome!) and passed with flying colors. He's 34 lbs (75th percentile!) and 37 3/4" (50th percentile). He cooperated fabulously with the doctor and didn't even flinch for his flu shot - I was impressed.



Nick continues to amaze us with his feats and antics. His memory is fantastic and we're learning that even though he doesn't appear to be listening, he is, as the phrases and explanantions come right back at us when Tim, Greg or I break the rules ;) Nick is also becoming very adept at identifying truck types from a distance (eg, dump truck, digger, cement mixer, flat bed tractortrailer, etc) and makes of pickup truck as well. We have learned, interestingly enough, that GMC appears to be the most popular kind of pickup truck in the Greater Bangor area...



Nick is also blossoming into a fabulous big brother. He loves to help out by picking up toys for Tim when he (T) throws them all off his exersaucer, and he's also tried to feed Tim, although we're actively trying to discourage that right now (I just have visions of "Tim, here have some peanut butter & jelly sandwich", etc...)

And while we're on the subject, here's an update on Timbo. Tim is quite the little character these days too. He is still quick with a great big smile, but even quicker with some complaining and tears if he's being ignored (or rather not the direct focus of someone's attention) or if Mom leaves the room. Yep, separation anxiety has set in. We never experienced it with Nick, and now understand, that while somewhat flattering, what a pain it is...



Also in contrast to his brother, Tim has been venturing into the foray of solid food rather slowly (Nick would just about take my hand off while feeding him, he was so interested in solids). He'll tolerate rice cereal about half of the time and we can occasionally get him to have some peas or pears but he's not really crazy about those and could really do without banana, sweet potato, applesauce and carrots. He has really taken a liking to the little beginning fingerfood banana & sweet potato puffs, although he hasn't quite figured out how to get them into his mouth by himself yet. Anyhow, we're thinking that he might be one of those kids that just skips over babyfood and goes right to pizza ;)



Just this week, Tim discovered that one of the skills he picked up a few months ago is actually useful and fun! Although he first rolled months ago, he really hadn't been doing much of it until this week when he figured out he could get to other toys by rolling across the floor. And there he went, rolling across the living room floor over to Nick's pile of cars, much to Nick's chagrin. Tim is so proud of himself too - he'll stop half way cross the room, look up, roar with laughter and continue on to his destination. Its very cute :)



And for the best belated birthday present I could think of, Tim said "mama" the day after my birthday, and he wasn't even crying when he said it!! Ok, so he wasn't looking at me (we were in the car) and probably didn't mean anything by it other than to test out some new sounds...But, hey, I'll take what I can get!

A few pictures from October:

October 2007

Photos Galore

So, I finally got around to downloading and uploading some pictures that we've taken during the last few weeks. Check them out!

Updated September album:

September 2007

Visit with Nana & Pepere:

Visit with Nana & Pepere - Sept 2007

Visit with Mason for his 1st b'day celebration:

Mason's First B'day Visit Sept 2007

Visit with Nana and Pepere

OK, so it's been a while since my last update. A long while. A really long while. Sorry! Blame it on two kids, work, projects, and oh, yeah, visitors!

Nana and Pepere St. Pierre came out to visit right on the heels of Les, Dave, and Zoe. Two sets of visitors in one month!

Amazing how quickly Nick reconnected with his grandparents again. None of the initial shyness he's shown in the past. When we met them at the airport in Bangor, it was like we'd never left. While Pepere and I waited for their bags to arrive, Nana headed upstairs with Nick to where the Legos were waiting patiently for someone to play with them. Nick, for those of you who haven't seen him with his grandparents, loves to play, especially with Nana and Pepere.

Most of the week was pretty much a continuation of that general theme - Nana and Pepere pretty much kept the kids occupied with playing. Tim seemed to be a big hit with them (they hadn't seen him since he was 4 weeks old). Rounding out the merrymaking at home were trips to the playground, Acadia National Park, and the apple orchard/petting zoo down the road from Aunt Amanda and Uncle Kevin. Nana and Pepere even decided to make Nick play hooky from school to get more playing in (they're such bad influences on him!)

The other exciting outing for us was to Target for some more big boy underwear for Nick. Nana worked her magic and basically potty-trained our kid for us. Thanks, Mom! Not only did Nick manage to keep his underpants dry for several hours under her watchful eye, he also did his first poop on the potty! You know, I have to admit that before I became a dad, poop never really did much of anything for me. Now it's a cause for celebration. Go figure.

We then concluded our visit with a trip to Vermont to see my cousin Kevin tie the knot with his long-time girlfriend Denise. The wedding was beautiful, the weather gorgeous, and the drinks plentiful. Much fun was had by all. Amy and I even got to have a conversation without holding a child, thanks to my cousin Lynn's daughter Lauren (Lauren, if you're reading this, we were serious about our offer - we'll fly you up here any time you want to make some extra money babysitting).

Nana and Pepere also got a bit more time to spend with Tim and show him off to the rest of the family. We elected to leave Nick with Amy's parents so they wouldn't feel neglected. And also so we wouldn't have to spend 6 hours in the car with a very active 3 year old (do you blame us?).

And now for the pictures!

Nick and Nana climbing around the top of Cadillac Mt in Acadia National Park:



Amy, Tim, Nick and Nana hanging out on the couch:



Nick feeding the animals at the petting zoo:



Hanging out in the kitchen with the boys:



I scream!



Kilroy wuz here?



Naked boy!



Nana and Nick on the slide (who taught him to walk up the slide like that?):



Nick and Nana in the kitchen:


Relaxin':


Looking for sea glass in Seal Harbor:



Tim and Nana:


Tim and Pepere: