Passport Photos...

We went to WalMart today to get passport photos done for the boys.  We figured that at some point this summer we may like to take a road trip (possibly to the US) and if we were to do so, then we would need passports for the boys.  What a disaster!  The boys were not really wanting to sit on the chair to have their pictures taken.  We finally got Nicolas to sit and the photographer snapped a few pictures.  The big problem with all of them was that his mouth was open!  How exactly do you get a 2 year old to sit for a picture and not have his mouth open at all?

It seems ridiculous to me that the strict rules and guidelines for passport pictures apply to young children.  The photographer even mentioned that due to the flash and the "thinness" for the boys' ears, we would need to put electrical tape behind their ears to avoid the weird shadowing.... ???  I think we will try to go to another place to get them taken since Steve is pretty sure the photographer was probably following the rules a little too closely for a 2 year old.

On a side note, Steve and I have been together officially for 14 years!  It almost seems impossible but there it is... 14 years together and almost 7 years married!

Where did that come from?

While Steve was away in China, Grandma was here for the first part of the week.  Nicolas and Zachary's vocabulary has increased significantly in the past few months and even more so in the last few weeks.  Nicolas calls Grandma, "amma" which makes complete sense to me.  Zachary, on the other hand, chose to call her "Mom-I".  How he got that from Grandma is a complete mystery to me.  I took a video of it because it is just too funny.  As of yesterday, Nicolas also started calling her Mom-I...

Daddy is home!

Daddy has come home from his week long business trip to China.  It was a long week for him and by the looks on the boys' faces this morning when they saw him, Daddy had been away for too long a time as well.  They are just so happy to have him home.  Zachary will not leave his side and Nicolas will make sure Daddy is in sight at all times.  Seeing just how much the boys missed him makes me so happy... they obviously know what a great Daddy they have!

On a side note, here are a few silly pictures of the boys sporting their new sunglasses...

Zachary:

Nicolas:

A walk through the mall

We went out for a walk in the mall today because it was just too cold to be outside.  There was a lot of hand holding with the boys, Aunt Kiki and Nana.  It got to the point where the boys wanted to hold each other's hand.  Thankfully Aunt Kiki had her cell phone and snapped this very cute (not so great quality) picture.

Just some fun (and cute) pictures...

The boys and I have been loving this gorgeous spring like weather.  Let's just hope it sticks around!

Zachary:

Nicolas:

Our new playground!

The boys were very fortunate that their older cousins Lauryn, Katie and Sabrina outgrew a climbing toy they had at their house.  And were lucky enough to inherit this toy.  Steve picked it up from his sister's house last Fall and didn't have the time to clean it up and put it back together before Winter hit.  So, it sat in our backyard all Winter.  It was so beautiful and warm out this weekend that he decided to tackle this job and it went much better and faster than expected.  It is fully functional and in our back yard.  The boys are already enjoying it...

Zachary way at the top:

Nicolas just loving it:

All about Nicolas...

Nicolas is my little academic.  He loves to learn and is fascinated by letters and numbers.  I usually hear him playing with his toys and singing the alphabet.  He knows it all (there are a few letters he can't pronounce and some that he makes a sound for) and can recognize all the letters in their capital and lower case form.  He can now count to ten and can also recognize the numbers.  Whenever we go anywhere, he will point out letters and tell me what they are.  He seems to amaze everyone who sees him.

He is my little cuddle bug.  He loves to sit close to you and cuddle up.  It is rare that when myself or Daddy is nearby for him to not be playing right along side of us.  He gives such great hugs and typically they come out of the blue.  And for some reason he adores being tickled.  His laugh is infectious so there are generally a few tickle sessions per day.

He is very independent and does not mind playing by himself.  He will sit quietly and look at books or will play happily with his letters on the easel.  He loves puzzles and will line up his cars over and over, looking at each one with great attention.  The hot wheels have the kind of car it is listed under each car.  He can point out almost everyone we have (20+ cars) and can even relate them to the real world cars.  A VW beetle drove by us today while we were walking and he pointed right to it and said "beetle".

He is also very accomodating.  He will generally be the one to give in to his brother.  He is great at sharing and helping out.  If Zachary drops a toy he was playing with, Nicolas will usually pick it up and give it back to him.  But on the flip side he is smart enough to be manipulative as well.  It all started when he was a baby and Zachary had a toy he wanted.  He knew that if he fained interest in another toy, Zachary would try to take it from him, therefore freeing up the toy he really wanted!

Here is a little video of my smart little man, it's not the best but he's been camera shy:




I love this little guy to pieces and could not possibly imagine our lives without him...