Costumes Of Halloween Past...

Some pics of Gillian & Nia...

Halloween 2010

So it was Nia's second Halloween but her first actually participating in the festivities. She actually didn't mind the costume at all and even kept the hood on the entire time. She made it about 7 houses and then decided she was done and sat down. We went back to Momo's house and she handed out candy for a bit and played in all the leaves.
We also went to the Halloween parade at the mall. Lesson of the day: "Mall costume parade + free candy = insanity." There were lines 10 stores deep just to get a Tootsie Roll. We walked around a bit and then left. Not gonna do this again until she's older if then.
A very busy day and our Bumblebee is tucked in and buzzing around in dreamland.

Me Me Me Me

I think one of the most amazing things is watching your baby grasp language. Nia has been able to use "no" and "yes" along with "more (both speaking and sign language)". Add to it "this" and "that" and other words she knows and she's pretty good at conveying what she wants.

Nia Sees Gillian

Nia was looking at pictures today and I asked if she knew where Gillian was and she pointed right too her...

Nia In Her Costume

Nia is going to be a bumblebee this year for Halloween...

Nia Goes Boom

It's really short, but she loves the song so I took a bit and made an edit...

School Picture

Well, she's not really in school but she goes to one of the child development centers by the hospital Melissa works at for 1 or 2 days a week. In any case they said they were having pictures taken and we don't actually have a picture of Nia all dressed up so we opted in. Even though she got dressed up and even put on the boots, bow and tights with no problem, I don't think Nia was entirely sold on the idea of posing for this guy and they pretty much only got a smirk out of her even with them waving stuffed animals and making goofy noises. Personally, I don't think the photographer worked hard enough. They need someone like a real model photographer for Nia telling her to "work it diva". Or maybe an Apple, she'll do anything for an apple. They said it will take a few weeks to see the results. We may do our own shoot in the same outfit. I wish Gillian was here, I would love a nice picture of the two of them, hopefully this winter sometime.

This And That

Recent additions to Nia's dictionary:
That. When asked what she wants she will now point and say "that", which is a shift from the previous "This", and lately followed by "Mommy" or "Daddy".
Apple. Duh. The all mighty and powerful fruit.
No no no no no, etc... Yeah, it's THAT time. The "no's" are sometimes followed by "mine".
Come. In conjunction with either a hand gesture or the recent hand grab and pull.
I do. Miss independent.
Dance. And boy does she love to. Put on a good song and she'll shake it.

She has been imitating anything we say phonetically even if she doesn't get the words out. She also has started singing and yes, beatboxing (I swear I will get it on video soon). Sometimes she just walks around the apartment bobbing her head and singing her little babbles.

After her bath yesterday we were sitting in the hallway and my mother asked Nia to go bring her the wet towels from the bathroom and Nia scampered off and we thought to ourselves, "what will Nia bring back?". To our surprise she went in twice and brought out the two wet towels. Yay comprehension!

She has been entertaining herself more and more and on occasion will sit in her room and play by herself and has actually tried to exert her privacy by leading us out of her room and closing the door. Can't wait until she's a teenager.

Nia has pretty much mastered the use of a fork and spoon although she still will pick some things up with her fingers.

The Great Pumpkin

Melissa, my mom and I took Nia to her first pumpkin patch this weekend. She had a blast and there was so much to do. She kept calling the pumpkins "balls" but in her defense that's kinda what they look like... They also had a boatload of apple products like cider and apple cider snow cones.

Nia And The Technicolor Sweater

I love this sweater hoodie. It's from Old Navy. We have it in 2 sizes. Gillian had a similar one, should have kept it. Nia also has hair that is out of control. But that is almost her personality. It cannot yet be tamed and we are eagerly awaiting for it to decide if it will be good or evil. If you run your fingers through it, you may not get your hand back. -E

An Apple A Day...

I know apples seem to be a recurring theme, but today apples rule all. For one, Nia is now asking for apples using words. Secondly, I had brought an apple with me in the morning on the way to take Mommy to work, which usually results in a tedius struggle for car seat supremacy. Today I showed Nia the apple, and she said "Apple!" and gestured to herself, to which I replied "If you want the apple you have to get in your car seat like a big girl". Nia then preceded to climb into her car seat, situate herself and put her arms up and waited patiently to be strapped in. She of course got the apple and we now know Nia's barter system. Obviously it's not the seat, but how she gets in the seat that determines the level of disapproval from Nia. She's really pushing the toddler independence early.

Reading Is FUNdamental

Nia is in her "I can real all by myself phase". It's very comical to watch. She will actually "read" to you and even act out things she thinks she's reading.


"The cow says MOOOOOO, don't interrupt me"


"Oh my gosh, the cow said MOOOO AGAIN!"

My New Intern

Nia will sit for a half hour and just handle "business" at the computer. She loves to type and use the mouse and even get on the phone and take care of telemarketers.

Nia Rocks Out

This is a few weeks old but only recently got around to dumping them off my iPhone.

Nia For Sale

While shopping for diapers Nia decided to sit on the shelves... I think $49.99 is a bargian for a one-of-a-kind item.

A Lesson For All Parents

Two days ago our apartment was broken into a robbed and they pretty much targeted our computers, DJ gear and other easy to sell and carry things. While they are only things and fortunately no one was home or hurt, the computers they stole had all my pictures and movies of Gillian & Nia. Fortunately, I had a backup drive so all of those irreplaceable memories are safe and not lost.

You can buy a 1tb (terrabyte) drive for under $100.00, that is enough to back one if not all of your computers entire contents including music, photos, movies and other documents. You may never be robbed, but your computer can suffer from a host of other issues that could lead to losing precious memories and files.

Nia And The Boombox

One day Nia decided to climb up on the boombox and sit. She literally posed for a good 10 minutes. Since then she goes up there frequently when she's not taking my CDs and putting them in the CD tray (she figured out where the eject button was).

Nia Is Walking Sdrawkcab

If it's too early in the morning to decode the last word, its "backwards". Nia for the past few days has started walking backwards from time to time. Inevitably she will back into something and fall on her tush but she always has this look of "look what I can do!"

Oh, and we saw a praying mantis yesterday. Nia wanted me to tell everyone.

Brooklyn In the House

Since Melissa is from Brooklyn, and it's probably my favorite place in the world so we have an affinity for Brooklyn Industries clothes. Both Gillian and Nia have jackets and T-shirts from there.