Nia vs Chopsticks

So we were having Oishi, our favorite Japanese restaurant and Nia saw Melissa using chopsticks and asked to have a pair. We like to indiulge her when possible so we complied. After a few minutes of dropping and goofing around she actually got the hang of it! And no one is more proud of Nia when she does something new then Nia!

Heres a video of Nia using them:

Laundry Day

Nia loves to help with the laundry, in fact she can't wait to help. When she sees us packing up the bag shes banging on the door to go to the basement and do laundry. She likes to help load the machines and pour the detergent and the downy balls in. She likes to help load the dryers but that sometimes takes wayyyyyy to long, and if they're not on the bottom, she has to be picked up to put her items in.

Coffee Break

For some strange reason Nia loves the taste of coffee. Now we don't make any habit of giving her more then a little sip, but we did get her a cup of decaf on Sunday, we poured 80% of it out and added a bunch of ice. Even though we actually didn't want her to nap then, the pic on the right clearly shows no caffeine was involved...

Going Green

Nia eating tomatoes, cucumbers, and dipping carrots and celery, some of her favorite veggies... Raw, steamed, in a sald, you name it. this kid eats 'em all, even broccoli!

More My Little Outback Fun

Nia's favorite place to go on a cold or wet day... Always fun things to do and friends to play with. We try and organize at least 1 monthly play date there...


Nothing is as fun as zipping down the slide onto a well padded tush...


Ready, set, go!


Nia playing house...

Visit With Grandpa Joe

Recently Nia's Grandpa came for a visit. We had a lot of fun, we also went to My Little Outback (shocker).


Grandpa & Momo


Nia drawing


Grandpa Joe


I love all the attention!

I Scream For Ice Cream

Today was "fun with hair bands day" at our place. Besides the funny hair, and the fact she has chocolate ice cream on her face, I can't believe how much older she looks.

Do The (clap clap) Potty Dance

Well, Nia is about 4 month away from 2 years old, and she has clearly indicated that she is interested in being potty trained. Besides the fact that she can remove her own pants and diaper and go stand by the toilet waiting to be put op on it, she knows when she is wet or has a dirty diaper and clearly isn't a fan anymore. We bought her a Especially for Kids First Stages 3 in 1 Potty. Its her own potty, plus a seat for the bigger toilet, and then a stepping stool for later. I admit when I went to buy it, I got a little emotional. Every day she moves farther away from the little baby we brought home from the hospital 2 years ago. Wish us luck, it's gonna be a fun little ride down potty training street.

We Be Jammin

We want to make sure Nia has as much exposure to music as possible. And she has already shown interest in playing instruments. Sometimes she's very reserved and inquisitive, other times she just rocks out.

Brusha Brusha Brusha

Nia likes to brush her teeth and wash her hands and there's a song in the Sprout Good Night Show about brushing teeth that after she watches she proclaims "brush teeth!" and heads to the bathroom to brush.




The last pic was just too funny to not post, that's Nia's game face.

Assistant Needed

I have really been slacking keeping up with Nia's blog. As she is fast approaching 2 she is a force to be reckoned with and finding time has become harder, still no excuse. If I could harness her energy we could end our reliance on fossil fuels. You wake up one day, and what was once a baby is now a toddler, seemingly overnight. It's not even big things like talking, walking and mastering the world around them, its subtle things like facial expressions, confidence in their movements and developing individuality.

Lately when listening to music, Nia will shake her head and go "no no no" when she doesn't like a song, and a resounding "yesssss!" when she hears one she likes. In general, she likes funky, uptempo music and salsa in addition to the theme songs of her favorite shows. b In the mornings she prefers soul music like Motown. Mia loves to sing and play any instrument she can get her hands on.

When she knows she was naughty and you call her on it, she tilts her head, smiles, waves and says "hi!" in the softest near impossible to be mad at way. At night, before bedtime or when she thinks you're sad, she will grab her blanket, put it on you and rub your back and say "nite nite" with a hug and kiss, empathy and compassion far beyond her years. Sometimes Nia and I just look at each other and smile, whatever it means to her I don't know but much like I do when I look at Gillian, words often fail me.