Full of beans...

Dear Nicky,

You had a great OT session today, and you ate well, and you took a decent nap, but around 4:30 you went temporarily insane and fussed and cried. I put you to bed. You didn't sleep, but it did calm you down. Then you were normal again, and you ate some more, then went to bed without a peep. We did have some laughs though, always do, one way or another.

Love,
Dad

Wrapped up...

Dear Nicky,

So today you did okay at Stones. You ate and napped well. Your PT attached some stretchy bands to your legs to encourage knee flexion, and they seemed to work. You looked like you were bending those old knees a little more than usual. We'll be wearing them again tomorrow. And by "we," I mean you.

Love,
Dad

Running ragged...

Dear Nicky,

Boy, you kids didn't give me much of a break today. Neither of you slept at the same time, although you, Nick, did take a fairly nice nap in the midday. Your sister on the other hand fussed all day and didn't sleep very much at all. You did pretty well with your PT. I hope you walk soon, my boy. I'd really love to see that.

Love,
Dad

An ordinary Sunday...

Dear Nicky,

Another average day. Mom took you guys to the mall. You love the mall. We had some pizza for dinner. You were kinda fussy all day food-wise. You're still a lot of laughs though. Most of the time.

Love,
Dad

Just an ordinary day...

Dear Nicky,

You took a nice couple naps today. That's about the extent of the excitement around here. But I did get to hold you a long time while you napped. It was nice, my little boy.

Love,
Dad

Can you still hear me...?

Dear Nicky,

The answer is yes. Mom took you to see Dr. Berg the ENT to have him look you over, to make sure your ears and the tubes inside them are still okay, which they were. Again, he told us not to worry about your runny nose, as he says kids have them all the time during winter months. Granny came over for a while this afternoon, and as usual, she went gaga over you and June. She brought you some clothes, which didn't fit, a Gumby toy, some stuff for Junie, some shoes for Mom, and a couple beat-up but tasty pastries for me. You and Junie interacted nicely and I took a few good pictures. I need to have some printed out. I haven't done so in a while, and I've got a number of good ones.

Love,
Dad

So tired...

Dear Nicky,

I'm just so sleepy, I have to go to bed right now.

Love,
Dad

A brief thaw...

Dear Nicky,

This morning you were a little more spitty-uppy than I like. We tried this new probiotic stuff in your usual superbreakfast. It was probably too small a does to matter, but I wanted you to try a small amount first. We also tried a new soup today for lunch. You hated it. But on the other hand you napped pretty well, always a nice thing. Outside, the weather was warm enough that the snow on our driveway finally cleared off. It's nice when the weather is better, on many levels.

Love,
Dad

Not much happening...

Dear Nicky,

Today was, for me, a busy and tiring day. I ran around a lot and I'm only just starting to feel better. You smashed a kitchen drawer on your own hand near the end of the day. Crazy kid.

Love,
Dad

A visit to aunty...

Dear Nicky,

Today, President's Day, Mom took you to see Aunt Dutchie and your girl cousins, who went insane over you. Actually, everybody did. You were quite excited still when you returned home. It was hard for you to go to sleep, but you finally did. Mom insisted on dressing you lighter tonight. If you're cold, it's her fault.

Love,
Dad

The mall...

Dear Nicky,

Mom took you guys to the mall this afternoon. She says you both loved it. People went crazy over you, as usual. I stayed home because I'm so tired all the time.

Love,
Dad

Precious soul...

Dear Nicky,

Nothing major to report today, just how fantastic we think you are, how smart, bright, alert, courageous, and charming you are, how engaging and vibrant, how lively and inquisitive, how adored you are. Even though sometimes you can be a bit of a pill, it's only because you're so typical.

Love,
Dad

Granny's no help...

Dear Nicky,

So this morning, Mom tells Granny that she's mad because Granny doesn't come over to help enough. So this makes Granny feel bad, so she comes over. Now of course Granny's no help, because she's old and weak. Also she's kind of lazy. Combine that with the way Mom likes to have Granny's attention, and the result is that nothing got done on the day that was supposed to be mine. Makes me a little angry, quite frankly, because I had to clean/straighten up after the two of them in addition to you and June. Meanwhile, I went to the grocery store and chiseled the ice off the steps and the driveway. Ah, what can you do? A guy's life is hard sometimes. You just do the best you can and try not to get too mad.

Love,
Dad

Another word...

Dear Nicky,

No nanny today, she couldn't get her car out of the snow. You guys were a little bit of a handful. Earlier you saw me wearing a hat, said "What's that?" "That's a hat," I replied. "Hat," you repeated. "Hat, hat, hat." You sure can pick words up fast.

Love,
Dad

Stepping it up...

Dear Nicky,

Congratulations, you've gotten to another milestone--climbing the stairs! That's wonderful! Earlier today, Mom got you to climb two stairs all by yourself. Very nice. What's also nice is that your cruising is improving by leaps and bounds. It's taken a while with some of these milestones, but when you do finally decide to add a gross physical skill, you tend to add it when you've mastered it perfectly. Naturally we are glad you do stuff later and well, rather than sooner and poorer. But hurry up and walk soon, okay? Oh, I almost forgot: earlier Mom and I totaled up the number of words you can say, and the number was almost 20, entirely age appropriate. You also have recently added the sign for "baby" and the word for it too. In fact, your first multi word sentence was recently "baby drinking" when you saw your sister was having her bottle. You're quite an amazing little fellow.

Love,
Dad

Snow's coming...

Dear Nicky,

Not much to report today. Another day of Stones, another PT session. You were pretty good all day, ate well, took a nap. I think the combination of Pepcid and a Tums for calcium is working well. You haven't really woken up crying at night for a long time now, well, a few days, anyway. A storm is upon us, and the weather's gonna be bad. Luckily we don't have to go anywhere. We're fairly well stocked, so it's cool. I am finally feelling better. I think my fever finally broke last night. Now I've got a cough, but I don't have the chills anymore. It's nice to be on the mend, though I still would love to get more sleep.

Love,
Dad

Let's catch up a little...

Dear Nicky,

So, pal, I haven't been able to write much due to feeling so under the weather. Let me try to recap the past couple days. On Friday, a little friend of yours from Stones came over for a playdate. We actually haven't seen him for a long time. He's a nice little boy, and his mom's a real sweetheart, but he's not on your level, sadly. On Saturday, we went down to South Jersey to a pair of twins' birthday party. It was a long, boring drive, and the party wasn't that great. Yesterday was a hanging-out day. Mom took you to the Presbyterian church to listen to some music. Today you could've napped more. You were fine till about three, then you started to unravel. Your time with your PT wasn't very successful, then at four you kind of went insane. You calmed down later, after some Motrin, then I put you to bed. This is a tough age. Tomorrow is another day.

Love,
Dad

Too exhausted...

Dear Nicky,

I'm so sorry, pal. I just can't think straight, tired as I am. I've got some kind of bug.

Love,
Dad

South Jersey...

Dear Nicky,

Too tired, pal. I'll get to you tomorrow.

Love,
Dad

Playdate #2...

Dear Nicky,

You had a little friend come over this afternoon, but I'll have to tell you about it later, because I have a cold, and I took some medicine, and now I'm sleepy.

Love,
Dad

26 pounds...!

Dear Nicky,

I'm not feeling so good tonight, but we went for your Synagis this morning, and your weight check was very heartening and made me feel so good. You went up over a pound in the last several days, since the last time we were there. From 24-14 to 26 even. That's great! Gotta run, I'm sick. Hope you gave it to me, and I hope you guys don't get it.

Love,
Dad

Out like a light...

Dear Nicky,

So you didn't nap all day long. You did pretty well with your OT, but were somewhat sluggish for the rest of the day. This afternoon I bundled all you guys up and took you to Target because I needed to get your Pepcid prescription refilled. Y'know, stuffing you guys into your winter clothes and hauling you out to the car ain't easy. But you guys were well behaved at Target and this pharmacist was really nice to us and made sure I understood everything. Anyway, when I got you home, you were out cold. I put you on the floor for a minute so I could get the stuff from the car, and when I came back in you were just where I left you, so I picked you up, took you upstairs, took off your bunting, and put you to sleep in your daytime attire. Shortly thereafter, I came up and gave you a dose of Pepcid, which you took and then went right back to sleep. Maybe you'll sleep all night through?

Love,
Dad

Man, it's cold...

Dear Nicky,

Hey, pal, how are ya? Man, you must've woken us up around half a dozen times last night. Just sleep, willya? Lack of sleep, plus this terribly cold weather, has just wiped me out. We went to Stones today. They told me you did well. In the parents' group, the CSW suggested that in the next group we devote a session for each parent to tell their story of how their kids arrived in this world. The general mood seemed none too enthusiastic, but I flat out said I've told my story enough, I don't want to tell it anymore. On a more positive note, you seem to be eating pretty well the past couple days, so I'm grateful for that. You do need to drink more milk though. With your PT you did okay, yesterday was stellar, but today was kind of a resting day. And that's cool.

Love,
Dad

On target for walking...

Dear Nicky,

Your PT was very happy with you today. You've improved your cruising and walking along the parallel bars a lot, and he feels confident that you should be walking by the 4th of July if not sooner. That day will be a great day. Yesterday, Granny, Grandpop, and Uncle Jon came over to watch the Superbowl on our TV, the hi-def one. Granny made fried chicken, which was delicious. You had some chicken and rutabaga. Everybody made a fuss over you. I thought the game was kind of boring. But at least we ate well. This afternoon I was very tired. I wish I could sleep more and eat better, but I can't seem to. I hope I'm not coming down with something. It's ridiculously cold out. Tomorrow we go to Stones.

Love,
Dad

Superbowl 41...

Dear Nicky,

Another tiring day for me, pal. A more substantial letter tomorrow, I promise.

Love,
Dad

IOU 12...

Dear Nicky,

I'm so tired, pal. I can't think straight. I'll get back to you.

Love,
Dad

Tired...

Dear Nicky,

Man, I'm sure tired today. I'll check in on you tomorrow.

Love,
Dad

Crash...

Dear Nicky,

You must've been tired this afternoon. You crashed around five and went to sleep, not a peep since.

Love,
Dad