Cowboy Pickle plays the piano

Nicholas' home in the sticks is starting to influence his fashion choices. We have his monster truck on order.

We're counting on that piano scholarship to put him through college.

I like this serious pose with Mommy.

Taking to the highway...

A few favorite photos of Nicholas on the way back from Dallas recently. Note the disappearing shirt. He got it soaked with water.

My first haircut

Just weeks from his first birthday, Nicholas got his very first haircut Saturday. He was amazingly calm as Vangi snipped away his baby locks.


The before shot.


Snip snip...


Chop, chop...


He's a new man!

Teeth!

Ah, our boy is growing up. Eight months old and counting (plus biting).

Happy Halloween!

Wascally wabbit

This week Nicholas moved from rice cereal to carrots as the parade of pureed foods continues. Guess what orange carrots + Nicholas equals? Green poop.

Taking it on the chin

Lots of drooling and grimaces, but Nicholas tried some semi-solid food for the first time tonight. He wore most of it.

The high and mighty Nicholas

We bought the rapidly aging Nicholas his first high chair this past weekend. Once we spent a few days figuring out how to put it togeher, we slipped him in and let him play with the accompanying toys that are supposed to get him to like it before we start with a little solid food--that's coming tonight!

After six months of nothing but mother's milk, we have also started substituting one bottle of formula a night. The poop is no more stinky from the change so far, but give him time.

Nicholas measured a whopping 28 inches tall at his six-month doctor's appointment, making him in the 95 percentile for height. I expect him to tower over me one day.

Diaper David, I love you

I'm turning into a major fan of the writer/artist David Shannon. What, you've never heard of this genius? You clearly don't have young children. In the pre-K set David Shannon, and his alter ego Diaper David, is a god.

It seems that when Shannon was five he drew a crude picture of himself as a baby. Years later when he was an artist and a new dad, his mother sent him the drawings. They are the basis for a series of books.

Shannon has three Diaper David board books, which are the ones that can stand up to chewing and potential shredding. My friend Mary Hoover sent u\s the book "Oops!" as a gift. Nicholas loves it, to say the least. When he so much as sees the books, he starts giggling. And they've made up the better part of his vocabulary with "uh oh," "yum," and "ahhh!" being heard a lot around here.

For Nicholas' six-month birthday this week, I gave him Diaper David himself. David immediately received a lick, the highest compliment in the land.

Da-Da goes to Waco

It was a sweaty, fun night in Waco. I met up with Paul and his pal who drove in from Dallas. Some nice Baylor fan gave us two free tickets as we were about to go buy some. We wandered to the Bobcat section to cheer on the school that shall forever be known as Southwest Texas State. The game was forever close, as you can see from the 21-14 score in this photo as Boko the Bobcat mascot gets a ride through the stands after a Bobcat TD. It seemed the night was ripe for an upset, but Baylor passed at will and foiled an onside kick with little time remaining to take the game 28-20. As one Baylor fan said as we walked back from George's where we got a beer at halftime: "We suck." It's the second time in recent years (the other two years ago against Texas A&M) that the Bobcats seemed poised to upset a Big 12 team.

I came home to discover that Nicholas has learned to say (repeatedly) "Da-Da." Fortunately he repeated it for me this morning.

Eat it up, yum!

Nicholas hasn't actually started eating solid food--we're holding out until he's six months old, which is just around the corner--but he has started practicing with his rubbery spoon. He loves it almost as much as imitating the way I chew my food.

Get up, stand up, POLKA!

Nick sits up. In answer to critics concerned that he never wears clothes, he has donned a towel.


Nick's new name is Little Tall Boy.

OK, so my boy is true to his mother's roots. Tiffany is from old German/Czech stock, therefore it's natural that Nicholas would love polka. He's spending more and more of his time sitting up and standing (with my assistance for balance). But today I put on the turntable (Yes, I have one) K-TEL's Greatest Polka Hits and danced around the room with him. I've never seen him smile or laugh more, and he already does both a lot. His favorite song is "Too Fat Polka" by Frankie Yankovic.

Presents!

Nicholas skinned this teddy bear and made it into a hat. No, it's actually the softest bib in the world and a present from Judy. Thanks!


Grabbing the footsies!


Thanks Tim and Martha for the giant firefly. It is in the top five rotation of the Nick Toys--with a bullet. Warn the teddy bears!

Heads up? Shot down!

Nick turned 4 months this week, and in the last couple of weeks he's been holding his head high--no small feat for a youn'n.



He's sitting up in his chair!



The bad news about turning 4 months? It's time for the next round of shots!!! This is him in the aftermath.

Photos from the big night!

Eleanor took these photos, and I never even saw this sign in BookPeople for the reading!


The actors--Gary Kent, Ana Garcia and Chris Sykes--were excellent!


Nicholas, of course, had his hand in everything (including his mouth), and was the star of the night.



I read from the poems that grew into the book. What? A book adapted from poetry? Yep.


Ah, the book signing... Did I mention they make lovely Christmas presents?


We're a happy family.

What a night!

Jesse Sublett jams for the crowd.

I'll post more pix later (hey, Chuck, send me some of yours!), but just a note to say last night's release party for EVACUATION PLAN was awesome. Jesse Sublett rocked the house, the actors were great and we pulled in a crowd of more than 100. Oh, and we sold 74 books!

It was a little steamy at BookPeople in the middle of the crowd, but it was a heartfelt night. Thanks to everyone who came. If you missed it, I'll be reading next in Austin at the Writers League of Texas meeting at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 16 at Barnes and Noble-Westlake. Come on by!

The true star of the night, of course, was Nicholas, who had a harem of attendants.

Daddy has a new shiny toy!

I drove through pouring rain and rush hour traffic this afternoon to finally see the completed, printed book. Ahhhh. Nicholas took one look at it and decided it was delicious.

Look Mom! I'm all hands!

Nicholas has discovered how to use his hands in the last couple of weeks, which makes play time lots of fun.

The dinosaur doesn't stand a chance...

Hey, I just thought of something else I can do with my hands...

Next up on the skill chart: rolling over!

Mother and child reunion

I had to share these photos of Tiffany and Nicholas...