Baby wrestling (5-15-00)
Nicholas walking! (2-10-00)
Nicholas and his puzzle
Nicholas climbing stairs
Nicholas riding his motorcycle (12-25-01)
2006: May
2005: August
2003: February, June , December
2002: January, February March, April, June, September, November
2001: January, March, Maui, May, June, July, August, October, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas
2000: November-December, October, August 14-19, June 29-30, June 26-28, June 10, May 25, May 8, May 1-7, March 14 - April 7, February 14 - March 8, January 11 - February 12
1999: December
16 - January 10, 2000, November 13 - December
6,
Oct 22 - Nov 12, October
20, August 25-Sep 17, August
21-23, August 9,
August 5-8, July
11-21, June 19, June
1-15, May 26-30, May
8-22,
April 23 - May 4, April
15-18, Nick, Tom, and Work, April
10-14,
April 4-10, March
25-28, March 14-16,
March 11-13, March
7-9,
March 5-6, March
4, March 2-3
Nicholas was due on April 19, but
after 33 weeks he decided enough was enough. Liz and I are thrilled to
announce the birth of Nicholas Sloss Treynor, at 9:25pm on March 1, 1999.
Nick was 7 weeks early, and was 4 lbs 6 oz / 18 inches at birth.
Update 3-12-99: Little Nicholas
remains ahead of the curve, surprising us with an early discharge from the hospital!
He is up to 4 lbs 10 oz, and the doctors have given him a clean bill of health
and sent him home. We spent a rather sleepless Friday night, but as everyone
had told us, it's worth every yawn. We have pictures...
Update 3-15-99: Little Nicholas
is no longer so little -- he's up to 4 lbs 15 oz and is starting to look just
a wee bit chubby. It's a wonderful thing to behold :). He has settled
into a regular schedule of waking us up at 1:30am and 4:30am. I didn't
realize I could exist comfortably on 5 hours of interrupted sleep (and 5 cups
of Peet's coffee a day). See more pictures of Nicholas and his sleepy
parents below.
Update 3-28-99: It's been
a wonderful couple of weeks now with Nick at home. He's gaining weight
steadily, up to the 6 lb mark as of this morning. Liz had a baby shower
on 3-21 and we're still sorting through all the wonderful gifts our friends
brought -- thank you all! Nick still wakes us up 2-4 times a night, and
even Liz has started drinking the occasional cup of coffee...
We've taken fewer pictures because
Nick looks pretty similar day-to-day, but he is definitely filling out, particularly
his face. It's interesting to consider that he's still 3 weeks premature...
Update 4-14-99: Nick is over
the 7.5 lb mark with five days still to go before his due date. He's developing
his first expressions now (other than the "I'm full" pout) but we have yet to
photograph him smiling. We'll be sure to swamp you with pictures as soon
as he does :)
Update 4-16-99: Official stats:
8 lbs 2.5 oz, 19.75 inches. Smiles. Pouts. Gurgles.
Charms.
Update 4-25-99: Growth continues
apace. 9 lbs even. 50th percentile in length. 75th percentile
in weight. 90th percentile in head size. First signs of laughter
emerging. Frequently sleeps 5 hours at night.
Update 5-4-99: 9.8 lbs, smiles
frequently, laughs occasionally. Makes cooing sounds which melt hearts
at 10 paces.
Update 5-31-99: Has it really
been a month?? Nick passed the 11 pound mark sometime around the 20th
of May, and is finally sleeping through the night on a regular basis.
He has a doctor's appointment soon, and I'll have some exact stats for the fan
club :) In the meantime, a number of new pictures, including three (!)
smiles.
Update 6-15-99: Nick
is up to 13 lbs, and generally sleeps from bedtime (10:30pm) until dawn (6:00am).
Those of you without kids may wonder why I spend so much pagespace talking about
Nick's sleep patterns. Those of you who have had infants, on the other
hand, know exactly what I'm talking about :) Both groups can enjoy
the new pictures.
Update 6-30-99: Nick is now
13.4 lbs, and we have devised a solution to the wakes-up-at-dawn issue: we got
plantation shutters, and we close them when we put him to bed. Dawn for
Nick is then simply a question of when we decide to open the shutters :)
The most recent pictures are from June 19, but not much has changed since then
other than that he has started verbalizing in the oh-so-cute way that young
babies do. It's probably much cuter for the baby's parents than
it is to anyone else, but that is true of many things babies do...
Update 7-21-99: Nick is continuing
to be a remarkably easy baby -- I often comment that "one crisis at a time is
plenty!" He always sleeps through the night at this point, usually from
10:30 until 7:30, which makes for a peaceful household. Nick hasn't shown
too many new behaviors since the last update, although he smiles more readily
than ever, and is just starting to independently grasp at things. We've
tried putting him on his stomach briefly in an attempt to stimulate crawling
behavior, but he hates it and has done little so far besides kicking
his legs and making unhappy noises.
I got a few amusing pictures recently
of Nick showing his father's influence...
Update 8-7-99: There are no new pictures at the
moment, as Nick looks about the same as he did two weeks ago. However,
there are a number of new updates for those truly devoted readers. In
the past two weeks Nick has learned to look, reach out, grasp, and then transfer
objects to his mouth. He's continuing to make pre-verbal sounds, and tries
to imitate us when we talk to him. He remains extremely good-natured,
and reliably sleeps from 11pm - 7:30am. His hair is also starting to come
in more thickly, as are his eyebrows. We'll have more pictures soon.
Update 8-8-99: Make that very soon!
We have captured Nick on e.film performing some of his new tricks, three of
which are presented in today's picture update. Harder to capture with
a still camera is Nick's cackling and giggling, which is induced whenever his
parents sing to him.
Update 8-16-99: Nick's newfound motor skills have
opened the world of music to him. Today's picture set captures a few of
the young virtuoso's best moments.
Update 8-25-99: Nick's grandparents on the Sloss
side came to visit. We've captured some of the better moments for your
viewing enjoyment.
Update 9-20-99: There haven't been many new picture-worthy
moments in the past month, but Nick has been making great developmental strides.
He has learned to roll from back to front, and front to back again. He
continues his attempts at verbalizing, and has adopted a sing-song manner of
speaking to himself and to us which we [naturally] find charming. He has
become facile at spotting objects, reaching out and grabbing them, and transferring
them to his mouth :) He can even hold his own bottle to eat. Interestingly,
he frequently leads with his left hand, and we have a suspicion that our little
Nicholas is a southpaw.
Speaking of eating, Nick has begun eating solid foods in
earnest. He wolfs down rice cereal, barley cereal, oatmeal, and has even
tried banana. These in turn have helped us keep up with his voracious
appetite.
Update 10-20-99: Although not-so-little Nick looks
much the same, his pace of behavior development is accelerating. He began
early crawling on 10-9, and is rapidly improving with practice. He hasn't
yet discovered the alternating hand and leg trick yet, but he can inchworm his
way forward at a reasonable pace. He is also showing many signs of teething,
including copious drool and occasional fussiness. He's up to 28" and 19
lbs, and has graduated from his original carseat to a new, larger model.
Nick has developed quite a taste for solid food over the
past month. Although the finer points of spoon use continue to elude him,
he is more than happy to have a parent operate the implement while he consumes
vast quantities of squash, carrots, applesauce, and his personal favorite, bananas.
We've tried pureed chicken on him once, but it did not meet with the young master's
approval. It may be an acquired taste...
Update 11-12-99: Nick has made
great strides with his crawling technique, and can now propel himself about
the house with surprising speed. He's also figure out how to go from crawling
to sitting upright and back again, and more surprisingly, can pull himself to
a standing position giving something to grab. His delighted parents quickly
videotaped these antics for endless replay to relatives...
Update 12-6-99: We're seeing new behaviors every
few days now. Nick started babbling several weeks ago, throwing out the
occasional "da-da" and "ma-ma" to delight his parents, and can now stand with
only one hand to steady himself. He can also climb stairs quite quickly,
leading to a crash retrofit of the staircase with baby gates. He has crossed
the 20 lb mark, and may well be walking by Y2K.
We visited my parents in Boston for Thanksgiving, and accumulated
a few good pictures which are (naturally) now part of his website.
Update 1-11-00: The Nickster still wasn't walking
when Y2K rolled over, but fortunately the lights stayed on and he'll have some
more time to work on it. He's now standing on his own, and cruises around
with one hand on something stable. We think it can't be long now before
he sets out on his own. In the meantime, he's had his first Christmas
and now has some new toys and clothing to keep him entertained.
Update 2-12-00: Nick's made great strides over the
past month. His first two bottom teeth have come in, allowing him to munch
on pancakes and french fries with wild abandon. His vocabulary has expanded
to include "mom" and "baba (bottle)". He stands on his own quite readily now,
and best of all, he's taken his first few steps! We'll have more videos
as soon as we can catch him walking on film, but in the meantime the usual complement
of photos may be found above.
Update 3-12-00: Nick has turned one, and made the
transition to toddler right on schedule. He can now stand up by himself,
walk around, and knock over things he wouldn't try to tackle even a month ago.
He has five teeth in, with more on the way, and has expressed his discomfort
by occasionally rejecting his dinner in a manner befitting a scene from "The
Exorcist". However, he generally remains his cheerful self. He's
up to 22 lbs now, and I expect him to convert those extra pounds to extra length
any day now.
Update 4-10-00: Nick is up to 24 lbs and 10
teeth. His preferred mode of transportation has been walking for several
weeks, and he hardly ever crawls any more. He has begun to associate words
with items, as in "Give daddy the bottle" or "Where's the rubber duck?".
Naturally, understanding and compliance are not necessarily one and the same.
During our recent visit to Hawaii, we discovered that Nick remembered how to
hold his breath under water, and is indeed showing his father's affinity for
beach, water and waves. He's continuing to develop at a rapid pace, and
I expect he'll be learning JavaScript and getting a job at a .COM startup any
day now...
Update 5-25-00: Nicholas is continuing to
develop new behaviors, such as playing hide-and-seek around the house.
He has a good-sized vocabulary, and enjoys pointing out "at" (Cat), "dog", "oon"
(Moon) etc. More troublesome for his parents, he's discovered how to climb
things such as crib walls, and has on several occasions announced his awakening
@ 5:45am by walking down the hall and into our room. We've moved everything
breakable up a bit higher around the house...
Update 6-11-00: There's not a lot of overt news
to report. Nicholas is starting to get over his separation anxiety, which
means we can occasionally leave him in child care at our gym without getting
screaming loud enough to draw attention from athletes two doors away.
Nick is able to run at a brisk pace, and has mastered the art of climbing up
on chairs, tables, countertops, etc. One of his most endearing new qualities,
at least in his father's eyes, is his clear love of motor vehicles. He
currently prefers the driver's seat to his child seat, and left to his own devices
will quickly stand on the seat, grasp the steering wheel with both hands, and
emit a cacophany of engine noises whilst turning the wheel right and left.
I predict an ahem interesting 16th birthday for this young fellow...
Update 7-11-00: It's been exactly a month since
the last update, and the big changes are Nick's attempts at talking. He's
very clearly started associating objects with words, pointing to things and
calling them out by name. One breakthrough came when we realized he was
sometimes speaking in Spanish, which coupled with his pronunciation made it
nearly impossible for us to understand him. He currently enjoys pointing
at new things and saying "Whassat?".
Other than the talking, Nick's gaining weight (slowly)
and looking more mature (quickly). This month's pictures say more than
I can here...
Update 8-21-00: Nick's vocabulary continues to grow.
Although he's reticent to speak much in English, he understands a good deal
in both English and Spanish, as evidenced by his reaction to (and occasional
obedience with) verbal instruction. He's also discovered the joy of toddler
computer games, which are teaching him the alphabet and numbers. Father
and son have spent hours together in the office, Nick learning the basics of
language while Ben defends the universe from invading Scions...
Update 11-2-00: Nick is up to 26.5 lbs, and has
recently gone through a growth spurt. As the pictures show, he looks much
more like a young boy than a toddler now. He's quite active and strong,
and loves to climb things (including parents) in search of new realms to explore.
He's speaking more, particularly in Spanish, and understands reasonably complex
sentences in either language. His love of motorized vehicles continues
unabated, much to his father's delight and his mother's chagrin...
Update 12-27-00: Nick's making a rapid transition
to being a full-blown 2-year-old. He's demonstrated willpower, drive,
and an unwillingness to compromise -- that is, he's had a few temper tantrums.
He's also finally figured out that things can be scary, which means no more
'R' movies at Chez Treynor for a while. Being the first grandchild on
both sides of the immediate family, he was well loved over Christmas, and his
favorite toy -- a battery powered three-wheeled motorcycle -- is in near-constant
use at the house. Pictures are, of course, forthcoming.
Update 2-5-01: Nick's spoken vocabulary has exploded
over the past month. He's now got a laundry list of single-syllable words
(Moon, Sun, Up, Down, Milk, Book, More, Home, Mom, No) as well as sound effects
("vroom" for motorcycle or car, "woowoowoo" for dog, "nah nah" for cat meowing,
"hoo hoo" for monkey, etc.). He's also picked up other habits common to
two-year-olds, such as repeating demands until they are satisfied, and lying
down and screaming when those demands are not met promptly. This particular
stage of development is so much fun for the parents, we've decided to do it
again :)
Update 3-19-01: Nick's vocabulary continues to expand
dramatically -- he has started into multi-syllabic words :"Piz-za, Ah-Pla (airplane),
Nick-o (Nicole)" and can recognize colors, about 10 letters of the alphabet,
and can count to 4. His incidence of tantrums has decreased markedly,
and he's become more affectionate, kissing his parents good night before climbing
into bed. All in all, this is a delightful stage for his parents.
Update 5-12-01: Nick is continuing his mastery of
basic English and Spanish. He can count to 10 in both languages, and can
name about 16 letters. He's discovered the joys of running and hiding,
both of which he does quite well. Along with running has come scrapes,
bruises, and a new set of phrases: "Run now?", "Oh Man!", "Oof. Ow."
He's graduated to full sentences recently, announcing to his father "Airplane
flies up!". He continues to soak up new words at a furious rate, and we're
having to be extra-careful with our language around him...
Update 9-8-01: Nick's now proficient in all the
letters and numbers up to 20, although his rendition of the "alphabet song"
has a few, err, gaps. He speaks in compound sentences ("I don't want to
go to dinner, I want to play outside!") and has developed quite a sense of humor.
His favorite game these days is "hide and seek". We are eager to see how
he accepts his new sister, who is due any day now.
Update 10-21-01: Nick and little Olivia get along
very well, with Nick displaying the Big Brother attitudes we'd hoped he would
adopt. He's clearly feeling the loss of attention attendant with the arrival
of a needy little sibling, but he's handling it as well as we could ask.
His development continues apace, with increasing competence in letters, numbers,
and complex concepts. It's also Halloween season, which means pumpkins,
costumes, and plenty of good pictures.
Update 11-25-01: Nick's continuing to progress intellectually.
He can read all the letters reliably, and is learning to use pronouns correctly
("put ME down" rather than "put MY down"). He just loves to play games
-- video, roughhousing, theme parks -- all of which makes for good website fodder.
Update 12-30-01: More chatty and definitely more imaginative, the Nickster has gotten more used to having a small, needy sister in the family. He made out like a bandit this Christmas -- it's good to be the first grandson in the family -- and his haul will keep him "in" goodies for some months now.
Update 3-10-02: Just past the big "3", Nick has just started preschool and will probably rapidly change as some peer socialization takes place. For the moment, however, he is developing fairly linearly -- more complex sentences & behaviors, and a strong imagination. Some of his favorite toys these days are matchbox cars and airplanes...
Update 4.23.02: Preschool is clearly rubbing off of Nick -- he's more talkative and has greatly increased his vocabulary over the past couple months. I've introduced him to Tic Tac Toe, and once he masters that we'll move on to checkers. He's getting quite fast on his little plastic tricycle, and a real bicycle may be in the offing by summer.
Update 6.9.02: Nick finally scored that bicycle, and is enjoying his new-found mobility. He enjoys riding, playing with his friends, and especially playing games with Olivia. On the latter point, the feeling is distinctly mutual :)
Update 11.24.02: Nick's made great mental strides in the past six months. He can now write the alphabet and numbers up to 20, and can spell his name and a few other words. He has started drawing pictures, including a hilarious one of this family which I shall post shortly. His memory is remarkable, especially for things he's told or he sees in books; he will frequently recall facts read to him months earlier. He enjoys school and evening activities with his sister, and has learned to play a half-decent game of checkers.
Update 3.7.03: Nick continues to progress quickly. He's begun to read simple words, and draws whenever he gets the chance. He loves to be read stories and to play games with his parents or the computer. He continues to be adoring with his little sister Olivia, much to the relief of his parents, and the two of them often will play together for 30 minutes without intervention. He has also made many friends at school, and we are now frequent fliers on the birthday circuit. Speaking of birthdays, Nick turned 4 last week, and his party is coming up shortly. Pictures will, of course, follow.
Update 6.9.03: Nick has discovered his new love - computer strategy games. He's very unhappy when he doesn't get in a couple of rounds of "Command and Conquer - Generals" with his father in the evenings. He's actually getting pretty good at it, which worries his Mom but pleases Dad. His computer gaming is helping motivate his continuing development in his verbal and reading skills, and he now knows all the basic phoenems perfectly. It has also, however, caused his pediatrician to remark to me "it was the first time a 4-year-old told me 'After I build defenses for my base, I like to build scud launchers and destroy my enemy's buildings'". I'll probably need to wean him back onto more age-appropriate games like Chess fairly soon here.
Update 12.14.03: Amazing how quickly six months passes. Nick long since mastered "Command and Conquer" and "Populous" and has now picked up checkers and chess. He can now read 3-4 letter words with relative ease, and his vocabulary continues to expand rapidly. He can count as high as he pleases, and is beginning to do simple arithmetic. He'll have to keep up the studying, however - his sister is showing all the signs of being bright and competitive with her older bro.
Update 3.14.04: Despite his mother's displeasure, Nick remains a devoted fan of the USA, China & GLA factions of "Command and Conquer Generals", and he shows steady progress in his abilities therewith. His "three Rs" are coming along well, with most simple words no longer a challenge for Nick. He can add and subtract quite well, and has demonstrated that he can count well over 100. In Mexico this month he also demonstrated that he can now swim - or at least move slowly while keeping his head above water :). He continues to be a devoted brother to his not-so-little sister, and to display a 5-year-old's curiosity about the workings of the world.
Update 7.10.04: After much discussion, Nicholas has been weaned off the strategy games of which he is so fond. His mother is very pleased; Nick somewhat less so. However, it has markedly increased his appetite for alternate activities - outdoors play, more attempts at reading, and the beginnings of proper multi-digit arithmetic. As he starts kindergarten in a month, I expect to have much more to report on this front by next writing.
Update 8.28.05: It's been a busy year for your humble narrator. We've gone places and done things, and taken thousands of pictures, but somehow time to update the website has been elusive. Nick completed Kindergarten, switching schools midyear to Trinity (which he adores). He can now read age-appropriate books, although he has to pick his way through the longer words carefully. He has mastered bicycling and has an active outdoor life playing with our neighbors children. He still loves computer strategy games as a preferred pastime (his current favorite is "Empire Earth II") and Liz has concluded that they are probably beneficial after reading some recent studies on their effects. Nick is also facile in Chess and has found a new hobby in card and magic tricks. He lost his first tooth in July, which gives him a cute gap-filled smile.
Update 5.28.06: 9 months later, Nick is thriving. He has crossed the threshold where reading is now a joy rather than a chore, and entertains each evening after bedtime by reading a few pages of Calvin & Hobbes to his sister. His two lower incisors have been replaced by their adult version, but thus far his other teeth remain unchanged. He has graduated off of training wheels on his bicycle, which he rides at every opportunity, and rapidly learned how to ski independently during our visit to Squaw this year. In school Nick is about to complete 1st grade, and he excels at science, math and (interestingly) writing. He continues to play chess and has branched out in computer games to include strategy, action and flight simulators