Tummies

Who's tummy is bigger?

February Freeze

Slow down Griffin! He loves walking around in his new frog galoshes, but being big for him, he can't go as fast as normal.

All of the sudden he started signing (eat, milk, please, thank you, more, etc) and talking (hockey, stick, papa, etc). Wow, we can communicate without screams and pointing! Great! This makes life much easier.

We celebrated Hockey Day Minnesota by hosting a boot hockey game. It was really windy and cold, so only the very brave ventured out. But once we got playing, we were sweating and didn't notice the cold as much... except for eye lashes freezing, right Meg? And those not sporting snow pants suffered with frozen pants... but they did protect a bit from the pucks, which Lora and I could have used.

Happy 1st Birthday Griffin!

Griffin turned 1 on January 11th. I can't believe he's one already... although I've felt like he was a toddler since he's started to crawl, checking everything out and into everything. He daily rearranges my cupboards and is busy playing with his new toys from Christmas and his Birthday. I think we're set until next Christmas! He has been sledding down the hill across the street and taken two spills without crying. He likes to be pulled around on the sled and take a stroller ride to the park where he swings with a permasmile. We love to be outside, but my limit is 20 degrees and depending on the day even that feels to cold to be out.

He has been walking everywhere for about a month now and thinks everything is to be tested for climbing. We started a toddler play group on Mondays in Mankato and continue to have Sophia here Tuesdays and Fridays and every-other Wednesday. This is a nice social time for all of us! They have started to take toys and run, while the other chases to try to get the toy. That is about the extent of our "playing together" besides games of peek-a-boo and babbling back and forth. I have to admit one is a great age. He is so fun... although I can't remember an age I didn't like thus far... although I do remember an age around 3 months when there was a lot of crying. I guess there is good and bad to every age?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Some our favorite moments this year include; hearing the baby's heartbeat, going in to "have a baby", seeing our baby for the first time, holding Griffin for the first time, watching baby Griffin sleep, spending time with family & friends, hearing Griffin's voice and seeing his smile, seeing the Stanley Cup come to Mankato, watching Griffin's hustle crawl to go see another in the next room, watching Griffin gingerly walk across a room, seeing him look at Keir and say, "DADA", feeling little hands on your leg, hearing Griffin laugh, seeing his excited face, having a laugh just the two of us, sharing these moments with each other.

We hope you have many favorite things this year too! Wishing you a Happy 2008!

-Tricia, Keir & Griffin






Picture #2: Grandma Mary & Grandpa Gregg Asher (sharing their enthusiasm for the Mavs hockey w/ Griffin... see the clothes?)



Picture #3: Grandma Janis & Grandpa David Nickel with the grandkids: Hallie, Maya, Taylor, Derek, Grandpa, Gracie, Grandma & Griffin

9 1/2 months old

Griffin & Keir meeting the newest Huettl! Welcome Claire!




Griffin and Grace









All dressed up for the Halloween Party!


Griffin is now playing with trucks, cars, and anything he can crawl around with on the floor. He can now stand by himself for close to a minute and is eating people food. We don't know where our baby has gone! He's now turned into a true toddler. He had his first "hunting weekend" down at G&G Nickel's. We stayed for 4 days and had a lot of fun playing with the cousins, dressing up for the Halloween Party & eating Grandma's cooking.

8 months old and loving it!

Griffin is a fast little mover. He's checking out everything including the doggy door, electrical cords, rug fringe, chairs, etc. Can't take your eye off the little guy, which is okay since he's so entertaining. He makes us laugh daily. Today he waved bye-bye to daddy for the first time. He's practicing standing with no hands and pulls himself up on everything including your pants (make sure you tie the pajama bottoms!). He loves to play copy cat with sounds. He's daddy's little boy, already practicing his stick handling with the wooden spoon and foam blocks and batting the balls around on the floor (see picture). He went camping for the first time and that's where we snapped this funny photo of him in his packnplay.

crawling

Griffin's on the move! He easily covers a 6 foot area when playing. The baby gate is up. Today he crawled about 3 "steps"! He is standing next to everything and is figuring out he can also move a bit while standing. Oh boy, time to baby proof! He also loves to hear "SO BIG!" when he lifts his arms.

7 months and almost movin'

Forgive me for not posting sooner. The little guy has been keeping me busy. He now wants to pull himself to standing. This is great, but means he bonks his head a lot more, so I keep a close watch on him to try to prevent so many from happening. The last month has brought out the monkey in him. He now enjoys climbing on people and is getting up on all fours on the floor. He found out he can sit up all his own if he's on his tummy on the floor.... and crib. It was a surprise to find him sitting in his crib a couple times this week!

Last weekend he went to his first wedding (Congrats Randi & Clayton!) and meet his aunts, uncles and cousins from TX. He also met his great-aunt, Debbie from CA and spent time w/ the Great-Grandparents. Two weeks before that I ran vb camps, so we spent our first days apart. The grandmas and Sara (who's going to do daycare for us) took great care of him and I didn't have to worry about him being unhappy while they were apart.

Next week volleyball season starts so Griffin will be going to daycare, spending time with his little friend Sophia (two months older than him). I'm sure he'll be learning all kinds of tricks from her!

1st Vacation

Stars & Strips on the 4th of July! Gracie- 3 mo. old & Griffin- 6 mo. old

Oooh, I love the way the sand feels!

Daddy blowing bubbles is so funny!



Griffin took his first vacation... much needed (j.k.). He had fun waking up everyday to his cousins, aunts, uncles & grandparents. They did a good job entertaining him. We went swimming in the pool, played in the sand, watched cousins fish, jump off the dock & swim, he read books, saw his first fireworks, and so much more. This was the family's 21st year at Leech Lake. Griffin hopes for many more!

Griffin's Pics

We had our good friend, Jan Vokal, take pictures of Griffin. Check them out! Go to vokalphotography.com go to client and sign in as asher password mrgriffin.

Griffin is now sitting, shaking his head (but he doesn't know that it means "no") and has two bottom teeth. He likes to splash in the bathtub and is happy to be out of the baby bath and taking big boy baths.

Mama and Griffin spent a few days with Lora and the kids while Jim was away on business. Griffin could watch those kids forever. Auntie Lora is so good to Griffin and he loves to shake his head at her.

We are looking foward to a week at Leech Lake with Tricia's family. I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures of Griffin and his cousins swimming, playing in the sand and fishing!

personality & curiosity!

Griffin is sure starting to show his personality. It's sure fun to see him smile. Sometimes he gives such a nice smile, laugh, or just open mouth in excitement. He's started sucking his toes and loves playing in the grass. He thinks it's fun to bang toys to see what kind of noise they make. Grabbing anything near to feel what it feels like is also a favorite activity.

eeehhhhh!

Yes, Griffin found his scream! He's been working on it for the past couple of weeks, but now he can actually produce sound.... which I thought was funny at first, but he practices it a lot. I guess he thinks it's pretty fun. He also loves to hear animal sounds and read books. He watches the dogs play and walk around and can't get enough of being upright. I'm looking into a Bumbo chair as mama misses seeing his facial expression!



This is what Griffin looks like after Daddy gives him a bath and does his hair in a fauxhawk... as you can see Griffin is stunned by Daddy's behavior.

4 months brings new fun

Well Griffin is learning all sorts of new things! He's been rolling on his side this weekend (he really wanted to look at his cousin, Derek, and gave it a try). I guess I can't leave him thinking he'll be in the same spot anymore. Today he's found a scream!

This weekend we went to Lamberton for Griffin's first time to see Grandma and Grandpa Nickel and celebrate Mother's Day. Griffin had so much fun with Lora, Jim, Derek, Grandma, Grandpa and Travis and showed it by smiling and laughing much of Sat. and Sunday. He also saw pigs and horses for the first time. He just stared in disbelief that mama has been telling the truth about these noises that come from animals.

Here Griffin is practicing his soccer skills with Grandma.

nearing 4 months old!

We can't believe our baby is almost 4 months old. It doesn't sound that old, but we are seeing changes in him that remind us that he won't be small forever. Thinking about it brings tears to mama's eyes! He had his first giggle yesterday after hearing the words, "scratch scratch". When on the changing table, he likes to play with his toes now. He's babbling (or spitting while making noise?) more than ever. He'll batting the ball before we know it!



Here's the growing Nickel family. Count 'em: 15 of us!

Happy Mother's Day all you mamas! Now I see how wonderful being a mom is. I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Happy Easter!

It's a Girl!

Megan gave birth to beautiful, Grace, on April 3rd.


Here is Griffin's first meeting her. As you can see he's WOWED to be a big cousin!


Grace-18 hours old, Griffin-12 weeks old, Maya-21 months old

big boy

We've started pulling Griffin up to a standing position and he thinks it is so fun to see the world from that view. His face shows how proud he is of himself to be able to stand.... with a little help of course. He continues to babble up a storm and show us his cute smile. He has mama and dada wrapped around his finger. The second picture is of his big lip... I prefer to see the big lip to a cry!

2 Months Old

We went for shots today and Griffin did pretty good. Mama didn't do so good. But Griffin enjoyed his bath for the first time today! I guess he thinks since he's two months old he needs to act like a big boy... or it could have been the baby tylenol he had to relieve him post-vaccination?

He're a picture of him an Dylan Vokal. They are only 10 months apart in age.

We had our first night at another house this weekend. Taylor turned 11 so we went to celebrate with her. Happy Birthday T!

ohhh, ahhh, goo!

Griffin is sure talking up a storm these days. Well, baby talk that is. And maybe not quite a storm, but if we repeat what he says he enjoys it and talks back... in a good way!