24

months to the day since the Little Guy arrived.  Two entire years and he is a full-fledged toddler, careening toward the preschool years.  How is it possible so much time has passed?  It seems like just yesterday I was pregnant, grateful to be sick after an early scare, and then happy to finally 'look' pregnant at 9 months.  Then an amazing birth experience (thank you, Icelandic health care system) and our family gained a new and incredibly adorable member….

In June, we moved back to the U.S. and spent a good portion of the time visiting family and friends on Home Leave.  The first picture below was just after passing through customs, and his official 'entering the U.S. for the first time' photo (no, he is not an Icelandic citizen, but, yes, he does have a very cool (literally) place of birth listed on his passport).  The Residence Inn became our home until we settled officially in the East Bay with a now almost six-month old.

 

Peter had started work almost the minute he arrived, and we also commenced the search for a new home.  We found one, moved in soon fter school started, and before we knew it, Nicholas was crawling everywhere. We got a little busier in the fall, and Nicholas had an overwhelming number of firsts…food, holidays,teeth, words, steps…amazing!

Then we hit the biggest first: the birthday, which coincided very nicely with his baptism.  This celebration brought a plethora of family and friends out our way, for which we were very grateful.

Summertime wasn't just a time of growth for the garden…LG had turned into a walking, talking little man.  We spent a good portion of the summer back east showing off him (and his beautiful big sisters), and the rest of the time exploring areas near and far in California.

Fall headed our way, school was back in session, we had activities galore, and the Little Guy's vocabulary grew exponentially.  He surprised us with sentences fairly early, and seemed to understand everything we said perfectly…gulp.  We enjoyed many a festival, and couldn't deny our inner mouse;  Thanksgiving vacation was well spent at Disneyland.

  

Despite an inauspicious beginning, nearly 3 years later we have an incredibly awesome LG.  He is the light of our lives and binds us together in more ways than we knew possible.  Thank you, Nicholas Quinn, and Happy 2nd Birthday to our sweet, dear LG.