Today in history: Nico watches Star Wars

Today, at 6:19 p.m., our parenting dream came true... the circle is complete. Connie and I introduce Nico to Star Wars: A New Hope.

Nico's Walking Odyssey 2009

It's official, Nico is fully mobile.



Here's the hip hop edition. I couldn't resist!

BREAKING NEWS

Nico just took his first step. He's not walking, but can stand on his
own and take a step.

Happy Birthday Nico!

The boys in their costumes

Nico and some pumpkins

Nico and the ribs

Nico had his first taste of ribs, and we think he liked 'em! We were at Johnny Rebs' in Bellflower, CA.

Nico screams for ice cream

Thanks to some yummy flavors from Molly Moon and Aunt Lanelle, Nico got his first taste of ice cream!

The flavor was Balsamic Strawberry and it was yummy.

Nico got a taste from his aunt, but he got several spoonfuls from his daddy. Nico yelled with delight. That's our boy! He loved it!

Another Nico-Jumperoo slideshow

A lot has happened since we've posted here -- and we'll do a major update soon enough. But for now, here's a slideshow we whipped up.

He's got a tooth!

Today Nico turned 7 months old! As a gift, he got his first tooth! We're not sure if it is just one or two, but they are definitely there along the bottom.

On his 6-month birthday, Nico learned how to sit up on his own... can't wait to see his trick when he turns 8 months old.

He wears his sunglasses at night

Nico was sporting some expensive sunglasses (Thanks to TJ, who unknowingly let me put them on Nico).

Gonzo baby and Puerto Rico

In preparation for our approaching trip to Puerto Rico, we got Baby Nico some swim trunks, some shades and this hat. While mom wasn't around, I tested out the hat on Nico. I think he looks pretty cute... kinda like a mini Hunter S. Thompson!

Nico's laugh

Nico was in a silly, laughing mood so Abue and I decided to document and record his laugh. He did laugh as hard once we started recording, but it was still damn cute!

Playball!

We took Nico to his first baseball game to watch our team, The Oakland A's, take on and defeat the hometown team, Seattle Mariners. It was a good game and even Abue had a blast!

This photo was taken be another A's fan, giving us a nice shot to commemorate this historic game for Nico!

Tip-toe through the tulips with Nico

The family had a blast introducing Nico to the beautiful Tulips this year. Here are some snap shots.

Family portraits

Our good friend Della Chen gave us a gift recently –- having taken some family portraits before Nico was born, she offered to come by and take some of the new addition. In less than an hour, we had an incredible collection.



Della does this for a living and she's damn good! You can see the entire gallery and order prints at her client site:
http://www.dellachen.net/pickpic/gallery/login.php.
The password is: Hernandez

Nico has intense belly laughs - from two angles

Papa Robert found a way to get Baby Nico to have some serious belly laughs. Nico went so crazy, just getting close was making him crack up. We were lucky to get the hilarious laughs on two cameras. Have a look:

Super updates

Well, I just finished backing up all our photos and video... I realized I have not posted a TON of stuff, including the visit from Uncle Andrew and Aunt Sarah or even Abuelita Belly moving in with us.

So, I will be adding the content throughout the blog, in the accurate chronological order the content was generated.

Salvador, Salvador, Salvador!

No foolin' but Nico is gonna be a huge soccer futbol fan. We watched El Salvador vs. Costa Rica, thanks to the Web. Sadly, we lost 1-0. Tia Lisa sent Nico his first jersey... and I think she got me my shirt as well.

Nico training!

He's an unstoppable machine! Nico is training hard for the baby Olympic focused on taking goal in the Johnny Jumper competition.

[This is perhaps the best video I've ever shot in my life!]



Click to see an alternative, MTV take.

Nico's big into books

Little Nico is big into books... and he's got some big books too! Even before he was born, we read to baby Nico. Papa Robert really wanted Nico to like books form the start. Robert wasn't a big book fan when we was young.

And, well, it worked! Nico loves it when we read to him and loves looking at the photos. We all recommend Good Night Moon and Skippyjon Jones!

Nico Jumps in

We noticed that Nico had mad kicking skills... so, we got the little dude a 'Johnny Jumper' and he loved it. He was jumping around within moments.



More photos and videos about the jumper and other things to come.

Nico meets Uncle Andrew and Aunt Sarah

Baby Nico holds no grudges even though Uncle Andrew made fun of his middle name: Peter. Andrew, and his soon-to-be-wife Aunt Sarah, had a staring contest.

Nico found his toes!

While Connie was changing Nico's diaper this morning, the little guy reached out and grabbed his toes. I'd introduced him to them before, but this is the first time he grabbed them on his own.

This is a baby step, sure. But we're still proud. ;)

>> Sent by mobile device

Bath time with Nico!

Connie gave baby Nico a bath today, showing Abuelita Belly and I how it's done. Hope to have some photos up at some point too.

Nico meets "Abue"

Within moments of meeting, Abuelita Belly had baby Nico cracking up. We're so lucky to have my mom with us. Abue, which is what other grandchildren, has a total of five grandchildren.

Passport to Nico's travel

Nico's baptism is scheduled for Sunday, August 2 in El Salvador. In order to go, we need to get Nico his passport, and a photo is the key part of it.
After several failed attempts, we finally took our own photos and got them printed. This was the one printed, plus a few alternatives.

Isn't he cute?

Diaper head

Nico is sporting a silly hat, thanks to his dad.

Nico and the ball

Nico's got the passion for soccer in his blood. That's why I took some portraits with him and one of his Christmas gifts. It was good timing because El Salvador and Colombia are playing matches to qualify for the approaching World Cup.

Nico, Napping and Pike Place Market

Here are some new videos we've recently recorded using my work's iFlip camera. It's a small little device that makes pretty cool and simple videos. The first is my favorite, recording a moment between Connie and Nico.



We went to Pike Place Market's Lowell's for breakfast this morning. We sat on the second floor, but because it was the bar, we sat toward the back overseeing the Market versus overseeing the Sound.



This one is a quick video of Nico sleeping.



The camera is pretty cool. If someone wants to purchase one for us, we'd gladly accept.

Postcards from the volcano's edge

Our goal was to make it to Mount St. Helens' visitor center. Thanks to the rental car's navigation system we went to the wrong one! We went to the one covered in snow and closed for the season.

That said, we had a nice trip and had some nice views of the still active volcano.

Rental roadster

We've been daydreaming about getting a new car. We love our truck, but it's just not really working for two adults and a little one in a car seat.

So, we've been thinking about a mid-size SUV. Specifically, we like Toyota's Rav4 and Honda's CRV. You can't rent a CRV, but you can get a RAV4.

The RAV has been our road trip vehicle and it's been pretty nice. Has a lot of kick and really roomy. It's a nice drive. We hope to test drive the CRV soon to get a good comparison.

(NOTE: The photo was from the Internets. We didn't take it.)

Headed to Helens

For the three-day weekend, we've rented a car (more on that later), packed up Nico and Coby and headed south to finally see Mt. St. Helens.

We're currently at a viewpoint seeing both Helens and Mt. Rainier off in the distance. The fog has burned off, so we're in for a nice view. Photos to come - eventually.

We're also spending the night at a hotel and plan to swing by Portland tomorrow.

It's the family's first overnight road trips. The first of many!

>> Sent by mobile device

The news and Nico

It's a common tradition for parents to save the newspaper's published when their child is born to remember what happened on that special date. Here is an image and PDF to The Seattle Times' frontpage that special day.

Doc check-up

Nico is weighing in at 10 pounds and 10 ounces! And he's measuring 22 and a half inches! He's moved up on the diaper chart/size as well.
>> Sent by mobile device

A walk in the (Olympic Sculpture) park

We awoke Thursday to a beautiful Seattle day and decided to introduce Nico to some art. So we took him to the Olympic Sculpture Park. Many of you know this place has a special place in my heart because I got to work on a “making of” project.

It was a dream of ours to take Nico for a stroll here. It was the first of many!

Going for a drive

It was late on a gloomy Seattle day, but we decided it was not too late to hit the road. The whole family has piled into the 122, the iPod was loaded with new tunes and we were off until the gray sky turns black.

I think it's our first complete family outing. We're heading south, through the city and beyond!

There was an alternate photo that didn't work as a family portrait, but had nice artistic results. Have a look

Coordinated for New Year’s

Nico dressed up in a snappy outfit to bring in the new year. The sweater came from his grandparents and the shoes from a friend. He was styling and ready for 2009. Here’s to a great year!

To the movies!

We're been trapped by the snow for the last couple of days, but have made it out. We're off the see the film 'Doubt.'

The theater we're going to has a 'cry room' where we get to hang with Nico. It's his first time at the movies.

It's first come first served to the room. We'll see how it goes.
>> Sent by mobile device

Christmas photos

Happy holidays! We celebrated at home today and took several portraits of little Nico in some of his outfits. (The reindeer suit was a cute gift from a friend.)

To be honest, it took many, many photos to capture his cute smile... but it's worth it. Coby still looks pretty dang cute, too.

Snow from Hernandez home

Live TV : Ustream

Live broadcast from snowy Greenwood

Nico's first snow

Seattle got dusted by snow over night, having us wake up to a winter wonderland. It was Nico’s first chance to play in the 3 inches of snow. We took a moment to take some family portraits and shots around the house. The weather is predicted to be cold for the week.

Nico's 1st babysitter

We're off to the theater, leaving Nico in the capable hands of our good friend Mary Hanks.

We should probably be more nervous as new parents, but we're not...because it's Mary.

If your wondering, we're off to see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
>> Sent by mobile device

Nico starts hitting the bottle

In a big step toward Connie getting some sleep, Nico has begun taking one meal a day from Robert.

He (Nico not Robert) was a little fussy at first, but then took the bottle easily. We’re still learning about the different bottles and their features, but so far the Born Free bottles seem to be working out.

Breaking news baby

Nico made his first newsroom appearance on my second day back to work. Apparently he was a big hit, drawing a crowd of folks. He slept for the bulk of the visit.

A big thanks to Times photographer Dean Rutz for taking these photos during the visit.

Whoa!

Man, this was crazy! We were changing Nico in the 122 when he fired a #2 across the car hitting the window.

The force could have taken an eye out and scare someone for life!

It was as if he were Spider-Man, but shooting his web from a different place.

There was one casualty: his little bunny slippers got hit.

Man, I'm still shocked at the force his little body can shoot with.

We're cleaned up and ready to drive on armed with another new parenting experience!

>> Sent by mobile device

Happy Thanksgiving

> See a larger version

Photosynth + Nico

So, there is this new technology Microsoft acquired from a little company developed out of the UW. It's called Photosynth and -- when it works -- it's pretty cool.

I experimented with it the other day and created a virtual tour of Nico's room. I don't think it took all my photos, but check it out.

Sadly, it only works on PCs, you have to install a plug-in and, because it's Microsoft, it's a little buggy at times. It crashes my browsers whenever I launch it. But I do know it works. I saw it on Grandpa Brent's computer.

Check it out: http://photosynth.net/install.aspx?cid=B06DF8C7-B372-
4748-9953-F63DA5B94445

Please tell me if you get it to work!

Six hours of 'sleep'

Nico averages two to three (on a rare occasion four) hours of sleep between feedings. Last night he got six hours of 'sleep' -- meaning I slept uninterrupted -- last night. How did he do it? Well, he joined us in bed.

Nico has been sleeping in his own crib and room since he turned about one week old, but been being a tad fussy. Last night, to get some rest, we brought him into bed with us. Connie had her arm around him protecting him as he slept.

It's good to know this new trick for getting rest.