Banana

Tonight, about 20 minutes before bedtime, Nico signed "outside". I told him it was too late to go outside. Then he signed banana. I told him we were out of bananas. Then he signed outside and then banana. He walked over to the door and tried to open it. I thought he was telling me we needed to go buy some more bananas. So I asked him why he wanted to go outside and after asking a few times, he signed banana. He usually doesn't insist on going outside right before bedtime! So I said "okay!" and we jumped in the car and ran to the co-op to buy some bananas.

When we got home I think he had forgotten about them because he didn't ask for a banana and would have been fine without one, but I gave him some anyway.

We got to FaceTime briefly with the Grandparents Russell today! We also explored the photo booth app on the iPad.

Thunderstorm

After Guy left for work this evening, I took Nico to the park. We were there for five minutes before we had to leave due to lightning! 30 seconds after we got back into the car, the hail started. The lightning was right on top of us by then. Scary! I was more nervous about the storm than Nico was, he didn't even mind the loud banging of hail on our car.

Also this morning we let the neighbor cat, Meatball, come into our house for a few minutes. Nico really enjoyed that!

At the very end of the video you can see a quick flash of lightning. It was right after that that I grabbed Nico and ran to the car.

Library and Park

After Guy got up, we went to the library. I checked out a few books for Nico and I just now remembered we had them! I forgot to read them to Nico tonight.

After Guy went to work, I took Nico to the park we used to live by. It was wet today and overcast, so warmer. He tried so hard to climb up a slide but he never got up. He made a friend named Piper.

Picture is taken last minute before Nico went to bed!

Meatloaf and Mac

Nico and I took the planter for a walk this morning. It was wet outside and drizzling, but that also meant that it wasn't very cold.

Guy made meatloaf for dinner and we went to the mall to pick up our MacBook Pro from the Apple store! I tried to connect it to our wireless tonight but haven't been able to get it to work. After Guy gets home tomorrow I'm sure he'll hook me up!

While at the mall, Nico face planted twice, the second time he actually hit his head and lip and screamed for a bit. Poor buddy!

In the picture, Nico is talking through the hole in the cup.

Snow

We woke up to snow this morning. After showing Nico through the window, he wanted to go outside. So after breakfast, we went outside. Unfortunately we had left his gloves at the cabin, so he had none to wear. All the better to feel the snow with though! He wanted to touch the snow that was building up on the tip of my shoes, but every time he did, he got snow on his fingers which he would quickly motion for me to take off, he did not like it!

He found a plant hanger in our carport and had fun dragging it around with him for a while.

Creationary

We went up to the cabin today to play our new board game with the Grandparents Salisbury. The board game is "Creationary", where you have to create things with legos to have people guess what they are. This was the board game that we won as a prize on Christmas Eve. It was fun. One of Guy's words was "banana", how do you create a banana with legos? He did it!

We ate eggs and bacon for dinner and came home with one minute to spare before Nico's bedtime.

In the picture, Nico is dipping his finger into a cup of water and then licking his finger. He is also standing in the sink. He gets away with all kinds of things at the grandparents' house! :)

Merry Christmas!

After opening presents this afternoon, we facetimed with Grandpa and Grandma Russell and Great Grandma Gohl. Nico tried to hand a book to Grandpa through the iPad.

For Christmas Nico got cars and markers and some other small things.

Tonight while Guy was reading "The Hat" to Nico, Nico signed "pig" through the whole book. Lately he's been signing it by sticking his finger up his nose. So as he's flipping the pages with one hand, his finger on his other hand is up his nose. It was pretty cute.

Christmas Eve

We went to the cabin today and saw a lot of family and ate a lot of food. After the ornament exchange, Nico with the rest of the grandkids stayed upstairs to be read a story while me and my brothers and our spouses were sent to the kitchen table for a competition. Each couple was given a lego to put together and whoever finished first won a board game. We won!

Both of the boys are in their beds right now, and I am headed there now. Tomorrow will be a merry Christmas!

The picture is of Nico and his Aunt Alanna.

Bouncea bouncer

Today Nico climbed into his bouncer and bounced and bounced and bounced. He has never done that before, but it sure looked like fun!

We ate bacon and eggs for dinner.

And tonight Nico and I played a long time with a ball, rolling it back and forth and me bouncing it off his backside. Lots of laughing!

Oh dear!

I got in the habit of not updating while the Grandparents were in town, so I completely forgot to download pictures onto the computer tonight to upload a few. Woop! It's too late now to do it, must go to bed!

The Grandparents Russell left this morning after stopping by to hang for a few hours before the airport. We wandered around outside with Nico and generally just watched the baby. Most of their visit could be summed up by "watching the baby". He's a cute one to watch :)

Grandparents

Grandpa and Grandma Russell came into town today from Washington to celebrate Christmas a week early with us! Nico remembered them and it was nearly instantly that he reached to have them pick him up.

Nico really enjoyed the wrapping paper from his presents. He got some books and clothes and a handmade blanket!

More fun tomorrow!

Cheese

Two days in a row, while Nico is in the tub, he signs "eat". So when he gets out I give him some cheese to munch on while I read him some books. Communicating with him like this before he has words is awesome.

Sewing

Today Nico helped me sew by standing on his little step stool and dancing to the beat of the sewing machine while I used it. Every time I'd stop sewing, he would laugh!

Snail

While I am in the kitchen in the mornings cleaning up after breakfast, Nico has been entertaining himself. He sometimes brings toys into the kitchen and plays with them there, or he moves magnets around from the fridge to the washer and dryer to the pots in one of the cupboards. Another thing he's been doing is pulling around his snail pull toy. I have never seen him use it so much, but for five minutes this morning he was walking around and around and around, through the kitchen and living room and dining room and back through the kitchen. I wish I had a picture of that to show you!

Salmon cakes

For dinner tonight I made salmon cakes. They were a big hit! Nico ate a little more than a whole cake (they were each made with a heaping heaping tablespoon of batter). And Guy was wanting more after the plate was gone. Success!

Not much else was done today. Walk. Play. Nico has been very mellow the past few days!

Dentist

Guy had a dentist appointment today, after which he came home and made us some chicken salad- yum!

Nico now signs "Nico", or at least he signs the sign that we came up for Nico. He thinks it's hilarious.

He likes to look at the pictures on the wall so I bring out the step stool and let him climb up so he can get a closer look.

Christmas tree

We bought and decorated our Christmas tree today! We listened to Mannheim Steamroller while decorating the tree. We had dinner (Guy made pork chops, yum!) and then wrapped some presents. Nico enjoyed helping us with everything we did today. We bought a new mop and he walked around the house with it for a while. He also helped us wrap presents and sweep the floor. By "help" I mean that he imitated what we were doing. It was pretty cute.

Nothing

We didn't do anything today. We had plans to go pick out our Christmas tree but I was a little too tired. Nico did grab my glass off the table and attempt to drink it. It was really full so it spilled all over him and made him choke. That and the mess he made at dinner prompted me to change his clothes after we were done eating.

He signs eat and mouse. He also signs pig the right way now.

Liver

I made liver for dinner today and Nico ate a lot of it! He seemed to really enjoy it.

We went to the library today after Guy got up. That's about it!

Balloon

We are trying to teach Nico to sign "balloon". Whenever we go to Fred Meyer he gets SO excited when we pass the greeting cards because there are tons of balloons hanging from the aisles. He points nonstop and talks. In the picture today, Nico is squeezing his friendly balloon that is starting to lose some air. Grandma Salisbury got this balloon for him almost two weeks ago, it has lasted quite a while!

Park

I can't believe I forgot to update yesterday, I was trying to go at least a month without forgetting! Oh well. Not much happened yesterday anyway.

Today after dinner, Guy had to go to work but Nico thought he was getting ready to take him for a walk, since for the last few days that's what they have been doing after dinner. But Guy left, and Nico walked around in circles whining and staring at the door. So I took him to the park, the one we used to go to. We had to drive, though. He went down two slides head first without hesitation.

He can sign mouse and Grandma!

Hamburgers

Guy made hamburgers for dinner tonight made from beef and pork, and they were really good! They tasted like sausage. Yummy! Then Guy and Nico went for a walk while I did the dishes.

I'm also including a picture from yesterday. Guy and Nico were sharing cheese, it was pretty cute to watch. Be sure to notice Guy's right hand feeding Nico his cheese. Then a picture from today of Nico in his rocking chair reading his Bible :)

Winter Garden Aglow

Today we went to Winter Garden Aglow. Nico has mittens that came with his coat but we lost them, and so Nico was not wearing mittens tonight. It was freezing! I felt so bad. We didn't stay long, it was cold and Nico's bedtime, so we just stopped in to get our picture taken and then left. The photographer gave us 50% off because we are return customers. And because he's the one who took our engagement pictures.

Nico was very excited to be there, and wanted to stay and wander around. He did get to stare at the trains for a while, but other than that and getting our picture taken, we didn't stay long. NEXT YEAR we will be prepared!

2011 at Winter Garden Aglow

2010 at Winter Garden Aglow

Ants

This morning I discovered that Nico's room has ants in it. I had seen a few random ones since moving in, but this morning I saw about 15 all in the same spot. So we dealt with those today.

Nico and I also went for a "walk" outside, where I let him decide where to go. We ended up walking back and forth up the hill to the end of the sidewalk and back down again. We heard lots of dogs barking and we got to pet Meatball the cat.

I put Nico's hair in a Mohawk in the bathtub, just to show off how much hair he has now!

Plastic bags

Nico found the roll of food storage bags and pulled the rest of them out of their box and dragged them around the house.

After dinner he was a little fussy as we were cleaning up so I pulled the stool over to the sink and let him climb up to help Daddy with the dishes. He loves those stools! Later tonight I put it in front of our wallhanging picture holder thing and he stood up there and stared at the pictures forever! Then he realized he could pull the pictures out. So he did.

Nico also seems to be getting more active and loves to go outside whenever he can!

Cabinses

This morning we went to the cabin for breakfast. We saw Grandma Salisbury and we played outside for a bit too. Nico slept for 30 minutes on the way home and then wouldn't take another nap the rest of the day. I think his sleep patterns are changing.

This afternoon Guy made soup. Then Lizzie and Bruce and Rory came over to see our new place. Rory and Bruce and Nico played hard in Nico's room, it was a lot of fun to see them play together. Nico was interacting and laughing up a storm at Bruce's antics.

 Nico can sign "outside". We're working on teaching him to sign "Grandma".