New Baby, Spring Break Quarantine, Sleepover

Spring Break started after school on Friday, and that evening Nico wanted to jump right into all the fun word work that his SLP sent home with him. By Saturday we were halfway through it.

Saturday was a big day for this house! Allicia went into labor Saturday afternoon, they were pretty sure it was partly because she was dehydrated because she was sick the night before. She went into labor and then a few hours later, meet Ivy Marie! It was quick!

The rest of their family caught the bug that Allicia had, so we had a quarantine. That means that we don't let Nico play with Evie while Evie is sick, and we don't hang out and play with their toys while they are sick. We stay in the clubhouse together or go out. And we use a lot of hand sanitizer spray. Nico and I have gone out several times this week to parks. Quarry View is so close, we have been walking there or riding there. 

Allicia's mom came into town on Sunday and took care of them as they recovered from illness and also with a new baby. What an intense weekend for them!!

Nico and I also went to the zoo this week, maybe on Monday? I don't remember exactly. There is good news on the zoo front: No More Dinosaurs! We were able to easily go see the giraffes TWICE because there were no dinosaurs stopping us.

Me: "There's no more dinosaurs, they're gone!"

Nico: "No more dinosaurs? Where did the go?"

Me: "They took them away, probably to another zoo."

Nico: "Another zoo? Okay! What other zoo?"

Me: "I don't know which one." 

Nico: "Oh okay, let me think, hmmm. "

Then on Tuesday, Grandma Salisbury picked Nico up and Nico spent the night up at the cabin! He waited for Grandma by the front door and when she arrived he was so excited. He ran out to her, dragging his suitcase-on-wheels behind him. He had found his suitcase the night before and packed it himself with a new change of clothes. 

He had soooo much fun up there, chopping wood with Papa, playing with legos, jumping on the trampoline. Guy and I came up Wednesday for dinner to bring Nico back home. Grandma Salisbury once again made some incredible food for all of us. And sent us home with leftovers. Their salads are always the best because of all the sprouts they grow. It's basically a sprout salad. I love it! And their new homemade dressing is pretty incredible too. 

Then today we picked up a bunch of books from the library that were waiting for us. One was a video, a cartoon medley of three Mo Willems books. The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog was the first one. Cartoon! Mo Willems is the voice of the pigeon, and his daughter is the voice of the duckling. It's pretty great.

This evening we were able to get a bike trailer for Nico. Nico was very excited about this. We took it for a test spin and I think we have some kinks to work out, but I'm looking forward to using it this spring and summer and next Fall. Greenbelt, picnics, etc, riding him to school, then picking him up in the afternoon and taking him straight to the park for a picnic date. Oh, he got assigned to MORNINGS in Kindergarten, we got the call last Friday. Yay!! That is just what we wanted. 8:40 AM -11:30 AM. We also scheduled our transition appointments with White Pine and with Adams, those take place in early April.

Guy has been mentioning lately that he is intrigued by the idea of celebrating the first day of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. As a way to mark the passing of time and give us something to look forward to. It could maybe even be the first week of each season. A few ideas we had: Put a season-themed puzzle together, watch the corresponding Curious George season movie (they have one for spring, fall, and winter), or doing picnics for summer, or any number of appropriate activities based on season. If anyone has any ideas, we are gathering them at the moment! I was super excited that Guy was super excited about this. We will make it happen! 

Last Day of School!

Friday I went to Nico's school to see what they've been doing in the music program. All the parents were invited. They had chairs set up so we could sit and watch. There was singing, keeping the beat, hand motions, and "draw a lowercase 't' in the air" along with a rap video (see video at bottom of entry).

They served cookies to the kids afterwards, but I was prepared with homemade snickerdoodles. Nico got a plate with his own cookies and he was very excited. Boy those cookies tasted good. Guy even said that it would take a very skilled baker to discern that the cookies were gluten free. YES! Snickerdoodles are Guy's favorite cookies. All 27 cookies were gone that day.

On Friday we also received Nico's complete "About Me" book. It included a page with the pictures from the Easter Egg Hunt.

And speaking of Easter, I forgot to post a picture from the Easter BBQ we had at the cabin.

Nico and his cousins Alexis and Rory

On Saturday Nico got to jump on a trampoline and played really well with new friends Olivia and Megan. They are the daughters of an old high school friend of mine. My friend gave all the kids their own orange with the top cut off and a straw stuck into it. It was a novel idea and kept them occupied for a little while.

On Sunday after church, Nico got to go home with Papa and Grandma, as I had an essential oils appointment that afternoon. Nico was so excited to help Papa chop some wood.

Action shot

Monday we saw Allicia and Co. Nico got to pick one of their strawberries and eat it. This inspired us to plan a trip to the Strawberry fields, so that is on the calendar this summer. And speaking of calendar… on Tuesday while Nico was at school, I spent the whole morning building our summer calendar. Schedules will be important for both me and Nico, to make sure we get out of the house and accomplish all the things we want to do this summer. Regular Zoo visits, regular Garden visits, then the only-once things like the Discovery Center, Paddle boats, go-carts, etc.

On Tuesday the ice cream truck came to Nico's school and they were each given a dollar to spend on a soft serve ice cream cone. I found a recipe to make for Nico's ice cream and I bought gluten free cones to send with him. His teachers wrote a note back saying that Nico loved the ice cream I made. He's been eating up the rest of the ice cream over the last few days.

On Tuesday night, Guy took Nico to the library. They came home with 3 new books to read. Guy always puts Nico to bed on the nights he has off, and they always read books.

Lately I have been telling him stories before bed. Stories with Sammy the muskrat, which is a character from the stories that my Mom used to tell us. In the stories, Sammy always comes over to Nico's house to go on an adventure. Having Nico as a character seems to make it more fun. I certainly remember all the Sammy stories where I was a character. In fact, all of them I ever heard had me in them along with whoever else was listening. 

I am not a very good story teller, Guy and I joked that perhaps by the time Nico was old enough to recognize story quality, I would be better at it.

Wednesday was the last day of school for Nico. We gave treats to all his bus drivers and took a picture of him with his favorites.

Nico handing them their treat.

Oh memories!

Today was a successful first day of summer vacation. 

We have recently been starting to go on bike rides on my bike, with the toddler seat hooked up. Nico sits between me and the handlebars.

The only downside to this arrangement is that Nico doesn't get any exercise. But I do really like being able to have conversations with him while riding.

Looks like I remembered to add all the pictures. Does that mean we're all done? I think so!

Oh, we did find out that Nico will be in the afternoon session next year, and will be with a different teacher. I am sad that he won't have the teacher he had this year again, but I'm sure Nico will thrive with his new one!

And, we were told we would hear something about Guy's job by this Friday. So, tomorrow.