Cabin and G.G. and School

Sickness kept going through the house last week. Guy was down for a few days, Allicia caught it and lastly Jeff. Kids were first, then the grownups, the usual! We have some coughing and phlegm hanging on but the bulk of the illness is over.

There was a huge Harvest Party at the cabin on Saturday. Nico and I were able to go for a few hours. What an incredible shindig! I was impressed with all the decorations and food and organization. Grandma Salisbury is quite the hostess. Harvest vegetable soup had so many different squashes in it, plus different potatoes, it was very good.

On Monday we went up to the cabin again for a while. Grandma Salisbury made us a VERY yummy lunch which was just rice, ground bison and salsa mixed together. So simple, but sooo good. And then cinnamon tea.

We were able to go see G.G. on Tuesday! Yay! Nico was happy to be able to continue watching the Curious George movie through Netflix on G.G.'s tv. He was also able to feed Scamper a treat while we were there. G.G. sent us home with tomatoes and a nice Halloween centerpiece for our table!

And speaking of Curious George, there is a new Curious George Halloween movie out on Netflix that Guy and Nico just started watching today.

The latest news about Guy's job is that we're not sure when or what form it will take. We heard that they might want him to come in during the day shift (9-5) but STILL work his night shift too. Whacky! Not sure how that would work, but am trusting that God has got a big ol' plan and I'm not too worried :)

Did you know.. that we don't have a water heater? The hot water here is entirely geothermal and it comes out piping hot. Every time we take a hot shower or a bath, it's like we're at a hot springs! Nico sleeps a lot better at night after taking a bath. We all do!

Nico's teacher takes pictures of the class and posts them online protected by a password. I am so thankful she takes pictures! Here are some of them from last week:

Collecting leaves

Playing dress-up

He has had no trouble getting on the bus. In fact today he was excited to go to school, he told me about a game they play where he can win a toy to play with.

I even took some pictures this week, too!

Making use of empty moving boxes

Two sickies coloring together at our table

Guy putting together his steel steam locomotive (Bday present from Grandparents Salisbury)

Today we went to Kid to Kid and bought all of Nico's winter apparel. We found a snow suit with a winter coat, a jacket, pants, and shirts. He is going to be all set for winter! He keeps growing, you see, like kids do, and his 3T pants are too short for him these days. On to bigger and better pants!

We also stopped by Barnes and Noble since it was right next door to the clothing store, and Nico played with the train. I couldn't keep myself from Christmas shopping so I made a few purchases. Nico keeps talking about Christmas now and asking for his presents. heehee. I could hide the front of the items by holding them tightly but he could still see the sides and back of them when we went to buy them.

See you all next week!

Potty Training Again!

The biggest news this week is that we restarted potty training! We've decided to put him in pull ups at night time, but during the day he is in underwear. We've had one whole day without an accident! Today we ventured to the Co-op and also a quick trip to the library (we had already lost Nico's library card and needed a new one!), where we tried unsuccessfully to use the children's restroom. So, we still have that hoop to jump through: Nico's first use of a public restroom. But we will get there. He didn't have an accident while we were gone.

For the #2s, we've been rewarding him with cars. He has had 2 successes in this area. He can see his next reward whenever he goes into the bathroom. We tape them to the wall or put them on the counter. He always asks for it whenever we go in there. For peeing, we give him one dried raspberry.

The only pic I got of Nico and Guy this week was a bit fuzzy. Nico was hanging out between Guy's legs while he was reclining on the love seat.

Before we started potty training again, we did do some fun things out of the house. We went for a walk! It had been a while since we'd done that, it being so snow filled and cold outside.

We also took a trip to Barnes and Noble, where we hadn't been since before Christmas. Nico got to play with his old pal the train, while I perused all the Mo Willems books that were stashed nearby.

Potty training commenced on Sunday after Nico's nap. We spent the next 4 days hanging out in the kitchen with the kitchen rugs removed. We played a lot of Roll and Play and generally didn't get much else done. Nico loves to go through the blue pile of cards, which have you find something around you of a particular color. "Find something PURPLE!" He loves this, and is getting very good at recognizing colors. We usually do this with a basket of his cars nearby so he can find a certain colored car. And he only has one purple car, so that's the go-to item for finding something purple. Potty training has been a great bonding time for me and Nico!

Nico also helped me make Guy's lunch yesterday. I took a picture of Nico doing this and then printed a small picture out and taped it to the top of the container with a note that said "Made with love by Joanna and Nico." Nico took his own pen and scribbled all over it so that you could barely read the words anymore. The container held a mixture of granola (homemade by Grandma Salisbury), greek yogurt, dried raspberries, and a sprinkling of chocolate chips.

Nico's bloodwork came back fine just fine. Still waiting to hear about Guy's. I just had my blood drawn this morning so it will be a few weeks for that.

And I have another video to share! We finally shot some video outside with our GO camera, and the quality is amazing! Nico doing some jumping over sidewalk cracks. High def!

Train

We went to the market this morning. After Nico's nap we went to Barnes and Noble so he could play with the train. The traffic around the mall is really bad so we likely won't be going back until after Christmas!

All Sorts of Things

Nico is definitely feeling better. He is eating much more and his energy level has returned to normal. This means that we needed to get out of the house more to burn off some energy! Yesterday I didn't read the signs very well so we stuck around the house a bit too much, and it was evident in his sleeping last night. He was up every few hours and woke up for the day an hour earlier than usual. This usually happens when he hasn't been active enough during the day.

We went to the zoo this afternoon after his nap (picture is him climbing up the giraffe slide at the zoo). It is getting colder outside so we tend to do things outdoors in the afternoon instead of the early morning.

Then this evening we went to play with the train at Barnes and Noble after buying some groceries.

His appetite is high for avocados. He has eaten two avocados today. I mix up mashed avocado with parmesan cheese, mustard, and a cut up chicken pancake, put it in a bowl, and he shoves big spoonfuls of it into his mouth. He has also been drinking "juice", which is an apple cider vinegar drink that has added grape juice to it. He loves those.

Oh and check out the picture I added to the VBS entry!

Train

Went to Barnes and Noble tonight and Nico played with the toy train while I read a book about gardening. We ran into the little boy Miles that Nico played with once. Him and his mom (Liz) and dad were also there.

Barnes and Noble

Today we went to Barnes and Noble to buy a book.