BED BUGS, family, eye doctor, hair cut, gg, woah that's a lot!

Well Hello! It's been a while! I think that was the first time I ever skipped a week. Let's jump right into it!

On March 1st, Friday, Guy woke up sick, with whatever it was that I had while in Redding. I told him to stay home from work and he quickly got worse. He spent all Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in bed, he finally started feeling himself again only a few days ago.

Jumping on the trampoline with Merek on Friday the 1st

Saturday visit to the library. I parked across the street and we took the Greenbelt tunnel to the library. A bit of fresh air.

On our way back to the car with our goodies.

Nico chose our movie on Saturday and he chose one of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies. Guy ate a few pieces of pizza and then went to bed while Nico and I stayed up to watch it. Those movies are funny, I enjoyed it.

Nico had told me about a STEM activity they had done in the library on Friday. On Saturday I saw pictures on Facebook that were posted of the event, and downloaded a few of them. Nico won this challenge - how many squares can you fit onto your popsicle stick without them falling over?

Practicing a magic trick

It was Sunday night, while Guy was lying in bed staring at the wall, that he saw a bug crawling up that wall, right next to our bed. He called me over and we identified it as a bed bug. Ah shucks! With a toothpick, Guy went fishing in the crack between the wall and the baseboard, and pulled out a shed bed bug skin. We slept in the bed that night, I was hoping that perhaps those two bug signs would be the extent of it. But, you know that's rarely the case.

Monday afternoon I pulled all the sheets off our beds and scoured the mattresses while sanitizing the sheets in the washing machine. I found NO signs of bed bugs on either mattress. Guy and I were casually talking about how to prevent a bed bug outbreak when he tapped lightly on the wardrobe and I watched as something fell from the spot he tapped, right onto the bare mattress. Boom. Another shed bed bug skin.

That dreadful feeling in the pit of my stomach - uh oh - they're in the wardrobe!!

We indeed found bed bugs hiding between the cracks on the back of the wardrobe.

You can only see one bed bug in this picture, but there were about a dozen scattered in the crack right here.

We decided to go professional, and we called around and found a good place that specializes in bed bugs. The treatment involves spraying a pesticide around the baseboards, then heating up the house to 135 degrees for 6 hours. Afterward, they sprinkle silica around the baseboards.

The guy (Dave) came to take a look before telling us whether he could do it, because we live in a small place he was worried about clutter, which can make the treatment harder to do. He said there wasn't much clutter, just that everything was all together in a small space. He said he could do it!  He said it would either be Thursday the 7th or the following Monday, the 11th, that he could do it.

So that night we moved out of the clubhouse and into a hotel for 3 nights. Dave asked us to remove all the clothes from the wardrobe and from our cube storage dresser and heat-treat them in the dryer and then get them out of the house. So I spent the next few days doing that. We slept at the hotel but then came back to the Clubhouse in the mornings for breakfast and school, then after school went back to the hotel.

When we discovered that it would not be Thursday that the treatment would take place, we booked another 5 days at an AirBnb close to downtown. We decided then to stay away from the Clubhouse. The bed bugs, having nothing to eat, would likely migrate. They can sense when someone comes into the room because they can smell the carbon dioxide and feel the heat of a body. If they are hungry, they can move fast to get a quick meal, even if you are standing on the floor for even a few minutes. To prevent migration, we had the door that leads to the main house sprayed with a pesticide. And so we stayed away. The only things we brought with us were heat-treated clothes, food, and plastic bags to put everything in. We left purses, back packs, bags, EVERYTHING, at the Clubhouse. Hmm... except the iPads and the Nintendo DS. We removed those the first day we went to a hotel, so we felt safe that the bed bugs hadn't migrated to them. And because the bed bugs weren't in the bathroom, we were able to bring our bathroom overnight bag filled with all our shampoo and combs.

At the AirBnb

The week that this all took place, my Aunt Liz was in town. I was able to see her on Thursday, and then on Friday there was a get together at my parents' house with Aunt Liz, and other family.

Saturday morning Nico and I researched which library we could go to to get the rest of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. There were four more that he needed to read. We realized after leaving that it didn't open until noon, so we drove to the park that was a few blocks away and I let him play while I stayed in the car figuring out what to do (and because brrrr it was cold I didn't want to get out!) I decided to take him somewhere as a surprise. He tried to guess where we were going the whole way there. He finally got it right when I turned into the parking lot, Lakeshore Learning. I told him he HAD to buy something with MY MONEY or he couldn't leave the store. He seemed pleased with that idea.

He chose some magnetic putty, and an archeological dig activity where he had to excavate five stones from a block of dirt.

We waited until after noon and then ran to the specific library we needed to go to, and we came home with four books for Nico to read. 

For dinner that night we chose to go to a place called Asian Cuisine, we ordered to go. Guy chose Dark Crystal for the movie. Nico mostly played with his magnetic putty and came over to see what was going on every once in a while. 

We really took advantage of the opportunity to eat out. Sunday we ordered pizza. Monday we had Boise Fry Company, Tuesday was Jimmy Johns. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Breakfast on Sunday (no pancakes, so it was toast with peanut butter and jam. No toaster, so it was microwave-heated bread with peanut butter and jam).

Sunday afternoon we visited the park again, and then got Nico's hair cut. 

Monday after school Nico had an eye appointment. He needs glasses, so we chose a pair for him and they should be ready in a few weeks.

Green is Nico's favorite color. These glasses are green on the bottom, and slightly leopard print on the top. They happen to look a lot like Guy's glasses, but not on purpose. It was the green that got him hooked.

Nico is VERY excited about having glasses.

The heat treatment took place this past Monday. We didn't bother coming home Monday evening, because I knew there would be a layer of dust on everything and I would have more time to deal with it the following day.

The next day I spent at the Clubhouse washing sheets and dusting, mopping, etc. No sign of bugs anywhere... yay! We are guaranteed bug free for at least 30 days after treatment. We are thinking that the bites were causing hives on Nico, and that's where his hives were coming from. He's been hive free since we left the Clubhouse.

After school on Tuesday we went to visit GG and Aunt Pat. Melody (Aunt Pat's daughter) stopped by and we got a few handfuls of seeds from her! Peppers, Cucumber, and Radishes. We'd like to plant them out front. We picked up Jimmy John's on the way home, then Guy and Nico went to Cub Scouts that night. There was a magician there that showed them 3 magic tricks and Nico came home with the tricks to show me, they are pretty good!

Wednesday was the parent baseball meeting at Timberline High School. We skipped the spaghetti feed this year, and just showed up for the meeting. It was a quick and informative presentation, and afterward we met Nico's baseball coach. He is on the REDS team. Practices could possibly start next week depending on weather, otherwise they will start closer to April. The coach is very laid back.

On our to do list: Make sure Nico's equipment will still function for another season. He may have grown out of some of his stuff.

Some quick snippets of the past two weeks. We are welcoming the Grandparents Russell into town tomorrow, as Spring Break is upon us! Stay tuned!

Routine

We're getting our routine down surrounding preschool. Nico and I read books while we wait for the bus every morning, and when it gets reeeal close, we put his backpack on and hang out by the window.

 Waiting for the bus.

On the bus, getting strapped in. I wave at him from our front step until the bus drives off.

Coming home.

When he gets off the bus in the afternoon, I have lunch ready for him. I eat earlier, so while he eats I read him books. Then after that I give him 5 minutes with his beloved iPad, and then it's time for nap. Maybe. Twice he hasn't taken a nap. He fell asleep on the bus ride home on one of those days, but then today I'm not sure if he fell asleep on his way home, but he skipped his nap anyway. He's a tired buddy in the evening without a nap!

This week he has started counting things regularly. The steps across the bridge at Memorial park: "One, two, three, five, four, five, four, nine, ten!" He says it with his own sounds, but some of them are very close to sounding correct, like FOUR. My favorite is how he says "Siggy" for seven.

He also says the word "Down", and also signs it. They told me that they teach signs along with words, because his need to communicate is larger than his need to say words correctly. He used it (the word and the sign, at the same time) correctly at the park when he told me he wanted to get down from the equipment. They must have also taught him how to be a monkey, because he's been attempting to climb poles, like he has been taught how. Grabbing it with his legs correctly and everything.

Homework this week was a book called the "My Can-Do Book" with pictures to color of kids doing things that we should reinforce to them that they can do too: Brush their teeth, pick out their own clothes, ride a tricycle. They must be teaching him how to write his name, too, because when I wrote his name on the front of the book, he pulled out his crayon and wrote an N, and kept saying his name! But sometimes he would say "Tico" and he drew a bunch of Ts. He drew lots of Is, too, and one O.

I know I said this already, but I am looking forward to being able to ask him what he did in school! It is strange not being able to know exactly what they did. Except twice this week he did bring home projects that he had done at school - a finger painting picture of his hand prints, and a bracelet (which I am currently wearing on my wrist).

Guy said that this is the first of two times in Nico's life that we won't be hearing about his day at school. Now and when he is a teenager. :)

Doing homework

Also, notice his hair in the previous picture! We got a new hair cutting apparatus, so we tested it out.

It buzzes, so Nico cringed a bit.

Last but not least, I finally finished Nico's quilt for his new bed. Grandma Russell and I both worked on this quilt for Nico. He slept with it for the first time last night. 

Hair Cut!

Milestone among children: The First Haircut. Nico has had his first hair cut! On Tuesday Guy got out the hair scissors and we set him up in the dining room.

Before

During

After

Guy was concerned that he didn't do a good job, but I think he did a fantastic job, especially considering that Nico was a wiggle baby! I kept a lock of his hair and will be printing some pictures to put in his baby album. 

On Wednesday we went to the zoo for the first time this year. We were there for 45 minutes but didn't get much further than a few 100 feet and only saw goats and a red panda. There was the giraffe slide we had to play on, and oh my, the sandbox! And the lion/seal/elephant statues we had to climb on, and the prairie dog tunnel we had to go through. I let him do whatever his little heart desired and those are the things he chose. I was so pleased that he was having such a good time! We also went to the gift shop and I got him a small toy helicopter and a few small rubbery animal figurines to add to our collection. We will be going back soon to see the rest of the zoo. He asked to go back later that day, and we were actually on our way back there when he decided he'd rather go to the "Goose" Park. He says "Gheee!" when he wants to go to that park. 

Another milestone: successfully climbing up a slide for the first time! (this actually happened at Memorial Park earlier this week, not at the park in the picture)

This morning at the Co-op I was marveling how he recited every letter in the name "Boise Co-op" which was printed on the cart (and upside down, at that!) When he got to the dash he said "dubaduh". He has also started telling us stories, which is awesome to see. In the past the only time he has communicated something solid was when he wanted something (water, potty, chicken, banana). But now, for example, holding up one of his trucks he will say "Pah" (for potty). He's telling us that he got that truck as a reward for going potty. This is a new step in communication! And on Monday morning when we went over to see Allicia and Evie, Nico said "Noooo" while signing Old Park, and then he signed "Evie".  He did this over and over again, he was telling me that we are NOT going to Old Park, we are going to see Evie! Evie lives right near Old Park, so I think he was clarifying. How cool to see him start to communicate like this. I'm excited to see it progress!

Nico's first speech therapy appointment is next Wednesday at 2:15. She'll be coming over every Wednesday after that, at 2:15, for 15 weeks. Also coming up in the next few weeks is Nico's transition appointment with the public school district, to see if he qualifies for transferring to a free preschool this fall that will offer him speech therapy. The program is there to help kids transition into kindergarten from the Infant/Toddler Program. So excited for the possibilities!

From tonight's walk. Nico dragging his tricycle home.