Garden, Fish Park, and the iBee

We tried several times this past week to fly a kite. The gusts of wind seemed wild enough to carry a kite but when we got to the park there was hardly anything! Oh well. We keep the kite in the back of the car in case we need to make an emergency kite flying stop.

On Sunday after church we went to Louie's for lunch with family. Then afterward, Nico drove to Nampa with Papa to pick up the eggs and milk from the farm. The Grandparents Salisbury gave us 2 dozen farm fresh eggs this week (thank you!!), the darkest orange yolks you ever did see! Papa also let us borrow his wheelbarrow and a big shovel (we already have a small Nico-sized one) so that we could move the dirt from our garden. On Tuesday we moved it to the area under our pine trees. We don't plan to take the dirt with us when we move, but will definitely be bringing our garden bed!

Nico happened to be wearing a nice shirt that morning and me a skirt. But it turns out all you need is good shoes and you can get the job done. We were done quickly.

Cold water, juice, cheese stick, and iPad to relax after digging dirt.

On Monday we went to see Allicia and crew in the morning and brought some bins with us to store in their cellar.

Tuesday, Fish Park!

His favorite part of the Fish Park is the stream-bed in the lobby and the big sturgeon fish that swim under the bridge. So we just did those two things.

We've been… eating cinnamon raisin bread, going for bike rides in the morning, sorting through closets, snuggling, reading, and playing iPad games and watching videos. He is really enjoying read-along books that come with a CD of the story. And of course truck/car books from the library.

Two more weeks until school starts! I am mentioning it to him every so often so he knows it's coming. I've also been trying and trying to remember to enforce him saying "iPad" instead of "iBee". It was one thing that his speech therapist wanted him to work on, but I am so used to him saying "iBee" that I haven't remembered to correct him! We practice saying "iPad" on purpose and he can do it just fine, but it's a habit to say iBee and it's a hard one to break.

Onward!

Easter

I went to Nico's school on Friday for their Easter egg hunt. The Easter bunny also came for a visit and Nico got a picture taken with him. Nico had fun and after that was over he got to come home with me instead of riding the bus.

Saturday we went to the Boise Farmer's Market for the very first time this year! We found a new vendor that sells gluten and corn free bread and baked goods. Nico tried their cinnamon bread. We will be going back this Saturday to BUY some! I thought the cinnamon bread would make some good toast for breakfasts. Went to Old Park that afternoon and Nico discovered swinging on his tummy.

Him and a girl named Lily hit it off at the park and they were both swinging on their tummies.

Sunday was church and then Easter at the cabin. We saw family we hadn't seen in a while, an Aunt and  Uncle of mine that had never met Nico before! And cousins I hadn't seen in a while. It was a lot of fun. Easter egg hunt reminded me of the ones we used to have at my Great Grandma French's farm. The adults would hide the eggs and then the kids would be let loose (the younger ones first). So Nico got to search for eggs one minute before the next batch of kids were released. He was allowed to get 22 eggs. Since he couldn't have the candy in them, the other kids were kind enough to trade eggs with him so that he just ended up with toys. Lots of stamps, lots of finger puppets, light up rings, colorful rubber bands. My brother Jonny climbed up the side of the cabin and planted one of the easter eggs in a bird's nest perched on the highest beam on the side of the cabin. When the kids were let loose to find the eggs, one of my cousins climbed up there to retrieve it.

A snap shot from a video of Rocky climbing up the side of the house

Alanna took pictures of the event and I'll post them when I get copies!

Monday we went to see Allicia and kids in the morning. Then in the afternoon we met Grandma Salisbury at the mall for an adventure! I got a pair of pants and shirt and some See's candy (Thanks Mom!) Haven't had See's candy in about 3 years at least! Rocky Road used to be my favorite.

Tuesday I had another essential oils class for pregnancy and babies. Nico and Guy got the tire fixed, went to the library, and then to the bookstore to play with the train. It was a fun night for all. 

Please pray that Guy will be favored when he interviews for the engineering position in the next few weeks. We are ready for him to move to days!

Today Nico was watching a muppet show on Netflix called The Mighty Jungle. Kids tell parts of the story and the muppets act them out. One part had this meerkat holding his baby sister. So Nico started talking about his baby sister and went to get his doll. I tucked her in next to Nico and he gladly stayed there with his arm around her until he was done watching his show.

That's all for this week! Stay tuned for Easter pictures in the coming weeks!

Mostly Pictures!

Nico and I made play-doh last week with Teff flour. We spent almost 2 hours playing with it that first day.

Zebra at the zoo.

Nico hiding in the cooler with the iPad.

On Wednesday we met Uncle Jonny and cousin Alexis at Old Park. It was a beeeeauitful day and Nico had so much fun.

No speech therapy this week. We start up again next week. Also next week Nico will be having his hearing tested. 

Last night Nico ended up with a fever, and diarrhea. At the height it was 101.9. He still has the fever and the bowel problems today (Thursday), but otherwise he is in a great mood, but perhaps a bit more tired than usual.

Short and sweet this week!

Fresh Air!

This week we finally got out for a big dose of fresh air. After being cooped up inside being sick and/or too cold to go out for long, we were ready to PLAY! We went to Old Park and stayed for at least an hour. The temp was around 60 degrees and it was beautiful and smelled great and both Nico and I really needed it.

We were also able to take Nico's tricycle out for a ride. His legs are finally long enough to reach the pedals and actually use the tricycle, though he prefers to stand up and walk awkwardly while on it, like he does on his Strider bike. We'll have to pull out his Strider bike soon and raise the seat a bit and see if he still prefers walking with it instead of sitting. 

I got Nico his very own knife for use in the kitchen. So, while I'm chopping vegetables, he can stand near me and chop his own vegetables! I need to get him a little cutting board, because cutting on a plate is hard. The knife isn't sharp at all, but it's serrated. Nearly impossible to cut anything with it, but whenever I do soft vegetables (zucchini maybe?) he'll be able to help out. 

Posing for a picture with his new knife.

Church on Sunday. Nico was in the toddler room and asked for me about halfway through the service, so they came and got me. I took him potty (he actually went potty! I forgot to mention last week, that his very first time going on the potty in public was at the pharmacy. While waiting for a prescription he told me that he had to go! Of course, once we started toward the restroom, he tried to take it back.) After I took him potty at church, he didn't want me to leave the nursery, he had the bottom lip quiver. So I stayed. No problem for me, it was fun!

Nico had his follow up doctor's appointment on Wednesday morning. The doc looked in his ears and told me that they both looked pearly white and there was no sign of infection in either of them. His left ear did have some fluid behind the ear drum, she said it is likely just congestion left over from the cold. She said a humidifier would probably help thin it out to get rid of it. She used the word "bubbling" when describing the look of the ear. His right ear, the one that had perforated, looked perfect. No scar tissue and not able to tell at all that it had burst. His blood pressure was 95/55, weight was 131.8 pounds and height was 36 inches.

Drawing while waiting for the doctor.

I'm still unable to hear well out of my right ear. If it doesn't resolve soon then I'll make an appointment to go have it looked at. 

Now to talk about potty training. Nico was having a hard time with pooping, so we decided to allow him to play on the iPad while he tries. This has solved the pooping problem completely, and then some! It has been hard to teach him that he doesn't always get the iPad when he goes potty. He especially likes to ask me to take him potty while we are in the middle of chores, or right before he knows we're going to start cleaning up dinner or lunch. He makes the Potty sign and says "Pah". I say "Ok, let's go potty!" and then he asks for the iPad. When I tell him no iPad this time, he then signs "all done" frantically and does a cute little whine. We'll get the hang of all this soon enough! :)

Another new recipe this week for Nico - banana pancakes. It's just 1 banana mixed with 2 eggs. Fry them up, and then I smothered it in butter. He loved it!

Nico and I took Guy to the airport tonight, he is off to Portland for 4 days. I am so excited for him, he is going to see a comedy show that includes several of the people from MST3K. Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, and Frank Conniff are each doing a comedy routine, and afterward they are live-riffing a movie called Plan 9 from Outer Space. An added bonus is that he gets to stay with his brother Tom! Sweet deal!

Nico and I will be staying with my parents for a night or so. We should have a pretty fun weekend!

Time to sign off, but I leave you with a video from this past week. Nothing big, just some shots from the park and of Nico dancing to one of his favorite Pocoyo episodes.

All better

Nico's fever broke a bit before midnight last night. He woke up as cool as a cucumber and quite his normal self. Go immune system! I gave him some homeopathy last night, perhaps that helped a bit.

I made scones tonight for when Guy comes home from work tomorrow. Saturday morning is our "date night". But I burnt them! Whoops!

Picture is of Nico watching MST3K on the iPad. He enjoys listening to the opening song and rewinds it after the song is over so he can hear it again. You can see his cupcake on his plate, and a little piece of the failed scones. Nico wasn't a fan of the burnt.

Curious George

Daddy and Nico finishing up watching Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas. A present from Grandpa Russell!

WinCo

We went to WinCo this morning. Nico likes WinCo for a few reasons - he likes to "jump" over the lines on their floor. And he likes to help me with the self checkout. He squeals whenever he helps me put the money in the money taker. I also let him push the buttons on the screen.

We wrapped up our day by hanging out on the couch. Nico is playing with the "Little Red Hen" story book on the iPad. And I am updating the blog!

Also of note - you can see the rash on Nico's chin. I've surmised that he didn't have hand foot and mouth disease last month, because the rash on his chin, though it went away for a few days, came back and is still there. Not sure what that week long illness was that he had, but I'm guessing it likely wasn't HF&M.

Under the Table

Nico discovered a not-so-comfortable place to sit and watch "Busytown Mysteries".

Snuggles

Nico loves to go into our bedroom in the evenings and sit on our bed, eat cheese, and watch his shows. Tonight is no different!

Daddy Snuggles

Early morning snuggles with Daddy

Late

We took a late trip to the park tonight. I was fooled by the new early darkness, so it was barely 5 PM when dusk started and we arrived to the park after the sun had set.

We were also late in carving our pumpkin, which Nico and I did tonight. There is an iPad app called Tizzy Seasons, and they have a pumpkin you decorate and then you tap the light switch and the pumpkin glows from the inside. So I carved the pumpkin, we decorated the one on the iPad, lit it up, and then I asked Nico if he wanted me to light OUR pumpkin up. He said YES! Well, he said "Dah!" So I put a candle in our pumpkin, lit it, and then turned off all the lights. He was intrigued.

Halftone

New app on the iPad makes pictures self explanatory.

Boxin'

Nico crawled into this box with the iPad while I was washing dishes this morning.

We are still battling illness! He woke up with a barking cough this morning, but after some homeopathy and a few minutes of steam-time in the bathroom, he is already sounding better. I'm updating the blog for today at 9:30 in the morning! But I know if I don't do it now that I will forget this evening.

Shaun the Sheep

Sitting on Daddy's lap while watching Shaun the Sheep (a Wallace and Gromit spin off) on the iPad.

Striders Striders Everywhere

Picture is of Nico watching a video of a child riding a Strider bike.

This morning we hung out with Allicia and Evie and another mom and baby. Come to find out that Evie and the other child, Miles, both had Strider bikes, too!

In the evening, Nico and I went out and took a walk with his Strider bike. He wanted me to be on my bike, too, so I brought my bike out and just walked next to it. Nico actually walked on his Strider bike the entire time (instead of wanting to be carried most of the way), we went around the block and were gone for 45 minutes. I think I will raise the seat a bit on his bike because I think it may be too low and that's why he hasn't thought to sit on it yet.

Shoe shoes

Nico wearing my shoes and reaching for the iPad.