Bike Rides!

Last Saturday we spent the morning packaging up some product to ship to Amazon. That afternoon, while Guy was out running errands, Nico and I went for a bike ride. But first, a picture of Leafy the Cabbage.

Pictures by Nico.

This bike ride was on Friday. Guy and I and Nico went for a walk / bike ride. Nico was on his bike and Guy and I walked. Check out the green! It won't stay green for long!

This picture is from our bike ride on Saturday. This time Nico told me he wanted me to choose where we went, so I chose to stay in the neighborhood and head west. We ended up biking by our old place on Krall street, then turning around and coming home.

After we arrived home, we implemented an "open door" policy, it was the first time we tried it. I kept my door open and all the kids could choose where they wanted to play, whether the Clubhouse or the main house. Ivy hung out with me in the Clubhouse for a while but then settled next to Nico who was on their couch with their Tablet. Evelyn ended up downstairs watching Guy play video games.

Saturday night it was Guy's choice of movie, he chose a newer MST3K episode.

Monday we were invited over to someone's house for dinner and games, after Nico was done with swimming lessons. Olga and her husband are from Russia, and Olga is the kids pastor at our church. The pastor and his wife were also there, as well as the music pastors. Incredible food, including ice cream. We didn't have time to play games, though, since it was a late dinner and we had to get Nico home to bed.

Nico woke up this morning with teddy bear hair. It looks like teddy bear fur. He wanted to keep it like that for school but I made him comb it. Actually, I combed it. I pulled on it so hard he said, "Ouch! Watch out, that's me under that hair!" That is a quote from Three Stooges. Except instead of hair Shemp says "nail". Nico expertly adjusted it for the situation, and he didn't miss a beat.

This afternoon we went for a bike ride. Evelyn came with us. We stopped at Municipal Park for a bit.

Tonight was the book fair party at the school. Guy took him over there for a little bit after work. They bought tacos from the taco truck and Nico played on the playground. He said he wanted to buy a book but he didn't come home with anything.

That's it for this week!

Botanical Garden Again!

Last Friday was National Public Gardens Day, so we got into the Botanical Garden for free! It was a mixture of sun and rain, but it was fun. We took shelter in a cave.

Having fun in the Children's Garden

Oh no the rain!

Saturday we took a trip to Trader Joe's. They have Nico-sized carts, which he loves to push around, so we go there often. We buy their gluten free oatmeal and sometimes some veggies or hot dogs. I use the oatmeal to make Oatmeal Spice Muffins. They are a favorite in this house! We had them for breakfast this morning and there will be none left by the end of tonight.

Sunday we were able to FaceTime with the Grandparents Russell. Nico has been asking about them lately, wanting them to come to "Nico's house". We tell him that they will be here for his birthday in a few months.

Monday we saw Allicia and crew. Tuesday I taught another class. Guy and Nico went to Municipal Park and met Allicia, Evie, and Avery there. And also two of Guy's other friends. They had a lot of fun and stopped by Pizza Hut afterwards.

I have a scratchy throat today and am fighting off sickness! Very tired and wasn't able to do much today except run to the store twice because I forgot something the first time. But everyone is fed and happy, thanks to hot dogs, muffins, and monster teeth :) We sent Guy off to work with a heave-ho and a basket full of noodles.

And speaking of muffins, that is what I am going to eat right now while watching Psych episodes on Netflix. More next week!

Family Visit

The Grandparents Russell came into town on Saturday morning. Nico was so excited to see them that he spent the first hour or so pulling out the stuff from the top drawer of our desk in the living room, because he wanted to show them everything. We took a trip to Camel's Back park that afternoon.

Saturday evening Guy made everyone Pad Thai, which was excellent! Grandparents brought Nico some new books and a new sticker book, too! And a really cool Curious George activity book.

Sunday to church. G.G. joined us on this day, and surprised Nico with a new watch for an early Easter gift. Nico loves it! It is color coded to help in learning how to tell time.  For dessert on Sunday, Guy made strawberry ice cream made with coconut milk. Nico's first time trying ice cream, and he really liked it. He also really liked going on adventures with Grandma Russell outside. Using his magnifying glass to look at moss on rocks, exploring tiny rock caves, and throwing rocks into a "river" (puddle).

Relaxing after dinner.

G.G. and Nico playing.

The wind up...

The grab!

Monday was a short trip to Allicia's house so the Grandparents could meet Allicia and crew. In the afternoon we went to the Fish Park. It was a beautiful day! We walked over to Municipal Park afterward.

We will see them again soon!

Other things this week:

Nico's class picture. He can name all of his teachers, and most of the kids! (sorry for picture quality!)

Fun with Youtube. Pirate Nico!

On Tuesday his school was celebrating " The Week of the Young Child", emphasis on healthy living. They invited parents to participate in a little event in the gym, so I went to Nico's school that morning. There were stations set up, each one with a different theme. Teeth brushing, reading, exercise (yoga), gardening, art, building. Then outside was an obstacle course. I got to go to all of these stations with Nico. It is always great to be there at the school with him because Miss Candace his teacher always tells me little tidbits about what/how Nico is doing at school. I love those little tidbits. She asked if Guy was an engineer, because Nico is very precise, loves to build and work on things and has excellent fine motor skills. She said she is having a hard time coming up with academic goals for him for next year because he is doing so well! Most of the goals for Nico next year will likely be social and speech related. But academically he appears to be doing great. We will find out more about all of this at the IEP meeting next Tuesday.

Cousins, Sniffles and Storms

On Saturday morning, Nico and I met Lizzie and Bruce and Rory at Municipal Park to plaaay! It was great to see all of them. Bruce is so attentive to Nico and loves to help him do things and make sure that he is being safe on the playground. He also really likes to make Nico laugh. What a great cousin!

On Sundays we are continuing to go to a Bible Study hosted by people from our church. They are very welcoming of us and of Nico. We bring cars for Nico to play with and they also have a bag of cars for him to play with. He lies on the floor and plays with the cars, or gets up and walks around showing the cars to the people. About halfway through he'll wander over to where we are to get a snack. I bring him a banana or a baggie full of cut up dried apricots and nuts. It has been very nice to be a part of the group. There are about 6 regular attenders other than us, all of them older, and they refer to themselves as "grandparents" to Nico. 

Sunday morning Nico had started randomly sneezing, and Monday morning he woke up with a slight fever and a case of the sniffles. Grandma Salisbury came over for a visit and brought with her some essential oils since I had run out of Melaleuca (the one I use to ward off ear infections). It was great to have her for a visit!

The next day, Nico was really itching to get outside. Even though he still had a bit of a heightened temp, we went out to go for a walk. WHO can resist the mild temperatures and the sun and the birds singing and the fresh air?? I was pretty sure it would be good for us! When we got outside, Nico literally RAN around the block with me. Then we walked a second time around. He had a lot of built up energy!

We have had mild weather days, but we've also had a few storms. We had thunder so loud Monday night that I about jumped through the roof. Guy also mentioned that it was the loudest thunder he had ever heard. It shook the whole house and continued shaking it and rumbling for about 15 seconds. Nico wasn't fazed by it at all. We also had quite a wind storm last night that was pretty incredible. When I went to bed in the evening there were leaves all over our bed that had flown in through the window.

On Wednesday both Guy and I woke up with sore throats. Looks like the cold has become a family affair! I had to reschedule our monthly visit to G.G. for next Friday instead of tomorrow. I don't want to spread it around!

I got a call from the school district today and we set up our next meeting to talk about preschool. It looks like Nico is officially set to go to preschool in the fall - August 28th is the first day of school, a mere month after he turns 3 years old. At the meeting we will talk about logistics and I will likely know at that time which part of the day he will be going, and how many days per week. The meeting is Wednesday May 22nd, so a few weeks away. I am looking forward to it!

The nightly ritual of playing on our bed

Running some errands - Nico has his harmonica

Running up the stairs at the library

No speech therapy this week, but Nico has added a few words to his vocabulary. Grandma is "nama", Banana is "nana", iPad is "O-bah". We've been trying to remember to enforce all of them! Guy remarked that he has noticed Nico has been babbling a lot more and trying out a lot of new sounds.

Trip to the Fish Park

Bruce's Birthday Party

Today we went to Bruce's birthday party at Municipal park. Here is Nico sharing some dried apples with his cousin Rory.

Overcast With a Hat

Nico insisted on wearing his hat today. I asked him if he wanted to go to the park and he said "Da" (Yes). Then he did the "pop-pop" thing with his lips to indicate that he wanted to go to the Fish Park. The Fish Park is right next to Municipal Park, so we went to both.

Photo Update

Here's some pictures from the last few days.

Nico loves watching Wallace and Gromit

Fish Park

More visits to the Fish Park

Nico likes to sit on the front porch and snap twigs

Sitting on his dump truck

Me with Nico and Rory at Rory's birthday party - Municipal Park!

Anne Frank

Today was a full day. This morning Nico and I went grocery shopping. After his nap we went to the library. Before we went into the library we visited the Anne Frank memorial. There are waterfalls and walls with quotes written on them.

After dinner I took Nico to the fish park and to the playground right next to it. He enjoyed going down the tube slide head first.

Nothing special

Kind of a normal day. Went out for errands, and went to the fish park. We didn't actually go to the fish park, because Nico got distracted by a FedEx truck and he followed it to the real park, so we ended up playing on the equipment there.

Here is another pic of Nico with tiny cars. I think he might be wearing a new outfit from Grandma Russell.