Friends, Chili, IEP Meeting

Last Friday was another day that we watched the kids after school. We played games downstairs. While we were down there, two of Nico's neighbor friends came over to see if Nico could play. Rylan's brother Merek, and his sister Madilyn. So they joined us downstairs for a little while, and then they went upstairs with Nico to play. Jeff got home at 5:45, so we said goodbye to the main house and I started dinner. Merek and Madilyn stayed for dinner, we had rice and ground beef, and cheese and cut veggies. They devoured the veggies, I was very impressed with that! And everyone loved the rice and ground beef.

They stayed over until about 7pm, when I sent them home. As soon as they were gone, I started shivering, and quickly realized that my fever was back and that I needed to lie down. I got into bed around 7:30 and didn't get out until the following morning at about 10AM. Except for bathroom breaks, which were very difficult, I could barely lift my body off the bed. Nico was just about asleep around 9:30pm when I asked him if he could get up and get me my water bottle, which he did instantly and then told me that he could be my servant and whatever I needed I could just tell him. What a boy!

Guy took care of everything the next day and I mostly stayed in bed. I loved lying down in the bed and hearing them have fun playing games.

They went and got pizza supplies so I wouldn't have to make crust, and Guy made the best pizza ever. I chose an animated movie called Epic to watch, which we enjoyed.

I stayed home from church on Sunday, it was another slow day. We played Robot Wars on the bed. Guy won.

Monday came and went, Nico didn't have school that day and I don't think we left the house. 

Tuesday was the Blue and Gold banquet at Cub Scouts. This is a banquet that the Bear Den plans and implements. They decided on a cowboy theme. Guy had signed up to bring chili, so he made a huge pot of chili and brought it with him with some toppings. 

Apparently it was a big hit. He was going to make a double batch but he didn't think it would all fit in our crockpot, so he made half the batch for Tuesday night, and half the batch on Wednesday! (more on that later)

Wednesday we woke up to snow - walking to school early for Chess.

Wednesday was also the day that we had Nico's IEP meeting. 

All the testing has been completed and this was the results and eligibility meeting to see if he met criteria to continue receiving speech services. Since his teachers brought up the issue of his struggle with inattention, he was also tested for attention issues to see if he needed services for that. Receiving services for that requires an educational diagnosis (vs medical diagnosis) of attention issues by the school psychologist, which she did not give him based on results. Inconsistent results is what showed up based on testing and questionnaires filled out by us and his teacher.

They also did an IQ test, but did we really question his smartness? He showed up in the 97th percentile for IQ (which qualifies him for GATE program in the future if we're interested). The piece he did the best on, 99th percentile, was the Visual Spatial portion. "High scores in this area indicate a well-developed capacity to apply spatial reasoning and analyze visual details."

One of the points that was made is that the inattention piece, though not "diagnosed", is getting in the way of Nico being able to use his smartness. The school psychologist recommended a book, which I've ordered and should arrive tomorrow, called "Smart but Scattered", and then the possibility of a vibrating watch that vibrates every 5 minutes or however long we want, to remind him to take an inventory of where his attention is. Was he paying attention? Was he making clicking noises? Was he humming? Just to help him stay aware of what he's doing. What they don't want is for him to always be on the receiving end of, "Nico, stop that.", so they're wanting to help him become more aware of what he's doing so he can understand himself and control impulses better on his own. His teacher has already given him a few measures to help with his need to move - a special cushion that allows him to move around, and a "band", I'm not sure what that is but she said that the combination of the two seem to really help him. The Audiologist also gave the input that taking breaks with a snack seems to revive Nico's ability to focus, so we might work that into his day somehow too. Even though there's no diagnosis, they can still accommodate all these things to a reasonable degree.

Based on speech testing, Nico is still eligible for speech services.

A few other tidbits I found entertaining - Nico was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up and he said he wanted to be a builder or a landscaper. They also did a classroom observation, and the psychologist was quietly observing him in class when Nico turned around and looked at her, never having met her before, and asked, "Do you know when Mrs. Williams [his speech therapist] is going to pick me up?"

Wednesday evening everyone gathered in the Clubhouse for some chili! Everyone loved it. Guy did a great job. He got the recipe from one of his coworkers, it took some convincing, because it was a special recipe, and Guy had to swear to never enter the chili into a competition before he would hand it over. Hehe.. it's a kid-friendly one with no beans and small vegetables and not too hot.

Allicia made cornbread for everyone. 

Thursday, Nico's World Edition of Little Passports arrived. He had been waiting for it. The country this time was Japan, and it came with instructions on how to fold origami plus a few sheets of origami to practice with. Nico made a balloon, and a jumping frog, and a few others. He's really enjoying it!

Nico and Evelyn decided that they aren't going to walk home together anymore. Evelyn expressed her dislike of waiting for Nico after school, and so they agreed to walk separately and they are actually both very excited about doing it. The first day they walked separately was on Wednesday. On his way home he ran into Madilyn and walked home with her. They are still walking to school together, though! 

A few snippets from the banquet and origami

IEP Meeting, GG

Last Friday was Nico's annual review for his IEP (Individualized Education Program). Every 3 years he goes through testing again to see if he still needs the speech services, that is happening next year in 2019.

His SLP (Speech & Language Pathologist) says that Nico is improving and has come a long way in some areas. He has stopped puffing his cheeks out when he says "S" or "SH" sounds. At home we are just supposed to have him try again if he says a word wrong, she also gave us exercises we can do with him if we are ever inspired. We were able to meet the new principle, Jason Adams, and he was very nice. The principle sits in on the meetings and takes notes. The notes then have to be read through and signed by all of us at the end of the meeting. Ms Lung, his teacher, says that it is getting harder for her to understand Nico even since the beginning of the year. We think this is because he has started talking faster.

Guy and I walked home from the meeting and then Guy actually got to work from home that day. Every month his boss lets him take an at-home work day, because he can super-focus and get a lot more stuff done.

Saturday was the laziest day ever. We did force Nico to go for a walk with us. He always tries to get out of it by saying that Jeff or Allicia could watch him while Guy and I go for a walk. But we always need the exercise on a lazy Saturday!

We also restarted our weekly Family Meetings. I'm hoping we remember to continue doing these. This is where Nico gets his allowance, we also exchange compliments and appreciations for each other, and we go over any new family business. I added one chore to Nico's daily routine, and during the family meeting we practiced it. When he gets home from school he now has to unload his backpack and lunch bag before he can have his snack. Also at the family meeting we go through the next week's calendar, and then we play a game. We couldn't agree on one until I found the dice game we had bought Nico for Christmas and hadn't yet played. It's called QWIXX and it is VERY fun. It's a quick game requiring a bit of strategy and I really love it.

Then because our toaster oven is broken, we made pita pizzas in our smaller borrowed toaster oven. I forgot to take a picture. We are having them again this Saturday so I will try to remember! They were tasty. We watched Lego Ninjago while eating pizza.

On Monday we all had eye appointments. Guy and I had ours right before lunch. So afterward, we went to lunch! We went to Boise Fry Company. I had purple potato fries. Nico had his eye appointment after school so I went back there with him. His eyes are fine! We will recheck them every year.

On Tuesday I went over to Pa & Ma's house for lunch then after Nico got out of school we went to see G.G. and Aunt Pat.

I told Nico that the next time we come visit them we'll get Jimmy John's afterward. He asked me to print out a tiny calendar that he could take to school to X out the days as they go by, until we reach March 20th. He told me to circle the 20th and write "JJ" (Jimmy Johns) and "GG" on the day.

On Wednesday Ma and I went out shopping and had lunch together. It was a wonderful day!! We went to Thai Basil for lunch.

Sorry I didn't get more than one of this shot, and caught Ma with her eyes closed. Doh!

Thanks Mom!!

Today Evelyn had dinner with us again!

Nico was mentioned in the student-led video announcements at the school. For being an All-Star! 

And.. hmm.. I think that's it. Here's a video of Nico and Evelyn playing in the clubhouse tonight!

Bike Ride, Speech

Nico had an early release last Friday, it was the end of the first semester.

Saturday is Nico's proclaimed favorite day of the week. Pancakes in the morning and Pizza at night, plus more iPad usage than a typical day. This Saturday we needed to get out and be active, we were feeling a bit cooped up. The sun was out too! We went for a walk and Nico rode his bike. We forgot to bring mittens for him, and the route on the Greenbelt we take is always very windy, so his hands got very cold. We decided the best thing would be to remove his socks and let him wear the socks on his hands. He loved it.

If I don't take pictures of stuff, I forget what we did! On Sunday Guy had a bit of a fever so he stayed back from church. We also skipped Bible Study that night. He stayed home from work on Monday and Tuesday.

Nico and Evelyn have been playing Minecraft after school every day for the past few weeks. On the days that Nico doesn't have iPad privileges, he just watches Evelyn play.

Nico not letting me take a picture of him at breakfast. hehe

Nico's speech teacher called me this afternoon because it's about time for his yearly review. She says that he is doing a lot better holding his attention during speech practice, and that he is very easy and pleasant to work with. We'll hear more about the progress at the review. She asked me how he is doing at home and I told her there are still times one of us (Guy or me) can't make out what he's saying, but usually the other one of us can fill in the gaps. And there are still times that others can't understand.

She told me when she went to his class to get him for speech yesterday, they were in the middle of doing a science experiment, and when she walked into the class he looked up at her in horror because he did not want to leave the class. They negotiated and he was able to stay in the class during the science experiment and he will get his speech work done tomorrow. Nico had told us about this science experiment yesterday, it involved microscopes, he didn't mention that he skipped speech for it. I'm glad the speech teacher is flexible with the time!

New Friends

Nico has made friends with the neighbor boys! There's a duplex a few doors down. One side of the duplex has brothers Sam and Adam, 2nd grade, and 4 years old. The other side of the duplex has Aiden, 2nd grade. They ride scooters back and forth on the sidewalk and they play hide and seek. He is able to "go out to play" and I just tell him not to cross the street and to stay close to the house. I go out and check on him every so often, or I see them riding back and forth on their scooters from our window. 

Nico practicing henna

Wednesday morning was Nico's IEP meeting and re-evaluation. Every 3 years they re-evaluate the need for services. It's been 3 years already for Nico! They changed his classification from having a Language impairment to having a Speech impairment. This is big improvement. They also think he is much improved socially, so he will no longer need the resource teacher to check up on him every week. So basically, all Nico needs now is speech therapy. Big steps forward! Guy was able to be at the meeting too. The principal has a brother named Guy, so they bonded.

On Thursday Nico had a doctor's appointment with his new doctor. The waiting list for this doctor for new patients was supposedly out to May & June, but we got a late March appointment, and then a cancellation happened and we got to slip in to see her yesterday. They are running food allergy tests and a few others. We will find out the results when we go back in late March. These allergy tests are different than the ones that his previous doctor ran, they will check for sensitivities instead of just allergies. Nico did GREAT getting his blood drawn, the nurse said that she has done a lot of blood draws but that Nico is definitely one of the best child patients she has ever had. Nico watched the whole process and didn't even flinch with the needle poke. I took him to get a smoothie afterward. Strawberry, banana, orange. He wanted to sit in the cafe for a while drinking his smoothie, so we did.

That's it for this week.

Until next time!

G.G., The Loop

On Saturday Guy thought he was going to have to work but they gave him the day off because he was going to start the M-F schedule the next week. It was fun to spend the morning with him! Then Nico and I left to go to the Sensory Friendly movie, we met some of Nico's friends there (and my friend, the mom) from church. Lazarus, Leona (Nico calls her Lenoa) and Matthias, the mom is Elizabeth. The movie was Minions. Very cute! Afterward we came home and spent a pleasant afternoon/evening together. Guy had organized some of the clubhouse and it was great to see it looking a little less cluttered.

On Monday we took "the loop", which is our name for a loop on the greenbelt that takes us about 45 minutes. In the summer this loop is not practical because it is exposed and way too hot in the afternoons. But it is perfect in the fall and winter. If the sun is out it warms us up.

Avery

Allicia, Ivy, and Evelyn behind

Nico and Evelyn watching kids play on the Adam's school playground. When asked if it looked like fun to Evelyn (looking ahead to her kindergarten days next year) she said "No!" She seemed a little intimidated by all the noise.

Nico and Evelyn spend a lot of time arguing over who gets to be in the front. We're trying to work on all their conflict, they are like siblings sometimes. In fact, Nico calls Evelyn his sister sometimes, but also mentions on occasion that he is going to marry her.

They got so far ahead of us that they got to the crosswalk with the button you push that turns the light red and then you can cross. Evelyn pushed the button, and Nico went into auto pilot when the light turned red and the "walk" symbol showed up. So, they crossed a busy road far ahead of us. I ran after them and told them not to do that without us again. Then I got to thinking... how old does Nico have to be before he can walk to and from school by himself? he he. 

Tuesday was a full day. We needed the car so we dropped Guy off at work. Fred Meyer, then a visit to G.G. Nico wanted to bring his Creationary game where you draw a card from the pile and then put legos together to make it look like the picture on the card. So we each took turns. G.G. made a pretty impressive sheep! Nico also got to feed Scamper a dog biscuit, he loves doing that! Then he watched a bit of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. 

After we left there, we went to a chiropractor appointment. We didn't know that Grandma Salisbury had an appointment there right before us, but we were pleasantly surprised to see her there! She was needing a ride back to Big-O Tires so it was serendipitous that we were there, and we were able to drive her back.

We went home for maybe 10 minutes, then it was time for school. I came into Nico's classroom that day to volunteer. I enjoy making copies and cutting out shapes, I did a lot of that, I also helped some kids with their classwork, and became more familiar with Ms. Lung's style of teaching and personality, which was really great. I plan to volunteer there once a month. 

After the school day was over, Nico and I both drove home. We had about an hour at home before leaving to go pick Guy up from work. We parked in the parking lot and waited for him and admired the really cool looking clouds hanging out on top of the mountains. 

We had home days on Wednesday and Thursday. 

At night Guy has been snuggling with Nico in his bed after reading books and all that, and Nico has been asking Guy questions about when Guy was little. Guy tells him a story, and then Nico tells a story sometimes about himself, but then asks again for Guy to tell him a story about when Guy was young or a baby. Last night Nico asked Guy to tell him about when Nico was a baby and used to poop in his diaper. 

At 6 PM every night we do homework. This includes reading sentences and words, and also saying words that the speech therapist gave us at the parent teacher conference. We are working on combination L sounds, like "flash" which is super hard for him because not only is there an L in the word (he just learned how to do these), the L is the 2nd letter in the word, which requires some tricks. And not only that, it has an SH at the end, which is also something he just learned how to do and doesn't always do it consistently. All those things he has to remember in this one word.

Homework takes us literally like 2-3 minutes. It's just a quick thing every day, to keep his skills up.

I think that's it for this week. Enjoy the Halloween video! There's a theme to the music, tell me if you can figure it out... Guy didn't figure it out, but then I didn't tell him there was a theme to it before he watched it. 

Back at It

Before I start in on this week, here is a picture from last week that I didn't post.

I took Nico to Fred Meyer so he could spend his last two dollars, and I gave him the wallet that G.G. made for Guy when he was little. We bought 2 Hot Wheels with the money.

Now on to the update!

Nico was looking forward very much to going back to school. He asked about school at least a few times a day as we were nearing the end of spring break. We counted down the days.

Saturday was Nico's cousin Lily's birthday party. And I just remembered that I took pictures with my Mom's iPhone. I just called her to have her send the pictures to me. Thanks Mom!! The party was up at the cabin and it was so much fun! Lily chose first to have an owl sound contest, so everyone made owl sounds. Nico said "Who who whoo" when it was his turn. Then we played hide and seek. Me and Nico were on the same team. We hid behind the bed, in a closet, and under a blanket. Then when it was his turn to count, we counted to thirty together and then went and found his hiding cousins. We ate cupcakes after this! Lily is trialing a gluten free diet, so we had gluten free cupcakes that Nico was able to eat, and he ate TWO of them. And by two I mean that he ate just the tops. The frosting is the most exciting part, you see.

Then there was a piñata! It was one where you pull the strings from it and one of them opens the piñata. Unfortunately NONE of the strings opened the piñata, so Papa came to the rescue and opened it for us. It was filled with small toys, stamps, some cars, and a bit of candy. Any candy that Nico got we traded with his cousins for more toys. Nico was so happy to have his own little gift basket full of squishy owls and bendy bunnies and owl stamps and cars. After he filled up his bag with the goodies, he turned to walk down the stairs, looked back at me and said "Go-a home, Mommy!" heehee! That made us all laugh.

Sunday we went to church. I just happened to have my camera with me without even planning for it (when does that ever happen?) and got a very cute picture of Nico with Papa. Papa takes Nico to the Sunday School room and always picks him up, too.

Nico went back to school on Tuesday. He came home with the 3rd quarter progress report. They send home a progress report every quarter to update us on how he's doing as far as reaching his IEP goals is concerned. As time passes I'm becoming more familiar with this whole IEP deal (Individualized Education Program). We are having our IEP meeting for the 2014 school year in a few weeks. At that time we will write out the goals for next year. He has come so incredibly far since starting preschool last fall, but I know we still have a ways to go before he is prepared for kindergarten.

But, progress report, he has met two of his five goals already! Woohoo!!

One of my favorite notes on the report says:

"Nico's attention span is increasing which is making it possible for him to engage in more cooperative play with his peers. He has really enjoyed the building, computer and dollhouse centers this quarter. He still needs adult help to take turns and share toys. He has played really nice with a particular peer on the computer taking turns using the mouse and laughing and singing together."

I love to hear stuff like that! Seeing him interact and laugh with other kids just makes me so happy. 

Regarding speech:

"Nico has made such good progress on saying the final consonants of words. We have worked on saying the last sound in two syllable words and in two word phrases. He continues to need reminders to not add a vowel after the final "t" or "k" sounds. He is also doing well with saying the "t" in the middle of words (ex: water - he used to say wa-er). It's great to hear him correctly pronounce his name!"

On Tuesday Nico and Guy hung out at home while I went out with my friend Jennifer to a dōTERRA event called Healthy From the Inside Out. It was so much fun, great information, then we went to Solid Bar & Grill afterward. It was great to see her and get caught up.

Today we went to Camel's Back Park. It had been rainy for a few days, so being in the sun was so nice!

Family adventure on Monday.

Nico: Pick-a take-a Mommy

Me: You want me to take a picture of you?

Nico: Um Yes

Me: Okay, here we go. 1, 2, 3!

Nico: See, Mommy!

Me: You want to see the picture?

Nico: Yes.

Grandpa and Grandma Russell are coming for a visit on Saturday!! Nico grabbed a picture of Grandpa off the fridge and said "Grandma and Grandpa come to Nico's house!" Nico has been waiting for this day since the day they left to go back home at Christmas.

Advent Time

Catch up on Pictures from Thanksgiving. Thank you to Alanna for setting up this photo op. It was so much fun!

 The Fam

Papa and Nico

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, we went Black Friday shopping! For the first time ever, I participated. We went to Fred Meyer. It was crowded, but not bad. I got myself a new scarf and bought Guy a pair of jeans. Grandma Salisbury blessed Nico with two new toys, one of them having a Thomas the Train engine in it, which we have spent many hours this past week playing with. You CAN race your trains around the track FAST for 10 minutes straight without stopping, it's absolutely possible.

Then Grandma came over for lunch, it was a great day!

On Sunday we went to a new church. We are going to start going to the one that my parents and brothers and Aunt go to. I am so excited! Nico got to play with Lexie in the church preschool room. He did just fine. Since he's been in school he has had no trouble saying bye to Mommy and Daddy :) Sunday was also the start of the advent calendars, which we have 3 of this year! (We actually have 4, but decided to save one for next year). Grandma Russell gifted us an interactive computer-based advent calendar (love this tradition!) Every day you get to experience something new. Nico loved the intro scene with an old fashioned car driving around, we repeat that one every day. The ritual for this calendar is to do it when Daddy wakes up every afternoon, after we've eaten dinner. Nico remembers, and asks for it.

The second calendar we have is actually our Christmas tree. We aren't getting a real Christmas tree this year, we are using this little one instead. There are little drawers to open for every day and in each drawer is a new ornament to hang on the tree. Nico gets it, and has strung together one of his longest sentences because of it: "Open number four tomorrow". He says this throughout the day, depending on which number he gets to open tomorrow. Then in the morning he asks "Open number four?" As SOON as four is on the tree, and yes even as he is opening four's drawer, he says, "Open number five tomorrow!"

The tree has lights and can also be wound up to play a song

"We Wish You a Merry Christmas"

Our third advent calendar is a chain that they made in Sunday School. Each chain has a verse on it and every morning before breakfast we break a chain off and then read the verse while eating. The chain is out of order, so we read about the birth of Jesus on December 1st.

On Monday we went to visit G.G. She had Nico's Christmas present all finished and I was able to see it. He is going to LOVE it and I am SO excited for when he gets to open it! The Grandparents Russell will be coming into town before Christmas and all of them will be coming over to celebrate and exchange gifts. I am so looking forward to seeing them!

Today I volunteered at Nico's school again. Cutting out gingerbread men and stars and making copies of the story of "The Mitten" and "The Hat" - great children's books by Jan Brett. Thanks to Mom Russell (aka Grandma Russell, depending on context) for introducing me to those stories.

I came to the school a little early so I could sit in and watch Nico as he got his speech therapy session. Suzie takes two students into the kitchen area where they have a little table set up. They play games where in order to take a turn you have to first say a word that you're working on. Nico was working on final "M" sounds, like "ham" and "mom". She told me that Nico has learned how to do final "S" sounds and final "F" sounds already (off, house, mouse). He demonstrated while we were there and I was so proud of him. She said she will send home with him a list of words to practice so that he can start to use them consistently instead of saying "bus" correctly at school but not at home. Also, when his friend sat down at the table next to him for the speech therapy session, Nico said "Hi, Ben!" Woah! 

He LOVES speech therapy and was so excited that I was there to share it with him. When I had first arrived and knocked on the door to the classroom, I could hear him say "Mommy!" over and over inside, even though he couldn't see me. I had told him I was coming to see him today, so he was prepared. One of the teachers said "I don't know, is it your Mommy? Let's see!"

I hope I'm not forgetting something.. hmm. YES I am! We went to the Fish Park, probably for the last time this year. We had a mild day outside on Monday so I took advantage of it. 

Block Blast

On Saturday we picked up the 110 pounds of nuts that we bought through a local "group buy". We got free shipping because over 1000 pounds were ordered. They should last us a whole year until next year's group buy. We got 60 pounds of almonds and 50 pounds of cashews. Nico helped me put them into freezer bags so we can store most of them in the freezer. 

Nico checking with me before he eats a cashew. Don't muzzle the ox!

I mad our first batch of homemade almond butter, and almond milk. Success!! Nico couldn't get enough of the almond milk, and he eats the almond butter with breakfast every morning.

On Sunday we went up to the cabin in the afternoon for dinner and fun! My Mom had invited all of us plus Jeff and Allicia and crew. We caravanned. The mountain road was covered in snow and we didn't make it up all the way. Jeff and Allicia made it up just fine, though! We had to stop and put chains on before we could continue, as we got stuck on the side of the road after pulling over to try to turn around. Nico got very upset when we pulled over, he thought we were turning around permanently and kept saying "Papa!" and pointing up the road.

We had a great time. Thank you to Pa and Ma for hosting, wonderful food and lots of fun!

Evie and Nico really enjoyed playing with all the wind up toys.

On Monday Nico had a stuffy nose and I decided to cancel our trip to G.G.'s because of it. I really didn't want to spread any sickness to her, so we rescheduled for 2 weeks out.

Stuffy nose seemed to stay as a stuffy/runny nose the past few days. He's been going to school, and hasn't had a fever.

On Wednesday his school had "Block Blast" and the parents were invited. So I showed up for it, and got to play with Nico as he went from station to station to play with different kinds of blocks in the gym. There were hollow blocks, big foam blocks, cars and a car mat, and pattern blocks. He got a kick out of the car and car mat, as well as the pattern blocks. He built a turtle following a pattern. Miss Candace (his teacher) and I talked about how Nico is meticulous and the pattern blocks seemed to suit him really well (I thought this might make a good Christmas present for him! Good thing I haven't chosen yet what to get him, I keep changing my mind.) We had a lot of fun. Miss Candace gave me a handout with suggestions on how to play with blocks with Nico to encourage learning of different concepts.

Today, I volunteered at the school but went in early so I could observe his speech therapy. The audiologist was there testing hearing, so that actually took up the speech therapy time. Though I did get to watch him get his hearing tested. She taught him how to hold a block up to his ear while he was wearing headphones, and when he hears the beep he is supposed to put the block in a bucket. He did one or two but then he defaulted to looking up at her when he heard the beep, in order to get an "OK" to put the block in the bucket. Apparently, visually asking for confirmation like that is common for 3 year olds. They tend to want to check with you first before putting the block down. But, that was confirmation enough that he was hearing just fine.

I will volunteer one more time, in two weeks, and I will go in early again to try to sit in on his speech therapy. 

This past week I started asking Nico to help set the table, which he is thoroughly enjoying. I have him fold paper towels into napkins and then put a fork on each one. He says "Mommy, Daddy, Nico" when he puts the napkin or the fork down on each of our places.

Setting the table.

Blowing bubbles while waiting for the bus. Rainy day, Nico was sure to remind me that we needed to use the umbrella while walking to the bus.

Snuggling inside Daddy's coat this morning right after waking up.

We got Nico's school picture back!

Short and Sweet

We haven't had many pictures lately, I think because we haven't ventured out as much as we used to. We did go to the State Capitol again this past week. He had been asking to go back there, so I took him on Monday (his day off). 

We've had lots of rain, a few storms, and often I've wanted to share some hot cocoa with Nico. I will have to find ingredients to make some so that we can do this!

This week in school they are talking about shapes and are learning how to draw people. Homework is pointing out shapes in our environment. There are so many circles everywhere! Especially when you own 50+ hot wheels, each with 4 perfectly round wheels.

Nico has also started trying to count to twenty. He gets practice every day when Guy makes coffee, they count to twenty together when grinding the beans.

Hmm hmmm.. what else? Seems like this week has been shorter than others. 

Oh, there are two things I wanted to document. Two things that Nico has been saying for quite some time but I don't know what they mean. One, after he goes #2 in his potty, he sometimes points to it and says "Min-uh mee pee". The other one is whenever I ask him to turn around, he says "I dee". These aren't recent developments, but I wanted to write them down so I have a record.

Sometimes the papers that come home with Nico from school have notes on them from the speech therapist. Looks like they're working on ending sounds, like buS, mouSE, froG. When he does say the last part of a word, he makes it into another syllable, so he says froguh for frog.

I think that's it for this week. Short and sweet! Next week may be more exciting, we are going to Nampa to see G.G. on Monday, and Nico has next Thursday and Friday off from school.

Nico found a new way to watch his iPad.

Friends and Family

We visited G.G. on Friday! She got Nico a police car which she had ready for him when he walked in. He was very excited about that. She also shared some of her garden's bounty with us. Onions, beans, lettuce, so yummy! We will get to see her again this weekend at Nico's birthday party. He will be 3 years old!

On Saturday we went up to the cabin for a BBQ. Lots of cousins for Nico to play with. And a Papa, who attempted to build for him the most difficult lego possible, because Nico asked him to :) They have a lot of fun together.

Reading a book with Papa.

Nico's 3 year checkup was good. Right on target for growth, etc.

On Tuesday our friend Josh came over for a visit. We knew Josh in college, and he was the one who played the mandolin at mine and Guy's wedding. He also lived with us for a while when we lived in Washington. He brought us some tools to transfer our VHS tapes to digital. He also gave Nico some Korean coins to put into his piggy bank. He has been a school teacher in Korea for the last few years, and will be heading back there in the next few months. He plans to be at Nico's birthday party, so we will get to see him again soon.

Nico and Josh building towers.

We gave Nico one of his birthday presents early - a $5 sprinkler! He has had so much fun running through it. He liked rotating between running through the sprinkler and playing with his sandbox. He must have been feeling beachy. He also likes picking up little bits of sand and throwing them into the sprinkler.

Nico had his last speech therapy appointment today. He turns 3 on Monday, so he no longer qualifies for the Infant/Toddler Program. He will be a month without speech therapy before he starts school in August. I am so excited for him to go to preschool. He will have so much fun with the other kids. He is quite a socialite these days!

We checked out a "kit" from the library about Music. It has a bunch of instruments in it (tambourine, sticks, other things I don't know the names of) and some books and CDs. Nico looove banging on the tambourine with the sticks. I think he'll like his birthday present from us (a drum!).

The Grandparents Russell are coming this weekend for Nico's Birthday! We have a birthday party planned for Sunday and his actual birthday is on Monday. It will be so much fun, I am looking forward to celebrating my little buddy.

Stay tuned next week for birthday pictures.