BIRTHDAY BOY!

Today Nico turned 2 YEARS OLD! I can't believe it.

Grandpa and Grandma Russell came into town today!! They brought G.G. (Great Grandma) over with them so we could have a small party. We sang Happy Birthday to Nico, he attempted to blow out candles, and then we opened presents. I think he's getting the hang of opening gifts and understanding that underneath the wrapping paper is something that he gets to play with! He got a lot of great gifts today, including a handmade play mat and carrying case (made out of Guy's jeans when he was younger!). Nico loved this, and spent a lot of time moving his new cars (and old micro machines) around the mat. And get this: the mat is made from Richard Scarry fabric!! Made by Grandma Russell. It was a hit.

This morning the Grandparents Salisbury came and visited Nico at the nursery at our church before they headed to the airport so they could say Happy Birthday to the birthday boy! They brought him a lego set (large blocks) that he loves!

Coloring

Today I brought the crayons out for the first time in a long time, and Nico colored in his very own coloring book. It was a gift to him from my Aunt Jill and her girls. Nico mostly scribbled back and forth really fast.

Xylophone

This morning we hung out with Sarah. She brought Nico a birthday present from her and her mom, my Aunt Ellen. A xylophone! Nico loved it.

Grandma Snuggles

Today Grandma Salisbury came over for a quick visit, but Nico wanted her to stay longer, so she did. He laid his head on her shoulder and held on for quite a while.

Zoo Again

We went to the zoo today with Allicia and Evie. All of the animals were out and about and very easy to see. Nico was very very excited to see each of the animals. I think he's starting to enjoy our zoo trips! While we were there we heard the lion roar several times. You could hear him from across the zoo. Every time he roared, Evie would roar and then Nico would roar.

And the end of the zoo trip, I took Nico's pants off and gave them to Allicia for Evie. They were too small around his waist and not long enough for his legs, so I thought it would be a good time to pass them on.

Zoo

We went to the zoo this morning to see the butterfly exhibit. Nico enjoyed it, and actually had a butterfly land on his shoulder. I told him it was there and he kept turning to try to see it.

We also fed the goats. Nico was pleased to hold a pellet of food out for the goat to grab with his lips.

Tonight we went for a few walks, one with all 3 of us and the Strider, and one without. I was surprised on our second walk, Nico just took off down the sidewalk. He isn't one for walking, so this was a surprise. He didn't ask for his bike or anything. For part of the journey we both took our shoes off to walk barefoot.

The picture is of Nico with a butterfly on his shoulder, this was taken as he was starting to turn to see if he could see it.

Birthday Party!

Today was Nico's birthday party. We had it up at the cabin and it was tons of fun. Hot dogs first, then "cupcakes" (apple-cinnamon muffins and banana muffins with optional cream cheese frosting), then presents. The cousins had such a fun time playing.

Nico got an awesome garbage truck that was an instant hit. Some books, balls, other toys.

There was a huge grass fire off of highway 21, so bad that the road was closed for a while and David and Jaynelle weren't able to make it out to the cabin! And we were stuck out at the cabin for a few hours. The roads opened again at about 7 PM and we were all able to leave.

Sitting on the Strider!

Today we went for two Strider walks. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. During the one in the morning, near the end of our walk, Nico actually sat on his Strider seat. When he did this, he got a big smile on his face and looked up at me excitedly. I praised him for figuring out how to sit on it and keep moving. He shakily took a few steps while sitting, but soon went back to standing.

He walked on his Strider the 2nd time out today.

We also went to the Saturday market and bought some dried apples, a pint of strawberries, and a bag of fresh, organic green beans. Yummy!

No picture today :(

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.

Sarah, Park, Strider

This morning we met Sarah at the park again. I brought along Nico's strider bike in case he wanted to play with it. He played on the park for a while and then wanted to get on his Strider.

Tonight I wrapped all of Nico's birthday presents. His birthday celebrations will be spread over a few weeks, it should be pretty fun!

Strider and Zoo

Nico received two of his birthday presents today, from Grandparents Salisbury. We went to the zoo this morning to get a zoo membership. We were hoping to visit the butterflies, but they don't open until 10 and we had to be home by then. So we just saw the lions and a few random monkeys before heading home.

Then later this afternoon, his strider bike came in the mail! The strider is a bike with no pedals. When kids first use it, they just walk with it, until they feel comfortable sitting. That's what Nico did when he got on it.

Later this evening, we watched some videos of kids on strider bikes on YouTube, and he went and got his strider bike and got on it and walked back and forth in the living room with it while continuing to watch the videos. He even asked for his helmet after seeing the kids on the video wearing theirs. He has already perfected getting on the bike. He holds both handlebars and then picks up his leg over the seat. To get off the bike, he just pushes it to the ground and steps over it.

Batman

Nico wore his Batman shirt today that he received from my cousin Molly. It has a cape that attaches to it with velcro on the back. He enjoyed wearing it!

This morning we went to the park where he climbed a big rock for the first time. In the picture you can see his Batman cape.

This evening he spent some time with Grandma Salisbury at the mall while I went to  CPR class. Guy had a migraine so he stayed tucked into bed. Nico had a blast at the mall and I came home in just enough time to hug Nico goodnight and put him to bed.

Rained Out

We got rained out at the park this morning! So we came home, smelling like wet dogs, and sat on the couch and watched a 10 minute video of a parade of emergency vehicles, all with their sirens on. Nico has really been enjoying watching car videos. He'll hand me the iPad and sign "car" if he can't figure out how to get to the videos in YouTube. He can literally watch the same 10 minute video a few times in a row, sirens blaring!

He also likes to watch car hydraulic competitions on YouTube.

Kale Chips

We went up to the cabin today. Aunt Ellen, Sarah and I made kale chips with different spices. They turned out very tasty! (See the almost empty plate on the table)

Sarah

We hung out with Sarah today! Nico wasn't in the mood for pictures, but he was having a blast with Sarah there.

Printer

Nico now can climb up onto the printer. He doesn't know yet how to get down on his own, but he can sure get up there quick.

More Fun

Nico had a lot of fun today with the Grandparents Russell. Pushing a car back and forth across the table was quite entertaining to him. They headed back to Washington today but we'll see them again soon for Nico's birthday!

Russell Reunion

Nico had a lot of fun at the Russell reunion. He played in the water, played with the dogs, and ate a lot of dried apples.

Grandparents Russell

The Grandparents Russell came into town today!

Slides

A picture of Nico and me on the slides at "Old Park". My cousin Sarah came with us and she is the one who took this picture.

Pool Time

We filled up the baby pool today and let Nico play in it with his bath toys.

French Reunion

Today was the day of the French Reunion. I went up in the morning with Nico, and then came back down so he could have his nap. After Nico's nap, just Guy and Nico went back up to the cabin. From what I heard, they had a great time!

It was quite a hot day today, and we're trying to figure out how to cool the house down. When it gets this hot, our heat pump stops being very effective. It's at least 83 degrees in here based on our thermostat. We're thinking of utilizing the power of FANS!

No pictures from the reunion, but I'm sure there will be some in the future! Here is Guy reading books to Nico before bedtime. New books for him from Molly! Baby Elmo books.

Cousins and 2nd Cousins and More

Today Nico got to see a lot of family. This morning I took him up to the cabin to see some of my cousins and Aunts and Uncles. He also saw Leia (3rd cousin?) for the 2nd time in his life!

This evening we all went to Chicago Connection Pizza for the first get together of the French Reunion Weekend. A LOT of family to see. Nico fell while climbing one of the railings, and gave himself a gash just outside his left eye. He cried really hard for a while. It is certainly the worst he's ever been hurt, but he recovered fairly quickly and he seemed to enjoy being around all the other little ones running around.

Sleep

It's about time for a sleep picture, I think! Nico had quite a time falling asleep tonight. Lately he has wanted to be held while falling asleep. I usually don't mind this, because it means that he has his head on my shoulder and both his arms around my neck. He likes to use one of his hands to grab some of my hair and then he extends his arm until the hair falls out of his hand. Then he grabs more hair, and does the same thing over and over again. He tends to do this same thing to the hair on his own head, too. I think it's a comfort thing.

Owls

We went to the fish park this morning. Nico was quite a fan of peeking through the owls and we spent a large portion of our time there. We then walked on the greenbelt for a while.

Dried Apples

We picked up a small bag of dried apples from the Saturday Market on Saturday. Nico loves them!

Park and Sprinkler

We've been making a lot of trips to the park recently. Nico also has been enjoying playing with the sprinkler head in the front yard.

Piggy Bank

Before Nico's nap we went to the park and played. Nico is getting really good at climbing things. He can climb ladders, normal ones and odd shaped ones, and he can even climb DOWN them (most of the time).

Since Nico woke early from his nap, we were able to make it to the Saturday Market before they closed up at 1:30. We went to see the fountain, there were a lot of kids playing in it today.

You can see how hard Nico played today by taking a glance at his feet in this picture. Dirty! Guy suggested we sweep the floor. Nico likes to sit on our bed and play with our piggy bank. He opens it up and dumps all the coins out, and then refills it, dumps it, refills it, etc. Sometimes he wants to play with the piggy bank during the day and he'll go into the room while Guy is sleeping. Whoops!

Big Boy Swing

Nico wanted to try out the big boy swing.

Box Tops

Nico found the box the diapers came in and put it on his head and walked around like that for a while.

Books in the Closet

Lately Nico has been going into his closet to read books. He just piles them up next to him after he's done with one. Not sure how this started!

Father's Day

Today we went up to the cabin for a few hours. Happy Father's Day! Here is Papa buckling Nico into a booster seat so he could sit at the table with us.

We think that Nico may have started to feel carsick near the end of our ride up to the cabin (whining, and burping), and he was acting not himself and quite clingy after arriving. We decided to flip his carseat to forward facing for the ride home, and it seemed to help. The whole ride home he was smiling away, he was really enjoying his new view.

Quinoa

Nico eating his quinoa with coconut oil and salt.

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!

Strawberries

We bought some strawberries at a store called Natural Grocers, which sells all organic produce. When we got home, I cut up the strawberries and Guy and I sat on the porch while Nico wandered around the front yard. Nico ate about 2 strawberries and had some strawberry goop on his arms and face afterward, and his shirt, as you can see in the picture.

Fountain Fun

We went to the Saturday market today and Nico was a little more adventurous than usual and he actually crossed over into the fountain area. His feet got wet, and he seemed like he may have wanted to touch one of the fountain spurts.

Gma

Nico spent the afternoon hanging out with Grandma Salisbury because I had an appointment. They had a lot of fun!

Nico and I have been going for bike rides a lot. At least once per day but usually 2 or 3 times. I think when it starts getting warmer it will be harder to do so many during the day since it will be so hot.

This morning we went to the library and stopped by the Human Rights Memorial to stare at the water and walk across the grass. Here's a squinty Nico.