Foods

On Monday we went over to see Allicia and Evie and Avery. We hung out in their garage (heated!) Nico got to ride on Evie's tricycle and there was also a sand box to play in.

Evie loading up the tricycle so Nico can ride it.

Monday was also mine and Guy's anniversary. It was actually Facebook that reminded me of it! And even after that, I forgot to mention it to Guy, who also forgot. I didn't wish him a Happy Anniversary until the next morning. Whoops! :) No biggie, though, we are buddies and we understand that life is busy. It has been 8 years!! 

Tuesday, while Nico was at school, I went with Allicia and Evie and Avery to a "Mothering Connections" meeting. A group of moms gets together and talks about all the things related to mothering. To offer support and to receive support if needed. It was very cool.

We had some warmer days this past week. Enough to go for a looong Strider ride, a trip to the Fish Park, and then a walk around the block. Not all on the same day:) Nico has been talking a lot about playing outside. "Play outside. Go Strider ride." We've already come up with a list of things to do this summer. Well, a two item list: Fly a kite (we have one sitting in our closet that we've never used) and shoot off a rocket. We'll expand the list as we think of things. We do have a long term list of things we want to do but not necessarily this summer: go for a train ride, go to the beach and build a sand castle, fly in a plane.

Building a tower with Daddy before breakfast.

Playing outside. Digging a HOLE!

Yesterday (Wednesday), we hit a milestone in that I experienced my very first call from the school to come pick Nico up because of illness. Apparently he was lying down on the floor in the classroom and when they took his temperature it was 101.4. I came and picked him up, and as soon as we got home he crawled onto the couch and fell asleep. He woke up for about an hour and told me he felt sick. I rubbed some essential oils on his tummy, he fell back asleep for another hour and when he woke up in his bed he popped up and started asking for food. He burned off his fever last night and woke up fine this morning. I kept him home from school, but he will go back tomorrow. I'm pretty sure this episode was food related (well, supplement related). We have been introducing many new foods into his diet recently, per doctor's orders "Expand his diet!" she said :) He has enjoyed oatmeal, quinoa, cream of buckwheat, eggs, chicken, tomatoes, potatoes, brown rice, carrots, onions, and tonight: salmon! He ate more than I did at dinner. Unfortunately we are still dealing with bad flares of his rash and his emotions, but we are pushing through. But back to this fever thing. He was perfectly fine Wednesday morning until after he ate his supplements. It was almost like he was a robot that had just been turned off. You can imagine the power down sound, as he slumps his shoulders in his high chair and says "no eat", crawls onto the couch, and asks for a nap. This had been happening on several mornings, so I didn't think it was any different. But I think he reached his threshold for one of the supplements that hadn't been agreeing with him. I will be talking to the doc tomorrow to see what she wants us to do.

This week in preschool they are reading "Snowmen At Night" by Caralyn Buehner, "Snowballs" by Lois Ehlert and "That Hat" by Jan Brett. They are learning about winter clothing and animals. And tomorrow is the end of the quarter, so they have an early release!

Back to School!

Gma Salisbury and Nico had a blast hanging out on Friday morning while I was at my doctor's appointment. They apparently played this particular game for quite some time. You can see them play it in the video I posted below.

Nico's cousins, Kai and Lily, came over that morning, too, and they all had a blast listening to animal sounds on Gma's iPhone. Nico was getting a kick out of it, and was imitating whatever Gma would say and do. 

Nico's Aunt Bambi and other cousin Karli came over soon after, and I made everyone a Full English Breakfast. 

Fried eggs, sausage, bacon, fried mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, fried bread, baked beans, and english breakfast tea with milk. Traditionally it also has black pudding (blood sausage) but I wasn't able to find any. I made the same thing for Guy the next day. Guy asked specifically for this meal, as we are soon embarking on a food elimination diet for him (once we run out of all the old food), and he put in a couple requests for meals he wanted before the diet begins. French toast, Monte Cristo, lots of sandwiches with various cheeses and meats (sausages mostly), and a Full English Breakfast. 

Evie's birthday party was on Saturday at "Just Kiddin' Around", a play place for kids. I had never been there before but I think that Nico and Guy both have. Nico spent most of the time at the train table, which was really cool! The place has a bunch of comfy couches for parents to lounge on while watching their kids. We sang Happy Birthday, ate some raisins, and came home with a cool butterfly mask as a party favor.

Nico went back to school on Tuesday after 2 weeks off. He was very very excited. This week they are learning about winter clothing and snowmen. And the letter "K".

On Wednesday morning I drove Nico to school instead of him taking the bus. There was so much snow on the ground that his bus got stuck somewhere (which they told me later). I called up and told them I would just take him in.

He is getting to be such a talker. He has been trying to talk along with the cartoons that he has memorized. And a new cartoon he has found - Pinky Dinky Doo. It's a girl who makes up stories for her little brother, the animation style is different and it's a lot of fun. Guy said he's really impressed with it.

Now for a VIDEO! This is a snippet video for Fall/Winter but it does NOT include Christmas. I will do a separate video of Gpa and Gma Russell's Christmas visit. As of right now there are 10 more minutes of processing before the video is available, so if it says the video is unavailable, that is why!

Whoops, where are the pictures?

This must be the lost week, because I forgot to take pictures! I did think to take a quick one today while we were at the doctor's office, so here is Nico playing with his Christmas gift from G.G. at the doctor's office this morning.

We saw Allicia and Avery and Evie twice this past week. They came over once and we went over there once. Tuesday was Evie's 3rd birthday, so we brought her a present and had a play date. Her birthday party is on Saturday, so we'll be celebrating with her then, too.

Monday we went up to the cabin to spend time with the Grandparents Salisbury. We ate lunch there and had a great time chatting and playing. 

Today both Nico and I had doctor's appointments to get ourselves checked out and get some advice and direction for dealing with food sensitivities and digestion issues. I am certain that very soon we will both be able to expand our diets!

Tonight Nico and I are staying with the Grandparents Salisbury. We sure do love hanging out here!! Tomorrow morning, we will go into town and Grandma Salisbury will watch Nico while I go to my other doctor's appointment. Getting all our health stuff taken care of!

Wow, what a short episode! Next week I hope to post a snippet video. In all truth I was hoping to do that for today, but didn't get around to it. Next week Nico starts back to school and I will try to remember to take more pictures :)

Until then...

Christmas

The Grandparents Russell came into town on Saturday (Forthwith they will be referred to as Gpa and Gma.) Woohoo! Dinner, playing, "watching the baby". It was a great night. Guy and Gma played Pandemic, and Nico fell asleep on Gpa while snuggling on the couch after dinner. Early bedtime, but oh so sweet to see.

Nico was up the next morning at 3:30 AM, wowza! We all headed to church, which was a blast. G.G. also joined us. Nico got to see his Grandparents Salisbury at Church, he was so happy! Lots of other family was there, too.  We then we headed home for lunch after a quick stop at the Co-op to pick up sandwiches. And a balloon hat for Nico that one of the clerks made for him.

After lunch it was time for presents!

G.G. gave Nico an amazing hand-made car play set that folds up and has a handle for easy transport. When you unfold it, it has a garage where the 4 mini cars are stored. You can pull the cars out and drive them along the road, under a bridge and under a tree. Nico played with this for a very long time. So excited to have this to bring with us to church/doctors offices/anywhere.

Then there were puzzles, digger, construction, books, an amazing "Brown Bear Brown Bear" quilt that Gma made for Nico. He is now sleeping with it on his bed. He's been wandering around the house this whole week reciting the book over and over again. When he sees the quilt it reminds him to start up again. He has got it pretty much memorized I think.

Didn't get a shot of the whole quilt, but here's me snuggled up with it.

On Monday we went to the Outlet Malls for a brief excursion, and more presents were scattered throughout the day. Nico was in heaven and so enjoyed having everyone around to entertain.

Sticker book time. 

They headed back to Washington on Tuesday, but not without a tentative next-arrival-date of April-ish. Woohoo!

Tuesday evening, Jeff, Allicia, Evie and Avery came over and we started a new tradition. We ate a quick and easy meal (rice and ground beef and broccoli), then we stuck a birthday candle in a satsuma and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. Then we opened the satsuma and shared the slices. It was so much fun and I hope we can do it again next year. 

Nico had a serious blast with Evie. They got each other so riled up, running around, throwing blankets on each other and having tickle wars with Guy. Evie was enthralled by G.G.'s handmade car garage and spent a good amount of time playing with that. 

Guy worked overtime that night, but didn't have to be there until 9:30 PM, and he got to come home around 5 AM instead of 6:30. Presents were opened on Christmas morning, we ate breakfast, and then spent the whole day playing playing playing playing. The living room has been in a state of Happy Christmas Mess ever since. Just the way it should be.

It has been a blessed week and I am so grateful for all the time we had to spend with family.

One last thing - Nico climbed into a paper sack today and I made sure to take a picture. Like mother like son!

Winter Garden Aglow

For the 4th year in a row we went to Winter Garden Aglow to get our picture taken. Nico had so much fun looking at all the trains running around the tracks. Very cold but at least this year we remembered to bring his mittens.

On Tuesady Nico and Guy got to hang out with Jeff and Evie! I was holding an essential oils class at our house, so they left to hang out with Jeff and Evie while Allicia came to the class. It turns out that it was just her and I there, many people wanted to make it but the time/day didn't work for them. But we had a great time catching up, just the girls, it was very refreshing. And Nico came home sacked, went right to bed after a snack, and woke up an hour later than usual, so, 6 AM instead of 5!

This week at school he's done a lot of Christmas crafts, same as last week, and they're starting to roll in. We hung them all up on our wall. I love it!

Then he turned the camera on me. It's only fair, right?

 And then to himself. Pretty successful self portrait, I think.

Last night we also pulled out the window markers and since it was dark outside and I didn't want the blinds open, we decided to write on the mirror in the bathroom. I drew a Christmas tree and he helped decorate it. We also drew a snowman.

Lots more words. His speech therapist, Susie, sent home a worksheet for us to fill out. A list of words for him to do every day and at the end of the week, return the sheet and he gets a prize! (he got a cool plastic lizard) Words like house, bus, off, cough, tough, yum, game, come. He does all of them really well. He also says home and cave just fine, you can absolutely understand him! 

With all the watching of Finding Nemo, we now have a new "thing" we do as imitation. "Fin" then we bump hands, "Noggin", then we bump heads. "Duuuuude", just like the sea turtles do. He loves doing that.

Random craft time before dinner.

I'm looking forward to this next week with the Grandparents Russell coming into town to celebrate an early Christmas with us. Much fun and pictures will be had!

Until next week.

SNOW!

Saturday morning we woke up to about 4 inches of SNOW! And believe it or not, it is still sticking on the ground. It has been COLD here!

On Saturday we braved the snow and went to the Saturday Market. We found a parking spot right away and walked over. Nico liked walking through the biggest piles of snow on the way there. Boots: Awesome! We ran into his teacher at the market and we met her husband and daughter. Nico was excited about that.

Crossing the street.

On Sunday we all went to church and got to see Nico's cousin Alexis in the Christmas program. She did a great job and was so cute as an animal in the nativity scene.

On Monday we went to visit Allicia, Evie and Avery. They had their Christmas tree set up and Nico really enjoyed playing with the train they have around it. It was great to spend some time with them. Evie made Nico some train tracks on their hardwood floor by putting tape down.

School on Tuesday and Wednesday, but today Nico woke up with the snuffles, so he stayed home from school. He will stay home tomorrow, too, as his temp has gone up a slightly. Not enough to warrant "fever" but enough for me to know that he is fighting something. But today we made huge train tracks in his room and had fun with that for a while. That and watching Finding Nemo, specifically the jellyfish scene, which we rewind to and watch a lot. Sick days warrant more snuggle time.

We've had some trouble with Nico's sleep, as we've tried to nix the afternoon nap but Nico has been ending up over tired at the end of the day. Nap is much harder without a binky, so it is a rough in between stage. We're also working on transitioning away from using the small potty, which is going well so far. 

We also upgraded our SD card on our GoPro camera so that we can record longer clips of video. Excited about that!

That is it for this week, short 'n' sweet.

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. 

Thanksgiving

On Friday Nico's stuffy nose turned into a slight fever. It didn't go much further than that and he seemed all better by Saturday morning. On Saturday we had a fun FaceTime with the Grandparents Russell. While we were talking to them on the iPad, Nico took the iPad and put it into the cooler. They then had a fun game of peekaboo. He would close the lid on them and then open it. And then close it. And open it. Whenever they would talk when the lid was closed, Nico would look at us very excited and then open the lid. Finger puppets were also a great hit!

We picked up our turkey on Saturday night (in that same cooler). 

On Monday Nico and I went up to the cabin and Nico got to see his cousins Bruce, Rory, and Lexie. They had so much fun! I also got to see some of MY cousins - we did a Christmas craft, making Christmas trees with fabric-wrapped cotton balls, pinned to Styrofoam cones. 

We had our little-family Thanksgiving on Wednesday, and then Thursday (today!) we went up to the cabin for the real deal. Guy got only 3-4 hours of sleep but was quite the trooper. Great food, and Nico got to see a lot of his cousins. Lily and Lexie and Nico had their own little table set up with a samsuta on each of their plates and a little name tag on each of their napkins. The big table had name tags too, my Mom really did a great job of planning and putting this all together. After dinner and before Guy had to head to work, we did the "Lego Challenge". Each of the younger couples (Me and Guy, Jonny and Alanna, Jeremy and Bambi) put together a lego at the same time and whoever finishes first, wins. The couples work together. Guy and I split it so that I am putting the lego together and he finds all the pieces for me. There were 3 challenges and the first 2 were based on time. Guy and I won both of those! The last challenge was a curve ball - we had to use the pieces from the first two challenges to make a turkey, without directions, just being creative. Guy took the reigns on this one and did a bang up job. I wish I had a picture of the turkey he did! Not sure where it is at the moment (still at the cabin here). Jeremy and Bambi won this one, they turned their scorpion from the 2nd challenge into a turkey and it turned out reeeally good!

Guy and I with our BEAVER

Then we sang some Christmas carols, drew some names for some prizes, and did an ornament exchange. Nico and I are staying the night at the cabin tonight. And wouldn't you know it, the one thing we forgot to bring - his binky. This will be the first night in his life that he will sleep without his binky. But I'm thinking that this might be opening the door to remove it from his life permanently. I told him that he was a big boy and would be able to sleep just fine without it. He didn't put up much of a fuss. Because he didn't have a nap today, he went to sleep quickly and is doing just that downstairs on a cot and inside a snuggly sleeping bag. I will go downstairs here soon and join him.

Alanna brought some photo props to do a kind of Christmas photo booth for all of us. What fun that was! We got a lot of good pictures that I will be sure to post as soon as we get them. So excited for those.

After everyone but Aunt Ellen left, and after Nico was in bed, me and my Mom and Aunt Ellen all had a snack and then went upstairs to relax. I have really enjoyed this day and am feeling very thankful.

One last picture from earlier this week - Nico squeezed in behind our printer, playing with cars. He likes to turn around while he's back there and stare at and touch the puzzle.

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!

Flying Pie

I was wrong last week when I said there was only one more week before Thanksgiving break, there are two weeks!

Nico went back to school on Tuesday after almost 2 weeks at home. When I told Nico on Monday that he got to go back to school the next day, he got really excited and said "Teacher! Circle Time!"

But let's back track. On Friday Guy came home from work early because he had caught Nico's cold. But that didn't stop us from going to Flying Pie on Saturday for "Guy" day. Every day they celebrate a different name. If they choose your name, you get to go in at certain times and make your very own 10" pizza for free. Guy had to wear a funny hat and we had to wait until the dinner rush died down, but it was fun. We sat in a room with a  TV and Nico was enthralled by the football game. He kept talking about all the crashing that took place. When it would replay the crashes, he would say "more more".

At Flying Pie

I think that was our only big adventure this past week. Except we did go to Best Buy to buy Guy's Christmas present.

We pulled out Nico's Easter basket full of eggs and he had a great time this past week putting his tiny cars into the easter eggs and then taking them back out.

Easter eggs full of cars.

Using his snow plow to plow cars.

This week is food week at school. They made pizzas with english muffins (I sent in custom made english muffins plus almond butter to spread on it instead of tomato sauce and cheese). Then today they had to bring in a bag of their favorite cereal. For Nico this was a bag full of chopped almonds, one of his favorite treats, a substitute for cereal. I think he got to share it with his friends.

Tomorrow is picture retake day! His outfit is set out and waiting.

And now a video..

Croup

No school since I last wrote, Nico caught a pretty bad chest cold that turned into several days of croup. It started with a raspy voice and a slightly raised temperature. I thought it was just another mild cold, so when his temp dipped to normal on Sunday morning, we ended up going to church. He seemed fine the first few days of it. But Monday night it hit him, he woke up with that barking sound that he's only had one other time. No phlegm to speak of and it sounded like the coughing hurt. Guy took him into the bathroom for some steam treatment several times, and I put essential oils on his chest to help him breathe (Eucalyptus!) Waking up in the mornings has been the hardest part of the days.

The BEST part of the days is the snuggling. OOOooo the snuggling! I love sitting on the couch with Nico, covered in a blanket, and watching Curious George. Yesterday he took an early nap and then fell asleep again at 3:30 and he was out for the night. We got him up this morning at 7:15 to see if he wanted to eat breakfast with us as usual since he hadn't eaten since breakfast the day before. He did eat a little bit. Then this afternoon after a nap, he ate some rice and ground beef and he has felt MUCH better. He perked up a bit and we actually got off the couch for a while.

Back to last week - we went to Fred Meyer on Friday morning to get another fuzzy poster to do over the weekend and Guy and I also agreed that we should get him another car. I told him that our trip to Fred Meyer was a "Yes Car" and a "Yes Poster" day. And Nico repeated. He's been saying "picky car" quite often since then, which is him telling me that he wants to go pick out another car. 

At Freddy's he chose a hummer pickup, after changing his mind twice mid-store. I think he just needed to test them out before committing. He chose the ambulance first, a few minutes of walking around and then he wanted the tow truck, a few minutes of walking around, and then the hummer. We got home and he put the head lamp on and played with his hummer pickup at the table. You can tell he was serious because he still has his coat on from going to Freddy's. No time to stop to take it off.

Guy teaching Nico how to play Pokemon.

Another funny tidbit - Papa brings him a little hot wheels car every time he comes over. Nico has started saying "Papa" whenever he sees something that he wants. We've been getting a lot of toy magazines in the mail, and when he looks through them he sees toys he wants and says "Papa" and points outside.

Not sure yet if Nico will be going to school tomorrow. He had an early nap today and another early night (6:30). I'm thinking it's likely he'll stay home one more day. Then we have a week of school and then a week off for Thanksgiving! Can't believe Thanksgiving is almost here!