Fishems

This morning we went to the toddler gym where we met up with Nico's Aunt Liz and cousin Rory. Rory and Nico had a lot of fun!

Guy wasn't feeling well again today, we think he may have caught another cold. So Nico and I went out this afternoon to the library and then to the fish park. The weather was sunny and warm! (In the 50s). It was cool to see the fish now that Nico actively enjoys "talking" about animals. I can't wait to take him to the zoo!

Speaking of animals, Nico received two new life-sized zoo books from Grandma Russell!! We chose one and read it several times today.

Not much

Not much went on today, co-op for dinner ingredients. Meatloaf and kale chips. Yum!

Another daily routine: after Guy takes his shower, Nico hears him open the door to the bathroom and runs over there. Nico follows him into the bedroom where Guy tosses him onto the bed. Nico plays with stuff on my nightstand while Guy gets ready. Clock, piggy bank, whatever he fancies.

The Mall

We went to church this morning, Guy only had 3 hours of sleep. He stayed awake after church and this afternoon we went to the mall to go to the Apple Store. There is something wrong with the wireless on our iPad, and they are going to replace the iPad for free because we are still within a year of purchase date. Yay!

Poor Guy was super tired!

Nico and I have a special ritual we do once or twice a day. I sit on the couch and I pull him up and he sits next to me. I pull a blanket over us (he asks for the blanket as soon as I sit him down on the couch - this buddy knows his routines!) and then I put the laptop on my lap and I put my arm around him and we watch real animal videos on youtube while sometimes eating cheese.

In the picture, we are sitting on the couch in this position. I told Nico to "say cheese" and he signed it :)

Routines

Nico is a big fan of routines. He anticipates what is next and is excited to show you that he knows what's coming. This morning as Guy was heading to bed, he paused to tell me about something and Nico quickly picked up the slack by signing "goodnight" over and over again. He'd walk to the bedroom door, realize Guy wasn't following him, turn around and come back and sign "goodnight", looking at Guy like he was forgetting something.

One routine that I love and that Nico started all by himself with no prompting from us, is the morning baby routine. Nico and I come out to the living room in the morning and sit on the couch next to Guy. Nico promptly climbs down off the couch and goes to his room and brings back the baby doll. He hands it to Guy and then goes back into his room to get the baby's hat, and then the blanket. Not sure why. But it sure is cute!

In the picture Nico and Guy are playing with a Lego truck.

Feetsies

A few months ago I think I posted a picture of Nico in his high chair and how he liked to push his feet against the lip of the high chair tray. Well now, his legs are too long to do that, so he uses the table to support his feet instead. Growing growing!

Today the produce stand was out of our favorite eggs, so we went to the co-op to buy some backup eggs.

Nico ate a ton of squash for dinner, I was so surprised!

Rhino

Today we went to the toddler open gym. Nico then took a nap and then we went to the Co-op to pick up dinner ingredients. Guy made up some banana/orange "ice cream" for dessert. After dinner, Guy left for work and Nico and I went to the park for a brief visit.

Nico thinks about animals a lot. In the mornings he often signs dog cat bird mouse or some other animals all right in a row. It's nice to know what's on his mind :)

In the picture he is signing rhino by poking his eye. That's the sign he came up with, since in the picture of the rhino in his book, the rhino's eye is front and center and Nico always pointed to it first thing.

Mostly All Better

Nico is mostly recovered from his cold, but he still has a snotty nose. He enjoys it when I suction his nose out - he actually laughs! Guy is feeling mostly better, too, just very exhausted. I have felt like I was getting the cold on two different occasions but then it just stopped.

Today Guy and Nico went for a short walk after dinner.

In the picture, Nico is sitting with Guy at his computer, listening to music.

Snuffles

Nico still has the snuffles and Guy is just starting to get them.

This picture is from yesterday, Guy is giving Nico a drink of soda water from his glass. Nico really likes soda water!

Salad Spinner

Nico loves to use the salad spinner. While we are in the kitchen he likes to stand on his step stool so he can reach one of the counters. I usually give him something to play with, and a lot of the time it's the salad spinner. Sometimes it's a bowl with a small amount of water in it, and a spoon.

Today Guy made pesto soup and he stood on his step stool to "lick the beater" after Guy made the pesto. Nico loves fresh pesto sauce!

Nico has a cold and was snuffly today with a runny nose and some sneezing. I'm hoping he feels better tomorrow, though the cold doesn't seem to have affected his spirit!

Walk in the Rain

This afternoon after dinner we all went for a walk in the rain. Guy sighs and says "It feels like home."

Tonight it seems like Nico might be getting a cold. He had a very phlegmy nose and it was making him cough a bit. If tonight is rough for him (he's already been awake a few times) then I'll be pulling him into bed with me.

Clean up

We've started a routine where we clean up Nico's toys every evening before bedtime. We move all his toys back into his room and put them away. In the picture Nico is returning two of his magnets to the fridge during clean up time.

We sing "Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere.
Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share."

Snow

We had a lot of snow this morning, so of course we had to venture out in it today! Nico kept falling over and wasn't too happy about that, so it was a short outside visit. It started raining later and it all turned into slush by the afternoon.

I made butternut squash fries for the first time tonight. They turned out good!

Quail

You may not be able to see the quail in the picture, but there was about 30 of them outside. They blend in with the gray rocks. Nico signed "bird".

Whenever Nico hears the house creak, he signs "bird". The first time he heard a bird on the roof, he got scared. I told him it was just a bird walking on the roof, and so whenever he hears that sound or any other creaking sound that the house makes, he signs "bird".

Meatball

We let Meatball the cat come inside again today, Nico was so excited!

Guy and Nico went to the Co-op this afternoon to pick up foods for dinner. Kale chip nachos, yummy!

Praying Baby

Tonight Nico was being quite cute. We pulled out the little rubber animals for him to play with at the kitchen table, and as we were going through them he reached for my hand. I held his hand and then he grabbed for Guy's hand. He wanted us to pray! That is how we usually pray before meals. After he grabbed both of our hands he said "Do bah". We prayed and then said Amen and then let go of his hands, but he reached for our hands again. We prayed probably 5 times before we urged him to play with the animals instead. So cute!

"Thank you Lord for Nico's curiosity and for the animals. Amen."

Also today we found Guy's Aeropress after it was missing for a few days. Guy went through the trash outside and found it. We think that Nico threw it away. A few days ago he picked up a pine needle off the floor and walked over to the trash, lifted the lid, and then threw it away. I said "Thank you!" enthusiastically. It was that same day that we couldn't find the Aeropress. I told Guy that I saw Nico playing with it, so we searched the whole house trying to find where he put it. He had put it in the trash. We had a good laugh about that. And Guy finally got his coffee.

The picture is of him talking through a wrapping paper roll.

Chicken at the Cabin

Today we went up to the cabin and brought chickens with us to roast. We roasted the chickens and had much other food to eat as well. We saw the grandparents as well as Jeremy and Bambi and Nico's cousins!

In the picture he is trying to move a chair from the kitchen into the living room. He LOVES sitting in pint-sized chairs like that. He also figured out how to use the chair to get onto the pint-sized table. I said "Nico, try to use the chair to get onto the table." I pointed to the chair and he walked right over and did it. So I guess he had a little encouragement from me.

Anniversary

Today is mine and Guy's sixth anniversary. Grandma Salisbury watched Nico this afternoon and Guy took tonight off. We went to Jimmy John's for dinner and then went to the mall to walk around for a bit. It was strange being without Nico, it had been a while!

While we were gone, Nico and Gma Salisbury went for a bike ride and a walk.

Music

Today Nico learned how to turn up the volume on Guy's computer speakers. Guy turned on some music and Nico was dancing to it at the same time he was turning it waaaay up. He had a blast. It feels like Nico is becoming more like a little boy. He has his own opinions and tastes about things and he seems to be trying to be more communicative with his signs. Not sure how else to explain that.

Salmon cakes

We had salmon cakes for dinner tonight, they are one of Guy's favorite meals. Nico loves them too. We went to Fred Meyer after Guy woke up so we could get a curtain rod for the front windows, and a headlight for his car. He got pulled over a few days ago because it had burned out.

In the picture Nico has stacked his cups on he rim of the bathtub with a little help from me (I was doing fall control).

Oh and p.s., the bruise on Nico's cheek isn't as bad as I thought it would be! His bruised cheek is the one pointing away from you in the picture, so you can't see it very well.

Fort

Guy built a fort for Nico today, called the snuggabug fort.

We went out this evening to get some frozen yogurt for Guy and we found a toy store. We had some spending money so we bought a Nanoblocks puzzle for Guy. And Nico was so cute that the worker gave him a hotwheels car!

I forgot to update yesterday. I went to a Keepers of the Home meeting and it threw my normal nighttime routine off. It was a good meeting. Guy had a bit of trouble getting Nico to go down, but it worked eventually. Tonight was also a pretty hard night to get Nico down.

Nico busted his cheek today when he fell on the side of our file cabinet. I'm afraid he will have a pretty large bruise.

Animals

Nico had a fever today, but it didn't get very high and he was feeling cooler by this evening. He may have been teething. We spent the whole day indoors though!

At least once a day Nico asks to play with his little animal friends, as seen in the picture.

He has also learned our morning routine by heart and anticipates what we're going to do next by pointing and saying "dah", matter-of-factly. It is quite adorable.

Typical morning conversation:
Nico points to his armoire and says "dah"
I say: "What do you want to wear today?"
Nico points even more excitedly at his armoire and says loudly "DAH!"

New Hat and Mittens

Nico and I went to get the oil changed in the Malibu this morning. This afternoon we got a package from the Grandparents Russell with lots of goodies in it! Edible Christmas treats and also Guy's old hat and mittens that were knitted for him by his Grandma Russell, Nico's GREAT Grandma Russell, aka G.G. Nico really enjoyed wearing them around the house.

Pesto soup tonight. Nico is sleeping and Guy is gaming with friends and I am off to bed!

Puppets

We went to a puppet show at the library this morning, and sat next to some friends we made at the toddler open gym. Puppet show was only 15 minutes, we were home less than an hour after we left!

The rest of the day was ho-hum. Nico asks for the iPad at every quiet moment. I tried to get a picture of him pulling his snail toy but he dropped it as soon as he saw me taking pictures with the iPad. Silly boy! He has his own sign for the iPad and he signs it often.

Washing Machine

Nico likes to put his hand on the washing machine while it's running, because it jiggles. I caught it on camera today! This morning we also went to the open gym again at the community center. He spent the entire hour and a half on one of the small green quad bikes. He taught himself how to scoot along using his legs, and he slowly drove in circles around the big auditorium, watching the other kids play.

This evening we went for another walk with the planter.

Lucky Peak Bike Ride

This morning we went to Lucky Peak with Grandma Salisbury for a short bike ride. It was very cold so we bundled Nico up with warm clothes and put a large fuzzy blanket on top of him. He got tired of it after a while and was ready to be done! Oh and I forgot to mention, halfway through, he pulled off both his gloves so that he could ring the bell on the bike. We ended up losing a glove this way!

We had leftovers for dinner and Nico and I went to Target after Guy left for work to buy some new mini blinds.

Toddler Open Gym

This morning we went to Toddler Open Gym at the Fort Boise Community Center, just a mile from where we live. We were the first ones there at 9:00 sharp. Nico had fun playing with all the stuff they had there, and really enjoyed being around all the other kids.

We took another walk with the planter this afternoon. Then after Guy got up we went to Barnes and Noble and then after we got home Guy made pork chops for dinner.

Headphones

We went for a walk today (with the planter), and went to the Co-op twice. This morning it sounded like Nico was practicing his G sounds. His vocal repertoire is growing, though he still does not say any recognizable words.

Tonight I put Guy's headphones on Nico's head and he enjoyed walking around with them. He enjoys walking around with things on his head!

Barrette

Nico went outside for a walk twice today. Once with me and once with Guy. He asked to go outside again right before bedtime, and then he signed banana. I think banana is the new cheese and it may mean that he wants you to do something!

He found a barrette in his room and so I put it in his hair. He was very happy to walk around with it, he walked very carefully as to not let it fall off his head. I think he thought it was a very small hat.

Banana

Tonight, about 20 minutes before bedtime, Nico signed "outside". I told him it was too late to go outside. Then he signed banana. I told him we were out of bananas. Then he signed outside and then banana. He walked over to the door and tried to open it. I thought he was telling me we needed to go buy some more bananas. So I asked him why he wanted to go outside and after asking a few times, he signed banana. He usually doesn't insist on going outside right before bedtime! So I said "okay!" and we jumped in the car and ran to the co-op to buy some bananas.

When we got home I think he had forgotten about them because he didn't ask for a banana and would have been fine without one, but I gave him some anyway.

We got to FaceTime briefly with the Grandparents Russell today! We also explored the photo booth app on the iPad.

Thunderstorm

After Guy left for work this evening, I took Nico to the park. We were there for five minutes before we had to leave due to lightning! 30 seconds after we got back into the car, the hail started. The lightning was right on top of us by then. Scary! I was more nervous about the storm than Nico was, he didn't even mind the loud banging of hail on our car.

Also this morning we let the neighbor cat, Meatball, come into our house for a few minutes. Nico really enjoyed that!

At the very end of the video you can see a quick flash of lightning. It was right after that that I grabbed Nico and ran to the car.

Library and Park

After Guy got up, we went to the library. I checked out a few books for Nico and I just now remembered we had them! I forgot to read them to Nico tonight.

After Guy went to work, I took Nico to the park we used to live by. It was wet today and overcast, so warmer. He tried so hard to climb up a slide but he never got up. He made a friend named Piper.

Picture is taken last minute before Nico went to bed!

Meatloaf and Mac

Nico and I took the planter for a walk this morning. It was wet outside and drizzling, but that also meant that it wasn't very cold.

Guy made meatloaf for dinner and we went to the mall to pick up our MacBook Pro from the Apple store! I tried to connect it to our wireless tonight but haven't been able to get it to work. After Guy gets home tomorrow I'm sure he'll hook me up!

While at the mall, Nico face planted twice, the second time he actually hit his head and lip and screamed for a bit. Poor buddy!

In the picture, Nico is talking through the hole in the cup.

Snow

We woke up to snow this morning. After showing Nico through the window, he wanted to go outside. So after breakfast, we went outside. Unfortunately we had left his gloves at the cabin, so he had none to wear. All the better to feel the snow with though! He wanted to touch the snow that was building up on the tip of my shoes, but every time he did, he got snow on his fingers which he would quickly motion for me to take off, he did not like it!

He found a plant hanger in our carport and had fun dragging it around with him for a while.

Creationary

We went up to the cabin today to play our new board game with the Grandparents Salisbury. The board game is "Creationary", where you have to create things with legos to have people guess what they are. This was the board game that we won as a prize on Christmas Eve. It was fun. One of Guy's words was "banana", how do you create a banana with legos? He did it!

We ate eggs and bacon for dinner and came home with one minute to spare before Nico's bedtime.

In the picture, Nico is dipping his finger into a cup of water and then licking his finger. He is also standing in the sink. He gets away with all kinds of things at the grandparents' house! :)

Merry Christmas!

After opening presents this afternoon, we facetimed with Grandpa and Grandma Russell and Great Grandma Gohl. Nico tried to hand a book to Grandpa through the iPad.

For Christmas Nico got cars and markers and some other small things.

Tonight while Guy was reading "The Hat" to Nico, Nico signed "pig" through the whole book. Lately he's been signing it by sticking his finger up his nose. So as he's flipping the pages with one hand, his finger on his other hand is up his nose. It was pretty cute.

Christmas Eve

We went to the cabin today and saw a lot of family and ate a lot of food. After the ornament exchange, Nico with the rest of the grandkids stayed upstairs to be read a story while me and my brothers and our spouses were sent to the kitchen table for a competition. Each couple was given a lego to put together and whoever finished first won a board game. We won!

Both of the boys are in their beds right now, and I am headed there now. Tomorrow will be a merry Christmas!

The picture is of Nico and his Aunt Alanna.

Bouncea bouncer

Today Nico climbed into his bouncer and bounced and bounced and bounced. He has never done that before, but it sure looked like fun!

We ate bacon and eggs for dinner.

And tonight Nico and I played a long time with a ball, rolling it back and forth and me bouncing it off his backside. Lots of laughing!

Oh dear!

I got in the habit of not updating while the Grandparents were in town, so I completely forgot to download pictures onto the computer tonight to upload a few. Woop! It's too late now to do it, must go to bed!

The Grandparents Russell left this morning after stopping by to hang for a few hours before the airport. We wandered around outside with Nico and generally just watched the baby. Most of their visit could be summed up by "watching the baby". He's a cute one to watch :)

Grandparents

Grandpa and Grandma Russell came into town today from Washington to celebrate Christmas a week early with us! Nico remembered them and it was nearly instantly that he reached to have them pick him up.

Nico really enjoyed the wrapping paper from his presents. He got some books and clothes and a handmade blanket!

More fun tomorrow!

Cheese

Two days in a row, while Nico is in the tub, he signs "eat". So when he gets out I give him some cheese to munch on while I read him some books. Communicating with him like this before he has words is awesome.

Sewing

Today Nico helped me sew by standing on his little step stool and dancing to the beat of the sewing machine while I used it. Every time I'd stop sewing, he would laugh!

Snail

While I am in the kitchen in the mornings cleaning up after breakfast, Nico has been entertaining himself. He sometimes brings toys into the kitchen and plays with them there, or he moves magnets around from the fridge to the washer and dryer to the pots in one of the cupboards. Another thing he's been doing is pulling around his snail pull toy. I have never seen him use it so much, but for five minutes this morning he was walking around and around and around, through the kitchen and living room and dining room and back through the kitchen. I wish I had a picture of that to show you!

Salmon cakes

For dinner tonight I made salmon cakes. They were a big hit! Nico ate a little more than a whole cake (they were each made with a heaping heaping tablespoon of batter). And Guy was wanting more after the plate was gone. Success!

Not much else was done today. Walk. Play. Nico has been very mellow the past few days!

Dentist

Guy had a dentist appointment today, after which he came home and made us some chicken salad- yum!

Nico now signs "Nico", or at least he signs the sign that we came up for Nico. He thinks it's hilarious.

He likes to look at the pictures on the wall so I bring out the step stool and let him climb up so he can get a closer look.

Christmas tree

We bought and decorated our Christmas tree today! We listened to Mannheim Steamroller while decorating the tree. We had dinner (Guy made pork chops, yum!) and then wrapped some presents. Nico enjoyed helping us with everything we did today. We bought a new mop and he walked around the house with it for a while. He also helped us wrap presents and sweep the floor. By "help" I mean that he imitated what we were doing. It was pretty cute.

Nothing

We didn't do anything today. We had plans to go pick out our Christmas tree but I was a little too tired. Nico did grab my glass off the table and attempt to drink it. It was really full so it spilled all over him and made him choke. That and the mess he made at dinner prompted me to change his clothes after we were done eating.

He signs eat and mouse. He also signs pig the right way now.

Liver

I made liver for dinner today and Nico ate a lot of it! He seemed to really enjoy it.

We went to the library today after Guy got up. That's about it!

Balloon

We are trying to teach Nico to sign "balloon". Whenever we go to Fred Meyer he gets SO excited when we pass the greeting cards because there are tons of balloons hanging from the aisles. He points nonstop and talks. In the picture today, Nico is squeezing his friendly balloon that is starting to lose some air. Grandma Salisbury got this balloon for him almost two weeks ago, it has lasted quite a while!

Park

I can't believe I forgot to update yesterday, I was trying to go at least a month without forgetting! Oh well. Not much happened yesterday anyway.

Today after dinner, Guy had to go to work but Nico thought he was getting ready to take him for a walk, since for the last few days that's what they have been doing after dinner. But Guy left, and Nico walked around in circles whining and staring at the door. So I took him to the park, the one we used to go to. We had to drive, though. He went down two slides head first without hesitation.

He can sign mouse and Grandma!