New heights

So, there's been a dearth of post lately. Most of you know Joanna has been under the weather for a while, and last week she officially put me in charge of the blog. Which I promptly forgot about.

In keeping with the dearth theme, this photo has a dearth of Nico. He was busy on the bookshelf today, and I noticed he was pulling from the third shelf! Below is the aftermath.

Cabin

Nico is staying at the cabin tonight with the Grandparents Salisbury. Here is is sitting on their couch with his puppy dog.

Bonus picture of story time with Papa

New Love Seat

Guy and Nico went up to the cabin today to pick up a love seat that my parents are giving to us. Nico got to see his cousins Bruce and Rory!

Fun Day

Nico had a fun day. He spent the morning at the cabin and then this afternoon came into town with Grandma and played with his cousin Alexis.

He was very sad when Grandma dropped him off this afternoon.

Flossing Dog

From yesterday, Nico flossing his dog's teeth.

Nothing special

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

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

Alexis' Birthday

From yesterday. Alexis' birthday party took place at Monkey Bizness. Lots of fun and a great big slide to go down.

Guy and Nico were also able to FaceTime with Grandpa and Grandma Russell.

Floss

Like most kids, Nico likes to imitate his parents.

After my shower, Nico comes in to the bathroom to get his ears cleaned and to floss. I should get a video of his pre floss routine because it's really cute, but here is a picture of Nico with floss.

Sorry about the bad picture, Nico has a semi-permanent motion blur effect.

Dishes

This is how Nico and Grandma Salisbury wash dishes together.

Pocket Knife

Guy again.

It was good to have Nico back around the place.  I could hear his little stomping feet while I was sleeping this morning.

Joanna wanted to nap right after I got up, so Nico and I had the afternoon to ourselves.  We played with micro machines a little bit, then we went to Toy's R Us to play.  I've never taken him there before by myself, but I wanted to take him to a warm place where he could run around.

He had a lot of fun picking stuff up and putting it back.  Early on we found a kids travel suitcase which happened to have 4 wheels, so Nico took it down and pushed it around the store for most of the time.  We also saw some stuffed dogs, including one that barked and moved when you walked past.  Nico was fascinated.  We did have a little accident where Nico was putting trucks into a wagon and tried to push it, but it was too low and he ended up falling down and the wagon flipped up and bopped him in the mouth.  No lasting harm was done though.

Before we went on our excursion to Toy's R Us, Nico discovered he had pockets, so I let him have my pocket knife to put into them.  He's not quite got the hang of it yet, most of the time he ended up pulling his pants down.  Below is one of his more successful attempts.

Outdoors

Grandma Salisbury relayed this story: She had been giving Nico baths in the kitchen sink. So today before Nico's nap time, Grandma turned her back for a second and Nico climbed up onto the stool in front of the sink and then climbed into the kitchen sink. He was just about to turn the water on when Grandma caught him.

He is having a blast, and was introduced to gluten accidentally. Lots of glutens! Lots of little animal crackers, he ate them up post haste and really loved them. Gas and some mushy poop later, but other than that he was fine.

This picture is from yesterday. Nico really enjoyed going out onto the porch a lot!

My Darling Clementine

Hi-ho, Guy here.  Nico's at the cabin, but that doesn't mean there aren't updates!

Nico was eating olives with Grandma Dot, and kept asking for more and more.  Grandma Dot was a little surprised at how fast he was eating them, but didn't think much about it... until Nico had to sneeze, and spit out a mouth full of half-chewed olives.  I wish I could have been there to see that.

Below is Nico eating clementines in his clementine eating stool.  Grandma Dot gave him some clementines in this stool once, and the second time she gave them to him, he came back to the stool to eat them.  Nico likes his routines.

Climber and a Weekend Trip

Nico climbed up on the bottom rail of his crib today from the outside! He was trying to get his stuffed dog, which was in the crib.

This weekend Nico is having a vacation at Grandpa and Grandma Salisbury's cabin! He is going to stay there for three whole nights and it will be his very first time away from home for that long. He has everything he needs including his stuffed dog and his favorite books. I miss him, but am trying to take advantage of the extra time I will have for sleeping. Perhaps we will have a picture from Nico's weekend to share for tomorrow!

Sipper

Nico takes every chance he can get to climb up to the table and drink from
our glasses. He IS getting better at it, but if you look closely you can see a stream of water running down his chin. I had to change his shirt after this.

We went to the co-op this morning and to the library this afternoon. Tonight for dinner we ate leftovers.

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Boy

Sorry folks, Guy again.

After I woke up, Nico and I went to get coffee (for me) and then to the park. Then we went home for dinner, and then back to the park. There were loads of kids at the park and Nico wanted to do everything with all of them; swing, play soccer, climb up the slides, go down the slides, etc.

A funny thing I noticed today is how young children call each other babies. Nico met a girl about his size, and started signing baby. The girl started talking to me, and telling me that Nico was a baby. Fun!

Below is a self portrait by Nico

Here fishy, fishy, fishy.

Hello again, Guy here with the latest in Nico updates.

I thought I forgot a mug at a friends house, so Nico and I went to go get it, but it wasn't really there, it was safe at home in my bag.  So Nico and I went to the fish park.  It was the first time I'd been able to go into the discovery center there with him.

He really likes it there, he pretty much stayed in the first discovery area, pointing out stuffed ducks, and looking at the little fish in tanks on the wall.  Nico also played in the stream bed simulator for the first time today. He used cars to dig up the sand.  Its funny when he gets dirt on his hands, because he stops whatever he's doing until he can get it off (he does the same thing with coffee grounds on his hands when he's helping me with coffee).

Anyway, after the discovery center closed we wandered around the park for a while.  There were three deer chillin' in one of the areas, and Nico started signing something I didn't remember seeing before.  Apparently Nico had made up a sign for deer just before dinner when he was playing with his tiny animals.  I didn't learn that until we got back from the park.

Here is Nico playing with the animals.

Breakfast

Breakfast is two scrambled eggs, with salt and extra parmesan.

Today Guy and Nico ran errands together, and after Guy left for gaming tonight, Nico and I went on a walk. An older lady told me she was admiring Nico's little dance, and I told her that he was signing "car". We sure do see a lot of cars when we go for a walk!

Fox Hollow

Nico has, on several occasions, done the "sniff sniff" at the appropriate time in the Fox of Fox Hollow song. "And he sniffs with his nose in the wind... sniff sniff!"

We do this new thing where Nico climbs up into the rocker (if I'm in the rocker he first asks me to leave), then he asks for a book. Then he turns the pages and I read him the book while sitting on the floor, barely close enough to read the words. I sometimes have to come up with a guess on the wording.

He's holding one of his favorite books in the picture. He loves the pages with cars on them, and points over and over again to all the cars on the page, expecting me to say "car" every time he does it.

Stuffed Dog

Yesterday, Guy took Nico to Fred Meyers where his cuteness got him a free stuffed dog. Nico attached to it right away and tells us about it all the time by signing "dog" and pointing to it. He brought it to the dinner table tonight and wanted to bring it into the bath, too.

This picture is from yesterday, we were playing with our big bin of Legos. Nico doesn't know the full range of activities to do with Legos, but he likes pulling them apart and playing with a small Lego parrot and a Lego horse.

Coffee Helper

This morning, Guy was up with us while we were preparing breakfast, which is very unusual, so Nico kept walking over to the bedroom door and signing "Goodnight" over and over again, we figured he was telling Guy to go to bed! So, he did! :)

Then this afternoon Guy and Nico went out. They returned something to Home Depot and also stopped at Fred Meyer so Nico could ride in the car carts. I stayed home and slept. Much needed!

Nico is quite the coffee helper, and asks Guy every day to make coffee by signing "coffee" and pointing to the cupboard where he keeps all his stuff.  You can see the pot of soup on the counter too, I made leek and onion soup with ground pork meatballs and Nico was quite the fan! He ate a lot of it.

Sandwich

Today we bought a loaf of sourdough bread so that Guy could make a chicken sandwich, something that he was craving. Nico wanted some of the sandwich, so I got him a slice of cheese to eat instead, which apparently didn't cut it. This can be seen in the picture. Meatball the cat was inside at the time and complicated matters by jumping on Guy's lap right after I took this picture. What an ordeal! I laughed that I was taking pictures to document this instead of helping Guy out. Heehee

Bess

Nico particularly likes one of his stuffed animals, a small purple teddy bear. I asked him a few days ago what his name was and he said "Besstthhh", which I interpreted as Bess. I'm not sure he understood that I was asking for a name, but I took him seriously anyway.

Here's a picture with Nico all ready for bed, holding onto Bess.

Sunny and Windy and "Warm"

Sunny today! This morning we picked up 10 chickens from a local farmer. They are the first things that went into our new freezer.

We went to the park after Guy left for work, 55 degrees out, almost felt like spring!

Then after we got home we played with micro machines.

I'm also posting a picture I forgot to post, from a few days ago. Nico noticed that the dryer was open, so he brought a car with him and pushed the car all around the inside of the dryer. He almost climbed inside himself a few times.

Syllables

Nico has started coming up with new syllables to say instead of just "doh bye". I love his little language!

This morning Grandma Salisbury stopped by and gave Nico a brief bike ride before nap time. He doesn't look too thrilled in the picture, but he did have a lot of fun!

Skip the Puddle

We went for another walk tonight and Nico saw a large puddle in front of him, in our driveway. He stopped and splashed his planter in it for a bit, and then carefully walked around it. He has learned that when you step in deep puddles, you get wet (and cold!)

Nico also wanted to bring his purple stuffed bear into the bath with him tonight, and was very upset when I wouldn't let him. I gave it back to him after the bath and he was very happy, and snuggled it while we read books.

It was windy today!

This picture is from a few days ago, since I didn't get one today. Nico is pulling the diaper bag over to the fridge so he can unload all of his animal magnets into it.

The Puddle

For a change of pace, this entry was written by Guy.

It was a pretty normal day today. Nico and I went to Fred Meyer to get a new alarm clock. He was in full charm mode, turning heads with his grin.

We went for a walk after dinner, and it had been raining a bit so there were plenty of puddles to stomp in. The last one Nico played in went up to his ankles, which he thought was hilarious for about a minute, until the cold wetness really sunk in. So we rushed home to a change of clothes and a warm bath.

This is Nico just as we were leaving for the walk.

FaceTime

Today we facetimed with Grandpa and Grandma Russell. Nico had a great time showing them some of his toys.

We also spent a good amount of the day playing with Legos. We recently pulled the Lego bin out of storage and Nico enjoys rummaging through it.

Just a hohum picture today. Couch sitting and eating cheese!

Fever

Nico grew a fever last night, and had it all through today. It was a low grade one, in the 100s, but his appetite seemed to be affected. He also went down an hour earlier tonight than usual.

Yesterday we all went to the Fish Park together. Nico is used to going inside the lobby, but it was closed because we were there after 5 PM, but he had a hard time getting over it. The whole way up the path he kept pointing back to where we usually go inside. It took some coaxing (and Guy putting him on his shoulders) for him to get past it.

Nico is learning how to sit on a ball, and is getting better at throwing them too!

This picture is from yesterday. Nico had just squished a bug on the window.

The Stroller Walk

Nico and I went for a walk after Guy left for work. After dragging around the planter for a while, he went up to our car and pointed to the trunk. After I opened it, he pointed to the stroller, indicating that he wanted me to take it out. But, he didn't want to get in it. We started walking down the sidewalk and I decided to leave the stroller in the driveway, thinking he had changed his mind about it. But he saw that I had left it behind and went back and whined and pointed at it. So, I brought it with us. He kept changing things up, and handed me the planter. Then he wanted to push the stroller for a while, then he wanted to get in it. I took him around the block.

The picture is of Nico eating Kale Chips. Up until this point he has never liked them, always throwing them on the floor when we put one on his plate. But he changed his mind tonight, and ate a lot of them. I think the difference is that he was sitting on Guy's lap while Nico was feeding the kale chips to Guy, and then all of a sudden he put one in his mouth! When we loaded up his plate with them in his high chair, he was pleased!

Just a Day

Just another day today. Nico is getting better at his "educational" games on the iPad. I'll have to video him doing his thing, solving puzzles and the like.

We had some beef polish sausage for dinner tonight that tasted more beefy than sausagey.

That's about it!

Cars

This morning Nico and I went to Target to buy a few things. I also bought him a toy car, they sell for 1.07 each, and couldn't pass it up. Nico was very happy.

After Guy left for work tonight, Nico and I went out again, this time to the dollar store. It was an unplanned visit. He grabbed two sets of toy cars (8 cars total) off the shelf and started walking off with them so I bought him both sets. 2.12 total cost. We played with them quite a bit after getting home. These ones won't last long, though. They are made of cheap bendable plastic, suitable for dollar store purchase though!

I am posting a picture from yesterday, when Meatball came inside and had a snuggle session with the boys.

Car Cart

Every so often when we go to Fred Meyer, I let Nico ride in one of the car carts. Today was one of those days! We all took a trip to Freddies to pick up some needed house supplies. Nico turns one wheel, and then both wheels at once.

Family Park

Since Guy didn't work tonight, we ALL went to the park. It was also a little colder today than it has been, so we didn't stay very long.

After we got back from the park, I asked Nico if he wanted to eat a meatball, and he signed "cat". The neighborhood cat that often comes inside is named Meatball, and Nico remembered! After this, he kept signing cat and pointing outside, looking at us like "where is this meatball you are talking about?"

Snuggle Buddy

This morning Nico slept in until 8:20!! His usual wake up time has been 6:30-ish. He woke up around 6:20 this morning when Guy got home, but Guy went in there and laid him back down and he slept for another 2 hours. Wow! Because he slept in, we were able to go up to the cabin this morning before his first nap, which would be late because of his late morning. We had lunch and saw the Grandparents Salisbury. There was snow on the roads and I had quite a time getting back up their driveway.

This afternoon Nico was being quite a snuggle buddy, so we each had our turn snuggling him.

Step

We all went for a walk after dinner. Then after Guy left for work, Nico and I went to the park AGAIN. The weather has been nice, I think that's why we've been doing that a lot. Today he practiced stepping down off of a step. Each time he did it, he would face plant into the wood chips on the ground. But then he'd get right back up and do it again. He also practiced walking up and down hills. He likes the descent the best, where he has a hard time keeping up with his steps and threatens to tip forward. 

Park

We plugged in our new freezer today and sent the deposit for our half cow.

We went to a park again after Guy left for work. Nico loves to play on the fire engine. After getting down, he walks around to each of the fire engine's wheels and pretends to turn it like a steering wheel. Then he looks at me and points to it and I say "wheel!"

I asked him if he was a fish today when he got on his stomach in the bathtub. He responded by what I thought was the sign for "camel", but come to find out it is also the sign he uses for "snake". So, interpret that as you will :) When I asked him again tonight, he responded with "fish".

Sleepy Snugga

In the mornings after I take a shower and am getting ready, I put Nico in his crib for a few minutes. He usually hunkers down and when I come back he is lying down kicking his feet about. When he sees me he asks for a pillow, so I put one under his head. Then he points to the blanket, so I put the blanket on him. This morning he then pointed to the stuffed animals in his crib so I surrounded him with all his stuffed animals. Then he asked for his toothbrush, so I gave that to him as well.

So he pretend sleeps. While he was doing this today, he was hanging his feet out of the crib so I took the opportunity to clip his toenails. I sang him "This little piggy..." to keep him distracted from what I was actually doing.

The picture is kind of blurry for lack of light.

After Guy left for work, Nico and I went to the park.

Evening Walk

We all went for a walk at 6 PM tonight, when it was just starting to get dark. We don't usually go out that late! It was a brief walk around the "block". Around the corner, down the alley, and through the back gate. Nico wanted the stroller so we strapped him in and took off.

Oh and p.s., the shoes that he's wearing he particularly likes and selects them over all the other pairs of shoes that he has.

Micro Machines

Today we moved around the stuff in our outdoor storage area so that we could fit a freezer in there. Guy came across his old micro machines so he pulled them out. In the picture you can see Nico "helping" Guy fix one of the cars. He then went rogue and tried to fix his own car. He went through Guy's screw drivers one by one, holding it up to a car and then dropping the screwdriver to the floor so he could grab the next one.

Birthday and Fresh Air

This afternoon we went to Fuddruckers to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday. Happy Birthday Papa! Nico enjoyed himself. I gave him pieces of my grilled chicken and we let him have some sweet potato fries, too. He was fans of both. Lots of family and lots of pictures.

Afterward, we met Liz and Bruce and Rory at Veteran's Memorial Park. It was a lovely day, sunny and in the 50s. We stayed for more than an hour before we headed to the Co-op to buy ingredients for dinner. Meatloaf and butternut squash fries.

Splash

Nico woke up an hour earlier than usual today! This afternoon I bought a freezer. And we were supposed to meet at Chicago Connection with the Grandparents Salisbury and Nico's cousins/uncles/aunts but I wasn't feeling well so I stayed home with Nico. Guy was already at the restaurant, otherwise I'm sure he would have taken Nico with him! So we missed a good photo op there. (I am fine, btw, but I did eat too much cheese for lunch).

Nico has learned how to move himself onto his stomach while in the bathtub, so he has been enjoying that.

Looks like we do have a picture from Chicago Connection!

Park

This afternoon Nico and I went to the fish park to meet Liz and Bruce and Rory.

After dinner (apple turkey sausage with kale chips) Nico and I played ball in the hallway. He is slowly learning how to throw a ball forward. So much laughing!

New iPad

This morning we went to the mall to exchange our old iPad for the new one. It works much better! We played in the mall play area for a bit too.

Spaghetti (with squash instead of noodles) for dinner tonight, Nico wasn't too fond of it.

First picture with the new iPad! After Guy left for work I gave Nico a second dinner because he didn't eat much the first time. I let him sit on the chair instead of in the high chair.

Food day

Today was payday, so also grocery day! We get one 10% off coupon a month at the co-op, so we buy all our month's meat in one go. Today was that day! We also drove to Meridian to buy the area's best eggs.

Curried sprouted lentils and chicken for dinner.

Picture was taken right before heading off to bed.

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.