Shoe shoes

Nico wearing my shoes and reaching for the iPad.

Battery

From yesterday. Nico and I hung outside while Guy jump started his car. This month we have had both of our car batteries die!

Nico took his planter with him, of course, and wore his hat to keep the sun from burning.

Rainy and Warm

Today was a beautiful day. Grandma Salisbury took Nico for a walk and a short bike ride. This afternoon Guy took Nico for a bike ride. After it rained we all went for a walk. Then we sat on our front step for a bit to wrap up the evening.

Outside

From yesterday. It was a mowing, dandelion popping, walking sort of day today.

Mommy's Shoes

Today we went to the very first Saturday Market of the season. It was very busy and we didn't stay long. We went to look at the fountain, lots of kids playing in it but Nico didn't seem interested.

Here he is wearing my shoes!

Bed Flop Shot

Nico has been saying the word "gock", and so I pointed to the clock and said "clock", and he said "caw". This is the first time Nico has learned to use just a sound to identify an object. When he sees the clock he goes "caw" and then he laughs and flails his arms about (his typical excited reaction). I even got him to imitate me when I say "sssssss"! I think we are at the beginning of the road to talking!

Nico getting ready to belly flop on the bed.

Cat Flop

Nico's new thing is to lay on the cat. It's a good thing Meatball doesn't have front claws, because he doesn't like it!

Stickers

Nico put all the stickers he received in his Easter box from the Grandparents on his shirt today. He proudly wore them all day long, often stopping to pick at them or point to them.

Lego Wagon

Nico sitting in his Lego wagon.

Book Toss

The latest thing Nico enjoys doing is sitting on his rocking chair to "read" books. I stack a pile of books next to him and he looks at maybe two pages of each book before he throws the book over the edge of the chair. We have been through his entire book collection probably ten times so far.

Also today, Guy mowed the lawn for the first time this spring after fixing the lawn mower. There was a lot to fix! It hadn't been used since we lived in Arlington. He also popped the dandelions and raked up fallen sticks and pods from our tree.

Garbage

Here is Nico throwing away some big bubbles from a package we had just opened. He loves throwing stuff away.

Daddy's Shoes

Nico put on Guy's shoes today and tried waddling around in them for a while.

New Book

Today Nico got a book in the mail from Grandma Salisbury. Cars and Trucks and Things That Go by Richard Scarry. After we went through it once together, he took the book from me and got down off the couch and sat right down on the floor and flipped through it, staring at the pages. I have often found him in his room, on the floor, staring at the cars and trucks.

I also know that Guy and Nico went downtown and walked around for a bit, Nico REALLY enjoyed that. Being around all the cars and trucks. and things that go.

I forgot to add something here. Remember Jeff and Alicia from this post? Today I went to an essential oils class that was held at a house close by where we used to live. It turns out the class was hosted at the house of none other than the Alicia we met on our walk that day last September. I guess the question I asked in that post was answered. Will we ever run into them again someday? YES! She remembered me, too!

Easter

I know I'm a little behind for the Easter post, I have been waiting for a picture to be sent to me so I could post the entry with that. But the picture will have to wait for now!

Guy and Nico went up to the cabin where Nico got to play with cousins and hunt for Easter eggs. He got mostly trucks in his easter eggs and clementines. I heard that Guy rode around on Grandma Salisbury's bike, which has a toddler seat on it, and let each of the children have turns on it. I'm hoping to post a picture of Guy on the bike with Nico.

It was a beautiful day!

Flop

Forgot to take a picture today, but a video will do, yes?

This is what Nico does on our bed while I fold laundry. This video is from yesterday. Today I piled the blankets more on top of each other and closer to his launch pad, and that seemed to be a lot more fun for him.

Zoo

Grandma Salisbury took Nico to the Zoo today. He saw a real live giraffe, and was sure to sign it. Grandma also relayed a story of Nico walking back and forth across this one bridge. Back and forth and back and forth, stomp stomp stomp. She said it was adorable.

Here is the bridge in question

Tree

Nico enjoyed (and was scared at times) watching workers cut down a tree. He especially liked their truck. Guy took him over there later to look over the fence.

FaceTime

For yesterday. Nico received an Easter box from Grandpa and Grandma Russell and we FaceTimed with them while he opened the box. He had a BLAST, he got two books that he already loves, a tin with some toy animals in it (also a favorite!), a stuffed easter bunny, some stickers, aaaaand... I think that's it? I hope I'm not forgetting something. And Guy got the Sunday comics as per usual. It was a grand day.

Barnes and Noble

Today we went to Barnes and Noble to buy a book.

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!