Short and Sweet

We haven't had many pictures lately, I think because we haven't ventured out as much as we used to. We did go to the State Capitol again this past week. He had been asking to go back there, so I took him on Monday (his day off). 

We've had lots of rain, a few storms, and often I've wanted to share some hot cocoa with Nico. I will have to find ingredients to make some so that we can do this!

This week in school they are talking about shapes and are learning how to draw people. Homework is pointing out shapes in our environment. There are so many circles everywhere! Especially when you own 50+ hot wheels, each with 4 perfectly round wheels.

Nico has also started trying to count to twenty. He gets practice every day when Guy makes coffee, they count to twenty together when grinding the beans.

Hmm hmmm.. what else? Seems like this week has been shorter than others. 

Oh, there are two things I wanted to document. Two things that Nico has been saying for quite some time but I don't know what they mean. One, after he goes #2 in his potty, he sometimes points to it and says "Min-uh mee pee". The other one is whenever I ask him to turn around, he says "I dee". These aren't recent developments, but I wanted to write them down so I have a record.

Sometimes the papers that come home with Nico from school have notes on them from the speech therapist. Looks like they're working on ending sounds, like buS, mouSE, froG. When he does say the last part of a word, he makes it into another syllable, so he says froguh for frog.

I think that's it for this week. Short and sweet! Next week may be more exciting, we are going to Nampa to see G.G. on Monday, and Nico has next Thursday and Friday off from school.

Nico found a new way to watch his iPad.

Achoo!

We had a sick baby last week! He had a restless night last Thursday night, which I attributed to a sore throat. He was coughy and sickly the next morning, so I kept him home from school. I took some preventative measures for myself and for Guy, but I ended up getting the cold on Sunday.  I thought at first that it was a cold, but mine came with chills and hot flashes along with the fever, so it may have been the flu! We spent a lot of time chilling on the couch, watching Netflix. We watched Brother Bear 2, it was a cute movie. 

Guy seemed to miss the cold completely, thank goodness! He worked DAY-time overtime this past weekend and had no time to be sick. We made sure that he was sleeping whenever he wasn't working, so that switching from nights to days to nights again would go as smoothly as possible. I think it worked! He was a little woozy his first night back on Wednesday, but I think he's recovering pretty well from the switch.

Nico went back to school on Tuesday. He still has a bit of a phlegm buildup, but other than that he seems fine. This week in school they are reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" and they built their own book called "Preschool, Preschool, Who Do You See?" and each page of the book has a picture of a child in his class. They built the book themselves by gluing the pictures in. We are supposed to read the book with them at home. Nico knows most of the names of his classmates, I was pretty impressed!

He's saying more and more words, making more and more sound approximations!

We didn't get many pictures this week. Just the one of us snuggling, but I do have a sweet video of Nico watching for Papa through the window. Papa came over on Saturday to install our new water filter. (Thank you, Papa!) He often brings Nico a new toy car when he comes over, so that is what Nico is remarking about. This particular time, Papa actually brought him a little toy plane!

Counting

Not a lot of pictures this week, but I make up for it with a video. Check it out at the bottom, and hear him count!!

Nico has been counting, saying his own name when he wants to do something (point to the slide at the park, then point to himself and say Nico), and saying "Mine" when referring to something that is his.

Both Guy and I have experienced just this past week, for the first time, Nico getting frustrated because he couldn't communicate with us what he wanted to say. Neither of us have seen him frustrated about talking before, but it was obvious to each of us that he was trying to figure out how to say what he was thinking. When I witnessed it, he was trying to say "Greenbelt" (we went to the Greenbelt with the Strider) but he kept saying "Cah"and I kept thinking he was saying Car. He paused often and tried again and again and again but couldn't say it. The look on his face while he was concentrating was definite frustration. I finally figured out what he was trying to say and then coached him through saying "green" and then "belt" and then putting them together.

This week's theme at preschool is learning body parts and about the five senses. Homework was a body parts poem. We also got our very first Scholastic Book Order form. We figured we would wait until Nico is older and able to pick out what books he'd like to get. Both Guy and I remember getting these when we were younger and picking out books to buy.

The bus attendant this morning told me that once last week, Nico started fussing and crying a bit and asking for me, and it turned out that he had wet pants. I felt so bad! Nico is still having the occasional accident, but we're dealing with those. The biggest issue now is teaching him how to aim. He often comes home from school wearing different pants than what he wore to school. Sometimes he comes home in someone else's pants because he ran out of spare clothes.

He has skipped his nap the past 3 days. I think we might be done with naps entirely. But he makes up for it in the evening by going to bed by 8 PM.

On Tuesday this week, as he was getting on the bus, for the first time he said "No buh" and turned around and started getting off the bus. I turned him back around and said "Yep, we're gonna ride the bus today, you'll be okay!" but what was really going on in my head was "Ok, Nico! You don't have to get on the bus any more, let's get off this icky bus and I will drive you to school today and forever." I'm glad I didn't actually say that :)

But, I must say, in general Nico is a happy and chipper bus rider. The bus driver in the morning always makes comments about how happy Nico is! I think the morning he turned around to get off the bus, he was just asserting his decision making skills. And when he comes home in the afternoon, after he gets down off the bus, I pick him up and carry him into the house and he hugs me the whole way, saying "Mommy!" Then I ask him how his day was and he says "Nnnduh!"

Routine

We're getting our routine down surrounding preschool. Nico and I read books while we wait for the bus every morning, and when it gets reeeal close, we put his backpack on and hang out by the window.

 Waiting for the bus.

On the bus, getting strapped in. I wave at him from our front step until the bus drives off.

Coming home.

When he gets off the bus in the afternoon, I have lunch ready for him. I eat earlier, so while he eats I read him books. Then after that I give him 5 minutes with his beloved iPad, and then it's time for nap. Maybe. Twice he hasn't taken a nap. He fell asleep on the bus ride home on one of those days, but then today I'm not sure if he fell asleep on his way home, but he skipped his nap anyway. He's a tired buddy in the evening without a nap!

This week he has started counting things regularly. The steps across the bridge at Memorial park: "One, two, three, five, four, five, four, nine, ten!" He says it with his own sounds, but some of them are very close to sounding correct, like FOUR. My favorite is how he says "Siggy" for seven.

He also says the word "Down", and also signs it. They told me that they teach signs along with words, because his need to communicate is larger than his need to say words correctly. He used it (the word and the sign, at the same time) correctly at the park when he told me he wanted to get down from the equipment. They must have also taught him how to be a monkey, because he's been attempting to climb poles, like he has been taught how. Grabbing it with his legs correctly and everything.

Homework this week was a book called the "My Can-Do Book" with pictures to color of kids doing things that we should reinforce to them that they can do too: Brush their teeth, pick out their own clothes, ride a tricycle. They must be teaching him how to write his name, too, because when I wrote his name on the front of the book, he pulled out his crayon and wrote an N, and kept saying his name! But sometimes he would say "Tico" and he drew a bunch of Ts. He drew lots of Is, too, and one O.

I know I said this already, but I am looking forward to being able to ask him what he did in school! It is strange not being able to know exactly what they did. Except twice this week he did bring home projects that he had done at school - a finger painting picture of his hand prints, and a bracelet (which I am currently wearing on my wrist).

Guy said that this is the first of two times in Nico's life that we won't be hearing about his day at school. Now and when he is a teenager. :)

Doing homework

Also, notice his hair in the previous picture! We got a new hair cutting apparatus, so we tested it out.

It buzzes, so Nico cringed a bit.

Last but not least, I finally finished Nico's quilt for his new bed. Grandma Russell and I both worked on this quilt for Nico. He slept with it for the first time last night. 

First Day of School

Open house on Tuesday was great, we filled out a form that asked some questions about Nico. They are doing an "About Me" segment that it will be a part of. Questions like: What is Nico's favorite color?  (Blue).

Nico got right into the toys and had lots of fun in the 30 minutes we were there. We also got a picture of him and his teachers. Miss Candace is his teacher (left), Miss MaryBeth is the helper (right), and Miss Suzie is the speech therapist (middle).

We talked about Nico's food allergies, and Miss Candace gave me a paper that lists the snacks they'll be having in a 3 week rotation. The Boise School District provides a carton of milk and a small snack every day for the children, and I'll be sending in snack replacements for Nico every day so that he can participate in snack time (they teach a lot of valuable skills during this) but still avoid the foods he's allergic to. 

Wednesday was his first day, and I am so grateful my Mom came with me! We started the morning off with a bang when I knocked the rear view mirror off and then took a wrong turn. But the mirror incident got Nico laughing and we showed up to the school with time to spare. 

Someone came out to get him when we got to the gate, and we went with him into the school.

Miss MaryBeth taking off Nico's backpack to put into his cubby.

He had no trouble saying goodbye, and then we were off. We spent the morning at Target to help distract me/us. We had so much fun! (Thanks Mom!)

Picking him up was super sweet.

The teacher told me that he had asked for Mommy several times, but more in a questioning type way, and there were no tears. He did just fine! He has a folder in his backpack that always stays in there and they send home a weekly newsletter to tell us what they're going to be focusing on. This week it's all about back to school. They are talking about following directions, buses and the color yellow, and also starting the "About Me" segment. They sent home some homework for Nico and I (and/or Guy) to do together some time this week: coloring a picture of a bus and a large pencil. Then we put it back into the "Return to School" side of the folder.

Today I dropped him off again, but he took the bus home. I waited for the bus outside, watching watching watching, and watched it turn the corner and pull up. Nico couldn't see me until he was at the door of the bus, and it was sweet to greet him there. The same will happen tomorrow - I will take him to school and the bus will take him home. Then next Tuesday he'll be taking the bus both ways.

After we got inside we ate lunch and then he went right down for a nap. At the table during lunch he started counting the water bottles that were on the table. Something he learned in school? He said "Wuh wah, two wah" (One water, two water). 

When Guy asked him what he did in school today he responded with "buh!" (Bus). I am looking forward to Nico being able to tell us more about his days! 

The other thing we did this past week was go to a car show in Nampa on Saturday. We searched the lot for a Mini, but there were none. Nico picked a car he liked and I took a picture of him with it.

We were surprised by the presence of a quilt show inside the church that was having the auto show. So, we went there, too! This time I was the one to choose one I liked, for a picture. I liked the fall colors of this one.

That was our exciting week!

Buses, Friends, and Candles

We had some extended family in town this past week for a wedding, and Nico and I got to see some Aunts and Uncles briefly on Sunday after church. On Monday, my Aunt Mary came over with my Mom to say hello for a little while. It was great to see everyone!

On Tuesday we went to see G.G. in Nampa. She gave us more bounty from her garden. Yum! The next time we go to Nampa to see her it will be a Monday because Nico will be in preschool Tuesday through Friday. PRESCHOOL!

Preschool starts next Wednesday, 6 more days! I can't believe it. We got Nico's bus schedule in the mail yesterday. On Monday while my Mom and Aunt were over, we saw the school bus drive by and stop in front of our house for half a minute or so. I knew she would be doing this to get her route down, but it was neat to see it. It made it all the more real! And then of course, getting his official pickup/dropoff times in the mail made it even MORE real. He will be picked up at 8:35 AM and dropped off at 12:29 PM. Four whole hours he will be gone! It is hard to believe. He won't be taking the bus his first day, we are going to ease into that. I think my Mom and I are going to drop him off in the morning and head over to Target to do some shopping, to distract me from the fact that Nico won't be with me :) Shopping is a great distraction technique!

Next Tuesday is the open house where he will meet his teacher and get to show him around the school. I am looking forward to that.

We got a package today with a backpack in it for Nico - a gift from the Grandparents Salisbury! He chose one that had a car on it. While Guy was leaving for work, Nico noticed he had his bag around his shoulder, which Nico called a backpack (buckabuh). He said "Two buckabuh! Cah buckabuh. Daddy buckabuh." A nice story from Nico - he saw two backpacks. His own car backpack and Daddy's backpack. On our walk tonight he also was talking about puddles (putteh), and told me that the pickup went through a puddle (puckabuh putteh).

Nico wearing his new backpack.

We spent this morning with Evie. We went to see the little family and then took Evie with us for another lunch date. We went to Memorial park and then to the Co-op. A good lesson in handling two kids in a grocery store! It wasn't that bad, as they are both very well behaved. We even went potty in the Co-op. Then we went back home and ate lunch. Evie told me "I'm ready to go home now." after playing for a while after lunch. It was the exact time we were going to leave anyway, so I said "Ok, let's go!" Nico then took a two hour nap. In the video you can see how they typically interact when together. Evie is good at picking up the words Nico says and repeating them back to him. When Nico would say "tickie" for train, Evie would say "Where is the tickie? Where do you see it?"

Tonight we had a flash thunderstorm. We didn't lose our electricity, but I had a sudden urge to do a "candle factory". We used to do these when we were little whenever the lights would go out due to a thunderstorm. Pull all your candles out and light them, then play with the wax on aluminum foil spread over the kitchen table. Playing safely with fire is a good skill to have :) Nico is likely a little too young for this, so we did a slightly modified version of it. We just lit the candles and held them and then blowed them out, and poured some wax onto the foil. Nico loved blowing out the candles. Blowing is an excellent skill to have for speech development. I also had an urge to make some hot chocolate, but we weren't able to do that. An hour later the sun was back out, so we went for a Strider ride. When we came home, our landlord was on our roof cleaning up all the dead and broken branches. Wind storms can really tear up the trees!

Candle Factory. Yes, this is exactly where Nico burnt his finger.

VIDEO: Evie and Nico Snippets

Lego

On Sunday all of us went up to the cabin. Nico and Lexie always have fun together. Lexie tried to catch a fish from the pond for Nico. She also built him a road out of blocks so that he could drive his cars on it.

On Monday we had our next big adventure before Nico starts preschool - we made a trip to Urgent Care because Nico stuck a lego up his nose. Thankfully, it was one of the small ones:

The doctor's first attempt didn't work, and the majority of the time we spent there was waiting for them to find a tool that would help. They were concerned that they wouldn't be able to pull it out, and warned us that it might be necessary to go to the ER so that Nico could be sedated in order to get the lego out. Yikes! I prayed that their next attempt would be successful, and it was! Thank you Lord! Nico cried out when the doctor got a hold of the lego and started pulling it out, but he stuck through it. It's not like he could have moved anyway, Guy had a pretty solid hold on him. His nose bled a little afterward, and they had us sign a paper telling us what might happen after a foreign object has been removed from the body (bleeding, infection, etc.) 

I was very grateful that the Urgent Care wasn't busy. We were the only ones there and were in and out within an hour. From start to finish Nico had the lego in his nose for probably an hour and a half.

In the waiting room.

In the room, after the failed first attempt. Watching cartoons to zone Nico out a little before trying again.

Also on Monday, my Aunt Jill gave birth to her 4th daughter, Juvia. I have a new cousin! Her other daughters came over to our house on Wednesday to hang out a bit, as their Mom was still in the hospital then. We watched Spirited Away (in Japanese with English subtitles, hence the serious concentration faces in the picture) and Nico so enjoyed having them there (so did I!)

On Tuesday we went to a BBQ that a friend from Guy's work threw. I got to meet some of Guy's coworkers, and Nico got to jump on a trampoline for the very first time! They also had a swing set that he enjoyed. 

Tonight, Guy took half a night off from work and is attending Rifftrax Live: Starship Troopers in the theater. He is there right now with Josh and another friend, Justin. I am so excited that he got to go to this!

That's it for this week! Here's one more picture, from our trip to Mountain View Park today.

State Capitol and Tomatoes

I've been trying to think of things I'd like to do with Nico before preschool starts. Just 3 short weeks before it's time! One of the things I wanted to do was take him to the State Capitol. I have taken him before, but never with a camera, and never armed with pocket change so we could buy a postcard. So on Wednesday I took him to the Capitol with these two things in hand. His favorite part of the Capitol building is the stars that they have painted on the very tippy top of the dome. The postcard we bought has a picture of the stars on it.

After climbing the steps.

Looking up at the stars, comparing it to his postcard.

Another thing I wanted to do was take Nico on a bus ride. Guy showed some interest in this one, so I think Guy and Nico will be going on a bus ride in the next few weeks.

A drawing Nico made today. He's drawing faces now!

The backside. He drew an "E". A SUPER E! :) He was very proud of it.

We also harvested our first tomatoes from the garden. Nico is showing great interest in plucking tomatoes and we've gone out there every day for the past 3 days so that he can pick a tomato. Then we go inside and wash it off and I cut it up for him. He loves them! Seeing the bounty from the garden got me a little more motivated, so I cleaned the garden bed up, soaked some seeds, and planted them today for a fall harvest of lettuce, beans, chard and basil.

I've stopped keeping track of Nico's new words, because he tries to repeat a lot of what we say and is adding new words daily. But a phrase he has started saying is "Byebye Mommy!" He practiced saying "Byebye Van" the whole way to church on Sunday. He got it right some of the time, but kept trying and kept trying, often falling into the habit of saying Mommy instead of Van. Whenever he'd say Byebye, he would also wave his hand. It was interesting to hear him practice over and over and over again. So proud of him!

I figured it was about time for a video. A video from Nico's birthday party of us singing Happy Birthday to him, and then a Summer Snippet video.

Birthday Week

Nico's Birthday was Monday, and we celebrated lots of days with lots of family! Guy's parents came into town on Friday and we were able to see them often. We had a party on Sunday for Nico at our place and it was so much fun! Nico had fun with his cousins and he definitely knew he was the center of attention. We had an activity for the kids - dipping foam shapes into water and sticking them to the window to fill in the words "Nico is 3" that I had written on the window beforehand. They also had fun playing with the toys after they were opened. Nico got his heart's desire in trucks and cars.

 Nico enjoyed being sung to.

The whole Russell crew.

On Monday we went to the zoo in the morning with the Grandparents Russell and G.G. We got Nico's yearly picture in the jeep. It was a nice cool morning and very enjoyable. We let Nico lead the way, and he spent quite a bit of time in the zoo sand box, covering and uncovering dinosaur bones. He stayed in Grandpa Russell's arms most of the rest of the time. Grandpa kept him safe from the large, growling dinosaurs sprinkled throughout the zoo.

While at the zoo I ran into an old high school friend who was visiting from Florida. She was able to come over Wednesday morning so that we could catch up. Nico enjoyed showing her daughter Elizabeth all his toys. Elizabeth is 13 months old.

This morning we went to visit Allicia and Evie, and the newest addition to their clan: 2 week old baby boy Avery. You forget so quickly how small newborn babies are! Nico was a little put off while I was holding Avery and asked me to give him back to Allicia. After I did, Nico crawled up into my lap and curled into my arms just like Avery had been doing.

Nico and I then took Evie with us. We packed up our lunches and went to Old Park. We ate in the shade of a tree and then played on the playground until it was time to take Evie back home. Evie cracked up at Nico saying "Uh-oh" and several other funny things Nico was doing, like slapping his face with his hand and pretending his hand hurt. Evie just thought this was hilarious, and Nico knew it and was having so much fun making Evie laugh. He reminded me so much of Guy, enjoying making others laugh.

Kicking up bark at the park.

Eventually I will post another video!

Friends and Family

We visited G.G. on Friday! She got Nico a police car which she had ready for him when he walked in. He was very excited about that. She also shared some of her garden's bounty with us. Onions, beans, lettuce, so yummy! We will get to see her again this weekend at Nico's birthday party. He will be 3 years old!

On Saturday we went up to the cabin for a BBQ. Lots of cousins for Nico to play with. And a Papa, who attempted to build for him the most difficult lego possible, because Nico asked him to :) They have a lot of fun together.

Reading a book with Papa.

Nico's 3 year checkup was good. Right on target for growth, etc.

On Tuesday our friend Josh came over for a visit. We knew Josh in college, and he was the one who played the mandolin at mine and Guy's wedding. He also lived with us for a while when we lived in Washington. He brought us some tools to transfer our VHS tapes to digital. He also gave Nico some Korean coins to put into his piggy bank. He has been a school teacher in Korea for the last few years, and will be heading back there in the next few months. He plans to be at Nico's birthday party, so we will get to see him again soon.

Nico and Josh building towers.

We gave Nico one of his birthday presents early - a $5 sprinkler! He has had so much fun running through it. He liked rotating between running through the sprinkler and playing with his sandbox. He must have been feeling beachy. He also likes picking up little bits of sand and throwing them into the sprinkler.

Nico had his last speech therapy appointment today. He turns 3 on Monday, so he no longer qualifies for the Infant/Toddler Program. He will be a month without speech therapy before he starts school in August. I am so excited for him to go to preschool. He will have so much fun with the other kids. He is quite a socialite these days!

We checked out a "kit" from the library about Music. It has a bunch of instruments in it (tambourine, sticks, other things I don't know the names of) and some books and CDs. Nico looove banging on the tambourine with the sticks. I think he'll like his birthday present from us (a drum!).

The Grandparents Russell are coming this weekend for Nico's Birthday! We have a birthday party planned for Sunday and his actual birthday is on Monday. It will be so much fun, I am looking forward to celebrating my little buddy.

Stay tuned next week for birthday pictures.

Sprinkler

Jumping right into pictures here..

We harvested from our garden for the first time - broccoli!

Playing

 At the Aquarium

He read his tractor books and decided to attach some floss to the hitch on the back of his tractors. You can kind of see the floss at the bottom of the picture.

Nico wasn't feeling well on Saturday, woke up with some stomach problems. But we have finally reached the milestone of Nico knowing when he is going to throw up! He asked for his bucket several times, and hung his head in there to wait for it. I don't think it was viral, as he made up for missing breakfast and more after his nap. I think we're dealing with some food intolerances.

We skipped church on Sunday to make sure he was fully recovered.

Nico seems to be a lot more interested in repeating sounds and words this week without being asked. I've stopped recording individual words that he says, because he now repeats too many things to keep track.

Short and sweet today. Leaving you with a sprinkler shot!