Our Learning Today

Nick and I did some informal learning things today. We made stacks of his pretend coins, counting to five, and we named them. He mentioned something about dollar bills go in his wallet, but he does not have one yet. Xander does. :) Then we got Sandy the guinea pig out and petted him and combed his hair. I will very soon get pictures of Sandy. He is getting slowly more and more comfortable here. Nick is almost more interested in Sandy than Xander is...considering Xander has more going on every day.

Sandy sheds enough hair that I googled "spinning guinea pig hair into yarn." I think the consensus is that you would need a lot of guinea pigs to provide enough hair, and that guinea pigs do have hair rather than fur, so it would be harder to do unless you had a silkie or curly-haired type. Which we do not.

Then Nick wanted to color and paint. All our paints are nontoxic and very washable. However, he did get it on his clothes (before I remembered to take them off) and his feet and he managed to track some of it around the living room before going to the bathroom to wash his hands. I love laminate floors more with each passing day. Why would anyone want carpet????????????? I am now thinking about dirt and mud and sand tracked in on little boys' shoes. Again, carpet - why??????????

Ah. Now I see traces of black paint in Nick's hair. Yep. Nontoxic and washable.

Then Nick had his marvelous daily independent playtime. I often hear him singing to himself in there. Today he was making conversation on behalf of his toys. I don't know which. Maybe his animal puzzle pieces, maybe his stuffed animals, maybe his Lego Winnie the Pooh characters...

Now he is playing with his magnet trains and also looking all over for the bouncy ball he JUST bounced which promptly disappeared. He is moving pillows and going around the room saying, "Is it under the pillow? No. Is it under the couch? No. Is it in the vase with that flower? No..." I will have mercy on him and go get it. I am sure it is under the couch - Wait. No. As I typed this, he found it. What a good little systematic search he did.

His eyes are looking like they are doing a lot of work to keep themselves open. Nap time soon.

I stepped down from my Babywise blog co-moderating gig yesterday. It makes me very sad, which is silly because I can still do it again whenever I want. I just won't be expected to on any particular day. That blog and group are very valuable. Ack. I miss them just writing about them. Which again is silly because I know just where to find them.

I want to declutter my schedule so that I can focus on my main priorities right now. It will be good for when Erik is gone, too, for me to feel that I don't have so much to do. Taking breaks from computer activities is especially good for me. I think I'll try to keep up with this blog, though, because Erik will want to read it when he is not here.

Grandma Lucy just left and now it looks like Grandpa Mike and Grandma Lesley will be visiting in mid-May. Uncle Jeff and Aunt Rieko might come, too! That would be exciting anyway, but it will be especially welcome because Erik is going to be gone then.

Dude, I'm Farting, Honey

You knew this post was coming, right? I am just beginning to learn about the ramifications of a testosterone-filled house. (Even our guinea pig is male.)

So, first things, first: food. Nick actually asked for rice and garbanzo beans for lunch today, and ate a ton.

He has a cute habit of addressing me as "honey" sometimes. I guess I use that term a lot toward the boys. Xander has always addressed Nick that way when he wanted to be helpful and sweet.

Two examples today:

We were watching a YouTube video of a guinea pig in a train-set-town who was cast as a "giant" guinea pig "attacking" the town. He basically nibbled lettuce while standing near tiny people and tiny emergency vehicles. The girls making the video used high-pitched screaming voices to say things like, "You're eating our children!" "Why are you attacking us?" etc.

Nick said, "It's screaming, honey," to the guinea pig.

Later, Nick found his sunglasses in our toy box and brought them to me, saying, "I wan' wear my sunglasses, honey."

Speaking of terms for people, I just overheard Xander using the word "dude" for the first time. He is repeatedly asking Nick, "Dude, how did you kill all these? Dude, how did you do that? Dude, how did you defeat that guy?" He also wanted Nick to cooperate as he made himself into a "fart cannon" while I loudly vetoed the idea from the kitchen. What a fabulous example he sets. :) No, really, he is a good example of a loving, smart, conscientious person...who just happens to love play-fighting and talking about farts.

More Pics of Gma Lucy's Visit

No, he hasn't grown out of this love yet.

Nor this one.

Bluebonnet season!

Some Pictures of Grandma Lucy's Visit

I've got a few more photos to put up - depends on how long it takes to do because it's almost nap time. :) I will soon be able to get a picture of our new guinea pig, Sandy, because he is slowly getting used to us. I don't want to give him an extra scare with our camera and flash quite yet. He is doing great eating and drinking and not making angry or annoyed sounds, so that is wonderful. Today is his fourth day with us.

And tonight Xander has his first YMCA soccer practice. Should be fun, especially because I am not the coach this time!!

Grandma Lucy and Nick at the Austin Zoo

She got us all zoo train tickets! It was fun!

Here we are doing one of our favorite activities.

Grandma Lucy's Here

We have been doing amazingly fun things during Grandma Lucy's visit. On one day, we went to Target especially for Nick while Xander watched his dad play Star Wars. Out of that visit, Nick got a couple pairs of monkey pajamas - yay! Grandma also tried to buy him a toy, but he said his version of "No, thanks" to every option offered him. Then she got to the food aisles. He said, "Yes, please!" to food.

Grandma Lucy also picked up a pair of Lego Star Wars pajamas for Xander, which he loooooooooved.

Later, she gave out birthday gifts. I got a few special things, including the new pages for Nick's 2nd-year scrapbook. Erik and I and the boys got a framed poster-size series of our holiday picture poses. Hilarious, but also touching. As a series, it's a pretty good representation of our family. Although Nick has now grown into cute toddler smiles. You know, this series:

Nick got a pretty big Winnie the Pooh Duplo set from Grandma. He has been loving it ever since. Little Lego Pooh and Piglet have to sit at the table to eat honey when Nick has breakfast, and they have to lay down and go to sleep when he goes to bed. He also got a Winnie the Pooh cookbook. Right up his alley!

Xander got an awesome Diary of A Castle book, and then he got to pick out Lego sets for an early birthday present! He got two Star Wars sets. I think Grandma Lucy's letting him pick them out in the store was a big part of the appeal. Not the biggest part, though. :)

On Monday, we went to the Austin Zoo. We saw a tiger, lionesses, macaws, wolves, wolf hybrids, lemurs, llamas, deer, emus, goats, pigs, a sheep, peacocks, etc. A peacock spread its tail feathers for us. Deer and goats and llamas ate feed from our hands. Tortoises crawled around and ate faster than I thought was possible for a tortoise. Almost all the animals were prowling, growling, or active. It was awesome. Mom paid for us all to ride the train - yippee! Afterward, she bought us all Wendy's (per Xander's request).

And she's still here for several more days. I just wanted to type up some of this stuff while I remembered the details.

Camping Not a Go

By the way, camping did not work out. Both boys loved being outside in twilight and pointing out the moon and each star as it appeared. Then Xander wanted to go to bed in the tent so I brought both boys in there. Nick was very nervous about sleeping in the tent and sat up (would not lay down) until 10:30. We all continued to either wake up throughout the night or not sleep at all in the chill of 40-ish degrees Fahrenheit. I finally persuaded Erik to take us home at about 6 in the morning.

There were good things about it. I'm just saying there were about ten more hours of misery than hours of fun.

Planting Meat Balls

Just realized that Nick calls the wildflower seed balls that we planted "meat balls." Figures...he is totally food-obsessed. Come visit our house and you will see how many minutes of the day he devotes to eating, asking for food, and just talking about food in general.

Speaking of which, I observed new vegetable shoots in our plant containers today. These are all sprouting: wildflowers, green onions, tomatoes, broccoli, and marigolds.

Good Job, People

Nick now tells me, "Good job!" when I do good things, such as think up an acceptably yummy snack.

His own skills have increased. A week ago, we had an almost perfect grocery shopping trip. Today, it was basically perfect until the last minute when he wanted up (but didn't get it).

Through no major fault of anyone's, Xander went to school in his pajamas today. It started last night.

Last night, I packed a Dr. Seuss Pajama Party bag for Xander's class party on Friday. His teacher had sent home a note about the party they were having with the day, date, and the (labeled) items the kids should bring. I wanted to pack it right away so it was done, so I put three Dr. Seuss books, three other books, a small pillow, and a small flashlight in a reusable grocery bag, while the family was looking on. After dinner, I put Nick to bed. Then I went to a church event while Erik put Xander to bed.

This morning, very early, I had my first dental appointment in about five years. Erik got Xander off to school. My appointment was interrupted by a call from the school saying that Xander seemed to have gotten his days mixed up and was in class in pajamas. Nobody else was. They got a hold of Erik after I said I was at the dentist, and he brought Xander clothing. Erik was a little worried that Xander had been distraught about the situation...and if Erik is worried, I get downright anxious. Nick and I popped by the school later to eat lunch with Xander and his classmates, who love having lunch guests, and to drop off a snack we had not packed for him. Xander had quickly recovered from this morning's incident.

I will store this anecdote as proof that I was right not to make any dental appointments in the last five years. ;)