One of the Best Days Ever

This morning I got to sleep in until 7:05ish. Then Nick and I got up. Xander slept in until 8:00 (came in at midnight from the Monster Truck Jam). By 8:40, Nick was in independent playtime in the playpen, Xander was watching Dora the Explorer, I had taken a shower, and Erik was up. Nick's nap time came shortly after, while Xander played dinosaurs and knights in his room. Erik and I had a good hour together to plan our backyard vegetable/fruit garden.

I went to meeting and on the way back bought a soil tester. When I arrived home, there was lunchtime and outdoor time while Erik and I talked some more about our garden plans. At nap time, he and I worked on digging the garden. It was the most beautiful day for gardening: not too hot but kind of warm, not very windy, sunny, and peaceful. We talked and did some manual labor. (Erik's job was more labor than mine; he dug and turned dirt, and I pulled out grass and roots and shook the dirt out before putting the detritus in our compost bin.)

It's only 3:10pm, Nick is starting to wake up happily, Xander's still sleeping, and Erik and I have Home Date Night tonight! I have some small plans...

Erik just told me we have 100 square feet of garden. Yippee!

Dan-luh

Okay, I just asked Nick, "Who is that?" pointing at Xander. He paused, looked at me, and said, "Dan-luh."

Love

Nick definitely does the "milk" sign, but sometimes I think he uses it when he just wants me to pick him up. Milk = me. I = milk.

Sounds like he's saying a mushed form of "Xander," too.

Xander and Daddy go to Monster Truck Jam tonight. We'll see how it goes. It's from 7 to 11pm or so in an outdoor stadium on a chilly, rainy day. But maybe the love of truck will overcome all.

First Word

Nick said "eye" today! I think. Every time I ask, "Where's my eye?" he points to it and squeals, "Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!" It doesn't sound like a word, it sounds like a squeal, but it is similar to "eye" and he makes the sound the same way every single time. I took a little video of it to prove or disprove his first word, depending on what the observer decides. ;)

Wintertime Activity As North Florida Warms Up

Nick used our laundry basket on its side as a walker yesterday and got across the room. He also signed "milk" back to me.

He has not been stoic about teething, to say the least, but is now sleeping soundly for his nap.

So, just now Xander and I made Marshmallow Snowmen (got the idea from Children's Learning Activities). He was very happy because he's been asking to eat marshmallows for a while now. They are in our bellies now, but here are pictures:

The last photo was Xander's idea.

For the past few days we have been having the most gorgeous spring weather. Yesterday it was about 75 degrees and sunny. We spent time outside at the water table, washing some of Xander's outdoor kitchen toys with sudsy water. Even Nick was able to play happily at the table, but I had to evacuate him when he insisted on scooping up water and suds with his fist and slurping on them.

Unsupervised!

We are getting to the point that I can leave the boys alone together for sibling playtime for about four minutes. Four minutes can be a long time! Today I got a couple rooms vacuumed in four minutes. :)

The living room was set up for the maximum kiddie entertainment potential: dinosaurs on the couch, rattling plush toys on the coffee table, a tablecloth draped over an end table and a chair to form a crawling tunnel, and Nick's toy shelf with colorful nesting/stacking/interlocking cups.

I mopped the living room and kitchen around them, too. Woohoo! Good day so far.

A Case of the Mondays?

Bad news: Nick has a cold on top of the teething pain.
Good news: He was opening his mouth so wide to cry that I could see the tooth coming out of his top gum. Left incisor is what I think it's called. I'm sure the one on the right side will be out any day now.

We're going to pick up Xander from preschool now so we'll see what he's been up to today!