Nicky got to stay home with grandma and grandpa last Monday and we all went to the California Academy of Sciences (pictures here). We had a great time exploring the rainforest and aquarium and seeing the penguins! Kate didn’t care for the rainforest (too hot!) but was so attentive watching all the fishies from her grandad’s arms.
We went to Happy Hollow while grandma and grandpa were here (pictures here). Every time we go is a slightly different experience as Nicky is either tall enough to do new rides or more capable of doing different things. This time our little adrenaline junky insisted on going on the roller coaster. He was petrified the whole ride, but didn’t cry and insisted “that was really fun!” as soon as he had his feet back on solid ground. He loved the firetruck ride as always and had a fun time playing at the playground. The jaguar was awake in the little zoo too and was literally trying to get out of its cage to eat the little kids on the other side…yikes! Luckily the cage held. The other great news is that we managed to get some pictures of Nicky’s natural smile…finally! I love his CHEESE smile, but his real smile is even better. Yay!
We are just coming down from a very fun week with grandma and grandpa (pictures here). They spoiled us rotten as usual: reading books to and playing with the kids, giving mommy and daddy a break here and there – it was fabulous!
We went down to Rancho San Antonio for a hike last weekend. Really we were looking for a farm that we had heard was on/near the preserve. We never found the farm but we had a nice hike. Nick was OBSESSED with the horse poop on the trail and kept asking to see more. Seriously…all the beautiful trees and views and he’s focused on the horse poop?? Once he got off that kick we had a great time. Toward the end of the hike we took a break to play with rocks – Nicky was showing his rocks to everyone that passed by and made quite a few friends with our fellow hikers. Pretty cute!
We’ve been practicing soccer with Nicky (thanks for the awesome soccer ball Auntie Annie!). At this point he likes kicking it on the sidewalk so he can go fast, which means daddy has to run with Nicky to make sure the ball doesn’t go in the street (or more importantly, that the BOY doesn’t go in the street when the ball inevitably does). I think our little attention nut also likes showing off his dribbling skills to all the neighbors.
Nicky created some beautiful Valentines decorations that we hung in the windows to catch the sun. Nicky carefully arranged crayon shavings on wax paper which we then melted with the iron and cut out into heart shapes. Of course, Sam pointed out that they look almost too realistic – like they’re bleeding – but Nicky is very proud of them.
Nicky loves his scooter and is getting remarkably good at it. He caught on pretty quickly to the scooting motion and figured out steering and braking not too long after. Now he’s started busting out trick moves. What a great way to burn off energy before bed time!
To borrow a phrase from Grandpa Sam, here is our little Goo Girl. This little thing loves to hear herself chattering away and is constantly gurgling and gooing.
We’re all about counting around here these days. Nicky has finally mastered “1, 2, 3…” instead of “1, 3, 4…” and is getting closer to one-for-one counting. It happens to have coincided with his first month at school which makes us think this preschool thing is paying off!