Nels

More Climbing

Posted on February 2, 2010 by wadmanclan

Solvei is getting pretty good at climbing up onto the furniture. There are still a few places that she needs help with but she has figured out how for sure. Today she was practicing climbing up on the black chair in the living room (climb up, climb down, climb up, climb down….) when Nels decided to join her.

Then they found one of the toy cups and were sharing.

I also used the opportunity to play with my new lens a bit. It’s so much fun to take close-ups because they are so cute.

Got one of Gavin too.

Categories: climbing, Gavin, Nels, playing, Solvei | Leave a comment

Our first ever Emergency

Posted on January 31, 2010 by wadmanclan

Not too bad to have a “first ever” on the fourth child, but I had to make a run to the ER last night.

We were hanging out in the living room after dinner, waiting for Nate to get home from work. Solvei and Nels were playing chase when Nels tried to either run away from Solvei, or just run behind the cedar chest that I have pushed towards the corner of the room, when he tripped over his own feet and fell forehead first into the corner of the wall. He got up and was dazed for a second but just rubbed his head. However, when he rubbed where he had hit, it started to bleed – a lot.

I took him to the kitchen and applied pressure with a paper towel while Saedi grabbed the first aid kit and Gavin screamed his head off. When I had successfully stopped Gavin from making the babies cry, the bleeding had mostly stopped too. I checked his eyes for sign of concussion but he seemed okay. I cleaned it and put a small band-aid on, then cleaned up the blood. Before I was done cleaning, Nels was getting up to play again -clearly not lethargic. So I looked up online to see if he might need stitches. I was still undecided when Nate walked in the door. He agreed that stitches might be warranted and since this happened at 8:30pm on a Saturday when all urgent care clinics are closed, I would be taking Nels to the ER.

I got all but Nels ready for bed before we left so Nate could eat a quick dinner. When I put Solvei to bed she was so sad. She has never gone to bed before without Nels. I think she may have thought she was in trouble.

Nels was so good. When I told him to put his coat and shoes on he got so excited. He waited patiently at the hospital, took the medicine they gave him easily, held still while they treated him and didn’t cry pretty much the whole time even though it was waaayy past his bed time (we got done just after midnight). He was all smiles when I took his picture after the doctor first looked at him.

The doctor said it was worthy of stitches, but after examination said it could probably be treated with skin glue. They numbed it, washed it,

glued it, put steri-strips on to help hold it closed while it healed, and topped it all of with a band-aid so he wouldn’t try to pick at it. This is what he looks like this morning.

So now I have earned a new “mom experience badge” and am very thankful at a time like this that we have the medical coverage we do.

Categories: ER, firsts, Nels, Solvei, stitches | Leave a comment

Belated birthday

Posted on January 29, 2010 by wadmanclan

I got another birthday present. A telephoto lens for my camera, and it’s awesome! When I was getting it out of the box Saedi asked what it was, and what it was for – I was standing in the kitchen and she was sitting at the dining table doing homework. So I told her it was a new lens and it “lets me take a close-up picture of you all the way over there without having to go over there.” So I took one, just because I could.

(Yes I know it’s out of focus but I had just gotten it out of the box and hadn’t yet discovered it is not auto focus)

Here are a few more that I got while I was figuring out how it works (and discovering that my vision is not as clear as I thought).

Categories: birthdays, camera, Nels, Saedi, Solvei | Leave a comment

I love how smart they are

Posted on January 20, 2010 by wadmanclan

My kids love books. Saedi devours books as fast as Nate does (which is REALLY fast). Gavin, as I have said, is doing really well at learning to read. It’s not something I am making him do, he really wants to. Even Solvei and Nels love books. As I have also said we have A LOT of books.

In the house we are in there is an eat-in-kitchen and also a formal dining room. We don’t do formal dining (and only have one table anyway) so we have turned the formal dining room into a library. While I was moving the books all in there and setting up the shelves during the winter break, Solvei and Nels discovered the books. Then they got some books of their own for Christmas. Now they won’t leave the books shelves alone. Every time we are downstairs they will try to get at least one book from the shelves if not all of them (at least they only go after the board books most of the time).

This afternoon while I was making lunch, Solvei went to the shelves, got out three books, then gave one each to Nels and Gavin. They all sat down on the kitchen floor (right underfoot) and read their books while I finished, trading books when they were done. Amazing!

Categories: books, Gavin, Nels, Solvei | Leave a comment

My silly little Monkeys

Posted on January 15, 2010 by wadmanclan

Solvei has finally figured out that she can climb onto things as well. She has been trying for about a week now but her legs just aren’t as long as Nels’ so she hasn’t been able to. I finally got Christmas taken down earlier this week but hadn’t brought all the boxes to the garage yet, when Solvei discovered this box is short enough for her to climbing on. She was so proud of herself, that Nels noticed and climbed on with her.

Nels is such a ham!

And since the camera was out it attracted the big kids too (if it’s interesting enough to take a picture of I have to find out what’s going on!) so I got a few of them too.

Categories: camera, climbing, Gavin, Nels, Saedi, Solvei | Leave a comment

Another play day

Posted on January 9, 2010 by wadmanclan

I love taking pictures of Nate with the kids. Nate had today off (YEA!!!) but Saedi had school so we were hanging out at home. I got some good ones during post-breakfast cartoon watching.

Nels and Solvei love to give hugs, they even do the little pat while hugging. Today they discovered that they can give hugs to each other. Nels got upset over something at lunch so Solvei leaned over and gave him a hug, and he hugged her back. SO CUTE! I got them to do it again….twice. =)

Solvei and Nels have taken over the jelly bean jars that Saedi and Gavin got a few years ago, and love to play with them in the kitchen. They take the tops off and fill them with things (usually fridge letters because they’re nice and loud) and then either put the lids back on and shake the jars or dump out the contents on the kitchen floor where they can scatter noisily. They play so well together while doing this, as long as they both have their own jars.

Categories: family pics, Gavin, hugs, Nate, Nels, playing, Solvei | Leave a comment

Learning to be big

Posted on January 6, 2010 by wadmanclan

When it’s time to go grocery shopping, Gavin always asks if he can write a list while I am writing mine. He used to just scribble lines all over the paper while saying out-loud what he was “writing” – things like cereal, baby food, coffee, gummy bears, candy bars, brownies, bananas. He’s been getting really good at writing his letters, so now he wants to write an actual list and asks me how to spell what he wants to write. Today’s shopping trip, he even made sure each item was on a new line instead of mushing all the words together. I’ll bet you’d even be able to read what he put on his grocery list.

We have a fridge phonics toy that the kids have always played with, and I swear that helped Saedi learn how to read. Another good influence has been the PBS show “Between the Lions.” I watched that a lot with Saedi and even though Gavin claims he doesn’t like it, he watches it sometimes too. Both of these things help to learn what sound(s) a letter makes. Gavin is starting to figure out that he can put the letter sounds together by himself and they make words that he knows. This morning at the breakfast table, he sounded out a word on a box in front of him, “D-O-N-U-T, Duh-Oh-Nn-Uh-Teh, Hey! That spells donut!”

Solvei and Nels are learning a lot more, too. They understand so many things. Last night as I was making dinner, Solvei found my hoodie and brought it over to me (I think she wanted my to put it on). I told her thank you, but I didn’t need it right then, and set it down on the bar stool. A minute later she came back over to me, dragging my sweatshirt behind her. So I took it from her and put the hood of it on her head. She was so proud and walked away happily. Next Nels brought me the sweatshirt, so I put the hood on his head and he walked away giggling. I then made a phone call. Solvei came back over to me a few minutes later with the sweatshirt. Because I was talking on the phone, I didn’t pay attention right away. Solvei then picked up the sweatshirt with both hands and started pushing my leg with it, as hard as she could, until I paid attention to her.

Categories: Gavin, growing up, Nels, Solvei | Leave a comment

Bowl-ing with Nels

Posted on January 3, 2010 by wadmanclan

We have a set of green plastic bowls that were intended to be used when camping. We haven’t been camping since we had kids so they have been kept with the rest of the dishes. I have most of the occasionally used plastic-ware in a lower cabinet that Solvei and Nels LOVE to get into. They found the bowls and play with them so much that they are not be suitable for use with food any longer (one has a small crack in the bottom that would likely leak liquid). Solvei likes to put things into the bowl – like balls, fridge letters, and plastic play food – and carry it around. Nels likes to wear them on his head.

Categories: Nels, playing, Solvei | Leave a comment

Cute photo idea…

Posted on January 3, 2010 by wadmanclan

Warning! This first one is NOT the cute photo.

Nate came up with a cute photo idea today, so I went and got the new camera. I had him hold the camera while I was setting it up. So, if you give a man a camera what does he take a picture of?

This is the cute photo. Solvei and Nels in Nate’s ruck sack. They look ready to go with him, don’t they?

Categories: camera, Nate, Nels, Solvei | 1 Comment

It’s Raining! It’s Pouring! – Let’s go to the Zoo!

Posted on January 1, 2010 by wadmanclan

Saedi and Gavin earned these from the county library, during the summer reading program.

Since I was so proud of them for earning the tickets, I wanted them to be able to use them. We didn’t seem to have time to go before, and today was the last day the tickets were still good. So, even though it was raining, we went to the Pt Defiance Zoo and Aquarium today. It was pretty fun and not at all crowded. We dug out all the rain gear and brought layers in case it was cold too. Gavin would wear his rain boots every single day if I let him. Saedi and Gavin both have their own umbrellas so it’s “fun” when they get to use them. I also have a pretty nice rain cover for the jogging stroller, so we were all set.

Going to the zoo in the rain really isn’t as bad as it sounds – most of the animal viewing areas are sheltered so you just walk between them under an umbrella, and the animals were active because it wasn’t hot or cold. Plus the umbrellas make for some fun photos.

It’s not a very large zoo but it’s still pretty good. We saw meerkats,

walruses,

sea otters,

polar bears (I love how these ones turned out! The photos are taken through the glass),

(The pictures are not as nice from here on out. I didn’t charge the battery for the new camera before we went, since it was sort of a last minute trip, and it died. So the rest are with the cell phone.)

river otters,

a barn owl,

elephants,

and gibbons. The gibbons were fun. The play area that they have has swinging handles all over the building part, including right in front of the viewing windows. They kept swinging over to look at the people, like we were there for them to watch and not the other way around! I had the stroller turned slightly away from the window and it seemed that the white one kept trying to see what was in it. Solvei and Nels loved watching them too, they would smile when the “monkeys” were swinging around.