The Boo has spontaneously started saying “thank you”, but he’s put an extra spin on it. He says, “Thank you too much.”

I think the story is that I often say “Thank you so much!”, perhaps with too much emphasis and excitement, because it kind of bugs me that he never says thank you. So when he suddenly started saying thank you, he took my longer version and started saying “Thank you too much.” He’s very matter of fact about saying it, and is very cute in his rather quiet way. I have to try really hard not to giggle when he says it because it’s so cute.

The funny thing is, although it’s most likely just a mispronunciation, in a way the grammar is funny because it’s like he’s saying, “Too much emphasis on thank yous, Mom!”

Nathan likes the Thomas and Friends games online. When we first discovered them, he enjoyed the memory match game for the train pictures and the flipping over action. He liked the trains driving on the railway journey game. He didn’t really get the games, but he liked looking at them and watching things go.

Lately he’s been more interactive with these games. He understands the point of the memory match game, which is awesome. He has a rather unorthodox method of picking out the cards, but it works! (He picks out one set, then keeps going with that one card and picking another one until he gets a match.) The railway journey is cool now because the Boo will trace the lines with his fingers talking about how they are going up and down, and he can accurately determine where the trains will, in fact, end up.

Today though was a huge milestone. Today, the Boo worked the mouse entirely on his own for the memory match game. It’s not any old mouse either, it’s my tricky laptop mouse, and he gets it! He uses one finger to move the arrow until it turns into a hand, then he takes his hand off the trackpad and clicks the button to select that card. He played two whole games this way. Our boy’s first 100% doing it himself computer game! We’re so proud

Today the Boo and I picked raspberries at Remlinger Farms.

We went up there hoping to pick strawberries, but the strawberries were all gone apparently! The raspberries had just opened up, so I thought we’d try it. The last time I gave Boo some raspberries he was less than pleased, but they were from the store which is not the best way to have them. These were de-lish! He ate more than he put in the basket. A good time. Can’t wait until the blackberries come out as well!

We’ve recently had some trouble with our blogs, so we haven’t been up to speed on posting regularly like I was trying to do before all the trouble started! Nevertheless, we have been busy!

Most recently we went to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma with my mom when she visited. Most importantly, there were sharks! There are lots of pictures at the Tacoma Zoo picture album.

We also went hiking at Deception Pass with my mom. This turned out to be an all day event! We drove up to Anacortes, eventually found a beach but weren’t sure where the trail was exactly. The Boo adored the beach though, he spent a good long time collecting and then throwing rocks into the water. He was very disagreeable when we finally did find the hiking trail, but after strapping him on my back where he briefly fell asleep, we got some hiking in. He was awake for the hike back and did the whole thing himself! (It was nearly a mile). One strange thing about Deception Pass — there were air force jets going by almost constantly. It was extremely noisy. Strange since it was also so desolate and beautiful at the same time!

The week before that we went to the Reptile Zoo in Monroe with some friends. There are pics in the Reptile Zoo picture album, but be forewarned, most of the pictures are of the Boo pointing at snakes! There’s even a picture of a two headed turtle. The Reptile Zoo was interesting, but sort of sad. Some of the animals didn’t seem to have very happy living environments, while others seemed fine. Either way, the Boo was amazed!

Today we did another new activity — a boat ride around Lake Union and the shipping canal! We were invited to a party on our friends’ boat which is conveniently moored very close to our house! We were planning on being on the water for 2 hours but ended up being out for 4! The kids loved it. Silly us forgot our camera so I hope we are invited out again.

Two more fun trips were discussed — picking strawberries at Remlinger Farms, and the ice cream cruise. Hopefully we’ll do those soon!