The last weekend of 2013....and I missed Saturday's post

December 28 & 29, 2013

BeBe's back!
Day 362 & 363

* Saturday was pretty nice. Nixon and I woke up and watched My Little Pony together. There wasn't much going on except that I went out with friends last night and Nixon was very okay with it.
    Unlike the last time I went out, Nixon was very okay with me going out. Even telling me to leave so he and Mac can spend time together. They had a great night together, according to Mac.

* Sunday...football day!
Mac and I were excited because both of our teams had playoff spots on the line. Miami Dolphins had a chance....and needed a few other teams to lose, but the chance was there. They just needed to win. They did not. The Philadelphia Eagles (my long-loved team) had an easier path...they only needed to win. And they did!

We played Jenga Tetris tonight with Nixon. It's a lot harder than regular Jenga, but still fun! Nixon liked when everything fell down.
We also played Cars 2 Monopoly. The first game went by quickly, but the 2nd game lasted almost an hour and Nixon won! He was good at counting out the money and rolling Lighting McQueen around the track. It's a great game, I'm glad we got it for the family. It'll be a lot of fun for all of us.

Finally....we had a belated christmas miracle happen tonight. Mac found BeBe!!

He's home, been in the house this whole time! Nixon's sleeping and doesn't know he's been found yet. I placed him in the tree, waiting for Nixon to notice him tomorrow. He's been missing for almost a month (I think) and Nixon's been okay, only asking for him a couple times since he's been MIA.
   It's great that BeBe is home before the New Year.

And we have another cold coming our way....yep, Nixon's sick again!

Dec 16th
"One is better than two"-Nixon
Day 350

* Realized I didn't do a post yesterday:
Mac took Nixon to purchase my christmas gift from Nixon. When they were checking out, the cashier asked if they'd like to purchase a toy for Toys for Tots and said it'd go to a child who might not have a gift otherwise. Nixon, as soon as he heard that, said "Yeah!", and of course Mac agreed. Nixon choose the toy that he wanted to donate and put it into the collection box.
   When they came and got me, Nixon came running over and said "Mommy, guess what?!? We got a toy for a kid that needs a present. I picked it out and put it in the box!", just as happy as could be. Mac explained it to me and I told Nixon that was a very kind and wonderful thing to do for someone else. He says "Yeah, they'll like the toy, because it's cool!".
    He may not totally get the concept, but he knew enough to agree to the donation. And he knew the toy wasn't for him, so he didn't fight abut putting it in the donation box. Mac was super pleased about that!

* Nixon got up this morning, on his own, and was waiting for my alarm to go off. When it did, he danced to the alarm song I have it set to.
   He ate breakfast, and offered a great gem of wisdom to Mac when I offered him a cup of coffee. (Mac, I offered Mac a cup of coffee, not Nixon. In case someone wasn't following that.) Nixon tell Mac, who declined my offer, "It's good for you, Daddy!"
   He is so my son! He knows how important coffee is.

* Speaking of coffee, Mac was making his usual cup of coffee before he goes to work for the night, and for some reason the Keurig was brewing the coffee. He asked me and I tried once, with no luck. I quickly got onto google to troubleshoot issues. Thankfully, the first tip worked (clear out the puncture points as they get clogged sometimes).
   Nixon kept coming over to see what I was doing and I was trying to remain calm and not flip out that my coffee maker might be broken. I finally got down to his eye level and said very calmly to him "Nixon, I'm trying to fix my coffee maker. It's not working right now and you know how important coffee is to me, right? Please just give me a couple minutes to work on it, okay?"
    He sat on the sofa and became my cheering section. "You're looking good fixing that, Mommy!" and when it was working, and I let out a "Thank you, Google Gods!", Nixon repeated the same statement with a big clap!

* Nixon's fighting another cold. Just sniffles and a little cough. Trying to keep him warm.
   Have I mentioned that I'm over all these fracking colds?!?!

* Finally, another Nixon pearl of wisdom:
Nixon: One is better than two, right Mom?
me: Well, if you're talking about kids...absolutely! At least in my eyes!
Nixon: Yeah!
me: But what about cats? We have two cats.
Nixon: We should get rid of one.
me: What?!? Which one??
Nixon: Um....nevermind. Two cats is perfect!

The last post of November....wow, that came fast, right?!?!

* Friday we kind of chilled. Well actually, we woke up early and hit the only Black Friday sale we cared about: Third Eye Comics! Thankfully, we missed most of the crazy insanity by avoiding the midnight madness sale and just went during the regular sale hours.
   After that, I left Nixon and Mac to help a friend. They had the whole day together for the most part.

* Saturday was a rough one, but I did manage to make a learning lesson out of my own misery/stupidity. I spent Friday night out with a few people and did a little more harm than I'd intended with my drinking. Mac was wonderful about keeping Nixon quiet'ish, while I was sleeping.
   Nixon came in and saw me when I came home, late in the morning. Nixon gave me a big hug and said "Oh, Mommy I was so worried about you!", best welcome home ever!
   Later, Nixon asked me why I wasn't feeling well. I told him the truth: I drank too much last night and my body is recovering but it's a little slow. I told him, someday 15 years from now, he might also feel this way and I will be as nice as he was to me. Which, was really nice, so he's lucky. He came over and gave me a kiss on the head and told me he loved me.

Since Saturday was the last day of the month, Mac and I put out our special holiday helper, R2D2! I did this last year with Nixon and he loved it! R2 is our little reporter to Santa, like elf of the shelf but a geekier version!

...and today he wore a size 6 pants for the first time ever. Stop growing, baby boy!! Just slow down!

* Nixon heard Mac come home this morning and proudly showed him the clear path in his bedroom! He's been sleeping in our bed because his room is such a disaster even he doesn't want to sleep in there and possibly have to get up in the middle of the night to pee and walk across the matchbox-car-angry-birds-stuffed-animal minefield he created in there!
    To be fair, he had some help. We had a friend crash here last night and she was up when Nixon woke up. She told Nixon a great way to surprise his daddy and make him very happy would be to clean his room up a little before he came home. He did just that and was super proud of himself. And Mac? Mac was super pleased with the effort!

* It was pretty chilly in the house this morning, so I grabbed a blanket and Nixon and I snuggled while watching our Saturday cartoons together! Nixon would get up, say he was warm, then come back and say "Mommy, let me in, my feet and hands are cold!"

* Tonight was a major milestone! We had to go to the grocery store, and normally we go armed with the PSP or iTouch for Nixon to keep him occupied, but tonight we left without it and went anyways. This was either going to go really well or really bad!
   Turns out, it went really well! Nixon was great! He got a little cold in the meat and dairy section, but he liked picking out granola bars for himself and weighing the fruits and veggies for us. He didn't get antsy until the very end and even that wasn't bad.
    Best part of the whole trip? On the way out, Nixon walked past 2 older men and (of course!) said "Excuse me" as he passed them. These two guys were just blown away, completely awed by our little man's manners. The man closest to Mac and I said "Did you just hear that little boy say "excuse me" as he passed us? That's incredible! He's yours, right? Great job! He is so polite."
    Yep, that's our boy and we are so proud!

Sometimes Nixon is just a little too brutally honest about why he loves us...just ask Mac.

* I slept in until 7am. My alarm went off and I hit snooze more than once. I got out of bed, completely expecting Nixon to come bounding into the bedroom when he heard my alarm going off. I was totally unprepared for Nixon to still be sleeping when I entered his room. I had to actually pick him up off his bed before he woke up, then he told me "No, Mommy, it's too early for me to get up". He finally woke up, but he was a little confused because it was still darkish outside and I was telling him it was time to get ready for school.

* Nixon: You're my best mommy!
me: Aww...you're my favorite boy.
Nixon: You're my favorite girl, Mom.
me: What about Daddy?
Nixon: Umm....well, he's my bestest charger guy. You know cause he charges my PSP and iTouch for me.
me: Nice! *very sarcastic* You need to tell Daddy that.
So Nixon runs into the living room and tells Mac he's Nixon's favorite charging guy.
Mac: Guess I know my role in his life.
me: At least he doesn't blow smoke up your as about where you stand with him *laughing*

So yeah...maybe bringing circumcision into a conversation about putting shoes on wasn't my highest parenting moment. I was just stating the obvious!

* Nixon saw me painting my toe nails today, so of course, he asked me to paint his. He asked me several times, even after I had told him he needed to wait until mine were dry. He was so persistent about getting his toes painted I finally had to tell him not until after he took a nap.
   Yes, he did get his nails painted before he went to bed...I'm a mom of my word.

* We were heading out to hit up Third Eye Comics and had asked Nixon to put his shoes on...
Nixon: I guess I'm not going to make any friends.
me: Nixon, what does making friends have to do with putting your shoes on?
Nixon: Because I don't know how.
me: Okay, well Nixon go to bed and stay home for the night.
Nixon: Fine, I'll put my shoes on.
me: Nixon, you act like I'm asking you to get ready to go get re-circumcised. I'm only asking you to put your shoes on so we can leave the house.
Mac: I'm not surprised with your logic but I wonder about your way of explaining things.
me: Well, am I wrong?
Nixon: I CAN'T DO IT!!!
(I'm pretty sure he was talking about putting his shoes on, but he is Mac and I's child so you never know)

* Nixon sat down on the living room floor and grabbed a book and started making up a story. It actually made a lot of sense too. Which is nice, because in the past some of his stories do not.

* Mac and Nixon read books tonight while we waited for our meals to come, when we were out for dinner tonight. Nixon was totally into it and not once did he ask for his PSP when they were reading the books.

 

Nixon, I think Pinkie Pie just farted on you in your sleep.....

The day Nixon grew up and approached Mac....like a man!

* You know what's adorable? Listening to your child hum classical music for no reason at all. I don't care what people say about Little Einsteins, Nixon picked up the music they play and he enjoys humming it. Today he was playing with his play dough and humming Beethoven! Awesome, right?  The best part is he was completely ignoring Mac and I being in the room with him and he was just totally all about the humming while he worked.

* If you've been around men for any period of time at all, you've undoubtedly seen the "man hug". Nixon "man hugged" Mac today! Mac called Nixon over, after Nixon did something pretty darned cute, for a hug. Nixon leaned in for the hug, then turned leaving space between Mac's chest and Nixon's upper body.
   I was cracking up! "Holy crap, did you just get "man hugged" by our 4-year old?!"
Mac says "Yep, I'm pretty sure that is exactly what just happened."
I asked Nixon for a hug, and I get a full-on hug and kiss. Yep, it's just Mac! haha

Days like today just turn me into a big puddle of melted mommy goo!

* Nixon found a Legos Star Wars comic book today at Third Eye Comics. He's watched the Star Wars Legos movies and was totally "MOM LOOK AT THIS!" when he saw the comic books. I told him he could choose one and ask Mac for it. He chose the one with Yoda on it and off to find Mac we went.
Nixon: Dad! Look! Can I have this please? *shows Mac the comic book*
Mac: That's awesome buddy. You really want this?
Nixon: Uh-huh, it's awesome!
Mac: Well, you're going to have to choose: the comic book or the box toy.
Nixon: The book!
Mac: That was really easy.
me: Too easy...wait for it....
Nixon: NO...I really want them both please!
me and Mac: And there it is!
Mac: I'll get you both but you have to be good until we leave.

He got his Star Wars comic book! :)

* Nixon comes up to me while I was relaxing a migraine away. He starts singing "Jingle Bells" to me and then says to me "Guess what, Mommy? Santa will be coming and putting lots of presents under our tree soon! But...we're missing a tree" 

Baby boy, it's only August...slow down on the Santa talk. 

* Nixon saw a commercial for E! Total Divas. He said "MOM it's my favorite show!". I asked him if he liked the show because his "girl" was on it.
He stopped and said "No, Mom. She's not my girl."

I asked why not and he comes over to give me a BIG hug and says "You're my girl!"

   Mac says "I used to say the same thing to my mom. I even told her she needed to leave (stepdad) so I could marry her." 

   Is it okay that I totally melted at both of my boys and their childhood adoration for their moms?

The haircut that forced even the hairdresser to leave and take a time out...yep, that was my kid today!

(no pictures today....I'm lazy and the stairs are mocking me)
*Nixon woke me up today saying "Good morning, Mommy!", I rolled over and he ran downstairs to Mac and said "Daddy, Mom's not getting up."...tattletale!

* I left Mac and Nixon to get haircuts, while I ran an errand. I returned to find Nixon crying, Mac beyond frustrated and pissed, Nixon without a haircut and Mac with a haircut. Holy hell, y'all! It'd been less than 15 minutes!
   The story goes: Mac gave Nixon his Angry Birds game to play and got his (Mac's) hair cut first. When he was done, Nixon was getting mad at a stage and yelled that he needed to still play his game! Mac said "No haircut", Nixon melted down and I walked up at the ass-end of all that, just in time to see my baby boy needing a hug from mommy.
   After ten minutes of calming him down, getting Mac off the "my kid's an ass and I just want to go away" train and getting myself back into the mom mind we did get Nixon's haircut. And he was awesome! Sat still the whole time, no screaming or fighting.
   The hairdresser was MIA for about 5 minutes when we first walked in. I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and say she was in the restroom....but I wouldn't blame her if she was reconsidering her job during those missing minutes. Gods know I reconsider parenthood on days like today....

* Nixon says to me today "Mommy, I want to be little in your belly again." WHAT?!?!
me: Baby, you're only in my belly once. When you come out, that's it. It's a no return policy.
Nixon: But mommy, I want to be in your belly.
me: Nixon, I'm pretty sure you're confused. I love that you want to go back in time and take me with you, but we can't. We can only move forward.
Nixon: That's stupid.
me: You have no idea.

"Oh My" Nixon's new favorite phrase

* Mac has a new ringtone on his phone. It's George Takei saying his famous "Oh My" line. Nixon finds this to be hilarious and has been repeating it perfectly now for a couple days.
   Today, he woke me up (at 11am, totally awesome kid I have!) by tapping my shoulder lightly and saying "Hey Mommy, Oh my!" I had no choice but to wake up and go to the bathroom I was laughing so hard!

* Nixon says to me at bedtime tonight "Mom, I'm not tired, but my bed is comfy. You can come put in bed and read to me but I'm not tired." I did read to him and he wasn't tired. He fell asleep about 45 minutes later after 3 trips downstairs.
   He was not lying.

the post that almost didn't happen because I am lazy, my bed is comfy and I really am lazy!

* I was watching Ink Master this morning, while Nixon was doing his learning path on the computer. Nixon says to me, something about wanting a tattoo and how awesome tattoos are. Then he sees the actual tattoo needle and ink process, shown on the show. He says to me "Mommy, I think I don't want a tattoo anymore. Needles give me owies and I don't like them. Can you stop watching this show now? I don't like it anymore." I tell him I do like tattoos and the needles and he says "Mommy, that's gross! You need help!"
   The fantasy in my head of mother-son tattoos just died a little today....

* It's Shark Week!! WooHoo!!
   Even Nixon is getting into Shark Week, watching some good shark-filled shows with mac and I. Tonight we watched a show with some crew members of Mythbusters building a replica of Megalodon, an ancient shark that was HUGE! The replica was crushing all kinds of things and it was really impressive. Mac let out a "DAMN!" at one point and Nixon repeated the phrase and then said, "Right, Dad?". Right you are kiddo....but we reminded him not to say that word.

* Nixon has been cleaning up his room for one week! I am a happy and proud momma because since he's been doing it, he's making less of a mess in his room!

His heart's better, he's giving me kisses and bonding with daddy today! A total successful Sunday!

* From yesterday:
Nixon seeing Mac reading on his tablet: What the heck are you reading?!?!

* Nixon was in a much better place this morning. He said to me "Mommy, I have good smiles from when J visited. That's a good thing. Friends are good to have." Those words made me feel like the best mom in the world, because just last night he was swearing off of making friends ever.

* I struggled with another mild migraine today. As I was trying to sleep it off, Nixon came up to check on me. He saw I was hurting and he kissed my forehead saying "Oh, Mommy, you don't feel good do you? My poor mommy."

* I woke up to find Nixon and Mac playing Super Hero Squad together. Mac was playing, Nixon had a turned off control, but he didn't know it. They "played" 3 levels together and Nixon had a total blast! I was in love with both of them watching them together.

Ah...his dry-sarcasm training is coming along nicely!

* Nixon: I love you, Mom.
me: *kiss* I love you too, baby.
Mac: What am I, chopped liver?
me: Nixon, what about Daddy? Do you love Daddy?
Nixon: Yeah, I love Daddy too.
me: I think you should go tell him.
*Nixon goes running over to Mac*
Nixon: I like you Dad.
me: HOLY....*and then I lose my mind laughing*
Mac: Seriously?
Me: Nixon, that's not nice. Don't you love Daddy?
Nixon: I do. *gives Mac a hug* I like you Dad. I really like you Daddy.
Mac: Gee, thanks buddy.
me: Nixon, no more playing around. You're hurting Daddy's feelings.
Nixon: I'm sorry. I love you Daddy.

I know I shouldn't have laughed, but damn that kid is hilarious! He's so random and he's totally got our humor down to an art now. 

* Nixon is sometimes incredibly honest. Ask him a question, then ask him if he's lying and he'll tell you if he's lying.
Today he asked if he could ring the bell at the Post Office. Since we were (a) already at the counter and (b) had the clerk helping us, I explained no, he could not because it'd be rude. He asked to sit on the counter "to see better". I asked him if he really meant to "ring the bell", he said "yeah" then smiled, like he was so smart. I told him again, ringing the bell when you're already being helped is rude and not nice to the person who is helping us. He said he would be good and crossed-his-heart not to touch the bell. And he didn't, he sat there, quietly, the whole time. The clerk gave him a lollipop when we were done.

*Finally, the biggest Top News Story of the day:

Nixon completed Level 3 on abcmouse.com! It was a preschool level, focusing on numbers and letters, basic shapes and colors. All the things he should know and would have learned in preschool.
Mac and I are so proud of him, but most importantly Nixon is proud of himself! So much so that he went right into Level 4: Pre-K lessons.
Monday morning we're going to take him out an let him get his reward for accomplishing this amazing fete! 

This is our son....and his defense is he learned it from Star Wars Angry Birds....really?!?!

* Nixon and I were eating breakfast this morning. I showed him the picture my sister sent me of my new nephew. Nixon says to me "Mommy, I'm a baby. I need a diaper". I kind of rolled with it and replied "Well, I don't have a diaper right now but why would you want one?". He thinks and then says "I'm growing up but I want to be your baby. Like a little baby."
  I reassure him that he'll always be my baby and I remind him that babies don't get to play Angry Birds and they have to sleep a lot and can't play with Lego's. I think he was over it at no Angry Birds.

* Nixon is sitting next to me on the sofa, with his fingers in his mouth

me: Fingers out.
Nixon: fingers in!
me: go to bed if you want fingers in
Nixon: (gets off the sofa and starts walking to the stairs) bowchickabowwow
me: *stunned silence followed by belly laughter*

* When Mac woke up, I explained the whole "bowchicabowwow" thing. Nixon then comes upstairs and starts saying it all over again, multiple times. We asked him where he learned that, while Mac was trying to change it to "brownchicken,browncow", and Nixon said "Space Angry Birds". Somehow I doubt that, but looks like I'm going to be putting some hours into that game soon. 

Always my baby....

Good day, sad night

* My loving son adores nature. He loves being outside surrounded by trees, flowers, birds...all of it. This afternoon I took him to a path we haven't visited before but unfortunately we were not dressed properly for this muddy, thin, deep-in-the-woods path. We were getting feasted on by mosquitoes and legs getting cut by thorny bushes. Nixon was crying when I told him we had to leave. He wanted to stay and even told me "Mommy, I won't cry when it hurts just stay please". Poor kid.
   We went to the Naval Academy and we walked around the large field by the water. Nixon was in love just seconds after we got there.

* What a rough bedtime we had. Mac had training tonight, so it was Nixon and I on our own. Nixon got his shower and within seconds of getting out of the shower he starts crying and saying he missed his daddy.
   This went on for over 10 minutes! I managed to get Mac on the phone and they talked for a couple minutes, then Mac had to get to work.
   Nixon was still crying, in bed, snuggling with me. I pulled him onto my chest and handed him the picture frame he has of he and Mac together. He slowly calmed down and stopped crying. After a few more minutes of talking and cuddles, we said our good nights, gave our good night kisses and I left his room.

The next generation!

* Nixon and J are enjoying their time together. It comes with ups and downs, of course, but they are cousins and they are cute together.

* We tried making it to DC today. Less than 5 minutes away from the house there was a downpour so bad I could barely see 2 car lengths in front of me. The solution? Chuck E Cheese! The kids are out of the house burning off energy and we're all safe off the roads and out of the rain.

* Mac went upstairs to get ready for work. He comes downstairs and says "It's like our (J's father and Mac) sleepovers up there. Nixon is lying in bed talking to J, they are having a secret conversation like we did", and he sounded so amused by it. It's adorable that Mac got to see Nixon and J replaying his own childhood memory in real-life.

Annapolis Comic Con!!

 

Begging for compliments?? When did he become a narcissist?

* Oh my boy and his tie! It's been washed and he was wearing it today. We went to the grocery store and as soon as we walked in, someone complimented his tie. Nixon says "I like it, it's pritty, right?" The lady giggled and said he is such a cutie. As we continued to shop, Nixon was on his best behavior. He was walking down an aisle and another man was coming down as well. Nixon says, clear as could be "Oh, excuse me" as he walked by. The guy was so taken aback he did a double take! Then he said "You, little man, have wonderful manners." What does my little man say? "Thank you, I got them from my tie!" Apparently his tie gives him super-manners! The guy then compliments his tie and walks away chuckling at my adorably cute kid.
   At check-out, Nixon asks the woman in line ahead of us "Do you like my tie?", he then asked another person in line if they also liked his tie. He asked the cashier if he liked his tie. I finally had to ask Nixon to stop asking everyone if they liked his tie, because as cute as he and his tie are, it's not polite to beg for compliments like he was doing.

* We were at the grocery on base (commissary for those who are familiar with the term). I handed Nixon the money to put into the person who was bagging our groceries tip jar. Nixon put the money in the jar and as we were walking away Nixon says "I gave you one thousand dollar!" I chuckled and the bagger said "I wish!", I had to reply "I wish I had it to give, believe me!" and Nixon made it all better by saying, Isn't my tie great?" to a customer heading into the store at that moment!

* Nixon went into meltdown "i miss daddy" status again tonight. He'd be good, then melt again. This went on for over 45 minutes. He even talked to Mac and was good then started crying again! I couldn't get him to calm down enough to sleep.
   What's a mom to do?
   Come up with a plan! Tonight's plan? Offer Nixon a photo of Daddy to sleep with. I printed one of the 2 of them off, put it in a frame and he took it to bed with him. He was lying down looking at his picture when I left him.
   My sweet, emotional boy.

sometimes it really is the calm before the (emotional) storm.

* Nixon was so chill today that I was able to finish reading a book, which I started reading over 9 months ago! How did that happen? He was enthralled with his squinkies and his other small action-like figures. I was laid out on the sofa and he was playing on the living room floor.

* Are you a child of the 80's/90's? Can you complete this phrase: "Thunder, Thunder, Thunder.....", because Nixon can! He loves him some Thundercats!

* My poor baby boy. He freaked out after his bath, crying (sloppy, snotty, messy real tears crying!) saying he missed Daddy. Instead of trying to calm him down, I let him call Daddy and tell him he missed him. Between the phone call, hearing Daddy's voice and me letting him snuggle in my bed with me and watch an episode of Bob's Burgers while he calmed down enough to go to bed, he was finally ready for bed minus the tears. What a rough night for him...it came out of nowhere!

"I need a magnifying glass"

* Nixon spent another signing at Third Eye Comics, lining up dice. Today I got photos of him doing it:
 

* Nixon grabbed a book I'm reading and was pretending to read it himself. Apparently the book said "Get 2 smiley faces. Go to the Comic Book Store. Get a Super Mario car ball." Nixon kept reading those words over and over again.
   He also said "I need a magnifying glass, the letters are too small for me to see", which almost makes sense. Except, this is the same kid that spots airplanes from a moving vehicle thousands of miles in the air that is a minute speck in the sky, the size of which is much smaller than the letters in the book he is currently trying to read. Sorry kiddo, no magnifying glass for you!

* Finally, we let Nixon watch Star Wars: Episode One tonight. I'm pretty sure our son might be one of the only kids I've even known who is upset because all the droids were killed and destroyed by the Jedi! He was angry and said it was mean and unfair! He wasn't even okay with it when I explained that they were destroyed to protect Anakin, the Jedi and the Queen.
The Dark Side seems to have a strong pull with Nixon!