Missing Bear!! We have a Missing Bear!! ....and it hasn't yet become the end of a certain little boy's world.

* Nixon went to bed last night without BeBe...well, big BeBe that is. He slept with Blue BeBe. Somehow this bear has gone missing. He's in the house, but damned if we know where.
   Tonight at bedtime Nixon started asking for big BeBe again. I honestly don't know where this bear is, but he's really not taking losing him as hard as I'd expect him too.

* Nixon has been playing with a balloon since Friday when Mac gave it to him and he figured out how to inflate it on his own. He'll inflate it part way and then let the air out. He's done it some much that...the inevitable happened and his balloon popped on him tonight. He was fine about it, until he realized the balloon was ruined and he would never be able to play with it again.
   Then he cried over it like it was his very best friend whom he had just murdered. Big sloppy tears with a snotty nose and huge, gulping cries over a balloon.

* Every night I read Nixon his bedtime story, I read it to him in his bed with him. I snuggle under the blankets with him and read the story to him while he lies right next to me. Tonight, when I was all done with his story, I sang a silly song about his stinky toes until he asked me to stop. Then I tickled him until he decided we had to hide, under the blankets, from Mac who was coming up to say his own good night to Nixon.
   We hid from Mac, giggling while waiting for him.
  Moments like these are some of the best I have.

Oh the conversations I have with Nixon!

* I was lucky enough to be given the morning to sleep in. And sleep in I did. I didn't get out of bed until almost 11:15am. When Nixon saw me he said "Mommy, your hair is a mess!", child's honesty knows no bounds.

* I took Nixon to Third Eye Comics today, to catch up on my comic books, and Nixon was a gem. As I was cashing out he was playing with these fingertip tentacles. He likes to make an entire hand of them. I was done and ready to leave, Nixon was staying put continuing to add more tentacles to his hand. I said "Nixon, you need to come here now or I'm leaving without you". He suddenly runs up after me and says "MOM! You can't leave without me. I'm a little boy and you have to take me with you.", I tell him "But you're cute, I'm sure someone else would take you home and keep you safe, especially since you never want to listen to me.", his reply was simply awesome "But no one else is my mommy like you are. You have to take me home because I belong with you!"
   Yes, yes you do, my love.

* This final conversation was a doozy:
Nixon: Do you have a baby in your belly?
me: No! I'll never have another baby in my belly again. You were the baby I'll ever have in my belly.
Nixon: I was little when I was in your belly.
me: Thank gods yes you were.
Nixon: I was in your belly and I was little, then you pushed out of your belly.
me: Yep, you were ready to come out and I pushed you out of my vagina. And you've been in my arms ever since.
Nixon: Awww
me: Nixon, do you think I need a baby in my belly?
Nixon: No, lots of people have babies in the bellies. You don't need one.
me: Really? So you're okay with us having a small family and never having a baby in the house?
Nixon: Yes. Because babies are noisy and hurt my ears. And...they poop in their diapers. That's gross!
me: Oh, kiddo, I love you so much right now!
Nixon: I love you too, Mommy!

excuse the runny nose....snot faucet remember?!?

* Nixon got his library card today! He was so proud, so happy and so excited! He picked out 3 books and a dvd to check out. He even chose a book for me! He was wonderful and loves the library.

He gets a crazy cowlick every night as his hair gets longer. 

Today we welcomed Scootaloo into the family!

Meet Scootaloo

* Nixon woke up this morning very excited for school! He was excited to give his teacher the card he made for her. We took him to school and he went right over to her, handed her the card and said "I'm sorry I pulled my pants down.", gave her a hug and was off to the playground with the rest of his class. 

  We never mentioned the fish, I wanted him to be good in class because he knew he should be not because he wanted his fish. There was some serious anxiety in my chest as we headed into his classroom.

   It was all for naught! Nixon had a wonderful day! When I heard that and we got him out to the car, I told him we were going to get him his fish today! Holy cow was he excited!! 

* At bedtime, Nixon came down stairs to tell me "Mommy, Scootaloo isn't going to sleep! He's still playing, even though I told him he needs to go to sleep now!". I mean, for real, how cute is that?!?!
   I took him back to bed and explained that Scootaloo isn't like us or the cats, meaning he won't lie down to sleep Instead he'll drift peacefully in one spot or hide in the plant in his bowl, but he needs to move a little to breathe. Nixon said "Oh, well that's okay, but I need my sleep!" as if Scootaloo was being noisy in his tank and keeping Nixon awake. 

* Watching Bubble Guppies tonight, Nixon saw an episode about the library. He asked me if he can go get a book about baby kitties. I told him we'll go next week (because of the Thanksgiving holiday, Nixon has the week off from school) and we'll get books. He was really into it, telling me what books I should get and Daddy should get. 

   Why hadn't I thought of this before?!?!?

He's not picky, he loves all of me! And he's not afraid to tell me the parts that really take more to love.....

 

* I picked Nixon up from school today and his class was outside on the playground. Three little kids saw me, and immediately started yelling "Nixon, you're Mommy's here!". Apparently, according to another mother also picking up her son, they'd done the same thing to two other children when their moms came as well. 

* Another week of all good reports from Nixon's teachers! Two weeks in a row and I couldn't be happier! He's getting into the routine and really getting used to school.

* I took Nixon to a local bookstore having a Clifford the Big Red Dog book reading and appearance today. We got there just as Clifford was walking to his reading chair. Nixon saw him, said "hi" and waved, then decided he wanted to play at the train table instead.
   We left with a new My Little Pony book, to prevent a meltdown when I kept him away from the train table (there were lots of younger children there and a few less than attentive parents...one child in particular had thrown those small wooden magnetic trains at other kids multiple times, hitting one child in the back quite hard. The child was less than 2, but still the mother wasn't doing anything to correct or prevent the throwing, because she was too busy talking to other moms there)

* I told Nixon "I love you to pieces!" today. 

Nixon: You love my pieces?

me: Well, that's not what I said, but yes. I love you from the hair on your head to the toes on your feet!

Nixon: I love you pieces too, Mommy. All you pieces, even the stinky ones like you butt when you fart! 

me: Thanks kiddo!

School's going well, Nixon is thriving at home too!

* Nixon started the day skipping and dancing into my bedroom when he heard my alarm go off. He came over to my still sleeping body and said "Mom, your alarm went off and I danced, did you see me?" No, but I felt the floor move when he jumped all over my bedroom. He said to me, not liking my answer, "Well, next time open your eyes and watch me, okay? I'm a great dancer!"


* Dancing was the theme of the morning:

* Nixon was also making up silly songs today.  Have you heard the dreidel song? Well Nixon was making up a song in that tune
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy
I love every day
or
Mommy instead of Daddy.
 Too damned cute! 

* The best part of my day was listening to Nixon spell a word and sound it out. He started spelling "taxi" then sounded it out. He moved on to "jet", "boat", "fire truck" and a few other words. He was reading these words from a book he's had since he was a baby, but he was actually spelling then sounding out the words!
   Mac and I are a couple of super proud parents today. He got good report from his teacher at school. He was so happy to see us when we picked him up, he ran over to me for a hug!

My Little Pony, helping Nixon enjoy writing without him even realizing he's writing! Thank you....

* Nixon has been fighting doing any kind of writing, or holding a writing utensil of any kind, lately. He gets easily frustrated when trying to write letters especially.
   Imagine my surprise when Nixon and I spent over 45 minutes drawing and coloring in a My Little Pony coloring book, with Nixon doing most of the drawing. We played tic-tac-toe and Nixon drew both "x" and "o" in the game and he beat me 2 of 4 games, we tied once.  Nixon connected matching ponies over 10 times, drawing perfectly straight lines.
   But the most incredible moment of the whole moment happened when Nixon was looking to match cutie marks to pony names. He asked me to read the name, instead I asked him to spell out the letters. He saw "P" in the first one, and based on the possible cutie marks, Nixon blurts out "Pinkie Pie!" which was correct. We moved on to the next choice, and he saw the "A" and gleefully said "Applejack!", again correct!

* Tonight is the beginning our our new bedtime routine. Bath at 7:30pm, in bed by 8pm. Nixon was very excited when he learned that the reason for the new bedtime was because he starts school tomorrow. He even shampooed his own hair! For those not aware, this is a huge deal! He's always had issues with water in his face and ears, but he seemed to get over it as long as he was doing it for himself.
    He came downstairs, after Mac left for work and asked me "Mommy, how is the operation going?"
me: The operation is not going well. *I wave a hand all over him* It's been a complete bed-ectomy. Now let's get you back into bed.
Nixon: No, it's too early.
me: How about, if you help me pick out your clothes for tomorrow, before you go to bed?
Nixon: Yay!

   So we picked out his shirt, went back to his bedroom, more hugs kisses and another good-night.

Amber taking advantage of a few moments she's allowed in Nixon's room by getting into bed with him 

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.....

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?

Read me a story...but not that one, only Mommy can read me that one! And other ways Nixon lets us know where our place is in his heart.

* Nixon woke up today and was awesome. Super quiet, snuck downstairs and played with his toys. Then he came up and told me "Mommy, the sun is up and I'm hungry. Let's start the day!", and start the day I did.

* Nixon was doing his learning path on my computer, when the battery warning came on the screen. Nixon says "Mommy, you need to plug it in, the power is low!".
   I get the power cord and plug it in, while Nixon runs over to the switch that controls the outlet I plugged it into. He flips the switch and says "Let's get this power flowing right!"

* At bedtime, I ask Nixon if he wants Mac to read him the new My Little Pony books we have for him. Nixon quickly says "NO! Just you, Mommy." but he did let Mac read the "I love you, Stinky Face" book that we've read to him since he was a baby.
   Mac says it's okay, My Little Pony is just Nixon and I's thing and that's cool. Mac and Nixon have comic books together.  

Boring day and it's okay by me.

* I like boring days that really nothing happens. It means no great disasters and no big meltdowns, in my book it means an epic win!
   He even choose a book not a toy when we were doing a quick grocery shopping trip today. A book!! What parent would turn that down?!? Not us.

* Nixon's kind of the coolest kid I know. Did you know he tells me when he's ready to go to bed? He'll grab his teddy bear and go to the stairs and say "Umm, Mom, I think I'd like to go to bed now. I think it's time."
   Yeah, he really is the coolest kid ever!

He may sleep with Pinkie Pie, but he's also a sucker for the Avengers! His dad called him "A true Renaissance man", I like that term.

* I woke up this morning with a migraine brewing. When I went downstairs and made my coffee Nixon I told Nixon he needed to be quiet because my head hurt and I haven't had my coffee yet. While I'm standing in the kitchen, nursing my coffee, Nixon says to me in a most serious voice "Mom, I've got troubles. I need some coffee milk, it'll make my day better."
Who am I to deny a request like that? I grabbed a small coffee cup, poured about an ounce of coffee into it and filled the rest with milk. He sat down at the table and took a sip, then says "You know Mom, coffee tastes better when you make it." HA!

* I'm standing at the stove making dinner...
Nixon: Mommy, the rodeo's in town, but the cows are mean and they don't like me.
me: Oh? I hadn't heard the rodeo's in town.
Nixon: Yeah, they are. But the cows are mean and keep trying to hit me in the face.
me: Well, I'm sorry. I hadn't realized there were abusive cows at the rodeo. I'll be sure to keep you safe from them.
Nixon: Well Mom, it's gonna be hard because they just run through town with no warning. Pinkie Pie tried to stop them and they didn't even laugh at her jokes! They didn't laugh at her MOM!
me: That's not nice at all!
Nixon: I know, Mom!
me: Nixon....are you talking about the My Little Pony episode we watched yesterday?
Nixon: Of course. There's no such thing as a real rodeo. DUH!

* Best thing about re-reading the same (comic) book at bedtime? Nixon starts reading along with me! Tonight he read half of the smaller panels in Baby Avengers VS X-Men. Nothing better than hearing his cute little voice say "Let's see what'chu got, Cyclops!"

I'll bank all his kind and loving words said now for later days.

* Nixon wrote the letter "E" today! I couldn't be any prouder of I tried. He's doing so well with practicing his writing.

* Nixon says to me today "Mommy, I pooped a lot and now I'm out of energy to wipe my butt." When I tell him he won't get his sticker if I wipe his butt, he says to me "Waitwaitwait....I got my energy back. I'll do it." And he did!

* Nixon, king of the one liners today, says "Mom, what's that smell?", as Amber walks into the litter box. I say, "I don't kiddo, I think Amber's taking a poo." He says, "It's Amber's BUTT! She's POOPING! Stinky butt Amber!" and runs off chuckling.

* We ran to the store for milk and ice cream. While standing in line, Nixon grabs one of the tabloids and says "Mom, I need to read one of these." He opens it up and says "Do you believe this mess?" The couple behind us started cracking up!
   He was hugging me and telling me "I love you" and "You're my best friend". The woman in front of us turned to look at him and then me. I smiled and she says, very quietly, "Enjoy those words, because they aren't always that loving as they get older."

Big, important day of sorts

* Nixon had an evaluation today with the county's public school system. I'll write a more in-depth post about that on my Random Mom-ments blog, but the jist of it was: Nixon is not on the autism spectrum (a concern of mine) but he does have some sensory issues (we've known this and have made adjustments when possible accordingly), he's doing things above age-level and is perceived to be intellectually bright with above average cognitive skills.
  He is a self-led learner, which may be an issue in a classroom setting, so we were given information for a program to see a behavioral therapist to help with that.
   And no day is complete without Nixon being given tasks to complete, completing them and then when it's time to leave (before he's ready) he offers a tantrum of epic proportions as a parting gift.
We'll be hearing from an occupational therapist soon about the evaluators findings overall.

Today he skipped his nap...and we're all still alive!

* We went and helped a friend, who is getting ready to move soon, pack some boxes. Doing so meant Nixon would be out during his normal naptime. Sometimes he's good, sometimes he's a monster...it's unknown which he'll be until it's too late.
He was actually pretty good. Even got to get kisses from our friend's pet rat (who was adorable!!) and was tickled when she climbed all over him.

* No nap, and he was awesome during his bedtime story. I read his new Legos Star Wars book to him and he was so into it! He was asleep less than 5 minutes later. No trips downstairs for hugs, kisses, a song or water. His head hit his pillow and he was out!

It's another adventure of CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!!

* We took Nixon to a local school that had a special book festival and we learned about from our favorite comic book store Third Eye Comics, who happened to be a sponsor of the event. While Nixon wasn't feeling much beyond saying hi to a couple of his favorite people from Third Eye, he was successfully distracted from his escape route by the rat snake that was apparently the pet of the classroom Third Eye was set-up in. It was cute, Nixon was so excited looking at that little snake. 

* Tonight, I handed Nixon a cup of pudding. Nixon says to me "Mommy, it's missing something. Uh...the spoon!". As I was on my to the kitchen to get him a spoon as he said this I replied "Captain Obvious has returned I see.". It seems Nixon has my quick wit because without missing a beat he says "Actually, Mommy, it's Nixon", and he says this with his finger pointing up to the ceiling! 

I mean, really?!? He's only 4!!

..and then he cleaned his plate. twice!

* Nixon is a picky eater. If we go out to eat, it's not uncommon for him to leave food on his plate.
This morning, we dropped my car off to get work done, and headed to Denny's. Nixon picked his kids meal breakfast (3 small pancakes, eggs, 1 slice of bacon and 1 sausage link), and yeah we had a rough start but once the food arrived he was good to go. So good in fact, he cleared his plate!
Then at dinner....he ate 2 slices of pizza!

* He skyped with his Nana tonight. She saw his hair cut for the first time, since he got it cut, and she asked him where his hair went. He says, all super relaxed, "oh, it's all gone now". Then tells her he's a big boy, but still MY baby! Awww, right?

* Nixon sat on my lap and we read a My Little Pony Friendship is Magic comic book together. Yep, we're kind of awesome like that.

It only looked like a giant Lego's penis...it was really a Lego's podracer!

* Nixon was playing with his Lego's today. First he made 2 Tie-fighters, then he made a Podracers. He was so proud of the podracer, he came running over to me and said "Mommy, guess what this is?" (it looked like a penis...I know this is not the right answer) I ask for a hint. He says "It's from my book, it zooms really fast....Anakin drives one". Ahh..."Nixon that is an awesome podracer!"
He couldn't wait to show Mac!

* Nixon build a castle...a castle in the living room....a castle made of pillows...pillows from all the beds upstairs. Then the castle fell. So Nixon just made a pile of pillows and kept jumping on it. Then he tried to say he couldn't carry all the pillows upstairs because "they are too big and I am just a little boy".

* We've reached the 1001-reasons-to-get-out-of-be-and-not-fall-asleep phase.
Tonight it was: 1) You didn't read me a story (he got a cartoon before bed, in our bed with me), 2) I'm thirsty and need my water bottle,  3) can I have hugs and kisses please?

...and then Nixon and I "were on a break"

* What do you do when your kid is having a rough morning and you know it's your fault? After a 3rd meltdown, I cave and let him spend time alone watching tv upstairs while I relax downstairs. We spent about 90 minutes apart and we both felt better in the end.

* After dinner we had a kiss war. The rules are simple. We start by counting the kisses we give each other. Winner is the one who keeps giving kisses until the other person stops counting. Tonight, I won because Nixon stopped counting at 12! haha

* We laid in bed and read two books tonight. At the end, Nixon kissed my cheek and said "Sweet dreams mommy. Now get out, I need to sleep." the funny in this? He's sleeping in my bed tonight!! The little turd kicked me out of MY bed!! Oh well, at least he stopped yelling at me.

Want a kid to behave from the beginning of the day? Bribery works wonders!

* Nixon went to bed last night with a promise that, if he was good, he would get to go to the comic books store with me and get some Star Wars Angry Birds. The comic book store is amazing and has meltdown potential at every 2 feet. But I had a goal and since Mac was working... bribery was a must!
  And it worked! Nixon was a gem. The Angry Birds was the first thing he saw, and with bag in hand he was great as we wondered through the whole store while I grabbed what I had gone there to get. Three of the employees commented on how awesome he was today, possibly because they've seen and heard him at his worst.

Sometimes I get lucky and can get a little artsy with the late night pictures. Tonight I managed to get the wall art I made for his birthday in the frame. Because I'm just that talented! 

Just go to sleep! Mommy wants to go to bed already!

* Nixon and I made homemade Valentine's Day cards for some very special people today. Nixon was super proud of his 'i's in the cards...which actually looked like '!'s. So cute though! They are going in the mail tomorrow, so I'm hopeful they will reach his Valentine's in time.

* Bedtime is at 9pm. I read 2 chapter of Tom Sawyer tonight, which meant I was up there until around 930pm. I don't mind because I love that he's excited about a book. But I went back upstairs to watch tv in bed at 1015pm and he was STILL AWAKE!! Please go to sleep! I need you to go to sleep, so I can silently creep in, take a few pictures, write this blog, post said pictures on said blog, post the blog, copy the blog onto the facebook page..then, and only then, can I go to sleep! So please, if you love your mother at all.....go.to.sleep!
He finally went to sleep.....