Happy Halloween!!

* Nixon is way cooler than I ever gave him credit for. Today at school 2 boys were very cruel about his costume, calling him a girl and saying he was dressed as a lalaloopsie doll. Nixon ignored them, never saying more than "I'm a boy" when one said he was a girl.
   It wasn't all good, Nixon decided during the class parade to dart from the group towards the road. I've never ran so fast in my life! I was next to him when the teacher got there, which wasn't as dramatic as it sounds. Nixon was being Nixon and wanted to run and do a dance, he chose a really bad location. I nearly shat my pants when I saw him run off.

My Pinkie Pie and his teacher

* We went to the playground when we got home. Mac came with and Nixon had a ball! The three of us were happy to spend some time outside together for a bit.

* Finally, trick or treating! Nixon made out like a bandit! We went to an on-base neighborhood, 30 minutes and he filled his bag about 3/4 full! And his skunk costume was even thought to be a honey badger, which totally fits. We had another lovely night and it was great!

It was an interest day....was totally a Monday!

* Today is Monday. Nixon didn't have school on Friday, so he has had 5 days off since his last school day. This morning my alarm goes off, I snoozed it twice and got up just before the 3rd time it went off. I walked into Nixon's room and let the alarm wake him up because, shockingly, he was still sound asleep.
   He rolls over, barely opens his eyes to look at me and says "Ugg... really, Mom? It's too early for wake up, the sun is even still sleeping, see? Can I have 5 more minutes please?"
   What could I do but give him 5 minutes?!? I made a cup of coffee before going and getting him, this time he was sitting up in bed but still not totally awake yet.

* Nixon's had so many good days at school, a bad day was bound to happen. Today was that day. According to his teacher he was loud and disruptive, but did participate after his outbursts. So he was just loud, but still not a good day.
   Ugg.....

* And then, finally, Nixon's entire Halloween costume is finished. He even got to try it on....which he pouted about while wearing it, then demanded to wear it longer after he took it off!

Damn his defiant and back-talking mouth!

* From the minute I got out of bed, Nixon was almost non-stop defiant and talking back. I swear, he changed my name to "NO!" and didn't tell me, I heard it come out of his mouth so much today.
 me: Nixon what do you ant for breakfast?
 Nixon: NO! I don't want breakfast!
 me: Okay, let me know when you get hungry.
 Nixon: NO! *a few minutes later* Hey, where's my food?
 me: I'm sorry, what did you just say?
 Nixon: Oops. I meant, may I have something to eat please.

 me: Nix, I think it's time for a nap.
 Nixon: NO! I'm not taking a nap today!
 me: Nixon, you need a nap, you're super feisty.
 Nixon: NO! You are....what did you say?  
 me: Feisty?
 Nixon: You are that word!

 I'd have taken it personally, except when Mac got up Nixon was just as testy and moody with him.

* But then, just like *that*, he's sweet again. He was bringing BeBe over for me to give hugs and kisses to. He also asked me to "babysit" BeBe. I tucked BeBe in my tee shirt for his nap. Then Nixon would come over and tell me "He's done sleeping, I'll take him now." My payment? Hugs and kisses from Nixon.
    He's such a caring single teddy bear father.

* Nixon asked for scrambled eggs and bacon for dinner. He then offered to cook the eggs. And he did a good job too. He used the spatula and kept stirring them in the pan for a few minutes, until they were almost done. Then he said "Okay mom, now you finish, I'm thirsty."

he's so adorable! I just can't get over it....

This time the latest national tragedy hits close to home, while everyone I know is safe, the stress is frightening. My heart is with the DC Navy Yard tonight.

* Nixon had a great day at school! He gave his teacher a hug before he left and she said today was his best day yet! There were 3 happy people leaving that class today (Mac, Nixon and myself), which was awesome!

* The rest of the day was spent with the shootings that took place at the Navy Yard in DC weighing on our minds. Just after 3pm, Mac got called to report to work and go to DC to be part of a team being sent as additional support on the team. Nixon started to act out because he could sense the tension that both Mac and I suddenly had oozing from us. It was unintentional but it was a reaction to the unknown circumstances of the situation Mac was getting ready to go face.
   
* He called at 10pm, very briefly, he's safe and was taking a chow break. I'm going to bed and not taking photos tonight because I want Nixon to have a solid, uninterrupted night of sleep.

Today felt like a Monday, not a Friday at all.... but then I remembered it's Friday the 13th, so maybe it felt like a Friday afterall, just a really, really bad one!

* Let me start by saying: none of what we're being told is unexpected. There is a reason I was adamant that Nixon get into a preschool program this fall, before he goes to kindergarten next year. I knew the transition was going to be difficult for him.  

   Onto today: First Nixon didn't want to go to school. His reasoning was he'd be hit again. Did he really believe this? I don't know. I do know I used momlogic and worked him into getting ready for school little-by-little.
   He was told if he stayed home, he was in bed, sleeping with no TV because the only way he was staying home was if he was sick. I asked him if he was sick and he said "NO!", then he says, very matter-of-factually "I should go brush my teeth so the other kids aren't scareded of my stinky breath."
   Take him to school and he is fine. There is the cutest little girl in his class who was so happy to see him! She started saying "Nixon! Nixon's here! Hi Nixon! Hey! Nixon! Nixon! Nixon hi!" as he was putting up his backpack. He played it cool (or rude, depending on your point of view I suppose) but did smile when she came over and joined him at the table he went to play at.

* And then we (Mac and I together, because Mac promised Nixon he would be there...which turned out to be a huge help) went to pick Nixon up. All the kids were in a nicely formed circle, but I didn't see Nixon...until I heard him, in the office, with the head administrator.
   Nixon decided to act an ass most of the day. He was refusing to do any of the choices of activities he was given, arguing instead to do only what he wanted. He was getting to the point of disrupting the rest of the class, so in swooped the Admin and off to her office they went. The goal was to calm him down, which today was not happening. He was rude, talked back and full of sass. When we arrived, he heard our voices and started crying. Until that moment he hadn't produced real tears.
   Mac took Nixon out to the car while I spoke to the Admin. She is amazing! Together, during about a 10-15 minute conversation, we discussed Nixon's issues and how to best address them. She said "He's smart, and he's stubborn. He's a difficult one because he knows what he's doing and he chooses to do it knowing the consequences thinking he can outsmart his way out of the consequences." Yep, that's Nixon.
   Our joint plan of action, during which I explained he'd been evaluated and is a self-led learner and can be very determined to get his own way, is to let her us the punishments we use at home as leverage at school. I also told her he responds very well to sticker charts (because they do individualize things for each child as needed, a HUGE plus and big reason why we chose this particular school as Nixon's intro).

* When we came home, Nixon was told NO PSP and NO iTOUCH for the day. Because of how he acted in school. He asked to go to his room and take a nap. He told me, as I tucked him in for his nap "I just need some time to be alone right now", and I get it. He's dealing with a lot of changes, but he also knows better.

   This weekend we'll be focusing a lot on proper behavior at school and why how he acted in school today is not okay. He learned the hard way, I wasn't joking when I said a bad day at school would mean to video game play time at home. He got none of that today.

This is what I saw when I walked into his room...an empty bed!

He's lying on the floor, next to his bed. This is a photo from under his bed. How cute is he?!

Sleeping, goofy, singing child...much better than the punkass I had in his body this morning.

* Sometimes, you just need to tell your kid to "go the F*^# to sleep, you obviously need the sleep". Today was that day.

   It started with Nixon coming over to me, with his water bottle, and saying "It's empty, this is not right!". I looked right at him and said "Excuse me?", to his credit he quickly changed his tune "May I have more flavor water please?". I told him I'd be happy to get him water, but he needed to apologize first, because his first way of asking for water was rude and very disrespectful to me. He said "I'm not sorry!" and stormed to the stairs. He immediately came back over to me, I'm expecting an apology from my sweet and loving baby boy, instead I get: "I said do it now!"
    Nope, sorry son, it's time for you to go lie down because you have obviously just lost your damned mind!

   We got upstairs and I snuggled with him. I told him I still love him, I'll always love him, but he can't be rude and demanding to me like that. It's just not okay. Sometimes we just need to rest and reset our mood.
   He and I napped together in the spare bedroom, because Mac was still sleeping for the day in our bed. When he woke up....whole new mood!

* Nixon is making up silly songs. He made one up tonight about Daddy.

I feel like this post is just the beginning of the apologies I will be making to Nixon future teachers....is there a template I can find, maybe a mad-lib would be best?!? This is going to be great, right??

* I called this morning and found out Nixon has a spot in the pre-K class we signed him up for last month!! He'll be going 3 days a week, 3 hours each day starting September 4th.
   Let me just say: for a kid who has been begging to go to school for over 6 months now, when I told him he will be going to school in a few weeks, even going so far as to show him the first day of school as I wrote it on the calendar, he was far from impressed. In fact, he was pissed off! Why? He was pissed that he had to wait until we got back from NY and then another week.
   He even tried telling me "But mom, we already went to New York, don't you 'member? We put all the x's on the days and we're home now. Now I can go to school!"
   I believe I will be apologizing a lot to his teacher for his creative logic....like, a whole lot.

* I painted my toe nails this morning. Nixon asked for his to be painted as well. He chose the very neon green/yellow color I have. But hey, he sits still for 20 minutes, so I see it as a win.

* Have you met "mini-Mac"? Mini-Mac is Nixon, when he is in full-on mimic daddy mode. He repeats almost any and everything Mac says, good or bad. But he doesn't just repeat the words, he copies the tone and voice inflection. He is getting spot-on dry sarcasm from this.
   Again....I apologize to his teacher for producing quite possibly the most dry-witted, sarcastic 4.5-year old she has had the pleasure of teaching. Thank gods this school has a heavy emphasis on creativity, Nixon surely has a ton of that!

He just needed to know that Pinkie Pie had a best friend to make his bad mood go away...or at least that's the only logical explanation I have for his total mood change today.

* This morning did not start out good at all. We all got up and got ready to do our Monday morning tradition of breakfast at Denny's, even left and got to Denny's....only to have Nixon lose his effin' mind over Angry Birds! I mean, he LOST his mind! Crying, yelling...an epic tantrum that resulted in us getting back in the car and coming right back home.
   The end result was a family nap and a much happier Nixon. We went to Denny's for breakfast for dinner. Nixon was totally awesome. Ordered his meal, sat quietly, ate his whole meal...just a total 180 from the child he was in the morning.

* Nixon is becoming great at cleaning up his bedroom and living room before bed. Tonight he cleaned his room while his bath was filling up. It was great!

* Nixon woke up from his nap today and was walking down the stairs. I told him, to go bring his Pinkie Pie down with him. He stopped on the stairs and peeked around the corner at me and asked why. I told him there was someone who wanted to play with her...then he saw that my Build-A-Bear Princess Twilight Sparkle arrived and he got the biggest smile on his face and said "Pinkie Pie's best friend is home!"
   Best.Reaction.Ever! He brought Pinkie Pie downstairs and set the ponies up so they were hugging. It was adorable.

Time-out first thing in the morning?? Not awesome!

* Woke up this morning and the fun began: Nixon spent 20 minutes in his room because he refused to get dressed. He finally decided to get dressed and we left to go to Third Eye Comics to meet Mac for another signing. Nixon was warned, that if he acted up he and I would be leaving. He was great for about an hour and then....
...well, we came home before the doors opened.

* Nixon was told that, if he ate all his dinner, he would get ice cream. Not only did he eat all his dinner he took his plate, my plate and Mac's plate into the kitchen when we were done. He was working for his ice cream!

It's a rough day when Nixon reminds me I haven't had coffee yet....

* Nixon woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. That is, he woke up at all. He was in an evil, punk, talking-back mood from the moment he got out of bed. We had plans to meet Mac at Third Eye Comics for a signing this morning. (On a Wednesday?!? Yes, because it's the summer and because they can!) It's a bad morning when Nixon gets sent to his bedroom less than 30 minutes after getting up for the day.

* Nixon says to me, as we're finally leaving the house to go meet Mac, "Mommy, I know why you're so cranky. You forgot your coffee." Captain Obvious everyone.
   I didn't forget my coffee, so much as choose to get Nixon to Mac ASAP in order to save my sanity. There's a bagel shop in the same plaza as the comic book store, so I grabbed a (large) coffee from there within 10 minutes of getting to Third Eye.
 
* I don't know what his issue is, but he has been on a total "NO" and "I don't wanna" streak. It's not floating with me.

Long live Tantrum King...long may he reign the kingdom of TimeOut!

* Nixon, Tantrum King of the World! Well, it sure felt like he was today. He was sent to his room on 3 occasions and in time out on the stairs once, all before 3pm. I have half-a-voice, it comes and goes, but for the most part I could talk all day long. Which unfortunately for me meant no more unheard, sarcastic cussing responses to Nixon's outbursts. Yeah, I forgot that more than once.

* Uggg....damned Lunchables! They've ruined Nixon's eating habits. Not that he won't eat anything but lunchables, but instead, he asks for candy every time he finishes his food. Finished his waffles for breakfast? "I gets candy now?" Finished his peanut butter and jelly sandwich, banana and granola bar? "My food's all gone, I get my candys now?"
   Two of his trips to his room was because I denied his request for candy.

Sarcasm, it's contagious.

* You know what's fun? When you realize your kid has sarcasm down to a science and it's your fault. You know what's even more fun? That he's mastering dry sarcasm and using it against you, his mom...giver of life and provider of food.
   Yes, Nixon has done both of these. I'd be proud if he weren't using it against me. He really is my little mini-me. Right down to the dry sarcastic streak.

* Speaking of my kid being kind of an ass....I've once again lost my voice. It's this stupid cold I can't seem to beat. Nixon decided today would be a good day to try my patience and started mocking my weak, raspy voice. To my face. Then laughing at me.
   I didn't get an apology from him until I had Mac call him from work and tell Nixon to be nice to me since I can't speak for myself.
   When Nixon went to bed early, he said to me "Poor mommy, you've got no voice and I made fun of you. That wasn't nice, but it was funny!" Then he kissed my cheek and told me I needed to go to bed so I can get better and be able to talk loud.

    He's a sweet kind of punk, isn't he?

He's the sweetest thing!

* My day started rather late today. I was coughing up a bunch of grossness, which led to a fitful sleep. Nixon was in bed with me, but undisturbed by my coughing fits, thankfully. He was awake and watching TV around 8am, his normal start-the-day time. When I'd cough, he'd touch my head, whisper "Poor Mommy, go back to sleep" and kiss my cheek. I would stay asleep, because who'd argue with an offer like that?
   I finally rolled and looked at the clock, past a peaceful Nixon next to me watching Bubble Guppies, to see it was 11:15AM!! I got out of bed and we headed downstairs where I fed Nixon. I was so happy to find there was not a single mess in the house, the cats weren't traumatized and the house was still standing! Seems he knew I needed rest and he let me get it.

* I did wake up with a deep, raspy voice that by 3pm had all but disappeared. I was voiceless, but this is actually a good thing because it's the last phase of any cold I ever get.
   Now, getting Nixon to do things when I don't have a voice is challenging....so I resorted to getting in his face and whispering real close to him. Think creepy, serial killer type voice. That's what I sounded like, but boy did he do what I was asking him to do!

Love him and his kind heart!

A bad day from the start.....

* Nixon and I's day started with him coming to my side of the bed, where I was still sleeping and him saying this to me "I don't love you, mommy". I was too stunned to even react. But it pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day. I was emotionally numb, try telling a 4-year old that his words hurt your heart...no, really go ahead, I'll wait.
  Normally Nixon is a very loving and caring child. Today, and yes I'm about to make an excuse for him, he was woken up early and unexpectedly by a construction crew of vehicles and loud men not more than 20 feet from him bedroom window at 7am. His whole day was set into a free fall of chaos and I was just collateral damage.

* He also refused a nap...yay.

* He found a bin of toys that I'd hidden with the intention of donating them. He picked through them, taking the ones he wanted and leaving the ones he didn't. He did not ask to go through them because he was told not to go into the box that they were hidden in. As a result, I cleaned out all the toys from his room. He stole toys from my room, I took all his away. He has only books now in his room.

* He was upset because I vetoed Mac's suggestion to watch Star Wars.

* He rolled his eyes, sassed back at me and "nuh-uh" when I asked him to pick up his toys.

* He ended the day by giving me a half-pedi. He painted the toes on my right foot with the same brown nail polish I had used on his toes earlier in the evening. I didn't even ask him to, he just started doing it because he said my toes looked lonely with no colors.

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.

"I want to drive!!"

* Another day, another short road trip to Virginia for another visit to the DMV. My GPS decided to send us through DC, but Nixon was awesome. He was playing with his iTouch, headphones on and totally content. We reached the DMV and the wait was 45 minutes give or take and Nixon was fairly well-behaved.
   When it was time to go, Mac took him to the car so I could use the restroom before we headed off to meet a friend for lunch. Before going to the car, I handed Nixon the keys and told him it was a very important task. Apparently, I accidentally told him he'd be driving, because when I got to the car, Nixon was upset that he wasn't in the driver's seat. How do you solve this? If you're me...you give Nixon a silicon bracelet and tell him it's a steering wheel and he's driving. He was overjoyed by that and "drove" the whole way to our lunch date. At one stop light I turned and asked him how he's doing and he said "I'm fine, just waiting for the green light, because red means stop."

* Lunch was another story. He drank his strawberry lemonade, but when his food came he was trying to get under the table and squirming around. He was warned twice and then told he ate or went to the car. He chose the car. Mac texted me, from the car, and said Nixon wanted to stay in the car because he was tired. Less than 3 minutes later I got another text from Mac that Nixon was asleep. Guess he was tired...
   I stayed and talked with our friend, getting Nixon & Mac's food to-go leaving about 15 minutes after Nixon and Mac left for the car.

...and then he made my dad laugh!

* Nixon came into our bedroom at 630 this morning:
Nixon: Mommy, Amber peeded on my bed
me: what?!?
Nixon: *walked over to Mac's side of the bed* Daddy! Amber wetted my bed!
me: Nixon, come here, what?
Nixon leaves our bedroom and goes into the spare bedroom: Nana, Amber peeded on my bed!

Yes, there was a small spot of pee. I took everything off his bed and went back to sleep, he stayed up with Nana. But not before he started yelling at Amber (which is not okay, and he was told as much. )

* I called my parents tonight. It's been a few weeks, and I got some news so I called them immediately. After talking to my mom and my dad, I let Nixon talk to my dad. First, Nixon does his latest (a-hole) move, and yells into the phone. Then he hands me the phone and says he can't talk. Finally he sits still for a minute and really talks to his grandfather. When I got the phone back, my dad was genuinely laughing at Nixon and his antics.
  Thank you, Nixon. I haven't heard a sincere and genuine laugh from my dad in quite a few months.

Long car ride makes for one wound-up little boy

* We had to take a road trip to Virginia today. What should've been about an hour drive, turned into an almost 2 hour drive because traffic in the AM sucks! We woke up stupid early (630am) and left within an hour of getting up and none of us were at our best.
  We took care of what needed to be done, and hit up Denny's for breakfast before the drive home. Nixon was...well, Nixon was a kid who was tired of sitting. He wasn't horrible (Angry Birds on my phone kept him occupied for the most part) but after his food was gone, so was he. He was ready to get gone!

* There was an older gentleman sitting behind us at Denny's, who was trying to talk to Nixon, we were sitting right there and watching them and he'd already spoken to me. Nixon was too wound up and would not stand still for a second! The older guy took it in stride and just laughed at Nixon's hijinks. He even complimented Nixon for waiting to talk to him until Mac said it was okay. Maybe the strangers talks is finally setting in??

* I told Nixon today "You are getting Daddy's nose", because it seems to be widening lately, much like Mac's nose.
Nixon says "No! I don't want Daddy's nose. I like your nose."
me: Why don't you want Daddy's nose?
Nixon: It's big. Your nose is small, like me.
me: *laughing at his logic* Nixon, you are going to be big and strong like Daddy when you grow up, don't you want a big strong nose like Daddy's to go with a big, strong body?
Nixon: When I get bigger? Not now.
me: Nixon, I just meant your nose is starting to look more like Daddy's and less like mine, not that it was getting big like Daddy's right away. You have a lot of growing to do still.
Nixon: Oh, okay. I want Daddy's big nose because I'm going to be big like Daddy not little like you, Mommy.
me: Awesome!

Sometimes visual aids make for clearer learning

*Nixon was having another bossy day. He kept trying to set the rules and ignore what was being told to him, by both Mac and myself.
I finally took a different approach, after getting sick of yelling and threats and spanking...nothing worked.
I picked him up and took him to our family photos on the wall. I pointed to one of the 3 of us:
me: Nixon, is this a grown up or a little kid? (pointing at myself in the photo)
Nixon: grown up
me: What about this? (points to Mac) Grown up or little kid?
Nixon: Grown up.
me: And this one? (points to him)
Nixon: A little kid!
me: Okay, so now grownups make the rules and little kids have to follow them. SO, let's try it this way now: Is Mommy a grown up or a little kid?
Nixon: A grown up.
me: And Daddy is...?
Nixon: A grown up.
me: And you, Nixon, you are...?
Nixon: I'm a little kid, Mommy.
me: So, if grown ups make the rules and not little kids, who makes the rules in our house?
Nixon: I don't know.
me: Nix, who are the grown ups in the picture?
Nixon: You and Daddy.
me: So who are the grown ups in our family?
Nixon: You and Daddy?
me: Yes! That's correct. And who is the little kid in our family?
Nixon: I am!!
me: And who makes the rules in our house?
Nixon: grown ups not little kids.
me: Who are the grown ups in our house?
Nixon: Not me!
me: Close enough!

Thank gods today is over!

* Today was honestly one of those days that just started bad and never really got better. Nixon was in a funk of a mood and it showed. He was cranky, bossy, sassy and all kinds of mouthy. Instead of going and running errands with us, he was sent to take a nap because I could not take his attitude for another minute.
I thought his behavior would improve when he woke up, and it did for about an hour, and then he was just as horrible as before.

Thank gods today is over. I can not stress enough that while I love my son, today had me seriously looking for a bottle of wine and a child that hadn't been stolen by aliens overnight replaced by a rotten pod-person.