Monday & Tuesday (Nov 25 & 26th) Recap

* Monday morning Nixon woke up excited about the library. I really should've checked out the hours before I told him we'd go on Monday....our closest branch didn't open until 1pm on Mondays! To say he was disappointed would be an understatement. I'm pretty sure he was beginning to think the library was an imaginary place.
   We did have to go grocery shopping, since we were celebrating Thanksgiving on Tuesday and I was making several dishes including the turkey and ham. We grabbed some McDonald's before going as Mac hadn't eaten yet, and Nixon got a Happy Meal. Turns out that was the best choice, as it kept him seated and quiet while I did the shopping. It wasn't crowded but I did have a couple multiple lists to shop off of.
   As I mentioned, Nixon was great until we got to the register and he saw all the holiday toys next to it. Mac ended up taking him to the car while I finished checking out.
   He went to bed as usual on Monday night, feeding Scootaloo first. He got super excited because he noticed Scootaloo had gotten a little bigger! Nixon says "good morning" and "good night" to Scootaloo every day, and every day Scootaloo is looking right at him seeming to be returning the greetings.  

* Tuesday started super early. We had a good friend come over to spend the day with us and start cooking the big dinner in the afternoon with me. The three of us made a quick trip out for a couple errands and then grabbed donuts for breakfast on the way home.
   We had an awesome, bacon-themed Thanksgiving meal made. So what's Nixon ask for, for dinner? Peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Yep....bacon wrapped green beans, bacon wrapped stuffing balls, bacon deviled eggs, ranch mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, ham, bacon wrapped boneless turkey breast, green bean casserole and pumpkin pies! And Nixon says "Mommy, this food smells stinky. I think I'd like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich please." Sonuvabitch!

In other news, Nixon is still dealing with a cold. He's had it for over a couple weeks now mostly a runny nose and a cough. No fever and not at all lethargic, just a snot faucet for a nose.

"Best birthday party EVER!!" -Nixon

* Today we had Nixon's birthday party. It was a super small event, only us and 2 friends. I decorated while Nixon napped and when he woke up he said "Wow! These are the best decorations ever! This is my best party ever!"
   He did get his My Little Pony theme. He loved it!

* He got a Rainbow Dash pony for his birthday. We took him to Build-A-Bear and did the whole thing together with our friends who bought it for him as his gift. He loved it all!

* He had his pink cake with pink frosting:

* He also got his fish tank ready for his fish. We'll get his fish either tomorrow or Wednesday...we'll see how our days go.
   Mac bought him Centurion figures with accessories, a couple MASK vehicles and an entire lot of new Star Wars figures! Nixon was over-the-moon excited about it!

The best part was hearing him say, repeatedly, that today was a great day and this was his best party ever! There was really nothing special about the party, other than he was totally surrounded by people who love him.

After taking this picture Nixon said, in his sleep, "Please leave my room."

Nixon's first field trip!

Nixon on the hayride

* Nixon's class went on a field trip to a farm today. I was able to go with and actually rode the bus with him, which was an experience.

* For some reason it was freaking cold! That meant I was extra cold and Nixon was extra cold. It led to whining, fake crying....oh goddess the fake crying, and a clingy Nixon. He had fun in the corn maze running around chasing and being chased. He enjoyed the animals, when he got to see them and he liked the hay ride.

* The best part about being cold for a couple hours and having Nixon running around crazy for a couple hours? The nice, warm cozy nap we both got to take when we got home.

He's bossy, but he can explain his reason for being bossy....I'm cool with that because his logic was sound.

* Tonight we had chili for dinner. I told Nixon he had to try it. By try it I meant take two bites. That's it, just two. He did it, but it took a lot of whining and complaining about it in addition to almost 30 minutes. But the point is: he tried it and that's all I was asking him to do.

* Mac and I have a couple friends over tonight. We're watching the late football game, which started after Nixon went to bed. Nixon was in his room for well over half an hour when I hear his bedroom door open followed by his little feet coming down the steps.
    He peeks around the corner of the stairs and says "You guys, can you keep it quiet? I'm supposed to be sleeping but you are being too loud!", just as serious and non-impressed as could be.
    Mac and I apologize and say we'll be quiet, our friends also say sorry and we send Nixon back to bed. This little smartypants says, as he's climbing the stairs back to his room, "Thank you for apologizing everybody. Good night now."
    What could we do but laugh as he closed his bedroom door?!? A very quiet and contained laugh, but we did laugh.

* As I was taking tonight's photos, Nixon rolled over and saw me.
"Mommy, what are you doing in here? It's too early for wake up." he said to me very groggy with sleep.
I assure him I wasn't there to wake him up, only take tonight's pictures. He tells me that's fine, but hurry "I need my sleep".
    Yes, sir!

Friends are the best form of chaos! (weekend recap)

* Even though he was sick, Nixon had an awesome weekend with his cousins (my friend C's kids are known as cousins, because family isn't always born to you, sometimes we're lucky and we get to pick our family members!). Friday night Nixon and I spent the night sitting up sleeping on C's oversized sofa, because Nixon's cough was so bad.
 
I also spent some quality time with C's dog, Leonidas. For those who don't know, L is a husky and I have a serious fear of that breed. I was good with him, so much so that I offered to brush him last year when we had all returned to Maryland after being apart for 3 years. I was good...until I hit a snarl in his fur and he yelped and growled at me. Yep, not so good....my old fear hit me head-on and I was a basket case around him.
 But we made peace this weekend:

* Saturday went by way too fast! We spent some time at a neighborhood bbq, Claire made an incredible chicken curry for lunch and the kids all crashed and slept well.  Nixon stayed in bed all night and had very little coughing. 

   The bbq was a house full of kids, noise and friends. It's obvious C has a great support system where she's at. And Nixon and K-bug were fast friends...even if they did spend most of the time fighting over the same toys!

*Sunday we had to leave. My goal was to leave early, but we got waylaid a bit. We left 30 minutes late and with all our stops along the way home plus the traffic we hit we made it home in about 8 hours. Not bad and Nixon was a champ in the car. Did not get sick once, liked the music I put on and never watched his PSP during the whole ride. Yeah, I may have bought new toys for him when we stopped for Boogie Wipes, but they weren't expensive and he was being awesome!

Just before our good-byes...

I'm not allowed to call other drivers "stupid", Nixon says that's a mean word.

* Friday was our road trip to see my best friend in North Carolina. Nixon woke up with a wicked wet-sounding cough, so no school again, but we were still going to NC for the weekend.
   My goal was to not cuss during the car ride. So instead of my usual bombs, I was calling people "stupid vaginas". Nixon corrected me and told me "No, mommy that's not nice. Don't say stupid!" So I dropped the stupid and called people "vaginas" for the rest of the 7+ hour trip.

* Nixon and I ended up sleeping in the living room, on my BFF's awesome oversized chair. Around 230am, Nixon started coughing very badly in his sleep. I woke him up and we snuggled in the living room in said chair, so Nixon could sleep sitting up. It let him sleep without coughing, but it was pure hell on my back and neck. But, I'd do just about anything as long as it means Nixon is sleeping and feeling better. 

Vacation is going well, I'm a huge slacker!

Aug 19th....Ice cream goodness :)

 Being home, in NY, for a week and trying make time for everyone while not totally stressing out ourselves has been tasking. We're doing it, but it's taken some finessing.

   Monday I got my tattoo done. Nixon was adorable when he saw it. He said "Oh mommy, you have a lovely owie!" And he is not wrong. He's been loving all the time he's gotten to spend with his cousins A & P.
   The downside is he's gone on a 4 day nap strike. He finally took one yesterday, but we had to wake him up for dinner....and that was just a mess. He was Captain Grumpy Pants for the rest of the night, until we mentioned ice cream. As soon as he heard that, he degrumped and was ready to go.
   We met a long-time friend of mine for a brief visit last night, and Nixon was in awe of my friend's Star Wars Rebel Alliance jersey! That's our little geek!

  Today (Tuesday) we spent the day with Nixon's godmother, Mala. We went to a local comic book store and had a slightly disappointed kiddo when he realized not every LCBS stocked toys like Third Eye Comics does. No Angry Birds? No Nixon. He was politely asking Mac, Mala and myself to take him out to the car because he didn't want to be in the store anymore. Not rude, just very matter-of-factually making his choice known. I have to say, I was proud of him for not just throwing a tantrum to get out of the store. He waited until I was ready to take him to the car.
   After lunch out, we made our way back to Mala's abode where Nixon and Mac napped together while Mala and I just chilled for a couple hours. *I should probably add: Mala is my cousin and therefore Nixon's cousin as well, but we've asked her to be one of his fairy godmothers and he calls her "Geema"
    We spent more time visiting with my friend from last night, this evening and ended the night with a wonderful and laughter filled good time at a restaurant for a late dinner. Nixon wasn't on his best behavior, but to be fair it was quite late and he was admittedly tired.

    4 days of our vacation down 3 days to go! We're all still alive, so that's something to be grateful for!

If you see us on the playground, we're the weird ones...my kid's the one who wants to be chased by everyone and help push everyone on the swings!

* Nixon and I had a marvelous play date today, meeting a mom and her son for the first time. I'm usually extremely anxious and awkward when meeting someone for the first time, but today totally at ease.
   We spent a couple hours in the park and Nixon was cute. I got a couple compliments on his manners. Odd as he is, he walked up to a mom pushing her toddler daughter in the kiddie swings and said "Excuse me, may I help push your little baby?", and he did...very gently. The mom complimented him on his manners and his gentleness.
    She wasn't the only one who Nixon pushed on the swings. He asked me to sit on one so he could push me. And he did...for quite a few minutes, never once complaining about how heavy I was. He just wanted to make me as happy as I made him when I pushed him on the swing earlier.

* After the park, Nixon and I ran a couple errands. He was a total delight! Listened to me, stayed with me (as opposed to the usual behavior of hide-n-seek he's taken to enjoy lately), he was kind to other patrons in the store and he even picked out a "gift" for me. I loved being with him today!

The lesser of two evils

* Today: no nap, no tantrums but a couple time-outs to his bedroom, one screeching fit which led to his removal from the store we were in when he did it. He went to bed early, without a fight, after a quick shower. He fell asleep without getting out of bed once.

* The screeching fit: Mac stayed in the store while I took Nixon out to the car. When he came out to the car, Mac said there was a kid in there who was worse than Nixon. While Nixon will screech, he does NOT throw himself on the floor and have a full-on tantrum. Evidently, this other kid did just that. Well played Nixon, well played. Compared to the other kid, Nixon's screeching was the lesser of the two evils.

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 day in DC

* Nixon and I had a fun-filled, meeting new people kind of day that involved a lot of walking. It's been awhile since I've driven into DC for touristy reasons, so I parked on the WAY wrong side of where I wanted to be. Nixon and I walked around 5 miles round-trip today, I had the joy of doing it while carrying about 10-15lbs of backpacked goodies. It was good exercise, but I doubt I'm going to make it till Nixon's asleep to get the pictures for today's blog.

Nixon learned how to fly a kite today!!

"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.

Mom and Dad had a date night away.....

* No chalk board picture tonight. Mac and I are camping out and Nixon was home with nana. To be fair, everyone had a good time!
It's Free Comic Book Day at Third Eye Comics and a lot of people have showed up for that.

Old friends, ball of energy and TONS of walking

* I can't remember the last time I was so excited for a Monday to arrive! Today Nixon and I got to visit with a friend of mine from my hometown and her son. We spent the day at the Baltimore Aquarium and wandering parts of the area nearby.

* My friend's son is 10 and I remember him when he was just a little older than Nixon. He was awesome with Nixon, but even he was calling him a "ball of energy" and telling him he needed to slow down! haha Welcome to my life, kiddo!

* Even Nixon got tired by the end of the day. He actually told me "Mommy, my energy is all gone". To be fair, it was a long day and he was so past his usual nap/quiet time. I carried him as much as I could before I just couldn't do it...he wasn't the only one who was tired! haha

What an awesome day!