I am LOVING this kid and his behavior at school!

* I had my concerns about today, especially when it started with me having to wake Nixon up for school. My worrying increased when my car doors were all frozen shut (thankfully Mac was able to get them open) and Nixon was being a bit of a pill about getting ready for school and then again when it came time to put his gloves on.

* My concerns were for naught. Nixon was standing at the classroom door, looking out it, waiting for mac and I. Uh-oh, here we go, I thought as we approached.
    He had a band-aid on his pinkie and wanted to tell us about his owie. Other than that, he had a great day! His teachers were happy with him, I was proud of him and best of all, Nixon was smiling and proud to show-off his sticker card for the day! Just a really great and awesome day at school!

* Nixon comes running in from the kitchen to the living room and says "I LOVE YOU, COOKIE MONSTER!". Mac was at work, so I asked him, "Am I Cookie Monster?". Nixon says "Yes, and I love you!"
   It was just a random outburst of affection for me from Nixon, and I ate it up! He is wonderful! I even got snuggles tonight before he went to bed.

He's always silly, always thoughtful and hopefully finally kicking this cold to the curb!

* Nixon and I were walking down to our mailbox (it's a community box with individual boxes for each house), when Nixon notices the house across from us has set up some Halloween decorations in the yard.
Nixon: Look mommy. I spy a moon, monster and a batman!
me: Really?!
Nixon: Yeah, right there...in that grass.
me: Nixon, who would you rather be: Batman or Iron Man?
Nixon: Duh mom....Pinkie Pie!
me: *laughing* That's awesome buddy!
Nixon: Because Pinkie Pie makes everyone laugh and smile, and I like to make you laugh and smile. That's why Pinkie Pie is the best!

    And there you have it folks. Flawless logic according to a 4-year old.

* Nixon's birthday is coming up, next month. He's starting a gift list and I'm asking what he wants to do for his birthday. Today we talked about his cake:
me: Nixon, what kind of cake do you want?
Nixon: *silent, thinking really hard* I want a cake with pink frosting!
me: Okay. What would you like on the cake? What kind of decorations?
Nixon: Iron Man! With a purple candle.
me: Really? That's quite a cake, my friend.
Nixon: But the purple candle is for you, Mommy. You like purple.
me: Aw, baby boy, I do like purple...but it's your birthday. Do you really want purple candles because that's okay.
Nixon: I'm going to think about this some more. I have lots of thinking to do.

* I think we're finally getting to the end of this awful cold Nixon's had. Seems he's sleeping the last of it off. He fell asleep on the futon around 530 tonight. By 8pm he wouldn't wake up to eat dinner, so I carried him up to bed, hoping he stays asleep for the night. Sometimes he just needs a lot of sleep to finally kick an illness. I'm hoping this is it.

He's the best self-esteem builder ever!!

* I was getting dressed for a signing at Third Eye Comics, which I was really looking forward too. As I was doing my hair, in a new style, Nixon comes into the bathroom and says "Wow, Mom, your hair looks super pretty." Awww!
   After I was dressed, and finishing my makeup, Nixon comes in and says to me "Mommy, you look great! Really pretty!"

this is what Nixon called "Really pretty". 

* Nixon: Knock, knock
Mac: Who's there?
Nixon: It's me, Nixon.
Mac: Nixon who?
Nixon: No! It's just me...Nixon! Get it?
me (to Mac): He's cute, so he'll get by.

* Nixon is now reading exit numbers on the highway! He likes to read off each exit as I'm passing it and tell me "Mommy, that's not our exit yet". He's also obsessed with counting all the semis he sees. Last night he counted 24 in our 8 mile drive.

Oh no, son, that is not going to fly today...or any day.

* Today, Nixon woke up and crawled into bed with me, telling me "Mommy, I needs the blanket on me, my feet are cold!" he then puts his iceburg-like feet on my legs! So rude! I roll him away from me, get his feet wrapped up in a blanket and burrow back into my own blanket cocoon.

* Later in the day, Nixon was getting pissed playing his Angry Birds game. He started yelling and was told to calm down. He looked at me and said "NO! I won't calm down!", so I told him he needed to go to his room for talking back to me. We're not tolerating it anymore affective yesterday because of his behavior at school. He says "No" again. I got up, picked him up, carried him to his bedroom and told him why he was in there. I set the timer and told him he needed to stay in the room until I came up to get him.
   He stayed. He and I talked about why he was in his room, and he came downstairs and apologized for talking back.

* I heard Nixon singing and looked to see what he was singing. My little cutie was singing "Twinkle, twinkle little star" to Arwen. When I told him that was very sweet, he said "I walked by and scared her awake, so I was singing her back to sleep...but you moved and now I'll never get her back to sleep!" haha

* Finally, we've got new magnetic clips. Nixon was looking for BeBe and I asked where he might be. Nixon says "On the fridge, hanging in the dungeon.". Oooookay.
   Sure enough, Nixon had hung BeBe by the ears using the clips and put the clips on the fridge! That's so freaking awesome I can't even find the space to be slightly worried that my son is hanging his beloved bear by the ears in a dungeon.

Days like today, I have no idea why the gods smiled on me and gave me Nixon...but I'm so grateful they did! He's amazing!

* I found a dead cricket this morning...in the living room. Apparently my cats will play with it till it's dead and then walk away. Nixon asked if he could leave it outside so it could wake up. How do you say no?
I didn't.
I helped him open the sliding door so he could put it outside. Once it was outside and we closed the door, I reminded him that it was dead and it'd most likely get eaten by another animal.
He says "No mom, look! It's moving!" and it was, because of a slight breeze (he placed it on the table next to the door), which I explained to him, reminding him that it was really dead.
His response? "If you say so mom, I saw it move."

* Nixon: Laying down is my favorite exercise.
me: You sound just like mommy
Nixon: Yeah.

* Nixon started telling me tonight about a bed he hasn't had in almost a year. It's his red, plastic toddler bed. He was telling me about his bed, the toys he brought to bed with him and the fact that "I slept in the little red bed when I was a little, little boy. Not a baby, but a smaller boy." I adore that he is developing long-term memories and he can tell me if he was a big boy or a smaller boy.

* Nixon saw flowers at the store with me today. I was at the register and Nixon ran over to the bucket of packaged bouquets and says "Mommy, these are beautiful and you would like them, right?". I'm not really a flower person, but....how do you not love that your child sees something and thinks of you?
I told him "Nixon, those are lovely. You know what?! I think, you should tell Daddy you want to get those for me. I think that'd be a really nice idea, don't you?"
He stood by the flowers and thought, then said "Yeah, Daddy will like doing that for you. It'll make you smile too."
The cashier was listening and watching us the whole time, she said "You have a very sweet little boy, momma. You must be proud."
She has no idea!

He's doing math he's so excited for our trip to NY, he got a massage and gave me a massage....I love my baby boy!

* Nixon says to me this morning "Mommy, we've got 2 weeks before we leave for New York. That's forever!". I tell him, we've got 2 days and he looks at me and says "That's not so very long. I go to sleep and wake up and then it will be one day! Wow, mommy, that's not long at all!"
   He then tells me to start packing. haha

* Nixon misplaced his iTouch today (well Mac's iTouch) and was pissed because that meant he couldn't play Angry Birds. He comes over to me and tells me I have to find it for him. I told him since I didn't touch it last, I wasn't looking for it. I went one step further and told him if I did find it before he found it, I was keeping it until we left for NY on Saturday.
   I thought he was going to lose his mind! Well, he did kind of lose his mind. He cried, yelled and kept trying to tell me I lost his iTouch.
   Mac finally found it, after Nixon apologized and was looking for it at the same time.

* At dinnertime, I tell Nixon: "Listen, if you think while we're visiting friends and family, you will get away with acting up and mouthing off and being horrible, you are wrong! I will find a place to put you in time out and you will be treated like we're at home. Family will not stop me from correcting your behavior. You know that right?"
   This kid took his plate and tried to walk away from me! I stopped him, make him look at me and took his plate away....you take food away from a Ball and he gets it. He got it, or at least knew enough to listen to Mac and I, look at me and told me he got it.
   We shall see......

* Nixon, after his shower, says to me "Mommy, can you do the bang, bang on my back?" It took me a minute to get what he meant. He likes when I use the side of my hand pinkie to wrist, and lightly chop his back as a massage. What's even better, is after I did this to him while he was stretched out over my legs in my bed watching tv, he decided it was my turn so I got the same massage from him AND I got a back scratch from him!
   I love him and his thoughtfulness.

poor baby has a cough but keeps telling me he's fine...yeah, so fine he's sleeping with his mouth open :(

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!

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!

"I have light yellow skin"

* (I was lightly tickling Nixon's nose this morning)
Nixon: What are you doing Mom?
me: Just looking at you, and your cute nose.
Nixon: Why?
me: Because I'm your mom and moms do silly things like that. Do you have my nose or Daddy's nose?
Nixon: Duh! I have my nose...Nixon's nose.
me: You do, huh?
Nixon: Yes, and I have light yellow skin.
me: Well, okay then.

* Watching TV, Nixon sees the Dawn commercial which shows the oil spill animal victims getting cleaned up.
Nixon: Mommy, I want a animal.
me: Huh? *then I get what he's saying* Oh, baby, those aren't animals to be pets, those are animals who are sick and need to be cleaned.
Nixon: I'll save them!
me: Nixon, I promise you. If there's ever something like that nearby, I'll take you and we'll go help save animals, okay?
Nixon: Really?
me: Yes baby, I would love to do that with you. Saving animals is very important and it'd be great to do that together with you.

* I told Nixon his newest cousin is expected to be born tomorrow. He says "Really? From Aunt Snotface's tummy?"
   Then I tell him we'll see the new baby next month when we go home to visit. He has the most amazing idea! "I'm going to meet my baby cousin and put him to sleep for a nap before the moon is up to keep him safe. Because you always put me to sleep when the moon is up and I'm always safe."
   He is too much, isn't he?!

* By the way, Nixon took a nap at 5pm....at 8:15pm I took him upstairs to his bed. He's asleep for the night, I hope. But I'm afraid it's going to be an early morning for me tomorrow....

Yeah, he might be going to college with those fingers in his mouth :(

Have you met my son? Apparently he has 3 heads because he says "excuse me" and likes broccoli...at least that's what the people in the grocery store thought tonight.

* Nixon was super excited this morning when I woke up, made him breakfast right away and started getting ready for the day. We were meeting Mac at Third Eye Comics for a big tent sale. When we got there Nixon sat down and played Angry Birds while we waited. He was amazingly well-behaved. Only a couple times did he try to dart beyond the line of people which would have put him in the parking lot with cars possibly coming through.

* You know what's cool? Having a kid who will ask for broccoli over apples in the produce section. You know what's even cooler, watching other adults look at me with a secret awe look when they hear that request!
   That's right! If given the choice of apples or broccoli, Nixon will choose broccoli. But today he choose blueberries and bananas, because blueberries were cheaper. He then walked past a guy, said "Oh excuse me", to which I praised him for his use of manners. The guy? He turned 3 different times to look at Nixon, like he couldn't quite figure out what to think of him.
   That's okay, a lot of people are often puzzled by a child who has manners these days. I won't hold it against the guy. I'll just keep tell my kid he's awesome for using his manners, because...he is!

* Oh yeah...Nixon read a word all by himself today. He went into the spare bedroom, making sure everything was turned off. He went to the switch that controls the fan and said "'o-f-f' Mommy, that means off! I turned it off!" I almost cried I was so happy and proud of him! I even bragged about him to Mac when we saw him at Third Eye.

Little bunny foo foo sitting in the backyard, munching on the clover as Nixon quietly watches

* Sometimes Nixon does the most surprisingly random thing that just blows me away. Tonight, I noticed a small brown bunny in our backyard. We watched it for a moment then went inside. A few minutes later it was still there, so I grabbed my camera and went outside to quietly get some pictures of it. Nixon begged to come outside as well, and I honestly thought "Well, there goes the bunny". I was so, so wrong. Nixon sat behind me, in a lawn chair and quietly spoke to the bunny while I took the photos. We were out there for about 10 minutes, before I had to go inside (I was getting eaten alive by those damned mosquitoes). That bunny was in our yard, that I was aware of, for over half an hour. Nixon even set BeBe up in front of the sliding glass door because "BeBe would like to see the bunny too and he promises not to make a sound, mommy!"
   Isn't he just the cutest?!?!

* Nixon: You forgot my baby song.
me: It's late, way past your bedtime. You'll have to go to sleep without the baby song.
Nixon: But mom, babies still need their baby songs. It's very important for babies to have their baby songs.
me: Nixon, you're not a baby.
Nixon: But you said I'l always be your baby. *cue pouty face*
well played, Nixon, well played. 

Maybe I'm too open & honest with him??

* Okay, so it goes like this: Yesterday Mac and I had a little "quality time", resulting in a mark (not hickey...more along the lines of a bruise) on me. Nixon saw it today and said "Oh mommy, you have a bad owie. Does it hurt? I know! A Star Wars band-aid will make it better. Those are super strong!"
   I tell him it's fine, it doesn't hurt and it's not really an owie. Then, before I can stop the words from leaving my lips I say, "Daddy did it to mommy, but not on purpose."
   Nixon, the most tender-hearted kid I know says "I'm gonna tell Daddy he needs to play nice! Right, Mommy? We can't be mean to our friends!"
   (He did eventually put a band-aid on the "owie" and he also did tell Mac he has to be nicer to me. So cute!)

   Thanks goddess he didn't ask how the mark was made or why it was there! haha

Not quite there on his disappearing act.

* I woke this morning and found the house very quiet. Since I had already heard Nixon awake and moving around, this had me worried. I walked into his room (a disaster area, as usual) and found him, watching his PSP hiding under a giant plastic bin used for his toys! I asked him what he was doing and he says "Duh mom, I'm hiding from you! It's a good hiding job, right?"  Yeah, a big blue bin, upside down on your bed, with sound coming out from under it...totally a good hiding job!

* I had to spray down a chair we have, and Nixon was watching me do it. He's standing back saying "Wow mom, you're a hero! You're looking good cleaning that chair." which should sound sarcastic but he completely meant it in a supportive way.

One ant, relocate....three or more, it's time to die!

* Nixon....my little ant sympathiser. He says to me "Mommy, I need to help this one ant find a better home. He's lost." The ant was in the living room. When he sees more ants he says to me, "Mommy, it's time to get the killing spray, they are out of control!" haha

* Nixon: I'm never going to see my cousin J again.
me: Baby, you'll see him again. Not soon, but he's not gone forever.
Nixon: No, Mommy, he's gone forever. He left me.
me: Nixon, you're breaking my heart.
Nixon: Mine hurts too Mommy.

* Mac had the night off. We decided to get Taco Bell for dinner tonight. Nixon was so awesome in the car! He had Star Wars Angry Birds on Mac's iTouch and was content to quietly play that game the entire trip. It was wonderful and made me hopeful for any future road trips we may take, that we have that game with us at the ready for any traffic jams we hit.

"Until next time"

* Nixon was super sad to see his cousin, aunt and uncle head home today. We all were, but he took it the hardest. He's got a framed photo of him and J together, now sitting on his night stand which helped him calm down a little.

* A little nail polish helped him recover the rest of the way. I painted his nails and then he painted my big toe, because the nail polish on it had chipped off. He's pretty good at painting my toe nails. Very gentle.

You've met Captain Obvious, now meet Mr. Hollywood!

* Mr. Hollywood made an appearance this morning. He's pretty cool, he comes and goes as he please. Today I caught a picture of him.
(Mr Hollywood is Nixon when he's wearing my over-sized sunglasses.) He's adorable.








* Nixon and I were snacking on some carrot sticks. Nixon comes over, takes the bag and says "Mom, you've had enough. No more!" I ask him if I was cut off and he looks at me, stroking my cheek "Mommy, I love you", like he was getting ready to stage an intervention.
   I take a few more from the bag and he says to me "Lame!" in that tone of voice of his that makes me dread his teen years already! He's also started saying "Well, duh!"

* We were watching a little TV this morning, while I tried to shake off the sleep. Nixon asked me what the words in the bottom corner of the screen said. He spelled them, I helped him sound them out and now he know exactly how to read My Little Pony on the screen. It's all sight recognition, but isn't that really all reading is in the first place?

* I almost had a very devastated little boy tonight. We ran to the grocery store for a few items tonight. Nixon brought BeBe, who usually get left in the car but tonight came into the store with us. We used a smaller cart, and Nixon found the perfect BeBe space: the cup holder on the cart. It became BeBe's seat. Mac loads the car, I buckle Nixon in his carseat. As Mac is getting INTO the car Nixon says "But wait, BeBe!" Sure enough, that damned bear is still in that cup holder in the cart.
   Lesson learned: BeBe stays in the car no matter what from now on. NO exceptions.

the day the poo was stuck in his butt "FOREVER"

* Nixon was eating his snacks today, I was chilling on the sofa. Nixon walks over to me and says "Open up mommy", which I do, he drops a cheese cracker in my mouth and pats my head saying "Good girl, Mommy!"

* Playing around with two cat toys, I managed to hit myself on the wrist bone with the hard ball. I said "ow" because it really did hurt and Nixon said "Wait mommy, I go get you a bandaid for your owie" He put the bandaid on my wrist (it's Hulk, which rocks!) and then kissed it better.

* Nix was in the bathroom for a while. I knocked to check on him:
me: Nixon, you okay?
Nixon: Mommy, the poop is stuck in my butt! It won't come out!
me: Okay, relax. The poop will come out, but don't force it.
Nixon: It's never coming out! It's STUCK IN MY BUTT FOREVER!
me: How about I get your PSP and you sit in here and just relax for a few minutes, giving little pushes?
Nixon: Okay. but the poop is super stuck up my butt.
me: *about 15 minutes later* Nix? Baby, you done?
Nixon: No, the poop gave up.
me: Gave up?
Nixon: Yeah, I'm done.
me: Okay, well let's wipe and wash your hands.

* Nixon: Hey! Who turned out the lights?! I can't see!
Yeah...he's walking around with his eyes closed and saying this. He started this stuff this morning while I was still asleep. I was only half-aware of what was going on, so he came over and lifted one of my eyelids and said "MOM, I said....."

Happy Father's Day!

* Nixon has a new hobby: taking ants he finds and "reuniting" them with their families. Which means he brings them from whatever part of the living room he finds them and puts them at the front door. He gets extra excited about it too. He comes running over to me and says "Mommy, I'm a hero I saved a baby ant!" because to him all ants are baby ants that need to find their family.

* Nixon is learning the finer art of bubble blowing. Today he was working on mastering blowing those really big bubbles. He watched me do it for awhile and then took to trying it himself. The highlight for him wasn't his large bubbles, it was when bubbles would stick to the sliding screen door. He was amazed by that! Best of all? I was able to sit at the kitchen table and work on some crafty stuff while Nixon was playing with his bubbles and I was watching him the whole time!

* Happy Father's Day!!

this is how I found him when I came to take tonight's photo. His head was almost under his bed. 

he's my beautiful, sleeping angel 

Haircut day...unplanned haircut day for Nixon!

* Nixon came into the bedroom at gods-awful 7:30am, walked over to my sleeping body, taps me on the shoulder and says "Mommy? It's me Nixon!" then gives me his brightest smile when I open an eye to look at him.

* Mac needed a haircut, so we all got out of the house for a bit and went to the barber shop. While waiting, Nixon decided his hair is getting too long and he needed a haircut too. So he's sporting a freshly buzzed head now and he's happy as can be.

* Nixon and Mac watched Star Wars: A New Hope (aka the original first movie) together tonight. Nixon likes to say "pewpew" and ask about all the aliens. He does enjoy the movies and after every movie ends he asks for more right away. Makes his dad very proud!

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!