Apparently, according to my 4-year old, I need a job....and then he offered me job security.

* Nixon spent the morning in his brand new, built by mommy, movie fort! Complete with pillows, blankets, snacks delivery service and his privacy. At one point he had Amber in there...and half his toy box. I told Mac he is a hoarder in the making. I was only half-joking.

* Nixon (to me this evening):you can get a job
me:I have a job. I take care of you.
Nixon:I'm not a job.
me:So if I don't take care of you what do I do?
Nixon: Nothing, that's why you get a job.
me:But if I get a job who will take care of you?
Nixon:BeBe.
me:BeBe will take care of you (BeBe is his stuffed teddy bear, NOT proper supervision) And who will feed you?
Nixon:Amber.
me:Amber's going to feed you?
Nixon:No. Amber is eating her food.
me:Why did you tell me to get a job? That made me sad. (he goofs off for a few seconds)
Nixon:You do take care of me...I so sorry mom.
me: (I look up and suddenly realize....)Why are you naked?
Nixon:Because I want your job to dress me and carry me.
me:Can I turn down that job offer??

* Sorry, Iron Man you've been replaced. "Hawkeye is the best hero" says Nixon today.

I caught him as he was going to the bathroom, so I asked him if he wanted to hold the sign. He did, then he was fast asleep again. 

...when we as parents are in the wrong, apologize until the child laughs

* We frequently struggle with understanding some words Nixon says. Tonight we had a horrible misunderstanding. Nixon was getting frustrated with the bridge he was trying to build for his Star Wars angry birds figures to sit on, and was saying "this stupid bridge won't stay up" but it sounded like "this stupid bitch won't stay up". He said it twice before we corrected him, then as he was sitting on my lap crying for getting in trouble, I realized what he really had said, not what we had heard. We quickly apologized and I helped him build his bridge.
(for the record, he has said "bitch" before in perfect context...but it's been quite a while which is why today's incident was surprising to us. He's been really good about no cursing)

he has a twin sized bed, but sleeps curled up in a ball that is smaller than his crib sized mattress....I also sleep in a position similar to this. 

Please stop using the cats as examples to follow, Nixon....most people don't sniff their own butts, because we don't bend like that.

* Arwen was asleep on my lap this evening. Nixon came over, gave her a kiss and said to her "Sweet dreams Arwen." He saw Amber on the stairs so he blew her a kiss and said "I love you, Amber". Could you just melt??

* He came running up to me, super proud because he put one of his Iron Man gloves on all by himself. He says to me, thrusting his hand in my face "Look, mom, my fingers paid attention and did what theys suppused to do!" Yes, when he is putting gloves on, he says to his fingers "pay attention fingers!" to get them in the correct spot.

* And finally, tonight after he finished his dinner, he had quite an evil case of the farts. He butt was rather musical. He'd take a few steps and it would sing. I asked him if he was okay and he replied "I'm fine just got lots of farts, mommy. My butt is not stinky though. See?" As he bends over to curl into a ball and sniff his own butt. I blame the cats for this behavior as they frequently lick themselves in front of him.

sometimes you just need the simple beauty of black and white....

...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.

It's early and my bed is calling me

* Why does every store, gas station today as it were, have those candy set ups that just doom parents? Nixon latched onto a giant jawbreaker sized lollipop while I was paying for gas (inside because the card reader at the pump was acting wonky and I couldn't leave Nixon in the car alone). He's throwing a fit to the car about that stupid lollipop only to totally forget about it 10 minutes later. Ah, the attention span of a child.

* No sleeping child picture tonight. Nixon and I did a movie night tonight and I'm beat! He's still winding down and I am not going to make it. He's sleeping in bed with me tonight, one of the perks to daddy still working midnight shift. Instead I give you our cheesy mid-movie smile instagram picture:

Some nights I've just gotta sleep. Tonight is that night.

The random things that amaze him and amuse me

* Nixon: Wow! I have bones...in my body!

me: you have bones?
Nixon: uh-huh. In my body. *gives me his arm* Feel. Those are all my bones!

* Nixon couldn't find his stuffed teddy bear, BeBe. He was searching upstairs and downstairs, getting more and more frantic as he went. He stopped in front of me and said "Mommy, what if BeBe ran away?" with genuine concern in his voice. I asked him if he thought BeBe ran away and he says "I have been bossy." 

 We found BeBe, Nixon gave her a giant hug....and never once mentioned the bossiness that led him to think she ran away. haha Maybe he's decided it's best not to give her any reason to runaway in the future?

My boy is learning how to cook!

* Nixon helped me make breakfast this morning. He was super excited to help! He was in charge of the scrambled eggs. He scrambled them and, under my watchful eye, cooked them almost entirely by himself. We also had bacon, juice and coffee (coffee-milk for him) together.

* Dinner time...well that did not go so well. Even though he helped me with the mac & cheese, he took 3 small, tentative bites and refused to eat anymore even after he was warned he'd go to bed. The bites he did take, he claimed it was yummy, but his face looked like someone put garbage on his tongue.
 He went to bed early.

*sigh* Tomorrow is another day and I'm sure he'll still be a choosy little eater then too. But at least he's learning how to cook a little bit.

The return of my optimistic, happy child!

* Nixon: Amber is waiting on the stairs for me to go to bed. She likes me.
me: No, she's on the stairs because she's fat and lazy.
Nixon: She's cute!
me: Yes, Nixon. Amber is fat, lazy and cute. But she does like you so we keep her.

* Proud mommy : Nixon has cleaned up his toys in the living room, every day this week so far when asked without talking back! He'll tell me he needs to help me do something, like take out the trash because "I am a super hero mommy".

My little super hero!! 

Sometimes you just need to shake your booty!

* Nixon (talking on the phone to grandpa)
"I picking up tires. Cause they dangerous. Okay? Yeah. I love you. Bye"
I love that he is so funny, affectionate and keeps the conversation short all at the same time. And my dad? He gets a little choked up hearing his grandson's voice, which makes me smile.

* Spontaneous dance party in the living room with Nixon! Totally rocked! Best way to have my son giggle, my butt off the couch and both of us busting a move together! Thank you, Vanilla Ice!

It's almost like he knows I'm in the room taking his picture...he doesn't, but his sleep'itude would lead you to believe otherwise. 

punk and run

* Nixon was looking at one of his activity books and started counting squares: "uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, spanish, seven...I'm done"
   I asked him to bring me my cellphone and said "por favor" then batted my eyelashes at him and he says "No mommy, you say please first" after I tell him I just did, in Spanish, he tells me "oh, well okay then." When I say "gracias" for bringing me my phone he says "Um, mommy, that's not a word." I can't even stop laughing long enough to explain it to him!

* Monday nights are trash and recycling night. On the nights Mac is working, I have to take the trash and recycling out. Tonight, while I was taking the recycling out, Nixon closed and locked the door. I pounded on the door and never once called his name. He opened the door, and was hauling ass up the stairs when I walked in the door! Smart kid, because I'm sure I had fire in my eyes. I controlled myself and told him to stay away from the door and finish his dinner.

* "maybe I can take a break mom."
me: take a break from what?'
Nixon: From you!
me: From me? Oh okay...
Nixon: No, not really.

Look!! Sleeping without fingers in his mouth!! 

the low, the high and the way he makes me feel like I'm failing him

* Can I just write today sucked and I'm glad it's over?
Because it did and I am. Nixon threw a fit in the grocery store because he wanted a Matchbox car and his evil bitch of a mom, I mean, I said no.

* He did eat 2 hot dogs, toast and raw broccoli for dinner.

* And he's breaking my heart by crying over how badly he wants to go to school. We're trying, but there's wait lists and other hoops to jump through. But to hear him say "I want to go to school" and watch the tears well up in his eyes, it breaks me inside.

sleep well, my child, and may tomorrow be a better day for all. 

A return visit from Captain Obvious

* Out running errands today, it started wet sloppy snowing. Nixon's seen snow and played in it but hasn't ever been outside in it while it was snowing heavily. I took him to the car while Mac paid for our items and it was pretty ugly outside. Nixon was all disgusted as I was buckling him in his carseat telling me "Mommy, this snow is getting me all wet and cold. It's not pretty at all!" I laughed and told him "I know baby, sometimes snow is just a big mess." He says "Crap on a stick mom, it's getting my chips wet. This is not fun at all."
  Guess he's as over snow as I am. haha Well, I grew up outside of Buffalo, New York and spent 20 plus winters there, he's in his first winter. I think he'll get over it and love it again next time it's not ruining the bag of chips he was enjoying :) He gets that from his daddy.

this was right before I had to "wrestle" with my sleeping child, to keep his fingers out of his mouth! It's a helluva struggle to break him of this habit and he's terrible at it in his sleep. I won, tonight, this one round...it's a small victory, but one I'm quite proud of!

the day Nixon stole Mac's cat and declared her as his own!

* Mac: Do you hear this punk?
me: What?
Mac: According to Nixon, Amber is his cat.
me: Well, she does like him. Nixon, who's cat is Arwen?
Nixon: Arwen is Amber's cat!
me: What?! Arwen isn't Amber's cat. Our pet doesn't have a pet of her own. If Amber is your cat, then Arwen is who's cat?
Nixon: Um.....mommy's.
me: Yes, Arwen is my cat.
Mac: Because she's a butthole and doesn't like anyone else.


* During dinner I was telling Mac about the little girl Nixon was cozying up to at the Post Office today. He was adorable, very kind and sweet. I was proud to be his mom. On the way out, we were walking out in front of the little girl and her mom, so I was holding the door for them when Nixon said "I got this mom" and tried holding it. Awww...so cute!
  Mac asked Nixon what his "girlfriend's" name was.
  Nixon: "His name was Nixon"
  me: "No baby, not your name, the little girl's name"
  Nixon: "OH....yeah, I don't know"
  me: "That's good, he's keeping it simple"

it looks like he's mad or trying to avoid the flash, he's not. He has no clue I'm even in the room with him right now. Sweet dreams, my love.  

Happy Valentine's Day!!

It's a pure photo blog today:

His gifts (Superman coffee cup!!) 

looks just like me before I finish my coffee in the morning. Love him!

Loving his very own coffee cup!

Mother-son bonding done right 

One of my two loves, but without a doubt my deepest love!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! From my little sweetheart, to all of yours! 

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! 

Captain Obvious has entered the building!

* Nixon was watching Mac play a video game. Mac was getting shot at (or something like that, I don't exactly care) when Mac says "Dammit!" and Nixon says "No, Daddy. Don't say that word. Say "crap on a stick" not that word." This happened three times.
Schooled by a 4-year old! Loving it!

* We're all snuggled up on the sofa, chilling together when *pfffrrrttt*
Nixon: Excuse me, I fart.
A few seconds go by and then....
me: Ew, Nixon that is really stinky!
Nixon: Yeah, well it came from my butt!

mouth wide open and he's still adorable! 

The day Nixon awed people in public...because he is awesome! not awful.

* Nixon was outstandingly impressive today, while running errands with me!

First, the Post Office:
   Nixon loves our little local post office. It's tucked in the back corner of a gift shop, which means Nixon gets to look at all the cool kids (Melissa & Doug mostly) toys, while I'm at the desk dealing with stamps and packages. The Post Office is usually not very busy and he's always in my eyesight, so I'm not uncomfortable with him being a few feet away from me. Today there were a couple older women behind me, which doesn't always make for a good combination when Nixon and I are in the mix. It went like this today:
Nixon: Look mommy, I fixed it! ("it" being a bag of army men and it had been resting on the bottom rack not actually on the post it belonged on. Nixon had put it on the post with the rest of the other bags)
old lady A: Hire him now!
old lady B: Wow! That's much better than hearing "Look mommy I broke it". *small chuckle*
me: I agree. He saves that for when we're home.
old lady A: He's adorable and has lovely manners, even said "excuse me" as he passed me to get to the shelf.
me: Oh thank gods he used his manners!
As I left, I wished them both a "lovely day". Nixon was a gem the whole time!

Next, at the grocery store, I had the guy in the produce department do a double take as my little ball-of-wonder said super happily "Mommy, can I have broccoli?" Yes, that's right, my child freely and happily asked for BROCCOLI!! He even picked out  his little bunch of broccoli and put it in the bag. And was super happy that he was going to eat that for dinner. "But mommy, you can't cook it. It's yucky when it's cooked."
And that was when the other produce guy looked at me like I had the oddest kid in the world. Because my son declared cooked broccoli was gross!

cute, uses manners, might be developing OCD about store displays AND eats his broccoli...I am one lucky mommy!

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.....

"I make the play times"

* me: Nixon, it's time to eat breakfast, not time to play with your toys.
  Nixon: But why?
  me: Why? Because I'm your mom and I say it's time to eat. I have to make these rules.
 Nixon: Well, I am Nixon and I make the play times.
  me: Nice to meet you Nixon, but mom rules trump fun times, sorry son.

* Tonight we started reading the Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Nixon wanted me to keep reading it, all of it, and was very hurt and pouting when I told him we had to wait until tomorrow to read more. Then Nixon says "Mommy, you need to leave so I can go to sleep and wake tomorrow. We need to read more, more faster". He is adorable!

he's as cute sleeping as he is mouthy and smart-assed awake! And he's mine!

Help! My child is a glass half-full kind of kid.

* Even when the skies are gray and it's raining, Nixon comes in bubbly and cheerful to wake me up this morning telling me "Mommy, wake up! It's a beautiful day outside!" How did I get an optimist for a son?!?

* "Mommy how can I grow if I can't eat and get energy all day?" This was said after I said "no" to more cookies. He did eat strawberries, apples, bananas and broccoli without fighting me. Don't worry, he's going to grow just fine, even without cookies for energy.

Looks like I'm raising an optimist...who knew I had that in me! 

Beautiful, bittersweet bedtime

* Mac and I were snuggled on the sofa together when Nixon came over and sniffed Mac. He says "Pee-you, you smell stinky!" than laughs and runs away. I tell Mac, "He wasn't talking to me" and Mac says "Our kid's kind of a dick."
Maybe, but if you stink then you stink..Nixon might just be a little too blunt and honest.

* Nixon wanted to make a video for one of his cousin's, who was celebrating her first birthday today. He did and it was adorable! I love this singing phase he's suddenly in!

* Nixon wanted me to read him a new story tonight. So I started reading his first ever chapter book The Case of the Elevator and the Duck. I was going to stop after 3 chapters, but Nixon asked me to keep reading. So I kept reading until I noticed Nixon had fallen asleep. I can't ever remember my parents reading to me, let alone me falling asleep to the sound of their voice while they read to me, so this was especially bittersweet to me.