Nixon chose his future occupation today!!

* car ride conversation with Nixon:
Nixon: Mommy, I want to ride a rocket ship
me: A real one?
Nixon: Yeah, and go to outer space
me: So you want to be an astronaut?
Nixon: Will I get a rocket ship if I do?
me: No, baby, you don't get a rocket ship, but you're trained to ride in one. Rocket ships aren't everywhere, you have to train and go to them.
Nixon: And then go to outer space, right?
me: Yes.
Nixon: And Tom and Jerry are on my rocket ship with me?
me: No, Nixon, Tom and Jerry are on their own cartoon rocket ship, you can't have them ride with you.
Nixon: Crap on a stick! But I can still go to outer space, right?
me: Sure.
Nixon: Okay, I'll be an astronaut.

* In other news, Nixon is super excited about the countdown board for Nana. He even asked to make the 'X' today. I said sure but he needed to practice first. He happily started to practice writing 'X' which turned into 'T' and then 'H'. He was doing great, until he decided he was over it. But he did make today's 'X' which was all he wanted to do in the first place. Mission accomplished.

I wonder if BeBe will need to go to training when Nixon becomes an astronaut??

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!

He's such a sweetheart

* Migraines are pure hell. I woke up this morning with one sneaking up on me. Mac asked me if I wanted to sleep a little more and I gratefully accepted the offer.
  Nixon came up to check on me about 15 minutes later. He asked me what was wrong and I told him my head hurt. He crawled into bed with me and told me to cuddle with him because "snuggles always make my owies feel better". We laid in my bed, snuggled with the blankets over my head, for a few minutes and the entire time Nixon whispered softly to me because he knew speaking loudly hurt my head. At one point, Nixon leaned down and whispered "mommy, does your head feel better? I think it should feel better now".

* Nixon saw the countdown board I have set up for him, that shows how many days until his Nana comes to visit. He counted how many days left and got super excited. I ran to the grocery store for dinner and when I came home Nixon ran to the door and said "Mommy, did you bring home Nana?". I explained we had 4 more days before Nana arrived and he walked away and plopped on the sofa, groaning "on man, that's too long away!"

"My ear is tired"

* It's no secret that my family is a family of geeks. Tonight, Mac and I are watching Kevin Smith's show Comic Book Men and Nixon starts acting out the opening credits! It was the coolest thing he's done....this week!

 That's our kid! He's a goofball, and silly as hell, but there is no denying the geek runs deep with him.

* He also got a phone call from his cousin, T, in California today. He hasn't seen her since January and they had spent a lot of time together over several months. It was adorable hearing the 2 of them on the phone chatting to each other. Until Nixon got bored and handed the phone to me saying "Mommy, she needs to talk to you now, my ear is tired!" haha 

This is what happens when Nixon chooses a birthday card without being able to read yet:

* Today is Mac's birthday. He doesn't believe in making a big deal out of it, but Nixon wanted to do something special for him when I told him last night that today was Dad's birthday. Nixon said Daddy needed a surprise party, with balloons and cake. I kind of dug the idea because Nixon came up with it.
  This morning, while Mac was asleep,Nixon and I bought Mac a couple small gifts. I brought Nixon over to the card section and asked him to choose one. He chose a pink one, for a 4 year old girl, that said "Princess". I loved it! Why? Because Nixon picked it out for his dad.
   We stopped at the grocery store and Nixon chose a very small cake as well. He took care in deciding between cake or cupcakes, but decide on a small round cake ultimately.
  We came home, I wrapped gifts and inflated a few balloons to tie to Mac's computer chair. Everything was finished just in time for him to wake up, he came downstairs as I was making him a cup of coffee.
   Nixon chose some very geek-friendly gifts for Mac. They were spot-on perfect gifts!

photo on the left was taken 15 seconds before this one. He recovers quickly, eh?

You've been waiting and he never disappoints: Captain Obvious drops by!

* My wake-up call this morning:
Nixon: *tapping on my eyelids* Mommy, are you in there?
me: *groaning incoherently*
Nixon: I found you money, I'm going to keep it.
me: Fine, go put it in your Captain America bank, and close your door behind you.
Nixon: NO! It's my money!
me: *opening my eyes* I know, I said you could have it. Go put it. In. Your. Bank!
Nixon: And I said NO!
me: *throwing the covers off and sitting up* Nixon this is ridiculous! You do know I said you could keep the money right?
Nixon: No, I want to steal it.
me: Well now you can't have it because stealing is wrong and you woke me up by arguing with me before I had my coffee.  *I walk into the bathroom and close the door*
Nixon: *knocks on the bathroom door* Mommy, you need to go back to sleep. You are being very mean and bossy.
me: Good morning, Captain Obvious!

I adore that they are sleeping so close to each other! He is facing her and neither of them woke when I took this picture. 

Nixon, guardian of freshly made beds

* Nixon has been having a real issue with cleaning up his toys lately. So much so that it's come to 3 times of getting asked to clean them up, and then Mac or I clean them up and take them away. Today was that same thing, Nixon had just gotten his cars back and he decided to not pick them up. I was picking them up and he knew that meant they were going to be taken away again. So what does he do? He sits on the stairs and says "BOOOO" when he realizes I'm not going to let him come and save his "favorite" truck.
I ushered him into his room and put him in Time Out for that. I can ignore a lot of things, but a blatant disrespectful act like that...no sir, we're going to address that.

* Nana (Mac's mom) is coming for a week long visit starting next week. Nixon is excited and has even been happily, even at some points begging, helping me getting the house ready. Today he helped me wash the sheet for the spare bed. He then told Amber, after he saw the fresh clean sheets on the bed, "No Amber, that's Nana's bed. You have to stay out! Okay? I said stay out!"

the perfect toy

* Mac is trying to get Nixon to look at him and talk to him
Mac: Nixon, you need to look at people and talk to them, not touch your peenie.
Nixon: But it's the perfect thing to play!
me: *laughing quietly but uncontrollable*
Mac: Nixon, you can not play with your peenie while talking to people.
Nixon: Okay *as he walks away*

Seriously, we brought this on ourselves because we let him chill in his undies when we have no plans to go anywhere. From now on we're stopping that. Pants or shorts at all times, so says Dad.

Here's a tip...don't try to talk to Nixon on the phone.

* I was getting trash together tonight, because it's trash night, and Nixon says to me: Mommy, I'll help! But first, close the door, it's cold and my toes are icy.

* Nixon got to talk to his Nana on the phone tonight. He was excited, until he said all he wanted too, then he said his goodbye and handed the phone back to me...while Nana was still talking to him.

still on his bed every night....

Missing peenie!!

* Nixon spent over half an hour singing Old McDonald had a Farm tonight. Mostly the "ee, io, ee, io, eo" part. Very loudly, while sometimes lying next to Amber on the floor and singing it to her. She must love him because she keeps coming back for more.

* Today Nixon asked me to do something that I used to do all the time for him: paint his toenails! Tonight he is sporting lovely red and purple piggies with matching fingernails. Best of all? It means he sat in one place for 25 whole minutes letting his toes dry!

* As a mom, I get no privacy. Tonight Nixon walked into the bathroom and asked me what I was doing.
me: I'm peeing.
Nixon: From your butt?
me: No, Nixon. I don't pee from my butt.
Nixon: You pee from you missing peenie!
me: *look at him blankly* laugh
Nixon: You pee from your missing peenie! Because you have no peenie!
me: That's enough Nixon, get out of the bathroom please.
Nixon: *leaves the bathroom still yelling* MISSING PEENIE!!
Well, he's not totally wrong, I am missing a penis.

1130pm and he's still awake!!

* We're snuggling in my bed tonight. We watched Ice Age and Nixon was his usual overly-emotional self during the cave drawing scene. He started crying and saying he missed Daddy. We cuddled and I gave him kisses, after a few minutes he was okay but he's still having a hard time falling asleep.
Oh well, tomorrow is Sunday and we can always
take a nap if needed.

A mostly uneventful day

* Nixon could not wait for me to get out of bed this morning. He greeted me, smile on his face, with an incredibly sweet "Good morning mommy. It's a beautiful day! The sun is up and the bugs are outside! The bugs AND spiders are outside, mommy. Isn't that a good day? Now come downstairs its time to wake up."

* His reason for being so excited was mostly due to our creating a membership on abcmouse.com for him. Since we can't get him into a daycare or preschool program, I want him to still know the basics. Hoping this website will help, we signed up and today was Nixon's first day.
He completed 2 lessons and multiple games. He was overjoyed to be learning! He calls it "going to school at the computer", it is the most accurate description there is.

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!

THIS is what was so funny yesterday

* Mac: I remembered what Nixon told me that made me laugh last night.
me: Really?
Mac: Yeah, only because he said basically the same thing again this morning to me.
me: Oh, that makes sense. So what was it?
Mac: He saw the carbonite Angry Bird on my desk, and says "Can I have my Angry Bird, Daddy?" to which I said "No, remember we traded. I gave you Captain Marvel domo for this Angry Bird figure" and then Nixon walks away saying "BOY, you better not be stealing my toys, Daddy!", I go on to re-explain we traded, I didn't steal it and Nixon says "*huff* FINE!"
me: Yep, that sounds like our kid, and it was blog worthy!

* The Angry Bird/ Captain Marvel battle continued. Nixon decided to start demanding he wanted his carbonite Han Solo Angry Bird back from Mac, totally ignoring the fact that he had 2 other of the exact same carbonite Angry Birds. Mac gave it back to him, and then I gathered the 2 of 3 DC domo figures that Mac had given Nixon and told Nixon to give them back to Mac. When Mac asked for Superman back, Nixon decided to suddenly be okay with the trading and gave Mac back the carbonite Han Solo Angry Bird.

This is why daddy isn't in charge of the daily blog...

* Nixon decided to skip his nap today...or so he thought. We spent quiet time in my bedroom for about an hour and a half before we came downstairs. We came downstairs, he ate some plain toast and then started getting crazy cranky. I let him deal with his issues and ignored him. About 20 minutes go by and he is lying on the floor, dead still. HE FELL ASLEEP!! In front of the door.
  I gave him another 20 minutes sleeping before picking him up and moving him to his sofa to nap out of the way of the door. He napped for over 90 minutes! Woohoo!! Pure, uninterrupted silence.

* I made a quick run to the store. Mac and Nixon stayed home together chilling. I came home, got ran over by Nixon giving me a hug as usually happens and have Mac tell me "Uh man, Nixon said the funniest thing while you were gone...but I can't remember what it was. He came over to me, said something and I remember it being hilarious, and he ran off."
Yeah, I was gone less than 30 minutes.
He still can't remember what it was, but swears it was "blog worthy". Here's the blog! haha

I'm so lucky I'm his mom

* This morning Nixon woke me up saying "Mommy, it's a beautiful day outside. The sun is up. The windows clean. The flowers are pretty." The window's part made me laugh.

* Nixon decided he wanted to be super sweet to me. I haven't been sleeping well lately, and my little gentleman-in-training seemed to have caught on to this and decided to help me out. He told me he had a surprise for me in his room, asked me to close my eyes and held my hand while he took me to his room.  I opened my eyes and he says "Ta-da! I made you a bed next to me!", and he really did! He opened his foldout chair on the floor so it was now lying next to his bed.
He got into his bed, while I curled up on the foldout with a pillow and blanket. I thought Nixon was going to nap with me, but it turns out he had grabbed his psp and was lying in his bed watching it while I napped. He said "Mommy, I wanted to stay and keep you bad dreams away, so I was awake and you was asleep."
I totally melted!

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!!

He's cute, but still cranky and moody.

it freaks me out that his eye looks open in this photo

* Nixon woke me up this morning, since it was Mac's day off I got to sleep in, by coming into the bedroom and tapping me on my arm. "Mommy, are you going to get up?", I groan at him. He runs out of the room and yells downstairs to Mac "Daddy?" Mac asked him if I was getting up and he replies "mommy says she doesn't want to get up!" tattletale.

* I love walking downstairs on my "mornings off", Nixon gets so excited to hear me coming down the stairs. He usually runs over to me and gives me hug before I reach the bottom step.

* Nixon's nap was only 3 hours today. He woke up and said "I'm all done sleeping and I'm not cranky or bossy anymore!" Well, he did wake up but he was still cranky and bossy within half an hour of waking. You sir, are a liar! Liar, liar your pants are on FIRE! 

It's SUPER CRANKYPANTS!!

* Nixon has been in full-on crankypants mode this whole week. Some days he's okay, other days like today he admits he's being bossy and he's mad. I let him go, as long as he's not throwing things/hitting anyone/hurting himself.
  We had errands that HAD to get done, but I needed to let him get his bossy attitude out before leaving the house. It worked. Eventually he came to me and said "I'm done being bossy and mad. Can I get dressed and go bye-bye now?"

* Four-hour nap today! What?!?! Yeah, thinking his never-ending appetite and this mood thing might be a growth spurt in the making....

* After he went to bed, he wasn't asleep. I checked on him and he says "Mommy, youse being too loud I cannot sleep because your mouth is too loud!" I was downstairs talking to Mac, not laughing outrageously loud! Thankfully, Amber went back into the room with him and he quickly fell asleep with her in bed with him.

sometimes I get pure, accidental magic in these photos. this is tonight's magic shot. Nixon rubbed his eye as the photo was taken.  

Amber loves Nixon and Nixon loves her, as long as she doesn't pee in his bed and keeps giving him kisses

* Nixon absolutely loves that Amber is sleeping in his bed every night. He's been fighting bedtime, but all that is gone when he sees Amber at the foot of his bed lying there waiting for him to get under the sheets for the night. He tells me "Look, mommy, Amber loves me!" and who could blame her, he is adorable!

* He has an awesome new "recovery" when he falls. He will stand up, put his hand above his head and say "I'm okay!". It's the coolest move I've seen a 4-year old pull off. Okay, I might be biased based on our shared genetic connection and obvious shared good looks, but I'm totally okay with that.

He "boo"ed me....he really did!

* The family took a short road trip to go to lunch with a friend. On the ride there, we see (well, hear is more like it) a sports bike go flying down the highway.
me: That's pure stupid right there!
Nixon: Hey! Do not say that word!
me: Nixon, I know "stupid" is not a nice word, but in this case, there is no other word to describe that...a-hole we just saw.
Mac: It's true buddy.
Nixon: It's not nice.
me: Nixon, that guy is putting himself and everyone else he's speeding past, at risk by racing his motorcycle down the highway at over 100mph. That is stupid! I don't hate motorcycle riders, as long as they are safe and I can be a safe driver around them. This guy is an accident waiting to happen.
Nixon: BOOOOOO!
me: *to Mac* He just booed me, didn't he?
Mac: Yes, yes he did.

* I love Nixon. One of his best qualities is his random ways of making me laugh. Today, all it took was a popsicle stick and Nixon making it his mustache. He said "Look at me! I'm a guy. A grown up with a thing on my lip!"
(I did not mention herpes....even though it was totally on the tip of my tongue! He wouldn't get it, and Mac was already in bed for the night, so it'd have been a waste. But someday he will get it and I will say it!)

and for the 3rd night in a row, Amber on the bed with Nixon. Warms my heart because she now comes upstairs at bed time with him.