Begging for compliments?? When did he become a narcissist?

* Oh my boy and his tie! It's been washed and he was wearing it today. We went to the grocery store and as soon as we walked in, someone complimented his tie. Nixon says "I like it, it's pritty, right?" The lady giggled and said he is such a cutie. As we continued to shop, Nixon was on his best behavior. He was walking down an aisle and another man was coming down as well. Nixon says, clear as could be "Oh, excuse me" as he walked by. The guy was so taken aback he did a double take! Then he said "You, little man, have wonderful manners." What does my little man say? "Thank you, I got them from my tie!" Apparently his tie gives him super-manners! The guy then compliments his tie and walks away chuckling at my adorably cute kid.
   At check-out, Nixon asks the woman in line ahead of us "Do you like my tie?", he then asked another person in line if they also liked his tie. He asked the cashier if he liked his tie. I finally had to ask Nixon to stop asking everyone if they liked his tie, because as cute as he and his tie are, it's not polite to beg for compliments like he was doing.

* We were at the grocery on base (commissary for those who are familiar with the term). I handed Nixon the money to put into the person who was bagging our groceries tip jar. Nixon put the money in the jar and as we were walking away Nixon says "I gave you one thousand dollar!" I chuckled and the bagger said "I wish!", I had to reply "I wish I had it to give, believe me!" and Nixon made it all better by saying, Isn't my tie great?" to a customer heading into the store at that moment!

* Nixon went into meltdown "i miss daddy" status again tonight. He'd be good, then melt again. This went on for over 45 minutes. He even talked to Mac and was good then started crying again! I couldn't get him to calm down enough to sleep.
   What's a mom to do?
   Come up with a plan! Tonight's plan? Offer Nixon a photo of Daddy to sleep with. I printed one of the 2 of them off, put it in a frame and he took it to bed with him. He was lying down looking at his picture when I left him.
   My sweet, emotional boy.

"...best surprise ever!"

* Nixon and I had a date this morning. I set my alarm for 8:50am and at 9am we were watching My Little Pony in bed together, for our mommy & me date. He was so excited last night when I told him we'd have a date in the morning to watch My Little Pony together.

* Mac and I bought Nixon a used bike. (Yes he has one already, but it's a little too big for him and has hand breaks so too much going on for him) Nixon didn't see me put it in the back of my car, when we got home I opened the trunk and he saw it and said "Mommy, this is the best surprise you and Daddy gave to me ever!"
  He working on the peddling but he'll get it. We lowered the seat and he liked it better as soon as the seat was lowered.

* After our rough last 2 days, Nixon fell asleep in my arms tonight...watching Star Wars: Ep.3
I even got to carry him to bed, cradled in my arms, with his head lying on my shoulder. All was right and forgiven at that moment in time.

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.

sometimes it really is the calm before the (emotional) storm.

* Nixon was so chill today that I was able to finish reading a book, which I started reading over 9 months ago! How did that happen? He was enthralled with his squinkies and his other small action-like figures. I was laid out on the sofa and he was playing on the living room floor.

* Are you a child of the 80's/90's? Can you complete this phrase: "Thunder, Thunder, Thunder.....", because Nixon can! He loves him some Thundercats!

* My poor baby boy. He freaked out after his bath, crying (sloppy, snotty, messy real tears crying!) saying he missed Daddy. Instead of trying to calm him down, I let him call Daddy and tell him he missed him. Between the phone call, hearing Daddy's voice and me letting him snuggle in my bed with me and watch an episode of Bob's Burgers while he calmed down enough to go to bed, he was finally ready for bed minus the tears. What a rough night for him...it came out of nowhere!

I don't always let my son talk to strangers, but when I do it usually results in a really awkward conversation

* Last week Nixon took a sudden interest in noticing people walking with canes. It was always elderly people using the canes and he always points and says loudly "Mommy, what's wrong with that person?"
   Today, at the dollar store, Nixon sees an older gentleman (OG from now on) using a cane in the same aisle as us. Enter the scene from above. I say to him "Well baby, why don't you ask him yourself, politely." And he does just that.
Nixon: walks up to the man: Excuse, but what's that?
OG: It's my cane.
Nixon: Why do you have it?
OG: Because I need it to walk.
Nixon: Why?
OG: *to his credit his was very kind to Nixon during the "why"s* Well, I'm old and my legs don't work as well as the used too.
me: *before Nixon can ask why again* Honey, he's had a lot of birthdays and with lots of birthdays your body gets worn out.
Mac: Like Daddy's knees buddy.
me: *to the OG* Thank you.
Nixon: Thank you, yous cane is awesome!

  Poor old guy couldn't get away from us fast enough. I thought having Nixon ask the guy himself was better than me fudging an answer with the guy standing only 2 feet away from me.

I need more robots!!

* This is a warning for all the moms who have sons (or daughters, but mostly sons) that might enjoy wearing ties: Please, make sure you teach your child to remove said tie before using the bathroom. We had not thought to do so with Nixon and well....He did not move the tie out of the way and peed all over the tie. I'm also pretty certain the bottom of the tie went into the toilet, but he swears it did not, he only peed on it because "It was in front of my peenie and would not move when the water came out of it!"
   The tie needs to be washed.

* Nixon was playing with my stickers today. I have some I use for various reasons, one page in particular he likes. He pulled off a frog wearing a crown and brought it to me:
"Mommy am I your frog prince?"
me: Of course you are. *I put the sticker on his shirt and kiss him*
Nixon: *brings me a princess sticker* Here Mommy, a sticker for you.
me: A princess, really?
Nixon: Yes, your MY princess! *he kissed my cheek*

* We watched Star Wars: Episode 2 tonight. Nixon's first compliant? Not enough robots. He did enjoy the big Jedi battle scene, so much so he was up re-enacting it as it happened on TV.

* Once again, Nixon was "reading" my book and it said he needed to get 2 smiley faces to get a Super Mario Bros. go-cart ball. I've got a few chapters left in this book, but that's just not meshing with the storyline! haha

"I need a magnifying glass"

* Nixon spent another signing at Third Eye Comics, lining up dice. Today I got photos of him doing it:
 

* Nixon grabbed a book I'm reading and was pretending to read it himself. Apparently the book said "Get 2 smiley faces. Go to the Comic Book Store. Get a Super Mario car ball." Nixon kept reading those words over and over again.
   He also said "I need a magnifying glass, the letters are too small for me to see", which almost makes sense. Except, this is the same kid that spots airplanes from a moving vehicle thousands of miles in the air that is a minute speck in the sky, the size of which is much smaller than the letters in the book he is currently trying to read. Sorry kiddo, no magnifying glass for you!

* Finally, we let Nixon watch Star Wars: Episode One tonight. I'm pretty sure our son might be one of the only kids I've even known who is upset because all the droids were killed and destroyed by the Jedi! He was angry and said it was mean and unfair! He wasn't even okay with it when I explained that they were destroyed to protect Anakin, the Jedi and the Queen.
The Dark Side seems to have a strong pull with Nixon!

Cards for friends!

Nixon's new tie!

* This morning Nixon and I were on a mission. Nixon was tasked with picking out 2 cards. One for his cousin and one for his BFF from Okinawa. He chose 3 different cards before settling on one, shockingly appropriate, card. (I say shockingly because he did pick a 4th birthday card for a girl, as his dad's birthday card last month)
   He loved picking everything out, even chose a very dapper purple and black striped tie for himself, which he wore all day!
   Nixon happily came home and wrote in each card before we mailed them off this afternoon!

* Got loose change? Not if Nixon's around! He's all about putting change in our loose change jar, which means if he finds it, he claims it as his.

He's thrifty...I like it!

* Nixon and I left early this morning, so early I didn't have time to make coffee. Well, not entirely true. I could have made coffee, but we were meeting someone to buy something so I needed to break a $20 and figured the local coffee shop was as good as place as any to do so.
   I bought myself a medium brewed coffee (nothing fancy for me these days) and Nixon a juice. The change I got I gave to Nixon. When we came home he rushed over to our change bank and put all 91 cents into the bank. I only gave him 90 cents so I'm puzzled where the extra penny came from. When he was done he told me "Mommy, I'm making us rich!"

* Tonight, I asked Nixon twice to pick up his toys before bed. After I asked him the second time, this little punk I birthed and have loved from the moment I knew he was growing inside of me, looked up at me says "I'll get to it" deadpan.
   I guess this is what happens when he listens to Mac and I "argue" all the time. Damn our dry wit and deadpan sarcasm.

Explaining old age without offending anyone isn't as easy as you'd think it would be....

* Leaving the Post Office today, Nixon points out an elderly gent using a cane.
Nixon: What's wrong with him?
me: *trying not to cringe as he'd said this loudly and there were 2 other patrons nearby* Nothing's wrong with him, baby. He's just old....umm, he's lived a long life.
Nixon: Why's he walking funny?
me: Well, part of living a long life means your body doesn't stay fresh. He's using a cane because his body needs help.
Nixon: Oh.
me: But he's also really lucky. He's lived to see a lot of birthdays! And that's pretty cool, right?
Nixon: He's had a lot of cakes?! That's awesome!

He has a twin bed, but seems to only need the top portion where his pillows are...

Swords and spells and running, oh my!

* Nixon and I were "arguing" over who got to chose the show we'd watch. I suggested throwing out the highest number, Mac suggested using Nixon's dice and rolling for it. We used the dice: I rolled a 6, Nixon rolled a 3. Nixon said "Boooooo!" and immediately re-rolled this time getting a 6 himself.

* I love when Nixon and I have fun running together in the nearby park. Tonight, Nixon added fun to it and spent his time chasing me, trying to "kill" me with his invisible sword. I decided to beat him, by casting an immortality spell, and explained to him that it meant I couldn't be killed by his sword! Only my wee little geek could bring out the inner spellcaster in me in such a fun way!

I love my little geek!

* Nixon was counting random things today. I hear him saying "25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 100, one million! Mommy, I just counted to one million!" Well, he wasn't totally wrong. He did count to a million, he just skipped a lot of numbers in-between.

* Nixon was doing his lessons on abcmouse.com today. He earned enough tickets that he could buy a new hamster. He did and then came time to name it. His first virtual hamster's name is Avenger. me: Nixon, what do you want to name this hamster?
Nixon: Avenger!
me: Nixon, you already have a hamster named Avenger. Can you think of another name?
Nixon: OH! I don't know!
me: Well, let's think of things you like. Then you can pick a name.
Nixon: Sheldon Cooper!
me: *typed in Sheldon Co* Honey, you can name him "Sheldon" or "Cooper" but you can't name him "Sheldon Cooper, it's too big of a name for such a little hamster.
Nixon: I'll name him Cooper! Cooper's an awesome name!

* Nixon is becoming a whiz at addition! It started with simple math, using fingers to help him count.  But lately, if he recognizes the numbers he's being asked to add, he's doing it without using his fingers! And he LOVES counting and adding things! This past weekend, Mac bought Nixon a simple 6-sided dice. Nixon will roll it, then roll it again just so he can add the dots together and then hop the appropriate number of times he gets as a result.
   The math geek in me is overjoyed that he's taking to math and numbers so easily! Math for me was simple and numbers just made sense. So for Nixon to have fun with the very basics so far, I'm bursting at the seams with motherly pride!

he had fallen out of his bed just moments before I took this photo. I went upstairs to check on him and he told me, in his sleepy-child voice, that he was chasing BeBe and they fell out of bed. I snuggled him and we sang my special song for him together. He's too much, even in his sleep! 

Lazy Sunday

* Nixon and I spent a lazy day together. With Mac off for 2 weeks, we had lots going on and never really truly had a lazy day together in about 2 weeks. So today was our lazy day. We started our lazy day in bed watching TV (Nixon loves Dino Dan. He pronounces dinosaurs names that even I can't say correctly! It's amazing how much this kid catches on when he wants to).

* Nixon wanted to put a collar on Amber. He was nervous about doing it and asked for my help. After I put it on her, Nixon says "Mom, Amber is sleepy. She needs a song to put her to sleep." He then sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to her. ....and got annoyed that she wasn't sleeping when he was done singing to her. Poor kid.

* Nixon was sitting next to me looking at some photos on facebook. Nixon saw photos of Jack and says "Mommy, we need to get in the car and go see Jack"
me: Baby, we can't go see Jack. He and Aunt Franny had to move away.
Nixon: Why?
me: Well, remember last year when we had to take the long airplane ride to come here? Because Daddy had to start his new job?
Nixon: Uh-huh and we lived with Jack and Tessa and Aunt Claire and Killian...
me: Yeah, the commune was great. Well, Aunt Franny had to move to go to her new job and Jack and Tessa went with her. Now they live a very far way away.
Nixon: That's stupid! She needs to come back here!
me: I know baby, I miss her too. But like Daddy, she doesn't have a choice. She got told where to go and she had to go.
Nixon: We should go to the airport and pick her up again.
me: That'd be nice, but she's not waiting for us.
Nixon: Oh....well, I miss Tessa and Jack and Aunt Franny. I even miss Jack stinky, messy face. He's stinky cause he's so big and has a lot of germs in his mouth! And he makes big farts!

He melts my heart

* Nixon and I made a short trip to the Post Office today, to send out a package. As the woman was putting the postage on the package, Nixon who had been super well behaved watching his PSP, he says "That's going to mommy's friend.", so completely matter-of-factly. He then went right back to watching his PSP. Before we left, she asked if he could have a dum-dum. I approved it and he accepted it very graciously.

* Sometimes, Nixon knows he needs a nap but he refuses to take one. Today, as he was fighting sleep, he went upstairs to his room and said he'd sleep, if I napped in his room with him. I pulled out his foldout chair, laid it flat, grabbed my pillow & blanket and hunkered down. He fell asleep holding my hand. I fell asleep holding his hand.

* Nixon and I had a movie night. We watched Wreck-It Ralph (again) and snuggled on the sofa, under a blanket. Totally content and happy to be together.

Enter the fan voice

* It's getting hot and we're trying to save our power bill by not running the central air, so we ran the  small floor fan instead. Today, Nixon discovered the joy that almost every kid at one time in their life has enjoyed: talking into the blades of a moving fan! He had a blast! He did the "Luke I am your father", then he came up with "Bob's Burger, food's ready" and even more random things.
   Some things can't be planned. Some moments just happen. Today, those moments with Nixon talking into the fan, it was like reliving that same simplistic joy I felt doing that same voice as a child. Simpler times and easier life.

Sometimes it takes the smallest thing to put the biggest smile on his face

* After a rough morning on my part (a migraine and then allergies kicking my behind), we made an attempt to run some errands in the early afternoon. Nixon started to get very upset and I was ready to throw in the towel, fully expecting him to just continue his meltdown as we left the house.
  I'm happy to say I was wrong! He was exceptionally well-behaved! We completed all our errands and Nixon had not one meltdown!
  As we were driving home, we were at a long red light. I turned around to tell him I was proud of him for being so good and I was happy he proved me wrong. He was wearing the biggest smile on his face when I said that to him!

* Nixon has a small Hasbro X-wing, but no R2D2 co-pilot. Mac managed to find one on ebay for him. It arrived tonight. Nixon got him as a surprise before bed. He was overjoyed and started making his R2D2 sounds as he put R2 in his co-pilot seat. He thanked Mac for "bringing R2D2 home to me".
   Yep, today was a good day.

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.

Look out Tiger Woods....Nixon's got skills!

* While cleaning out the closet today, Mac came across a golf club and golf balls we'd set aside for Nixon. Nixon liked playing putt-putt this weekend, which led us to decide its time to grant him the right to play with these new (to him) toys. Turns out, he's not too bad. His grips a little rough, but he has fun and he loves hitting the ball!
   Now if only he'd stop trying to swing at the cats.....

Happy Mother's Day!

* My two loves thoughtfully woke me up with a freshly made cup of coffee and a homemade card. Nixon said "Happy Mother's Day" twice before Mac tapped my shoulder and actually woke me up, which is when Nixon happily said it a third time and gave me his goofy morning grin.
  They made the card together, so of course I adore it! And my cup of coffee was perfect!

my coffee (in a smart travel mug), my new Birds of Prey Vol 2 graphic novel and the most perfect handmade card ever....Nixon wrote with the red marker, Mac wrote in green. I am a lucky mom!

The day Nixon met R2D2.

* Nixon met Stormtroopers today. He also met a Royal Imperial Guard, a Clone Trooper and....R2D2! For real!

Oh, yeah, Nixon was also dressed up as Wolverine and had told Mac he wanted to be called Wolverine Nixon. He takes his cosplay serious.

* I was trying to explain Mother's Day to Nixon tonight...
me: Nixon, do you know what tomorrow is?
Nixon: Yes! *pauses* Wait...no, I don't know. What's tomorrow?
me: It's Mother's Day.
Nixon: What?
me: It's a special day for moms. Do you know a mom?
Nixon: I do! You're a mom.
me: I am. I am your mom.
Nixon: And Amber?
me: Well, yeah, Amber was a mom too. (Amber had a litter of kittens when she was brought to the shelter that she was adopted from)
Nixon: And Daddy?
me: No, not Daddy. His day is next month.
Nixon: Arwen?
me: No, Arwen's never been a mom. Her birthday is in October though. I don't know when "Spoiled-Ass-Cat-Day" is.

mid-roll away from the flash....

Self-entertainment at its best tonight!

* Nixon is having a feet fight...with himself. He is kicking his feet and hitting them into each other, calling them go-go feet, and declaring one a winner! I swear, he is doing this on his own and it is hilarious!

* After Amber's 2 accidents on Nixon's bed, while Nana was visiting, Mac and I hesitantly allowed her to sleep in bed with Nixon last night. I'm happy to report this morning there was no mess on his bed! Amber is now allowed back in his bedroom to sleep. I hope this was an anxiety response to Nixon's excitement while his nana was here.

A quiet child is a scheming child!

* Mac and I woke up around 830am and realized, we don't hear Nixon. At first we thought he was still sleeping. Oh how wrong we were. He had snuck into the spare bedroom, closed the door behind him and was quietly playing with the large basket of toys that had been in that closet for months! He saw the basket before he went to bed last night, but really didn't say much about it. Which leads me to think he plotted the pre-dawn, bedroom break-in before falling asleep last night! That little sneak!
He was super quiet about it too.
Tonight, before he went to bed (after he slyly asked to sleep in the spare bedroom), we explained that those toys are going to be given to kids who don't have a lot of toys. We're going to let him keep a few, but the massive majority of them are getting donated in the very, very near future.

* This is my son:
We went to our storage units this morning and Mac sorted through some crap looking for paperwork while also reorganizing and marking the boxes more clearly with the contents of what's inside each one. Nixon had a chair to sit in, his PSP to watch, food to eat and should've been really content. And he totally was, as he was accumulating random crap from the boxes Mac was going through! He gathered a small Snoopy & Woodstock figure, some Garbage Pail Kids cards, a Joker & Batman goodie bag and a plush Stitch stocking. (I was singing "da-na-na-na Joker" instead of Batman, so Nixon started copying me, right down to the "pfftttt Batman" line I added. What can I say? I'm a classy mom!)