"...please let me like you, please"

December 30th, 2013
BeBe is back where he belongs!
Day 364

* Nixon woke up this morning and woke Mac and I up, because he "needs to go downstairs to brush my teeth, so they don't fall out and then I have to eat baby food. I don't want to eat baby food!" We woke up and brought Nixon downstairs, waiting for him to spot BeBe in the tree.
   He did and it was like he was afraid to believe he was really there. Then, of all the things Nixon could say, he says "BeBe must have decided to leave his hat house and come home. I've missed him!". Mac found Be, under a hat on Nixon's table that I know I looked under! How Nixon knew that's where Be was, is a mystery to me, but Be is back and Nixon is super excited. I don't think he was more than a foot away from him at any point of the day, today. 

* Nixon: *to Mac* Mommy likes me.
Mac: I don't know, buddy. I think you should ask her.
Nixon: * to me* Mommy, can you please let me like you please?

me: *laughing* Of course (and I gave him hugs and kisses)
Mac: That wasn't what I meant, but it works too! *also laughing*

He's tattling on me again!!

Dec. 27th, 2013
"Mom, where's your phone? I'm telling Daddy on you!"
Day 361

* Nixon spent most of the day asking to play his video game. When he wasn't doing that, he was telling me how much he loved me and how I was his favorite mommy ever!

* Apparently, before Mac left for work, he had told Nixon that, if he was good, I would possibly let him play his game before he went to bed. Nixon told me "Dad said to tell you I'm allowed to play my game now", after he ate dinner. I told him I'd think about it and he says to me, "That's it, Mom! Call Dad right now! I'm telling on you!".
   So I had him give me the phone and called Mac. After we played phone tag because I never remember to charge our house phones and my cellphone loses signal in the house randomly, I explained why I called and let him talk to Nixon. I then talked to him again and ended up letting Nixon play the game for a bit before bed.
   Surprisingly enough, Nixon decided when he was ready for bed even before I said anything to him. He turned the game off himself, brushed his teeth and went to upstairs to wait for me so we could feed Scootaloo before he went to bed for the night.

A little late but.....Christmas finally arrived!!!

   I was so exhausted yesterday I fell asleep around 9pm! It was glorious! Nixon and I got comfy in my bed and settled in to watch Chipwrecked together, when it was over we both fell asleep.

  And now, some pictures from our Christmas morning! Mac came home and woke us up around 630am, because he would be going to sleep as soon as we were done with all the gifts.

Santa was here! 

opening his gift from Santa!

His big gift from Mac and I....I think he likes it, eh?

gifts from the grandparents and his great-grandparents

Mac, fading fast

Clothes from nana!

The carnage!

My first macaroni art gift! 

My surprise gift from Mac...Catwoman figurine!

   Nixon came up to me later in the day, upset because Arwen's stocking was empty. He said "Santa forgot her!"
    I said "Maybe Santa didn't forget her. Maybe it's empty because she's on the naughty list for being mean and chasing Amber all year long. Do you think that's possible?"
   He looks at me, shocked and says "That's real?!"

Dear Santa, I hope you like coffee because that's what was decided we're leaving for you Tuesday night!

December 22nd

day 356

* Some days you just wake up and feel loved. This morning was that day. Nixon, for some reason, ended up in my bed around 2 or 3am. He woke up when he heard Mac come home and went to play in his room for a while, letting me sleep.
  Around 9am, Nixon climbs back into bed with me and says "Mommy, you need a cuddle" and cuddles up with me and took a little snooze, sleeping on my shoulder. 

* I had some errands to run, and took Nixon with me of course. Nixon was content in the backseat, counting stop signs! No PSP, no iTouch...just me and him with my GPS telling us where to go. And he was great!

* me: Nixon, guess what we're doing Tuesday?

Nixon: What? Is it Christmas?

me: No, but close. We're making cookies that we'll leave out for Santa Tuesday night. 

Nixon: Yay! Oh yeah, cookies, oh yeah! *doing his little butt wiggle dance while he says that*
me: Nix, what should we leave Santa to drink with his cookies?

Nixon: I don't know. Umm.....I got nothing, Mom.

me: Well, a lot of people like to leave him milk with his cookies. But...Santa has a long journey to make on Christmas Eve. Do you think he might like something warmer? Like maybe coffee?

Nixon: Yeah! Mommy, coffee is a perfect choice! Santa will be SOOOOOOOOOO happy with a cup of coffee and cookies. Coffee is good for Santa!
me: How do you think Santa takes his coffee? Creamer and sugar or black?

Nixon: Mom, you're hurting my head....it's coffee! Just make it hot. 

* me: *switching the channel to the Eagles game* Whoo! Yeah baby! 

Nixon: Mommy, you need to be quieter, you hurt my ears.

me: Nixon, the Eagles are winning 14 to nothing right now! That's awesome!

Nixon: No it's not! The Eagles need to lose win!
me: What did you just say?!? Did you just say the Eagles need to lose?!? In my house?!?
Nixon: *laughing* No I said lose win! 

me: I don't even know what that means, but I'm choosing to only have heard "win".
Nixon: Yeah, I want them to win! Go Eagles!! *and he runs around the living room flapping his arms* 

He has a calendar, the days are marked, but he still asks me the same questions a bazillion times a day: "Is it Christmas now?"

December 19th
Day 353

* "Is it Christmas now?" I have heard this question at least 5 times an hour, every day, since putting gifts that arrived from Nixon's nana under the tree. He sees the gifts and knows he can't open them until Christmas and he asks if it's Christmas yet. For some reason he expects a different answer than the previous one he was given just moments before. 

* Nixon chose a small, plastic yo-yo from the toy basket when he saw Santa on Tuesday. He continuously twirled the thing around and was told repeatedly not too, in addition to throwing it which he also had been told not to do. 

   So, it was not a surprise to me, when it broke because the string snapped and the yo-yo smashed into the wall breaking in half in a way that made it unfixable. He started to cry instantly, and instead of being a coddling and loving mom over the broken toy from Santa, I just told him to pick up the pieces and throw it out. 

   Harsh? Maybe, but he knows that broken toys get thrown out and he had been warned about swinging it and throwing it. 

* Finally, I was wrapping gifts tonight after I thought Nixon was asleep. Nixon had been in bed for nearly an hour and a half when I started wrapping gifts. It wasn't until I started wrapping the gifts from the jolly man in the red suit that I hear his door open. I pause, thinking he had to go to the bathroom, and wait. I hear him pass the bathroom and I quickly swept all proof of Santa gifts out of sight and usher him back upstairs!
Whew! That was a close one....

And we have another cold coming our way....yep, Nixon's sick again!

Dec 16th
"One is better than two"-Nixon
Day 350

* Realized I didn't do a post yesterday:
Mac took Nixon to purchase my christmas gift from Nixon. When they were checking out, the cashier asked if they'd like to purchase a toy for Toys for Tots and said it'd go to a child who might not have a gift otherwise. Nixon, as soon as he heard that, said "Yeah!", and of course Mac agreed. Nixon choose the toy that he wanted to donate and put it into the collection box.
   When they came and got me, Nixon came running over and said "Mommy, guess what?!? We got a toy for a kid that needs a present. I picked it out and put it in the box!", just as happy as could be. Mac explained it to me and I told Nixon that was a very kind and wonderful thing to do for someone else. He says "Yeah, they'll like the toy, because it's cool!".
    He may not totally get the concept, but he knew enough to agree to the donation. And he knew the toy wasn't for him, so he didn't fight abut putting it in the donation box. Mac was super pleased about that!

* Nixon got up this morning, on his own, and was waiting for my alarm to go off. When it did, he danced to the alarm song I have it set to.
   He ate breakfast, and offered a great gem of wisdom to Mac when I offered him a cup of coffee. (Mac, I offered Mac a cup of coffee, not Nixon. In case someone wasn't following that.) Nixon tell Mac, who declined my offer, "It's good for you, Daddy!"
   He is so my son! He knows how important coffee is.

* Speaking of coffee, Mac was making his usual cup of coffee before he goes to work for the night, and for some reason the Keurig was brewing the coffee. He asked me and I tried once, with no luck. I quickly got onto google to troubleshoot issues. Thankfully, the first tip worked (clear out the puncture points as they get clogged sometimes).
   Nixon kept coming over to see what I was doing and I was trying to remain calm and not flip out that my coffee maker might be broken. I finally got down to his eye level and said very calmly to him "Nixon, I'm trying to fix my coffee maker. It's not working right now and you know how important coffee is to me, right? Please just give me a couple minutes to work on it, okay?"
    He sat on the sofa and became my cheering section. "You're looking good fixing that, Mommy!" and when it was working, and I let out a "Thank you, Google Gods!", Nixon repeated the same statement with a big clap!

* Nixon's fighting another cold. Just sniffles and a little cough. Trying to keep him warm.
   Have I mentioned that I'm over all these fracking colds?!?!

* Finally, another Nixon pearl of wisdom:
Nixon: One is better than two, right Mom?
me: Well, if you're talking about kids...absolutely! At least in my eyes!
Nixon: Yeah!
me: But what about cats? We have two cats.
Nixon: We should get rid of one.
me: What?!? Which one??
Nixon: Um....nevermind. Two cats is perfect!

Another day, another example of Nixon's infallible logic

Dec 13th
"Elves work in Santa's sweatshop"
Day 347

* Nixon decided this morning he wanted a cool hair style. I gave him a fauxhawk, which looked awesome until it was time to put on his beanie to leave for school. It was no fauxhawk when the beanie came off. He didn't care, he was happy to be at school with his friends.

* Evidently, there's a tattletale in Nixon's classroom. This little cutie saw me come to pick Nixon up and he came running up to me "Nixon's Mommy! Nixon's Mommy! Guess what Nixon did today....", and then Nixon's teacher asked the child to stop tattling and told me what happened: Nixon was being whiny and instead of asking for help he'd say "Someone come help me!" or "I can't do this!". His teacher would tell him that wasn't how to ask for help. They worked on it and by the end of his day he was saying the correct "Can you help me please?" when he needed help.
   On the drive home, we talked about this. I gave him a couple examples of "right" or "wrong" ways to ask for something.

* Finally, another example of Nixon logic:
Nixon: Mommy, Santa's elves are busy making all the toys at the sweatshop in the North Pole.
me: What? Wait...work shop or sweatshop?
Nixon: Sweatshop, Mommy. The elves work there. They're almost done with all the presents.
me: Nixon, I think and hope, you mean work shop. Sweat shops are bad places and I don't think Santa runs a sweat shop.
Nixon: Uh-huh! Santa lives in the work shop, Mommy.

I asked him later, after Mac woke up, where the elves worked and Nixon said "They work at Santa's workshops. Not the other bad places." Good to know my talk this morning about sweatshops being bad got through to him!  

"It's snow! It's raining snow from the sky!"- a winter weather gem from Nixon today.

Dec 8th: Nixon and his first ever snowman
Day 342

* Our county had a winter storm advisory in effect from this morning until 10am Monday morning. Having grown-up outside of Buffalo, NY myself, the conditions that were being predicted were laughable (1-3" of snow!! some icy rain) but as this is only the second winter Nixon has been in a place where snow happens, I got a little bit of that old familiar joy when I saw big, fluffy flakes coming down from the sky around 11am.

* Nixon stood by the back door and just watched the fluffy flakes fall. Just awed as they started sticking to the garbage can and the table we have outside. He looked at me and said "Mommy, look! It's snow! It's raining snow from the sky! It's a lot of snow!" He was so happy!

* I got Nixon bundled up: thermal shirt, tee shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, beanie, gloves, pj bottoms (because he doesn't have long johns) and jeans plus boots. Then I got myself all winter ready and we headed outside! My baby boy was so excited! We tossed snow at each other, took a short walk to the backyard and played back there, made a mini-snowman (Nixon's first snowman of any kind!).
   After we came inside, I made us hot chocolate with marshmallows, because any other kind is a waste!

watching the snow fall...just awed by it.

Nixon threw a snowball at me! He was so happy to be playing in the snow.

Gems from today....

* Today started with this:
Nixon: Mommy, it's dark outside, I have to go back to sleep so the sun will come out and it will be a sunny day.
me: Sorry baby boy, but it's time to wake up.
Nixon: No Mom, that's wrong. It's time for sleep...see, the sun is still sleeping.
And with that he got back under his blankets.

* When I picked him up at school. the little girl who adores Nixon greeted me with "Nixon had a bad day today. He made a lot of bad choices.". *sigh* I was totally prepared for a meltdown when I found him. It wasn't bad. He was in the play kitchen area, with one of his teachers, putting away the plates/bowls they had played with.
His teacher told me "He had a good day. He came over and asked if he could cook me dinner. He set the table, made me food and then told me he had to clear the table and wash the dishes. He was very polite about it all.", with a big smile on her face!

As we made our way to the door, his teacher stopped and asked if I knew about the "painting situation". Oh boy, here it comes, I thought when I heard her say that to the other teacher. It wasn't that bad. The class was doing a painting project, but Nixon was insistent that he couldn't do it "because my hands will get yucky with all that messy paint". His teacher came up with a very good solution: she gave him a pair of gloves to wear. He put them on and had no problem with the paint.
So my kid likes to be clean and not make a mess? Most moms would kill for a kid like that, right? It's less the mess and more he doesn't like the feel of paint on his hands. Either way, he had a great week at school and I couldn't be happier!

* Driving in the car today, Nixon suddenly says "Mommy, someone is talking to you. It's a little boy named Nixon!" I had to laugh, because he was the only other person in the car with me, but because it was raining and kind of crappy out, I was so focused on driving I wasn't exactly listening to him.

"R2 has to come down from there....it's not safe, Mom!"

* Nixon woke up this morning and was ready to find R2D2. He finally found him...."sliding" down the wall in the living room. Nixon was so upset! He told me "Mommy, he has to come down! It's not safe up there!", then to looks right at R2 and says "R2 come down here!". He even got annoyed that R2 wasn't listening to him.

* When I picked Nixon up from school, he came running over and said "Mommy, I made some bad choices, but a lot of good choices too!" His teacher came over and said "He made all good choices today. He had a good day today."
   His face lit up when I told him we were on our way to go pick up the tress and other decorations! He was so excited he said "Hey everybody! I'm going to go get my tree so I can decorate it for Santa now!" as he was leaving his classroom.
(By the way, I think it's adorable that the kids in Nixon's class will talk to me about random things and I'm always "Hey, Nixon's mom" before they start talking to me. Today the little girl who likes Nixon told me about the big green tree she has at her house: "Hey,um...Nixon's mom, I have a big green one at my house!" When I asked her if she had a big green tree, she said "Yeah! It's a big one too!" Kids are kind of awesome!)

* And decorate the trees we did! We also decorated the windows with some fake snowflakes and Nixon decorated some small wooden ornaments. Nixon told me, while I was setting up our tree, "Wow, Mommy, you're doing a great job! That looks amazing!", and there wasn't an ounce of sarcasm in his voice when he said it!
  He's excited and ready for Santa to come. We've got a few more days, but Nixon's feeling the holiday joy a little more.
 ....even if he did ignore me when I tried teaching to him about Pagans and the truth of christmas trees. I also explained why we won't have a real tree corpse in our house, ever.

He did clean his room....it just took most of the day to do it.

* Nixon was true to his word last night: he didn't wake me up until he cleaned his room. Unfortunately, he and I have differing definitions of "clean" when it comes to his room. He thought separating his toys into piles on his floor was clean, while I told him all his toys needed to be put back into his buckets and be up off the floor.
  He went back to clean his room, well pick up his toys as it were, and he came back to me and said "Mommy, it's too big a job for one person.", which was his way of asking me for help. I gave him all day to clean the room without pressure. I had no plans for the day, other than going to the storage unit and getting the holiday stuff. He eventually asked to take a nap and finished when he woke up.

*  I spent the evening making room for our tree in the living room, by rearranging the furniture (again!) and vacuuming. Nixon helped by picking up laundry and throwing out trash whenever I asked him too. It was late, close to his bedtime, by the time I was done with that, so tomorrow while he's in school or after I pick him up I'll go to the storage unit and we'll get to putting the trees up and everything like that.

* Nixon woke me up super excited because he found R2D2...in his room! He said "Mom! Guess what?! R2 is in my window! How did he get there?" The joy and happiness in his voice when he finds R2 every day is just amazing and priceless.

"I'll tell him it's okay, Momma"

* Nixon woke up this morning and was overjoyed when he saw R2D2 waiting for him! He was a little more excited when he saw C3PO in the window. He tried telling me that C3PO needed to be with R2, but I assured him 3PO was fine where he was. "He's in the window to let Santa know there's a good little boy in the house. If he's gone he's probably talking to Santa, you don't want that."

* Santa was the theme of the day. Nixon and I went out together to grab dinner. On the drive there Nixon and I start talking about Santa and what he (Nixon) is going to ask for.
Nixon: Oh, I want a race track, for my cars. And new cars, for the race track so they are fast cars. And Fluttershy.
me: Sweetie, we've talked about this, Santa only brings one gift, remember?
Nixon: Well, I'll ask for one for me but I think I want Santa to bring you a gift too. You're a good mommy and you deserve it.
me: Thanks baby, but Santa can only bring gifts to boys and girls who are good. Not mommies and daddies.
Nixon: It's okay, I'll tell Santa it's okay, Momma. He'll bring you a gift.
me: That's sweet honey, but that would mean Santa has an extra gift that might mean less room for another child's toy. Is that nice?
Nixon: Oh no! See, mommy, it's like this: The elves make the toys with magic. They take something blank and *whoosh* magic makes it a toy. Santa brings the elves with him, so they make the *whoosh* at each house. See? Enough room!

I wanted so bad to argue with him about that, but man, that is some well thought out logic for a 5-year old!
Ultimately, Nixon settled on Fluttershy because he knows that Santa has elves who run a Build-A-Bear workshop at the North Pole, it's how he got his Iron Cub last Christmas from Santa *wink, wink*