Meeting the family....for the first time that he's likely to remember for the rest of his life!

* Nixon is awesome! I know, I say that a lot, but really he is. He woke up today, and came in to wake Mac and I by saying "The sun is put and today is Sunday! It's a great day!". How awesome is that?!
   He had a great morning chilling and relaxing before we headed off to my aunt's house to see Nixon's godmother and the rest of my immediate family, who would be also arriving at said house soon after we arrived there ourselves.

* Nixon had a BLAST running around with his cousins and it was great to watch them play together. It brought back memories of my own childhood visits from my own out-of-state cousins and our summers together. I love that Nixon's making memories of his own like that with his cousins now.

family....we are who we are. 

We have arrived!! (Aug 17th's post is late)

We made it to NY safe and sound. Nixon was awesome, doing little sleeping, some picture taking and, unfortunately, getting sick at one point. He told us "I'm okay, just too much food in my belly". We cleaned him up and carried on.

I'll bank all his kind and loving words said now for later days.

* Nixon wrote the letter "E" today! I couldn't be any prouder of I tried. He's doing so well with practicing his writing.

* Nixon says to me today "Mommy, I pooped a lot and now I'm out of energy to wipe my butt." When I tell him he won't get his sticker if I wipe his butt, he says to me "Waitwaitwait....I got my energy back. I'll do it." And he did!

* Nixon, king of the one liners today, says "Mom, what's that smell?", as Amber walks into the litter box. I say, "I don't kiddo, I think Amber's taking a poo." He says, "It's Amber's BUTT! She's POOPING! Stinky butt Amber!" and runs off chuckling.

* We ran to the store for milk and ice cream. While standing in line, Nixon grabs one of the tabloids and says "Mom, I need to read one of these." He opens it up and says "Do you believe this mess?" The couple behind us started cracking up!
   He was hugging me and telling me "I love you" and "You're my best friend". The woman in front of us turned to look at him and then me. I smiled and she says, very quietly, "Enjoy those words, because they aren't always that loving as they get older."

The cousins are together again! How sweet it is!

* Nixon: Mommy, J is my best buddy! (J is his cousin, and this was said as we were driving to pick up J and his parents after their trip to see family in NYC)
   me: That's great!
   Nixon: Yeah, he's littler than me, but he's cool.
   me: He's littler? You mean younger?
   Nixon: No, I mean smaller. Like you. You are small but daddy is big. J is small and I am big.
   me: That's makes so much sense!
  Nixon: Mom, you need to be quiet and watch the road, it's dangerous to talk so much and drive.

* He was so excited to see J and J was excited to see Nixon. The almost hour long car ride home was filled with 2 very happy boys being very loud together! While it was great to see and hear them so happy to be together again, it was ouch for my ears.

* Nixon was so tired he went to bed, without a fight. Fell asleep, without sneaking downstairs. He was even found asleep on the floor by his uncle K! He hasn't slept walked in a long time! Poor kiddo :( Somehow I doubt this kind of exhaustion will translate into more sleep for mommy in the morning though....I can't get that lucky, right?!?

"I'm awake, but I am cranky", words that were spoken this morning, but not by me!

* Our morning started way too early today. I volunteered to take the family to Penn Station for their train to NYC, allowing them to save on parking by keeping their car at our place while they were gone. Nixon had to get up with me, since Mac was still at work.
   I went in and started giving Nixon's kisses to wake him up. He pushed my face off his and said "No mommy, it's too early for kisses. The sun said go back to sleep", then he rolled over and went back to sleep. We did this three times before he finally sat up, looked at me and said "Mommy, it is too early for this! I'm awake, but I am cranky!"
   Kiddo, welcome to mom's life!

* Nixon was kind enough to let me come home and grab a few z's after we drove home from Baltimore. He played quietly and happily with his toys, while I slept. He went to the bathroom and at one point came over and tapped my shoulder "Mommy! Excuse me. Mommy, I made a big poop in the potty and I need help wiping my butt! But I pooped a big one! Come look! MOMMMMM!" I got up, wiped his butt and went back to sleep. I did not look at the poop. He put his undies back on by himself....backwards....he didn't care.

* Nixon is on his new bedtime routine. Bedtime is 830pm. Mac is home to say goodnight, which makes Nixon going to bed a lot easier. Let's hope this leads to a happier, more well rested Nixon in the future.

There's something about tortoises.

* We spent some time at the DC Zoo today. Nixon loved seeing the animals, even got upset when we decided to leave because the rain that started as a drizzle didn't let up. We left before he got to see the tortoise. He was fine going to the car, until he realized we were actually driving out of the zoo....

*Mac was playing his Avengers game on Facebook
Nixon: Mommy, Daddy beat the bad guys
me: *sending a text on my phone* Yeah, that's great buddy. (no enthusiasm)
Mac: *whispers* Hey, tell mommy "Don't patronize me"
Nixon: Don't pat-ron-ize me, Mommy.
me: Nice, that's awesome. Our kid just said "patronize" to me. Thanks.
Mac: I never expected he'd be able to say it!

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.