It was a low-key day but that means no tantrums and no time outs, so I can totally dig it. Also, Nixon is learning that purposely using incorrect grammar drives me nuts!

* Nixon was so cute today. He drew a stick figure on the window with glass markers, he also drew a heart, a tree, a sun and a bush. He named the stick figure Nixon.

* Nixon made a video today: It's my sister's birthday, so we made a video of Nixon singing "Happy Birthday" with me for her. He sang a verse and then I sang, when it was his turn to sing again, he said "No, I don't want to do it" and stopped singing the song. He did say "I love you" which was good enough for me.

* New phrase in the house "Nixon no understand". This is coming from Nixon. I corrected him, so he was saying it correctly "I don't understand". He would say it correctly and then he would say it incorrectly because he knew it'd bother me.


(no pictures of Nixon tonight....my camera battery is dead)

When you get down to the logic behind the things he says, he really is a sweet and caring child! Sometimes he is shockingly deep for his age.

* Nixon, Mac and I had a very interesting conversation today.
Nixon's had an odd borderline obsession with telling me he wants to be back in my belly and be a baby again. It's crazy, because he never says he wants a baby brother or sister, it's always he wants to be a baby again. So, this afternoon after Mac woke up and we were all just kind of laying around in our bed, I asked Nixon about it.
me: Nixon, how come you want to be a baby in my belly again?
Nixon: because you want a baby.
me: What?!? NO! I really do not want another baby!
Nixon: No, you miss baby me.
me: Oh! I see....
Nixon: So, I can be a baby again for you and you won't miss baby me any more.
me: Oh baby....I do miss you being a baby, some days, but I LOVE the you, you are now. You're so fun and talkative and you are wiping your own butt now!
Nixon: Yeah, I do wipe my own butt!
me: If you were a baby, you couldn't eat by yourself or walk and you'd have to wear diapers...that's not fun, right?
Nixon: No. That's not fun at all.
me: Honey, I do sometimes miss you, as a baby, but not enough to want to lose the you you are now! I love how silly and awesome you have become.
Babies are boring.
Nixon: But you call me "baby" a lot.
me: I call you "baby" because you are, and forever will be, my baby boy. It doesn't mean I want you to be a baby again. But, it's very thoughtful that you wanted to be a baby again because you thought I wanted that.
Nixon: Yeah.
me: But buddy, your dad and I...we don't want any more babies. You are it for us, okay? You are the only baby we need and want!
Mac: Yeah, we're not doing that again!
Nixon: Okay....can we go downstairs and watch TV now?
me: *to Mac*...and he's over it all now.

* Nixon was wearing a Nike tee today. He asked me to help him read it. He spelled the words and I told him what the word was. It was kind of cool that Nixon noticed his shirt had words on it and wanted to read it.
   He needs to stop growing up!

* Anyone who has cats will know that they tend to put their asses in your face almost any chance they get. Evidently, Nixon has been watching the cats do this, because as we were relaxing together before Mac left for work, Nixon used the "ass in face slide" move on Mac.
   Mac was sitting on the floor, in front of me, while Nixon and I were on the sofa. Nixon decides he wants to get off the sofa, and rather than get off closest to me where there is lots of room, he puts his ass in Mac's face and slides by him in the most awkward and inconvenient way possible!
    Mac and I both sat with stunned looks on our faces, and Nixon finally says "Oh, excuse me", and goes about his business!

Days like today, I have no idea why the gods smiled on me and gave me Nixon...but I'm so grateful they did! He's amazing!

* I found a dead cricket this morning...in the living room. Apparently my cats will play with it till it's dead and then walk away. Nixon asked if he could leave it outside so it could wake up. How do you say no?
I didn't.
I helped him open the sliding door so he could put it outside. Once it was outside and we closed the door, I reminded him that it was dead and it'd most likely get eaten by another animal.
He says "No mom, look! It's moving!" and it was, because of a slight breeze (he placed it on the table next to the door), which I explained to him, reminding him that it was really dead.
His response? "If you say so mom, I saw it move."

* Nixon: Laying down is my favorite exercise.
me: You sound just like mommy
Nixon: Yeah.

* Nixon started telling me tonight about a bed he hasn't had in almost a year. It's his red, plastic toddler bed. He was telling me about his bed, the toys he brought to bed with him and the fact that "I slept in the little red bed when I was a little, little boy. Not a baby, but a smaller boy." I adore that he is developing long-term memories and he can tell me if he was a big boy or a smaller boy.

* Nixon saw flowers at the store with me today. I was at the register and Nixon ran over to the bucket of packaged bouquets and says "Mommy, these are beautiful and you would like them, right?". I'm not really a flower person, but....how do you not love that your child sees something and thinks of you?
I told him "Nixon, those are lovely. You know what?! I think, you should tell Daddy you want to get those for me. I think that'd be a really nice idea, don't you?"
He stood by the flowers and thought, then said "Yeah, Daddy will like doing that for you. It'll make you smile too."
The cashier was listening and watching us the whole time, she said "You have a very sweet little boy, momma. You must be proud."
She has no idea!

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!

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??

Short & sweet tonight

how I found them when I first walked into the room...

* Nixon fell asleep with Amber on his bed, at his feet. He is one happy, happy little boy.
the back story is Amber has been kicked out of Nixon's room for almost a month, because she was purposely pooping and peeing on his bed. she was fine if he was in the room, but Nixon didn't want her in there, so we respected his opinion (it is his room, afterall) and kept the door closed at all times. tonight, Nixon let her in the room, on the bed with him and was fine allowing her to stay in the room after we said goodnight to him. I'm super happy that this is happening, and I'm hoping her behavioral issues are a thing of the past. 

I love how he's reaching towards where Amber's sleeping in his sleep. So adorable!

...I have no privacy anymore. None. It's gone. Because I became a mom.

* While I'm in the bathroom, Nixon opens the door and sits down on his stool. I ask him what he's doing and he says "I want to watch you poop." Umm...no that's not okay! I tell him we don't do that and he says "But the cats poop where we see them"...damn cats! I get him to leave only to have him knock a minute later and ask if I need help wiping.
Oh, Nixon!.....

* I built Nixon a new Lego airplane today and Nixon said "Mommy, you're the best builder ever!" I'll take it, because I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to putting something together with those little blocks from hell!

TMNT update: 4 smileys and 3 frownies. Today was another good finger-in-mouth-free day.

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....