It's finally Christmas Eve!

Dec. 24th
Christmas Eve!
Day 359

* Today is Christmas Eve. Nixon and I were in full Santa-prep force! We cleaned the kitchen together, so we could make the cookies for him. We made peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses on top and cake pops. The cake pops ended up looking more like elf vomit on a stick....not pretty! But at least they're tasty!

* After dinner, Nixon got into his jammies and he got into his skunk costume from Halloween. Why? Because it's warm and we were going for car ride to look at christmas lights on houses! I made hot chocolate in travel mugs and we got into the car. We drove around for about an hour and it was beautiful! Almost no one else was on the roads, so we could drive slower and not annoy any other drivers.

* Then we came home, made Santa his coffee and plate of goodies and left it under the small tree. We also got C3PO and R2D2 and put them with the coffee and cookies too, because Santa's bringing them back to the North Pole with him tonight.
   We'll see them again next year!

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* 

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!

It was a geek-out kind of day!

* Nixon was being wild and crazy...typical 4-year old stuff, this morning.
me: Nixon, can you tone it down a bit.
Nixon: Why?
me: What's mommy missing? Something I have every day that puts a smile on my face?
Nixon: I don't know.
Mac: Nixon, Mom needs her coffee before you go all crazy, okay?
Nixon: Yeah. Mommy, you need coffee right now!
me: Yes, I do.

* So check it, Nixon's getting good at his light saber skills:

* Nixon somehow cut his heel today. He was fine until he saw it was bleeding. Then he freaked out! "Mommy, I'm bleeding a million bloods!" as he was crying hysterically. Well, as my rule is "no blood no band-aid" it was time for a band-aid. I got him calmed and all cleaned up, he was still crying and missing Mac. A quick phone call to Mac, good nights said and he was in bed.
   Whew....

* Oh yeah and his Pinkie Pie hat is finally finished!! YAY!

I love his pouty face as he rolled over while I was taking this picture. Moments like this I see my baby boy instead of the grown-up boy he's becoming. 

...then Nixon met the neighbors and almost insulted them.

* We were heading out to the car, when this happened:
Nixon: Mommy, why'd that person spill coffee in the grass?
me: I'm not sure honey, maybe because the grass likes coffee like Mommy does?
Nixon: I wanna ask.
(he walks over to our neighbors and proceeds to look for where the coffee went)
Nixon: HI, I'm Nixon, where'd the coffee go?
neighbor: Hi Nixon, what a cool name *nods to me*. I'm S.
Nixon: HI S. Don't you like coffee?
S: *laughs* I do, but I pour some in the grass every day. I know it's kind of tacky.
Nixon: Oh, does the grass like the coffee?
me: *trying to help S get away from Nixon's sudden on-set of never ending questions* Honey, the grass LOVES the coffee, look hoe green and full it is!
Nixon: Oh yeah! Good job! *gives S a thumbs up* Bye S, nice meeting you.
And just like that, Nixon met one of our neighbors. Then got into my car and said "Mommy, the grass is pretty, but you're better when you drink your coffee."

* The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. Though Nixon did impress me, once again. Since I already wrote a blog about it, I'll just link it for you to read. Trust me, it's worth the read.

* Nixon asked me today to put one of his missiles back into his Star Wars speedracer. I did, because I've done it multiple times already and Nixon hasn't figured out the trick which only frustrates him and makes him *almost* throw his toy.
   When I handed it back to him, Nixon says "Thanks mom, you're my hero!" Best.Thanks.Ever!

He knows coffee of any type will make me feel better and after he had a night terror, there won't be photos in tonight's post.

* Mac, the best husband ever!!, brought home a bottle of Starbucks Vanilla Frappuccino for me this morning. Nixon takes it out of the fridge and brings it over to me "Here, Mommy, you look like you need this". I ask him if I look that bad and he says "Well.....yeah." then giggles and hands me the bottle.

* Just when I thought today was completely done and there was nothing else to include in tonight's post: Nixon woke up in a crying panic and Mac & I raced up to his bedroom to find out what happened. Are you sick? Did you fall out of bed? Did you have a nightmare? *he sounds like he's going to barf* Take him to the bathroom. Give him some water! I don't have any water here, take him INTO the bathroom! All while Nixon is still crying and not making any sense.
    Mac takes him into the bathroom while I turn on the light in Nixon's room and check to see if he had gotten sick in bed. He didn't, so I went into the bathroom to check on the boys. We still don't know exactly what happened but Nixon wants to be held by me.
    I decide to do what we've done since Nixon was a little, little guy and had night terrors...we took him outside for a little fresh air. We took him out there and let him calm down. Then he asked to go back "in there", which meant in the house. Back up to bed he went and after a few minutes of snuggles with me, a few songs and my usual nightmare/ bad dreams talk he was ready to go back to sleep.

I apologize for not having a photo with tonight's post. I promised Nixon no photos tonight because Nixon tends to sleep extra lightly after a nightmare/night terror episode like this one. If the flash woke him up he'd have another fit, and because tomorrow is a school day I'd rather he gets sleep. 

He may sleep with Pinkie Pie, but he's also a sucker for the Avengers! His dad called him "A true Renaissance man", I like that term.

* I woke up this morning with a migraine brewing. When I went downstairs and made my coffee Nixon I told Nixon he needed to be quiet because my head hurt and I haven't had my coffee yet. While I'm standing in the kitchen, nursing my coffee, Nixon says to me in a most serious voice "Mom, I've got troubles. I need some coffee milk, it'll make my day better."
Who am I to deny a request like that? I grabbed a small coffee cup, poured about an ounce of coffee into it and filled the rest with milk. He sat down at the table and took a sip, then says "You know Mom, coffee tastes better when you make it." HA!

* I'm standing at the stove making dinner...
Nixon: Mommy, the rodeo's in town, but the cows are mean and they don't like me.
me: Oh? I hadn't heard the rodeo's in town.
Nixon: Yeah, they are. But the cows are mean and keep trying to hit me in the face.
me: Well, I'm sorry. I hadn't realized there were abusive cows at the rodeo. I'll be sure to keep you safe from them.
Nixon: Well Mom, it's gonna be hard because they just run through town with no warning. Pinkie Pie tried to stop them and they didn't even laugh at her jokes! They didn't laugh at her MOM!
me: That's not nice at all!
Nixon: I know, Mom!
me: Nixon....are you talking about the My Little Pony episode we watched yesterday?
Nixon: Of course. There's no such thing as a real rodeo. DUH!

* Best thing about re-reading the same (comic) book at bedtime? Nixon starts reading along with me! Tonight he read half of the smaller panels in Baby Avengers VS X-Men. Nothing better than hearing his cute little voice say "Let's see what'chu got, Cyclops!"

It's a rough day when Nixon reminds me I haven't had coffee yet....

* Nixon woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. That is, he woke up at all. He was in an evil, punk, talking-back mood from the moment he got out of bed. We had plans to meet Mac at Third Eye Comics for a signing this morning. (On a Wednesday?!? Yes, because it's the summer and because they can!) It's a bad morning when Nixon gets sent to his bedroom less than 30 minutes after getting up for the day.

* Nixon says to me, as we're finally leaving the house to go meet Mac, "Mommy, I know why you're so cranky. You forgot your coffee." Captain Obvious everyone.
   I didn't forget my coffee, so much as choose to get Nixon to Mac ASAP in order to save my sanity. There's a bagel shop in the same plaza as the comic book store, so I grabbed a (large) coffee from there within 10 minutes of getting to Third Eye.
 
* I don't know what his issue is, but he has been on a total "NO" and "I don't wanna" streak. It's not floating with me.

It's Nipple Day!

* Please repeat after me: Nixon, 630am is not a wake-up time. Please see that my child gets this memo.

* Nixon and I have reached a new level of mother-son bonding. We now can play several rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock! Total parenting win, y'all!! I started teaching Nixon rock/paper/scissors when he was real little. He's known all the hand signals but not how to actually play until today. He even beat me twice!
   I'm so proud!

* Nixon, at the front door, which is open "Look. I have nipples!" as he pinches them through his shirt. He then says to Mac, "Daddy, you have nipples too!" and as if that wasn't enough he goes on to proclaim "But mommy has the biggest nipples. She feeds babies with them!" And he goes back to doing his nipple pinching dance.
   This was preempted by....I have no idea what brought this sudden love of nipples on. Nixon's a little oddball, who finds the most random things amazing. Today was, apparently, nipple day.

It's Mommy's birthday!!

* I was woken up this morning by the sweetest little voice saying "Happy birthday, Mommy! We have donuts and coffee for you!". Donuts, coffee AND presents! What a great way to wake up!

* Nixon helped me wash dishes today. He washed one bowl before he decided he didn't want to help anymore. I'm pretty sure he only helped just to wear my apron. It's cool, he looks super cute in it!

* At bedtime, Nixon looks at my feet and says "Mom, your feet aren't pruny. Your not old." Thanks kid. Then he says "Mom, I love you. You're so pretty"....and that was the best birthday gift Nixon gave me!

He read a little today!

* ...he brought me the apples from his Happy Meal and asked me to open them because "Your super strong, Mommy. You're even stronger than daddy." I'm not going to argue with that, since all that means to him is I'm his hero.

* I had tea for breakfast this morning, instead of my usual coffee. Nixon, who loves to help me make my coffee, say the different k-cup and said "Um, Mommy...you should put this one in" and hands me a coffee k-cup. When I tell him my throat is sore and I need tea to help it feel better Nixon says "But mommy, coffee makes you smile".

* We sent a couple packages off last week. Since Nixon is starting to learn his letters and write them, I wrote out "I Love You" on a sheet of paper so he could write it inside the cards we were sending out.
   Nixon brought that same piece of paper to me today and said to me "Look mom, this says "I love you", see? Right here. Look! MOM! Look!" I looked up and he was pointing to the words as he said them. When I wrote the phrase, I only told him the letters, I never told him what it said. No, I think I told him once what it said, but the letters were the important part.
   My baby read a phrase all on his own!!!

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!

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. 

he came into our bed, drew on the windows, tried to demand coffee....and I still love him!

*At a little before 1am, Nixon came into my bedroom (I was still awake) and said he was afraid of the dark. His room was too scary and wanted to sleep in bed with me so I can keep him safe. I let him, after going into his room and getting his nightlight while turning off the aquarium picture light. Then he snuggled under covers, told me I was his best friend and fell asleep. 

* Nixon and I used markers for windows and drew on the sliding glass door today. Nixon drew an awesome self-stick figure! And a race car....with a rock falling on it. Not sure why the rock fell on it, but he enjoyed it and drew it all by himself, so I'm cool with it.

* While I was drinking my coffee this morning Nixon came over to me and said "Mommy, you forgot my coffee. My coffee is yummy, with milk and it goes in my blue Superman mug." I just looked at him. I hadn't forgotten, he didn't ask and coming up to me like that is NOT going to get him anything.

* No bedtime story tonight. Nixon chose to take forever cleaning his toys up and took up his story time. I'm working on teaching him consequences of his actions. He's not a big fan of this latest parenting endeavor by me but he's catching on.  

My boy is learning how to cook!

* Nixon helped me make breakfast this morning. He was super excited to help! He was in charge of the scrambled eggs. He scrambled them and, under my watchful eye, cooked them almost entirely by himself. We also had bacon, juice and coffee (coffee-milk for him) together.

* Dinner time...well that did not go so well. Even though he helped me with the mac & cheese, he took 3 small, tentative bites and refused to eat anymore even after he was warned he'd go to bed. The bites he did take, he claimed it was yummy, but his face looked like someone put garbage on his tongue.
 He went to bed early.

*sigh* Tomorrow is another day and I'm sure he'll still be a choosy little eater then too. But at least he's learning how to cook a little bit.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

It's a pure photo blog today:

His gifts (Superman coffee cup!!) 

looks just like me before I finish my coffee in the morning. Love him!

Loving his very own coffee cup!

Mother-son bonding done right 

One of my two loves, but without a doubt my deepest love!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! From my little sweetheart, to all of yours! 

my coffee loving mini-me

*Nixon and I are enjoying a nice cup of coffee together. (his is coffeemilk...more milk than coffee) He says to me "Mommy, warm coffee taste amazing!" and "This coffee is the best. The best I ever want to drink!"

* Nixon decided to pout because we were out of lunchables (we haven't had any of those in the fridge for over a week now) and it was what he decided he had to have for lunch!

* Nixon's books from Sunday. Yes, there is a book about Investment Banking and yes, he did choose that book himself. He is so proud of all these books and loves that Tom Sawyer is just his size!

good night....at least he's not all over the bed like last night :)

He's so perfectly ours

* Nixon tried a new tactic to get me out of bed today. He did his usual hugs and kisses. When I tried to get Mac to get up with him, Nixon cupped my cheek and said "Mommy, you need coffee". Yep, that's how he knows me very well these days!

* While reading Baby Avengers vs Baby X-Men, Nixon got super excited and said "What you got Cyclops?" right along with me at when I pointed to the box. Then he says "Mommy, I said the words!" proud as could be.

Love him, his crazy ways and his silly days...love him!

"butt and peenie, butt and peenie"

* taught Nixon an important life lesson: there's no such thing as too much coffee. Especially not when it's said to an empty coffee cup. Empty coffee cups are sad and should be filled immediately.

* Ever heard the song "Black and Yellow"?  It's about the Steelers, I think. Mac gave Nixon a shower tonight and Nixon started signing "butt and peenie, butt and peenie" to the same tune as Black and Yellow.


* Nixon stayed home with Mac while I went to a doctor's appointment. What's awesome is, he did exactly what he does when I'm trying to sleep....kept trying to talk to him every 5 minutes about the show Nixon was watching! Mac worked midnights last night and had slept all of 2.5 hours before I had to leave. It was kind of hilarious because in my head I could hear Nixon telling Mac exactly what was happening...sorry babe.

tails

heads?