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* 

Days like today make me so proud of Nixon!

December 20th
Complimented on his good behavior...yes, MY kid's good behavior!
Day 354

* I picked Nixon up from school today and was given a lovely paperbag gift from him. It's under the tree because it's a gift and gifts aren't opened until Christmas. But Nixon was so happy to give it to me!
   When we left, he asked if he could go look at toys at the place with the tunnel. The Target store closest to us has a parking garage and you drive into it and then up, so Nixon always asks if we can go to the "tunnel store". As I had some things to look at, I agreed laying out ground rules on the drive: no asking for anything, staying with me the whole time and absolutely NO whining/crying/fits. He was awesome and we left without buying anything, even after we walked through the whole toy department...twice.

* After Target, we went to 5 & Below because I had decided to get a last minute stocking stuffer for Mac from there. Parking was insane, but Nixon was awesome! We walked around, grabbed the one item I knew I was going to buy, and just wondered around. Mac was sleeping at home, so the longer we were out the better sleep he got.
   I found an Angry Birds Star Wars launcher toy, something I had looked for last week for Nixon. With only 3 left on the shelf I picked one and showed it to Nixon. His face lit up and he was shocked when I told him I was getting it for him. He asked to carry it and I said yes.
   That toy turned out to be a life (and sanity) saver! The line to check out was long! Nixon was so distracted by looking at his Angry Bird box that he hardly made a peep. Occasionally, he'd ask how much longer we had to wait, but he stayed right next to me the whole time. He was so well-behaved that 2 women standing behind me took a moment to compliment Nixon's patience! One lady was so kind, she said she's seen adults with less patience that my son was showing. When it was finally our turn to go to the register, the two ladies wished Nixon a "Merry Christmas" and thanked me for raising such a well-behaved child.
   I did admit to them that it was the Angry Birds box in his hands keeping him so calm. I know I'm no miracle child-whisperer! But it sure felt nice to hear kind and praising words about Nixon's behavior especially when we'd stood in line for almost 20 minutes and on any other day Nixon may have been making those same women cringe and glare at me for my less-than-patient child.
   But that didn't happen today!

Playing with his much earned Angry Birds launcher!

Good day and songs too!

* Nixon had a wonderful day at school. It started with him getting dressed and asking to wear his striped tie to school. When I left he was showing it off to his teacher!
   When I picked him up, he was a little against leaving, but he showed me his sticker card...full of stickers from his teacher for good behavior! I was so proud of him, I bought him the Happy Meal he asked for when we left.

* Nixon was sitting on the floor, coloring in one of his books. He was singing to himself the "Chuggington" theme song just cute as could be.

Let Monday be a good omen for the rest of the week.....because today was Great!!

* Nixon woke up today and was not ready for school. We worked with him and eventually he got dressed and we left for school.
   He had a good day there too! Learned how to wash dishes (this week is all about chores), was playing dinosaurs with friends as we left (his teacher said "How about we play dinosaurs who can't touch each other?" HA!) and even did everything in the circle today!

* Nixon's still a little sick, so when he got home from school (because today was cloudy, raining, windy and we had a tornado warning in effect until 5pm) we got into Mac and I's bed, snuggled under the covers to watch some TV and then it was nap time. Nixon took a 3 hours nap and then went to bed on time, without a fight!

* Nixon started crying when we picked him up today. He said "I miss Amber so much.", he was really emotional about it too. He's so crazy sometimes. I adore him and he came home to give Amber a kiss!

Teacher's compliment, birthday gift secret, manners lecture from my 4-year old and sharing food with each other....Nixon and I had a great day!

* Taking Nixon into his class this morning, and he does his usual "Hi everyone! I'm here!" and skips over to say hi to a group of kids. I see his teacher, and I needed to let her know he'd be getting picked up a little early today, and she says "I love his enthusiasm! He is just so great and happy! Some kids come in and look like they still need another hour in bed." I laugh and say "Yeah, he wakes up like that...every day. Straight from the minute his feet hit the floor." She smiles and says "That must be awesome."
   You know what? It kind of is.

* Okay, so I took Nixon with me to go pick up a piece of his birthday gift today. SHHHHHH....but we're getting him a fish, well a beta fish to be exact. I found a fish tank for sale and went to go buy it today. Nixon never saw it.
   After it was safely stashed in the back of my car, Nixon and I went into Walgreen's for a snack for the drive home. On the way to the store entrance, we passed a lady and her dog on the sidewalk. It was a little tight but enough room for us to get by when Nixon walking directly in front of me. Suddenly, Nixon stops in front of me and says "Mommy! We've gotta go back. I didn't use my manners and say "excuse me" to that lady when we walked by." He was genuinely distraught by this but after I assured him we were okay, he went into the store. He did chastise me "Okay, Mom, but we have got to use our manners all the time! Because it's the right thing to do, you know.".

* Nixon picked a bag of Ranch Doritos and I grabbed a bag of Lays Cheesy Garlic Bread chips for the car ride home. Nixon asked for a couple of my chips and I had no problem sharing them with him. A minute or two later, he asked for a couple more. By the third request for MY chips, I had a solution: Making sure Nixon had some of his Doritos left, I offered him to trade bags. He took me up on the offer and he was super happy. Until his chips were gone and then he says "Mom, I'd like my blue chip bag back now."
   Yep, sorry kiddo, you're not the only one who finished their bag of chips.

Success! A week of school with all good reports, no tantrums and no refusing to participate! The routine is starting to click and gel with Nixon!

* Three has always been a superstitious number to me. This being Nixon's third week of school and first full three-day school week, it's no surprise that he had a great week!
    His teacher said he was wonderful this week! They're doing things to get him to participate at his comfort level and it's working!  These are the reports I've been hoping to hear. And it's not been unrewarded.

* Today when I picked Nixon up, I had to go to the mall to pick up something nearby. When I was done with that task, Nixon asked to see the fish at the mall's fish tank. I agreed and even sweetened the deal: we each got mall a cookie to eat while watching the fish! We spent about 30 minutes together, just wandering the mall together, talking and enjoying a really good moment.

* At bedtime, Nixon read his very first book entirely by himself. Sure it's a book he's heard me read every night for almost a month, but he read the book page-by-page as I pointed to the words.
He also knows how to spell "Pinkie Pie" now. I'm loving this reading phase!

took his Pinkie Pie book to sleep with him!

What else do you do at 3am with a child wide awake, but go for a drive and sit by the water to look at the moon?

* Ah, Nixon....woke up at 2am. We decided to see if Mac was busy and drove to the Academy. We were able to sit by the water at almost 3am, with Mac, and look at the sky and boats and just enjoy the quiet. It was amazing! It's something I'll cherish, a moment unexpectedly given to me and something that will never be duplicated.

* On the drive home, at 3am, Nixon and I were talking about his newest cousin due to arrive today. He's super excited about this and I asked him, because my sister hasn't decided on a name yet, if there was a name he likes for the baby.
Nixon: I don't know.
me: Any name you like a lot?
Nixon: Like what?
me: Well, something you like. Like your hamsters on your learning path.
Nixon: Oh no, they have names already!
me: Okay, if you got a new hamster what would you name it?
Nixon: Mom, can you list names and I'll tell you if I like it?
me: OKay. Captain?
Nixon: no
me: Tony
Nixon: no. Stark, I like Stark
me: Aunt Snotface should name her baby Stark?
Nixon: yes!
me: You don't think we should save that for our next pet?
Nixon: Yes. And for aunt Snotface's baby!
me: You want a pet and a cousin with the same name?
Nixon: Yes, it's perfect!

* We came home and went back to bed a little after 3:30am. Nixon slept in until after 8am,and then he just wanted to snuggle with me. He kept giving me kisses and hugs, which I adore, but dude I just fell asleep 4.5 hours ago! haha
   We had a lovely morning together. Breakfast at Dunkin Donuts, running errands together, laughing and just a great day. We just had a hilariously good time together. No tantrums, no fits, no bad moods.
   It was a rare but cherished good day all around!

Wiping his ass on his own...one sticker earned at a time. Bribery works, y'all!

* Nixon, this morning: Mom, can I have pretzels?
me: You haven't had breakfast yet.
Nixon: *very seriously* Mom, it's okay, no one is here, I can have pretzels now.
me: *laughing* Nixon, the family being here is not why I say no pretzels before breakfast, but that's  a good attempt at logic.
(he did NOT get pretzels for breakfast)

* I haven't been able to brag lately, about Nixon's good behavior because he hasn't really had really awesome behavior. Today, I get to brag!
  We had several places to go this morning and errands that HAD to be done. Nixon was fed and dressed and we were out the door on this rainy, dreary day.
   Post Office? Nixon was great. Stayed where I could see him the whole time I was at the counter (I should explain, our local post office is in the back of a small gift shop, so lots of things for Nixon to look at, but he stayed where I could see him). He was so good, I let him choose a small piece of candy.
   Next stop was the Pharmacy to pick up my meds. The wait was long, and there were several retirees waiting and no one close to my age, let alone Nixon's age. Out comes the PSP and Nixon was good. I got called up, and then told it'd be a bit. So I took Nixon to get a soda for me (I'd left the house and hadn't had any coffee!!) and a bag of pretzels for Nixon. We returned to the waiting area and Nixon sat down, watching his PSP and eating his pretzels as quiet as could be. I was so proud!!

* We're back to another sticker chart for Nixon. It's got 4 chores he needs to do on his own, he gets one sticker for completely each chore. 5 stickers in one chore box gets him a trip to the Toy Basket I have hidden.
   One chore? Wipe his own ass! He got a sticker in that box today! YAY!!

Time flies when you want to avoid a good-bye

* Nixon and J have been having an absolute ball together. J, the little cutie he is, calls Nixon his brother. It's adorable because Mac and K reminisce about their own childhoods together as they're watching their sons friendship form. It's a beautiful thing.

* All good things must end and our time with J, J and K is ending tomorrow morning. They are heading home to Florida. I can't even begin to describe how awesome it was seeing them and watching the boys play together.

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!

Braggy, good times ruined by Nixon's absolute honesty!

* It's a brag! We went out to breakfast this morning. We left the house 2 minutes earlier than we'd aimed for last night, which for us is amazing! We got to Denny's and it was starting to get crowded. Instead of a booth, we were seated at a table, in the center of the dining area. It was loud, because there were several large parties surrounding us. All this had the potential for a Nixon meltdown.
   He sat quietly, sipping his juice, watching his Phineas & Ferb and was totally unfazed by all the noise! When his food came, he just focused on eating his entire meal and watching more Phineas & Ferb. There was not a point, until he was done eating, that we had to talk to him about his behavior! We were so completely surprised and proud, we got him a smoothie to-go!

* Nixon earned back some of the toys he'd had taken away for not cleaning them up. He got one basket of toys on the condition they all stay in his room. He stayed in his room, happily playing with his toys for over 2 hours!
   He came downstairs, after I came inside from doing yard work, and asked me if I wanted to play cars with him. I said yes and his eyes lit up! We played in his room, crashed his cars into each other, made a bridge and ran cars off of it and just had fun together.

* Bedtime conversation with Nixon:
me: Nixon, in the morning wake up Daddy. He's going to take you to get something special for me in the morning.
Nixon: Because you are going to be old?
me: What? No, well, sort of...because it's my birthday tomorrow yes.
Nixon: And you are being old!
me: I'm being old?
Nixon: And pruny!
me: I'm old and pruny?
Nixon: Yes, you will be old and pruny when the sun comes up in the morning.
me: Gee, thanks kid.
Nixon: *laughs* You welcome!

Love seeing these two sleeping so peacefully together.

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.

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.

Nana put him to work!

* Mac called and checked on things at home this morning. His mom was home with Nixon while we were still at Free Comic Book Day, standing in line at the time. Nixon was fine, he was actually putting his laundry away with Nana! He's done this once or twice with me, but it was a major battle. But with Nana, it was apparently fun.

* We got home a little after 130pm, and Nixon was napping! He'd apparently had a bad night's sleep, woken up early and when asked if he wanted a nap he accepted. I can't say I blame him, I also took a nap shortly after getting home!

Old friends, ball of energy and TONS of walking

* I can't remember the last time I was so excited for a Monday to arrive! Today Nixon and I got to visit with a friend of mine from my hometown and her son. We spent the day at the Baltimore Aquarium and wandering parts of the area nearby.

* My friend's son is 10 and I remember him when he was just a little older than Nixon. He was awesome with Nixon, but even he was calling him a "ball of energy" and telling him he needed to slow down! haha Welcome to my life, kiddo!

* Even Nixon got tired by the end of the day. He actually told me "Mommy, my energy is all gone". To be fair, it was a long day and he was so past his usual nap/quiet time. I carried him as much as I could before I just couldn't do it...he wasn't the only one who was tired! haha

What an awesome day!

He's such a sweetheart

* Migraines are pure hell. I woke up this morning with one sneaking up on me. Mac asked me if I wanted to sleep a little more and I gratefully accepted the offer.
  Nixon came up to check on me about 15 minutes later. He asked me what was wrong and I told him my head hurt. He crawled into bed with me and told me to cuddle with him because "snuggles always make my owies feel better". We laid in my bed, snuggled with the blankets over my head, for a few minutes and the entire time Nixon whispered softly to me because he knew speaking loudly hurt my head. At one point, Nixon leaned down and whispered "mommy, does your head feel better? I think it should feel better now".

* Nixon saw the countdown board I have set up for him, that shows how many days until his Nana comes to visit. He counted how many days left and got super excited. I ran to the grocery store for dinner and when I came home Nixon ran to the door and said "Mommy, did you bring home Nana?". I explained we had 4 more days before Nana arrived and he walked away and plopped on the sofa, groaning "on man, that's too long away!"

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?

I'm so lucky I'm his mom

* This morning Nixon woke me up saying "Mommy, it's a beautiful day outside. The sun is up. The windows clean. The flowers are pretty." The window's part made me laugh.

* Nixon decided he wanted to be super sweet to me. I haven't been sleeping well lately, and my little gentleman-in-training seemed to have caught on to this and decided to help me out. He told me he had a surprise for me in his room, asked me to close my eyes and held my hand while he took me to his room.  I opened my eyes and he says "Ta-da! I made you a bed next to me!", and he really did! He opened his foldout chair on the floor so it was now lying next to his bed.
He got into his bed, while I curled up on the foldout with a pillow and blanket. I thought Nixon was going to nap with me, but it turns out he had grabbed his psp and was lying in his bed watching it while I napped. He said "Mommy, I wanted to stay and keep you bad dreams away, so I was awake and you was asleep."
I totally melted!

Days like today make me appreciate Nixon so much!

* Another awesome co-existing day with Nixon. He came into the bedroom at 630am...NOT a wake-up time in our house. I told him he should come into bed with me and sleep some more. He did, until around 8am when he kissed my cheek and asked me to turn on cartoons.

* I spent the morning in the kitchen, at the dining room table, working on some silhouette pieces. Well, really just one piece. Nixon was in and out, with requests for drinks or food, and I'd offer him some of the scrapes of my card stock paper cut in different shapes for him. He was overjoyed by them! He'd come running to me and telling me about the shapes and the rocket, or house, or bridge he built from the shapes I gave him.
Then he brought me the shapes and asked me "which one is bigger?", "which one is longer?", "which one is the shortest?", he was being awesome! And best of all, I had the time to finish what I was working on, while I was still interacting with him. His questions were awesome!

* Nixon got ready for bed, and said to me "Arwen needs a kiss". He walked over to where she was sleeping and gave her kisses on her head.

I asked Nixon to help me with today's post....

Today was pretty awesome, so I figured I'd get the highlights in Nixon's own words:

* Nixon: Oh...my undies are smelling stinky (as he starts looking down his undies)
me: Nixon, your undies are fine.
Nixon: No, they are stinky...I farted in them.

* me: What was the best part about today?
Nix: What is it?
me: I'm asking you...what was the best thing you did today?
Nixon: Yes, mom?
me: What was the favorite thing you did today?
Nixon: Bowling and have fun playing with Aunt Franny.

* me: Was bowling awesome?
Nix: Yeah! I was bowling with orange bowling ball and knocking down the bowling pins!
me: Where you a good bowler?
Nix: Yeah!

*me: Did anything else awesome happen today?
Nix: Yeah?
me: What else?
Nixon: Bowling!
me: You already said that. What else?
Nixon: I saw Aunt Franny.
me: Did you do anything with daddy?
Nixon: I said that! Daddy was here and I said that, now he is gone and I will never say that again! (Daddy is in bed sleeping, for the record)
me: What did you and Daddy do?
Nixon: More bowling and knocking down the bowling pins.
me: So today was just about bowling?
Nixon: Yeah! I'm not going to go to bed mom. Can I not go to bed?
me: I don't see that as a possibility. It's almost bedtime.

* The scary part of the night:
Franny, being the awesomely and fun aunt she is, came over to give Nixon a hug and kind of caught him by surprise with food in his mouth. He had a piece of tortilla chip get caught in his throat and started coughing, turning pink and getting flushed with tears coming out of his eye. I'm holding a napkin at his mouth in case he coughs it up, Mac is patting his back, Franny picks him up and tosses him upside-down to try to dislodge it first thing, and I start getting him to sip ice water.
About 5 terrifying minutes later, he stops coughing and just wants to cuddle....on Daddy! Surprise, surprise. He was very content to snuggle up on Mac's lap and be held by daddy while everything went back to normal. He finished his game and we all lived happily ever after while he learned the reason we are always telling him not to run/goof-off with food in his mouth.
Even though tonight was not his fault.