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!

Missing Bear!! We have a Missing Bear!! ....and it hasn't yet become the end of a certain little boy's world.

* Nixon went to bed last night without BeBe...well, big BeBe that is. He slept with Blue BeBe. Somehow this bear has gone missing. He's in the house, but damned if we know where.
   Tonight at bedtime Nixon started asking for big BeBe again. I honestly don't know where this bear is, but he's really not taking losing him as hard as I'd expect him too.

* Nixon has been playing with a balloon since Friday when Mac gave it to him and he figured out how to inflate it on his own. He'll inflate it part way and then let the air out. He's done it some much that...the inevitable happened and his balloon popped on him tonight. He was fine about it, until he realized the balloon was ruined and he would never be able to play with it again.
   Then he cried over it like it was his very best friend whom he had just murdered. Big sloppy tears with a snotty nose and huge, gulping cries over a balloon.

* Every night I read Nixon his bedtime story, I read it to him in his bed with him. I snuggle under the blankets with him and read the story to him while he lies right next to me. Tonight, when I was all done with his story, I sang a silly song about his stinky toes until he asked me to stop. Then I tickled him until he decided we had to hide, under the blankets, from Mac who was coming up to say his own good night to Nixon.
   We hid from Mac, giggling while waiting for him.
  Moments like these are some of the best I have.

The last post of November....wow, that came fast, right?!?!

* Friday we kind of chilled. Well actually, we woke up early and hit the only Black Friday sale we cared about: Third Eye Comics! Thankfully, we missed most of the crazy insanity by avoiding the midnight madness sale and just went during the regular sale hours.
   After that, I left Nixon and Mac to help a friend. They had the whole day together for the most part.

* Saturday was a rough one, but I did manage to make a learning lesson out of my own misery/stupidity. I spent Friday night out with a few people and did a little more harm than I'd intended with my drinking. Mac was wonderful about keeping Nixon quiet'ish, while I was sleeping.
   Nixon came in and saw me when I came home, late in the morning. Nixon gave me a big hug and said "Oh, Mommy I was so worried about you!", best welcome home ever!
   Later, Nixon asked me why I wasn't feeling well. I told him the truth: I drank too much last night and my body is recovering but it's a little slow. I told him, someday 15 years from now, he might also feel this way and I will be as nice as he was to me. Which, was really nice, so he's lucky. He came over and gave me a kiss on the head and told me he loved me.

Since Saturday was the last day of the month, Mac and I put out our special holiday helper, R2D2! I did this last year with Nixon and he loved it! R2 is our little reporter to Santa, like elf of the shelf but a geekier version!

It's a ghostly wake-up call for me today!

* I got a little glow-in-the-dark Hello Kitty toy yesterday. Nixon loves this thing and thinks its awesome that you can charge it with a light.
   This morning Nixon came to wake me up with that ghostly Hello Kitty. He even completed it with spooky, ghost sound effects! Super adorable and best wake-up ever!

* Picking Nixon up from school today, and he was in the middle of finishing an art project. (tissue paper turkey). He was ready to go, mostly, and on the way to the car starts telling us "I had a bad day. I sat in the chair and was kind of bad."
   We talked about it in the car. I thanked him for his honesty and told him I appreciate his honest about his bad behavior. Then we discussed his behavior, why he was misbehaving and his subsequent punishment. He was really good about it and I did treat his punishment with the honesty in mind.

* Tonight Nixon asked for "purple nails with some sparkles". I happily painted his nails....and he ruined the mani when he went to the bathroom. haha

* Nixon also asked me for a "hand chopping, circle thingy on my back", which is Nixonese for a massage.

'Tis was the night before Halloween and there was a skunk on my steps....

But he's just the cutest, sweetest little skunk ever!! I even gave him some kisses!

Yes, tonight we took Nixon to a neighborhood shopping center that was doing Trick or Treating. Since it was a little on the chilly, and because he has a school Halloween party tomorrow to go to, he wore his backup costume tonight: a skunk. Pinkie Pie will be worn to school tomorrow.

Even though the area was crowded, older kids were rude, and Nixon usually would've been overwhelmed and throwing a tantrum halfway down the strip of store fronts, tonight he did awesome! A little quiet or lacking all-together with his "thank you" sometimes, but he was spot on with "Trick or Treat!" and sometimes replaced  a "thank you" with a "Happy Halloween" instead.

He was overjoyed with his bucket full of candy! He even asked to sit down just to look at all his candy. Last year, trick or treating was a bust. We were new to the area, thought we had a good game plan, but it was raining and we ended up at the mall, with everyone else. It was chaotic and poor Nixon was not really feeling it at all. Tonight he was loving it! His bucket was filled in less than 20 minutes and he was ready to go home when we hit the last store front.

It was fun. Nixon was the only skunk we saw and lots of people gave him compliments on the costume, his manners and how cute he was in general.

There's a smile under the skunk hood!

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!

School's going well, Nixon is thriving at home too!

* Nixon started the day skipping and dancing into my bedroom when he heard my alarm go off. He came over to my still sleeping body and said "Mom, your alarm went off and I danced, did you see me?" No, but I felt the floor move when he jumped all over my bedroom. He said to me, not liking my answer, "Well, next time open your eyes and watch me, okay? I'm a great dancer!"


* Dancing was the theme of the morning:

* Nixon was also making up silly songs today.  Have you heard the dreidel song? Well Nixon was making up a song in that tune
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy
I love every day
or
Mommy instead of Daddy.
 Too damned cute! 

* The best part of my day was listening to Nixon spell a word and sound it out. He started spelling "taxi" then sounded it out. He moved on to "jet", "boat", "fire truck" and a few other words. He was reading these words from a book he's had since he was a baby, but he was actually spelling then sounding out the words!
   Mac and I are a couple of super proud parents today. He got good report from his teacher at school. He was so happy to see us when we picked him up, he ran over to me for a hug!

He's doing math he's so excited for our trip to NY, he got a massage and gave me a massage....I love my baby boy!

* Nixon says to me this morning "Mommy, we've got 2 weeks before we leave for New York. That's forever!". I tell him, we've got 2 days and he looks at me and says "That's not so very long. I go to sleep and wake up and then it will be one day! Wow, mommy, that's not long at all!"
   He then tells me to start packing. haha

* Nixon misplaced his iTouch today (well Mac's iTouch) and was pissed because that meant he couldn't play Angry Birds. He comes over to me and tells me I have to find it for him. I told him since I didn't touch it last, I wasn't looking for it. I went one step further and told him if I did find it before he found it, I was keeping it until we left for NY on Saturday.
   I thought he was going to lose his mind! Well, he did kind of lose his mind. He cried, yelled and kept trying to tell me I lost his iTouch.
   Mac finally found it, after Nixon apologized and was looking for it at the same time.

* At dinnertime, I tell Nixon: "Listen, if you think while we're visiting friends and family, you will get away with acting up and mouthing off and being horrible, you are wrong! I will find a place to put you in time out and you will be treated like we're at home. Family will not stop me from correcting your behavior. You know that right?"
   This kid took his plate and tried to walk away from me! I stopped him, make him look at me and took his plate away....you take food away from a Ball and he gets it. He got it, or at least knew enough to listen to Mac and I, look at me and told me he got it.
   We shall see......

* Nixon, after his shower, says to me "Mommy, can you do the bang, bang on my back?" It took me a minute to get what he meant. He likes when I use the side of my hand pinkie to wrist, and lightly chop his back as a massage. What's even better, is after I did this to him while he was stretched out over my legs in my bed watching tv, he decided it was my turn so I got the same massage from him AND I got a back scratch from him!
   I love him and his thoughtfulness.

poor baby has a cough but keeps telling me he's fine...yeah, so fine he's sleeping with his mouth open :(

Little bunny foo foo sitting in the backyard, munching on the clover as Nixon quietly watches

* Sometimes Nixon does the most surprisingly random thing that just blows me away. Tonight, I noticed a small brown bunny in our backyard. We watched it for a moment then went inside. A few minutes later it was still there, so I grabbed my camera and went outside to quietly get some pictures of it. Nixon begged to come outside as well, and I honestly thought "Well, there goes the bunny". I was so, so wrong. Nixon sat behind me, in a lawn chair and quietly spoke to the bunny while I took the photos. We were out there for about 10 minutes, before I had to go inside (I was getting eaten alive by those damned mosquitoes). That bunny was in our yard, that I was aware of, for over half an hour. Nixon even set BeBe up in front of the sliding glass door because "BeBe would like to see the bunny too and he promises not to make a sound, mommy!"
   Isn't he just the cutest?!?!

* Nixon: You forgot my baby song.
me: It's late, way past your bedtime. You'll have to go to sleep without the baby song.
Nixon: But mom, babies still need their baby songs. It's very important for babies to have their baby songs.
me: Nixon, you're not a baby.
Nixon: But you said I'l always be your baby. *cue pouty face*
well played, Nixon, well played. 

Happy Independence Day, America!

* Nothing really super American happening here.

* Nixon says to me today "Mommy, guess what?" and before I can respond he says "You're gonna get old.", but he says it very matter-of-factually not at all with the humor he's said it with previously.

* Tonight, Nixon saw me looking at random photos and he noticed a woman with a largely pregnant belly. He says "Baby Nixon's in there!" and points to her belly. I tell him "No, silly, my baby Nixon is right here" and I start kissing him.
   Then I asked him if he wanted to see pictures of me when he was in my belly. He was very excited and we looked at some of the pictures I do have of me being pregnant with him. He was in awe of the photo of me taken just days before Nixon was born.....I was HUGE! haha It was nice that he was interested in his baby pictures, and pictures of my pregnancy with him. I love sharing those memories with him sitting right next to me asking me questions.

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!

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!

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.

Big, important day of sorts

* Nixon had an evaluation today with the county's public school system. I'll write a more in-depth post about that on my Random Mom-ments blog, but the jist of it was: Nixon is not on the autism spectrum (a concern of mine) but he does have some sensory issues (we've known this and have made adjustments when possible accordingly), he's doing things above age-level and is perceived to be intellectually bright with above average cognitive skills.
  He is a self-led learner, which may be an issue in a classroom setting, so we were given information for a program to see a behavioral therapist to help with that.
   And no day is complete without Nixon being given tasks to complete, completing them and then when it's time to leave (before he's ready) he offers a tantrum of epic proportions as a parting gift.
We'll be hearing from an occupational therapist soon about the evaluators findings overall.

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!

Nana has arrived!!

* Nixon helped make eggs for Mac today. He did it by himself with a little supervision from me.

* Nixon made his nana a card today. It had 5 smiley faces on it AND he wrote his name...for the first time...ever! I wasn't home, Mac helped him do it. But it looked amazing!

* Nixon's nana was supposed to fly in around 2pm. Due to flight cancellations, weather issues and other  situations she didn't end up finally getting here until 11pm! Nixon was still awake and so excited to see his nana.

Amber is happy to see Nana too!

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!

..and then he cleaned his plate. twice!

* Nixon is a picky eater. If we go out to eat, it's not uncommon for him to leave food on his plate.
This morning, we dropped my car off to get work done, and headed to Denny's. Nixon picked his kids meal breakfast (3 small pancakes, eggs, 1 slice of bacon and 1 sausage link), and yeah we had a rough start but once the food arrived he was good to go. So good in fact, he cleared his plate!
Then at dinner....he ate 2 slices of pizza!

* He skyped with his Nana tonight. She saw his hair cut for the first time, since he got it cut, and she asked him where his hair went. He says, all super relaxed, "oh, it's all gone now". Then tells her he's a big boy, but still MY baby! Awww, right?

* Nixon sat on my lap and we read a My Little Pony Friendship is Magic comic book together. Yep, we're kind of awesome like that.

He's a sweetheart...and he's all mine, for as long as he wants to be mine!

* Nixon says to me this morning "Mommy, I need energy. Do we have cookies?" I like how he knows food gives him energy, but I'm not giving him sugary snacks for energy. He got peanut butter and jelly plus oranges and a glass of water.

* We watched Finding Nemo tonight and Nixon came over at the very beginning of the movie to give me a hug and kiss. Why? Because he wanted me to not be sad when Nemo's mommy "gets lost" as Nixon says. I love that he thought to comfort me during a part of the movie he knew was sad.

TMNT update: smiles and frowns hit a dead-heat today, at 5 each.

Who is the Master Of Fun?!? Mommy is!

* Mac is the "fun" parent. Nixon goes to him for wrestling, fun hugs (wrestling, lifting, tickling hugs), Lego's time and all around good time usually is Mac's gig. I'm the hardass parent. I set the rules, I dole out punishments...I'm mean.
   Until tonight! Tonight I became the MASTER of FUN HUGS! *echo, echo, echo*
Mac's lower back has been aching and he tripped on one of Nixon's many small toys which put him down for the count. I offered to do fun hugs with Nixon. I tickled him, kissed him and had him crying "NO mommy, stop! NO more fun hugs!!" because I'm too good at them!
After that I gave him a bucking bronco ride and a piggy back ride to bed. The moral of all this? I rock!

* In other news: Nixon did not keep his fingers out of his mouth today.

* Oh yeah, and this happened today, he really is so awkward sometimes:

I wore him out good!!