Witty Banter

On the ride home from scho0ol, I usually ask Nick “How was your day?” Apparently I say “So, how was your day?” bc he came out with that one a few months ago and made us laugh. Just out of the blue asked us each "So, how was your day?" The other night I was preoccupied and said “So, how was your day at work?” Nick laughed and said “Ha! How was your day at school?” Didn't miss a beat. Love that he has the same sense of humor we have and can joke like that. He also knows that I hate parking under the trees on our streets (bird poop), preferring the front spot closest to our house. So last night we were about to park and he said “I don’t think the front spot is there. I think you have to park under the tree. He he.” Good one, Nick!

Magnified

I headed to MD last weekend to see friends/family who were gathering to see Rani and Kurt's new baby Noah. And then Jeanni and Eric had their little Jacob last week, so it was a weekend full of babies! But first I spent the day with my sister Shannon.

She picked me up at the airport and then we headed to the mall. That's what the Fitzgibbons girls do. Then off to lunch at the museum. MMMMMMM. I ate so much crab and Old Bay Seasoning this weekend, I might have turned into a crab. Red crab soup and a shrimp po-boy. I was in heaven. Then a little more shopping before we escaped the cold and headed to her house. Where she brought out the magnifier toy she got for Christmas. It's hooked up to their huge tv set and you look at things like bugs, fiber, hair which are magnified 100-400%. So we did our skin, hair, freckles. Cuticles were super gross. As were boogers and snot (don't ask - we got a little carried away). But by far our favorite - ear wax. John, thank you! John really is a clean guy. Two hours of magnifying fun and 2 hours of Guitar Hero before we called it a night. Woo!

Bird Eater

He's growing out of it, but Nick has been a bird eater for the past year or so. (Could it have anything to do with the amount of snacks he eats?!). Seriously, his belly is the size of an apple, so there's only so much lunch and dinner that will fit in there.

Well, we headed to Gino's East for some deep dish pizza before our ice skating adventure last weekend. We ordered our drinks (diet coke with lime for me, water for C and Sprite for Nick). But he firmly let us know he didn't want a Sprite. I couldn't find the waitress to let her know the change. So when the drinks came, Nick grabbed my D. Coke and stuck me with the Sprite. Inthe kiddy cup with a bendy straw. Luckily Chris requested a kiddy diet coke for Nick so we could all have what we wanted. Is it better to give the kid diet soda or real soda with high fructose corn syrup? The waitress then brought us our small pizza with four deep dish slices in it. Enough for us all. She asked if Nick could handle his own piece and we said "Sure, why not." Well, that stinker proceeded to eat the entire piece and ask for some of the last piece. Where he put it, we don't know. I smell a growth spurt.

Boxers or Briefs

So Nick is enamored with all things "Chris" lately. Some sort of male testosterone thing where he can only play with Chris, eat what Chris is eating, watch what Chris is watching. I've been told "Uh, maybe just Dad and I can play" when I offer to play Batman. Harumpf!!!

So Nick races in when he hears Chris in the bathroom so that he can hang around in there too. Is this a boy thing? Anyway, the other day I could hear him in there asking Chris all sorts of questions about his boxer shorts. So I stopped by GapKids that day and picked up a few pairs of xtra small boxers. Too cute! Nick was so excited to put them on. Shoving the extra fabric into his pants and his pjs that night. Silly.

Snacks

So Nick likes his snacks. He has a morning snack (after breakfast), a car snack (on the way home from school), a home snack (before dinner) and a dessert snack. He used to tell us he was hungry (right after he ate) and I'd ask "Are you hungry or snacky?" So now he goes around saying "I'm snacky. I'm snacky." Kinda like those little guys from Lord of the Rings with their Second Lunch. Or maybe that's Taco Bell? Anyway, it's perfect because Chris is the same way.

We keep our cars stocked with snacks, because heaven forbid you show up at school to pick him up and don't have a car snack. Tears for the entire 3 miles home. The other day I caught myself in that situation. So I stalled him by rooting around in my purse looking for the snack I "brought". Luckily I found some Altoids mints and asked if those would do the trick. Yep! I warned him they were hot, but he was so happy to have a snack. Phew...

Sugar Gourmet

I was fixing up some vanilla ice cream and strawberries for dessert. We had a little bit of Ben & Jerry's left that had a tiny bit of freezer burn. I scrapped it off and used that one for Nick. Then I opened up the new container of a local brand (that is amazingly creamy and delicious) for me and Chris. Sat down with the boys to eat it and Nick said, "Mine tastes funny." Chris and I gave each other knowing looks and both did a taste of his. It tasted fine. I asked Nick to try some of Chris's ice cream (I wasn't giving up mine) and Nick said "Yum!". So back to the kitchen I went to get rid of the B&J and give Nick the good stuff.

Protectors

So part of the fun of being a boy is getting all excited over monsters and ghosts and such. Except when it's time for bed. And then the dark seems a little scary. But now we set up a line of defense in front of Nick's bed so that he feels protected. A strange possie (sp?) consisting of the Master from Kung Fu Panda, Batman, a three-headed dragon (with Nick), a two headed sea serpant, the infamous aligator truck from the zoo, a pirate and other folks we think could put up a good fight.

More Snow

It was one of those snow storms where it started in the morning and just never stopped. Not sure what the offial measurement was, but Chris measured 13+ inches (and 4 trips out to shovel). We decided to hit the road Sunday for some free ice skating at Millenium Park downtown. Run by the park district, you show up and skate on a fairly nice rink outside. Except Nick outgrew his skates from last year, so we had to stand in line to rent his. But when the lady saw what size we were getting, she waved us away saying "He won't last long. I can't charge you." Little did she know that Nick turned into a skating machine today! Super wobbly, bambie legs for most of the afternoon. His little legs went every which way. But I have to say they seemed to have a bit more control to them than last year. Then we'd hop off the ice for a bit. Then he'd ask to go back on. Then off. Then on. By the last time (after a soft pretzel and view of the zamboni) he was doing really well. Still needing assistance from us, but the feet were moving in the right direction. And he learned to walk in his ice skates. Nice!

Zoo

So Nick often has dates with Grammy and Papa Jack. They'll go to the zoo or the Field Museum. Or as Nick refers to it, "Grammy and Papa Jack's museum". So they went to see the Zoo Lights last weekend. I gave Nick $10 and told him to buy popcorn for him and PJ. When he came home, I asked, "Did you buy popcorn?" and he said "No, I bought an alligator truck." Huh? Yep, that little stinker was in the gift shop and used his money for a toy. Next time we'll give him exactly enough for popcorn. Photo above it Nick showing Chris his new truck.

Family Secret

So every family has a family secret. So imagine our surprise when we went to Nick's school a few weeks ago and found out he'd been blabbing ours all around town. We asked the teachers to hold onto it for a while, but now we can share with everyone...we're having a baby! Baby Nordloh is expected to arrive July 20th. Fun fun! We made a few phone calls last to family last night and Nick was supposed to say "I'm going to be a big brother. We're having a baby". Instead, the first try came out as "My mommy's having a baby. It's got a penis." We don't know if it has a penis, but looks like Nick might want a brother.

Handyman Chris

We finally got the basement recarpeted after the flood. You remember, the one that happened a month or so after we moved in. Great timing. Anyway, the new carpet gave us the encouragement we needed to finish the storage room down there. You know, the one he tore the walls and ceiling out of last year. So he bought some drywall the other day to start on the ceiling. He and Nick were down in the basement playing with the racetrack they set up when I heard a huge crash. I yelled down asking if everything was ok and only Nick answered. So I started downstairs right as Nick was running upstairs to get me. Turns out the drywall (which was stacked outside the storage room) had fallen across the storage door when Chris stepped inside. Trapping him in. Which made me laugh so hard, except that I kept thinking about Chris working alone in that room this past week and how he would have been trapped down there all day!

"Let's Play Man"

Nick and Chris have put together a game called "Man". From what I can tell, it's Chris talking like he's on Starsky and Hutch and Nick handing him sharp things. Typical Man dialogue -
C: "Hey man, what's happenin? Give me some skin."
N: "Here, how about a nail?"
C: "Ouch!"
N: "How about a shark?"
C: "Owwie!"
N: "How about a fork?"
C: "Owww!"
N: "Mom, what else is sharp?"