Monday, March 30, 2009

Hiding

I came home from a dinner the other night to find the upstairs lights on, but no noise. Found Chris asleep in our bed, but no sign of Nick. So I started doing my normal nightly routine (putting on pjs, taking off watch & jewelry, etc.). Before I went in to wash my face I peeked in Nick's room to see if he was all covered up. But he wasn't there. So I went back into our room. Chris really was asleep-not faking it, so I knew they weren't playing with me. I folded back the comforter and who was under there all wide-eyed? Mr. Nick. He was hiding from me! He'd been under there for a good five minutes while I did my thing. Ridiculous.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Live & Learn

WARNING - the following story is totally gross and Chris in no way endorses me posting it.

So Nick and I were laying in bed reading the other night. Nick told me his bum itched so I told him to scratch it. I kept reading the book and then the following conversation took place.

N: Mom, did you know that if you stick your finger in your butt it stinks? (Saying this with his finger near his nose)
H: Oh my god. Did you stick your finger in your butt?
N: Yep.
H: Out of bed and to the sink. Sigh...

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Jokes

Nick woke up at 530am the other day. He hadn’t been feeling well and was asking for medicine. Apparently the grape Tylenol/Motrin is too much of a favorite. I told him it was still really early in the morning and I’d come upstairs and check on him after I finished yoga. No, he wanted to come downstairs and do yoga with me. So down we went. I managed to get him comfy on the couch with some juice to help his fever. From there he proceeded to ask me all sorts of questions about the yoga DVD I was doing. “What kind of yoga is this? That’s not the kind we do.” I had to explain that this was yoga for ladies who were going to have babies. “oh, so it’s yoga for babies?” yes, exactly! Then he proceeded to ask if I wanted to hear any jokes. There was a pattern – “There’s a shark on your head. Ha ha! No there’s not. I was just kidding you! Want to hear another one? There’s a shark on your ears. Ha ha! No there’s not. I was just kidding you! Want to hear another one?”. If you asked “Do you know any Dinosaur jokes?” he would answer “Oh yes! There’s a dinosaur on your head…”. After about five minutes (or maybe just a really long 2 minutes) he said he was too tired to tell anymore jokes.

Thinking

Ok, so the Batman train is off Nick’s bed and we’re back to him in our bed for storytime. Then he either falls asleep in our bed and we take him into his. Or he complains that he’s squished and asks to go in his bed. Last night he was still in our bed and I could see his eyes were open in the dark. I asked him what he was thking about and he said “I was thinking about you picking me up after naptime and going to the toy store.” This is what we did a few weeks ago and we came home with a $20 dragon. Well, it seems he now wants the knight that goes with the dragon. We thought Batman would fit on, but his legs weren’t made for straddling dragons apparently. Told him we could go one night this week. A few minutes went by and I could still see him stariing into the dark. Asked him again what he was thinking and he said “I was thinking about coming home and playing soccer with dad.”

Monday, March 23, 2009

Moving Out

We were at dinner the other night and Chris said "When the kids are older and move out of the house, we should buy a condo down here (Lincoln Square)." Nick pipped up with "I'm moving out? Where am I going? Are you coming with me?" Which started a long discussion of 'when kids get older, they like to move into places of their own without their moms and dads'. Nick insisted he doesn't want to move out. Chris and I explained that he didn't have to move out yet. Jeesh. Talk about getting ahead of ourselves...

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Babysitting Fun

We’ve started a new babysitting co-op with a few of Nick’s friends. Five boys who all went to school together when they were 2-4. They’re slowly moving to new schools, but still like to get together and hang out. So every other week, a family opens their house to the boys from 5-9pm. The parents (minus the host parents) then get four hours of freedom and free babysitting.
So this week was our turn to host.

So 6 boys. All sweet, but none would listen to us! Figured they’d all stay together and trash the basement. Nope, they were everywhere. Upstairs, downstairs, crying, laughing. It was crazy. We got 4 of the 6 to the dinner table and then hearded them outside for some soccer. 6 boys, each with a soccer ball headed out the door. Chris in the front, me in the back. Once again, they all split. Some to the playground, some playing soccer. We needed a shepard dog to help round these kids up. Chris and I kept doing hand signals to each other to confirm how many we had with us. By 7:30, we were exhausted. Chris kept saying “just another hour and a half buys us 4 date nights before it’s our turn to baby-sit again!” Would we make it. Ahhh, the power of the tv and snacks. I asked them to all sit quietly on the couch and once everyone was quiet, I would get snacks and turn on the batman movie. Eureka – it worked!

The first parents to come at 9pm where the babysitters last week. They asked how it went and we said the right things. Then they began to chuckle and we let it all out “Oh my god –they wouldn’t listen to us! It was so much harder than I thought”. He He He. Right of passage coming for the next babysitters.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Birthday Fun!

Last week was my birthday. I took the day off for some much need pampering and Nick begged to come with me. He promised to be sooo quiet during my massage and nail appt. Even during my girlie movie. Poor little guy. He was even more disappointed when I told him that we were going out for ice cream that night (Dairy Queen!) instead of birthday cake. “But why can’t I have cake?” he whined. Uh, bc I don’t really like cake and want ice cream. “But what about me? I like cake!”. Once we got to school, he proudly went around telling everyone “It’s my mom’s birthday! We’re having ice cream tonight!” Too cute. He was very handy in helping me to open my gifts. If opening them for me is seen as helpful. Apparently Chris and Nick spent ½ hour at the store picking out just the right singing card. It was the chicken dance.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Work

Nick must think that everyone goes to work everyday. When we’re driving in the mornings and evenings he’ll sometimes ask “Where are all these people going?” and I’ll reply “Some are going to work or school or just running errands”. The other day we had the same back and forth and he said “When I was at Grammy’s, when I was 3, she told me that she doesn’t work!” He said it with such a tone of incredulity! Like “can you believe she said that?!” I laughed and explained that Grammy used to go to work everyday, but doesn’t anymore. When Chris and I told him that PJ doesn’t go to work anymore either, Nick just laughed like we were out of our minds and said “Yes he does”.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Spring?

It's been a long winter. Some days when we step outside and hear the birds chirping I tell Nick they're saying "Hey, I think it's almost springtime! Are you hungry? Want to get some worms?" And we've been searching for some signs of greens in the dirt and trees, but none yet. But then we went to Old Orchard - an outdoor mall. And the Dragon was open! It must be spring! They have this Dragon play thing that's really just hills the kids can run up and down along. Nick was so happy to see it open! I was too :)



Sunday, March 15, 2009

Parent/Teacher Conference

Chris and I went to Nick’s parent/teacher conference last week. We go together for moral support, because any negative mark on Nick somehow feels like a negative mark on us as parents. When you see all high marks on his card, your eye automatically drops to the lowest ones. “Competitive”. Gee – wonder where he gets that from? The Nordloh and Fitzgibbons families aren’t that way ;) We certainly don’t use races to get his pjs on, eat dinner, get out the door. “Attitude Toward Learning” and “General Academic Ability” – apparently our little guy prefers puzzles to sitting down and practicing his letters/numbers. We have a full-blown four year old boy on our hands. His teacher is super nice and tells us not to worry about anything. He's a great kid (and a kid!) But being competitive, we want all high marks. Oh Nick, you can blame your grandparents for us being this way.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Sugar High!

So we're trying to give up sugar at our house for a few weeks. We all eat way too much of it and it wouldn't kill us to kick the sweet tooth for a while. With a day off for my Birthday :) Thinking it'll give us all a bit of an energy/healthy boost that we all need. One of the suggested methods for overcoming a sugar urge is to drink a glass of water and eat a piece of fruit. The boys are trying this out with me, so last weekend Nick would say "I need water and a piece of fruit." He'd down both and then say "Now can I have some sugar?" Ha! Slowly getting the point. The boys came home from the grocery store and Nick was so happy to tell me how they'd bought healthy snacks! Too cute. Wouldn't it be wonderful if this sugar deal eliminated some of the mood swings (for all of us?)

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Little Comedian


Sitting at dinner the other night and Nick announces "Quiet - I'm going to tell a joke." Well, we were all ears. This was going to be good! "Have you ever seen a Moose turn into a cow?" to which we answered "No". And then he said "Yes" so we said "Yes" to which he laughed and said "Noooooo. Ha ha!" Yep, that was the joke. Several more iterations followed "Moose turn into a chicken", "Moose turn into a lifesaver". Bet comedy hour at school is a hoot.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Comfy

Have I told you guys about Nick and the body pillow? So I got a body pillow for this pregnancy bc I promised myself after Nick that I wouldn’t suffer with stuffing pillows under every part of my body to try and get some sleep. Well, Nick fell in love with my pillow. He would lay on top of it and try to take it into his room at night saying he got it first. Sigh. So we bought him his own. At first he tried to bring it into our bed. So picture a queen size bed with me, pregnant belly, Chris, Nick and two body pillows. Yes, that went well. But now that we’ve got Batman Train on his bed, it’s Nick, body pillow, two comforters, two pillows, Pookie and whatever toys he brings in with him. Lately it’s been the rubber snake Shannon gave him this summer. I don’t think you could fit more into that train. But maybe that coziness is what’s making him happy.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Batman Train!

So Nick has never been the best sleeper. And our sleeping arrangements really went downhill when we shared a bed in Hong Kong this spring. So it feels like Chris and I have been trying to get a bedtime routine down forever. For a while he'd fall asleep in our bed and then we'd move him into his. Then he decided to crash on the couch in our room - next best thing to actually sleeping with Mom & Dad. Well, this weekend he got out his pop up Thomas the Train tent. He used to sleep in it on his bed. So I renamed it the "Batman Train" and put it back on his bed. Two nights and counting of Nick running to get into his Batman Train each night. Oh Batman, you make everything better! Score Heather! We'll see how long this lasts...



Friday, March 6, 2009

Animal Pancakes


One of our Christmas gifts this year was a griddle with animal imprints. So that you can make animal pancakes. We'll, we've never made so many pancakes before! Nick is very particular on which animals he wants. Now if they'd only makes something like this for brocolli.


Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Baby Nordloh is...

We're having a girl! Chris and I have been feeling girl all along. Except for the few months where I decided to go with Nick’s instinct. A street vendor in Belize made a point to shout across the street to me “Momma, you’re having a girl!” I know some members of my family are beside themselves with joy at getting to buy girl clothes. We’re happy either way. And now I won’t be outnumbered by the boys! Nick didn't cry at the news, but he was still in denial.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Boys

Typical day in a house of boys. Wrestling. Candy eating. Laughing at potty jokes. Playing monsters. Hiding. Racing. As I write this, two boys are under a big blanket walking and growling as they enter the back room. I will never understand how those boy minds work.