Car Show

Chris and I love the Auto Show. Every year we make plans to go and drool over the cars.

Once Nick came along, the car show took on new meaning. What used to be 2 hours of sitting in my favorite cars became 4 hours of watching Nick climb into the back of every truck he could find. Never even knew they had an industrial vehicle section!This year I was prepared. I planned on steering us towards the cars I wanted to see and then let Nick loose on the rest. Almost worked until Nick saw the Jeep set up. Every year they set up a test track with lots of 30 degree angles and such. We always say "Next year you'll be tall enough to ride!" This year he actually was. Chris and I took turns waiting in line while the other one got to drool. 45 minutes later, Nick and Chris were on their way.

Blue things!

Nick was in his bed the other night. Not going to sleep. He came running into my room to tell me about these blue lights he saw in his room. He's always claiming he hears something or sees something in the dark. I started to dismiss it then realized it was static electricity! He was moving his legs around and was seeing the electric charges.

How cool to be a kid and see this stuff for the first time. He couldn't wait to see it again at bedtime the next night.

Bedtime

Nick does not have good sleep habits. He'd stay up all night if we let him. Some nights I'm in bed and he's still running back and forth to my room or the bathroom or to say good night to Chris one more time.

On night's that Chris is out, I let Nick sleep in our bed until Chris comes home. A few weeks back I was dog tired and couldn't say awake past 9pm. Nick was in our bed and as hyper as ever. I would fall asleep and then he would wake me up by talking or dropping a book, or something. At some point he jumped out of our bed and made a huge "boom" noise. I jumped awake and found Nick standing on the other side of the bed saying "Mom, go back to sleep. It's ok." As much as I wanted to believe him, I don't think your ever supposed to trust a kid who's coaxing you back to sleep...

Hannah Montana

Nick does not like Hannah Montana. Think it's only because the girls at school love her, so he associates it with girls. And five year old boys thing girls are gross. But I'm curious how we've seen so many episodes of Hannah Montana at our house...

Anyway, Chris and I were grocery shopping a few months back. It's what we do when we get an hour alone - weeeee! And we say Hannah Montana cereal. Which is really just purple, pink and red crunch berries put into a package with her photo on it. Anyway, I thought it would be funny to buy it for Nick. Chris questioned whether Nick would think it was funny.

We brought it home, told Nick we got him a surprise and pulled out the cereal. The chin dropped and the lip was quivering. We quickly recovered with, "We're just teasing you. We bought this for mom!" Oh yes, anything girly and I get it.

Nick was still a bit upset until he asked, "Hey mom, you going to eat some of that? Can I try a little?"

Shooters

When my dad was here a few months ago, he took Nick Christmas shopping. They came home with the biggest Nerf gun you've ever seen. It has a sniper stand and can detach into two guns. Nick can barely hold the thing up. I rolled my eyes at the thing until I played with it. Hooked! Somehow we feel like if we call it a "shooter" instead of a "gun" it's ok. Sigh.

Chris and I were always fighting over Nick's shooter, so I bought Chris his own. Apparently I didn't buy the right one because Nick and Chris drooled over the catalog of bigger shooters that came with the package.

So there we are at Target this weekend. Spending 20 minutes in the toy aisle while Nick spends his allowance. And around the corner comes Chris with a HUGE shooter. All smiles. Then 20 minutes of hearing Nick and Chris argue about if he's going to share.

But all is well now because I inherited Chris's shooter and everyone is happy and ready for battle. Except for Peri.

Must say, our hallway was made for battle. I think we need a few extra shooters for when guests come over. Like I said, hooked!

Guessing Game

Nick took his first trip without one of us! Grammy and Nick took a jaunt to New York to see Charles and Annabelle last weekend. They had a great time and Nick was so excited to tell us all they did.

Seems his mind moves a bit faster than his ability to capture new words. So we often play a game I like to call "guessing game". Goes something like this:

N: "Mom. Do you know what I ate in NY? It was black and red. Do you know what it's called?"
H: "Um, no. Was it sushi?"
N: "Yes! That's it! I ate a lot!"

N: "Hey guys, at school we learned about these little things inside your head. Do you know what they're called?"
H: "Brains?"
N: "No, they're really little"
C: "Hair follicles?"
N: "Yes! That's it!"

N: "You know what else I had in NY? What are those round things? They come in cinnamon sometimes"
H: "Pancakes?"
N: "No. Big and cinnamon..."
C: "Bagels?"
N: "Yes! And what's that white stuff you put on it?"

N: "I drew a picture for Cooper. What are those birds that are black with some blue and have small wings?"
H: "Teradactyl?"
N: "No, not a dinosaur. They're medium and black"
H and N go back and forth and back and forth...
N: "Something can"
H: "A can bird?"
H: "Toucan!"
N: "Yes!"
phew.

Yes, these are actual conversation that took place this weekend. And no, he's not testing us. He really can't remember what these things are called. I'm amazed that we can usually guess it correctly within a few tries, given the vague hints he uses.

guessing game - ate this. black with red. sushi? little things under your skin in your head? brain? hair follicles? you're never gonna believe this. cooper can read! round things. sometimes wiht cinnamon.pancakes? bagels!

Diapers

Oh, you think this entry would be about Peri, no? No. Nick has been potty trained since he was about 3 yrs old. He went for YEARS without peeing in the bed. An accident here and there, but nothing serious.

Until Peri was born. Suddenly we were getting up EVERY night to change his sheets. Not sure which was worse. Getting up to change sheets at 3am or having to do laundry everyday!

I tried bribery, meaness, kindness. Nothing. So after about 2 months of this (we're slow that way) I finally broke down and bought him the big boy diapers. Yep, they make them for big kids who have just this problem.

I thought he'd be embarrassed waering them. But the first night he came running into our room (moments after being tucked in) and happily exclaimed "They work!". Uh, that's not how you're supposed to use them! He was using them like the crazy astronaut who drove cross-country...you remember the story. Anyway, I had to explain you DON'T PEE in them on purpose. They're there just in case.

Dadadadada

Did I tell you Peri said her first word? Of course it was the weekend we were in Florida (early last month) and Chris was back in Chicago. And of course it was "Da-da". (But Ma-Ma carried you for 9+ months and gave birth to you! I deserve the first word!) Really more like "dadadadadada". We caught a little bit of it on tape below. Not sure why she'd only say it for Nick.

And I apologize for the end of the video. But apparently this is what boys do to the walls near their beds. Gross-o-rama.