Nick's Thirty-Sixth Month

Nick's been a little fussier at night, staying up later, probably because his schedule is out of whack with us deserting him so often to hunt for a new home. One evening, after hearing the fuss in the bedroom go for too long, I charged in to order him back to his bed. He was on the floor, in the dark, with the contents of my nightstand drawer laid out in front of him... gel in his hair and everywhere, a scapular around his neck, and a parade of condoms (sorted by color!) marching around the family Bible. Oh, if only the priests from St. Francis could have seen this picture.

Lately, we've setup a make-shift bed on the 'Moose balcony' so one of us can sleep on the porch (which is enclosed as a 'sun room') away from Nick. That's the only way to get a good seven hours straight.

New to the 'Nickabulary' this month, we cross space travel with dairy: he calls fudgecicles "chocolate rocketships", and the space rover that walks on the moon, in one of his videos, a "space cow". It was cute at first that he could recognize my entire name when it was written, but now he uses in context such as, "Once upon a time there was a princess named Jason Mantel." Actually, he's been calling us, "Big White Mama" and "Big Blue Daddy". From the color of our bathrobes. And finally, he calls Lincoln Logs, "chunks".

New foods this month: tacquitos (little oven tacos), barbeque pork ribs, and macaroni salad.

We went to the Lights Before Christmas at the Toledo Zoo on probably the best evening there was. It was a cold night, but the train was running and we managed to slip in and out around the crowds of people. We saw a lot of 'sparkleberry trees'.

Nick and mama have done a ton of activities this month to pass the time in our small apartment. Play-doh is a favorite, making pretend food items, which he sometimes licks just to be certain he can't consume them. They painted a bird house. They made Christmas tree ornaments out of dough for our tree (which weighed considerably more than the little tree.) In the apartment, we have no cable TV connection, or Internet service, as we figured this would be temporary, so Brandi has been renting videos from the library to pass the time. Nick has been exposed to 'Curious George', 'Peter Pan' and some new airplane and train videos. The 'Woody Woodpecker' video didn't turn out so well... those cartoons from the '50s aren't quite as polished for young kids, and he picked up a few things that probably wouldn't go over well when repeated in school.

Big victory this month: he can blow his own nose.

We'll post a Christmas entry once we finish the holiday rounds this week.

Pics from month 36 here.

- Jason

Nick's Thirty-Fifth Month

Nick accompanied Brandi to the doctor for one of her shots this month. Envision him scoping out the equipment around the operatory while Brandi situates on the table, and the doctor prepares for the injection. Nick picks up one of the syringes from the cart, to which the doctor confidently observes, "Don't worry, there's a cap on it. He can't hurt anything." By mid sentence, he has the cap off, and the needle inserted in the doctor's tailfeathers. I like this career projection better than his obsession with throwing things in the trash.

We pass time at the gorcery store doing the 'Redskin Run.' Nick relays small taters in the produce section from their proper basket to the scale, to see how much they weigh. This passes at least 20 minutes while Brandi can shop. Last week, a lady who found this entertaining encouraged me, "don't be afraid to teach him - show him new things." So I told her we already worked with him in every area, go ahead and try him. So after she showed him various fruits, which he properly named the strawberry, the squash, the banana and the raspberry, she got this picture that he's already as smart as she is. I'll have him armed with 'cumquats' for next week in case she tries that again. Keeping him entertained is important, as if you don't distract him properly, you'll end up checking out with a lollipop stuck in your hair.

We're into our apartment now (as I've mentioned to a few of you, it's the closest I'll ever get to camping), and he's adjusting day by day. We went to the park behind our apartment, where there is a pathway, and a small bridge over the creek (where you can look down and see seahorses and river dolphins, at no extra charge on my rent). He loves to 'go play on the sidewalk' which means taking a walk. But overall, apartment living is pretty good. I woke one night at 3 AM, rolled over, and Nick was in the bed next to me, putting his finger in my forehead as he does when he wants to make a point, rambling about something. I asked, "Where's your mother?" "In the cribby," he replied. She must have crawled in to help him sleep, and fell asleep, so he jumped into the bed.

Wondering about the picture where he's playing with something at our dining room table/card table? He found the tampon.

Favorite foods this month: barbeque chicken skin (one of those where he refused until it was shoved in his mouth, and now he loves it), Chicken-and-Stars soup and Chips-Ahoy cookies. He's now able to handle making choices, such as 'continue yelling and go home or stay and watch penguins', and juice or water. Only a few days after introducing him to the world of options, he now offers us options. "Cat in the Hat, or Mr. Rogers?" he will ask.

Brandi, Grandmama and Nick went to the zoo for the 'Elvis Treatment' (where they're the only 3 people in the zoo). They were called upon by the voice of God, who advise them that the zoo was closing, which froze Nick in his tracks. This, after being stalked by the hungry tiger (who attacked a trainer) and hunted by the wolves. And the train was broken, 'in the shop', he says. Take caution visiting the zoo alone at feeding time.

He sneaks up on people now with his blue rubber dolphin in hand, and slowly moves in, humming the theme from 'Jaws'. Too funny.

As always, here's some pictures from the 35th month.

- Jason

Nick's Halloween 2009

This was a real Halloween for Nick, trick-or-treating through our neighborhood one last time. He handed out 'gorgeous' candy (his adjective) early in the evening, then went to four houses with mama before saying, "I'm done" and they came home. He and I went back out for a good mile lap with Aunt Amber and Joseph the Bumblebee. Nick was Caesar, with branches on his head, and a toga. Now, he'd been wearing a sheet around the house all week proclaiming to be a ghost, then decided against it an hour before showtime. So mama whipped out scissors, halved the sheet, and he became a Roman Emperor instead.

He charmed them at every house, counting pumpkins, and being himself. One house he proclaimed, 'look at the Jeep!' while the other kids were lining up for candy. The owner was flattered. Then he found two teenage girls on a stoop, and swindled them for about 6 or so pieces before I peeled him away. He sniffed the flowers by their porch and pretended to sneeze, then sat down next to them and began telling them about the purple pumpkin he just saw. He was calling out the costumes of other kids as they walked by: lions, scary ghosts, and others I can't remember. At one house, he ran up to their bonfire yelling, "Fire! Oh my gosh!" He stopped short, and began blowing on it as if to extinguish it. More young girls in attendance, more bonus candy.

We concluded the evening with a massive poo about one mile from the house (he's just 'this close' to being potty trained, but the ten packs of starburst before we started must have broke him loose.) We were at a familiar neighbor, who had a diaper handy. Good thing that was this year's experience. When we're in a new neighborhood next year, borrowing diapers from strangers doesn't make the best first impression.

Pictures from Halloween with this month's pics.

- Jason

Nick's Thirty-Fourth Month

Coins now have true meaning and value to Nick. We worked with him for months on the differences between the various coins, and he only ever called them coins. Then at the store, he says, "I need quarters for jelly beans." Jelly beans are the Skittles, or anything else, the store marketers place at the exits to usurp loose change from parents via their pleading children. Fortunately, we carry cheaper candy on us in case of such an emergency. But amazingly, he now knows the value of a quarter.

There's no better place to play than the cemetery. I've been a visitor on occasion over the years to 'share a beer' with my grandfather, and I've not visited much since Nick was born. So I took him along, which he refers to as, 'have an eer' at, 'the flower garden.' It's actually pretty awesome: clean, quiet, a nice fountain, plenty of flowers for Nick to pretend to sniff and sneeze, and he collects 'Amerigo Flags' (his word for American Flags, which might even be more historically proper than what we call them) from the veteran's plots. (Yes, I put them all back right behind him!)

Sometimes he'll rattle off a paragraph like a CNN pundit, and other times the tongue twisters get the best of him. He gave up on, "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite." His shortened version is, "Goodnight bugs." And his made up words this month are: eye browns (brows), baloney (blowing) winds, and when things are ruined he calls them 'bruined' (between that and booing the Red Sox, I hope the poor kid never has to live in Boston or I will have wrecked his ability to conform to society.)

Favorite foods this month: string cheese, barbeque chips, and bagels (he eats them from the outside-in.)

The new game this month is Dominos, which he loves to stack and count and knock down. They're relatively enjoyable for the adult involved, except he loves the sound of the word, so he repeats it 500 times while he plays (like staccato DAH'-mi-nose). He also loves rolling the basketball across the fireplace step, trying not to hit any obstacles. His mother started this, and when I played the first time with him, he explained the rules to me ('Roll it; no hitting obstacles; there you go!) I'm just incredibly impressed with this language skills. He addresses me sometimes by my first and last name, which is a chuckle. He has unlimited energy, and once he starts running, can make laps through the house indefinitely.

He's been waking up in the night a little more lately. One night, when I went into his room at 3 AM, he was insistent we needed to go to the parade. I read him a short story as a compromise, then he started correcting me when I was reading it wrong in the dark (he had the words memorized.) Then the next night, he was in tears for two hours over the 'sparkleberry tree'. That's the only word I could understand through the sobbing, so I can't fix that, obviously. Turns out it's a sad story online from one of the videos he watches about two little airplanes saving a tree on some public television show. YouTube is warping him! He'll sit in front of the computer until you peel him away, clicking through videos for hours. Last night, I heard 'C is for Cookie' non-stop during two loads of laundry. I miss the old stuff, which was a little more interesting to adults. Remember the 'mystery box' with Kermit and Cookie? I always laugh when Cookie Monster says, "arrivederci, frog".

New pictures for Month 34 - click here. Picture above is from grandpa's garden, with pumpkins for Nick, and tomatoes. He decorated the punkins with marker for Halloween,

-Jason

Nick's Thirty-Third Month

Nick got a new train set from his grandpa. It's just like the train tables he loves at the bookstore, except more elaborate than any one I've ever seen. We're at least 8 hours of assembly into this setup, and there are many more pieces still requiring hardware to put together. He sleeps with 'chugga-chugga choo-choo trains', one engine in each hand. He falls asleep at night on the floor in his room, playing with trains. (Don't let his mother lift him back into bed, with appendages flopping everywhere.) One night he rolled under the bed asleep, and we thought we lost him!

We took Nick to breakfast with us one Saturday morning, and as usual, he wants to drink from whatever glass is in front of someone else. He will gravitate towards my 'Arnold Palmer' usually (unsweetened iced tea and lemonade). After taking over my glass, he spilled it when I turned my head, of course. He yelled, 'I spilled my coffee!'

Our shared joy of the summer has been 'the white car' which he requests for every ride. We take it out on the weekend evenings for a cruise, and his car seat fits in the back seat nicely. With the tops out, he loves the breeze in his face. I figured, with no food back there, he can't hurt the car, right? Well, the ceiling padding deteriorates in those old cars, and now I have the little handprint of a 3-year old over the back window in the roof. It's a nice complement to the rip in the pinstripe his mother added during our first month of dating almost 15 years ago.

And a special thanks to the Wolverines for giving Nick five opportunities to yell, 'Touchdown!' in the first week of the season. Now mama has two guys yelling at the TV on Saturdays. (And thanks to the Lions, we don't yell at the TV on Sundays, too.)

I traveled for 9 days this month, and Nick was speaking in complete sentences when I returned. He's still enamored with trains and planes, but now we've advanced to steam trains, locomotives, F-16s and Blue Angels. We need to find him some video longer than 4 minute clips online, to give his mother time for a break once in awhile. While at the computer this morning, he lifted an old plaque from my home office desk that I had at Lincoln Mercury over 10 years ago. The Mercury logo 'flying M' is on it. He pick it up and said, "Grandpa Earl's car!" Now, Grandpa Earl has a 1993 or so Grand Marquis, which Nick probably last played in a year ago (the end of that fun came when he filled the cassette deck with loose change from the ash tray), and no one ever associated the badge on that car with the logo on this plaque. Think kids don't pick up everything, and marketing doesn't work?

He got one more swim in before we closed the pool this weekend. The water was about 70 degrees (lake temperature, but too cold for us old folks) and he didn't balk for a second. He jumped right in, and we had to pull him out bordering on purple and shivering.

The other pics from this month are a trip to the zoo with Mason Poley, and finger painting. Also, the tub pic is with his cousin Thatcher when we were in Atlanta for Labor Day.

Click here for 33rd month pictures.

- Jason

Nick's Thirty-Second Month

Nick is beginning to use the computer, with simple clicks to replay the videos he loves. YouTube increased their traffic heavily this month just from Nick. He loves music videos, like 'Three Little Birds' by Bob Marley, and any videos of planes or helicopters or hot air balloons. But what tops them all is chickens. We found a video of muppet chickens, and he requests it frequently with 'more chickens!' He's understanding now when he sees himself on video, and he covers his eyes. His favorite word this month is, 'look!' I put shortcuts here for him to find the videos, so the favorites are linked here on the blog.

We're playing more basketball on his small hoop in the house, while I repair the real backboard outside that has deteriorated from 30 years of use. I love it when he blows on the ball for good luck before he shoots, and then he nails a basket and yells, 'score!' He's now learned to consistently boo the word 'Red Sox' on site, and we're working on a photo of Woody Hayes next. :) The favorite new toy this month is his little red-and-yellow dump truck, which he quickly broke in two, and now carries the pieces everywhere, including to bed. Inside, he and mama build forts from blankets and couch cushions.

Favorite foods this month: orange juice, silly straws, knockwurst and sunflower seeds (known as sunflower treats.) More made-up words this month, for you to work on your 'Nick-cabulary'. 'Cheese cot sauce' is barbeque sauce; 'Bluenocerous' is the blue rhino float toy in the pool; 'yellow-gold trumpet' appears to be a gold finch (he knows robins and cardinals on sight.)

The video of him running around in a cape yelling 'super bunny' is something from one of his television shows. Mama made him a cape from a pillow case when she saw him pretending. He also picked up 'One potato, two potato' from TV, and will do so whenever you put your fists out.

He outran me on a walk down the street last week; thank goodness for the distraction of dandelions that stopped him cold for me to catch up. Really, they're the fluffy white 'weeds' that he blows all of the seeds off. I don't let him roll in the mud outside as much as his mama, who takes him to stomp in the puddles intentionally, and chase toads in the yard. I'm more into cleaning the red dump truck.

We took him to the open house at State Line School, where I attended for several years 30-some years ago (and as you can image, they still remembered me by name when Brandi called the school). He marched into the classroom for 4-year-olds, called out every shape on the wall, every color, and finished with his rundown of 'plus, minus, times, divided-by'. So intellectually, he can run with the group twice his size. But I assured the teacher we would not be enrolling him without a few more months of seasoning, as when it came time to leave and peel him from the train set in the classroom, he melted down in red-faced tears and anger that lasted another 30-minutes after we left. Not to worry, he'll grow out of it. By the time he's 24 or so.

Click here for pictures from his 32nd month.

- Jason

Nick's 2009 Summer Swimming

Summer finally arrived in Michigan, with some hot days in August. Nick spends alot of time in the pool, swimming, sliding and floating. With his turtle lifevest to help him stay above the surface, he can now climb the slide, rocket downward, bounce up from under the water, and swim to the ladder, all on his own (the video was an early shot). It took about 2 days from his reintroduction since last summer, to claiming his independence on the low backyard seas. He navigates all corners of the pool on his own, even swimming in the deep end (but I suppose when you're only 3 feet tall, it's all deep.). He's not just floating; he's kicking and paddling. And there's no peaceful end to swim time - he never wants to come out, no matter how shriveled and blue he gets. He calls his swimsuit his 'sharksuit'. Of course, because it sounds tougher.

Nick's Thirty-First Month

Nick now knows his right from his left, although like using his fingers to count, he probably needs his feet to tell the difference. We practice right and left each time he puts on his shoes.

This month, he's been given clearance to climb to and from the crib. We removed one side, replacing it with a 8-inch high bumper, and put a step for him to get out freely. With that, we secured the entire room by removing everything from the walls that would be enticing to climb, turning face-to-the-wall the furniture that he could use for climbing, and gating off the closet and door to exit the room. Still somehow, he pulled drawers from the lower dresser one day, carried them to the door, stacked them, and climbed over the gate. I know this because his mother had gated him in with gates 6-feet high when I came home from work that night. And he's broken one gate so far. He knows to stay in his bed at night time, but jumps out at daybreak and throws open the door to his room, yelling, "Happy Day, Mama!"

One of our father-to-son bonding activities is sharing a yummy bowl of ice cream. He still calls out loud, "ice cream!" after each bite. It's the one thing I can lure him with almost every time. Favorite new foods this month: tomato soup, Mama's homemade chicken soup, and western hash browns (known as 'potato noodles'). Mama made him an angel food cake, too, which he declared as, "Best cake ever!"

With linguistic perfection still on the horizon, we've been slow to correct some of his 'close but not quite' interpretations because they're just too darn entertaining. When he says 'music', it still sounds like 'moose tits'. And he calls his vitamins, 'Spider Mans' since the two sounded similar (but coincidentally there's old Spidey on the bottle, too.) He seems to be getting louder with age. Some days, he yells so much, he's hoarse for a couple days (which can be a pleasant alternative on occasion, I admit.)

I don't think we've spent money on a 'new' toy in months. He gets some re-treads from the resale shop (like his John Deere tractor), and is content with many of my old toys recovered from the attic. An old bag of spools (yes, those little wood cylinders for thread) have entertained him for almost two weeks. In one video, you'll see he built a microphone and began introducing us like a TV talk show (perhaps from days of endless footage of Walter Cronkite on TV; thank goodness we didn't let him watch any Michael Jackson coverage). He also loves his Tinkertoys, which he calls, 'back-togethers' because whatever is torn apart, he wants put back together. He's also coloring and painting more, with water paints. He makes paintings of his own hands (with his hands), and paints his face, his ears and anything withing 5 feet of the brush (not on the paper, literally paints ON them.) On his own, he paints, 'rocket trails' and 'happy faces'.

Favorite books this month: "The Grouchy Ladybug," and Dr. Seuss' "Sneeches" (which he calls Sneechers). He insists, "Read it again!"

One morning he awoke early while I was getting ready for work; I opened the bathroom door so he could see me at the sink from down the hall (sitting at the gate in his doorway). I shaved while we talked. That evening, he wandered off, down to the half-bath, climbed up to the sink, turned on water, and was splashing his face with both hands, as if to shave. That just amazes me.

Click here for 31st month pictures.

- Jason

Nick's Thirtieth Month

Nick is forming a more definitive personality, with likes and dislikes, and the need to express those preferences frequently, and in loud decibels. He picks the music he likes by requesting, 'push button' when he wants a song changed, or repeated. I've had about enough Taylor Swift for awhile.

We won some new projects with John Deere at work, and appropriately, Brandi found a Deere tractor at the resale shop about the same time. It's a peddler, but he prefers to push it around. These toys are a brilliant idea - brand loyalty starts young.

Having children has taught me many life lessons. Lately I've noticed life really is constructed of more "no's" than "yes's" in general. There's very few things you CAN do that are safe and socially acceptable. But there's a ton of things you can't do that you just come to conform (or concede) as an adult: you can't stick cereal in your ears, you can't lick the TV set, you can't draw on yourself with a ballpoint pen, you can't take off your clothes on a neighborhood walk (well you could, but it doesn't always help your standing in the neighborhood. Unless you're smokin' hot, of course. Appropriate exceptions to every rule.)

Nick uses 'Jedi mind tricks' to charm others to his way of thinking. He asks the question in an awkward way, ("Are we going to the playground?") to get you to ask him what he wants, ("Do you want to go to the playground, Nick?"), then he replies with a resounding "OK!" as if to suggest it was your idea to go to the playground. Charm and psychology. He is just about conversational now, with complete sentences, and he only doesn't understand you when he chooses not to.

Nick is all about being a little helper now. He walked over to the dehumidifier when we had it apart, and voluntarily put the screen back on it, declaring, 'Tah-dah!' He knows to throw wrappers away in the garbage when he finds them. He even tries to help Grandpa mow the lawn.

We went to the zoo for an afternoon. We couldn't get him on the train at first, then couldn't get him off of it. He was pumping his fists, yelling 'choo choo!' for the entire audience. He wasn't real impressed with the carousel, and some of the animals were unimpressive. Loved the elephants, and the bears. His favorite part was birdwatching, of course. Once inside the bird house, he started naming them on site. He got small toy binoculars in a happy meal of some sort, and his first thought was 'birdwatching!' On his birdwatching TV show, they say, 'Be very still, and very quiet,' which he repeats to us frequently when he wants us to tune into his needs.

Favorite foods this month: smarties and sweetarts, Great-Grandma Little's jam and peanut butter on crackers, and Goldfish pretzels. And don't try to sneak an unauthorized soda past him; generic soda won't work, and he doesn't like Pepsi... Mountain Dew only.

Favorite book this month: 'The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat'. Actually, I love this book, too.

We got some swim time in with the warm weather this past week. He wears the same styrofoam floatie I wore as a toddler, and is content to float around on his own. He had a floating chair from last summer, which lasted about an hour, then we realized he was sinking quickly. Turns out there was a weight limit and he exceed it, ripping a hole clean through the side, not just leaking air slowly, but sinking speed like the Titanic.

A few nights ago while I was telling someone how well he's been sleeping, Brandi called to tell me that a 45 minute struggle had ensued in my absence, as he was hopping in and out of the crib furiously, with no sign of tiring. I came home, and had to lay along side the crib like a gate keeper, until he fell asleep. His room has been stripped of anything dangerous, and we put a gate outside the door in case he tries to escape. We're in that middle ground where he knows how to jump from the crib, unlock doors, find car keys, and it wouldn't surprise me if he could load the car and drive to the McD's for nuggets without us, but still doesn't know it's a dangerous world out there.

Click here for 30th month pictures.

- Jason

Nick's Twenty-Ninth Month

Nick loves money, but then again, who doesn't? And it's indeed all about 'how much?' OK, so he really doesn't understand what it is yet, or how it covers the diaper and Cheerios budget, but he will sit for an hour with the piggy bank and put coins in, and dump them out, over and over. He knows the names of the coins, too.

Brandi decided one evening she was tired of playing kid's games, and would teach Nick to play SlapJack! It turned out to be more like SmearJack, or ThrowJack, or ScatterJack. I guess this concept is still a little tricky for a two-year-old. Honestly, she said I wasn't doing it right either - I don't know how to flip them right. She was just upset that we were smokin' her at her own game.

Finally, some TV that doesn't melt the brain. Uncle Fayling made Nick a video from NASA clips, with shuttle launches and landings, rockets and space video. He loves it, and thank goodness - something we can watch together. With his love for airplanes, we were flipping the TV between SportsCenter and Jack's Big Music Show one morning, and came across the classic flick, "Airplane '79 - The Concorde". He was glued to that lousy 'B' movie for two hours, and got upset when commercials came on. It's hard to remember a time when Eddie Albert could anchor a feature film.

All kids have made-up words. Some of my favorites, from Nick's ever-moving lips to my tired ears: 'meno, meno, meno' which is him saying, 'mine, mine, mine.' And 'goolicious' which is his word for 'delicious'. And he says, 'thaaaaaaank-YOU!' when he takes something from you - the humor is in the inflection. He also says, 'there you go!' an awful lot. He's very good about using 'please' and 'thank you' and 'I'm sorry'.

His grandpa bought him a tricycle, which cost more than the ten-speed bike I purchased new in 1983. He's actually figured out how to pedal before understanding how to steer, so there have been a few minor collisions.

He was high above the ground in a jungle gym at the playground, where there were pictures of all sorts of things stuck on the wall. There was a young lady there with other children who appeared to be a teacher. After Nick astutely observed the apple, the worm, and the book, she pointed to the can of beans in the picture. So, of course, he didn't just say 'can', he said, 'beans'. "Did he just read that?" she asked. Sure looked that way.

He's into the big tubby now, having outgrown the laundry room utility sink. He loves playing in the tub, and hates having tub time end. And like always, he's a ham for the camera, even in the tub. Although, not as much as he loves taking pictures of himself. I included one of his many self portraits this month. Thank goodness the days of expensive film are long ago.

Click here for 29th month pictures.

- Jason

Nick's Twenty-Eighth Month

Brandi has raised Nick on a relatively strict routine, and we are reaping the benefits. His little internal clock is up at the same time each day, and down each night, right on schedule. I realized we have a lot of routines we've set over the past 2 1/2 years, and he'd be the kid that could raise himself if we disappeared. He says good night to the animals in his room, counts to 20 before we tuck him in, always puts shoes on to go outside the door and remove them coming in, gets dressed in the same order every time. No more rocking him to sleep for an hour - it's five minutes of rocking, and he says, "Cribby, please." I still can't get over how the kid eats everything. We sit down to dinner together each night, and he fills up on whatever mama is cooking! Favorite foods this month: cheese pancakes (this is cheese melted in a tortilla), ice cream (obviously from the video), and jelly beans. The picture here is Nick having dinner with us at the Bob Evans. He's used to being out in public, and no trouble at all. This was our last stop of the day after playing with the train set at the local bookstore.

We made a lot of progress in the athletic department. His Aunt Miranda got him a small hoops rim for Christmas, which we finally brought out. And his grandmother sent him a set of golf clubs (like, real ones, for people of height 22" to 40", with the Pinehurst bag tag). I came home one afternoon, and his grandpa had mowed a fairway and green into my back yard: butter container for the cup, and red handkerchief on a broomstick for the flag. And he loves kicking balls like soccer. But birdwatching?! His word this week is birdwatching, and a 'mee-taw' bird, apparently from a cartoon. All the action that matters is overhead nowadays: birdwatching, airplanes, helicopters.

Nick's comprehension amazes me more each day. When we bring home one of the small cardboard (Boynton) books, he's either reading it, or has it memorized in about 2 days. Brandi is auditory, and I am very much visual. We can't tell just yet which one is Nick's strength. He's now counting to 20, and understanding it, and knows the alphabet on site. He can pick out about half the states on a US map. Most impressive, though, is how he understands abstract concepts. He blurted out, "This chicken is delicious," at a meal this week. He knows when we pull out of the driveway which way is the playground, and as soon as the wheels cut west instead, he protests. He understands wrenches work with bolts, and loves to sweep the sidewalk.

Play time is all about slides: the 'big green fish' slide at the local playground, sliding off the beach ball (that's what he calls it when he rolls off) in the living room, and treating mama like a slide when she curls up and he slides off of her shoulders. Brandi has found a good gym during the week that has a nice setup for Nick to play while she works out. He mixes with the other kids easily, probably from all the time spent with his cousins. He still loves older women - he chases the four-year-old blondes at the playgroup.

He is master of the 'one word request.' He uses full sentences often, but he frequently seems in a hurry, comes barrelling up to you, out of breath, and blurts out his immediate needs in just a single word. For example, "Dinner", "Playground", or "Car Ride."
The lines he uses most often: "I'm ok" (even when he's in tears about something), "I fixed it," and "Knocked it down."

Wanna know what we're watching this month on kid TV? Here's the Moco Jumbie!

Click here for 28th month pictures. You'll notice the pictures are now compiled in a photo album site, so the images can be downloaded.

- Jason

Nick's Twenty-Seventh Month

Nick really grasps concepts now, more than just associating names with objects. When he's cold, he pretends to shiver and says, "Brrrr, it's cold!" He got pinned in between the couch and the table, and he yelped, "I'm stuck!" We practiced alot with his books: hot and cold, up and down, spiny and smooth. He requests car rides, the playground or playing outside. We've started that age-old practice of spelling things around him now, but I don't expect that to last long either. (If he knows what Dora the Explorer is spelling, in 3 different languages, what makes us things we're being so slick that he won't catch on?) My favorite this month: he knows cars, and he knows trucks. He can identify a Fiat, a Ford and Porsche on site (you thought I was talking about generic idenfication of cars... that's too easy! Hear that, if any of my clients at Ford are reading this?) He still gets slipped up sometimes with first-and-third-person relationships. He'll get upset, then stop crying and ask, "What's wrong?" He's his own phsycologist.

We spend Friday nights circling the grocery store as Nick pushes one of the carts for little kids up and down the aisles. He never reaches for anything on the shelves, just loves to push. Never unsupervised, though, as he'd mow the little old ladies down, focused intently on their coupons and not watching out for a high-speed toddler with a steel battleram, as he tries to pick up speed on the straightaways.

He got to tubby in Aunt Megan's whirlpool tub. Brandi convinced him the bubbles were fun, and to look closely at the jets as she turned them on... and then it rifled a vicious projectile of water square into his face and thrust him back about 3 feet into a hosed and pathetic heap. Funny, yes. But a face full of water, at what feels like a PSI comparable to a space shuttle launch when you're only two, is a tough way to learn how a whirlpool tub works.

When he and mama returned from Atlanta from their stay, I was so happy to see them. (And the 150 people aboard Northwest Flight 472 were happy Nick was home as well.) I reached for my son and told him how happy I was he was home. He responded affectionately with simple terms: "Pizza!" At least he's easy to please. He eats a ball park frank like a man, bun and all. (No onions and relish yet, although I haven't offered it to him, either. And sometimes the parts get consumed separately.) Still loves spicy food. But he can't get enough popcicles. Note to other parents: sugar-free popcicles are helpful for good poos.

He followed his mama into the bathroom last week (gotta remember to lock the door) and sat down on the little potty next to her, on his own. So naturally, we encouraged this activity. Then he reached for a magazine, and we got a cute picture. When you see the picture, I want you to know he only reads the articles! ;) (And the magazine wasn't mine, I swear!) Mama shook her head at him, and questioned whether this material was appropriate. Then he pointed to the girl in the picture and said, "Mommy!" Of course, that was the perfect response for the situation. Once again, that's my boy - always got the right answer handy when he needs it.

Click here for 27th month pictures.

- Jason

Nick's Twenty-Sixth Month

Most of Nick's big words this month are directly related to the growth of his big head: waffles, popcicles, hot dogs, and noodles.He's speaking in full sentences now, so it's clear when he wants to go for a car ride, or visit Aunt Megan. He walks up to his cousin Seth and hugs him. He still has no use for the younger Thatcher, who just steals his snacks and toys. He sorta treats Thatcher the same way he reacts to the dogs - he waves his finger at him and says, 'No, no.' This is a short-lived scenario, though - strong Thatcher will be able to bench-press small Nick in a few months.

The TV shows are sinking in now, so no more Law and Order. He watches one show where they introduce animals to kids, and he know some animals on sight that I have never head of: jaguar, kinkajou, lemur, tapiers, armadillos, dolphins, kangaroos. And he can make the sounds for all of them.

He experienced his first tornado, and his first Georgia snowfall. He and mama went to Georgia to get out of the cold, and they got a foot of snow. Here in Michigan, we had the coldest January on record, and the second-most snowfall on record... all in a single month. We made a snowman for the back porch, and each day, Nick would say, 'Bye, bye, snowman,' as he melted.

Grandpa Mantel is teaching him to play chess. He knows all the pieces by name, and is just getting the hang of the movements. When he wants them, he says, 'Where are my pieces?' I've been told if a kid can play chess at 2, he's a genius. No, he's not really that close to genius status, but as long as he loves to learn, we'll keep feeding him new stuff. This week, Brandi started working on the 50 US States.

One night about 3:00 AM, Brandi thought she heard the door open from the kitchen to the garage, but figured it was nothing and rolled over. Luckily curiosity got the best of her, and she investigated. Nick had crawled out of the crib (only the second time he's done that), walked to the garage, opened the door, turned on the light, and was riding his Cozy Coupe around the garage. He was one button away from opening the garage door, and wandering off. So the next night we rigged a rope tied from his door to the closet to contain him in his room. We have the childproof door handle covers to stop him from opening doors - you need to pinch them to grip - but he figured those out in about five minutes. He hangs on the with his weight, and turns the handles. I was prepared to barricade him his room as a teenager, but not this soon.

All the books from his infancy he is reading to us now. He read me a book over the phone the other night, and he now sits in my lap and reads to me instead of me reading to him. All the little bits I would insert to the stories for color, he now does on his own. When he sees the elephant wearing red socks, he yells 'Boo!' (because we don't like the Red Sox, get it?) When he sees the smooth dinosaur, I always rubbed his bald head - now he rubs his own head for the word 'smooth', and he yawns when the dinosaurs stay up late. He's in-between memorizing and reading. Most of the books he has memorized from two years of reading to him, but he's picking out those words in other contexts as well.

Click here for 26th month pictures.

- Jason

Nick's Twenty-Fifth Month

I'm still running behind on Nick's Two-Year post. I've been traveling again, this time to New Orleans for a conference. My first time to the city that really makes Vegas look innocent. My first night walking about, all I wanted was an ice cream cone, but I could find only daiquiri carts, call girls, and ear-piercing music (that was not Jazz, by my definition.)

Nick had a scare this month. He loves airplanes and visits to the airport. But while I was holding him in the driveway in Atlanta, a life-flight helicopter buzzed low overhead, and he froze in fright, gripping me tight and shaking. He was weary for a couple of days of anything that flew. He went from screaming 'airplane!' in glee to questioning 'airplane?' as if to suggest he's not so certain he's happy to see them anymore.

Of course with the pass of time comes expanded verbal skills. He looked at my brother-in-law Fayling and told him, "I want to go to the slide." He can sing Twinkle Little Star, almost completely. He uses 'please' and 'thank you', although not always in the right order. He surprised GrandMoose with, 'God Bless You' when she sneezed. And then Brandi's dad slipped with the word 'crap', which Nick repeated countless times for practice. Something about the linguistics of that word are fun. So when he came home to Michigan, I rushed to pull out the puppet 'Comfort Crab' and convince him he was saying, 'crab'. I think the cover worked. And he's now counting to 20 with no trouble, and clearly understands what he's counting, not just saying the numbers. Unique to Nick, he doesn't like to think there's just one of any great thing in this world. He says everything with an 'a' in the front: Brandi is 'a mama', Moose's dog is 'a Rosie (the great dane), or 'a baseball'. (Poor Rosie runs like lighting when he comes screaming 'a Rosie, a Rosie' and he tries to climb on her like a horse.)

His favorite place in the world is the "Jumpy place" in Atlanta, an indoor playground. He'll run with his cousins until his face is 'crab red', and sweating, and refuse to take a break. He's just naturally a hot-blooded kid, with hands always warm. He had a fever for a few days and it was hard to tell - when he wakes from a nap, he's always sweaty (with all the little hairs on his head sticking every-which-way.) When waking up, he always starts rambling right away about, 'a parasail' or 'a pumpkin' or whatever comes to mind.

Nick spent his birthday in Atlanta (Brandi and Nick stayed behind a few weeks for the warm weather). Megan and Jason threw him a great party, with gifts and all the extras. Video is here. As a new parent, you wonder how your child will learn some valuable lessons: for instance, how do you teach them something is hot, without burning them intentionally? With Nick, give him a birthday cake with a candle on it, and stand back while he frys his forehead. Between the fat lip at McD's and burn marks, you also wonder, as a parent, how long this stroke of luck can run before Children's Services comes knocking on your door?

Nick stacks everything, and can entertain himself for hours. He stacks blocks, pots and pans, bottles, books, you name it. We have observed that he continues to use both hands interchangeably, and that the other kids his age are starting to favor one hand. He will switch stacking or writing from left to right randomly. So of course, his Grandpa Mantel bought him ANOTHER left-handed baseball mitt. The kid is going to have enough equipment to outfit an entire team soon.

I came home to Michigan alone for a couple weeks, to shovel snow (about a foot) and paint more trim and doors in the house. But it wasn't all gloom for me. Alice, the master chef next door, baked me homemade apple cobbler... and I lived on it for three days. I needed the energy. For those of you in lands far away, we've shoveled about 4-feet of snow so far this year in SE Michigan.

- Jason

Christmas 2008

Nick had a great Christmas, showered in gifts from all over. We spent the actual holiday at home, opening a few small gifts. We wandered about the toy store on Christmas Eve, and had the store to ourselves. While one parent shopped for a few toys for him, the other stood by Nick in the $500 motorized Jeep Wrangler - one of those 5 mph real driving toys for kids, complete with a dashboard full of noisemakers. He sat in there for an hour before we peeled him out, none too happy, and sprinted for the door.

Then we spent the weekend after with family here in town, and traveled to Atlanta for New Years. In Atlanta, Nick was able to get outside on the playgound, and rumble with the other kids. It amazes me how he knows no limits - he kept up with the 5-7 year olds like he was one of them. And of course, exploring GrandMooose's house; one of the pictures is of him playing in the cupboards.

He was buried in gifts, including a NASCAR playmat, indoor basketball hoop, small airplanes, matchbox cars, a toy harmonica, and a sweet pirate kite. Honestly, other folks (all of you) were more generous with him than his own parents. Thank you! I can't even recall all the toys and clothes he received, but we were spoiled by the generosity of others.

The video here is of Brandi and Nick opening his gifts on Christmas morning. He's counting the glow-in-the-dark stars (more of them!) for his ceiling.

I'm working on his Two-Year post, and hope to have it live in a couple of days.

Click here for a few Chrismas photos.

- Jason