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
