Nick's Forty-Eighth Month

Nick got some great toys for Christmas with stops in Temperance, Cincinnati and Atlanta, all the usual trains, planes, and cars, with some new blimps and submarines to mix it up a little. I didn't think, "Bumping up to the buffer cars (which means coupling the train cars)" was legit, but he didn't make it up - that's really what they say.

Fayling and I took the three boys to the Jumpy Place (indoor playground) since it was as cold in Atlanta as in Detroit (29 degrees, both cities, except Atlanta had more snow). I'm buying the boys slushes, and when I turn, my brother-in-law has shoved Seth into a hurricane-simulation machine. He swaps out Setch for Thatcher, neither of which likes it much, then we toss in Nick, who just loves 90 MPH winds.

Between my nephew Seth with the constant, 'Hey, Mantel, watch me do...' and Nick starting every sentence with, 'I need my...' they overwhelm me. Nick considers everything to be his. Oh, he's polite. For example, he'll look at Seth who would be drinking a soda, and say, "Seth, may I please have my soda?" Oh so subtle, that the world belongs to him. Of all the things we've taught Nick, nothing has proven tougher than the difference between "I" and "You", "Mine" and "Yours". Any ideas?

He still won't answer a direct question most of the time, until forced to do so. While it frustrates me, he's pretty smart to play that card as long as he can. Think kids aren't susceptible to every day marketing? He looked at me one evening, from several minutes of silence, and asked, "Daddy, help me get a credit card?" I asked what he needed it for, and he replied, "To buy Seth a train!" So he know it's for purchases, and if he claims it's for someone else (Seth has no interest in trains) he's got a better shot at cooperation.

When he's mad at his mother, he will just ignore her, sometimes for hours (until he wants something.) When he has to speak to her, though, he knows he can't tell her she's 'bad' or 'wrong' so instead he calls her 'young'. Don't know how that came about, but when I hear, "You're so young, mama," I know someone's been in trouble.

Pics from 2010 on Flickr.

- Jason

Nick in California

Brandi, Nick and I took a short weekend vacation to California for some much needed time away. They flew in from Atlanta, and I from Detroit. Nick was awesome on the plane ride, watching videos and eating snacks, even a nap squeezed in there. I'm happy he likes flying.
His first impression of California: "It smells like stinky dead fish." (We were driving along the PCH by the ocean.) He finally got to see all the planes he watches on TV up close and in person at LAX. (His favorite YouTube video is 'planes taking off from LAX' so of course he went nuts in person.)

After visiting with our friend Nancy on Friday, we headed to Disneyland for the afternoon. The place was packed with people - why aren't their kids in school! Nick was most interested in riding the trains. He rode the Snow White ride also, and we saw the parade in the evening, which was cool after dark. The barbeque wasn't half bad, either.

Nick was sick on the second day, and we spent most of the day in our hotel; fortunately Nancy set us up with an awesome room at the Irvine Marriott, and Nick had the perfect view of John Wayne Airport. So he spent the day laying on his bed, calling off the flights like air traffic control as they took off and landed. In the evening, we went to South Coast Plaza for shopping, where Brandi bought a dress from Mango, and Nick got a toy plane. Having never been there before, Brandi now knows what this place is all about (all the designer stores of LA.)

We started off Sunday at Mimi's Cafe for breakfast, one of my favorite California eateries. Then we drove down to Dana Point Beach for the view high above the harbor, and a couple hours down on the beach. Nick was into it at first, but then became 'afraid of the crabs' and needed to be carried the rest of the way. This was his first experience with the ocean and beaches, picking shells, burying his feet, and tossing stones. Oh, the picture of him spurting at me isn't him being rude, he just loves the noise!

He knew we were in Los Angeles, and flew in from Atlanta on Delta. Then at one point, Brandi asked him where we were, wanting to hear his cute response, and he says, "Vegas!" Go figure. On the drive to the airport, he got to see the Goodyear Blimp along the 405, and more planes flying in, while he gripped his last California muffin tightly.

- Jason

Nick's Forty-Seventh Month

With Nick in Atlanta most of the month, and me in Detroit, it felt alot like an episode of Charlie's Angels - I was "Charlie". He would talk to me through the phone like I was actually the phone, putting the phone in his train for a ride, taking pictures of the phone, or walking the phone around the house. I did get down to see him at Thnaksgiving, which was post-haircut (he's shaggy in the first half of the month.)

We make shadow puppets on the wall during tub time. Well, Brandi makes them, and Nick aggressively smashes them. Another game I'm no good at.
He still insists on hitting on older women, this time at the Chick-fil-A. I hope he never loses the confidence and charm, but I can see where this can cause trouble, too. He can't quite grasp, 'don't talk to strangers' yet. I need him to learn he can't just walk up and touch other people. (Gotta admit, though, he's charting in territory I wish I had travelled at some point in life.)

Walking through the house, he discovered his grandmama's sewing machine. I told him it was for sewing clothes. When I came back through the hall, he had taken off his shorts to mess with them on the sewing machine. Somewhere there's a picture of him naked and sewing.

Brandi sings him songs at night before bedtime, and he sings all the time, all day long. I love the classics, like, "Sweet Caroline", which he knows, "bom, bom, bom..." The family sang him, "Happy haircut to you!" when he was a good boy for his haircut, so now he sings that frequently, too.

Nick is an expert at human anatomy, and readily identifies most parts of the body. I just hope he doesn't share his knowledge as openly with strangers; could be a little embarassing.
I'll get pics posted when I return from California (where we are all now.) There oughtta be some good ones.

- Jason

Nick's Forty-Sixth Month

We had two rounds of Halloween Trick-or-Treat this year: one in downtown Newnan amongst the local businesses, and one in a local neighborhood. After a few Milk Duds, he was beyond slappy. He was walking into people's homes when he saw more candy inside the porch door, diving face-first into candy cauldrons like bobbing for apples, and trying to swindle the same homes for candy multiple times. All the while, he was giggling hysterically. Many other kids recognized his 'Super Why' costume. He indeed consumed record amounts of candy for the holiday.

Favorite foods this month: anything he can get his grubby hands on. Dr. Pepper appears to put him to sleep. I was eating a goofy flavor of chicken pizza at the restaurant buffet, and he took it right off of my plate and chowed it down. He's now ordering and eating... most kids can't make a decision at 4 years old, to ask them what they want to eat. He awakes, places his order with Mama ("eggs and pancakes, please,") and then eats it all. I saw Brandi make breakfast twice one morning... and he ate twice. Growth spurt.

Nick learned to fish while in Georgia, casting from the banks of the lake behind Moose's home. He's using a rock as bait, so not catching much, but he hasn't hooked himself yet, either, so that's good. We took his love of fish back to the Georgia Aquarium for a family day out, where he saw sharks and whales. It amazes me how many of the fish for which he knows the proper names.

I didn't see him as much this month, with him in Georgia and me in Michigan, but his conversational skills via telephone made leaps. He went from counting and singing at me, to sharing real experiences in detail. He's still a little fuzzy on how phones work, though. He takes pictures of Daddy over the phone, and he once took my blood pressure over the phone by wrapping the phone in the sleeve. I just pretend it's working.

He's constantly re-affirming that he's being a "good boy." Most days, we agree.

- Jason

Nick's Forty-Fifth Month

We moved into our new home at the end of August - Nick loves the "New Red House" as he calls it. There are lots of little boys with very cool toys for Nick to play with, which he had no hesitation moving in and taking charge. We (Brandi and Nick) are in Georgia for our annual fall visit. While at a Halloween store we found a "Super Why" costume (a cartoon character from public television) and Nick fell in love with it. He won't take it off and we had to buy a second so that he could always have a clean suit to wear. This costume has really fired up Nick's imagination. Nick awoke one morning, spouting make-believe scenarios in which Wyatt (a.k.a the REAL Super Why) will ring Grandmama's doorbell and call to Nick, and then Nick will save Mama. He also stands in the mirror says, "I'm Super Why, I'M SUPER WHY!"

Nick attended his first Fair and saw a pirate acrobatics show, along with a ton of rides. The huge slide with the burlap sacks was his favorite, which we rode three times; he also rode a small airplane, kiddie train, bumper boats, moonjump, and a small coaster that looked like a dragon (he didn't like the dragon train so much.)

We bought him a Doctor's Bag, which he runs around checking everyone's blood pressure, giving "big pinches" with the syringe (vaccinations) and checking temperatures, plus dispensing get-well juice from the plastic thermometer. He knows the proper name of the ear checker ("...that's the Otoscope, Mama.") He's pictured here giving Uncle Ron a checkup.

We continue to move up the chain of children's entertainment, away from toddler shows, to "Super Why" (educational) and Polar Express (movie).

Favorite foods this month: "croissonicks" (croissants) "Oleo's, Orea's, Orella's" (Oreo's), "Michigans" (which are small Nerds candy, with no intentional offense to UM grads).

He continues to favor planes and trains. It feels as if we are on a mission to own every train ever made!

- Brandi

Nick's Forty-Fourth Month

Nick took his first big tumble, falling seven feet off the jungle gym platform, head first, to the ground. He landed on his back, after missing a step heading onto a chain ladder he never typically uses. He's been getting over-confident, and this will slow him down. After a short cry (him, not me) a mom on the playgorund came over to console us, reassuring me that I had been following him step-for-step, and he was a quick mover. When she asked if he was ok, he replied, "I'm so tough."

We were at the McDonalds playground in Dundee one evening, where there were at least 6 other kids he could play with. Instead, he latched onto one of the young moms, named Savannah (so he tells me - I didn't ask hre name). He was hugging her and her girlfriend, telling them stories, and sitting on their laps. I tried to direct him toward some McNuggets, but he told me, "No! I have to talk to the girls!" Give the kid credit, they were cute. (They looked like his mother.)

He's been reading Dr. Suess too much again, as he now refers to Brandi and me as Daddy Bird and Mama Bird. This will pass in a few days.

I got the first shrugging of shoulders this week, when I caught him trying climb up on a chair, and apparently out a window. When I caught him and asked of his intentions, he just shrugged his shoulders with an empty look. I didn't expect it so soon.

Nick and Seth are pictured here on the playground in Atlanta.

Alot of this month has been tied up in preparation work on the house. That will be a separate post all unto itself.

- Jason

Nick's Forty-Third Month

Nick had a big month: countless hours in the water, travel east and south, amusement parks, trains, fireworks...
The loud noise of fireworks bothered him, as do other loud noises. So we went for a drive to see fireworks on the night of the 4th, safe inside the car with the fun of seeing, and none of the loud noise. "I love fireworks! Gasp! They're so huge!" he would exclaim, as he called them out by color.

We took Nick to Soak City at Cedar Point for the holiday weekend. He lasted four hours, mostly in the kid's area around the Train fountain. He wanted to get on other rides, but was either too small, or would scream to get on, then scream to get off. He was mesmerized by the roller coasters around him. I can't wait until he's ready for those. The bigger water jungle gyms were enticing, but the ten-year-olds dominated those by blasting him in the face with water guns to knock him off. He'll need to gain some size to stand a little taller against the big boys.

This month's favorite toy was the Inflatable Shark for a buck at the dollar store. (Can't get enough of that Dollar Store.) He swam with it, dragged it around the house, flew it, rode it, punched it, snuggled with it, you name it. He also got some new planes from Aunt Megan, and a metal John Deere tractor, perhaps one in a collection to come. He doesn't need pre-made toys to be entertained, though. He probably built more nests from pillows, blankets and boxes than anything else he did all month (pretending to be Horton the elephant.) And every time we went for a walk, he wanted to go see the Snow Dog (a Dodge Ram with a snow plow on the front in the car lot next door.)

Least favorite food: anything that is green, he calls lettuce. He now likes ravioli with sauce (pizza ravioli.) And I brought home one of my favorite subs from The Andersons, a 2' sub, and he ate most of it - three meals a day until it was gone.

He learned not everything in a similar-shaped cardboard box has the same application. Brandi lets Nick load the dishwasher, add soap, and start it. One afternoon, I caught him adding mashed potato flakes to the dishwasher. From the pics, you can see he's handy at fixing things when he breaks them, plumber's crack and all.

On one of the really hot days, we ended up in a McDonald's playground as the nearby indoor playground went out of business. Nick found two little blond girls (his favorite) to drag him around, one on each hand. Up into the tree house, and down the slide they went, until one tried to pick him up, then he'd had enough. Just before the courtship ended, Brandi pointed it out to me, and I snuck over closer to get a peek. "What's your name?" I heard the oldest ask, probably about 7 or so, she was. "Jason Mantel," he replied loud and confident. In teaching him to read, alot of things around the house have my name on them, I guess. I don't mind him riding on my good reputation picking up girls, but let's not make a habit of it.

Here's how a typical evening conversation sounds in our home.
Brandi: "We had a tough day."
Jason: "Nick, were you tough on your mother?"
Nick: "I have two horns!"
Brandi: "Yes he does!"
Nick: "I have three horns and a spiny frill."
He meant he was being a dinosaur. His mother clearly heard another, relatively accurate, depiction. He can keep up with the conversation, but it's not exactly the normal give-and-take. As the month went on thought, his conversational skills improved dramatically.

Unfortunately, his Great-Grandad Little passed away, which led to a trip to Danville, PA. The second night in the hotel with Brandi, Megan and Lisa, he escaped into the halls while Brandi was in the shower. He made it to the elevator, and up two floors before Brandi caught up to him, soaking wet, barefoot, and wrapped in a towel. On the third night, when Brandi and Nick were alone in adjoining rooms for the four of them, she dead bolted the lock and went to the next room, when the adjoining door swung shut, locking Nick in one of the rooms alone. It took two hours and the handyman's toolbox to get into his room, but fortunately he slept through it. He got alot of time with the other kids in the family, lots in the pool. He also got his first dip in the stream that runs behind Little's Rest, pictured here with his Grandad.

Finally, the girls took him on a trip to the zoo when they returned to Toledo, where they got stuck on a stalled train for a half hour and Nick hurled all over everyone. I knew it was a tough day at the zoo when Brandi's text started with, "All is well here in the sixth circle of hell..."

- Jason

Nick's Forty-Second Month

I'm convinced they put crack in the food at Golden Corral. One evening with Nick there for dinner, he was bouncing off the walls, babbling like a blubber, tipping the chair... after a few bites of various food. He would reach out and grab people around him, which was not cool. Want more insight into this audience that should be experienced in limited amounts? Visit http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/fwalmart.com/. That's all you need to know.

Favorite foods this month: perfect butter sandwich (no, spell check didn't mess that up), asiago cheese bagels, huge marshmallows. Unlike me who will finish the less favorable foods first so I can enjoy the good stuff, he's more like his mama who fills up on the best stuff, then is too full to eat the veggies and healthy junk. He wakes up in the morning, and requests a different breakfast each day: eggs, or cinnamon toast, or Cheerios, or pancakes, or bacon. No worries about being a good eater; he can consumer a half of pizza, or a 10 oz steak alone. When there's steak nearby, nothing else gets touched.

He loves to be wrapped up like a tacquito. These are the little frozen tacos we buy him for snacks, but he likens the term to being rolled in a blanket and being tossed around. We toss him around on the bed, bounce him up and down, and tuck him into the blanket.

New toys this month: rubber ocean life, such as a humpback whale and orca. Lots of Hot Wheels cars, so he now knows a Judge, a Grabber, and a Javelin on sight (there's your quiz for this month: name the makers of these 70's muscle cars.) He got a new John Deere tractor, which was more a daddy-wanted-it gift. I grew up on International Harvester toys - it's appropriate to establish brand awareness early. And another spaceship with a docking station that makes as much noise as he does.

Lots of time in the pool. He can actually swim now, moving in a steady direction, not just floating. He still wigs out when he hears low flying planes overhead, and ducks under the slide or to the edge of the house. Also being outside, he got stung by a wasp while playing in the sandbox, right on the palm of his hand. There was a nest under the sand. Weeks later, he still talks about it. There's a pic of him showing off his Curious George Band-Aid. He barely made a fuss when he got stung.

Nick made another leap this month in his interactions with others. He still selectively ignores you, or your questions, if they don't fit with his immediate agenda. But otherwise, he now frequently mixes in a variety of colorful adjectives and verbs (love, beautiful, gorgeous, gigantic, super) with his conversation. Many of which he uses with kids at the playground; sometimes he'll chase the other little boys, but most of the time he wants to charm the 12-14 year old blonde girls. We're into the 'repeat everything' stage now. Either he repeats after me, or just repeats himself until he gets action. When he plays with his toy space shuttle, he recites an entire launch protocol he heard on TV: "3-2-1-Blastoff. We have liftoff for the 41st mission of space shuttle Discovery. Scheduled to travel 7 million miles in orbit with a stop to the International Space Station." Too bad he's gonna miss this era of NASA, which ends this year.

- Jason

Nick's Forty-First Month

We took Nick to the Butterfly House one Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of species of butterflies, flying free inside an indoor greenhouse, with flower and streams for them to live. Nick is heavy-footed, and they land on the ground, so you have to be careful where you walk - it was amazing we made it out without any butterfly casualties. They also had a lizard cage, which Nick was watching when another young boy approached. "It's a lizard," the kid points out. "There's pizza!" says Nick, from the newspaper ad lining the cage. That was our cue the day was over, time for dinner.

I called home one afternoon and Brandi had caught Nick on the PC surfing porn. Yeah, he's not exactly old enough to search it out, but it's not hard to stumble into it nowadays. (So I hear.) He's addicted to YouTube, and probably hit a stray click that led him into uncharted territory. My boy.

We're working hard to get Nick to speak in more complete sentences. And polish up on some of those not-quite words, like "prinzles" (pretzels) and "banilla" (vanilla). I barked at him the other night because he was rambling on and half ignoring me, as usual, and I told him he was ADD. I said, "Are you even listening?" to which he replied, "I'm ABD!" I admire his approach to simple communication - it fits well with my 'businessman bullet-point' style. If he asks for something, and you confirm it or try to clarify, like, "Nick, you say you want to go the playground?" He just responds with, "Thanks!" So you don't get, "Yes, and here's why..." Just, "Thanks." Why be wordy?

- Jason

In the picture of Nick on coffee table he's saying "Look mama, I'm an airplane! Will you kiss my little wing?"
We have been visiting different parks almost every day. He loves the giant bird house, a.k.a "the covered bridge" at Wildwood Metropark. We visit the Toledo Zoo at least once a week to see his favorite exhibit, a fish named Corey. He says, "I want to go to the zoo and see the GIANT GOURAMI (goo-RAY-mee)!" He can recognize tons of words on site and out of context: exit, stop, boom, Dr. Suess, food fight. His memory is really improving, he's memorized, "The Sneetches", "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish", "Gerald McBoing Boing", "Horton Hatches the Egg" and others (he also has a memory like an elephant!) I tried to take him to a public pool that we haven't been to since he was 18 months old, and when we pulled up he shouted, "We are going swimming!" before the pool was in sight. With Nick wailing in despair as the pool was still one week from opening, we went to Luna Pier instead where he was very exited about the beachy atmosphere - Humpback whales would spray us every time a wave hit the pier. He soon happily declared it was "a perferct day on the beach," and proceeded to dig holes, and search for shells. His favorites were the cone shaped ones that he called "curlies." He collected troves of curlies, and then buried them pirate-style.

- Brandi

Nick's Fortieth Month

Nick tried to help me with the blog this month, but you'll see in the picture below he'd had enough for one day to be productive at the computer.

With springtime, Nick helped his grandpa plant his garden. The early planting is for seeds, including Nick's pumpkins. After they put them in the ground, Nick stood there staring for several minutes, waiting for something to happen. Grandpa explained it takes a little longer than on TV. Later on, we found soil all over Nick's water bottle - he kept watering them with his drinking water hoping for a sprout. He also stares out the window asking to, "swim in the black water" because he can't wait for the cover to come off of the pool.

To aid with potty training, a common trick is putting a few Cheerios in the throne to help little boys with their aim (quite frankly, most full grown men could still use this approach - ever see a men's restroom? Eeks!) Not to be confused by his parents, Nick now goes into the bathroom to take care of business, sits on the throne, and eats the Cheerios from the little tupperware his mama keeps nearby. He's got the potty concept down now, except he's on a cycle to use it every morning at 4 AM.

You'll notice from the pictures he makes a fashion statement about mid-month, with a new haircut - very short for summer. The girl at the barber shop earned her tip on this one. Hard to keep him still. But now he asks to go back.

A few pictures included from Easter. He got three baskets from the Bunny, including one with airplanes attached. One of the baskets was mine, and his grandpa's, from long ago. Like his mama, he gnaws the eyes off of the chocolate bunnies first. Other favorite foods this month: peanuts (shells and all), Five Guys Burgers, ketchup, popcorn, Cracker Jacks and banilla ice cream (I spelled it just how it sounds). Sounds like Spring food for baseball season, doesn't it? Just a coincidence.

I can't believe how fast little kids can heal. We went to the largest indoor playground in Michigan with Mason, Bo, Robin and Carrie - spent almost three hours there. It's a setup of tunnels, nets and slides that's probably 3-4 stories tall, and would fill a gymnasium or two. Of course, Nick tried his head-first technique on the yellow slide, leaving forehead skin on a quarter-mile of hard plastic tubing. And somehow, he was healed by the next morning.

Along with finding new playground, we discovered one at a nearby school with a monkey-bar space rocket. Boy, was that a huge hit. His new thing is chasing robins on the playground, trying everything from quiet and sneaky to pouncing at the attempt to catch one. He chases the wildlife when there's no other kids to chase. He doesn't seem to have any hesitation walking up to other kids and starting a conversation. Although, they aren't always captivated by his opening lines ("the sun's going up!", "you have nice eye browns," or "space shuttles need a parachute to stop!")

- Jason

Nick's Thirty-Ninth Month

Lots of time at the indoor playground in the early part of a cold month. I just don't understand why I have to come away so exhausted from every visit, though. I watch other children, and admittedly I do a little comparing, or sizing-up, to other kids. Other children run to the swings to see how high they can fly, while Nick climbs the chain and tries to unscrew the hinges. Other children zip down the slide as normal, then my son barrels down face first and plows his cranium into the rubber floor. Their kids bounce around inside the inflatable jungle gyms, and Nick crawls under them looking for the vacuum source of hot air. Why!?

When Nick can't have something, or loses something, it's high drama. "I'm never ever gonna find my train! It's gone forever," he'll say. This approach has now worked its way into our vernacular as well. "We're never ever gonna find a house! says Brandi." (For those you following along, the home we bid on four months ago experienced severe structural damage due to neglect over the winter, and we moved on. Back to the drawing board!)

But the big moment this month was a real s#*tter (literally). He has closed himself in the bathroom to poo for months, so we think nothing of it. Then, last weekend, we walked in to check on him, and he'd pulled the cup from under the toddler potty, and used it according to specifications. Of course, a celebration ensued, and then we had to take him to the playground to get him off of the potty. But out of nowhere, he finally proved he'd been getting the message all along.

Part of being a dad is now having an excuse to go buy Hot Wheels cars all the time, and claim they are for Nick. I'm trying to shift him from trains to cars, and teach him the proper names. He can recognize a Maverick, a Chevelle, a Grand National and a Camaro on sight (but can't everyone?)

With the weather improving this past week, we got out to the parks alot more (and out of the 'crap home' as we call our apartment.) We enjoyed an afternoon together at Crosby Gardens, the local nature preserve, to watch the swans and ducks and wildlife. Nick is into the waterfall, and feeding the squirrels (they're going to carry him and his granola bar away if he's not careful, if the 20-lb geese don't pummel him first for infringing on their territory.) We finished the evening with a gourmet meal of pre-cooked rotisserie chicken and a box of peanut butter Oreos. That's the difference between Daddy versus Mama providing dinner.

Finally, I know there's a point at which kids transition from 'Mommy and Daddy' to 'Mom and Dad' but I didn't expect it to be at three years old. All of sudden, I'm just known as 'Dad'. We went from, "I love you, Daddy," to "Hey, Dad, where's the remote?" overnight. This is fine, but he'd be wise to smooth-up to his mother for a little while longer.

Pics here.

- Jason

Nick's Thirty-Eighth Month

Nick has become a YouTube junkie. It's just amazing to me watching a three-year old maneuver around the internet, mouse a-smokin', screens-a-flippin' and he has absolute intention of where he's going and what he's looking for. Last week, he found what appeared to be a nine-minute video of a food fight, but it turns out the video actually had historical undertones, and Brandi and I ended up watching it like four times along with him until we figured out what message the producer was relaying. Very interesting.

I am reminded what true uninhibited joy is like when I watch Nick. He received a new toy for Christmas, a building-block set made of rails and blocks with holes in them, where structures are built for marbles to run through them like a maze (it's called Quadzilla, I think. He calls it, "Marble-ous!") When we build a new maze, he gets so excited, he runs in circles around the room, unable to sit still. He jumps up and down, dances a little, and yells with excitement. I can't remember the last time I was that excited about anything (at least not without some level of cautious optimism).

Favorite foods this month: mint Oreo cookies, real fruit strips (not fruit rollups, but the expensive organic stuff, and ham-cheese (a piece of cheese wrapped in ham). Most kids I know pick through candy or popcicles for the red and grape, but Nick is partial to orange and lime. I'm sure some psychologist has an explanation for this.

Lots of love in the air this month. He got a hicky from our Hoover when it took advantage of an innocent partner, hence the big red spot on his cheek. He's also chasing more girls at the Jumpy Place. He latched onto a 3-year old named Abby this week, took her by the hand, danced and followed her around for an hour, until their romance was abruptly interrupted when she was wiped out by a swing.

His imagination is expanding as well, as we're continuously surrounded by wildlife, like river dolphins and flying seals. And he sees alot more airplanes and red helicopters than I do when we're outside.

Something he came up with totally on his own... he sprints from the tub when we turn our backs, and races to the living room. Then he walks around on all fours, and yells, "I'm walking the lizard!" I have no idea where he got this, but the irony is good for a chuckle every time.

From the pics, you'll also see what happens when you mix a bean-bag chair with a three-year-old. Great photo op.

Pics here.

- Jason

Samantha Alexis Mantel

And then there were two. Nick's not the only game in town anymore, with another Mantel populating this side of the family, just a couple days ago in Washington, DC. Samantha was born 2/15/10, 3:00 PM, at 7 lbs. 2 oz., 19.25". Some of you who follow this blog know Brad and Colleen, so we're sharing the good news across all mediums to spread the word. Everyone is happy, healthy, and short on sleep (as it should be!)

Nick's Thirty-Seventh Month

Nick's verbal comprehension is now comparable to an adult. We've spent the last three years talking around him like he was a stuffed animal, but no more. When I ask his mother, "Do you think Nick is hungry?" He'll yell, "No thank you," from across the room. It's still mixed in with some great Nickabulary, though. His favorite toys this month are, 'Mr. Frotatohead' and making 'Fragettis' (that's spaghetti) from Play-Doh. And like many people have a stutter of 'uh', when Nick can't think of a word, he stalls with, "poon-on-the" which is supposed to mean, "putting on the.."

Chuckle of the month: we're on a car ride, and I'm passing Skittles to Nick in the back seat as he requested the treat along the way. I heard him drop one, and from the back seat comes, "Uh, oh. Where'd that jelly bean go? Help! Help!" Now he sits in the back seat and yells, "Oh no! Red light, Daddy! Stop!" It's time to explain the world of 'exceptions to the rules' to him, such as right turns on red, but I'd prefer to delay that lesson because I know he'll start using it on me.

Hot and cold with the 'foods' this month. Like a normal child in wintertime, he loved finding icicles and licking them to cool his buds. On the hot side, he discovered a spicy salsa that had 'matured' for a few days and got super spicy. He chowed down salsa and lime chips like it was the last supper... nose running, eyes tearing, and only a shovel could have sped up the consumption. He exclaimed, "Mmm! Salsa sounds a lot like sausage." Sure, I guess I never thought about it. Chocolate circles and chocolate cupcakes are other faves (those are actually Peppermint Patties and Peanut Butter Cups.) And brown-and-serve sausages.

My, how life changes. Now we take Nick to the mall on Friday nights, so the teenagers can see him run wildly and meltdown over chicken nuggets. It's my contribution to public service - contraception for teens.

He's now decided he needs privacy in the bathroom, so of course, we take him seriously and leave him alone, always knocking before entering. When he gets too quiet, that's usually trouble. We've emptied most things from the room that could cause him harm, or be flushed, but you'll see from the pictures, Brandi left her makeup bag in the room once, and he found it.

Feature length films such as Wall-E, Cars, Up and Finding Nemo are now able to hold his attention on video. He loves, "The Pink Manther" (no, I didn't spell that wrong) and "Tom and Jerry" the best.

It's amazing how fast the brain can process when pushed into service. At 5:00 am one morning, every light in the apartment flipped on within seconds, including the one in our room. Immediately, my brain was able to conclude, "New problem - he's over the door gate and out of his room. I can cover the holes in the gate so his foot won't get through, I can stack two gates up high, I can reinforce the gate from the wall across the hall..." And about 5 other options for renewed containment. Fortunately, the gate just fell over. Apartment living has been fine, except for the neighbors who fight like it's Hockey Night in Canada all week. I don't mind the yelling, but when they fight on the front stoop, throwing wine bottles through their car windows, wielding picture frames at each other in the parking lot, and it wakes up Nick, then we have a problem. Fortunately, I think an eviction is coming.

And speaking of hockey, we found him some small hockey skates, and he loves them. If we're going to raise him in Michigan, he'd better be able to skate.

- Jason