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 g
ates 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
