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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
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 Ca
lifornia 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
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 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.
