Nick's Life: December 2011

This was another 'leaps and bounds' month for Nick, as his grasp of language and communication jumped ahead. My favorite quote this month, "Life's 120, Daddy." I'm not sure why he told me this several times, but I'm going to try and live by it - can't hurt. New to the Nickabulary this month: "youmember", which is short for, 'you need to remember.' And the constant phrases, "watch this", and "I need to ask you a question." There's still occasional breakdown, though. He couldn't pull himself away from his third bowl of Lucky Charms, and I called him an "addict", to which he replied, "That's not possible, we already have an attic." And, he's singing alot more, school songs and "Mahna Mahna".

We played alot more games that required the lesson of winning and losing, which of course, he does not like losing. But he shakes hands and says, "Good game," either way. We played matching card games, lots of racing around the house, and his favorite was jumping parking lot cracks while shopping.

He's very good about encouraging others, telling them they did a 'great job' or 'nice work'. We bought him headphones for his video player so he could watch videos on the long car trip to Georgia and we wouldn't need to listen as well. Rather than attaining quiet, he talks to the shows twice as much when he can't hear himself. He was very supportive of Tom Cat (from Tom and Jerry) telling him frequ

ently, "Great job, Tom!" He still travels well: quiet for a 12 hour car ride, eats good, sleeps anywhere. He's been on a Tom and Jerry, and Tweey Bird run this month for entertainment.

Nick and his cousins are connecting better, too. Seth volunteered, "I think I kinda like Nick." Seth was showing him how to build airplanes from drinking straws and paper, and they actually could fly. I spent an afternoon with the guys at the remote control airfield, and most of the men don't fly a plane as well as my 7-year-old nephew.
I took Nick to his first full-length movie at the cinemas in GA; we saw The Muppets. He fell asleep for a bit in the middle, but admittedly, I felt the same way. When there was action, though, he was on it, and applauded to show his appreciation a couple times.

He had a banner Christmas, with the full tree, lots of paper snowflakes throughout the house, more toys than we had planned for, including many gracious gifts from friends and relatives. He finally got the Lionel Polar Express train, the ultimate gift. Also this month, pictures of us at the Huckleberry Railroad in Flint. (I see there's some old pics in here too, like Halloween. And the champ in the yellow shirt flying a plane is Seth, not Nick. When you see bizarre pics from the floor or zoomed in too close, that's Nick playing with the camera, frequently taking photos of himself or his trains.)

 

Pics here from 2011. 

- Jason

Nick's Life: November 2011

Nick remains interested in nightly homework, and took to the organic chemistry set one evening. We built water, ethene, and butane with the various colorful atoms. He yells out, "Build me another Buick!" If chemistry was as interesting as cars, I woulda done much better at it in high school.

Nick-cabulary this month: when he gets morning crud in his eyes or ears, he calls it, "honkin-dabonkin."

We started the Christmas decorating for the upcoming season. Never hand something to Nick that is breakable or dangerous. First decorations he grabs, he drops. It's like when he checked out the bottle of perfume at the department store and squirted himself in the face... reeked for the rest of the night.

We're back to indoor activities as it gets colder. At the McDonald's playground the kids must have been playing tag, because when I asked him the name of the blonde that he was hanging on, he said, "Not It". We visited the train museum nearby... how perfect that there's a train museum less than ten minutes from our house. And lots of time spent on the iPhones, games like 'Creeps' and 'Cut the Rope'. He recognizes a QR code when he sees one, and knows how to scan it (amazing the technology kids are using.) At first, though, he was running through the house with the QR Scan App trying to scan toy trains and planes. Favorite new game: Air Chief.

His play time is getting more animated now, as he has the trains and planes talk, and each has a personality. He calls them 'plays' and wants others to take a train and join in. I feel sorry for the trains that step out of line and get a 'timeout'. When he gets in trouble, we take away privileges, like taking away some trains. The other night we took away trains, but he could get them back by quietly eating all his dinner, to which he stuffed the entire plate of food in his mouth at once, unable to chew, and extended his hands for his trains.

- Jason

Nick's Life: October 2011

Halloween was short this year, as Nick puttered out early after just one block of hiking with Brandi and the neighbors. He has more fun handing out candy from our stoop, anyway. He recruits kids by yelling out to the street, "Come get some chewies from the CandyMaster! (that would be me.)" Then he likes putting candy in their sacks, by the handful. He still didn't hand out as much as one little girl who started shoveling candy from my caldroun to her bag by the fistfuls, until I grabbed her hand and told her, "That's enough honey... three handfuls is more than a couple." Nick and I ate popcorn as we passed out candy, and he even tried to give away my popcorn; I told him the kids don't want it, then a group of teenage girls ate half my popcorn. No pictures of his costume - he was Super Why again for the second year in a row (by choice.)

School has been up-and-down, with him and the teachers at odds more and more. When I asked him one day how many times he got a 'timeout' at school, he raised his hand and started extending fingers like he might run out of digits if he didn't keep track on his hand. Good grief. When I ask what happened at school, he runs me in a do-loop anyway with no real explanation. The kids seem to love him, but the teachers aren't sure what to do with him. Although, he and I started doing 'homework' each night after dinner, and some nights he'll do letters and words for an hour. And he's learning a ton, both socially and academically. From our observing, it seems like he's following the actions of some other kids, but not sharp enough to not be the one getting caught. If he can just steer clear of trouble. We shall see. And, finally got some school pictures.

Still attracted to gadgets. He's moved on from taking tons of pictures to shooting tons of videos. He calls out, "Action" and "Cut", and it's kinda funny. They're mostly stories about trains, but what else would we expect? And we got iPhones this month, which he loves playing games... and not kid games. He plays 'Plants vs Zombies right along with his mother.

As we measure him on the wall at Grandpa's, he's barely 1/8 inch shy of my height at 5 years old, so he's growing at the same pace as me. (Then again, Joanae is measured on that same wall, and she was nearly the same height, too, and she just stopped growing somewhere along the way, so you can never tell.)

- Jason

Nicks' Life: September 2011

Much of this month surounded Nick's first month of school. We're still adjusting to a routine, usually I drop him off and Brandi picks him up. Each morning we pack a lunch, which he usually doesn't eat because the teacher says he's too busy talking to his buddy Maddex during lunch. He's making new friends which he refers to as 'his people'. "I need to go see my people," he'll say. He has a Spanish class one day a week, and we heard him in the tub singing something in Spanish Tuesday nite - no idea what it was. He won't tell us what goes on at school, but he must be learning something. He also got into his first tussel at school, which the teacher said he held his own against a troublemaker. I want his grandpa to be proud, but it's a little early to start battling.

He and mama went on a school field trip to the apple orchard. They picked apples, a couple pumpkins, and stood outside in the unusually hot October sun waiting for a hay ride.

Picture here is of Nick while playing hockey in our kitchen. His form isn't that far from Gordie Howe, eh? He knows how to yell, "Score!" and he can play the boards pretty well (no checking mama, though.)

The 'rally squirrel' has been all the rage this month, if you're a baseball fan. Nick apparently has one of his own, but in the context he mentioned it (a particular body part was doing something unusual), I'm too embarassed to mention it in detail. Ask him about the squirrel when you see him.

Pics here from 2011.

- Jason

Nick's Life: August 2011

Lots of traveling in August, from Atlanta, to all over Pennsylvania, and home, all the while I was travelling for work to D.C. with a stop in North Carolina. He continues to be a master traveler, watching 'semini' trucks go by, and passing time with movies. He was was ready to go when we left, packing his own suitcase, with one pair of shoes and a space shuttle. When it was time to come home, he sat in the car for hours waiting for the departure.

Nick's also getting more helpful with chores and other tasks, and loves to remind you when he's busy (he picked that up somewhere). He helps wash the car even better, and was a big help at Paesanos in Huntingdon, Brandi's family's restaurant. He vaccumed and cleared tables after hours. After work, he played paper airplanes with his Pappy in the dining room. They call some activities at school 'work' so he's constantly reminding my how much work he has to do.

Still many life lessons to be learned, like you can't lick your friends... and you certainly can't lick the cigarette lighter in the car. Dancing on the dance floor can be hours of fun, but rolling on the dance floor will get you stepped on. If it looks like alot of photos this month are on a dance floor, that's because it's true.

His observations are increasingly insightful now as he approaches five years old. He tells me when we're two turns from the next gas station, for example. Conversations go like this:
Jason: "I have this song in my head and I can't shake it."
Nick: "Sounds like you need a checkup. You should see a doctor about that. Have him check your ears."
Jason: "Looks like more rain. Rain, rain go away..."
Nick: "Send it to Texas."
Does he really know there's a drout in Texas? His mama and I aren't discussing it, and the TV isn't running with news or weather.

- Jason

Summer 2011

As Summer 2011 heads for the homestretch, we'll remember it as wet... every weekend in a pool, lake, or waterpark. And in between, the most rain and hottest month on record.

Nick's confidence continues. Again tonite, he interrupted his gorditas (and that's a big deal) to introduce himself to the little blonde girl walking past. They giggle and say hi, and he goes back to his business. At the Waterford Oaks water park, we spent the day with Robin and Miranda and the family, and he was absolutely obsessed with Kiersten, Miranda's little girl - wherever she was, he was determined to be also. He puts his hand on their shoulder or knee, and calmly sweet talks them... about trains or jets. Hey, the approach is smooth, but his pickup line needs a little more polish.

We've moved on from Taylor Swift to Katy Perry, and he has the words to her songs memorized, not afraid to sing aloud.

His vocabulary has expanded rapidly, and should continue when he starts school at the local Montessori in a few weeks. He tells me, "A good host never frets, and is always kind to his guests," and "Now, Daddy... moderation." Not sure he knows what these mean, but he reminds me just the same.

Working to expand his social circle, we've had more play dates, more time with the neighbor kids, and with friend's kids. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not, but he's learning to share a little better, and actually better than many of the other kids. Although, it was a chuckle when Samantha (Brad and Colleen's little girl, who is only 18 months old) had a single toy in her hand, and he accused her of hogging all the toys.

Pics in this post are from July 4 fireworks, the water park with Kiersten, and by the lake near our home. Nick and Samantha playing together is in the side bar at right.

- Jason

Nick's Life: July 2011

Unpredictability is increasing at a blistering pace. Walk away from him in the tubby, and Nick pees in a cup. Go downstairs in the morning, and he's left a trail of chairs at the counter (for climbing), un-flushed thrones, open cookie packages on the table, and sometimes a half-naked kid in front of the computer (who used the potty and forgot to re-assemble afterward.) My favorite was him at the top of the stairs covering his knee with an entire pack of band-aids. His first words were, "We're out of band-aids."

We enjoyed fireworks for the 4th near home. Shortly before 10 PM, we drove to Lake Sherwood across from our neighborhood, pulled up across the street, dropped a blanket in some rich dude's front yard, and had a front row seat - the firworks went off on our side of the lake. Perfect.

Lots of time in Grandpa's pool this month, as we're looking at the hotest July on record in Michigan. Nick can finally touch the bottom of the shallow end with his toes and still keep his head above the surface. Overall it was a good month to be in the water. We also went to East Fork Lake in Cincinnati with the family, for a cookout and a day in the sun. Other than my sunburnt ankles, and Nick's nose (he kept wiping his eyes and removing his sunscreen) we had a great day. He used fresh cherries on his chin to cool some sunburn. He also took his first canoe ride with Brandi, Miranda and Noah.

Nick has been obsessed this month with inflatable things. Every trip to the Dollar Store he has returned with a raft, a boat, some safety flotation device, balloons... He's continually inflating and deflating these things all day long, some with a pump, some with his lungs.

I pushed his buttons once this month, and swear it's the first time I've seen him make a face that he was genuinely mad at me. The battle for dominance has begun.

- Jason

Nick's Life: June 2011

The warmer days of summer are upon us, so Nick takes advantage of cooler activities like running through the yard sprinkler. I still setup the old fashioned sprinkler for his enjoyment. And he uses the visqueen from our construction as a slip-n-slide. We probably look like local trash to the neighbors, but we're having fun. Grandpa got him a small kiddie pool, which has gotten its use, although he insists on warm water in the pool which I fill with the hot/cold spickets from the garage. We're spoiling these young kids.

He got into an unintentional tussle with some bigger kids at the indoor playground, and came away with a black eye, which lasted for well over a week. He needs to learn the bigger kids are a little rougher, and he's gotta play defense in those situations.

We played at the school playground across the street one afternoon. I kicked around a soccer ball with a boy names Slava for a half hour before I realized he didn't speak English. After all my barking at Nick, though, he knew Nick by name before we left. A great equalizer between kids that are 4+ years apart is the lack of a common language - they played together really well.

New foods this month: Cinnamon Toast Crunch (aka: Crunchy Little Squares, which he eats by the box) and beef jerky.
Another leap forward this month with the push for independence. I wake up in the morning and find evidence Nick has used the bathroom on his own during the night. He insisted yesterday morning on having a spoon with his cereal, and actually used it. He now puts on his own shoes, and takes off his own clothes. He seems to have a genetic tendency towards 'perfection' (yeah, imagine that,) but not in an obsessive way... he recognizes right and wrong in his view of structure, and insists on compliance: engine at the front and caboose at the end, prayer before meals, ice in his water, not skipping any words in his books. His vocabulary is taking on an independent tone as well, as he makes demands of his toys ('Yes it will!') when something can't be done, and 'Don't even think about it!' when he's trying to stop something in its tracks. He also shops for his own groceries - only items "on special."

You can tell from the pictures he loves to help with work tasks, from trimming trees and hauling branches, to watering flowers. He planted a couple sunflowers to see what will happen, of which one has survived the starving bunny onslaught. For Father's Day, he helped me paint my great grandfather's concrete bird feeder; Nick is pictured here with it, on its 5th generation. My cousin counted this thing has now been hauled to like 12 homes in its lifetime.

Each night before bed we now drag him around on his bath towel, and toss him into bed: he calls it the "Turtle toss." He crawls around on the floor after tubby under a towel, looking for slippers to lick ("Turtle licks"). Have no idea where these ideas came from.

At dinner this evening, I spotted a green Nerd candy on the floor, which must have strayed from an earlier snack. When I pointed it out to Nick, he dove head first across the room like he was taking out Ray Fosse, face to the ground, and licked it off the floor, like it was the last Nerd on earth.

- Jason

Nick's Life: May 2011

We still read with Nick each night at bedtime, and Brandi does a good job of keeping new books in the rotation from the local library. I am more amazed each day how he can memorize things he hears. Yeah, all kids repeat things. But Brandi can read him a book once, maybe twice, and he can recite the entire story back, word for word, like he's reading it. And he reads with tone to the story. My father thinks he's reading at a third grade level already.

With Summer in Michigan comes the festival season. We went to the Wixom Founder's Festival with Bo, Robin and Mason a few weekends ago, which was a low-cost good time - fire trucks, pony rides, inflatable slides, and cheap food. Nick asks the fireman, 'Why are you a fireman?" and he replies, "Because they wouldn't let me have a gun." Nick told him he wants to be a fireman, too; he knows how to play an audience, for sure. Then we followed it up with the Orchard Lake St. Mary's Polish Festival this past weekend - bigger rides, more people (like 10,000.) The latter was rain shortened, but Nick got in a couple rides and a bag of cotton candy taller than him. He drove his first 'bumper cars' called the 'Mini-Indy', and fared about as well as poor J.R.

We're meeting more neighbors, mostly through Nick. He flags them down to say hello, particularly the kids his age, and more so those with toys that he has interest in. We spent Memorial Day by the kiddie pool of his friend Jack down the street. Jack's a great kid, about two weeks younger than Nick, and red hair that reminds me of my youth.

Nick and I watched planes from Detroit Metro one afternoon, from the top deck of the parking garage. After a half hour, the tower must've seen us there, and opened up the nearby runways to larger planes, because we got an awesome show with some large passenger jets taking off and landing over our heads.

- Jason

Nick Saves the Day

We did our part to make sure the world didn't end this weekend for seven starlings trapped in our ductwork.

We knew they were living in the vent above the second floor, as the cover had broken, and I didn't get the nest out before the family started.

We left for a festival in Wixom with Bo,

Robin and Mason, just as we started hearing scratching in the vents. When we all returned to the house later, we heard the same noise coupled with incessant chirping, and couldn't locate it at first. When our guests left, the neighbor (Mr. Steve) and I pulled the cover from the downstairs bathroom exhaust vent, and then coaxed out the birds with a wire hanger. It took two hours, several bags, and a wire hanger... we collected five babies and both parents, who had made a brave rescue effort and got stuck. With each rescue, we couldn't believe there were more. I would guess today was the first day they could walk, and unfortunately, the only place they found to wander included an 8' drop down our vent.

We used a bird house Nick built from a kit to place the babies, and hung it from the tree in the woods behind our house. It's back in their parents' court. And we get to re-clean the bathroom tomorrow.

- Jason

Nick in Chicago

We took a road trip to Chicago for a market research conference, heading to the windy city early to enjoy a family weekend. On the way, we got off the path thanks to the GPS which detoured us through scenic Gary, IN (that's sarcasm) and it's majestic shuttered steel industry, I looked at Brandi as we observed that stopping the car for any reason was not in our best interest (the highway literally dropped off a collapsed bridge), I say to Brandi, "Do we want to stop in anywhere and join the locals for dinner?" Nick yells, "NOOO!" from the backseat.

All he wanted to do was ride the "L" as it's a train that must be experienced. But we never got to it. We spent quiet a bit of time in the hotel, where he knew which floor we were on, which floor the pool was on, how to maneuver all the difference elevators, and was happy to share his knowledge with others.

We visited Navy Pier, primarily the Chicago Children's Museum. I got to enjoy lunch at Harry Caray's on the pier. Nick got the most charge out of the watercraft on Lake Michigan, especially the largest yachts.

We stopped in Valparaiso to see the house where Brandi grew up. Nick found a boy on the playground named Decklin, and played with the locals for a bit while Brandi walked the neighborhood.

He was obsessed with spotting the "Ink-ock tower" (that's the Hancock Tower) evey time we left the hotel, with its 'bunny ears' on top. We experienced all the usual stuff: ice cream, toy stores, horse-drawn carriages, and crazy people.

On our last evening, he wanted to swim in the hotel pool badly, but it was closed for repair. So we snuck in anyway. We got caught, but the attendant gave us a free pass for being bold, and locked us in so we had it to ourselves for a couple of hours. He likes jumping from the hot pool (hottub) to the cold pool again and again.

He also had his first sliders at White Castle. That was a winner.

Pics here from 2011.

- Jason

Nick's Life: April 2011

With so much work being done on our house, Nick has gotten cozy with the contractors. He knows them all by name (Mr. Brian, Mr. Mike...) and is entertained more by watching them work than by television. He got upset when the roofer came for an estimate, and left without working. "Hey! You need to fix my leaky roof!" Nick exclaimed.

Nick wakes mama up one morning, and tells her he's going to make her Thanksgiving Dinner. And proceeds to empty the entire pantry onto the kitchen table before she can get downstairs from bed. Still, he had all the necessary fixings but the turkey. He attempted self sufficiency one morning by getting his own water from the fridge, and the Britta filter container fell out onto his head, shattering on the floor, soaking him and the hardwood floor. It took hours to calm him - he was very upset.

He's mixing up words on purpose now, which is supposedly a sign of intelligence (not my words.) When he prays before dinner, he says, "God is great, God is good, A-nut." But he still gets dinosaur names right, like when he tells me a, "Ankylosaurus is not a Euoplocephalus, Daddy." I can't even pronounce these things.

He came up with nicknames for both of us one day, out of nowhere. I am "your majesty, Daddy" and mama is a "Camel Nurse." And don't call him 'little boy' any more, he's a big boy now.

He had a good Easter, with several baskets and a new bike. Grandpa Mantel came to our house for dinner, and played with Nick and his new toys. We also got some Spring work done outside, tying up some trees that needed repair, as well as pruning. Nick loves to help his grandpa, but now wants to cut down trees everytime he steps outside. He also got a Hot Wheels elevator-ramp that launches cars from 7-feet in the air, across my kitchen, and into the face of my new cupboards. We pad the kitchen with sheets like a psycho ward to protect it from projectile toys.

- Jason

Nick's Life: March 2011

One evening during dinner, I choked on some dry turkey that was stuck in my esophogas, and it was only coming out one way, and that was hurling out the top (required more gravy on the re-heat). Nick felt bad for me, but certainly was not freaked out (maybe he can be a doctor.) Two nights later I was reading him bedtime stories, and he offered me an animal cracker. "Here, Daddy, you can have a cracker. But don't vomit on it, please." He's picking up lines from us now, like he blurts, "Good gracious!" when he's surprised. And, "Oh my gosh!" I'll get frustrated driving in the car, and when he hears me grunt at another driver, he'll yell, "Come on, Dude!")

I came home from work one afternoon with a migraine (wow, I had a tough month!) and needed to sleep it off. Nick rushed to my aid, to tuck me into bed. He excitedly ran through the nighttime routine like clockwork: tucked me in, fetched me a snack, read me a story. When I asked for a second story, he replied, "Maybe later," and walked out. Just like I tell him some nights.

We play hide and seek around the house. But he cries when he can't find mama. Interstingly once he finds mama, he stops looking, so I could be left in a closet for hours. He got airline wings when he was flying recently, which the airline personnel often give to kids as take-aways. He sticks them on his forehead and calls himself a pilot. Thank goodness they're adhesive and not pins like they were back in the day.

During winter, there's an emphasis on entertainment at home. He's heavy into 1980's video games, like Galaga, Dig Dug, and Xavious. When anyone achieves the high score and the game plays special music, he does a victory dance, which usually ends in a big spin. We built a couple snowmen, the one picture this month is Sir Topham Hatt. And yes, those are pictures of Brandi and Nick using his old baby crib mattress as a tobogan down the staircase. 

- Jason

Nick's Life: February 2011

We've reached the age where everything is about butts and farts, which I suppose coincides with going into school, although I'm thinking Nick's teaching the other kids some bad habits, more than he's picking up (he gleaned alot from his older cousin already.) One of his habits that drives me nuts is the constant need for 'sticky tape'. His mama fixed things for him as a toddler with Scotch Tape, and now he needs it for everything - connecting trains, attaching Hot Wheels cars together as a train, holding things open... and it always ends up stuck to the floor, furniture, or his head.

My favroite Nick-cabulary this month: poo snatters (those are underwear streaks), and poo quarters (left-over incentive from potty training).

I find logical observations from Nick entertaining each day. He's so obsessed with trains, I asked him if he'd become a Train Conductor when he grew up. "No, I'll be Nick," he says. Then, we're playing basketball on a small rim in the basement, and I try to teach him defense by telling him to keep me from making a basket... so he runs over to the rim, picks up the entire apparatus, and runs off with it. Hard to argue.

Favorite foods: bagels, potato sticks, chicken-and rice, and Go-Gurts.

He continually wanders the house singing songs. Like his mother, he makes most of them up, and any sense of rhyme or rhythm is optional. Ask him to sing the "Pepperoni" song. It's his own work. But at least he's helpful while he's singing. He loves to shovel (light) snow, which is good because my back is sore from the several feet we got this winter - almost 40 inches just in February.

Last week he says to me, "Daddy, meet my best friend, Mama." "Where did you meet her, Nick?" "At the zoo!" I have no idea where that came from.

- Jason

Nick's Life: January 2011

From the back seat, we passed a few restaurants in the car, and I hear, "I need some food back here!" It's a massive growth spurt as he eats me from house and home. Favorite foods this month: Oatmeal-raisin cookies or granola bars, fish sticks, and amazingly, he will eat peas. All better than the half jar of peanut butter and full bag of lime tortilla chips that backed up his plumbing for days.

He's polishing some great skills in preparation for college. He consumes pixie dust (remember the sugar-packed cardboard tubes?) from a shot glass, and you'd swear by his technique that's he's slamming them. While eating at the IHOP, he raised his glass to get the attention of the wait staff, and ordered another drink. He placed his first indepedent order one evening at the Taco Bell. He got up from the table, announcing, "I'm going to get another Gordita. Be right back." So I handed him $5, and he went up and did his thing. Oh, did the register girl ever think that was cute.

Children speak in terms of the obvious, reminding us all of simple life. When I ask him what the picture he just painted is, he looks at me like I'm clueless and says, "It's paint, Daddy." And he's altering my vocabulary permanently with things like "poo quarters" which is Nick's perferred currency - whenever he has a dry day (left over from potty training) he gets a quarter. He got reduced from the initial dollar-each train cars due to recessionary conditions.

We did some sledding in our yard with all the snow (he's a great help with shoveling), and we went to an outdoor ice sculpture festival in Plymouth, on a night when it was zero degrees.

I don't know what the race is to be older, but he's suddenly telling everyone he's 5. I can't remember my own age, and his mother is lopping them off as fast as he's adding them on. You wonder why we Dads can't keep anything straight.

Beginning this month, no more titling the posts by month... I feel foolish refering to his life in terms of months, not that he'll be in school in the coming weeks. So new naming convention going forward!

- Jason