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