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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
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
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
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
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
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.
