Nick's Twenty-Seventh Month

Nick really grasps concepts now, more than just associating names with objects. When he's cold, he pretends to shiver and says, "Brrrr, it's cold!" He got pinned in between the couch and the table, and he yelped, "I'm stuck!" We practiced alot with his books: hot and cold, up and down, spiny and smooth. He requests car rides, the playground or playing outside. We've started that age-old practice of spelling things around him now, but I don't expect that to last long either. (If he knows what Dora the Explorer is spelling, in 3 different languages, what makes us things we're being so slick that he won't catch on?) My favorite this month: he knows cars, and he knows trucks. He can identify a Fiat, a Ford and Porsche on site (you thought I was talking about generic idenfication of cars... that's too easy! Hear that, if any of my clients at Ford are reading this?) He still gets slipped up sometimes with first-and-third-person relationships. He'll get upset, then stop crying and ask, "What's wrong?" He's his own phsycologist.

We spend Friday nights circling the grocery store as Nick pushes one of the carts for little kids up and down the aisles. He never reaches for anything on the shelves, just loves to push. Never unsupervised, though, as he'd mow the little old ladies down, focused intently on their coupons and not watching out for a high-speed toddler with a steel battleram, as he tries to pick up speed on the straightaways.

He got to tubby in Aunt Megan's whirlpool tub. Brandi convinced him the bubbles were fun, and to look closely at the jets as she turned them on... and then it rifled a vicious projectile of water square into his face and thrust him back about 3 feet into a hosed and pathetic heap. Funny, yes. But a face full of water, at what feels like a PSI comparable to a space shuttle launch when you're only two, is a tough way to learn how a whirlpool tub works.

When he and mama returned from Atlanta from their stay, I was so happy to see them. (And the 150 people aboard Northwest Flight 472 were happy Nick was home as well.) I reached for my son and told him how happy I was he was home. He responded affectionately with simple terms: "Pizza!" At least he's easy to please. He eats a ball park frank like a man, bun and all. (No onions and relish yet, although I haven't offered it to him, either. And sometimes the parts get consumed separately.) Still loves spicy food. But he can't get enough popcicles. Note to other parents: sugar-free popcicles are helpful for good poos.

He followed his mama into the bathroom last week (gotta remember to lock the door) and sat down on the little potty next to her, on his own. So naturally, we encouraged this activity. Then he reached for a magazine, and we got a cute picture. When you see the picture, I want you to know he only reads the articles! ;) (And the magazine wasn't mine, I swear!) Mama shook her head at him, and questioned whether this material was appropriate. Then he pointed to the girl in the picture and said, "Mommy!" Of course, that was the perfect response for the situation. Once again, that's my boy - always got the right answer handy when he needs it.

Click here for 27th month pictures.

- Jason

Nick's Twenty-Sixth Month

Most of Nick's big words this month are directly related to the growth of his big head: waffles, popcicles, hot dogs, and noodles.He's speaking in full sentences now, so it's clear when he wants to go for a car ride, or visit Aunt Megan. He walks up to his cousin Seth and hugs him. He still has no use for the younger Thatcher, who just steals his snacks and toys. He sorta treats Thatcher the same way he reacts to the dogs - he waves his finger at him and says, 'No, no.' This is a short-lived scenario, though - strong Thatcher will be able to bench-press small Nick in a few months.

The TV shows are sinking in now, so no more Law and Order. He watches one show where they introduce animals to kids, and he know some animals on sight that I have never head of: jaguar, kinkajou, lemur, tapiers, armadillos, dolphins, kangaroos. And he can make the sounds for all of them.

He experienced his first tornado, and his first Georgia snowfall. He and mama went to Georgia to get out of the cold, and they got a foot of snow. Here in Michigan, we had the coldest January on record, and the second-most snowfall on record... all in a single month. We made a snowman for the back porch, and each day, Nick would say, 'Bye, bye, snowman,' as he melted.

Grandpa Mantel is teaching him to play chess. He knows all the pieces by name, and is just getting the hang of the movements. When he wants them, he says, 'Where are my pieces?' I've been told if a kid can play chess at 2, he's a genius. No, he's not really that close to genius status, but as long as he loves to learn, we'll keep feeding him new stuff. This week, Brandi started working on the 50 US States.

One night about 3:00 AM, Brandi thought she heard the door open from the kitchen to the garage, but figured it was nothing and rolled over. Luckily curiosity got the best of her, and she investigated. Nick had crawled out of the crib (only the second time he's done that), walked to the garage, opened the door, turned on the light, and was riding his Cozy Coupe around the garage. He was one button away from opening the garage door, and wandering off. So the next night we rigged a rope tied from his door to the closet to contain him in his room. We have the childproof door handle covers to stop him from opening doors - you need to pinch them to grip - but he figured those out in about five minutes. He hangs on the with his weight, and turns the handles. I was prepared to barricade him his room as a teenager, but not this soon.

All the books from his infancy he is reading to us now. He read me a book over the phone the other night, and he now sits in my lap and reads to me instead of me reading to him. All the little bits I would insert to the stories for color, he now does on his own. When he sees the elephant wearing red socks, he yells 'Boo!' (because we don't like the Red Sox, get it?) When he sees the smooth dinosaur, I always rubbed his bald head - now he rubs his own head for the word 'smooth', and he yawns when the dinosaurs stay up late. He's in-between memorizing and reading. Most of the books he has memorized from two years of reading to him, but he's picking out those words in other contexts as well.

Click here for 26th month pictures.

- Jason

Nick's Twenty-Fifth Month

I'm still running behind on Nick's Two-Year post. I've been traveling again, this time to New Orleans for a conference. My first time to the city that really makes Vegas look innocent. My first night walking about, all I wanted was an ice cream cone, but I could find only daiquiri carts, call girls, and ear-piercing music (that was not Jazz, by my definition.)

Nick had a scare this month. He loves airplanes and visits to the airport. But while I was holding him in the driveway in Atlanta, a life-flight helicopter buzzed low overhead, and he froze in fright, gripping me tight and shaking. He was weary for a couple of days of anything that flew. He went from screaming 'airplane!' in glee to questioning 'airplane?' as if to suggest he's not so certain he's happy to see them anymore.

Of course with the pass of time comes expanded verbal skills. He looked at my brother-in-law Fayling and told him, "I want to go to the slide." He can sing Twinkle Little Star, almost completely. He uses 'please' and 'thank you', although not always in the right order. He surprised GrandMoose with, 'God Bless You' when she sneezed. And then Brandi's dad slipped with the word 'crap', which Nick repeated countless times for practice. Something about the linguistics of that word are fun. So when he came home to Michigan, I rushed to pull out the puppet 'Comfort Crab' and convince him he was saying, 'crab'. I think the cover worked. And he's now counting to 20 with no trouble, and clearly understands what he's counting, not just saying the numbers. Unique to Nick, he doesn't like to think there's just one of any great thing in this world. He says everything with an 'a' in the front: Brandi is 'a mama', Moose's dog is 'a Rosie (the great dane), or 'a baseball'. (Poor Rosie runs like lighting when he comes screaming 'a Rosie, a Rosie' and he tries to climb on her like a horse.)

His favorite place in the world is the "Jumpy place" in Atlanta, an indoor playground. He'll run with his cousins until his face is 'crab red', and sweating, and refuse to take a break. He's just naturally a hot-blooded kid, with hands always warm. He had a fever for a few days and it was hard to tell - when he wakes from a nap, he's always sweaty (with all the little hairs on his head sticking every-which-way.) When waking up, he always starts rambling right away about, 'a parasail' or 'a pumpkin' or whatever comes to mind.

Nick spent his birthday in Atlanta (Brandi and Nick stayed behind a few weeks for the warm weather). Megan and Jason threw him a great party, with gifts and all the extras. Video is here. As a new parent, you wonder how your child will learn some valuable lessons: for instance, how do you teach them something is hot, without burning them intentionally? With Nick, give him a birthday cake with a candle on it, and stand back while he frys his forehead. Between the fat lip at McD's and burn marks, you also wonder, as a parent, how long this stroke of luck can run before Children's Services comes knocking on your door?

Nick stacks everything, and can entertain himself for hours. He stacks blocks, pots and pans, bottles, books, you name it. We have observed that he continues to use both hands interchangeably, and that the other kids his age are starting to favor one hand. He will switch stacking or writing from left to right randomly. So of course, his Grandpa Mantel bought him ANOTHER left-handed baseball mitt. The kid is going to have enough equipment to outfit an entire team soon.

I came home to Michigan alone for a couple weeks, to shovel snow (about a foot) and paint more trim and doors in the house. But it wasn't all gloom for me. Alice, the master chef next door, baked me homemade apple cobbler... and I lived on it for three days. I needed the energy. For those of you in lands far away, we've shoveled about 4-feet of snow so far this year in SE Michigan.

- Jason

Christmas 2008

Nick had a great Christmas, showered in gifts from all over. We spent the actual holiday at home, opening a few small gifts. We wandered about the toy store on Christmas Eve, and had the store to ourselves. While one parent shopped for a few toys for him, the other stood by Nick in the $500 motorized Jeep Wrangler - one of those 5 mph real driving toys for kids, complete with a dashboard full of noisemakers. He sat in there for an hour before we peeled him out, none too happy, and sprinted for the door.

Then we spent the weekend after with family here in town, and traveled to Atlanta for New Years. In Atlanta, Nick was able to get outside on the playgound, and rumble with the other kids. It amazes me how he knows no limits - he kept up with the 5-7 year olds like he was one of them. And of course, exploring GrandMooose's house; one of the pictures is of him playing in the cupboards.

He was buried in gifts, including a NASCAR playmat, indoor basketball hoop, small airplanes, matchbox cars, a toy harmonica, and a sweet pirate kite. Honestly, other folks (all of you) were more generous with him than his own parents. Thank you! I can't even recall all the toys and clothes he received, but we were spoiled by the generosity of others.

The video here is of Brandi and Nick opening his gifts on Christmas morning. He's counting the glow-in-the-dark stars (more of them!) for his ceiling.

I'm working on his Two-Year post, and hope to have it live in a couple of days.

Click here for a few Chrismas photos.

- Jason

Nick's Twenty-Fourth Month

Nick experienced his first brain freeze. While eating some of Grandma Sue's frozen strawberry yogurt pie, his mama warned him. About 10 bites in, he dropped his head onto the counter, brow crashing with a thud against the hard surface, and mumbled in a monotone, "Oh, no." It was rather hysterical, actually. Best laugh I've had all month. (Even better than my buddy Donny singing "Queen" at karaoke, and that was a riot.)

Nick really loves music - no question now. He still sits daily at the piano, and loves to hear Brandi play her violin. Still dances the same, too. But he needed an instrument easier to handle. So we let him play with his great-great grandpa Golembiewski's harmonica, and he never puts it down - and he's aggressive with it. I call home to talk to Brandi, and it sounds like we have a hobo on speed in the background.

He counts everything now, clearly up to 10, and learning through 15 fast. But I got most excited when Brandi drew him a baseball, and he knew it by name. A touching manly moment.
Favorite new words: dragonfly, triangle, and parasail.

We shoveled the driveway together as a male bonding experience (and practice for what will become his job shortly.) I just can't keep his hat and mittens on him, but his hands and face are always warm - I think he's just warm-blooded, and gets hot.

Nick is not a kid shy of others, or afraid to be adventurous. I lose him in the McDonald's playground, and it's only one room. He takes off with kids older than him, into the tunnels high above the ground, and I have to go in after him to get him out. We're beyond the simple climbing phase, and into advanced climbing. He pushes chairs around the kitchen to reach the counters, open the freezer, and reach the cupboards. Nothing is out of reach. We had only one McDonald's incident, which resulted in a fat lip. When we took him out shopping later, he would ride around with his lip pressed against the cold metal shopping cart frame to sooth the pain.

And then there's the prep for Christmas...
We decided to set up a tree and manger for Nick at the last minute, the week before. We did the small 2' tree, with small unbreakable ornaments, safe lights in an enclosed tube, and set it at his level, just off the ground. Had we put it up high, he would have climbed until he eventually got to it anyway. He was very helpful with the ornaments, and once the tree was up, we stepped back to watch him enjoy it... by grabbing the top branch, yanking it from the table, and dragging it across the room like a caveman until the light cord would let him go no further. He shoved the ornament balls in his mouth and spit them across the room in laughter, and pulled off all of the garland and draped it all over himself. After about 3 days, he left the tree alone. He calls it a baseball tree, because of the balls on it.

Click here for 24th month pictures.

- Jason