Nick's Forty-Sixth Month

We had two rounds of Halloween Trick-or-Treat this year: one in downtown Newnan amongst the local businesses, and one in a local neighborhood. After a few Milk Duds, he was beyond slappy. He was walking into people's homes when he saw more candy inside the porch door, diving face-first into candy cauldrons like bobbing for apples, and trying to swindle the same homes for candy multiple times. All the while, he was giggling hysterically. Many other kids recognized his 'Super Why' costume. He indeed consumed record amounts of candy for the holiday.

Favorite foods this month: anything he can get his grubby hands on. Dr. Pepper appears to put him to sleep. I was eating a goofy flavor of chicken pizza at the restaurant buffet, and he took it right off of my plate and chowed it down. He's now ordering and eating... most kids can't make a decision at 4 years old, to ask them what they want to eat. He awakes, places his order with Mama ("eggs and pancakes, please,") and then eats it all. I saw Brandi make breakfast twice one morning... and he ate twice. Growth spurt.

Nick learned to fish while in Georgia, casting from the banks of the lake behind Moose's home. He's using a rock as bait, so not catching much, but he hasn't hooked himself yet, either, so that's good. We took his love of fish back to the Georgia Aquarium for a family day out, where he saw sharks and whales. It amazes me how many of the fish for which he knows the proper names.

I didn't see him as much this month, with him in Georgia and me in Michigan, but his conversational skills via telephone made leaps. He went from counting and singing at me, to sharing real experiences in detail. He's still a little fuzzy on how phones work, though. He takes pictures of Daddy over the phone, and he once took my blood pressure over the phone by wrapping the phone in the sleeve. I just pretend it's working.

He's constantly re-affirming that he's being a "good boy." Most days, we agree.

- Jason

Nick's Forty-Fifth Month

We moved into our new home at the end of August - Nick loves the "New Red House" as he calls it. There are lots of little boys with very cool toys for Nick to play with, which he had no hesitation moving in and taking charge. We (Brandi and Nick) are in Georgia for our annual fall visit. While at a Halloween store we found a "Super Why" costume (a cartoon character from public television) and Nick fell in love with it. He won't take it off and we had to buy a second so that he could always have a clean suit to wear. This costume has really fired up Nick's imagination. Nick awoke one morning, spouting make-believe scenarios in which Wyatt (a.k.a the REAL Super Why) will ring Grandmama's doorbell and call to Nick, and then Nick will save Mama. He also stands in the mirror says, "I'm Super Why, I'M SUPER WHY!"

Nick attended his first Fair and saw a pirate acrobatics show, along with a ton of rides. The huge slide with the burlap sacks was his favorite, which we rode three times; he also rode a small airplane, kiddie train, bumper boats, moonjump, and a small coaster that looked like a dragon (he didn't like the dragon train so much.)

We bought him a Doctor's Bag, which he runs around checking everyone's blood pressure, giving "big pinches" with the syringe (vaccinations) and checking temperatures, plus dispensing get-well juice from the plastic thermometer. He knows the proper name of the ear checker ("...that's the Otoscope, Mama.") He's pictured here giving Uncle Ron a checkup.

We continue to move up the chain of children's entertainment, away from toddler shows, to "Super Why" (educational) and Polar Express (movie).

Favorite foods this month: "croissonicks" (croissants) "Oleo's, Orea's, Orella's" (Oreo's), "Michigans" (which are small Nerds candy, with no intentional offense to UM grads).

He continues to favor planes and trains. It feels as if we are on a mission to own every train ever made!

- Brandi

Nick's Forty-Fourth Month

Nick took his first big tumble, falling seven feet off the jungle gym platform, head first, to the ground. He landed on his back, after missing a step heading onto a chain ladder he never typically uses. He's been getting over-confident, and this will slow him down. After a short cry (him, not me) a mom on the playgorund came over to console us, reassuring me that I had been following him step-for-step, and he was a quick mover. When she asked if he was ok, he replied, "I'm so tough."

We were at the McDonalds playground in Dundee one evening, where there were at least 6 other kids he could play with. Instead, he latched onto one of the young moms, named Savannah (so he tells me - I didn't ask hre name). He was hugging her and her girlfriend, telling them stories, and sitting on their laps. I tried to direct him toward some McNuggets, but he told me, "No! I have to talk to the girls!" Give the kid credit, they were cute. (They looked like his mother.)

He's been reading Dr. Suess too much again, as he now refers to Brandi and me as Daddy Bird and Mama Bird. This will pass in a few days.

I got the first shrugging of shoulders this week, when I caught him trying climb up on a chair, and apparently out a window. When I caught him and asked of his intentions, he just shrugged his shoulders with an empty look. I didn't expect it so soon.

Nick and Seth are pictured here on the playground in Atlanta.

Alot of this month has been tied up in preparation work on the house. That will be a separate post all unto itself.

- Jason

Nick's Forty-Third Month

Nick had a big month: countless hours in the water, travel east and south, amusement parks, trains, fireworks...
The loud noise of fireworks bothered him, as do other loud noises. So we went for a drive to see fireworks on the night of the 4th, safe inside the car with the fun of seeing, and none of the loud noise. "I love fireworks! Gasp! They're so huge!" he would exclaim, as he called them out by color.

We took Nick to Soak City at Cedar Point for the holiday weekend. He lasted four hours, mostly in the kid's area around the Train fountain. He wanted to get on other rides, but was either too small, or would scream to get on, then scream to get off. He was mesmerized by the roller coasters around him. I can't wait until he's ready for those. The bigger water jungle gyms were enticing, but the ten-year-olds dominated those by blasting him in the face with water guns to knock him off. He'll need to gain some size to stand a little taller against the big boys.

This month's favorite toy was the Inflatable Shark for a buck at the dollar store. (Can't get enough of that Dollar Store.) He swam with it, dragged it around the house, flew it, rode it, punched it, snuggled with it, you name it. He also got some new planes from Aunt Megan, and a metal John Deere tractor, perhaps one in a collection to come. He doesn't need pre-made toys to be entertained, though. He probably built more nests from pillows, blankets and boxes than anything else he did all month (pretending to be Horton the elephant.) And every time we went for a walk, he wanted to go see the Snow Dog (a Dodge Ram with a snow plow on the front in the car lot next door.)

Least favorite food: anything that is green, he calls lettuce. He now likes ravioli with sauce (pizza ravioli.) And I brought home one of my favorite subs from The Andersons, a 2' sub, and he ate most of it - three meals a day until it was gone.

He learned not everything in a similar-shaped cardboard box has the same application. Brandi lets Nick load the dishwasher, add soap, and start it. One afternoon, I caught him adding mashed potato flakes to the dishwasher. From the pics, you can see he's handy at fixing things when he breaks them, plumber's crack and all.

On one of the really hot days, we ended up in a McDonald's playground as the nearby indoor playground went out of business. Nick found two little blond girls (his favorite) to drag him around, one on each hand. Up into the tree house, and down the slide they went, until one tried to pick him up, then he'd had enough. Just before the courtship ended, Brandi pointed it out to me, and I snuck over closer to get a peek. "What's your name?" I heard the oldest ask, probably about 7 or so, she was. "Jason Mantel," he replied loud and confident. In teaching him to read, alot of things around the house have my name on them, I guess. I don't mind him riding on my good reputation picking up girls, but let's not make a habit of it.

Here's how a typical evening conversation sounds in our home.
Brandi: "We had a tough day."
Jason: "Nick, were you tough on your mother?"
Nick: "I have two horns!"
Brandi: "Yes he does!"
Nick: "I have three horns and a spiny frill."
He meant he was being a dinosaur. His mother clearly heard another, relatively accurate, depiction. He can keep up with the conversation, but it's not exactly the normal give-and-take. As the month went on thought, his conversational skills improved dramatically.

Unfortunately, his Great-Grandad Little passed away, which led to a trip to Danville, PA. The second night in the hotel with Brandi, Megan and Lisa, he escaped into the halls while Brandi was in the shower. He made it to the elevator, and up two floors before Brandi caught up to him, soaking wet, barefoot, and wrapped in a towel. On the third night, when Brandi and Nick were alone in adjoining rooms for the four of them, she dead bolted the lock and went to the next room, when the adjoining door swung shut, locking Nick in one of the rooms alone. It took two hours and the handyman's toolbox to get into his room, but fortunately he slept through it. He got alot of time with the other kids in the family, lots in the pool. He also got his first dip in the stream that runs behind Little's Rest, pictured here with his Grandad.

Finally, the girls took him on a trip to the zoo when they returned to Toledo, where they got stuck on a stalled train for a half hour and Nick hurled all over everyone. I knew it was a tough day at the zoo when Brandi's text started with, "All is well here in the sixth circle of hell..."

- Jason

Nick's Forty-Second Month

I'm convinced they put crack in the food at Golden Corral. One evening with Nick there for dinner, he was bouncing off the walls, babbling like a blubber, tipping the chair... after a few bites of various food. He would reach out and grab people around him, which was not cool. Want more insight into this audience that should be experienced in limited amounts? Visit http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/fwalmart.com/. That's all you need to know.

Favorite foods this month: perfect butter sandwich (no, spell check didn't mess that up), asiago cheese bagels, huge marshmallows. Unlike me who will finish the less favorable foods first so I can enjoy the good stuff, he's more like his mama who fills up on the best stuff, then is too full to eat the veggies and healthy junk. He wakes up in the morning, and requests a different breakfast each day: eggs, or cinnamon toast, or Cheerios, or pancakes, or bacon. No worries about being a good eater; he can consumer a half of pizza, or a 10 oz steak alone. When there's steak nearby, nothing else gets touched.

He loves to be wrapped up like a tacquito. These are the little frozen tacos we buy him for snacks, but he likens the term to being rolled in a blanket and being tossed around. We toss him around on the bed, bounce him up and down, and tuck him into the blanket.

New toys this month: rubber ocean life, such as a humpback whale and orca. Lots of Hot Wheels cars, so he now knows a Judge, a Grabber, and a Javelin on sight (there's your quiz for this month: name the makers of these 70's muscle cars.) He got a new John Deere tractor, which was more a daddy-wanted-it gift. I grew up on International Harvester toys - it's appropriate to establish brand awareness early. And another spaceship with a docking station that makes as much noise as he does.

Lots of time in the pool. He can actually swim now, moving in a steady direction, not just floating. He still wigs out when he hears low flying planes overhead, and ducks under the slide or to the edge of the house. Also being outside, he got stung by a wasp while playing in the sandbox, right on the palm of his hand. There was a nest under the sand. Weeks later, he still talks about it. There's a pic of him showing off his Curious George Band-Aid. He barely made a fuss when he got stung.

Nick made another leap this month in his interactions with others. He still selectively ignores you, or your questions, if they don't fit with his immediate agenda. But otherwise, he now frequently mixes in a variety of colorful adjectives and verbs (love, beautiful, gorgeous, gigantic, super) with his conversation. Many of which he uses with kids at the playground; sometimes he'll chase the other little boys, but most of the time he wants to charm the 12-14 year old blonde girls. We're into the 'repeat everything' stage now. Either he repeats after me, or just repeats himself until he gets action. When he plays with his toy space shuttle, he recites an entire launch protocol he heard on TV: "3-2-1-Blastoff. We have liftoff for the 41st mission of space shuttle Discovery. Scheduled to travel 7 million miles in orbit with a stop to the International Space Station." Too bad he's gonna miss this era of NASA, which ends this year.

- Jason