Just a little update about what in the world we're doing these days…
Nick took the kids out for a little practice. Him on the camera, and them on the vehicle of their choosing. Here’s what resulted:
Are you sure about this, dad?
He’s down!
No wait, he’s up!
Race ya!
This is the most fun I’ve ever had… except for that time I got to jump in the mud.
Little Man Nolan has always had an affinity for water and all things dirt. An examination of some past posts provide examples. There was this one:
Nothing like a good mouthful of dirt
And the ever famous puddle jumper:
Come on in, the water's fine!
But Nolan recently got an opportunity to top them all. A few weeks ago we got to go to the Tulip Festival in Woodburn. Since winter is insisting on lasting FOREVER, it had been raining for weeks, and we were well aware that there would be mud. And I came prepared. Of course… I don’t think anything quite prepared me for what actually took place.
Upon arrival, he immediately discovered the duck races, leading of course to a total and complete soaking of his jacket.
We had to take a little ride around the farm on the cow train in order to dry off.
But then the real fun begins…
Testing the Waters
Mud Puddle Target Aquired
Ooooh, this is good stuff!
No turning back now...
Mud totally rocks!
Mylie was there too... just a bit more... cautious
This was the best picture pose we could come up with
With all the muck, I thought I needed at least one pretty picture
Lil' Rascals in search of more mud
Wanted to get a nice family shot... had to crop all the mud-stained clothes out of this one.
At this point, the mud has soaked through his pants into his diaper
And we top the adventure off with a nice face plant in a puddle
But wait, check out the lady pointing and laughing at him as he passed
The Walk of Shame back to the car... Mom refused to carry him!
And yes, in case you’re wondering, I did (amazingly) come prepared with a whole new set of clothes. I did not, however, have any rags or towels, and burned through almost a whole container of baby wipes trying to get him to a clean enough state for said clothes. It never fails to amaze me that this funny, mud-loving boy could actually be related to Mylie, who has to get up to wash her hands at least twice during most meals. Funny kids.
And the prize winning shot of the day:
The Gang
Both Karli and I have wondered when this day would come for our little boy. Possibly it has already but I saw it quite obviously today. Somehow all boys know how to make anything turn into a gun. Mylie was eating her dinner while Nolan was playing in the living room (he was already done with dinner). All of a sudden I heard “pquew, pquew” (how would you spell it?) coming from both of them and they each had a crayon and were shooting each other. It is amazing how kids learn from their surroundings but I am not sure from where this one came. I don’t even know which one started it first. I tried prodding to find out where they learned it but Mylie did not confess to anything.
Now, I was one of those kids who could turn anything into a gun. I also remember playing toy guns with other boys in our neighborhoods and had quite the fun time. One day we even had a shoot out where we got to choose the toy gun and what part of the body we get shot at. The one who “died” the best got to take his turn and choose the next toy gun and body part. I even made a wooden toy gun in my wood shop class. Imagine the public schools allowing that now.
My point is I am not an overly concerned parent but it’s just another step in our kids’ development. Even though I don’t want to encourage the behavior, I find it fun to see how their imagination works and reminds me of myself as a kid.
Before Nolan’s haircut, he was showing off his muscles in order to prove that he was a tough guy. Because tough guys don’t need haircuts.
During Nolan’s haircut, he looked like a scary monster.
During Nolan’s haircut, we realized how dark his hair has become. No more little blond baby.
During Nolan’s haircut, Nolan used the comb to check us to make sure the length was suitable.
After Nolan’s haircut, he was just about too cute for words.
Nolan’s newest biggest accomplishment is discovering how to get out of nap times. And not just, “I don’t want to go to sleep so I’ll stay awake in my crib”. Oh no. He wants to get everyone out at nap time.
On Thursday, he came up with this brilliant scheme:
Just before I was about to put him to bed, Mylie comes running into my room as says, “Nolan did something bad.”
“Oh? What?”
“And I did something bad too.”
That’s when I knew I was in trouble. “What did you do?”
“Just come see.”
So, I came into the kitchen to this scene.
I almost lost it, but something stopped me. Instead, I took a deep breath and said, “Well, you better get down and play in it and have fun, because you’re going to be cleaning it up. And it WON’T be happening again.”
Did I mention the outfit he’s wearing was actually black when I put it on him that morning?
They had an excellent time pretending it was snowing in the kitchen and bringing all their toys in to join the party. After almost an hour, I finally called the game, and threw them in the tub (which made a sickeningly thick corn starchy water). Naptime was further evaded with an immediate trip to Target, and we are now the proud owners of one of THESE babies on our pantry door:
So, after one napless day, I thought he’d be due for a good nap on Friday. So, to really tire them out, we went for a bike ride. Okay, I was the only one getting tired out since I was riding the bike and they were in the trailer. For a treat, I took them to Taco Bell. Nolan finished his lunch first, and really wanted out of the high chair. I agreed on the condition that he wouldn’t run around or else he would get back in.
It worked. For a minute. And then he decided running up and down the booth seats was too irresistible. I told him to come back; he declined. I counted down from five. When I reached one I went to grab him, causing him to sprint back (along the seat) to his spot. He was just about there when we had one of those slow-motion moments as I watched him trip over Mylie’s leg, and tumble with his face headed right toward the edge of the table. He barely grazed it, but by the time I got to him there was already blood all over the place, and he had filleted a small piece just outside his lip quite nicely.
Ugh. Did I mention I was there on a BIKE?! I tried to get the bleeding to stop with him still screaming. Then, leaving all our trays on the table, I hauled both kids outside, got their helmets on, put them back in the trailer, handed Mylie a napkin and told her to hold it on Nolan’s lip while we rode, unlocked the bike and trailer, attached the trailer back on the bike, and took off to my friend’s house (the poor woman I call any time my kid punctures himself). She was nice enough to take a look at him, stash my bike and trailer in her garage, and then haul both of her own kids into her car where we threw Mylie in the back seat and shoved Nolan on the floor of the front seat so she could drive us back to our house. Once there, we loaded up in our van and headed the 20 minutes to the doctor’s office, where we waited another 30 minutes to be seen. Of course, by the time the doctor saw it, his lip was too swollen to derma-bond back together. We decided against stitches, so…. we left. Neat. Turns out the cut is small enough that stitches would have made almost the same size of scar so….
At least he got himself out of another nap.
I couldn’t get a great shot of the little monster’s lip, but you get the idea.
Seriously, boys are a different breed. After four and a half years of girl, I have not once had to consider stitches, and now in the last 2 months I’ve had to consider it twice with little brother. This kid might make me crazy….
…On second thought, please ignore the previous post. It was just a fluke.
…and her pal Neeno
Lolly and Neeno are the terms by which these two have come to be known in our house. The nicknames are really not nicknames so much as, it’s how Nolan pronounces their given names. And we think it’s downright cute. These two partners in crime have started to worm their way back into my heart. We had a really long year brief stint recently where, although I loved them very much, I didn’t really like them a whole lot. In fact, there were a lot of days I didn’t much like to be around them at all. It was one tantrum after another, and competitions over who could do the most damage to my ear drums with Mariah Carey-style screaming. And then there’s the whining. I swear, before I had preschoolers I thought, “Well, just don’t give them what they want when they whine and they’ll learn not to do it.” Yeah… I guess that may be true, but I didn’t realize preschoolers are such slow learners!! Even though I have NEVER given in to a whine, it’s still an ingrained tactic. It must be part a part of our genetic makeup as humans.
But that’s all starting to change.
Both kids have discovered a new parental tactic which gets them far more than they ever dreamed possible… politeness! Lolly has taken to randomly telling us thank you for things. “Thank you for making me this yummy dinner, mom,” or “Thank you for playing with me today.” Sometimes she’ll throw in a real zinger: “I had a great time being with you today, Mom.”
Neeno also says thank you for just about everything, including diaper changes.
Me: “Nolan, can I change your diaper?”
Neeno: “Geek ku Mommy.”
Lolly: “Nolan, do you want to be my pet kitty and have me boss you around and lead you around with a leash?”
Neeno: “Geek ku, Lolly.”
Truly, it’s just about the sweetest. thing. ever.
The other heartwarming trend that is appearing is how much these two love each other. Since Lolly was never really baby-crazy like a lot of first-born girls, she didn’t really ever dote on Neeno. So, they were close enough, but nothing special. Lately, it seems, though, that a new relationship is budding. Perhaps it’s stemmed from sharing a room, or perhaps it’s the northwest weather which keeps them locked inside the house for way too many days in the winter. Whatever it is, it’s beautiful.
These two have so much fun playing together. And they like the same things, which is amazing to me for a brother/sister pair. Lolly LOVES to play with Neeno’s trains, and Neeno loves to sing and dance to Lolly’s show tunes. And though their play time is punctuated with regular intervals of screaming and chasing each other down for a toy that one or the other has stolen, they quickly resolve it and move back to their games of make-believe.
So… I’m happy. I was really feeling down for awhile, like I had done something to cause my children to be bratty, ungrateful monsters. Turns out, it’s just another one of those phases that “they” don’t tell you about. It just happened to be a REALLY long phase at our house. But boy am I looking forward to this lovely new chapter!