"I Made a Golf!"

This afternoon we took Nicholas to the nearby indoor mini-golf course (just before closing time when it was less crowded). We figured it would be a fun way for him to let off some steam, and if he played a little golf, so much the better.

He had a blast, and it turns out he's figured out quite a bit since we last took him six months ago. We had to work with him a little on how to hold the putter properly (and he still only sort of has it, and then only some of the time), and he struggled to let the ball stop wherever it wanted to.

From 2011 December

And he frequently would pick up the ball and move it close to the hole and then hit it in from there.

From 2011 December

But he kept his focus for seventeen of the eighteen holes, trying only to play each hole multiple times. And he really had a lot of control with the putter, figuring out that he should hit the ball more softly when it was close to the hole. Most fun of all though, was that each time he sank a putt he proclaimed, "I made a golf!"

From 2011 December

There are a few more photos in the December 2011 album.

It's an expensive outing, but now that we know it's something he enjoys so much, we're already planning our next visit.

Potty Prayer

Tonight Nicholas began his prayer with, "Thank you God for me going pee in the potty."

More on potty training later . . . maybe.

Family Game Night

One side effect of Christmas that I'd forgotten about is the way major gift holidays cause Nicholas to take a developmental leap forward. That sounds silly so let me explain. At Christmas and his birthday Nicholas gets a bunch of toys that either meet him where he is or are things we and others anticipate him wanting or being ready for soon. These replace a bunch of toys that he has outgrown or have ceased to interest or challenge him. For example, in making room for his new Christmas toys I packed away a bunch of toys he got at 9-12 months that he was still enjoying as of our move this summer but that look so incredibly infantile when compared to his new toys. And he quickly rises to the new challenges presented by his new toys.

With his current batch of new toys this growth falls into two big categories:
imagination

From 2011 December

and playing games.

From 2011 December

He had played Candyland before, but with no concept of the object of the game or winning. He would move his piece to a color that matched the card he pulled and sometimes go in the right direction, but that was it. Fast forward 3 weeks and a bunch of new games for Christmas and tonight we had a family game night playing multiple games with (close to) real rules and with good sportsmanship.

His favorite new game is Preschool Uno (which he calls the "barn game" because it involves pushing animals into a barn to discard) and over the past 3 days he had progressed from just matching animals and colors to understanding the objective of getting rid of all of your pieces to wanting to win and getting upset when he lost to being willing to take turns on who goes first to accepting that you only win sometimes. I'm actually thinking that it might be time already to add in the wild cards and "draw two" skunks that I took out initially. Hiding pieces and saying "uno" may wait a little longer, though.

We have also played Memory some and I don't know why I'm surprised that he is so good at it, but I am. His strategy is severely lacking (he always picks for his first pick something he knows even if he has no idea where the other one is), but he remembers where he has seen an object before better than I do.

I'm curious to test my theory by pulling out Candyland tomorrow. I want to see if I'm right that the new games have pushed him to grasp the concept of game playing more thoroughly or if he has just been learning these specific games.

Christmas 2011

We had a delightful Christmas, which really lasted for the 5 days my parents were here visiting. We baked tons of cookies, as well as tamales and a yummy pork tenderloin.

From 2011 December

From 2011 December

On Christmas Day we spread the process of opening presents out over the entire day. This was somewhat intentional, as we decided to only do Santa stockings before church to not be rushed and then leave presents from relatives we were going to Skype with for while we were talking to them in the late afternoon.


But we didn't count on it taking 2 hours to open presents between the 5 of us who were here. But we tried not to pressure Nicholas and let him play with presents as he opened them if he wanted. In general I think this was a good idea, although at one point after both Joe and my Dad fell asleep while Nicholas played with his pretend vegetables (you can cut them and velcro them back together!), we did prompt him (unsuccessfully the first few times) to move on.

From 2011 December

And we ended up leaving his big present from us until the very end of the evening just because there wasn't time before then.

I enjoyed Christmas more this year than I have in probably 15 years and it had absolutely nothing to do with presents I got. As we put Nicholas' pretend kitchen together on Christmas Eve and waited for Santa to come, I realized that I was giddy with excitement and anticipation.

2 is such a great age for Christmas because Nicholas was old enough to really enjoy all elements of it and yet didn't yet have expectations. With each new set of presents he was surprised and would have been happy with only a small fraction of what he got. He was so excited about each present that he just wanted to stop and play with it, with no attention to the pile of presents still waiting. He was thrilled on Christmas Eve that Santa was coming but it was because Santa is like a celebrity from his perspective and he couldn't believe Santa would come to his house!

Here are some of my favorite Christmas pictures (with more of course in the Gallery):

From 2011 December

From 2011 December

From 2011 December

Merry Christmas!

From 2011 December

Ready for Santa

From 2011 December

From 2011 December

Learning to Give

We decided that this year Nicholas needed to be involved in the process of giving gifts. I was realizing that in Nicholas' experience presents are things given to him. Not only has he not given gifts to others (at least not actively, even though gifts have sometimes been given in his name), but thanks to being the only kid around at family events, he gets more gifts than anyone else (okay, often than everyone else combined).

So we decided that this year gifts from Nicholas would really and truly be from Nicholas. But if we really wanted to let him take ownership of them and pick whatever he wanted, I wanted to limit the financial damage. So we took him to the dollar store and let him loose.

And he did a great job. He picked things for each of his aunts and uncles and then wanted to keep going. So he picked things for his teachers and for Mommy and Daddy. And then he wanted to pick more things for his aunts and uncles. He was on a roll. But we stopped him at that point. I'm all about the lesson of giving, but we were going to have to pay to ship all of these things across the country (or planet in the case of my brothers).

Nicholas then helped us wrap all the presents when we got home and he was very particular about who got what. I'll wait to share what some of the gems were that he chose until after Christmas so his aunts and uncles can be surprised, but it was pretty awesome.

So, fair warning to the aunts and uncles reading this blog, be prepared for the randomness when you open your presents. But Nicholas picked that item specifically for you.

We also took him to a place where you can paint plaster figurines and let him paint some magnets and ornaments. He actually really loved this (so much so that we went twice!) but mostly he just wanted to get as many different colors of paint as possible and put a little of each color on each piece. But he was so proud of himself for the things he painted and so excited to mail them off to relatives.

What I'm most impressed by is that throughout this process Nicholas was all about the idea that these presents were all for other people. At the dollar store he never once asked for something for himself. Not even the balloon he always gets when we go there. He was so focused on gifts for other people that it didn't even occur to him to try to get something for himself. And some of the gifts he chose were things he'd love and I expected him to try to open them when we got home, but he was insistent that they get mailed. I even offered to let him keep one of the ornaments he had painted because he was so proud of it and wanted to hang it up on our tree. But as I started to seal the envelope without it he yelled at me to stop because he had to send the ornament to x!

If any aunts and uncles or grandparents want to volunteer to wait to open their presents from him until Christmas afternoon or evening, we can do it over Skype. Then he can see the last stage of the process, to make more concrete what it meant when we mailed them to you. Let us know and we can set times.

Wordless Wednesday: Ghost of Christmas Past

From Louisville Dec 09

The Boxing Day Conundrum

Nicholas has gotten very excited about everything to do with Christmas, as we've noted in several places here: the lights and decorations, the music, Santa Claus, the actual religious parts like lighting Advent candles and setting up Nativity scenes—he has taken to all of it with joy, excitement, and anticipation.

I realized this morning that we've set ourselves up for a potential issue, though, on December 26, when I heard an ad yesterday on the local radio station that plays Christmas music. It was only December 19, but it's already promoting its return to its standard fare the morning after Christmas (ah, American culture, always getting ahead of itself).

Now, we've tried to balance Advent (a time of expectation and waiting that culminates on December 24) and Christmastime (which I'd define here as the December cultural celebration that precedes the religious holiday). On December 26, we'll all start to move on, clean up the wrapping paper, eat the leftover Christmas cookies, and put away the Gene Autry CD for another eleven months (or eight, at Grandma Alice's house).

Nicholas, as you may have guessed if you read the blog regularly, is a child of routine, and once we start doing something, it's difficult to stop without being scolded for forgetting something. So I'm a little worried about how to transition him out of Christmas, and a little worried (much as I enjoy the song and his joy at singing it) that we may get back-seat requests for "Dominick the Donkey" well into January.

In the end we'll be fine, I'm sure, because Nicholas also enjoys logic and reasoning. It may just take a few extra days. And frankly, being in the Christmas spirit for a little bit longer isn't such a bad thing.

Office Hours

When I dropped Nicholas off at school on Friday morning they warned me that the power was out and that if it wasn't back on by 10, they would call me to come get him. So into work I went, hoping for the best. Well, at 9:45 the phone call came. Most recent estimate to get power back: 3-4 hours. Given the layout of the school (lots of interior classrooms and hallways with no natural light) and the heat situation, they just couldn't keep the kids any longer without power.

So Nicholas came to work with me. Because, really, the only other option was to not go to work. And while I have a personal day I could use an that disappears on Dec 31st, I had told my students I'd be available to help them prepare for their finals and I didn't want to do that to them.

And so Nicholas spent 6 hours in my office as I held office hours.

And it worked about as well as you'd expect.

Actually, it could have been much, much worse, and as multiple colleagues reassured me, their kids never would have been that good at 2. Nicholas actually did a really good job for the first 4 hours.

He played on the computer one of my colleagues had in his office from when his kids were little:

From 2011 December

He shushed me, saying, "Mommy, I have to get my work done." I wonder where he hears that.

He drew pictures on big paper on the floor:

From 2011 December

He watched a DVD on the computer while I met with students:

From 2011 December

He ate lunch at my desk:

From 2011 December

He found my stash of Teddy Grahams and my hidden pair of back-up heels:

From 2011 December

But he refused to nap. I got in one 45 minute student meeting in the hallway while he was "napping" (meaning calling to me and singing "Jingle Bells" but while lying down). And then he was done.


And by then he had been in the office for 5 hours, was 2 hours late on a nap, and was bored. And of course at that point a student who really needed help showed up. And Nicholas was done. I worked with the student for awhile, with Nicholas on my lap for awhile and then stopping every second sentence to deal with him.

And then I got desperate and walked across the hall to a colleague's office. She was grading exams and I felt awful because I know she is under a time crunch, but she has two small boys and I knew she would understand. And, sure enough, I got as far as, "Nicholas won't nap and I have a student," before she was out of her chair and calling to Nicholas to come read books with her. They then used leftover boxes to make "houses" for his animals. I am so incredibly grateful.

It all worked, but was the perfect example of how in trying to simultaneously wear two hats, I didn't do either very well. And while my colleagues are very welcoming to Nicholas and don't mind him being around on occasion, 6 hours was too long and disruptive and I hate how it looks.

Branding and Marketing

Our friend Katie (aka "Alice's Mommy") wrote us this morning with a story too funny not to share. She has graciously agreed to let me post her e-mail (subject: "out of the mouths of babes"), which I do in full:

Alice and I were reading our copy of "Alice and Nicholas" this
morning, and Alice looked at the picture on the first page, in which N
is wearing an argyle sweater vest, and said "That's Joe's shirt!!"

I may be typecast, but at least I'm known for something ... and Alice has me pegged exactly right.

Advent Song

From 2011 December

Train Fest 2011

As I'm sure you all know, Nicholas loves trains (and, really, anything having to do with transportation), so when his grandparents suggested a whole weekend full of train-centered activities, we agreed eagerly. (Okay, accepted their offer after debating whether to deprive Nicholas of activities he would love based on our own laziness and desire to sit around their house all weekend.)

We began the weekend with a trip to the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx to see their famous Train Spectacular. [ed. Joe, I know it is killing you that I didn't look up the real name and link to it, so go ahead and add it.] Nicholas loved looking at the trains everywhere, but all the intricate buildings made out of plants completely escaped his attention. But he certainly would have been happy to stare at those trains for hours if we had let him.

UPDATE (JOE), 12/14, 7:00 p.m.: I believe you're referring to the Holiday Train Show.

Here are a few pictures, with more of course in the Gallery:

From 2011 December

From 2011 December

From 2011 December

From 2011 December

From 2011 December

From 2011 December

Then on Sunday Nicholas got to ride a real train! We took the commuter train into New York City, which from Joe's parents' house is about a 45-minute train ride, mostly along the Hudson River. (By the way, when Nicholas was pretending to fly a plane earlier today, he told me it was going to New York City.)

Nicholas was so excited to be at the train station, even though it was freezing cold!

From 2011 December

And the ride itself did not disappoint:

From 2011 December

Nicholas' first midtown experience was brief and to the point. We walked from Grand Central Station to Rockefeller Center, walked all around the Christmas tree, walked back towards the station, going through the MetLife building to see their tree on the way.

But Nicholas was really interested in the very big tree (and amazed at the very tall buildings), and kept wanting to get closer and closer. It was quite cold, though, and so after that he was done and when we gave him the option, chose to go back to the train and back to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Here are some pictures of the various trees:

From 2011 December

From 2011 December

From 2011 December

And, of course, Nicholas and I talking about how big the tree was:

From 2011 December

And, because this was the running theme of the weekend, it happened that we had 15 minutes to kill in Grand Central before our train and so we went into the train museum and Nicholas got to watch yet another set of model trains.

From 2011 December

And then the train ride home, the perfect conclusion to Train Fest:

From 2011 December

NYC Christmas

From 2011 December

More to come in a couple days. We're still in NY, doing some research today.

Wordless Wednesday: Craft Project

From 2011 December

Christmas Pictures

We got Christmas pictures taken a month ago for Christmas cards, but once we got our tree set up this weekend, I decided to try to get one shot with the self timer.

I really was just going for one quick picture. It actually wasn't me who turned it into a big event of playing with the self timer. It was Nicholas. He was intrigued by the idea of the camera taking pictures all by itself. He also made a game of jumping off the piano stool after each picture and climbing back up and I think he realized that game would not be allowed without the pictures.

Anyway, at Nicholas' insistence we took multiple pictures in front of the tree on both Saturday and Sunday. A ton are blurry (apparently our camera has trouble focusing with the self timer on--not cool!), but we got a handful of good shots.

From 2011 December

From 2011 December

From 2011 December

And when Nicholas jumped out of one shot early we ended up with what I think might be the first picture of me and Joe together without Nicholas since the munchkin was born.

From 2011 December

It makes me happy!

St. Nick's Day 2011

Nicholas is totally eating up Christmas this year. St. Nick came last night and Nicholas has been talking about it all day (including all through school, according to his teachers).

St. Nick brought Nicholas some new animals and a package of Christmas fruit snacks.

From 2011 December

Nicholas got a cow and a pig (which make noise!) from the dollar impulse bins at Target a couple weeks ago and somehow St. Nick knew that he'd like the other 4 animals as well.

Nicholas even insisted that all his animals line up on the table while he watched tv. He tried to explain to me why they had to look at him instead of the tv, but I didn't follow.

From 2011 December

He is one very happy little boy. So happy, in fact, that he insisted on drawing a thank-you card for St. Nick this morning. (What can I say, at least he has manners, right?) I was fine with that since we were running a little early. Then he insisted on putting it in an envelope and mailing it. Luckily the boy couldn't read the address I put on the envelope.

My parents should be receiving the card in the mail in the next couple days.

Nicholas and the Nativity

We may need to work on the theology of Christmas a little more.

This is the nativity scene Nicholas made using stickers at the St. Nick party at church:

From 2011 December

While the baby Jesus flying in from the sky could work, the decapitated cow and the camel going in to kiss Mary are a little less orthodox.

Similarly, his main comment regarding our nativity scene at home is, "We don't blow down baby Jesus' house."

He has a real fascination with the big bad wolf these days. Luckily our apartment building is made of brick, so I was easily able to put aside his fears on our own account. Baby Jesus' stable, however, has elicited much concern. Well, concern that alternates with efforts for Nicholas to get a head start on the big bad wolf by huffing and puffing.

Life Imitates Art

And occasionally, life imitates art on several levels.

To wit: a teacher in New York State got caught saying something you don't say to your classroom full of second-graders.

And then watch this video:



Sorry, not about Nicholas, but I couldn't resist.

When Daddy Gets Home

Rumor has it that a substantial and growing list of activities awaits my return to Massachusetts this evening. Sarah has apparently decided (and rightly so, in most of the cases she cited) that there's simply not enough time during the week to take care of all of the things that Nicholas wants to do, so she's started telling him that these tasks have to wait until Daddy comes home.

And if it makes me the Cool Dad, so much the better. (That myth is going to go "poof!" all too soon as it is.)

So when I get home, I have to make a CD with "Dominick the Donkey" on it ("for Mommy's car"), help put lights out on our balcony (since everyone else has them), put up the Christmas tree. Of course, that's not even counting what's on the honey-do list.

Ahem.

Oddly enough, there's precedent for this sort of interaction between me and small children. When I first left for college, Uncle Patrick was still a little tyke. He liked to ask questions. Why this? How come that? "Wait for Joe to come home," my parents and other brothers would patiently answer, both to relieve themselves of the obligation to answer and to entertain themselves with what they imagined would be the deluge. Made for an interesting Thanksgiving my freshman year.

In the meantime, if Nicholas thinks I'm a hero for burning "Dominick" onto a CD, who am I to complain?

Found it!

Corduroy's Christmas Surprise has been found! It was apparently still in my backpack from our last airplane trip. This is what I get for not unpacking all the way in between trips.

You may all now return to the rest of your day.

Advent

Advent is a big hit in our house. Nicholas will repeat back that we are waiting for Christmas, but he doesn't really get that part. What he gets is that we get to light a candle every night at dinner and sing a special Advent song. Oh, man, has that kid latched onto the Advent song. How long do you think until he knows all the words?

Tonight was the second night of Advent candles and Nicholas has spent a good 10-15 minutes at each dinner giving a long soliloquy about how he can't blow a candle away but he can blow the fire away, and other such very informative insights into the nature of candles. I don't think it is a coincidence that he hasn't been eating much dinner. I mean, really, who has time to eat when you have to opine on the nature of candles?

Just wait until Thursday when we break out the Advent calendar and he gets to add opening a flap and chocolate to the Advent routine! Toddler heaven.

Lost in the Mess

Our house is a mess. I know this. I figure that I get a break this semester. After all, if I'm working 50+ hours a week and single parenting, the fact that I pack our lunches every day, we eat out only once every 2 weeks, I do the dishes every day, I do the laundry each week, and there is no food or other actually gross mess around is enough. And clutter is just going to be a part of our life.

These arguments were all pretty convincing to me. Until this weekend. When I discovered that I can't find anything in this mess! I was certain Corduroy's Christmas Surprise was in the black diaper bag. Certain. But when we went to pull it out in NY, it wasn't there. I was annoyed but figured we'd get home and I'd see it sitting on the floor right next to where the bag had been, removed by a little helper. Nope. And I've searched the house. It is nowhere to be found.

It isn't really about the book. I did a quick search and I can get copies on Amazon starting at a penny. But we have the book. Somewhere. It has to be in this house. Or in the car. How can I be that person whose house is so cluttered that I can't find a book?

I also spent half an hour last night looking for matches to light the Advent candles, only to eventually give up and go buy a lighter. That I blame on the move, however.

I also spent 20 minutes last night searching for the mug Joe got as a groomsman's gift from Brian and Shayna last month that I didn't remember unpacking and was worried was sitting in the bottom of a bag waiting to be smashed. It turns out I actually did unpack it and put it in the last place I thought to check--the hutch with all the nice glasses. Exactly where it belongs.

So I'm hoping Corduroy shows up on Nicholas' bookshelf and I was just blind to it the 4 times I checked. Not because I don't want to spend the penny to replace it. But because I'm starting to doubt my sanity.

We have got to get this house cleaned up!

Christmas Decorating, Day 1

Grandma Alice loves Christmas. I mean loves Christmas. And Nicholas has been begging to "make a Christmas tree" and see a gingerbread house since he became obsessed with Corduroy's Christmas Surprise back in early fall. So Joe asked his mom if there would be any Christmas decorating that Nicholas could help with over Thanksgiving weekend.

And oh boy was there. Most of Grandma Alice's normal Christmas decorations are way too fragile for a pint-sized helper. But Grandma Alice got Nicholas some very special Nicholas-sized decorations to work on.

Nicholas' first surprise was a 4-ft tree set up for him in the basement. Grandma and an uncle or two set up the tree and got the lights on before bringing Nicholas down. And his face just lit up when he saw it!

From 2011 November

He then went right to work, putting on every single ornament that had been laid out.

From 2011 November

He then asked about the box of candy canes that were there. And all it took was someone saying they could be hung on the tree too and he was on a mission.

From 2011 November

He did all of this by himself (okay, except the bow on top):

From 2011 November

Just as the adults had decided that this looked good and maybe we should just skip the garland, Nicholas saw it. And there was no going back. His first attempt to do it himself was, while hilarious, not very productive. So Aunt Melinda helped him and they got it wrapped around the tree nicely.

From 2011 November

The tree looked just as pretty when we left this morning, although not the same. Nicholas has rearranged the ornaments and candy canes (especially the candy canes) at least a half dozen times in the past 3 days. But he does it carefully and methodically and enjoys it, so why not? Given this, however, this year we might want to just skip any breakable ornaments on our tree so he is free to re-decorate at will.

After decorating the tree there were still more fun Christmas surprises in store for our very lucky little boy.

A real gingerbread house!

Grandma Alice bought a gingerbread kit and Aunt Melinda took on the bulk of the work of helping Nicholas decorate it.

I cut out the fondant for the windows and doors to the right size and we pointed to the general area where they should go (which was also designated by lines on the gingerbread), but Nicholas put them on. He also picked the pieces of candy he wanted and put them on after Melinda dotted frosting on the backs.

From 2011 November

From 2011 November

Nicholas did discover pretty early on that the "glue" was yummy frosting and so was intentionally wiping it off the candy pieces and liking his fingers. Sneaky.

From 2011 November

We had to re-glue some of them.

The grownups put the house together and Melinda and I did the piping for the roof lines, but Nicholas did the bulk of the gumdrops.

From 2011 November

Putting them on the roofline was my idea, but he carefully placed them all neatly in the line. (Watch the video below to see the excitement.)

From 2011 November

From 2011 November

It is so fun watching him do projects, now that he is old enough to really get them and enjoy them. And he is such a careful and mellow 2-year-old that it is feasible to let him.

Nicholas loves looking at the gingerbread house, but he has also asked to eat it a couple times. Technically it is edible, but I'm not so sure I'd want to eat it. Maybe we'll make some gingerbread cookies to eat closer to Christmas instead.

We'll be back again in 2 weeks for the extended family Christmas party, so Nicholas can see "his" tree and gingerbread house again soon. We also left the other Christmas-themed goodies that Grandma bought there, to be rediscovered on our next visit. I don't think I need to pack any toys. :)

And, best of all, as we read our knock-off Corduroy's Christmas Surprise last night (I couldn't find the real book in his bag even though I was certain it was packed, so I made him one), he stopped when we got to the part about decorating the tree and exclaimed, "Corduroy decorated a tree like I decorated a tree!" And, if possible, even more excitedly proclaimed when we reached the next page, "Dolly made a gingerbread house like I made a gingerbread house! That was so much fun!"

The next month is going to be one new exciting thing after another for him. He's working on a bunch of Christmas songs, trying really hard to learn the exclamations in Rudolph and figuring out what each of the songs on our Christmas CDs "is about." Currently he likes Frosty because it is about a snowman and we built a snowman, Rudolph because he loves the exclamations (especially "ho ho ho" and "yippee"), and "The Little Drummer Boy," because "it is about a little boy like I am a little boy."

2 is simultaneously such an awful age and such a wonderful age. I guess this wonder and joy and excitement is there to balance out the stubbornness and boundary testing. As I have said before, God knew what He was doing when he made little kids cute.