Luckily for us, we got a foot of snow in five hours on Wednesday afternoon and evening, and Nicholas obliged by climbing up onto the futon by the window and gazing out at the blizzard. To wit:
 |
| From 2011 January |
Friday, January 28, 2011
Friday Follow-Up
When we did Wordless Wednesday this week, we had thought it would be cool to post a photo of what Nicholas looks like in front of the window now. But we didn't have one.
Luckily for us, we got a foot of snow in five hours on Wednesday afternoon and evening, and Nicholas obliged by climbing up onto the futon by the window and gazing out at the blizzard. To wit:
Luckily for us, we got a foot of snow in five hours on Wednesday afternoon and evening, and Nicholas obliged by climbing up onto the futon by the window and gazing out at the blizzard. To wit:
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Raising a Man
I read an interesting post this morning (on an academic blog, sorry!) in which Dean Dad pondered how best to model manhood for his son. In particular, he discussed watching Jets-Steelers on Sunday, and trying to explain to his son (who I think is 6 or 7) that he was rooting for the Jets. He was doing so largely because he couldn't stomach the idea of Ben Roethlisberger, eight months removed from escaping sexual assault charges by the skin of his teeth (for the second time in less than a year, by the way), making the Super Bowl. The challenge, according to Dean Dad, is how to explain all of this in terms that a child can understand, without completely vilifying a sports culture that he will end up navigating in some way, shape, or form.
We've been lucky so far, in that there hasn't been a lot of pushback externally about how Nicholas views gender (unless they're doing things at day care that haven't filtered back to us). But the day will come when he has to figure out what it means to be a boy and then a man, and his friends will have a pretty large say in that. As someone who was never very good at being a stereotypical boy, it's going to take some work to figure out how to help him through that process. As you might guess, I was never into sports (certainly not after elementary school), and in time-honored tradition, any boy who revealed an affinity for intellectual pursuits became, well, unpopular. But there's a strong link in American culture among sports, normative masculinity, and misogyny. That is, you can't be a "real man" in some circles unless you are athletic and treat women as objects for your entertainment.
There's nothing inherently wrong with sports, and I want to underscore that. If Nicholas wants to participate in sports, I'm all for it, as long as he wants [ed.: future Nicholas, if you stumble on this blog as a teen, your mother and I will have aneurysms if you decide to play football]. But as Dead Dad writes:
Like I said, in some ways this is kind of moot at the moment, so for now I guess I'll just keep trying to be the kind of person (and kind of man) that I hope Nicholas will become some day, and hope that some of it seeps in by osmosis. We'll deal with the rest later.
We've been lucky so far, in that there hasn't been a lot of pushback externally about how Nicholas views gender (unless they're doing things at day care that haven't filtered back to us). But the day will come when he has to figure out what it means to be a boy and then a man, and his friends will have a pretty large say in that. As someone who was never very good at being a stereotypical boy, it's going to take some work to figure out how to help him through that process. As you might guess, I was never into sports (certainly not after elementary school), and in time-honored tradition, any boy who revealed an affinity for intellectual pursuits became, well, unpopular. But there's a strong link in American culture among sports, normative masculinity, and misogyny. That is, you can't be a "real man" in some circles unless you are athletic and treat women as objects for your entertainment.
There's nothing inherently wrong with sports, and I want to underscore that. If Nicholas wants to participate in sports, I'm all for it, as long as he wants [ed.: future Nicholas, if you stumble on this blog as a teen, your mother and I will have aneurysms if you decide to play football]. But as Dead Dad writes:
I just don’t want him to have to buy into macho-jock-asshole culture to do it. I want him to understand that there’s a difference between being a man and joining the He-Man Woman Hater’s Club.
Teaching a thoughtful boy is a challenge in this culture. One of his friends at school told him about watching games at a Hooters restaurant with his Dad; I had to explain, carefully, why we don’t and won’t go there. Boys in groups can get carried away -- being in the group while maintaining your own sense of boundaries can be hard even for adults.
Like I said, in some ways this is kind of moot at the moment, so for now I guess I'll just keep trying to be the kind of person (and kind of man) that I hope Nicholas will become some day, and hope that some of it seeps in by osmosis. We'll deal with the rest later.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Just Another Sunday
 |
| From 2011 January |
 |
| From 2011 January |
 |
| From 2011 January |
 |
| From 2011 January |
 |
| From 2011 January |
 |
| From 2011 January |
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Science Museum In Pictures
Nicholas and I met up with my mom at the Science Museum this morning. Nicholas had a good time overall, although he seemed overwhelmed by the number of kids in small spaces, a lot of the stuff was way beyond him (and unlike at Air and Space, not stuff he could enjoy without a real understanding), and he was predisposed to melting down given that he had a rough morning (fingers smashed in door--not pretty). Anyway, given all that, he did a good job and had fun. If it was possible to just go to the little kids' section and not have tons of other kids, we'd go back.
Anyway, on to pictures.
Nicholas went over to the statues of penguins on his own, but I didn't get the camera out in time. So I asked him to go back over and say hi to the penguins. He took me literally, walking over saying "hi, penguins" very loudly. And then he pet them.
The baby/toddler room was his favorite by far. It really was like a playground with some twists. So not science as we usually think of it, but challenging the way the kids are used to understanding and dealing with their world. For example, there was a section with what they called a waterbed. Here Nicholas is having trouble standing up. I don't think he was having trouble actually so much as he was concerned. The ground wasn't stable--what was going on?!
He later went to just crawling through this section. Over and over and over again.
They also had some places where you could construct ramps for balls. These worked out well--Grandma did the engineering and Nicholas dropped the balls through. They had some pretty complex ones going--ones where the ball hit a cowbell and made it ring and other such fun.
And after a tiring morning, Nicholas needed some downtime this afternoon. And since I realized this morning when I couldn't find anything I was looking for that our apartment had gotten completely out of control, I caved to his requests to "watch Elmo please Elmo watch Elmo" while I cleaned. And so here is the little boy as the picture of contentment. Really, what more could a toddler want?
Anyway, on to pictures.
Nicholas went over to the statues of penguins on his own, but I didn't get the camera out in time. So I asked him to go back over and say hi to the penguins. He took me literally, walking over saying "hi, penguins" very loudly. And then he pet them.
 |
| From 2011 January |
The baby/toddler room was his favorite by far. It really was like a playground with some twists. So not science as we usually think of it, but challenging the way the kids are used to understanding and dealing with their world. For example, there was a section with what they called a waterbed. Here Nicholas is having trouble standing up. I don't think he was having trouble actually so much as he was concerned. The ground wasn't stable--what was going on?!
 |
| From 2011 January |
He later went to just crawling through this section. Over and over and over again.
They also had some places where you could construct ramps for balls. These worked out well--Grandma did the engineering and Nicholas dropped the balls through. They had some pretty complex ones going--ones where the ball hit a cowbell and made it ring and other such fun.
 |
| From 2011 January |
And after a tiring morning, Nicholas needed some downtime this afternoon. And since I realized this morning when I couldn't find anything I was looking for that our apartment had gotten completely out of control, I caved to his requests to "watch Elmo please Elmo watch Elmo" while I cleaned. And so here is the little boy as the picture of contentment. Really, what more could a toddler want?
 |
| From 2011 January |
Friday, January 21, 2011
Who Needs College?; or, ABC (Elmo)
When we did our annual budget a few weeks ago we made the horrifying discovery that we are spending more annually on Nicholas' daycare than my college cost each year (yes, including room and board). So I looked it up and it turns out his "school" costs twice as much as tuition this year at the University of Maryland.
Yes, it was depressing.
But, this post is not to whine about that. Really. I swear. It is to say that tonight I began to wonder if he is actually learning more at his school than most college students learn in a year.
Why, you ask? Just watch this:
Yes, it was depressing.
But, this post is not to whine about that. Really. I swear. It is to say that tonight I began to wonder if he is actually learning more at his school than most college students learn in a year.
Why, you ask? Just watch this:
 |
| From 2011 January |
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Re-Education
If you go back through the blog over the past three weeks, you may notice a theme: we haven't been home much. That means that Nicholas has not been to daycare very much at all since Christmas (we counted: 3½ days).
So this morning was a bit of a shock to him, and even more so because the center opened late after an overnight snow/sleet/freezing rain/general slush storm. When I came back in from cleaning the cars, he was already weeping and grasping at Sarah desperately as she scurried around to finish his lunch and get his jacket.
He stayed calm most of the way in the car, though I could hear an occasional muffled whimper. But once we got to school he got clingy with me (you know the kid's upset when he does that). But his friend Elliott was there playing, and Ms. Hilary took him after one quick hug, and then I beat a path out of there as quickly as I could. No slow peel of the Band-Aid for me. Just get it over with and get out. I must admit I felt a little mean and cold (a familiar feeling if you know me), but staying was only going to prolong the maudlin and pathetic display.
Hopefully he feels better this evening, and even more we hope that within a day or two (max) he's back to enjoying school as much as he did in 2010.
So this morning was a bit of a shock to him, and even more so because the center opened late after an overnight snow/sleet/freezing rain/general slush storm. When I came back in from cleaning the cars, he was already weeping and grasping at Sarah desperately as she scurried around to finish his lunch and get his jacket.
He stayed calm most of the way in the car, though I could hear an occasional muffled whimper. But once we got to school he got clingy with me (you know the kid's upset when he does that). But his friend Elliott was there playing, and Ms. Hilary took him after one quick hug, and then I beat a path out of there as quickly as I could. No slow peel of the Band-Aid for me. Just get it over with and get out. I must admit I felt a little mean and cold (a familiar feeling if you know me), but staying was only going to prolong the maudlin and pathetic display.
Hopefully he feels better this evening, and even more we hope that within a day or two (max) he's back to enjoying school as much as he did in 2010.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Louisville in Pictures
I was not very consistent with my camera while we were gone, so while I have pictures, they don't really tell the story of our trip very well. And so rather than trying to insert pictures into the narrative I've already written, here are a few pictures from the trip with some commentary:
Nicholas got hours of fun from the old animal blocks and wooden soda bottles at my grandpa's house. The combinations of towers you can build with these are seemingly endless.
Nicholas particularly loved making the tower as tall as possible
and carefully replicated my finding that for the bottles to make a stable middle layer in a tower you needed 3 of them. (Here he is showing me there were 3. Although I believe he said "three bottles" and then counted them as "4, 5, 6.")
This may be the one exception:
Nicholas got hours of fun from the old animal blocks and wooden soda bottles at my grandpa's house. The combinations of towers you can build with these are seemingly endless.
Nicholas particularly loved making the tower as tall as possible
 |
| From 2011 January |
and carefully replicated my finding that for the bottles to make a stable middle layer in a tower you needed 3 of them. (Here he is showing me there were 3. Although I believe he said "three bottles" and then counted them as "4, 5, 6.")
 |
| From 2011 January |
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Nicholas loved the zoo. However, he was not too keen on my efforts to get a picture of him with the animal statues.
 |
| From 2011 January |
And, in the one photo-journalist moment of the trip, I did think to get a picture of him passed out at the zoo.
 |
| From 2011 January |
For the most part I only really got the camera out to get pictures of him with individual relatives. And while Nicholas was very cooperative at the idea of posing for these pictures, he currently is in a phase where his camera smile involves tilting his head up towards the sky.
And so I have a lot of pictures like this:
 |
| From 2011 January |
Or the more moderated version:
 |
| From 2011 January |
And the good pictures are the ones where he is involved in some activity:
 |
| From 2011 January |
 |
| From 2011 January |
This may be the one exception:
 |
| From 2011 January |
Given that he agreeably posed for pictures with 5 or 6 different people, I am disappointed that I ended up with nothing worthy of framing.
Oh well, even if I don't have documentary evidence, Nicholas truly did have a great time with his great grandparents, as well as a significant handful of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. And that is what really matters in the long run, even if it doesn't make for a pretty blog. Seriously, though, I wish I had taken more videos (and that those I took were smaller file sizes) because words cannot describe Nicholas and Grandpa M. playing a game that was a cross between catch and fetch, and in the house no less.
Popular with the Ladies ... or at Least One
With Sarah and Nicholas away, it's basically been a five-day pity party for me, so Alice's parents (a.k.a. Katie and Wes) invited me over for dinner last night. When I arrived, Alice was sort of nonplussed about me as Katie said to her, "It's Joe!" Then Katie added, "Nicholas's daddy," and little Alice's face lit up. "Nicholas!" she happily called, only to be disappointed by his non-presence.
So apparently I shouldn't show up to their house without Nicholas next time.
So apparently I shouldn't show up to their house without Nicholas next time.
Louisville Part 3
This little boy never ceases to amaze me. He is just so adaptable. And goodness knows he didn't get that from either of us.
Case in point: yesterday I took him to my Grandpa M.'s birthday party with about 50 people crammed into my grandparents' house. (Now this is a relatively small turnout for that family, but can still be overwhelming, even for me sometimes.) I expected him to be clingy and shy, but within about 2 minutes he was running around exploring, weaving through the forest of legs, and letting people pick him up. I expected to have a toddler velcroed to me the whole day but instead I divided my time between following him around the house a few feet back and realizing I hadn't seen him in a few minutes and going looking for him. But in those chunks where he had happily wandered off I got to talk to a bunch of relatives I don't see often and he got lots of hugs from great aunts. One thing about a party that big of relatives--it was hard for him to get in too much trouble because every room had at least 5 parents. Anyway, I was surprised and impressed with how well he took that in stride, especially since he didn't remember most of the people, not having seen them in a year.
Similarly, Nicholas has labelled the room he naps in at least 6 different houses "Nicholas room" and takes full possession of them. He seems completely fine with having half a dozen rooms, but once he sleeps there once, he claims it as his. While it is nice that he is willing to adapt to sleeping anywhere, the teenage girls yesterday who were watching tv in the room he had slept in on Friday were very confused when he went in and declared that they were invading his space.
Okay, Nicholas has finished his breakfast and has now come over insisting on seeing pictures of Nicholas and Alice, so I should go. We go back on an airplane this afternoon, bringing our trip and the ability to pretend time is not passing to an end.
Case in point: yesterday I took him to my Grandpa M.'s birthday party with about 50 people crammed into my grandparents' house. (Now this is a relatively small turnout for that family, but can still be overwhelming, even for me sometimes.) I expected him to be clingy and shy, but within about 2 minutes he was running around exploring, weaving through the forest of legs, and letting people pick him up. I expected to have a toddler velcroed to me the whole day but instead I divided my time between following him around the house a few feet back and realizing I hadn't seen him in a few minutes and going looking for him. But in those chunks where he had happily wandered off I got to talk to a bunch of relatives I don't see often and he got lots of hugs from great aunts. One thing about a party that big of relatives--it was hard for him to get in too much trouble because every room had at least 5 parents. Anyway, I was surprised and impressed with how well he took that in stride, especially since he didn't remember most of the people, not having seen them in a year.
Similarly, Nicholas has labelled the room he naps in at least 6 different houses "Nicholas room" and takes full possession of them. He seems completely fine with having half a dozen rooms, but once he sleeps there once, he claims it as his. While it is nice that he is willing to adapt to sleeping anywhere, the teenage girls yesterday who were watching tv in the room he had slept in on Friday were very confused when he went in and declared that they were invading his space.
Okay, Nicholas has finished his breakfast and has now come over insisting on seeing pictures of Nicholas and Alice, so I should go. We go back on an airplane this afternoon, bringing our trip and the ability to pretend time is not passing to an end.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Louisville Part 2
This will be another post without pictures because quite frankly I haven't figured out how to either get internet on my laptop or upload pictures from my grandpa's computer. I do have pictures, but I'll have to add them later.
Yesterday we had a full day of fun. Stacy and Paul drove up from Nashville to spend the day with us. Yes, they spent 6 hours in the car to spend 9 hours with us--they are just that great. We all (me, Nicholas, Grandpa, Stacy, and Paul) spent the morning at the zoo since it wasn't too cold out. Unfortunately a bunch of the exhibits were closed, but the animals who were visible were very active and close up, so we still got to see a lot.
The lions in particular were hilarious. There were two walking along the edge of the structure when we got there, and one kept looking off the edge down into the moat as though he was considering jumping. This was pretty entertaining as it was. Nicholas was just excited the animals were moving around (he kept remarking "lions walking!"). The rest of us were contemplating the lion's state of mind. After probably 5 minutes of this, when the one lion was peering over the edge again, the other lion reached out and shoved him, making him fall into the moat!!! It was scary for a second because the lion was falling and yelling/roaring, but lions are afterall just big cats and he gained his footing after a few feet and sort of ran down the moat wall the rest of the way. Our disbelief was moderated when we then discovered that there were lion size stairs going down on the other side and so he could have walked into the moat at any point (and back up), but the whole exchange was still pretty hilarious. And when you ask Nicholas what he saw at the zoo, his response is "lions whoa."
We had a good time and Nicholas kept shouting "more more zoo animals" as we walked between the exhibits. And then, about 1 minute after he yelled this as we were walking to the aquatic section, we looked down and he was out cold. And not just eyes closed resting but completely collapsed forward in his stroller. And, quite predictably, after he slept through the rest of the zoo, when he woke up as I transferred him into his carseat, he called out (while still half asleep), "more more zoo animals!"
We then had a fun afternoon at Grandpa's house and that evening two of my aunts, an uncle, and two cousins joined us for dinner. Nicholas had a little trouble at first because people showed up while he was napping and he woke up in a cranky mood, but he soon discovered he had an audience and was then in seventh heaven.
Yesterday we had a full day of fun. Stacy and Paul drove up from Nashville to spend the day with us. Yes, they spent 6 hours in the car to spend 9 hours with us--they are just that great. We all (me, Nicholas, Grandpa, Stacy, and Paul) spent the morning at the zoo since it wasn't too cold out. Unfortunately a bunch of the exhibits were closed, but the animals who were visible were very active and close up, so we still got to see a lot.
The lions in particular were hilarious. There were two walking along the edge of the structure when we got there, and one kept looking off the edge down into the moat as though he was considering jumping. This was pretty entertaining as it was. Nicholas was just excited the animals were moving around (he kept remarking "lions walking!"). The rest of us were contemplating the lion's state of mind. After probably 5 minutes of this, when the one lion was peering over the edge again, the other lion reached out and shoved him, making him fall into the moat!!! It was scary for a second because the lion was falling and yelling/roaring, but lions are afterall just big cats and he gained his footing after a few feet and sort of ran down the moat wall the rest of the way. Our disbelief was moderated when we then discovered that there were lion size stairs going down on the other side and so he could have walked into the moat at any point (and back up), but the whole exchange was still pretty hilarious. And when you ask Nicholas what he saw at the zoo, his response is "lions whoa."
We had a good time and Nicholas kept shouting "more more zoo animals" as we walked between the exhibits. And then, about 1 minute after he yelled this as we were walking to the aquatic section, we looked down and he was out cold. And not just eyes closed resting but completely collapsed forward in his stroller. And, quite predictably, after he slept through the rest of the zoo, when he woke up as I transferred him into his carseat, he called out (while still half asleep), "more more zoo animals!"
We then had a fun afternoon at Grandpa's house and that evening two of my aunts, an uncle, and two cousins joined us for dinner. Nicholas had a little trouble at first because people showed up while he was napping and he woke up in a cranky mood, but he soon discovered he had an audience and was then in seventh heaven.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Louisville
Nicholas is having a great time in Louisville. He loved going to the airport and on an airplane! Okay, honestly, he liked the airport more than flying. He could have watched the planes take off all day. As he would say, "Zooom!!!!" He was very excited about flying and tells anyone who asks how he got here that he was "on an airplane," but being confined got to him after a little bit. All things considered, though, he did very well.
And he has spent the past two days playing with great grandparents and exploring. And, of course, narrating the whole thing. I will try to write more details later, but I'm trying to squeeze in work whenever I can, so no promises. Since it is now the weekend a bunch of fun people are coming to join us later today, and tomorrow we are going to a family party. It is a good thing this little boy loves an audience.
And he has spent the past two days playing with great grandparents and exploring. And, of course, narrating the whole thing. I will try to write more details later, but I'm trying to squeeze in work whenever I can, so no promises. Since it is now the weekend a bunch of fun people are coming to join us later today, and tomorrow we are going to a family party. It is a good thing this little boy loves an audience.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Do Not Wubba Me Or I Will Wubba You
So Sarah and Nicholas have decamped to Louisville for a short visit before the semester starts, which means that I am by myself back in Lutherville. It also means I can do things around the house that I can't usually, like watch TV in the living room after 7 p.m., watch TV while eating dinner, and invite people over to watch TV. I promise I'm working during the day.
And yet it's hard to shake everything kid-oriented. It really gets under your skin! And so I've found myself last night or today walking around the house or at work, and all of a sudden I realize that I'm whistling "Elmo's Song" or "Rubber Ducky." On our trips over Christmas, you see, we've listened a number of times to a CD of classic Sesame Street songs that Sarah found at our local library. We've all enjoyed it (and I learned how to pronounce the alphabet as a single word!) but the songs seem to have gotten under my skin. As you might imagine, I'd like nothing more than to get the songs stuck in your head. Therefore, a few clips that I've pulled together of our (my?) favorites:
"Elmo's Song"
Ernie, "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon"
Grover, "Monster in the Mirror"
Enjoy!
And yet it's hard to shake everything kid-oriented. It really gets under your skin! And so I've found myself last night or today walking around the house or at work, and all of a sudden I realize that I'm whistling "Elmo's Song" or "Rubber Ducky." On our trips over Christmas, you see, we've listened a number of times to a CD of classic Sesame Street songs that Sarah found at our local library. We've all enjoyed it (and I learned how to pronounce the alphabet as a single word!) but the songs seem to have gotten under my skin. As you might imagine, I'd like nothing more than to get the songs stuck in your head. Therefore, a few clips that I've pulled together of our (my?) favorites:
"Elmo's Song"
Ernie, "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon"
Grover, "Monster in the Mirror"
Enjoy!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Counting
Nicholas has gotten pretty good at counting this week. He can usually make it up to 9, although at both 8 and 9 he sometimes has problems and starts going backwards. Occasionally he makes it to 10.
I took this video yesterday. He kept trying to start at 2 until I held up 1 finger, which prompted him to actually start at 1. He made it up to 8 here pretty well. 5 isn't very clear, but there definitely is a word between 4 and 6 that sounds like he is trying for 5. Anyway, I'm impressed.
The other funny thing about this video, I think, is Nicholas response upon seeing the camera. His first thought is that he wanted to look at pictures of Alice. (I sometimes show him the stored pictures on the screen. He is going to be very sad because I just cleared the card. No more pictures of Alice.) Failing that, he posed for the camera, assuming I was taking pictures. This kid cracks me up.
I took this video yesterday. He kept trying to start at 2 until I held up 1 finger, which prompted him to actually start at 1. He made it up to 8 here pretty well. 5 isn't very clear, but there definitely is a word between 4 and 6 that sounds like he is trying for 5. Anyway, I'm impressed.
 |
| From 2011 January |
The other funny thing about this video, I think, is Nicholas response upon seeing the camera. His first thought is that he wanted to look at pictures of Alice. (I sometimes show him the stored pictures on the screen. He is going to be very sad because I just cleared the card. No more pictures of Alice.) Failing that, he posed for the camera, assuming I was taking pictures. This kid cracks me up.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Boo Mommy Shower
Nicholas was home sick today (just a cold, but he begged to stay home and I wanted to monitor the potential for an ear infection before putting him on a plane tomorrow) and by mid-afternoon I really wanted a shower and the little boy wouldn't sleep. So in desperation I locked him in the bathroom with me while I showered. And so Nicholas made up a game--"Boo Mommy Shower." Not surprisingly this game involved pulling back the shower curtain and yelling "Boo Mommy Shower" or occasionally "Boo Mommy in da shower."
This was mildly amusing, but when he really made me laugh is when he decided he was bored and so therefore I was done. And so he picked my sweatshirt up off the floor, pulled the curtain pack and tried to hand me my sweatshirt, demanding, "Mommy, sweater on." Apparently getting dressed was the key element in his mind to my being done.
This was mildly amusing, but when he really made me laugh is when he decided he was bored and so therefore I was done. And so he picked my sweatshirt up off the floor, pulled the curtain pack and tried to hand me my sweatshirt, demanding, "Mommy, sweater on." Apparently getting dressed was the key element in his mind to my being done.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Nicholas Visits Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Patrick!
Since we were away from Nicholas for a few days, we invited his helpful babysitters (Grandma Alice, Grandpa Richard, and Uncle Patrick) to write a guest post for the blog on their time with him. Here is their report:
Joe and Sarah are off at the American Historical Association's Annual Meeting, and we had Nicholas for four days.
Joe and Sarah left for Boston on Thursday morning, Nicholas got over it pretty quickly and began the work of exploring the house and enjoying the trains, puzzles and books that we left for him.
Each day upon waking up at 6:45 am, Nicholas called out for Grandpa, Grandma and Uncle Patrick.
After a hard day of playing on Friday, Nicholas was glad to see Grandma when she got home.
Dinner at the Diner, then back to Grandma and Grandpa's. At bedtime, Nicholas got silly, and played a game of "No" with Grandma about going to bed.
But he was just kidding. Pajamas, teeth, prayer and night-night. He went to bed beautifully, blew kisses and went right to sleep.
Once again waking up early in the morning, Nicholas began his last full day at Grandma and Grandpa's. Joe called from Boston, and we all spoke together on the speaker phone, including Nicholas, who was pleased to hear from Daddy. Nicholas knocked on Uncle Patrick's door starting around 9:00, and kept at it until Patrick got up. We went to IHOP for breakfast. Grandpa ordered pancakes and sausage, and got to eat the portion that he was quick enough to eat before Nicholas devoured it. Then Nicholas tackled some of Grandma's toast.
The folks at the next table came over to admire Nicholas' red hair and complimented his mother. "Grandmother", she replied, pleased at the compliment.
We are reminded of how much work watching young person can really be - and even more so, we realized, in an adult house where child-proofing is done on the fly. The gates we purchased worked well to at least take the stairs out of our concern. But Nicholas wants to go up the stairs . . . and down the stairs . . . and up the stairs again. We count the stairs (EIGHT stairs from the living room up to the bedrooms, SIX stairs down from the living room to the family room) and Nicholas counts with us: "two, three four, six". He NEVER starts with "one", and he almost always skips "five."
Is Nicholas tiring? You be the judge.
Joe and Sarah are off at the American Historical Association's Annual Meeting, and we had Nicholas for four days.
Joe and Sarah left for Boston on Thursday morning, Nicholas got over it pretty quickly and began the work of exploring the house and enjoying the trains, puzzles and books that we left for him.
Each day upon waking up at 6:45 am, Nicholas called out for Grandpa, Grandma and Uncle Patrick.
 |
| From 2011 January |
After a hard day of playing on Friday, Nicholas was glad to see Grandma when she got home.
 |
| From 2011 January |
Dinner at the Diner, then back to Grandma and Grandpa's. At bedtime, Nicholas got silly, and played a game of "No" with Grandma about going to bed.
 |
| From 2011 January |
But he was just kidding. Pajamas, teeth, prayer and night-night. He went to bed beautifully, blew kisses and went right to sleep.
Once again waking up early in the morning, Nicholas began his last full day at Grandma and Grandpa's. Joe called from Boston, and we all spoke together on the speaker phone, including Nicholas, who was pleased to hear from Daddy. Nicholas knocked on Uncle Patrick's door starting around 9:00, and kept at it until Patrick got up. We went to IHOP for breakfast. Grandpa ordered pancakes and sausage, and got to eat the portion that he was quick enough to eat before Nicholas devoured it. Then Nicholas tackled some of Grandma's toast.
 |
| From 2011 January |
The folks at the next table came over to admire Nicholas' red hair and complimented his mother. "Grandmother", she replied, pleased at the compliment.
We are reminded of how much work watching young person can really be - and even more so, we realized, in an adult house where child-proofing is done on the fly. The gates we purchased worked well to at least take the stairs out of our concern. But Nicholas wants to go up the stairs . . . and down the stairs . . . and up the stairs again. We count the stairs (EIGHT stairs from the living room up to the bedrooms, SIX stairs down from the living room to the family room) and Nicholas counts with us: "two, three four, six". He NEVER starts with "one", and he almost always skips "five."
Is Nicholas tiring? You be the judge.
 |
| From 2011 January |
Dispatch from Boston
The blog has been quiet for a few days (as you can see) while Sarah and I have been in Boston at the annual gathering of all American historians. Nicholas has by all reports been having a good time (too good, perhaps) with Grandma Alice and Grandpa Richard.
We start the trek home this morning, and judging by all the blacktop I see from the hotel windows, we should not be impeded by the snow Boston got last night. Hopefully we'll have some reports about Nicholas's weekend soon.
We start the trek home this morning, and judging by all the blacktop I see from the hotel windows, we should not be impeded by the snow Boston got last night. Hopefully we'll have some reports about Nicholas's weekend soon.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Potty Humor
I've had a couple of anecdotes that I've wanted to share but keep forgetting. Sarah then pointed out that they both fall under the category of diaper changes, and that I could group. Then she spent a week reminding me that I should post it. And here we are. Let's see if they were worth the wait.
First, Nicholas is very much turning into a middle-aged man as relates to his potty experience: he needs to read a book during his diaper changes. What at one point was an easy way to get him to keep his hands out of anything messy has now turned into a required accessory to each diaper change. Pick him up to put him on the changing table, and "book!" is very likely the next thing to come out of his mouth—either that or the name of the book he wants (he is a discerning reader). This one is vaguely interesting, but not that great, I will admit.
But the second one. I have now taught Nicholas to say "diapers are not negotiable." It started when he was about six months old. After a bath there is a dangerous vulnerable moment when he is neither covered by a towel nor a diaper. At about that age, he started squirming around to get out of the towel because he didn't like being wrapped up, and I would work to get the diaper on quickly and make sure he couldn't squirm. Just because, I would add, "the diaper is not negotiable." I then repeated it dozens of times over the course of the past year saying it each time I gave him a bath. In the last week or so, he's started to say it himself (or at least try to). It's pretty comical, since he's not even close to coming up with the actual words, and he really has no idea what it means, but he's very proud of himself when we look at him and ask, "Nicholas, what are diapers?" and he answers, "not negotiable!"
First, Nicholas is very much turning into a middle-aged man as relates to his potty experience: he needs to read a book during his diaper changes. What at one point was an easy way to get him to keep his hands out of anything messy has now turned into a required accessory to each diaper change. Pick him up to put him on the changing table, and "book!" is very likely the next thing to come out of his mouth—either that or the name of the book he wants (he is a discerning reader). This one is vaguely interesting, but not that great, I will admit.
But the second one. I have now taught Nicholas to say "diapers are not negotiable." It started when he was about six months old. After a bath there is a dangerous vulnerable moment when he is neither covered by a towel nor a diaper. At about that age, he started squirming around to get out of the towel because he didn't like being wrapped up, and I would work to get the diaper on quickly and make sure he couldn't squirm. Just because, I would add, "the diaper is not negotiable." I then repeated it dozens of times over the course of the past year saying it each time I gave him a bath. In the last week or so, he's started to say it himself (or at least try to). It's pretty comical, since he's not even close to coming up with the actual words, and he really has no idea what it means, but he's very proud of himself when we look at him and ask, "Nicholas, what are diapers?" and he answers, "not negotiable!"
Monday, January 3, 2011
Alice Pictures
Nicholas has been asking for "Alice pictures" multiple times a day and has started repeating her phrases from videos (anyone else remember "beep beep choo choo"?), so we took advantage of this brief window when both families were in town to get the kids together. And since I am getting sick of looking at the same few pictures of Alice's last visit over and over and over again, I made sure to get my camera out to get some more shots of the two of them.
There are of course more in the Gallery, but here are my favorites. Each shot has so much potential but none are quite right.
Reaching out to hold hands for Ring Around the Rosie:
Hey, we don't need the grown-ups!:
So happy together:
Hugs bye-bye:
So close. I really thought I'd finally gotten the money shot with the hug at the end until I saw it full size on the computer screen. As it was happening both kids were happy and involved in the hug I swear. In the picture it looks like Nicholas is bowling Alice over and she is bracing for impact. Now, to be fair, they did topple over a second later, but it started off as an adorable hug. Stupid camera delay.
Once it gets warm out I'll have to make sure to get some pictures of them outside where I don't have to deal with the absurd delay on my camera when it is using the flash. Toddlers don't hold expressions or positions long enough to really line up a shot with a camera delay that ranges unpredictably from 0-3 seconds.
But the video function solves that problem:
They have so much fun together now that they are older. And Nicholas adores Alice as much as ever. I may have to print some of these pictures out for him so he can look at them whenever he wants without bugging us to get a computer set up.
There are of course more in the Gallery, but here are my favorites. Each shot has so much potential but none are quite right.
Reaching out to hold hands for Ring Around the Rosie:
 |
| From 2011 January |
Hey, we don't need the grown-ups!:
 |
| From 2011 January |
So happy together:
 |
| From 2011 January |
Hugs bye-bye:
 |
| From 2011 January |
So close. I really thought I'd finally gotten the money shot with the hug at the end until I saw it full size on the computer screen. As it was happening both kids were happy and involved in the hug I swear. In the picture it looks like Nicholas is bowling Alice over and she is bracing for impact. Now, to be fair, they did topple over a second later, but it started off as an adorable hug. Stupid camera delay.
Once it gets warm out I'll have to make sure to get some pictures of them outside where I don't have to deal with the absurd delay on my camera when it is using the flash. Toddlers don't hold expressions or positions long enough to really line up a shot with a camera delay that ranges unpredictably from 0-3 seconds.
But the video function solves that problem:
 |
| From 2011 January |
They have so much fun together now that they are older. And Nicholas adores Alice as much as ever. I may have to print some of these pictures out for him so he can look at them whenever he wants without bugging us to get a computer set up.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Air and Space
If you're ever looking for a day to visit a normally crowded museum, I strongly recommend New Year's Day. We finally made it down to Air and Space in D.C. to show Nicholas the airplanes, and by its normal standards the museum was virtually deserted . . . meaning there were about the right number of people to actually be able to see everything and do all the hands-on stuff.
Nicholas was so excited about going to see the airplanes that he talked about them on the entire drive down, and after about an hour of driving began to lose patience with us. Were we tricking him? But once we arrived all was forgiven. Because AIRPLANES!
Nicholas' favorite part was going into the various planes, especially the one you were allowed to pretend to fly. And luckily the line disappeared after his first time and he was able to go back repeatedly.
Nicholas was so excited about going to see the airplanes that he talked about them on the entire drive down, and after about an hour of driving began to lose patience with us. Were we tricking him? But once we arrived all was forgiven. Because AIRPLANES!
 |
| From 2011 January |
 |
| From 2011 January |
 |
| From 2011 January |
We also got a fun surprise--free tickets to the Sesame Street show in the planetarium! It was really cool. Nicholas loved it and I thought it was pretty cute as well. And it was nice to go to a "movie" aimed at toddlers where no one would mind a little babbling and in fact the characters prompted you to sing along or name the shape.
And then, since the car was parked on the mall, we took a couple quick D.C. photos as we loaded back into the car.
 |
| From 2011 January |
 |
| From 2011 January |
And, no, D.C. isn't particularly beautiful in January, but at least we didn't need jackets.
In sum, Nicholas had a lot of fun, but it was an exhausting trip. It is nice to be as close as we are, but the 3-hours round trip of driving and the little boy's need to nap make it something of a stretch as an outing.
But overall a good way to start 2011.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)