After the doctor Nicholas and I squeezed in a quick hike before dinner. We took one a few weeks ago when Joe was home and every day since then Nicholas asks to go as we pass the parking lot on the way to and from school. But we never have time because it is already time to eat dinner and get him started on bedtime. But today we had a little time. And it is supposed to rain all weekend. And it was gorgeous out. So we took a 20-minute hike.
And Nicholas loved it. He would have loved it more if he could have seen the chipmunks and other animals he was calling for, but they aren't prone to come out when they hear a 2-year-old yelling for them. And I can't say I blame them. But he did a very good job, even walking up a very steep hill (he called it a mountain) all by himself, and only asking to be carried the last few minutes.
Tonight when it was time for his prayer, he opened with "Thank you God for hikes." And then he kept going. "Thank you God for trees. Thank you God for rocks." He then went into his more standard "Thank you God for Nicholas and Mommy" and "Thank you God for food."
For a minute there, I felt the joy and peace of Glenkirk surrounding me.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Ear Update
Nicholas had his first visit to his new pediatrician today. He's not sick--it was just to check on his ear tubes and get a flu shot.
The good news: His ears look "perfect."
The bad news: One of the tubes is already out. (And by out, I mean no longer in place. You can still see it in there, but it isn't doing its job. The doctor let me look.)
Yep, the left tube has already given up, just in time for prime ear infection season. Great.
We're just going to have to wait and see what happens and hope that either he has outgrown the problem very quickly or that the hole the tube opened up takes a long time closing back up. But I do know that this time around he will have an appointment for tubes scheduled with the second ear infection of the season. We are not doing another 5-month wait and see approach. The tubes have been nothing short of miraculous for him and I was really hoping they could at least make it through this winter. Oh well.
The good news: His ears look "perfect."
The bad news: One of the tubes is already out. (And by out, I mean no longer in place. You can still see it in there, but it isn't doing its job. The doctor let me look.)
Yep, the left tube has already given up, just in time for prime ear infection season. Great.
We're just going to have to wait and see what happens and hope that either he has outgrown the problem very quickly or that the hole the tube opened up takes a long time closing back up. But I do know that this time around he will have an appointment for tubes scheduled with the second ear infection of the season. We are not doing another 5-month wait and see approach. The tubes have been nothing short of miraculous for him and I was really hoping they could at least make it through this winter. Oh well.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's
Last weekend, instead of having me fly home to Boston, we decided to meet in the middle at Grandma Alice and Grandpa Richard's house. And Nicholas got to have a sleepover at their house while we went away!
Before we left, though, we met up with Grandma Claire for breakfast (and, by the way, you should hear how well he pronounces "Claire" now!):
You'll notice in the above picture that Nicholas looks like he's giving a thumbs-up. He's not. We just tricked him into counting to three and then taking his thumb out of his mouth. Caught him mid-movement!
And apparently he likes toast with jelly. Who knew? Across from us was an elderly man with his two daughters (wearing a Notre Dame jacket, Aunt Stacy!). As they were leaving, he walked over, asked if we had a camera, and then put this on Nicholas's fingers:
Have you ever worn a Super Bowl championship ring? Because Nicholas has! (Giants, Super Bowl XXV, for the curious.)
Then Sarah and I headed out and Nicholas had a great time with his grandparents, including dinner at Friendly's. Which means it's time to hand over the blog for a brief dinner anecdote from Grandpa Richard:
In Friendly’s on Saturday night, we had finished our meals, Nicholas had looked at the dessert menu to decide that he wanted the Monster ice cream with “brown” ice cream, and we were waiting for our waiter to come back and take our dessert orders. Needless to say this took a while. Eventually, Nicholas turned in his chair toward the kitchen and yelled out in the middle of Friendly’s: “I NEED MY ICE CREAM!”
Not that anyone noticed.
So it seems like a fun time was had by all, and they saved the Monster Head cup for the next time he visits. Which, if he has anything to say about it, will probably be soon.*
* We have more to say about it, and so it will be sometime in November.
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| From 2011 September |
You'll notice in the above picture that Nicholas looks like he's giving a thumbs-up. He's not. We just tricked him into counting to three and then taking his thumb out of his mouth. Caught him mid-movement!
 |
| From 2011 September |
And apparently he likes toast with jelly. Who knew? Across from us was an elderly man with his two daughters (wearing a Notre Dame jacket, Aunt Stacy!). As they were leaving, he walked over, asked if we had a camera, and then put this on Nicholas's fingers:
 |
| From 2011 September |
Have you ever worn a Super Bowl championship ring? Because Nicholas has! (Giants, Super Bowl XXV, for the curious.)
Then Sarah and I headed out and Nicholas had a great time with his grandparents, including dinner at Friendly's. Which means it's time to hand over the blog for a brief dinner anecdote from Grandpa Richard:
Not that anyone noticed.
So it seems like a fun time was had by all, and they saved the Monster Head cup for the next time he visits. Which, if he has anything to say about it, will probably be soon.*
* We have more to say about it, and so it will be sometime in November.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Wordless Wednesday: Apple Picking
Apparently apple picking brings out the blue eyes. And the smiles:
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| From Nicholas - Month 5 |
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| From 2011 September |
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
A hint of understanding
This weekend it finally really clicked for all of us that Joe is leaving each week. I don't know why 3 weeks is the magic number, but it was.
Nicholas did fine the last two weeks about Joe not being here. After the first couple days he stopped saying he'd see Daddy when he got home and he seemed to be fine. But by partway through this weekend he was making it clear that he was worried that Joe was leaving again, confirming whether Joe would be there when he woke up, etc. And the past two days he has been asking a lot about whether Daddy would be at x place and 3 separate times today he asked if we could go pick Daddy up at the airport.
And it probably doesn't help him that there is no routine for when Joe is around. He'll see him all but 1 weekend a month, but sometimes here, sometimes in NY, sometimes at other destinations we'll mutually travel too. Most weekends we'll see him Friday evening, but sometimes it will be Thursday evening or Saturday morning. Sometimes we'll part on Sunday, sometimes on Monday morning. It just has to be really hard for Nicholas to make sense of. I've tried talking to him about it a little bit, but it is hard to explain it to someone who understands neither distances nor days of the week. For that matter, I can't keep track without a calendar.
On a completely unrelated note, Nicholas is sleeping with a pillow in his bed for the first time ever tonight. And he is so excited! He couldn't stop chattering about it as he was getting ready for bed. And then he pointed out the pillow in each of the stories we read before bed. "Elmo has a pillow in his bed. Like I have a pillow in my bed." And then in the next story, "Piggy has a pillow. Like Elmo does. And like I does." Okay, Nicholas, all done, time for bed. "With my pillow and my blanket in my bed!" He had some trouble figuring out a way to actually get comfortable on it, so we'll see what he thinks in the morning.
Nicholas did fine the last two weeks about Joe not being here. After the first couple days he stopped saying he'd see Daddy when he got home and he seemed to be fine. But by partway through this weekend he was making it clear that he was worried that Joe was leaving again, confirming whether Joe would be there when he woke up, etc. And the past two days he has been asking a lot about whether Daddy would be at x place and 3 separate times today he asked if we could go pick Daddy up at the airport.
And it probably doesn't help him that there is no routine for when Joe is around. He'll see him all but 1 weekend a month, but sometimes here, sometimes in NY, sometimes at other destinations we'll mutually travel too. Most weekends we'll see him Friday evening, but sometimes it will be Thursday evening or Saturday morning. Sometimes we'll part on Sunday, sometimes on Monday morning. It just has to be really hard for Nicholas to make sense of. I've tried talking to him about it a little bit, but it is hard to explain it to someone who understands neither distances nor days of the week. For that matter, I can't keep track without a calendar.
On a completely unrelated note, Nicholas is sleeping with a pillow in his bed for the first time ever tonight. And he is so excited! He couldn't stop chattering about it as he was getting ready for bed. And then he pointed out the pillow in each of the stories we read before bed. "Elmo has a pillow in his bed. Like I have a pillow in my bed." And then in the next story, "Piggy has a pillow. Like Elmo does. And like I does." Okay, Nicholas, all done, time for bed. "With my pillow and my blanket in my bed!" He had some trouble figuring out a way to actually get comfortable on it, so we'll see what he thinks in the morning.
Monday, September 19, 2011
The Future of USA Soccer?
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| From 2011 September |
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| From 2011 September |
He might not end up being the next Landon Donovan, but the kid's got some natural talent!
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