Get in the Spirit

Well we've been doing all sorts of things during this season leading up to Christmas. Most of the afternoons, on our way home from school, we ride around the various parts of our neighborhood and look at the neighbors' house decorations. There are just so so many Santa Mickeys and Santa Marshalls and Olafs and trains, gingerbread men, snow men and whatever else folks come up with.

Here's a little video to get in the spirit in case you're not in it by now:

The Skeptical Shopper

I've always been a skeptical shopper, add the fact that I don't like to shop. It stresses me out. "Retail Therapy" is not my thing. "Why do I need that?" "I already have 1 pair of black pants"

I've always been particularly skeptical about specialty items such as "running shoes" or "insert whatever item here". Maybe it has something to do with growing up in a world where you didn't have much options. You had 1 jacket and that's the jacket you wore all winter when you went outside. You had 2 bathing suits and that's what you wore for all bathing occasions. You had tennis shoes and dress shoes and you had to make those work for everything. Going to the stores you had no choices when it came down things like toilet paper brands. There was one brand. And that's what you purchased and that's what you used. End of story.

When I started running this Summer, I cautiously ventured into this specialty gear world. Mainly because I was having continuous ankle and foot pain, so I figured I needed new tennis shoes, so I got "running shoes". What a difference those made. But maybe it was because they were new, and any new tennis shoe would've done the trick.

Well as of this morning, I am a 100% convert into specialty gear believer. I got ready to go on my run: I put on my shoes, my jacket, hooked up my music, started my app and headed off. Immediately as I started to run, my ankles started to hurt. It was a pretty sharp pinch on both ankles. I only made it 2 houses down the street before I looked down at my feet thinking "what is going on? Surely I will shake this off". And then I noticed I wasn't wearing my "running shoes". WHAT. MY MIND WAS BLOWN.

I went back home, changed shoes, and headed back out. The little skeptical voice in my head kept getting louder and louder telling me that this was totally bogus as I started to run again, and I was just waiting for that sharp ankle pain to kick back in. And it didn't. The pain was not there. At all.

So yes, there is such thing as running shoes, and skii gloves and fishing shirts. They serve a purpose and if we only open ourselves up to them, they make our lives just that bit more pleasant.

Now I can't wait until I get my running earbuds for Christmas!

It Doesn't Count

This morning, Nico got his breakfast on the PAW Patrol Plate. Well, he was feeling quite particular and apparently getting to see "chase" was more important than eating his scrambled egg and waffle (which is a rare instance).

So this is how he "cleared" his plate... by moving all the food off of it so he could see "chase"

Things He Says #102

Norm and I did a Whole30 during the month of October. There was a couple of instances when I had to feed the kids and I wasn't able to eat. Like when we went to the school festival... they ate hot dogs for lunch and I ate when I got home. There was also the time we went to the car show when again the kids ate hot dogs for lunch there and I ate when we got home (I promise we do feed our kids more than just hot dogs).

On the day we went to the car show, we also had a birthday party that afternoon. Again, they both ate at the birthday party and (shocker) I didn't.

When we got home, I put Nico to bed right away because he was losing his mind. Benji then came back downstairs to keep me company while I ate dinner.

Benji (in a very stern voice): Mami, tomorrow, when we go somewhere and we eat, you have to eat.
Me: Ok
Benji: Mami, if you don't eat you not go!!
Me: ...........................

Thankfully the Whole30 ended 3 days later so I don't have to keep getting reprimanded by my 3.5 year old for not eating when everyone eats.

Halloween

Halloween came and went - thank goodness! Here are a few pictures of Benjamin the Firefighter and Jake from State Farm.

Benji insisted on driving his firetruck to go trick-or-treating. So we went to a few house on our street before meeting up with Natasha and her family.

Being the youngest in our group of trick-or-treaters (not counting Nico), he seldom got to the doors first to ring the doorbell. He was so excited when he finally got the opportunity!

Someone was giving away hot dogs! and bottled water! (as well as pamphlets for his church).

Month 18

Well, for a million reasons or maybe none, Nico didn't get a 12 Month recap like Benji did (although I do have to say I am quite proud of myself for having kept up with all the other 11 .. or maybe 10 months for Nicolas).

So to make up, I figured I'd do a Month 18.

This child is such a daredevil. He is fearless to the 79th degree. He climbs the slide in the back yard and goes down by himself as he squeals "weeeeeee". He climbs on things and when he gets to the top of the picnic table, the coffee table, the chair, the bed, the mowing tractor, the whatever it is, he looks at you and says "down! down!"

His favorite thing to watch is Little Baby Bum. The instance any of us (including Benji) say "TV", he says "ba bum! ba bum!" and heads for a chair in the living room. He has so many little songs that he sings throughout the day and does different dances for each one of them. His favorites are "rain rain (go away)" and "sun sun (mr. golden sun)" and "all through town".

He is so, but so so good, at following commands. Some pretty solid ones are "lay down to change your diaper" and "go to your chair to eat". But he understands pretty much everything such as "give that to Benji" or "take your cup to the sink"

Lately, I guess due to the change in weather, he's been obsessed with his jacket. He loves wearing his jacket and holding his jacket. We've started putting his wearable blanket on him at night, at first he didn't want to wear it and I told him it was his sleeping jacket. He got so excited to put it on and fell asleep saying "jacket" "jacket".

He loves his school and his teachers love him. He (thankfully) got over the biting thing... for a while he'd have an incident report every single day we'd pick him up where he'd bitten a friend. One time he bit someone more than once and the school called me. I was confident they were going to kick him out. But they didn't! His teachers are so fantastic!

He never took the pacie and he still sucks on his middle fingers on his left hand. The minute those fingers go in the mouth, the minute you better start praying if you are not already in bedtime or nap mode because all hell is about to break lose.

Whenever he poops he grabs his diaper and says "dai dai".. today he actually said "poo". I'm hoping this is foreshadowing to a smooth potty training experience.

He loves his brother and copies every.single.thing.he.does. Everything. Which is a good thing and a not so good thing. They love rough housing (apparently it's good for their gross motor skills... and self defense). They tackle one another like it's nobody's business. I'd say about half of the time, Nico is the instigator. No wonder when he first started going to school in July, one day I picked him up and one of his teachers says "Nicolas body slams the babies". Great.

He knows when to say no. And he means it. He's always learned to agree, he says "Yea" (and he means it too!)

Talk about copying everything his brother does:

An Afternoon at the Farm

Last weekend we were going to go to the farm after Norm got off work on Sunday. Then his schedule got crazy and we didn't go.

We rescheduled the plan for this afternoon and Norm was going to meet us there, but he got a VIP reservation and wasn't able to leave the restaurant. Considering we had already told Benjamin that we were going to go to the farm and Nico kept making animal noises, and this place has a super short window when they are open to the public, my mom and I went along with the plans.

We had such fun! We will have to see about bringing Daddy Norm along before they close.

Crossing over the bridge to go see the pumpkin patch and visit the animals in the barn:

We found heavy pumpkins! Nico shortly after this picture dropped his and said "Bye pumpum!"

Feeding the chickens!

There was a little pony named Andy that gave pony rides. Benji and Nico went for a ride. I initially got on the carriage with the boys and the handler politely told me that Andy can't haul adults...

There are just so many rides and fun stuff to do!

The corn box was so much fun... we had to do a crash course on how to play with corn, which involves to not throw it at other kid's faces. Don't.throw.it.

Nico took it upon himself to go swimming in the corn:

There is a huge sand pile with shovels and trucks and big tires sticking out of it...

We went for a hayride. Both boys were fascinated with the big hay bales and the tractors. My mom told Benji how his Nonno used to have tractors and fields and use to make bales like those... his little 3.5 year old mind was blown.

Then we found this cow... Benji practice milking it!

We had such a good time, and the weather was perfect, well, it was actually hot and Nico's face started to get red... thankfully I found a little travel sunscreen tube that lives in the stroller... so it was put to use!

All pictures here!

On another note, Norm and I are half way done with our Whole30!

The Concept of Chilly

Two nights ago we were preparing to make it through Hurricane Michael, who actually came through in the middle of the night (which we slept through) bringing lots of rain and 60mph wind gusts. We woke up to no power yesterday, but it quickly came back. Flashlights first thing in the morning was loads of fun!

Thankfully our backyard didn't flood and our fence didn't blow away. We had put everything up to avoid random flying things. Yesterday actually turned out to be a beautiful day in the high 80s with blue skies. 

Today we woke up to 56 degrees and the high only got to be 71. At least it was sunny. Yesterday we were in shorts and t-shirts with no shoes on. Today we were in long pants, jackets and shoes with socks.

Trying to explain the concept of chilly weather was tough this morning. Benji wanted to put on his "globs" (gloves) and hat because "it's about to snow!". So we had an extensive discussion about how when it is "chilly" we wear long pants, short sleeves and jackets and that's it. When it is "cold" then we get out the hat and gloves. When it is "freezing" it's about to snow. 

Happy Fall Y'all! 

Home Hair Cuts

"They" say parenthood will push you out of your box and all your comfort levels. You will take risks. You will be brave.

Well, today I lived up to all that. I YouTubed "how to cut toddler hair" and went for it. Here's a 3-second sneak peak:

I've always heard of those moms that cut their kids hair and sew their clothes and I never quite understood. And then today it happened, I had had enough of the crazy hair (which actually just got cut about 3 weeks ago... must be those good ole Flinstone vitamins) so I cut their hair.

I'd say I did a quite alright job for being the first time...

The Things He Says #87

As we are saying night prayers:

Me: Hail Mary, full of _______ (pause to give Benji the opportunity to continue)
Benji: Butter
Me: ................................

Motherhood super powers (or maybe the Holy Spirit) came upon me and I kept a straight face and told him to get it together.

Making the Best of It

Norm's schedule requires him to work on the weekends but at least he's off (pretty much) every Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesdays are always hectic because I leave super early to go to Atlanta and come home right at bath time (if we are lucky, I'm home by dinner).

So we have to cram our family time in whatever tiny windows the week gives us. A consistent tiny window is Wednesday afternoons when we usually get to pick up the kids together from school and do something fun afterwards.

Yesterday we walked in Benji's classroom right as he was doing a craft! As soon as he saw both of us walk in you could see in his little face all the feelings... he wanted to jump up and come home but he also wanted to keep working on his craft. So his teacher invited Norm and I to help him. And so we did!

He was making a tiger - because the theme of the week is Jungle - so he already had the glue down on his paper plate and was working on tearing the orange paper and gluing it. So we helped him tear the paper and put the small pieces of paper on the paper plate to create the tiger! 

Another Break

The last break was 6 months, this one was 5 months. Life is busy. There has been so much happening since April 20, 2018. There have been so many moments that I've thought "Oh! I need to blog about this!" and (obviously) that didn't happen.

Could it be that Nico learned how to walk and run and hasn't stopped since?
Could it be that Norm started a new job as Executive Sous Chef (which means working nights) in May and I've been doing bedtime on my own since?
Could it be that Summer was ridiculously busy at work planning a weekly garden-wide event, 8 concerts and 500 weddings remotely?
Could it be that Nicolas was home until about mid-July before starting full time daycare?
Could it be that after bedtime is over (8:30pm) I still have to go downstairs, clean up the kitchen then come back upstairs to wrap up work and/or look at the bills/finish laundry/iron chef coats [insert house chore]?
Could it be that we went to N. Myrtle to visit family and introduce Shagging to the boys?
Could it be that our best friends came to SC from Denver and I braved to take the boys on my own overnight and Benji caught a fish and we went on a pontoon boat?
Could it be that we went to Tybee Island and had a fantastic weekend that ended up with Michelle being hit by a car (whose driver was going too fast and was distracted) as she was trying to cross the street and had to undergo emergency leg surgery? (broken leg)
Could it be that we have ended up in the walk-in clinic every time we've gone to the beach because Nico ended up with a 102 fever? (tonsillitis)
Could it be that Cali girl fell while she was boarded (while we were at the beach) and broke her leg which was a glimpse to us learning that she actually had bone cancer and shortly we had to let her go run with Pellet?
Could it be that Juan Ma was home from NYC for a few weeks and to this day Nico still calls for him just about every morning?
Could it be Hurricane Florence and Norm's parents evacuating the SC coast?
Could it be the Whole30 we started today?
OR
Could it be that our home computer is old and slow and when I finally get 10 minutes at the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a thinking cursor while I open the browser and try to upload pictures to the blog? (Because of Mel Robbins and the 5 Second Rule, I have no choice but to blog on the work computer.... shhh)

Who knows.

We need a new computer.

Or maybe, just maybe, life is happening so fast and just about every instant is immediately trampled by somebody getting knocked on the side of the head and therefore requires running to get "the cold" from the fridge.

I have to slow down and capture it. I think I succeeded this past Saturday:

Type A

The other day I came home from the stores and Benjamin helped me unpack the bags/boxes. I placed several items on the kitchen counter and asked him to take all the things he saw in that one particular area to the bottom of the steps (so we could later take them upstairs to store...)

Once he was done, he proudly announced it. So I went to the bottom of the steps and saw this:

I just couldn't believe how he had grouped the various items.. lined the wipes one next to the other... stacked the soap boxes...

I'm going to go ahead and put this one in the Type A box... 100% after his mother.

Drinking Cow Milk

This morning we didn't have enough formula for a bottle... so Nico immediately became weaned off the formula and bottles and started drinking cow milk. So far, so good!

And a little video:

The Things He Says #74

A couple of weeks ago, we were headed to the Five Guys Burgers and Fries to eat burgers. As we passed McDonald's, Benji tells us to pull in there, because that's the burger restaurant.

So the conversation began:
F: No, we are not going to that restaurant. We are going to THE burger restaurant, next to the pizza restaurant.
B: Next to the smokehouse restaurant?
F: .............................. what?
B: the smokehouse restaurant!

Remembering that they did open a Shane's Rib Shack next to the Five Guys, I look at Norm and ask him if he's taken Benji to Shane's. He says no, and quickly reminds me that he doesn't even like Shane's.

We were confused... so how did Benji even know that Shane's was there and that it was a smokehouse.... So I asked him.

F: How do you know that's a smokehouse restaurant?
N: it has little house and smoke comes out of it

Well yes, yes it does son. You are too intelligent to be 3 years old.

This is all he saw, and he figured it out:

Dear Benjamin the Three Year Old

Dear Benjamin,

Today you are turning three years old and according to everything I am finding on the internet, you are no longer a toddler and you are now a pre-schooler. Seems like you already know this, because when I refer to you as “baby”, you quickly correct me by saying “I no a baby! Nico a baby! I a child!” And according to you, now that you are 3, you are a “growm up”

Oh Benjamin. Our family consisted of just your dad and I (and Pellet and Cali) for so long and then you surprised us. It still seems so surreal that we now have this new life that is full of laughter, cries, squeezes, poop, trucks, rocks, cars, emergency vehicles, car seats, character cups, emergency bathroom runs, bruises, stickers, whistles, cuddles, story times, etc. These last three years have been so much more intense and in a way more fulfilling than all those eleven prior.

You teach your dad and me so much about ourselves and provide plenty of opportunities for us to grow as parents and as individuals. You are one determined, independent, strong-willed child, which makes everything so intense. But you also have a sweet and shy heart. By now, I am pretty much able to figure out when you are crying for attention and when you are legitimately crying because you are hurt or scared. I can tell the level of happiness that you are feeling just by looking at your eyes. Seeing you cry breaks my heart, especially when you are crying because you are being a 3-year old and we are being the parents. You always get me good when you stop crying and say “my tears went away. I make you happy now?”

You are smart. Boy are you so smart. You are intelligent. You have a fantastic memory and are able to tell us pretty much the location of each of your toys at the drop of a hat. You grasp even the tiniest details. The way your brain functions blows my mind. For example, you specifically asked us to invite a little boy from your class to your birthday party here at the house. Once I agreed to invite him, you said “his mommy too”, of course I said his mom would come too. And then you said “his mommy handsome, she come to party too”.

You surely inherited both your dad’s and my recessive genes when it comes to negotiating. When we say “pick 2 cars to bring along” you quickly, and by quickly I mean within one second of us finishing the word “along”, you reply “no, 5” so then it starts “pick 2” “I piiiiiiiiiick 3” and of course you end up picking 2 and we move on. You are willing to negotiate everything, from the number of books at bedtime, to the number of bites of whatever you are eating that may not be your favorite, to how long you get to stay outside.

You’ve learned to ask for permission to watch videos on the phone. For the longest time, you’d ask for the phone to look at pictures. Which you would. For a bit. And then you’d quickly find that YouTube Kids app and launch whatever PAW Patrol or PJ Mask video you first saw. Now, you still ask for the phone to watch pictures – because you love watching pictures and you know how to make the iPhone do those stories, which I still can’t figure out. But after a little while, you come and find us and say “I watch bideo please?” So then we talk about how long you will watch “you can watch videos until it’s time for breakfast (or time to get in the car, or go downstairs, etc.)”. And once you agree, then we turn it on.

Music is your favorite. You love your Monday music class at school and have learned all sorts of fun stuff like playing the drums, the tambourine, the music spoons and the triangle. You can’t be in the car without listening to Nico’s Kindermusik. You ask for specific songs that you like, and you know those by heart. It only takes playing the song one or two times for you to learn the words. You sing throughout the day and you make up words to familiar tunes. Sometimes you even make up tunes. When "Plablo" comes and plays the piano, you sit right there with him and play along. We have all sorts of music shakers all over the house, seems like you always need to have one nearby to make music. The moment your dad's Spotify playlist comes on with his beach music and jazzy tunes, you start dancing!

You are turning out to be an awesome big brother. I could sit and watch for hours the way you and Nico make each other laugh, or the way you play in the tunnel or in your tent. When he is getting into something he’s not supposed to, you quickly yell “no ma’am Nico! No ma’am” (I’m convinced that there must be a little girl at your school that’s constantly being told “no ma’am” by your teachers). Of course more often than not, you decide to hog all the toys, but you are slowly learning to share with him, or like you say “share to him”.

Happy Birthday, Monkey Monks. I can’t believe you have been part of our family for only three years and already three years, both at once. I love you so much more than whatever I can capture on this post.

I love you always,

Mami

Water Time

It's Masters Week again in Augusta and Norm has been working some obnoxious hours. This year we are getting to see him in the middle of the day, but he still comes home past midnight and is out of the door by 5:30am the next morning. 

Due to having gallbladder surgery still not long ago, my mom has been helping me with bedtime. Mainly because I am still not supposed to bend over much or lift heavy things (aka Benjamin. Although that Nico is no feather). 

Usually for bedtime, I'll bathe Nico in his little tub and Norm will bathe Benji in the big tub. Today, however, mainly due to exhaustion and in order to save time, my mom and I got brave and decided to get them both in the bath. It was great! 

This still has to be a two-person job because Nico is not stable yet. And once he comes out of the water he is still a bit high maintenance. I can't just dry him off and put his pj's right there (while keeping an eye on Benji).

The day is near though... it is quite near!

Month 11

Every day this baby is becoming less of a baby and more of a toddler and a little boy. His fearless and determined personality sure shows through in just about everything. Like when he doesn't want to eat the baby food, he'll fling his arms at you until he gets something he can chew. Or if he wants his water from his sippy cut, he will scream until you figure out that he wants water. Or when you put him down for a nap, but he won't nap because he is hot or cold or not sleepy enough and will fight and fight until you figure it out. He's a great little live deductive reasoning puzzle!

The minute you put him down on the floor, he bolts it for the staircase, so we have been putting a gate at the bottom of the stairs to keep him from climbing unsupervised, because he will do so in the blink of an eye. All the way to the top.

He loves to stand and do squats. He has started to let go and balancing on his own! He has also learned that he can crawl up to a grown up, get up by holding on to their legs and asked to be picked up.

He waves bye and says boo. He calls for Benji and Mama. He is always full of smiles and loves all things music.

He is starting to wean himself off the morning nap... therefore I've started calling him No Nap Nico. When he does that, usually he sleeps for 3 hours after lunch!

He still sucks his left fingers when he is sleepy... I usually post only one picture during the monthly report, but I just have to post two this time because I caught this classic:

Happy 11 months Nicolasi!

We Went to the Show

This past weekend we went to see these guys at the theater:

It was so fun! Benjamin was besides himself. While we were getting ready, he went and got his Mickey shirt and we brought Mickey along to see the show too..

Thankfully the theater is not very big, so we had great seats! 

The show was quite excellent, but I do have to say that one of the highlights was watching Nico bust a move: 

Too much!

Tunnel Fun

When Benji was little like Nico, he was terrified of the tunnel. It took a lot of time for him to finally warm up to it and start enjoying it.

We have one at the house now and of course Benjamin loves it now. We got it out the other day and that was the firs time Nico had ever seen it. Before we knew it, he was all about it!

It was so fun watching them play!

This picture right here says it all:

And this one, Benji is chasing him and he is looking over his shoulder at him. Look at that little tongue sticking out!

Here they are "in action"

I just love watching them play and crack each other up!

Problem Solving Skills

Is 10.5 months too young to develop and exhibit problem solving skills? Most would say "no". I say "think again".

This morning I was working at the computer and No Nap Nico was moving about the office. I could certainly hear him and would check him out out of the corner of my eye to make sure he wasn't eating the computer cords or had managed to open the cabinet door and crawled inside it.

At one point, I noticed him standing up, trying to get a hold of the coaster that sits on the side table:

I turned back around and kept working as he was entertained. A little bit later I turn again and saw this:

Yes, he had managed to pull the basket from inside the table, turned it upside down and had gotten a hold of the coaster. Finally he could file those three new teeth on that stone coaster!

So there you have it. Call it problem solving skills, call it coincidence. But this child stood up on the basket to achieve his goal. Kudos to you No Nap Nico!

Bye Bye Hair

Benji got his first hair cut after he turned one year. Complete story here.

Nico barely to 10 months before something had to be done about both his comb-over and his mullet.

Just like Stride Rite, there is no hair salons specifically dedicated to children around here like there are in Atlanta. However, we have found a hair dresser (that actually lives in our neighborhood) and she has been cutting Benji's hair (and mine). The other day, when I had had enough of Nico's disheveled look, I texted her asking her what's the youngest age she'll take. She said "any age".

So today we had his first hair cut and it was a family affair! It is so awesome to just be able to call on family the night before and say "hey, you want to come?" and they say "yes!" and it's that simple.

Before starting:

Then it started:

He did awesome with the electric clippers... something Benji can't stand! Benji said that next time he will sit still for them... Jaime asked for it in writing... ha!

At one point he grabbed the water spray bottle out of Jaime's apron... hey, whatever it takes!

Happy Baby!

Not the best family picture ever...

However, if you zoom in, you see this (and they are borderline identical... the mouth, the cheeks, the nose, the shape of the head):