He hides his eyes and counts (“fa, fov, fa, fov”).
He takes off running in search of his big sister.
He’s nowhere close to finding her but then she makes a noise to help him. (Such a good big sis.)
He goes running toward the noise and screams “Air e is!”
It’s now his turn to hide.
He immediately “hides” right where Nia was hiding – the whole time wearing a huge smile on his face.
Nia counts and says “Ready or not, here I come!”
Nate runs out of where he was “hiding” and yells “Air e is!”
Nate went pee-pee on the potty! Isn’t that crazy? He can’t even say potty! We just tried it out of the blue and he did it! Now, we make it a routine thing every night before bath time. We aren’t really trying to “train” him yet but we figured it wouldn’t hurt to at least get him used to the idea. We’ll see!
Yesterday we drove to Savannah to celebrate Baby Ella’s birthday. I cannot believe she is 2! Our other little niece is also growing up too quickly! Gabbie-Goose (as Andrew loves to call her) will be 3 in just a few weeks!
I wish we could be there to celebrate with Gabbie but we’re just too far away to make the trek. Going to Savannah for Ella’s still meant we had to brave the Angry-Man-Who-Gets-Really-Peeved-on-Road-Trips (aka Nate) but we knew it wouldn’t be as rough on him (then us) because it’s a much shorter drive. It was so worth the little bit of anger Nate did scream at us though because Ella was very happy to have Nia there and I know Nia and Nate both had a blast!
It’s so hard having to watch the kids grow up from afar. I wish I could be there for them and their mommies and daddies to help them get things ready for parties, to babysit, to watch movies, to play, to hug…WHATEVER! For now though, I look forward to the special times we get to share and the happy memories we make while we’re together.
LOVE YOU FAMILY!
Here are just a few examples of the listening pleasures I get to be treated to each day – courtesy of the kids.
Nia: “Nate, look at me. Nate, look at me. Nate, look at me. Nate, look at me. Nate, look at me. Nate, look at me. Naaatttee, looook at meeeee. Nate, look at me Nate. NAAATTTEEE, look at me!”
Nate: “NO!”
Me: “NIA! That’s enough! Obviously, he does not want to look at you right now!”
Nia: “Why?”
Nia: “Momma, if you have green and yellow and green and yellow and green and yellow and green and yellow and green and yellow and blue and green and yellow and green and yellow and green and yellow and green and yellow and green and yellow – does that make a pattern?”
Me: Too exhausted and confused to give a clear answer. (I was trying to cook dinner at the same time.) It came out something like “Huh? Uh-huh.” I mean, I would really have to see that one written down on paper to know for sure if it made a pattern. There was no way I was counting up how many green and yellows she said before and after the blue!
Nate: “NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!”
Me: My reply to this is either – “Whatever dude.” “I don’t want to hear it.” or “mumble, mumble, mumble, tell me no, mumble, mumble, mumble.”
Nia: “Momma, I’m going to tell you a story. There was a frog and a balloon and a bug and the bug wanted to eat the balloon and the frog was going to the store and the balloon was at the store and the bug wanted to eat it and the frog got it and then a lion came in and said ‘roar’ and the balloon cried because it was scared and the bug felt bad for the balloon and didn’t want to eat it anymore but the lion did so he said “roar, I’m going to eat you up” and he did.”
Me: I would give a few “oh yeahs?” and “wows” throughout the story a “why did he do that” on occasion. One time she told a story during the ENTIRE time we were at the grocery store. That was like a 30 minute story or something. It was so hard to try to listen to her and make sure I got everything on the list! (By the way, the above story is not word for word what Nia said – it’s more of an idea of the kinds of stories she will tell me during the day. It may seem awful but I don’t really remember the stories she actually does tell me because that would be nearly IMPOSSIBLE. I mean, she tells me like two or three a day and it’s usually while I’m trying to think about something else.)
Cutie Patooties
Halloween Bliss
It’s so funny to think that just 10 minutes before these pictures were taken, Nate was having a meltdown because he did not want to be “Dumbo.” We tried on both the Flounder costume and the Dumbo costume a week or so ago and he hated the fish and loved the elephant. Tonight though was a whole different thing. Nia said, “I think he just wants to be in my story Momma.” I think she was 100% correct. Sure Flounder was his costume last year and sure it was a tad too small – it didn’t matter. It was perfect!
It seems Nate’s beloved blankey now has a little competition.
We bought Nate this hat at a Savannah Sand Gnats game back when he was just a baby. Andrew found it the other day and handed to Nate. From there it was hat history.
Loves His Hat
Hat Head
He wanted it on his noggin all day long. While he ate. While he played. While we carved pumpkins. While we changed diapers. He even refused to part with it during his nap time. I would tell him, “Okay Nate. It’s time to say night-night to your hat.” He would scream, “NO! Hat! Hat! Hat!” He was heartbroken so I gave in – I mean what kind of harm would it do to let him sleep with the hat in his crib? He was so comforted when I gave it back to him. He laid right down on his pile of blankeys and put his thumb in his mouth – all the while holding on tight to “hat.”
Andrew thinks I’m a big meanie head but I’ve since put “hat” out of sight so it will hopefully stay out of mind. I just don’t want to have to struggle with the emotional ups and downs that “hat” can create. I think it’s adorable and all but I just don’t want “hat” to be yet another thing I have to lug around with me. I already have to carry two blankeys with us wherever we go (plus the angry man)!
Sure, I see the good in Nate accomplishing something new. I rejoice in it for a few seconds as I watch him tackle something he’s never done before – but then those seconds quickly pass and the smile of delight turns to a smile of fear as I think about what this new “thing” is going to mean for me.
How selfish right? Well, I can’t help it. When you’re already continually telling the little man to stop standing on the tall chairs, stop turning on the bathtub faucet while I’m trying to dry my hair, stop diving off the couch without any pillows on the floor, stop standing on the gate that’s keeping you from falling down the stairs… I just had all of those constants kind of under control (I mean, as far as keeping my sanity while having to worry about the usual dangerous stuff he’s up to). Now though, I have to add him climbing into the crib and flipping over the top of it and him opening doors to the list.
The door thing is pretty manageable because we have those baby proof door knob covers and locks on the doors – it’s just Nia can’t open them and one of the doors that has to be secured is for her bathroom. Now, every time she has to make a quick run for the potty she needs to scream for me and I have to drop whatever it is I’m doing to get the little key and unlock the door.
What’s so sweet about the whole door opening thing is that he is still so tiny. He has to stand on his tiptoes and kind of turn the knob back and forth until he finally turns it just enough so it opens. The first time he did it Nia and I were in her room and all of a sudden – there’s Nate busting in! He was laughing and we were screaming and scrambling to pick up all her little toys – it was a really fun moment but like I said – soon after it passed I began to think of a way to keep this new thing from being more stress for me. We’ll see – if it’s not that it will be something else! I mean, wait until he can open the gate to the stairs! Then, I’ll really be running around!
(Even though I know, ultimately, it’s my fault since I’m the one who pushed the princesses on her for these past few years.)
Nia has a crush at school. His name is Colin and she says he has a nice haircut and is cute.
WHAT?!?!?
ALREADY?!?!
Part of me thinks it’s adorable but the other part of me wants to shelter her from knowing all the hurt that comes out of crushes and young love. This shouldn’t be starting so soon! I had at least waited until I was in the first grade before I smooched my crush on his ear after saying to him, “I have to tell you a secret.” Pretty sly, huh?
It just seems that 4-years-old is too young to even be noticing that someone is cute! What makes the whole thing even worse is that she told me Colin doesn’t really play with her. She says it’s because he plays with other girls that he thinks are prettier. !!!!!!! She told me that he liked her long hair better. !!!!!!!!!! Now, I don’t know how much of this I can believe since she says he never actually told her those things. She’s, like, just assuming them or something but still! The fact that she even knows to say something like “the other girls are prettier” – how heartbreaking is that?
I guess it has begun and there’s nothing we can do about it. I just don’t think I can handle my baby girl feeling bad because of some boy (or anything for that matter). Not now or when it’s really going to hurt. I know it’s all a part of growing up and we all went through it – it’s just different when it’s happening to the people you want to protect the most.
You’d think I’d learn. I’ve done much better in the past – why did I let this time get the best of me? All I had to do was put him down or face him away from me – I almost made it to the sink – but no – I froze.
It’s so weird how parents can sense when their children are about to erupt from the mouth. Nate had been fine all day. Playing, eating and drinking like usual when all of a sudden he started to whine and kind of squirm in his seat (he had just finished lunch). I immediately freed him from his booster, hugged him and began slowing walking over to the kitchen sink. (The closest, non-carpeted place I could think of.) I was only inches away when my brain said, “Don’t awkwardly hang him over the sink – this is the first time he’s ever thrown up (besides baby spit up) – you need to just hold him. He’s scared.” So I sacrificed my body for the sake of my baby’s feelings. Well, the first time anyway!
I don’t know why I decided it was time to hold him over the sink for the second round – he and I were already covered in the yuck. Oh well. I shouldn’t have strayed from my past responses of “get to the nearest sink/toilet/bathtub/thing that washes easily.”
Poor baby. I don’t know why he got sick. He doesn’t have a fever or anything. After it seemed like we were in the clear and no more yuck was coming up, I gave him a bath and as the water was draining he laid on his belly with his one cheek pressed against the tub. He looked exhausted. I just hope he got it all out of him. He’s napping now but I’m still worried I’ll hear him crying at any second.
It’s such a sad sight – to see a small child sick like that. I mean, it’s awful for adults – I can’t even imagine what it’s like for the little sweeties. They don’t understand what’s happening and it’s just so nasty – all we can do is try to stay calm and help soothe them through it – even if it scares us (or gags us) too.
Are You Zhazha? 
Say what?