Nolan-isms

Nolan turns three years old tomorrow. Needless to say, I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Either that, or I've gotten so little sleep the past 7 1/2 years that everything is just a blur. Whatever the case, Nolan is excited about his birthday. Coincidentally, he has three gifts from Mommy and Daddy to open. He is excited about that too. He keeps saying, "And I don't even know what's in them!" That's sort of the point of a present...

At dinner this evening, Nolan was looking for reasons not to eat his waffle (we had chiropractor appointments, so I had to throw dinner together quickly, so frozen waffles were on the menu for the boys, and leftovers for Bill and me). Nolan doesn't love waffles, which I find baffling. He informed me that he needed to eat some of my julienne potatoes instead. Um, Nolan doesn't LIKE those! But I put a bite in his mouth. He suddenly remembered he hates julienne potatoes, gagged, and spit it out on his plate. He looked at me very seriously and said, "Those are not good for me."

Nolan still does not give kisses, but he loves receiving them. Lately, he has been coming up to me and saying "Give me some love." That means he needs some hugs and kisses. Thankfully, he's extremely huggable and kissable, so I am always happy to oblige.

Happy Birthday, Nolan Robert! I'm so glad God decided we needed you!

Tired brother

At dinner tonight, it became very apparent to all of us that TJ was very tired. We ate meatloaf (which I made up last night...I should prep ahead of time more often!). We also had julienne potatoes, muffins, and Bill made up sweet potatoes. He's the only one of us that likes them, but I thought I would set a good example by eating some. And they weren't too terrible. Anyway, I told the boys that as soon as they finished their meatloaf OR either type of potato and they could have a Go-Gurt. I have discovered Go-Gurt is a healthy way to motivate the boys.

But not tonight. Not for TJ, anyway. Sam and Nolan both dug into their meatloaf. TJ cried, simply because there were potatoes sitting on his plate! After listening to his big brother carry on for several minutes, Nolan made a wise observation. "TJ needs a really, really long nap."

And he was right. I put TJ in bed a half hour early and he was sound asleep long before his brothers hit the sack.

Trips to the grocery store

I do my grocery shopping on Sunday afternoons. I have always shopped alone, because I can finish the task more quickly, and because it's peaceful to shop without kids. But the past few weeks, I've been taking one child with me, alternating between TJ and Sam. They've been very good, and haven't been pestering me to buy too much junk.

I was ready to head out to the store this afternoon, and I told TJ it was his turn and to put his shoes on. He looked a little confused and Sam got very upset. He pointed out that it was HIS turn to go, because TJ got an umbrella last week. I realized Sam was right. I apologized to TJ for the mix up and he commented, "That's okay. I got my umbrella last week." Whew. Crisis averted. Sam and I left for the store. As we left, he said to me, "I want an umbrella today." I am not opposed to Sam having his own umbrella, but I didn't want to make it a habit to buy stuff for the boys every time we are out. I decided not to say anything, but wait and see if he remembered.

Just before we got to Meijer, Sam said, "Mom, some churches have enough money." I thought this was a strange comment. We have not been discussing church finances at home, and I thought it would have been strange if he was discussing this in Sunday School. So I replied with, "Oh really?", just to see where he was going with this. He said, "Yes. Some churches have enough money...for downspouts". Oh! I laughed and agreed that yes, some churches have enough money for downspouts.

Sam was a good shopper, except for one thing. I had heard a report earlier this week regarding the percentage of shopping carts that were found to have fecal matter on them. Blech! I always wipe down my cart before I use it, and today was no exception. Good thing, because at one point, I glanced down at Sam to see him licking the cart! Yuck!!! I sure hope that he was licking a section that I had wiped down thoroughly!

Sam forgot to remind me about the umbrella. We were nearly home when it dawned on him. He informed me that he was 'really upset about this', but calmed down when I promised to get him one at a later date. That's fine, he told me, as long as I make it a blue one. Okie dokie.

Walkie Talkies

After dinner tonight, the boys got out their walkie talkies. Bill had put them up on a shelf, probably because every time the boys play with them, we have fights and tears. I agreed to let the boys play with them for a little while, provided that they took turns.

Sam really struggled with the push-to-talk release-to-listen concept of the walkie talkie. He just couldn't get the hang of it. But he was having too much fun to let little details bother him. So instead of speaking into the walkie talkie, he just shouted. TJ was upstairs in the living room, Sam was downstairs in the family room. They could hear each other perfectly. Sam could hear TJ through the walkie talkie, and TJ could hear Sam because he was yelling so loudly. It was quite funny.

It didn't last for long. Nolan was getting tired and was very upset whenever it wasn't his turn, so it turned into a battle and I put the gadgets away. Sam's voice probably needed a rest anyway!

What's in a name...

The other night, I started singing a song to Nolan. I was making it up as I went, but part of the song went "Nolan Robert, Nolan Robert, where are you? Where are you?" He loves to sing and thought the song was funny. I asked him if he knew that my real name is Elizabeth Marietta. Apparently, when you are two, that is a hysterical name. He can't say 'Marietta' very well. I told him that my Mom would sometimes call me 'Bethie Marie', but that most people just call me Beth. Nolan thought this over then said, "And now your name is Mama."

He's right. That's my favorite name.

I did not!

I was gone overnight at a scrapbooking retreat. When I got home, I went straight to my parent's house, which is where we usually wind up on Saturday nights. The boys were already there. Nolan in particular seemed glad to see me. He followed me around a lot and kept asking for hugs. He also said, "I weally weally missed you" and "I wuv you, Mama". What a sweetheart! While he followed me around, I was asking him questions about what he had done during the day.

"Were you a good boy?" His response was "Uh huh" (although he usually doesn't admit to naughtiness!)

"Did Daddy give you a bath this morning?" His response was "Uh huh"

"Did you go poopie today?" (He's been struggling with constipation). He didn't answer this question immediately. But then he looked at me and said very firmly, "I did not!" "I did NOT go POOPIE in the bathtub!"

I'm not sure why he connected those last two questions together, but I was in no way implying he had pooped in the bathtub. Grandma thought his comment was pretty funny, however.

Cheap date

Nolan's third birthday is rapidly approaching. I have no idea what to get the boy. He and Sam are hard to shop for. Sam is difficult because he rarely plays with toys (he'd rather wander around the house checking out the vents). Nolan is difficult because he is content to play with whatever he sees.

This morning while he was in the bath tub, I told him that his birthday was just a few weeks away. I asked him what he wanted for his birthday. He thought it over and said, "Ice cream. And cake!"

I laughed. I asked if he wanted presents. I got an emphatic "Yes!" in response. I asked what he wanted to be INSIDE the presents. He looked puzzled and said, "I don't know."

Hmmm. He's not very helpful. But I think he'll be happy with whatever he gets.

Future spelling bee champion

After his nap today, Sam had lots of energy (this means he was talking a LOT!). He said to Bill, "Hey Daddy, do you know what the letters 'P' and 'U' spell?" I was busy in the kitchen but I was very interested in his answer, so I listened closely. "It spells UP!" Sam sounded very proud of himself. He's right of course, he just has the letters out of order a bit...

Nolan is driving me nuts. He wants to be more independent than his little body will allow. He has decided he needs to go potty standing up, just like TJ (Sam still sits, but for some reason, that isn't cool to Nolan). Those of you who have seen Nolan know how short he is. He's far too short to be standing to go potty. So this means he has to run and get the stool. Then Mama has to help hold him steady, and hold well, you know, steady. It doesn't work well. It takes Nolan forever to go, and this is really hard on my back. And he's got awful aim. Usually his hand gets wet, my hand gets wet, and the back of the toilet gets wet. I'm just not a fan of this procedure and have been trying to distract him so that he'll sit on the potty and forget that the cool kids stand when they pee.

I sure did!

This morning, Nolan was the first kid up. I was folding laundry in the bedroom and he peeked in around the door right at 7 a.m. He gave me a little grin and nodded when I asked if he had to go potty. I brought him in the bathroom and noticed right away that his diaper was dry. I was all excited (woo hoo!) and said, "Buddy! You stayed dry all night!"

Nolan's response made me laugh. "I sure did!"

I put him on the toilet and went to grab his clothes while he went potty. He went and went and went. I pretended to be very impressed and said, "Wow! You went a lot of potty!"

Again, a cheeky little grin. "I sure did! I made bubbles too!"

Ah, the things little boys are proud of....

A few tidbits

This morning, Nolan came in to use my bathroom while I was finishing up with my hair. I was wearing a long skirt, since we were heading to church. Nolan was watching me while he sat on the toilet. He suddenly said, "Hey, what's on your pants?" I thought he was asking why I was wearing a skirt, so I said, "I'm dressed up for church. I'm wearing a skirt." At this point, he looked a little impatient and said, "Hey, what's on your SKIRT?"

I turned slightly and laughed. It may be early March, but I had a housefly sitting on my rear end. I told Nolan what it was and he laughed too and told me to take the fly off. I did.

We got to church a little early this morning because Bill was playing the organ prelude. While we were sitting there listening to Daddy, Sam pulled on the front of my sweater, and peered inside. But being Sam, his motives were not inappropriate. He said, "Mom, show me where your heart is. I want to feel your heart beat."

Tonight before bedtime, Sam and I were looking through a simple word book. Each page had a letter of the alphabet along with a bunch of items that started with that letter. I was pointing at the objects and having Sam tell me what they were. It's not as easy as you'd think. On the "G" page, he pointed at the gorilla and said "Monkey". On the "F" page, I had a good chuckle. I pointed at an assortment of fruit and said "Fuh, fuh..." to which Sam finished "Fegetables!"

Size matters

The other night, Nolan and I went over to my mom's so I could exercise. He had stayed home sick from Cuddle Up Time at church, so he came along with me. I put on his coat and then realized his shoes were missing. I assumed (correctly) that they had been left at my mom's, so I just put his slippers back on his feet. At that point, we had the following conversation:

Nolan: "Mama, I don't have shoes."

Me: "Nope, Nolan, I think they are at Grandma's."

Nolan: "Well, will you carry me?"

Me: "Yes, I will carry you."

Nolan: "I need you to carry me, because I am so little and you are so big."

And that right there is my motivation for exercising!!!

Illness

Up to this point, we had a fairly healthy winter. Our only trip to the pediatrician was TJ's well-child visit in late November. I have been very thankful and grateful for the boys' good health. We've had several rounds of colds, but nothing serious.

That all changed on Saturday night. Sam caught a nasty bug that settled in his chest. I was giving him breathing treatments twice that day, but he was still wheezing heavily. I was concerned and was fairly sure I'd be calling the doctor first thing Monday morning. He cemented that decision when he came to me crying at 5:45 a.m. Monday morning, telling me that he had an ear infection. The doctor's office got him in at 9:30, and determined that yes, he had an ear infection. He also had a low pulse ox level, and his lungs sounded terrible. They put him on antibiotics, a steroid, and a different prescription for his nebulizer. Within 24 hours, the old Sam was starting to come back.

On Wednesday, it hit Nolan. He was running a temp and had a horrible sounding cough. I kept him home from church Wednesday night, and got him in to see the doctor Thursday morning. His diagnosis? Croup. He was put on the same steroid as Sam. Thankfully, Nolan's ears and throat checked out fine.

On Friday, it was TJ's turn. He got up in the middle of the night, coughing so hard he vomited. He was also feverish. He got the day off from school and I called the doctor promptly at 9 a.m. I actually asked them to just call in the same steroid for him too, but they insisted on seeing him. However, they didn't charge me a copay (I suddenly had a $15 mystery credit, which I was grateful for), and after they saw him, they called the steroid in.

I think Bill and I both had a mild version of this bug. I'm hoping this is it for the season and that spring is coming soon.