Happy Birthday Nick!

I can't believe that 4 years I ago I was at my baby shower, thinking I had another month or so before the new baby arrived. By the end of the party, I was in labor. By the middle of the night, we were a new family of three.



That was then. This is now.



Nick turned four this weekend. It sounds cliche, but I really do feel like he should be just a baby. Instead, he was unwrapping fire trucks and cars and fishing poles and getting ready to start preschool in just a few more days. YIKES!! It was a pretty great day, laid back for the most part. Just the grandparents, great-grandparents and aunts over to help us celebrate with presents, brownies and pizza (in that order).



I've seriously never seen a child (especially a boy) get so excited over clothes. At least the first few times he opened the boxes anyway.



Here was Nick with his aunt Kelsie the day he was born.



Here they are now!





I love all three of those pictures! Love you Nick, now and forever!

Jumping bean

Zander is trying so hard to jump. He has the idea down, but just can't quite execute. He gets his little legs bent and he gets the upward motion, but his feet rarely leave the ground. And when they do, he usually ends up on his butt he is so stunned. So, since he can't jump from a standing position he has taken to jumping off of furniture --- this may also have something to do with his brother, but who knows. I don't see how he hasn't broken his tailbone yet. I'm guessing those diapers are offering the little bit of extra padding he needs. And the best part about all this jumping is the look on his face when he does it. He is so surprised/proud of himself. It's absolutely adorable. And while I could show pictures of his jumps, I think video may be the better option this time around.

Chef Nick

Like I've said before, Nick is really getting into imaginative play lately and I love hearing the stories he comes up with. Saturday morning, while Mike was out running, I did some cleaning and rearranging. I've been meaning to bring the Little Tikes kitchen out into the living room/dining room for awhile now, but just never got around to it. Zander loves playing with it, but Nick is always kicking him out of his bedroom which was where we had it before.

So, now that it is out in the living room I also get to hear what Nick is doing when he plays with it. And he is such a funny little thing. Saturday, he was making 'matoes. I would guess that he meant tomatoes, except we don't eat tomatoes in this house. So, who knows. First he dumped all his 'matoes (Hot Wheels) into the jar. He stirred them up and then used a spoon and tongs to begin transferring them to a larger Rubbermaid.



When he got tired of that he simply dumped them all in.





Then he had to check his recipe (the bottle)...



... which he said called for a cup of water.



When everything was mixed up, he put some in a pan to cook on the stove (can you see him turning the knob on the "stove"). I was pretty impressed considering a "real" stove was right behind him.



Then he loaded it all up. I don't know where he was going. I lost the story on this part, but thought he looked cute anyway.



And, because I can't leave one of the kids out. Here are some cute pics of Zander, too. He's too little to tell me what he's doing, but he was gabbing up a storm!

So proud

Nick tests my patience almost every day. But then, there are those moments, the ones I just want to scoop him up and smother him with love. This was one of those moments. My friend from work (we'll call her Mary), has been sick and recently had to have a surgery. I went shopping for a care package for her for one night and brought home lots of great treats. Nick noticed the new strawberries in our fridge and his eyes lit up. He wanted them. But, at $6 for 16 oz (or something like that) I told him they were for Mary, so she could feel better. I explained that all these goodies were for my friend who was sick. Fast forward to the next day, I'm packing up her care package and get out the markers to keep the boys busy. Nick sits down and starts coloring and then looks up to me and says: "My picture is for Mary, mommy. Can I put it in her bag?" AWWWW. Made my heart melt. He later explained that the picture is of Roberto, the robot he loves from Dora. Made it even sweeter in my book because he wasn't just scribbling. So that was my proud mommy moment this week.

Nick and Roberto the Robot



Nick working on his masterpiece. Zander was out of there as soon as he saw the camera. He loves to see himself on the little screen.

When little brothers attack: Part 2

Yep, Zander has been at it again. I swear, that kid is a beast. I know Nick is often mean to him and rough with him, but he is smart in his attacks. Nick never leave marks. I'm not sure if it is his technique or his brother's thick skin. Poor Nick, he has skin like mine. Very fair and welts easily. So here it is --- the perfect imprint of a plastic golf club on Nick's cheek. It looked worse about 5 minutes before this picture. And the welts/red marks stuck around for most of the day (including a visit to the doctor for their H1N1 vaccines --- thankfully the office was so busy no one noticed).

Ouch!



Doesn't Zander look like he's thinking "My work here is done."

Imagination

I love that Nick is finally using his imagination when he plays. Sometimes he puts on his dress up clothes and drives off to the fire. Tonight he said he was putting his band clothes on, wrapped a poster around his waist (which promptly fell) and then used the same poster and a golf club to play the drums/cymbals/some sort of loud instrument.

This weekend, while Mike was still working on the bathroom, Nick grabbed his cars and trucks and construction vehicles and parked them in the "garage" under the counter. He would roll them out in the hall so they could work and then park them again when they were done. When Mike got tired of him in the bathroom he moved to the little space underneath the built-in desk in our kitchen. I even cut out a big Goldfish box to give him a "real" garage.

There are some days he sits in his room for an hour or more, door closed, music up way too loud and just plays. I so wish I could be a fly on the wall of that room on those days. I hate opening the door and ruining his fun, but I really want to know what goes on in his little head when no one else is watching.

Pool party

Today was Miss J's 2nd birthday party and she invited the whole gang to a hotel pool party. We've been to pool parties before, but this was at a newer hotel and the pool was great for kids. Zero depth entrance, a showering mushroom thing, the fountains coming out of the ground -- all the great stuff my kids love! The timing was a bit crappy (1-4 p.m. on the day after Daylight Saving Time when I think my kids woke up at 4:30 a.m.), but we still had fun and are even contemplating having Nick's party there next month!

After the obligatory cake and presents we hit the pool. It was pretty crowded with just our crew, but still a lot of fun. Nick was kind of timid at first, but eventually ended up having lots of fun. He accidentally went under once -- tried to slide off the edge of the pool and lost his grip -- but it didn't stop him from trying again. Zander, on the other hand, was fearless from the moment he stepped in the water. He was running, falling under, getting up, wiping off and doing it all over. Then he went to the deep end and repeatedly jumped off the edge (into my waiting arms, of course)!

The birthday girl!


It took a little while, but Nick finally got his face wet!








Everyone always says watch out for the baby -- and they should -- because he will get you!