June again: a lately Nickism-- when he does something wrong that's not really a big deal at all, he says "i'm sorry mama, please forgive me!" he doesn't say this when he actually should apologize, just when he does something totally minor. he's confused.

Nick sings everything. off key. I'm afraid he might be tone deaf.

The 6/17 conference: Am feeling major major guilt about spending two days writing this paper, tonight at class, and then leaving for two days tomorrow. Nick and I have never been apart for more than, I dunno, 16 hours? 18? I hope he doesn't hate me for this.

and now he is sick. like, sick-sick; high fever (103+, not responding to tylenol), throwing up fluids, shaking, can't sleep. I asked him if it was psychosomatic because he didn't want me to go to Madison and he said no. I'm leaving in 6 hours and neither of us has slept yet.

Nick didn't really miss me while I was gone. He wasn't upset that I was home (which is what I was afraid of) but he wasn't ecstatic, either. I would have liked a little more happy-to-see-me than I got, honestly, but if it means he was okay while I was gone, I guess I'll take what I can get.

06-22-2008: Nick's birthday today! He doesn't want to be four, but he wants a party. He asked for monkey bread for breakfast, so that's in the oven (we had to go to the grocery to get stuff to make it). He's having a pokemon party at my parents' house, but it's really just a bunch of kids playing outside. Hopefully it won't rain.

May, 2008
I sprained my ankle, badly. Nick was v good this morning. he went into M's all by himself--down the stairs and everything. He's never done that before and I'm sure M was wondering where the hell I was, since all I did was open the front door for him and kiss him there. I was so proud of him. He can really be a good kid when necessary.

Nick and I had a very amusing convo about the possibility of him having a sibling.

N: We would need a place for her to sleep.
Me: Maybe she could sleep in bed with us.
N: But when the pink mingo bird sleeps with us, sometimes he's behind my back and I don't know it and I lay on him.
Me: Maybe you could sleep on one side of me, and the baby could sleep on the other.
N (with really wide eyes): But what if she could walk and she walked over on my side?
Me (laughing): well, if she's big enough to walk, she big enough to handle it
N (confused): how handle it?
Me: you could just tell her to leave
N (indignant): But if a baby came here, and she was our baby, she couldn't leave, because she's be our baby, and she has to stay with us!

April, 2008
Nick had screening for 4K and he did great. He could do everything on the Kindergarten readiness chart, actually, except for one of the gross motor things (skipping-- she actually didn't ask him to do it but I know he can't do it.

Nick ispretending to be pokemon and to battle other pokemon. It's cute.

March, 2008
Nick spent the night at Grandma's house the last day of February. My mom said he slept through the night, but really, she just slept through the night. He told me about all the times he woke up and what was happening in the house each time he woke up. But he had fun and I think sleepovers will be fabulous, really, once I don't have to worry that I'll be interrupted by a child wanting to come home.

Two cute Nickisms from tonight. there's a thunderstorm (crazy! it was so warm today!) and Nick was pretending to be a t-rex. He said that the lightning wasn't lighting at all, but "my mommy and daddy shooting purple squid ink out of their mouths." huh?

Also, "daddy, can I have a snack?" "sure, what do you want?" "the leftover pasta" "what leftover pasta?" "you know, the leftover pasta from the noodle hut. with the yummy chicken." the noodle hut is Noodles and Co. I have no idea where he got "noodle hut" from, though.

Right now, he's watching "the skeleton movie" which is really 'the Human body, pushing the limits" on Discovery. He's been waiting three days for this to come on, and he's insanely excited about it.

Nick was freaking adorable last night, though. We took his piggy bank to the bank and he had 43 dollars. I was planning on giving him enough to get his game (long story) and then putting the rest into savings, but I ended up letting him just blow it all. He can save later. He bought the Jumping Frog Game (I don't know what it is really called) two squishy frogs, a box of granola bars, and dinner at Culvers. He also bought me cheese curds at Culvers, "because I like your fat belly, mama."

Nick was launching his squishy frogs and almost hitting the cat (it wouldn't have hurt him, but he was sleeping and it would have probably shocked him a bit) and I asked him to stop. he did it again. I told him to stop. He did it again. I said, rather firmly, "you are not to throw another thing at that cat. Do you understand?"

From underneath the pillow he says back, "yes, your majesty."

Nick is segregating all his "crayons what are naked" because he wants to know if he is going to touch naked crayons.

We brought home the frog from school and Nick is taking care of him. He's really into it. he's all "I've never had a frog at my house before!" it's very cute.

Nick keeps cracking me up because he puts numbers on everything even if they don't fit. "it took soooo long, mama. it was, like, 29 long."

February, 2008
Instead of saying today, Nick says "this day." example: I want to have fruit snacks on this day.
He also calls tomorrow "next day." example: I want to have fruit snacks on this day, not the next day.

Nick thinks he knows a ton of signs, but in reality he doesn't make them very clearly. Like, blue and purple and red all look exactly the same when he makes them. He can distinguish signs when I make them, but he can't imitate them, if that makes sense. His fine motor is improving but his gross motor is still way ahead of his fine motor.

Nick got a (fluff)friend on facebook and he's so cute taking care of it. He named it Petzel and wants to feed it all the time. So far, it's favourite food is a bowl of noodles. He 'bought' it a little minature flying giraffe that looks just like it to live with it. It's pretty funny. So, if you have a facebook account, Nick would appreciate it if you would pet Petzel.

Nick is running around the house with his grey pants on his head covering all his hair and it's so cute but K has the camera.

He seriously looks like a miniature, pantless nun.

02-24-2008: we ended up doing this huge baking project where he made a cake and decorated it (for Rachael's birthday "it looks yummy but it doesn't look like Spyro") and now he is playing "bakery" which is basically just mixing shit together and it's a huge mess, but he loves it.

The cake is HIDEOUS and the frosting has things like maple syrup and powdered milk and cinnamon in it because "Rachael doesn't like chocolate, but I think Rachael will like cinnamon, mama." I pretty much let him put whatever he wanted into it because I plan on telling her that it's art not food. She doesn't like sweets and she loves messes so I think she won't mind very much that it's gross.

I think it sort of looks like that thing from the Neverending story.

January 2008
Nick is on board with another baby. He's sassy about it, but he's decided it would be cool "when we get older." How smart is that? I can't believe it. I wonder who said it to him but he said "It's just something I think about, mama

Nick is upstairs drinking a smoothie and I can hear him hacking up a lung. Poor kid. I'm making him a cake shaped like an octopus, and he's all confused.
N:"But why are you making a cake, mama?"
Me: "because you wanted cake"
N: "I know, but WHY are you making it, mama?"
K: "Because she loves me"
N: "She always loves me, daddy, but she doesn't always make cake."

Nick brought home a container of oyster crackers from my mom's house. She'd given them to him and he said that he wanted to save them for the baby. You know, the one I'm having? This was pretty cute on it's own, but even cuter because he'd told me that we couldnt' have a baby because she would eat all our little crackers. And the other day at the store, he pointed at a baby in a cart and asked "is that the size baby we need to get?"

ha-- taped to the front of my tv is a drumstick. taped to the bottom of the drumstick is a styrofoam marshmallow. taped to the bottom of the styrofoam marshmallow is a giant green plastic bolt.

Nick with tape. Fear him.

Nick just said, from the kitchen: I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, mama. I didn't mean to do it.
In this near tears voice.
And I said: what happened?
And he said: I didn't mean to do it. I'll clean it up, I promise.

I'm not going to look. I don't want to know. I really don't. So, he's attempting to clean it up and I know he's probably making a bigger mess but I don't even want to know. Plus, from a practical stand point, I'd much rather he cleaned up his own mess.

And the amazing thing? it totally worked out. he cleaned it up. I expected to go into the kitchen and see, well, a mess that a toddler had attempted to clean up. In actuality, I couldn't even find where the mess had been, with the exception of two tiny drops of paint, which easily could have been there from last night.

He also cleaned up his marble run, the way I asked, while I was making him lunch.

Quote from Nick: When I grow up, I want to be an ice skater and a dancer.
Yeah, me too, kid.

December, 2007
We watched Mulan last night and Nick said he "doesn't need to see it again."

Oh! Funny story. Nick sings that song from Peep all the time: Is there anythingbetter than Ducks? No! THere's nothing better than ducks! So, sing hey, sing ho for ducks-- whoa! especially ducks under water.

Today in the mall, he was singing it with an "F" in place of the D. Loudly. And over the mic at Guitar Center.

This morning, after I got up, Nick must have gotten cold because when I came back to wake him, he'd completely covered up with pillows, as if they were quilts. Including his face.

At Nakashima's, Nick ate all the shrimp and was completely annoyed when my mom tried to give him one of the sushi for beginners rolls (a wisconsin roll, which is crab, cucumber, and cheese ) and insisted on the one with fish eggs. My kid rules.

This morning I attempted to bribe Nick out of bed by telling him I had to go to work so that I could afford to buy him Christmas presents. He said he didn't need presents if I would just stay home and cuddle him.

November, 2007
Nick made me laugh this morning because he was all mad that K and I were showering and so he stood outside the shower yelling at us for a bit, and all of the sudden it was dead silent and I heard him shut the door. K said "that little brat!" but he was laughing and I finished rinsing my hair and was like, "why? what'd he do?"
He took the towels. He just took all our towels and left the bathroom. Clever little thing, isn't he? It's a good thing he's cute.

He clearly listens to and remembers so much. At bedtime he said to me "you know why our last names are all Samples? because we live in a patriarcicity."

Nick often cannot understand that time linear and it drives me batty. Clearly, if something has already happened there is nothing I can do to go back in time and make it different. But to him? not clear at all.

Nick told my mom that for Xmas he wants squishies and No brothers and No sisters.

Nick QOTD: I tell him to take his hand out of his pants, and he says "But I just wanted to touch my penis when it's all soft."

October, 2007
Go Diego Go was fantastic. So much better than Sesame Street Live. Though Nick did point out "At Elmo, they had blue slushies" But watching Nick's face for the first half hour was just sheer joy. He was totally into it. I've never seen him so excited about anything for such an extended period of time.

Nick QOTD: My penis is a giant volcano!

Yesterday, when he wanted tapioca pudding, I made him give me thirty words on why he should get another cup of pudding. He said "because I like pudding. and I ate my steak. I didn't drink any coffee. Or soda. And because you love me. you're my favorite girl. So you should give me pudding." Everyone was totally cracking up. Nick adores being the center of attention.

yesterday at dinner, he threw a piece of bread and then he looked at me and said, all serious, "you didn't see that."

Nick was not particularly interested in Trick or Treating. He was tired and just wanted to rest a little bit (his words) so he mainly hung out at our house

September, 2007
We had a great time at the zoo--Nick and Faith rode a camel! Nick wore himself out pretty thoroughly; he was asleep before we left the parking lot.

Nick and Faith were running down this endless hallway that, as it turned out, led to a big restricted area. But Nick ran his pants right off! He was yelling for me "mama, my pants!" but I totally didn't get it and he just ran until they were around his ankles. Hilarious.

My mom accidently gave my child vodka and 7up tonight. He asked for a drink of her water and she said "sure" and he took that glass, thinking it was water. Why it didn't occur to my mother that she didn't actually have any water? Well, she *was* drinking vodka and 7up, after all. Anyway, he spit it out immediately and said "grandma, that's not water, that SODA. I can't drink soda. It's not good for Bugalets!" yeah, kid, I think the *soda* was the least of the problem.

So, last night, Nick slept on the couch. all night. by himself. woot!

We sleep on the couch when we are "waiting up" for Daddy on nights that he has shows, but usually it's only for an hour or two and then K gets home and we go to bed. Last night he didn't want to go to bed until K got home, and since K didn't come home last night, he stayed on the couch until 8:45 this morning! I stayed up until like 3 am because I kept thinking that the moment I fell asleep would be the moment he'd wake up scared to find himself alone in the living room.

For the record, Nick's favourite songs of the moment are "Beautiful Girls" (by Sean Kingston) and "Shut up in your eye" (shut up and drive by Rhianna).

"beautiful girls, only wanna do the dirt, will haveta soonacycle, soonacycle whena OOOOOOVer."

August, 2007
Nick thing: he picks up a 'wand' (like, a straw or something) and asks "do you want me to change you into a princess, mama?" if I say yes he waves the wand around me and sings this little wordless tune, and then says "okay, you're a princess" And then, a little while later, he'll ask to turn me back into mama. "I'm really good at turning people into princesses and mamas"

Nick is learning about wind currents using the fan and every object in th ehouse. my hall is littered with small, floaty objects.

Quote from Nick, while painting: Jungles are where you have to be patient and you have to get rain to make green to grow all the trees. Wait a second, I wanted to do the water. I didn't know that. Isn't that fun?

Ha. the kid is delusional and he talks to himself. proof that he's mine, at least.

On our "Big Adventure" to the Dells, Nick rode the kiddie coaster (by himself) and he was not impressed. He said, getting off "it was too fast and the up and down had too much down"

July, 2007
Nick wants oatmeal for breakfast every day.
When we order pizza, he asks if Emma's mama Kelly is coming over.
We moved a computer upstairs, and Nick adores it. He likes to dance to internet radio and play the Peep games. He's really good at both.
He loves corn on the cob.

Nick story:
N: I have to go pee!
S(me): Then go in the bathroom, silly!
N: (from the bathroom) Daddy! Come pee with me!
K: (walking into the bathroom) You're three now! You should be able to do this all by yourself.
N: Want to make a bet? Want to make a bet, daddy? You have two choices. I don't go pee at all, or I don't go by myself.

oh, and he's totally into making up rules. they all take the form of "when somebody" does something, "then somebody has to" do something.

He also uses this format to explain himself a lot. "why are you all wet?" "when somebody plays in water, sometimes somebody has to get all wet, mama."

This is what a good morning looks like.
Nick wakes up smiling. We have apple oatmeal and cinnamon raison toast. We change out of our night clothes with no protests from the small person. We park on main street and walk to the shops with Nick on my back. Niock gets a sucker at the bank. We visit the library, read books. Check some out to take home. Stop at a deli for lunch, where Nick eats well and drinks strawberry milk. Nothing is spilled and he wipes his fingers and his face at regular intervals. We come home, read our bring home books. Then, Nick lays down on the couch to watch Peep.

Nick's Doctor's Appointment Stats:
38.5 inches, putting him down in the 50-75%
33 lbs, putting him down in the 50-75%
Back on Zantac for the time being. Looks "perfect."

he had asked what was going to happen at the doctor and one of the things I had said was that the doctor would check his motor skills, like, if he could hop on one foot. So, when the nurse called his name, he hopped on one foot all the way across the waiting room and into the office.

He says "what" instead of "that." I don't even notice it any more because my brain just translates it. But at the grocery store last night, he said "did you get the chicken what you wanted, daddy?" and K didn't hear him so I repeated it verbatim and I realized he says that all the time.

this morning, painting, he described what he was doing "and here is a letter, and this is a line to keep it company"

we now play the "I'm thinking of an animal" game almost daily. Sometimes I have to ask questions, but sometimes he give hints: I'm thinking of an animal. It has fur and it smells very, very bad" (skunk)

We've been going to bed LATE (like, 11:30 ish) and getting up LATE (like 10:30 ish) and we both LOVE it. We are night owls.

Nick tries to set rules all the time. "when somebody eats all their dinner, then somebody has to give them ice cream." but also he tries to bribe/threaten us a lot: if youdon't give me that right now, I'm toing to put applesauce on the table" We laught at him and then he laughs, too; he's mimicking us but he doesn't expect anyone to take him seriously.

Nick has a chest cold and this morning I asked him if he wanted medicine for it. He said "do we have any more of the grape kind?" -- sure enough, the mucinex is grape. it's the only grape medicine we have, and it's been at least 5 months since he had it last. Nick never forgets anything. It's scary.

OMG, the most hilarious thing. I wish I had it on video tape. Nick was all pissed off and throwing a fit and he went over to the end table and started launching things off-- a magazine, a book, throwing them off with a flick of his arm, so they sailed across the room. it carries on like this for about four or five items, and then he picks up his water glass, sets it ever-so-carefully down one the carpet then he tantrums a few more items then ever-so-carefully sets down his plate with pretzels on it. K and I were laughing so hard I thought I might pee my pants.
You probably had to be there, but OMG.

Daddy: Nick, go wash your hands!
Nick: Okay, I'll give it my best shot.

Nick saw someone playing an accordian and now he is obsessed. He kept telling everyone that he wanted a squeezebox. ha. three year old, wanting a squeezebox. ha.

Nick is a naked soul. He is "dressed" when he has underwear on.

Nick and I spent an hour this morning playing "mammals and crustaceans" -- a Nick version of hide and seek. Basically, there is a bunch of blankets and pillows to be "shells" and then when he's under the shell he whispers "crustacean" and when he comes out he yells "mammal!" hilarious.

June, 2007
Nick could not wait to turn three so that he could play with his letters. That was the first thing he did when he got up on his birthday.
Nick's party was a beach theme and he helped fill up the pools and the sandbox.
Nick had his first real dentist's appointment in June. He was crazy good. Afterwards, I offered to take him to Target to buy a toy. He said: I already have enough toys. Can I have a hangaber (hamburger)?
Too cute.
Nick loves to play with his friend Emma. Even though she dresses him up like a princess. Or maybe because of it.
He also loves going to the waterpark with mama.
His favourite tv show is still "Peep."
His favourite foods are raspberries, watermelon, bagels with cream cheese, and shrimp. He does not like "crust" or breading.