Tidbits of Life

The Nugget has discovered the joy of pretending to be various animals. Here he is, being a rare species of Pretzel Walrus. They eat their own tusks, you know.

When the Nugget puts on jackets, coats, or hoodies, he gets one sleeve on, then spins around trying to catch the other sleeve, the way a dog tries to catch its own tail.

When the Nugget gets dizzy (which is often, because the boy just loves to spin), he will announce, "Wook! The ceiling moving!"

The Nugget no longer likes to be carried. It is a bittersweet development. Bitter because carrying my boy on my hip and feeling tiny hands in my hair has been such a constant. Sweet because he is getting really heavy - 35 pounds when nekkie, so closer to 40 dressed and in his snow gear. The one exception is that he does always want to be held when we stand at Mass, but Daddy bears the brunt of that - the Nugget knows that Daddy is taller and stronger, so he gets a better view and for longer.

Lately, when the Nugget wakes up, he says that his footsies are sad. This has gone on for about a week now. He has also added that his toes are sad too, because they had a bad dream. His shoes, however, always seem to be happy.

I'd like everyone to observe a moment of silence for the passing of the Nugget's naptime. In typical Nugget fashion, he suddenly decided that naps are passe, and has been bouncing/talking/generally doing everything but sleeping. We are still giving him enforced "quiet time" in his crib for about an hour, because I need the break and there's always the outside chance he will nod off or at least rest for a few blessed minutes. Still, it's just not the same, and this change makes me feel so exhausted. I was way too spoiled by that 2-3 hour break. Now I need to compress my lunch, computer time, housework, and dinner prep into an hour, and I rarely get the chance to relax myself. Of course, he has impeccable timing, because Hubby is going out of town for two business trips this month! Send caffeine and patient thoughts.

The Nugget enjoys an occasional icicle snack. When we go play in the backyard, the first thing he does is check his little playhouse for the icy goodness. Yesterday, upon polishing off 2 small icicles, he requested that I pick him up so he could grab "a big one" off the roof. I declined.

The Nugget is a great poop finder. He knows not to touch it, but he'll find dog poop in the backyard and yell for me to come pick it up. This is both helpful and annoying.

The Nugget also likes to make sure I am hydrated. He will tell me several times a day to, "Mommy drink some water". I usually comply.

The Nugget dislikes having lotion rubbed in, but his eczema-prone skin demands constant moisture. We got around this by letting him put it on himself. He delights in squeezing the tube and rubbing it in, usually a molecule at a time. However, this does not solve the problem of getting his back and sides, which he can't reach. One day, I came up with a compromise - Nugget lets Mommy put lotion on his back, then Nugget can put lotion on Mommy's back! His eyes lit up, and now my lower back gets a morning and evening dose of freezing cold Nugget fingers (he has always had cold hands - that means warm heart, right?!). He instructs me to say, "Notion so cold. Brrr!" True dat.