Just thought you might like to see my new favorite shot of Sir Nicholas the Knackered…

Enjoy this nearly naked night-time romp with Nicholas and Dexter.

Hippo Somersaults

From Nearly Naked Time

Ha ha – got you.  No, we are not crazy enough to get a dog yet even though the boys LOVE dogs.  We’ll need to wait until 1, they know to avoid stepping in and playing with poop, and 2, they pick up the poop themselves.  :)

No, this story is about Nicholas and his sudden attachment with certain stuffed animals.  About a month ago, we headed on down to the Vancouver, Washington area to visit with relatives.  It was our first BIG road trip with 2 year olds.  We planned it all out so that there would be minimal “I’m stuck in a car seat and want out NOW” chants/shrieks from the boys.

That said, our 1st stop was at IKEA in Renton.  The two other times we’ve gone, the boys have had a great time, running around and testing out furniture.  This time around, in the kids section, were big red & orange stuffed hippos.  Nicky, who had not yet shown any interest in the multitude of stuffed animals at home, grabbed a hippo and would not let go.  Each time I put it back, he calmly walked back to where they were, and grabbed another one.  Soon, we became the proud owners of two hippos because you never know when a fight will ensue around the lack of multiple hippos.

Nicholas loved the hippos so much that for the next couple of days, he had to sleep with one of them and it needed to be nearby.  That was, until he met Trouble.

Nicky carried them everywhere, sometimes unsuccessfully.

Let me introduce you to Trouble, whose full name is Luke Trouble Yates.  When Joel and I had first started dating and he lived all alone down in Los Angeles with no friends, his very sensitive girl friend, bought him a dog that did not need to be housebroken.  Trouble was a good companion.  After the hippos came home, Joel decided to see if there was a somewhat smaller stuffed animal that might peak Nicholas or Dexter’s interest so he brought out Trouble.

Immediately Nicholas took to Trouble and really hasn’t let go of him sense.  Trouble has helped us out on numerous occasions.  If Nicky is having a frustration meltdown, we ask “Where is Trouble?  Go find Trouble, Nicholas.  Trouble needs a kiss.”  Nicky will snap out of his crying jag and go get Trouble.  He’ll then proceed to kiss and hug him.  Even Dexter knows Trouble is Nicky’s.  Dexter will give Trouble to Nicky when Nicky’s going through a rough patch.  We did not teach Nicky to kiss Trouble.  Laura taught Nicky to kiss and he decided Trouble would get the vast majority of the kisses he doles out now.

Here’s a series of photos taken so that you can appreciate the bond between boy and dog.  Trouble always sleeps with Nicky.  Trouble sits on the table and patiently waits for Nicholas to finish eating breakfast / lunch / dinner.  Trouble is always there whenever Nicky needs him.  He’s a good dog and gives Nicky lots of kisses.

Nicky is dancing with Trouble to one of Laura’s kid CDs that she left with us.

The last two photos melt my heart.

Now we just need to find Dexter his “Trouble”.

I have to apologize.  Joel and I have been a little burned out on blogging as of late.   The boys DEMAND our attention now.  Nicholas takes to pointing to the spot on the ground where we are suppose to sit and watch him play.  And, I have to say, there have been many precious moments.  Part of my lack of wanting to sit in front of a computer when getting home is that since mid-May, I’ve been doing double duty at work.  My manager got a job with Boeing in Australia and I’ve been filling in for him.  Work is flying by and I’ve had to give up my part time work week.  That said, when I get home, I just want to play with the boys, do what needs to be done (like making dinner) and then relax for an hour after the boys have gone down to bed.  OK – enough whining – onto the topic at hand – a visit to our first farm.

In mid-May, just before becoming a temporary manager, we took the boys down to visit my college sorority sister Patrice, and her husband Jack, at their farm in Enumclaw (about 1.5 hrs south of us).  Of course I dressed the boys us like farmers for that day.  Who wouldn’t?  As soon as we arrived, Patrice’s three little dogs swarmed, all happy and wiggly.  The boys, being used to Rylie, my parent’s old Bichon, who runs away when they show up, were not prepared for what happened next.  One of the Jack Russell Terriers, jumped up on Nicky and kissed his nose.  This knocked Nicky down and in shock, he started to cry.  Oopsie.

Things picked up from there.  Once Nicholas calmed down, we explored the back field, throwing balls to the dogs.  Next up was to visit the chickens at Patrice’s mom’s house just next door.  Sharon gave Joel and the boys some chicken feed, which we later found in Dexter’s pants when we changed his diaper.  More of the feed ended up on the wrong side of the chickens’ fence and in Nick’s and Dexter’s clothes than anywhere else.  We had a hard time prying them away from feeding the chickens.

Then it was inside to explore Patrice and Jack’s house.  As soon as we entered, Patrice commented that she baby-proofed to the best of her ability.  Two seconds later, Nicholas dumped a full doggie water dish over onto the floor.  It’s the little things that get overlooked.  ;)  Of the whole morning though, I think if you asked the boys, they would say the step from the family room to the kitchen was the most exciting thing that day.  You would have thought they were in heaven.  Step up, step down, step up, step down………. over and over and over again.  Then they would stand and spin on the step, just trying to fall off. 

We ended the visit attempting to get a picture of the boys together.  You can see the result of that.

Enjoy the photos and I will try very hard to write again on Thursday.  Thanks for your patience.

We’ve been flirting with summer for the last few weeks – some days it’s gorgeous, and some days it’s a typical Pacific Northwest soggy spring.  For the soggy days, the boys play in our garage, having displaced our cars entirely at this point, which is good because we can just throw soap on the cars and let the sogginess wash them for us.  On the good days, they spend hours playing the back yard, or running with Malin to a park to play with the wards of other Au Pairs.

A couple of weeks ago I was working from home, and came out of the den to find an impromptu picnic on our deck.  It made perfect sense to just move their high chairs out onto the deck, but still, it just looked a little funny, so I had to grab the camera.  She even had their hats securely on their heads, mindful of skin’s absolute lack of color.  Hmm, wonder where they got that from?

It’s getting really, really hard to work from home.  The boys are much more aware of when I’m home, especially Nicholas.  They come and knock on the den door, or just keep yelling “dada, dada, DADA” until eventually I give in and come pay a visit.  Then Nicholas will grab me by the hand, take me to where he wants to play, and then pat the ground where he wants me to sit.  If I get up, he’ll follow me, drag me back, and patiently repeat his instructions on where I need to sit.  My best chance is to sneak out of the den while they’re eating, napping, or outside.  On the other hand, there aren’t all that many times during the typical work day were I have a genuine reason to smile or laugh, and sitting here in the den, working through my e-mail, and suddenly hearing Dexter’s peculiar barking laughter – seriously, who wouldn’t smile?

New developments this week have occurred but first, Malin and I both managed to avoid catching the bug that took down the male members of the family.  Go Girl Power!

Anyway, alas, I have no pictures to share but we will capture these events on film.  Don’t you worry.  So, Dexter has learned how to look contrite.  When we yell at him “No throw – now tell your brother you’re sorry and pat his back” after he’s thrown a toy in Nicholas’s face, Dexter will freeze in his tracks.  He will look down at the ground and not make eye contact with you.  He will then tilt his head to one side and pout something fierce.  Of course we melt.  Who wouldn’t?  The little bugger may be an actor yet.  We will repeat our request in a nicer tone (man – does he have us trained) and after some it’s ok – give your brother a pat on the back, Dexter will comply and then smile HUGELY.  Dexter knows how to work the system.

Two baths ago, I gave Nicholas a pail to play with in the bathtub.  Laura, you would have died.  The next minute, Nicholas is standing up in the bathtub in his naked splendor, pouring the water over his head.  It looked just like the scene out of the movie Australia with Hugh Jackman.  Seriously, Joel and I almost rolled over in laughter.  Then he repeated it over and over again to Dexter’s utter delight as he SCREAMED with laughter at Nicky.  Tonight’s bath had more reenactments of the notorious water scene and Dexter demanded to have his turn.  He just can’t pull it off though.  Dexter, I’m sorry, but that big grin and subsequent laughter that follows just makes you more of a loveable goofball.

Bribery – as a Boeing employee, we sign a code of conduct that basically states we will be outstanding citizens and not be unethical.  That said, if we have to use bribery in order to get our boys to eat, are we violating that code of conduct?  Case in point: the last couple of nights both Dexter and Nicholas have upon frequent occasion, thrown a fit and won’t eat the meal I have fixed for them.  Tonight Nicholas would eat the tuna pasta and fruit but WOULD NOT TOUCH UPON PENALTY OF DEATH the slightly mushy broccoli I made for them.  Dexter wouldn’t touch any of it.  He was waiting for a different menu, I suppose. 

Joel and I drew a line in the sand and I got out the big guns – fruit chewies – figuring that they would do anything for fruit chewies.  With bribes, Dexter had a little of the entree and sides.  Bribes work great for Dexter – he’ll keep eating as long as the bribes keep coming.  Quite the corrupt little despot, isn’t he?  When the bribes ran out, so did his ability to eat.   We told him then – go hungry.  Now Nicky would make Boeing proud.  Even when offered something he can’t get enough of, he would not budge.  One bite of broccoli – something he has liked eating in the past – he would not touch.  His screams of indignation and frustration got bigger.  Whatever happened to our quiet Nicholas?  Those days are long gone.  ;)  Sure, his cries are still fairly quiet, but not his screams, or his shreaks, or his bellows.  Then, when I put the remaining fruit chewies in the pantry – you would have thought I killed him.  Nicholas was NOT HAPPY WITH ME.  One of many tests of will between the two of us, I suppose.

Oh, and then there was the time Dexter played dead in his high chair.  It was lunch time and right before their nap.  We had pushed it that morning and you could clearly see the boys were super tired.  Dexter ate a little and then closed his eyes when Joel tried to feed him another bite of pureed squash.  He looked like he had fallen asleep – not the first time he’d done this in his high chair.  Finally I relented and told Joel “fine, Dexter doesn’t have to eat anymore vegetables” and boom, Dex’s eyes shot open, a smile emerged, and he shoved a couple handfuls of cheerios into his mouth while Joel and I laughed.  Actor – working on his Oscar nod.

We have more stories to share, but I’ll save those easy tales for blog posts later in the week.  We’ll try to include pictures too.

Ah, the new carpet smell did not last long – just one week before Dexter puked all over it.  You see, on Thursday, Dexter caught an intestinal bug.  Before I got home on Thursday, Dexter was not feeling so hot.  He skipped his lunch.  Malin needed to rock him back to sleep in order for him to get a decent nap.  And, because Malin is such a conscientious au pair, she made sure he ate some yogurt for his snack.  About a half hour later, that yogurt reappeared and ended up in a long line of puke as Malin swooped him up mid-puke and made for the kitchen sink. 

When I got home, Joel was feverishly cleaning the carpet, and yelling at Nicholas to STAY AWAY.  That put me immediately on Nicky duty, seeing that Malin was holding a very sick Dexter to her chest.  As Joel cleaned, Malin cuddled, and I corralled, the doorbell rang.  It was a young ~20 something young man selling gutter protectors.  Joel opened the door, did not let the man speak, told him no thanks and good luck, and closed the door.  Later that evening, Malin informed us that our house was egged.  Lucky us.  Puke and egg all in one day.

Anyway, I would say this was our first bout with the flu and the boys.  While Nicholas happily ate dinner that night, Dexter had a few bites of dry toast and a couple sips of water which he later spewed up on Joel while they were sitting on the couch.  (Thankfully, we’ve learned to put a blanket over the couch in situations like this and thus the couch was spared having to go through a major clean-up.)  This is when I thought my mommy powers were gone.  You see, I’ve been told REPEATABLY by everyone, that when your own child gets sick, you become immune to the puke.  Well, one sniff of Dexter’s puke had me dry heaving over the couch.  Thus, Joel, covered in puke, cleaned up the whole mess.  What a wonderful husband I have.  We sink washed Dexter and then I held him close while Joel cleaned up.  That’s when I decided to give Dex one little sip of water to clear his mouth.  He then puked on me.  This time, I wasn’t phased.  Maybe the mommy power thing only works when I’m actually puked on, I thought (or maybe the fact that there was no food left in his belly made it less revolting).  I really didn’t want to test the theory though.  In the end, the only food Dexter was able to hold onto was his breakfast from that morning. 

The next morning, Friday, Dexter awoke at 5:30am and would not go back down.  That was after he had been up at midnight, 1am, 2:30am, and 4am.  I figured he had to be hungry so I made Joel get up and help me take the boys, yes, by this time Nicholas was awake too, downstairs for breakfast.  I helped get the toast going and the sippy cups made and then headed back upstairs to get ready for work.  When I came back down, Joel told me with big eyes, that Dexter had downed his WHOLE sippy cup in less than a minute and then drank half of the refill.  He also scarfed his toast down and ate half of his brother’s toast before Joel dumped dry cereal on this tray.  Rather impressive, if you think about it.  The rest of Friday occurred without a hitch.

On Saturday, after another 5:30am wake-up by the boys, I got the bright idea of taking them to the zoo, seeing that sun was peaking out from the clouds.  Dexter was cranky at home that morning, but once in the car, he became smilely and happy.  Nicholas went the other direction and by the time we got to the zoo, Nicky was “no no no” guy.  He just didn’t seem like himself.  Of course they fell asleep on the ride home and Joel and I both had to rock them back to sleep.  Nicky and I ended up downstairs and I let him nap on me for almost 3 hours.  When he awoke, his lip quivered, he cried out in pain, and he had a 101.5 degree fever.  Dexter was now up to and trying to play while Nicholas fell to pieces.  Joel had just finished mowing the yard and went upstairs to shower. 

That’s when it happened.  Nicky turned towards me and just puked all down the front of my shirt.  Banana chunks were everywhere.  Poor baby.  We were both covered in puke.  Then I saw the look in his eyes and told him, “it’s ok honey, just let it out.”  He puked again, this time out his nose, just like his mother does.  I YELLED for Joel and scared the shit out of Nicholas and Dexter.  He wasn’t going to save me this time – he was alreayd in the shower and couldn’t hear me.  Funny, I was fazed by the puke.  Maybe because it smelled like banana, I’m not sure.  As the puke soaked thru my shirt, I undressed Nicky on my lap – down to his puked stained diaper.  Then I asked if he could stand to which he said no.  I held him firmly between my legs and I stripped my shirt off.  I piled all the nasty clothes into a bundle on the blanket that covered the chair we were sitting in and with Nicholas on one hip, I dumped the pile into the utility sink in the laundry room.  We then walked to the kitchen were I called Joel on the intercom connected phone.  “Joel, are you almost done up there?  Nicholas just spewed all over me and I’d like some help.”  He was down in a jiffy.  Another sink bath and Nic and Joel cuddled on the couch while I cleaned up this time.  Almost gagged cleaning the clothes and had to remind myself to breathe through my mouth.

Today is Sunday and Joel and I are both wondering who will be next.  He’s currently not feeling well and skipped dinner just to be on the safe side.  Wish us well.

OK – yes, we fully admit to being behind in our blogging.  I think Joel mentioned to me that we were 3 weeks behind.  So, that said, the series of picture below were taken before their big birthday weekend. 

For the past two years now, Joel and I have printed off a cute pre-birthday picture of the boys and given them out at birthday gatherings.  This year, we were totally running behind in everything.  We scoured our pictures.  Alas, we did not have any recent photos of brotherly togetherness in the pile and thus needed to stage a photo.  The weather was nice, the boys hadn’t food encrusted their clothes yet, so we took them outside to see if we could get a spontaneous – everyone smiling – photo.  What we got instead, was amazing.

Let me set the stage.  I had the GREAT idea (ha ha ha) of sitting the boys on top of the picnic table.  (I think you can see where this is headed.)  They cooperated but we could not entice them both to smile at the same time.  Then Dexter started to admire his feet or the ground – I’m not sure what exactly peaked his interest.  Joel was behind the camera lens and thus his parenting sense was not tingling with upcoming danger like mine was. 

Too sunny out – no one wanted to look up.

Then it starts.  Mommy sense tingling, Dexter started to look over the edge.  “Hmmm – what’s down there?  Maybe I should take a closer look”, Dexter thinks.

“Oh look – is that an ant?”

And with a gentle rock foward, Dexter starts to leave the table.  About this time, I deploy my volleyball dive forward.

Right after the click of the camera and before Dexter hit the ground, I scooped him up.  That was the end of that round of picture taking.  Joel was amazed that 1) I figured Dexter was going to jump for it and 2) I caught him in time.  That kid is kind of transparent – you know when he’s going to do something stupid.  This time I was ready for it and my reflexes kicked in just when I needed them.  See Joel, I need to keep playing volleyball so that I can catch the boys when they jump from places I put them.