CURRENT NATHANIELISMS

• “Why?” “WHY, MOMMY?” "WHHHHYYYYY?”—Aaargh! "Because, because, because!"
• “Mommy you say, ‘Knock-knock’ and I say, ‘Who there?’”—when he goes into the bathroom to wash his hands.
• “Let’s wrestle on the bed, Dad!” But the way he says wrestle is SO cute…“Let’s wessel!”—this “guy-time activity” includes moves named “buckin’ bronc,” “big tunnel/little tunnel,” "bulldozer" and, gee, Mommy’s favorite, “body slam.”
• “I sorry. It was an accident.” (Said in the most syrupy, sing-songy voice possible.)
• His growing lists of excuses when he’s not keen on doing whatever it is we’re asking him to do: -“I can’t. I’m too floppy”—said when it’s time for a diaper change -“I too young.” “I too little.”—said especially at clean-up time -“I too sad.”—big poutty face and puppy dog eyes -“I too mad.” -“I too bad.” or “I can’t. I want to be bad now.” How can that not make you laugh? -“I too poopy.”—when it’s time to sit still on his bottom and he’s been hiding something from us. -“I too scared.” or “It too scary.”—usually said in reference to bedtime or time outs. -“It too hard.” -“It’s too far.”—when he’s sick of walking somewhere. -“I’m too late.” “I too busy.” (These two break my heart—he doesn’t hear these that often, does he?!) -“I too sleepy.” -“I too cold.” -"It too yucky." or "messy" or "slimy"--why he can't touch something...or eat something
• “I have something for you, Mom. It’s a present for you. You open it.”—he’s fascinated with filling empty boxes, bags, briefcases, and containers with lids with miscellany around the house.
• “Which one do you like?”—like which puzzle we should do or which car I get to play with. Of course, after we choose, if it’s not the one he had in mind, he corrects us, “No. You like this one.”
• “Pick a card.”—this was on a “Sesame Street” sketch with Grover one time and now…
• We still play the burrito game (“What does a burrito say?...‘Ole!’”) when he’s wrapped up in his hooded towel after bath time and we still “crawl like a tiger to bed,” but now we’ve added “peek at Mommy” before story time. Nate and Jason will peek around the office door while I’m catching up on the computer and “scare me” with silly faces.
• “Do you understand?”—after he tells us the way it should be. “No, it’s not time for bed now, I need to read a book. Do you understand?”
• “I’m very disappointed, Dad.”—most-recently said to Jason when told it was almost time to clean up.
• “Oh, that be strange.”—whenever he discovers something wasn’t how he expected it
• “I be very gentle.”—when petting the neighborhood animals, hugging a baby or touching our faces
• “I take just a teeny, tiny bit”—when he’s sneaking food during dinner prep
• “It’s my favorite in the whole, wide world.”
• “I need it!” (fake crocodile tears included)—especially after we say “no” to something or we take something away as a consequence
• "Let’s hide from Frank! Frank not fiiiiind us. Mommy, you Frank.”— Frank is the combine in “Cars.”
• “Help! It’s morning time! The black sky turn blue.”—the “help” is so we’ll come get him out of his room
• “Cool.” He officially uses the adjective. He put on some new shoes the other day, “Huh. Cool shoes!” he declared approvingly.
• “No. Not yet.” Not yeeeeet—sing-songy—whenever he’s not ready to shift gears
• “The jelly fish are chasing us…run!” (I think this comes from the jelly fish scene in “Nemo”)
• “Hold me.”—when he’s feeling vulnerable. It’s said with a desperate tone—like a woman about to faint in some black and white ‘50s film.
• “Please. Pretty please.”—like when he got a candy surprise at bible school last Sunday and he wanted a piece once we got to the car.
• "You say 'Boo!' And I say 'Aaaaaaa!'"
• "Mommy, you say, 'Moo, Moo.' Daddy and me say, 'Quack! Quack!'" (from a Sandra Boynton CD)

LIKES:

• Trains are currently winning out over cars—he takes his trains with him wherever we go, chose Thomas & Friends pillow over Lightning McQueen pillow and Thomas big-boy underpants over Lightning
• Sandwiches—especially ham & cheese or PBJ (with strawberry jelly), pretzels & red apples, bagels, raisins, carrots, cherries, blueberries, yogurt, oatmeal, PANCAKES (“I’m chowing down!”)—yesterday he ate 8!, grapes, bananas
• Singing—“Life is a Highway” (from the movie, “Cars”), “Mary Had a Baby,” “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas,” “Deck the Halls” (and other Christmas leftovers), "Wheels on the Bus," "Baa-Baa Black Sheep," “The B-I-B-L-E,” “Thomas and Friends,” “Here Comes Racecar Johnny,” and any song he randomly accesses from his little brain or even makes up to suit his current melodic need. It seems he's always singing something!
• Straws—especially with milk * Jumping—off bed, on bed, off couch, on couch, off curb, on curb, off trunk in his bedroom, etc.
• Puzzles --the wooden board manipultors and the 25-piece ones
• Crashing—trucks, cars, trains—you name it, they typically end up in a big pile. They can fall off a cliff, off the tracks, down a hill, in a lake, etc. “Help, Mommy! My trucks they crashed!” He says with a smirk of mock urgency and concern.
• Still very attached to his lovies, “Doggy” and “Ducky” (lucky for us, he’ll do with one or the other in times we can’t find both)
• DVDs or TV shows—Thomas, Auto B Good series (especially “High Gear”), Little Einsteins, Super Why, Richard Scarry, The Magic Schoolbus, Clifford Books—The Magic Schoolbus, Berenstein Bears, Caillou, Big book o’ Trains, Richard Scarry, Clifford, Dr. Suess

DISLIKES:

• Afternoon nap time. He still needs it, but he’s trying to wean himself off of it. Lately, if I want him to take a nap, I have to time my errands so we’re coming home about 12:30-1:30 pm and he falls asleep in the car. Otherwise, he resists and insists, “I’m not sleepy.” Yesterday he was sitting up in his bed (after about 15 minutes of “quiet time”) yelling, “Nap time is over! Nap time is OVER! Mommy, Daddy, nap time is OOOVERRR!”
• Being told, “No.” We’re working on this. He’s apparently at a transition stage developmentally because all the old discipline tactics are no longer working—time outs, putting favorite toys in “time out,” revoking privileges, rewarding good behavior, etc.
• Having his diaper changed. He’ll usually volunteer to have us change it in the morning when he’s “very, very wet,” “poopy” or his pjs are wet. Otherwise, if it’s a full or even a dirty diaper throughout the day, he FIGHTS it. We’ve gotten to the point that he’ll usually accept a two minute warning before we change the stinky ones that we notice. “Nate, are you poopy?” “Yes. I want you to change me in two minutes,” he recites. If it’s not stinky and we don’t notice it; he’s quite content in his warm, cozy pocket of poo—like a toddler mud bath, I guess.
• He’s becoming a little more finicky at the table, too. With certain breads, he won’t eat the crust (a toddler rite-of-passage, I know). If food has black burn marks on it (like pizza crust), he won’t eat it. If a food had flecks on it (like herbs & spices or a piece of rice, etc.), he won’t eat it, etc. He doesn’t like casseroles because of this nuance—he likes to eat each type of food separately. Hmmm. Great.

Holidays 2007

Let’s see…it was an on-the-go November & December. It felt like we never sat still--which is just fine with this toddler (but it seems to be taking its toll on Mommy)!

In November, we took two trips to Granna & Papa’s new lake house. The first weekend, we drove over for the opening of deer hunting. Mommy & Daddy took me on long walks down the dirt road. During the walks, I played “red light, green light,” waddled like a penguin and admired the rocks on the road. I love rocks. I’d carry my “purple basket” and pick up my favorites—which was just about any rock I saw. At home, I usually carry a security rock with me these days—found at various locals throughout Texas. Daddy also took me fishing at the pond and on the dock. I like fishing with my Batman pole, because I always reel up a blue fish (practice casting plug). Daddy ended up getting a 6-point buck. This year I wasn’t as keen to touch it as last year, but I did pose for the proud Father-Son photo.

The next weekend, my god-sister, Remy, flew into town with her Mom & Dad (Kelly & Martin Towey). We played around the house (especially with my new mega blocks), ate pizza and spaghetti (I love “noodles”), watched “Ratatouille” (the main character’s name is Remy!) and took advantage of our season’s pass to Sea World one last time this year. At Sea World we watched Shamu (I still call him Shampoo), climbed the rope ladders & crossed the plank bridges on the giant pirate ship, rode the monkey ride, watched the sharks (one of my favorite exhibits) and fed the dolphins! As always, I fell asleep in the car before we even made it out of the parking lot.

Thanksgiving weekend took us back to the lake for a four-day visit with Daddy’s entire family—Great-Grandmother & Granddaddy, Granna & Papa, Uncle Todd, and later Uncle Scott, Aunt Heather, Katie & Skyler. Daddy was glad he’d already gotten his deer, because the long weekend proved to be quite miserable for sitting in a deer stand at 40 degrees, windy and rainy. As a result of the weather, Daddy watched a lot of football and I watched too much “Sprout” in the playroom. I also played Dominoes (i.e., dumped the tiles so they made a loud noise & a big mess, then set them up so they fell down) and played with my cars & trucks (thank goodness for them!) After two ultrasound appointments earlier this week, I got to tell Granna that Mommy has a little sister in her tummy. She liked that.

When we returned to San Antonio , it was time to gear up for CHRISTMAS! In our house, we start by pulling out the decorations and turning the place into a Christmas Wonderland—at least that’s Mommy’s intent. I helped with the tree this year—hanging my special ornaments, putting the garland on the tree (in one big glob) and placing the cross on top of the tree from Daddy’s shoulders. My favorite decorations this year were the Singing Cowboy Santa—I played it again and again and again (“Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas”) and the Christmas train under the tree—I played it again and again and again (complete with a loud whistle, “Jingle Bells” & “We Wish you a Merry Christmas”—with no volume control).

We had our neighborhood Christmas party at Carroll & Lizzie’s. Mommy made Christmas Wreath Cornflake Treats. I made my first homemade teddy bear ornament with pom-poms & glitter glue and proudly hung it on the tree. We also had many Bible School celebrations—parties, Christmas crafts, and a Night Out in Bethlehem (a “live tour” of the Christmas story— complete with shepherds, donkeys and real camels with the wise men!) I made Lightning McQueen Christmas cards for my MOPPETS and BSF teachers—colored a picture and decorated it with festive Thomas the Tank Engine stickers. I also saw Santa and his reindeer (including Rudolph) at the Bass Pro Shop. I didn’t want to sit on the big guy’s lap, but I had fun posing in front of the reindeer scene (and showing Mommy how much fun I have looking at the animals, tents, boats, ATVs, NASCAR game and fudge shop when I come here with Daddy).

I was also a trooper when it came to Christmas shopping with Mommy this year. Although by the end of the season, I was a little too into the spirit and started putting everything I liked in the cart, “Here’s a present for me. Here’s another present for me.” Oh, I also did a pretty good job of eating (sometimes sneaking) more than my fair share of Christmas cookies wherever they were available. Hey, like Mother, like son!

Daddy finished his OB/GYN test on Dec 14th. After a few days of playing catch-up around the house, we took off for a four-day family retreat at the lake—just me, Mommy & Daddy. The first afternoon, after unpacking, I wanted to go fishing. It was a little brisk (60 degrees or so with a slight breeze), but I like it that way. After about 15 minutes of dropping my blue fish in the water and reeling him back up, my line got twisted around the tip of my pole. I tried to shake it free, but instead I dropped my prized Batman pole into the lake! Mommy tried to console me and turn it into a water safety lesson. But Daddy couldn’t stand my crocodile tears. He stripped down to his skivvies and jumped into the lake--4 feet of 50-degree water! He scared the daylights out of Mommy—he had a frozen expression and just kept quietly bobbing up and down (searching for the rod, we’re later told) and then suddenly, silently went under. He popped up with my rod in hand; but, meanwhile, my pregnant Mommy had emotional tears of confusion trickling down her face. Poor Mommy; but THANKS, Daddy!

After that eventful first day, we spent the rest of the vacation actually relaxing. I walked the family land with Daddy & Mommy—looking at deer stands, seeing my Great-Great Granddad’s homestead, having a picnic (and being obsessed with “cow poopy” after Mommy & Daddy pointed out what that big pile was on the ground—“Watch out, Mommy! More cow poopy!”— repeated every three steps.) I also watched “The Grinch” for the first time (I really like having cable!) Now whenever I see pictures of Santa delivering presents in a book, I say, “He not nice, he take all the presents.”

We returned to city life on Sunday the 23rd. Mommy & Daddy dropped me off at Granna & Papa’s for the night while they treated themselves to an IHOP dinner and Christmas concert with Trans-Siberian Orchestra—combo rock opera and 80’s glam band in a festive setting. The next day, after wrapping all the presents, we returned to New Braunfels for a whirlwind Goodwin Christmas. Mommy & Daddy came through the door, gave me a big hug and said, “We missed you! Did you have fun with Granna & Papa?” I said “Huh-huh.” “What did you do with Granna & Papa?” they further inquired. “Ate M&Ms,” was my first (and only) response. Mommy & Daddy thought that was hilarious. Papa laughed and said I was “a rat.” ☺

That night (Christmas Eve) we had a birthday party for Jesus in my Bible Class at Granna & Papa’s church. I got a big piece of cake, so I was quite content. After Papa read the Christmas story from Luke, we went to bed. I loved sleeping in my own “big bed” (a queen-size blow-up mattress on the floor)! Santa came that night and delivered me a new bike. I’m not too sure how I feel about the bike yet. I loved it for about 10 seconds, ran up to it, sat on it, put my bare feet on the grippy pedals and hurt my feet. Now I don’t seem to like it as much. I really got into the spectacle of opening presents this year. I just wanted to keep opening (“My turn again!”), until Mommy & Daddy figured out to let me open the toys after I unwrapped them in order to occupy me while other people (oh, were there other people there on Christmas morning?!) opened their presents.

This week I started referring to my parents as “Mom” and “Dad” (instead of Mommy and Daddy) I’m sure it’s from listening to all the boys say “Mom” and “Dad” all week to Granna & Papa. Three days after Christmas, we were back in New Braunfels for Papa’s 60th birthday party. I had a blast. I snuck cheese, crackers, chips, M&Ms from all the tables; danced; sang “Happy Birthday” and had a piece of Daddy’s tres leches cake at 9:00; watched “Thomas” in Granna’s big, big bed and stayed up until 10:45 (including the 45-minute car ride home)! Some might call me the life of that party.

The next morning was an early wake-up (despite my late bedtime). We were on the plane to Minnesota for Christmas with Grandma & Grandpa Breyen and my 5 Breyen cousins—Anna, Sydney, Ashley, Adam & Sarah. They all met us at the Bemidji International Airport (despite our 4-hour delay in Minneapolis). Mommy and Daddy woke me up from my nap on the taxi in, so I was a little fussy. But I was so excited to see my cohorts again, so I woke up pretty quickly. I gave big hugs to everyone. The next day we opened presents and had a big Holiday meal. Grandpa and Daddy cooked prime rib roast, baked fries, beans, and other yummy treats.

Otherwise, we spent a lot of time playing in the toy room downstairs, went ice fishing—I caught lots of minnows with the minnow scoop, experienced sledding on Uncle Jeff’s hill with Sydney and down Grandpa’s sledding chute with all the girls, and tried curling at the Curling Club—but mostly liked running on the ice and slamming the rocks into one another with a loud “boom!” The first (and really the only) thing I wanted to do when I saw all the snow was make a snowman, but it was too cold. The snow wouldn’t stick together. Grandpa took pity on me and shoveled me a really cool snow fort/igloo instead. After a week, it was time to go—all good things must end. The flight home was delayed a few hours, too; but we still made it back to our house—with all of our luggage—by 7:30. Not bad for winter travel in the Midwest.

Christmas presents of note—12” bicycle from Santa, My First LeapPad from Mommy & Daddy, Big Boy Tonka Dump Truck from Mommy & Daddy, Step2 Picnic Table with umbrella from Grandma & Grandpa, VTech computer from Granna & Papa, a Lightning McQueen blanket from Uncle Scott & Aunt Heather, Play-Doh Fun Kit and personalized “Cars” plate from the Papenfi, more cars & trucks, a goodnight kit—“Cars” pajamas, fireman book & flashlight from Grandma, board games, puzzles, Sit-n-Spin from Granna, books, bath goodies, VeggieTale DVDs and lots of other stocking fillers and treats. Since then, Mommy & Daddy have put me on a strict Grandparent detox program. I’m slowly getting back into my routine—MOPS, Bible class, naps, KidZone at the gym, storytime, etc. I’m excited about my baby sister and randomly accost Mommy’s belly to give sister another kiss. I’m looking forward to my birthday party in March. I told Mommy I want a “Thomas the Tank Engine” party. We’ll see how she comes through.

That’s life in the fast lane.
Nate