Slices of Life, Vol. 13

Favorite Nicholas phrase this month: "I don't like Merry-kins cheese [American cheese]."

________________________________________________________

Although Nicholas has moments in which he has trouble expressing himself in words, those moments are fewer and farther between. For example, the other night at dinner, he requested a fork with which to eat his rice. I cautioned him that I thought it would be easier to eat rice with a spoon, but he would not have a spoon. It had to be a fork. Hence:

Me: "See, Nick-Nick, the rice is all falling off your fork. It's going to your lap, not in your mouth."

Nicholas: "No."

Me: "I could just get a spoon for you and sit it by your plate. That way it'll be there if you decide you need it."

Nicholas: [glowering] "No."

Me: "OK."

Nicholas struggled to get two more forks piled with rice to his mouth, and failed. He put the fork by his plate and reached for the rice bare-handed.

Nicholas: "Mommy, I'm going to use my hands now. And do NOT tell me NO."

_______________________________________________________


Sitting on the couch with Nathaniel recently while he watched "Higglytown Heroes" before bed, he handed me something greenish and slimy on the end of his index finger.

Nathaniel: "Here, Mommy."

Me: [recoiling slightly] "Um, what IS that?"

Nathaniel: "Well, it is NOT a booger."

Me: "Where did it come from?"

Nathaniel: "My nose. I got it with my finger, but it is NOT a booger."

Me: "What do you think it could be if it's not a booger?"

Nathaniel: "I'm thinking it's a piece of grape."

_______________________________________________________


Recently Nathaniel wanted to trade Nicholas his after-school treat for what Nicholas had (a Starburst). Nathaniel had a small bag of Bottlecaps candy, but he'd already eaten a couple before he decided he wanted to swap.

Nathaniel: "Nick-a-liss, do you want to trade my Bottlecaps for your Starburst? Bottlecaps are REALLY good."

Nicholas: "OK."

Me: [intervening] "Nathaniel, how many Bottlecaps are left? You've already eaten some of them."

Nathaniel: "Unodostrescuatrocincoseissieteocho!"

Me: "What?"

Nathaniel: "Uno dos tres cuatro cinco seis siete ocho!"

Me: "DID YOU JUST COUNT TO EIGHT IN SPANISH?!"

Nathaniel: "Si."

_______________________________________________________

Nicholas is quite the dare-devil and loves climbing up high and jumping off things. Any tall surface will do. He tries so often that he's apparently learned to pre-empt my warnings. The other night, he climbed up onto the back of the couch. As I opened my mouth to stop him, he said, "Mommy, I am NOT going to fall down OR crack my head open."

________________________________________________________


While watching The Polar Express movie with the boys one night when Grayson was out of town, Nathaniel made the following humorous observations:

When the little boy came out of his house in the middle of the night and got on the train (The Polar Express), Nathaniel looked at me, alarmed, and asked, "Mommy, WHAT IS HE DOING?"

Me: "It looks like he's getting on the train." [pause] "How old do you think he is?"

Nathaniel: "I don't know, but I KNOW he's not 4, because 4-year-olds do NOT get on trains without their mommies or daddies."

Then, later, when The Polar Express pulls into the North Pole, you see about 10,000 elves dressed up in full elf regalia. Nathaniel said, "NOW THERE'S SOMETHING YOU DON'T SEE EVERY DAY."

___________________________________________________


To see past Slices of Life, click here.