Three-Year-Old Fears?

Very, very suddenly, Nick is afraid of playgrounds. Over the last month, he was slowly getting more confident climbing up and going down slides alone. After Mom's visit, he was running around with the big kids, climbing wherever he wanted to go.

One day he was confident, the next day he had terrible, shaking fear. He truly freaked out. This has lasted for two or three days so far. I can't figure out what is going on. Is it three-year-old fears already? Probably not, since his birthday is in two months and Xander didn't get his age three fears right away. I am trying to think if something happened around Wednesday or Thursday, but I can't think of anything other than him playing as usual on the Y playground while Xander had soccer practice.

He is very clingy and cry-ey today. What could it be?

Xander's 6th Birthday Party!

First, the preparations on Saturday. Lego Cakes

My less-than-convincing yellow Lego Cakes which are brown on the sides and bottom.

A large cardboard box with red cupcake liners glued to the top to make a big Lego backdrop. It says Alex 6 on the front.

Goodie bags

An awesome picture before the first soccer game.

Here I am attempting to capture how freakishly delighted and frenzied Nick was when we brought home the helium balloons.

He was more delighted than this.

Running around with a balloon, crazed.

Yay, balloons!

I cut out cheese circles and pepperoni circles to place on top of crackers and pizza in Lego patterns. My tool? The plastic cap to a vinegar bottle.

For Lego building: I noticed not one child used instructions, but they did make really awesome creations.

Centerpiece, of course.

Xander decorated with little scenes around the living room.

Of course Grandma Lucy's X6 picture was the perfect decor.

Awwwwwwwww...

Time-out for a quick Sandy picture. He's still really skittish around the camera, so I haven't been able to get a good picture yet.

Having run-around time. Does not have glowing eyes in real life.

The boys spent much of their time here during the party.

Funny, last time I checked Xander was a little afraid of going up there. Never heard a word about it today.

Blowing out candles: six of them on a little snack cake.

Yeah, this is out of order.

Notice Nick to the side grabbing food while no one's looking? I didn't notice often enough. I wonder how many candies and pieces of pizza he had today.

They are cracking themselves up with potty humor. The amazing thing was that Xander, after a while, told them, "Stop, guys. I don't like that. Please stop." When they didn't stop, he joined in their potty phrase substituting something clean. ("Banana smells like...cake!") He didn't insist on his own way. I distracted them with a game involving candy. Why is this amazing, other than the fact that he was the only boy there who wasn't jumping on a peer bandwagon? He tells his own potty jokes at the dinner table sometimes. Then guess who is saying, "I don't like that."?

He had a GREAT day, too.

Cake. Stuffing his face.

The package game: passing around a tiny gift that has been wrapped in many layers in which candy pieces have been dropped. When the music stops, the person holding the package gets to open the next layer. If any candy drops out, he gets to keep it.

Still playing the package game.

Building their own creations.

Opening presents, and a little tussle over who would actually do the opening.

He had a good time.

Our Learning Today

Nick and I did some informal learning things today. We made stacks of his pretend coins, counting to five, and we named them. He mentioned something about dollar bills go in his wallet, but he does not have one yet. Xander does. :) Then we got Sandy the guinea pig out and petted him and combed his hair. I will very soon get pictures of Sandy. He is getting slowly more and more comfortable here. Nick is almost more interested in Sandy than Xander is...considering Xander has more going on every day.

Sandy sheds enough hair that I googled "spinning guinea pig hair into yarn." I think the consensus is that you would need a lot of guinea pigs to provide enough hair, and that guinea pigs do have hair rather than fur, so it would be harder to do unless you had a silkie or curly-haired type. Which we do not.

Then Nick wanted to color and paint. All our paints are nontoxic and very washable. However, he did get it on his clothes (before I remembered to take them off) and his feet and he managed to track some of it around the living room before going to the bathroom to wash his hands. I love laminate floors more with each passing day. Why would anyone want carpet????????????? I am now thinking about dirt and mud and sand tracked in on little boys' shoes. Again, carpet - why??????????

Ah. Now I see traces of black paint in Nick's hair. Yep. Nontoxic and washable.

Then Nick had his marvelous daily independent playtime. I often hear him singing to himself in there. Today he was making conversation on behalf of his toys. I don't know which. Maybe his animal puzzle pieces, maybe his stuffed animals, maybe his Lego Winnie the Pooh characters...

Now he is playing with his magnet trains and also looking all over for the bouncy ball he JUST bounced which promptly disappeared. He is moving pillows and going around the room saying, "Is it under the pillow? No. Is it under the couch? No. Is it in the vase with that flower? No..." I will have mercy on him and go get it. I am sure it is under the couch - Wait. No. As I typed this, he found it. What a good little systematic search he did.

His eyes are looking like they are doing a lot of work to keep themselves open. Nap time soon.

I stepped down from my Babywise blog co-moderating gig yesterday. It makes me very sad, which is silly because I can still do it again whenever I want. I just won't be expected to on any particular day. That blog and group are very valuable. Ack. I miss them just writing about them. Which again is silly because I know just where to find them.

I want to declutter my schedule so that I can focus on my main priorities right now. It will be good for when Erik is gone, too, for me to feel that I don't have so much to do. Taking breaks from computer activities is especially good for me. I think I'll try to keep up with this blog, though, because Erik will want to read it when he is not here.

Grandma Lucy just left and now it looks like Grandpa Mike and Grandma Lesley will be visiting in mid-May. Uncle Jeff and Aunt Rieko might come, too! That would be exciting anyway, but it will be especially welcome because Erik is going to be gone then.

Dude, I'm Farting, Honey

You knew this post was coming, right? I am just beginning to learn about the ramifications of a testosterone-filled house. (Even our guinea pig is male.)

So, first things, first: food. Nick actually asked for rice and garbanzo beans for lunch today, and ate a ton.

He has a cute habit of addressing me as "honey" sometimes. I guess I use that term a lot toward the boys. Xander has always addressed Nick that way when he wanted to be helpful and sweet.

Two examples today:

We were watching a YouTube video of a guinea pig in a train-set-town who was cast as a "giant" guinea pig "attacking" the town. He basically nibbled lettuce while standing near tiny people and tiny emergency vehicles. The girls making the video used high-pitched screaming voices to say things like, "You're eating our children!" "Why are you attacking us?" etc.

Nick said, "It's screaming, honey," to the guinea pig.

Later, Nick found his sunglasses in our toy box and brought them to me, saying, "I wan' wear my sunglasses, honey."

Speaking of terms for people, I just overheard Xander using the word "dude" for the first time. He is repeatedly asking Nick, "Dude, how did you kill all these? Dude, how did you do that? Dude, how did you defeat that guy?" He also wanted Nick to cooperate as he made himself into a "fart cannon" while I loudly vetoed the idea from the kitchen. What a fabulous example he sets. :) No, really, he is a good example of a loving, smart, conscientious person...who just happens to love play-fighting and talking about farts.

More Pics of Gma Lucy's Visit

No, he hasn't grown out of this love yet.

Nor this one.

Bluebonnet season!