A Few Of My Favorite Things (pt.2)

On a recent business trip I realized how much Nolin changes these days.  I have enjoyed being a parent since day one, but I have to admit that each day continues to become more fun and exciting.

After spending 18 months with Nolin, I am pretty sure we are going to have a kid on our hands that has a lot (and by a lot, I mean a whole lot) of personality.  Here are a few more of my favorite things that Nolin does…

Can’t Touch This: MC Hammer should have taken his own advice and told his entourage to stay away from his money…apparently Nolin listens just about as well.  At 18 months it is a delicate balance between keeping your child from hurting themselves and keeping your child from breaking everything in your house.  So you will often find yourself trying to teach them right from wrong.  Luckily Nolin has a good grasp on right and wrong…it doesn’t necessarily stop him from doing something, but at least now he let’s you know that he shouldn’t be doing it.  One of his new favorite sayings is “Do Not Touch“.  Each word emphasized for dramatic effect.

The other day he walked over and handed me two outlet protectors (apparently not the best investment) and said “Do not touch“…thanks for the advice bud.  At the shark exhibit at Seaworld he looked at me and said “Yo…Do Not Touch“. As he goes to pull the flowers off of Grammy’s indoor plant he will shout Do Not Touch while simultaneously pulling the leaves off.  I guess at this point it is more the safety of our things we have to worry about because Nolin obviously has this do not touch thing down.

Walk The Dinosaur: Similar to a lot of children’s toys, the group Was (Not Was) didn’t stick around too long after their one hit.  My parents are the best at giving age inappropriate gifts, but it works out great because Nolin has toys he can grow into all year-long.  At the beginning of the year, they gave Nolin a dinosaur walker, and now he loves it. He also loves singing along with the Was (Not Was) classic, Walk The Dinosaur. After just singing it to him once, Nolin began adding in Floor and Dinosaur and then immediately cracked himself up.  While I am sure he is going to be an athlete, I also think he will have an ear for music.  He picks up songs almost immediately.

Jingle Bells:  I have been so excited about Christmas this year to see if Nolin will truly get it.  If you ask Nolin what Santa says he replies (in a deep hearty voice) “Ho, Ho, Ho“.  Now if you see Santa up close and personal…it’s a little different story.  He doesn’t cry, but he wants nothing to do with him…probably just because he hasn’t seen the real Santa yet this year.  We also went to Seaworld and saw the Sesame Street Christmas…as we were leaving the park he began singing the first verse to Jingle Bells completely by himself and then helped out with the second verse which culminates with a very enthusiastic “open sleigh…hey!”. Something tells me the real Santa will have a lot of fun this year.

These Old Shoes: This song by Deer Tick talks about finding different modes of transportation to get back to a loved one.  Nolin has not yet discovered Deer Tick, but he loves anything that moves.  He gets a big smile every time he sees Thomas the Train (and recently Percy) and sings along with the theme song. It is pretty impressive because he always hits the last note (“friends”) of the song in perfect pitch…apparently he has a better ear than his old man.

He has also re-discovered his cars that move on their own when you pull them back.  He now can entertain himself chasing cars around the house screaming “weeeee“.  He can sit and play cars with you for long periods of time letting you know when its his turn and your turn (Your turn daddy) to send the cars flying into the wall.

And old shoes…well those are a favorite pastime too.  He loves to find other people’s shoes and announce Shoes On.  Typically they are either Don, Teresa or my shoes.  I am not sure if this is because he just likes our shoes better, or if we are the only ones who leave them out consistently, probably the latter.  At the Irish Christmas party he did try to make off with a 3-year-old girl’s dress shoes who had taken them off to play in the park…that would have been an interesting one to explain.

Hug You Squeeze You:  The late great Stevie Ray Vaughan said it best when he said I want to hug ya, squeeze ya, love ya till my arms fall off.  Nolin loves to hug.  A hug isn’t always because he actually wants to give you a hug, but it is because he wants to get a better view-point, wants attention, or wants to get out of a car seat/stroller.  His pediatrician thought that this was actually brilliant because he has replaced getting & giving a hug with crying to express himself when he wants something.  Needless to say, the boy is a lover and still likes to give hugs just to show you how much he loves you.  He’ll announce Big Hug and run across the room and throw his arms around you.  He has also started saying Best Hug Ever for particularly good hugs.

Sweet Dreams (are made of this): Annie Lennox is a classic and while there is not a formal routine when it comes to bed time our semi-routine good night ritual is one of my favorite times.  It includes Nolin hiding in the closet and behind chairs, pulling out all of his stuffed animals and then laying down with them as he announces he is sleeping.  He also enjoys brushing his teeth and our teeth brushing song Everyone’s Brushing Their Teeth (to the tune of Trendy by Reel Big Fish).  Finally there is story time.  We’ll typically read a few short stories with Nolin and he’ll read along. He then always gives both Jenn and I a big hug before he goes to sleep, and as we walk out the door he has started saying “sweet dreams“…I have to admit, it’s pretty awesome.