Letting Nixon BE Nixon....

Sometimes the hardest part of being a mom is letting your child be him/herself. There's so much fucking pressure to raise a boy to be strong and tough and manly, while girls can be soft and girlie and princesses OR rough and tumble tomboys. Nixon likes having his nails painted sometimes, he's even asked for pink once! (HOLY shit he's not right in the head!! No, you fuckface, he's 2 he hasn't "learned" that boys aren't "allowed" to wear pink.) Nixon has pushed a doll stroller through the zoo with his friend, Miss Macy doing the same thing. His stroller was blue and he rolled it kamikaze-style downhill with his precious BeBe in it, while laughing with glee the whole time!


   Today was raining, Mac was at work with the car and Nixon was chilling with me having a snugly movie day. Cartoon Network was doing a movie marathon of sorts and I figured it was better than watching any other movie or show I've seen a million times over with him. A Barbie movie came on and Nixon was enthralled by it! I've never been big on gender roles, or so I've always prided myself on, but to my horror my first reaction was to try to change the channel! I caught myself, and instead left the room to grab a cup of coffee and figure out my issues. It wasn't that Nixon was enjoying a Barbie movie...it was that I've always disliked Barbie and just assumed any child of mine (boy or girl) would feel the same way! I took my coffee and sat down to watch Nixon enjoy a Barbie movie. Turns out...he was only into it for the dancing and singing!


   I guess, my point is, despite my every intention of being that super open minded mom that just doesn't play by the typical gender roles, this one snuck up on me. The one thing I didn't do, which I was really fucking proud of myself about, I didn't say anything to Nixon, I kept the internal struggle over Barbie where it belonged...in my head! Like most times I have an issue with, I don't (at least I try not too) let Nixon see me struggle with the issue. 


   

The wonderful world of terrible 2's is coming to an end

In just a few short days I'll be the proud owner mother of a 3-year old!! I'm still not sure how that happened, but I'm guessing it had something to do with letting him sleep at night! Well, that and feeding him on the regular. 


In honor of his birthday here are photos of him on his birthday since he was born. (I'll add one from tomorrow after the festivities are over)  

This was the moment I realized I was screwed! Nixon was adorable and owned my heart from the minute he was born (well, after he was cleaned up...when he was slimy and gross it was kind of touch and go!)  He was 6pounds 14ounces of perfection! 
And I still remember almost murdering a nurse who refused to bring me a bottle of formula after Nixon's circumcision because he was too upset and hungry to latch onto me correctly and he hadn't eaten in over 6 hours! My very first "momma bear" moment.

On Nixon's first birthday he had a big birthday that weekend and spent the day with us. His new "pal" was Buck from Ice Age 3. 


We started our family tradition of Taco Bell on Nixon's birthday.  

On Nixon's 2nd birthday, I scheduled a free photo session with a new photographer on the island. Nixon and I played on the beach and seawall at the exact moment of his birth. He was his lovely delightful self and I was basking in the glow of being his mother for two full years!


This year proved a trying one as Nixon developed mentally and emotionally plus verbally. I'd be willing to say Nixon spent over a month of his life in Time Out during this year! But for every exasperating moment he brought to me, he gave me a thousand joyous ones in return. 


Nixon says "i love you", "thank you", "please", "excuse me" (though this one is most recently followed by "shhh mommy be quiet"), "I got to dance" and "maybe...." whenever he decides he wants to do something. 






So thank you Nixon for 3 wonderful (and wickedly evil fast passing) years of motherhood. Thank you for teaching me patience, the true meaning of exhaustion, the smiles, the tears, the laughter and most of all, Nixon, thank you being you. 


I love you, and I'm really almost totally over those cracked ribs. I'd say 3 more years and I might stop bringing it up! 


Happy 3rd Birthday to the littlest love of my life!!

There's this boy who STOLE my heart.....

....he calls me Mommy

So, here is it November already. Just 2 short weeks from Nixon's 3rd birthday and I can't keep myself from falling more in love with him. I mean, he took my breath away when I held him for the first time but now with his personality and attitude really shining, he's stunning to me!


Take today: This morning he says to me "Maybe, we'll go for a walk", which is Nixonese for "mom get off your ass and lets get some fresh air". The walk ended up a secret code for "buy me a new matchbox car" too! But I also bought us donuts for breakfast so it all worked out. I asked Nixon if he knew he wanted a car the whole time he was asking me to take him for a walk and he said "of course mommy". I'd have been annoyed, except when he put his car on the counter, the cashier put it in a bag just for Nixon and when she handed it back to him Nixon said to her "arigoto" (without a single prompting word or look from me). I was a proud, proud Mommy! When I called him back from the exit and asked him to stand next to me while I finished paying, and he did without a fight, I said "gracias mi amor" my little linguist looked up at me and said "da nada mommy". Oh, let the melting begin!!


After we walked home, had our (deliciously sinful) breakfast and chilled Nixon comes over to me and says "mommy maybe we go see aminals." I asked "you mean like go to the zoo?" Nixon says "well that's where the aminals are" very matter of factually. SO, off to the zoo we go (thank goddess for season passes!) 


Now, I got smart here. On the way in I laid out the ground rules. If Nixon was good and we walked the whole zoo THEN he could ride the train (that evil bane of my existence fucking ride!) and the merry-go-round before we left to go home. I made sure Nixon repeated the rules to me 5 times before we even saw the train. Amazingly enough, he was okay with it!
So we walked to zoo, saw the animals, fed the giraffes, rode the train and Nixon got to ride the giraffe on the merry-go-round all by himself (I was standing next to him though). We had a lovely time and I couldn't have had a better date with him if I tried! Almost 2 hours at the zoo and not one tantrum. I call that progress!


Lately, before bed I'll tell Nixon he's my favorite. He'll give me a smile, a high five and he'll say "mommy I happy". I hope he says that for many, many, many years to come.