Nicknames

I realized the other day that we have a lot of nicknames for our kids. (yes, I'm counting Sophie as a kid!) I'll have to explain a few. 

Nolan:

NPR (Nolan Patrick Rhodes, not National Public Radio!)

Pumpkin

Peanut

Monkey

Big Guy

Nolanoscopy (Chris's not mine. I don't like it, but whatever.)

Snots McGee

Pukey McPukersons

Sophie:

The Sophers

Sopherino

Missy Smelliott

Monkey Face

Skunk Butt Poo Face

White Trash Club Foot

I know have to explain this last one. When we first got Sophie we were living in a teeny-tiny apartment on the beach in San Francisco. Chris would run with her early in the morning. One day she yelped, but continued to chase her ball. Two days later she started limping and I had to check her toes. Poor thing had stepped into someone's bonfire on the beach that had been smoldering all night. By the time I got to her foot, it was swollen and gooey and infected. Ouch! So the vet treated her by putting her in a bandage. She obviously couldn't run outside like this so their solution was to put an IV back over her bandaged foot and to tape it. Their tape quickly wore off and we had to retape the silly IV bag with duct tape. Hence: White Trash Club Foot. It paints the picture pretty well, don't you think?

Pukey McPukersons

Friday night was hard. My poor little guy has been a under the weather the last few days. First of all, we are getting all 4 (count them...4!) canine teeth at the same time. That CAN'T be fun. This is contributing to the runny nose and diarrhea. ALERT! ALERT!! If you are not comfortable reading or hearing about children's bowel movements and vomit, then you shouldn't be reading my blog!! Anyways, Friday night Chris left for his fly fishing trip for the weekend. (if I EVER get to see the pics of Chris in waders, I so promise to post them!) But, I digress...on with the story. Nolan wouldn't eat ANYTHING! He threw an entire plate of food on the floor and preceded to scream while nibbling on bread and cheese stick. You know the boy is sick, when he won't eat green peas!! Don't ask me why, but he LOVES green peas. So, we clean ourselves up and get ready for bed. I gave him 1/2 a tsp of Baby Zyrtec to help with the runny nose, it really makes it  hard  to breathe at night. Beyond that, everything seemed normal, he didn't make any unusual sounds and I had the monitor on. So, I wake up in the morning and I can smell puke down the hall from his room. When you can smell it two rooms away through a closed door you know it's bad. I went in and needed a haz-mat suit for his room! Holy Moly was it stinky and everywhere. Poor guy had slept in it ALL NIGHT LONG! It was everywhere, on the sheets, on the mattress cover, on Taggy, on Rabble the stuffed dog, on the stuffed mouse, the pillow, the blanket, the bumper and Nolan....all over Nolan. I had a soccer game to get to so I went into AUTO MOM MODE. In AUTO MOM MODE, you do things without thinking, you become a robot. AUTO MOM MODE is a defense mechanism to help prevent utter and complete chaos. We handled ourselves well and got out of the house on time. Nolan had a bath, EVERYTHING got put in the washing machine and windows were opened. I was proud of us, but not of me. I slowly realized that giving a baby Zyrtec on a virtually empty stomach was NOT a good idea. It must have bounced off the bottom of his stomach immediately. I assume he threw up in the 2 minutes after I left the room. I have learned my lesson. 

Here's the problem with all of this, his room still smells like puke. So now that we have cleared the house of both skunk and poop, we now are living with puke smell. The irony is almost overwhelming. 

Playing on the Front Porch

What a Day!!

Most days are good, some days are not. Today should have been a good day. Nolan goes to Mom's (Moms Out for the Morning) at the JCC on Wednesdays. I drop him off at 9am and pick him up at 1pm. It gives me a half day a week to run errands or take care of appointments.  I have taken these first couple of weeks to myself and today I went to get my nails done. (Unfortunately, next week is the dentist.) But the morning started off harsh. Both Chris and I were up with Nolan during the night. Then he woke up this morning at 6am!! Our norm is 7:30am and I'm sure you can guess which I prefer. Poor guy had a runny nose and was having a hard time breathing at night, SO NOT fun. I let him watch Blues Clues in bed with me for a while then we were up and THAT started with Nolan screaming. We screamed through our milk, through our breakfast, through putting our jacket on, through getting in the car. Finally, we calmed down on the drive over to class. I drop him off and of course he screamed  bloody murder when I left. I had to bolt down the stairs, if I hung around too long I wouldn't have been able to leave him. Just to give you an idea, the next 4 hours were the only quiet ones out of my day. I swam at the pool and then went to get my nails done. When I went back to get Nolan, his nose is still running and he was cranky and tired. He won't take a nap at Mom's, so he ALWAYS falls asleep on the car ride home. Now, at this time we will usually take a 3 hour nap...NOT today, 1 hour 30 minutes....he just can't breathe. I give him some baby Zyrtek, hoping it will clear him up and possibly go back to sleep. He screams in my lap for half an hour, in the crib for half an hour, so I get him up. He screams downstairs and in the yard straight until dinner. (We're talking from 3pm through 6pm.) Only then does he calm down because I put the Backyardigans on TV. I usually do everything I can not to use the TV as a babysitter, but there are days, like today, that it just has to happen. The only reason he ate dinner instead of scream and throw it, was because the television was on. But there is a limit in my house, so I turn it off and we go back to screaming until bedtime. He is now asleep. HALLELUJAH!! Poor guy!

The Baby Powder Incident

I have done a lot of blogging today, but this takes the cake! So from now on, today will always be remembered as the 'Baby Powder Incident'. I was watching Bonnie Hunt's new show and turned my attention away from Nolan for just a minute. She was telling a heart warming story about her dog passing away. Being a dog owner, and someone who has recently realized that Sophie is already through half her life, I was sad for Bonnie. I looked over to check on Nolan and he is standing in the middle of the eat-in kitchen area with an open bottle of baby powder and he is shaking it with all his might. My kitchen began to look like a scene from CSI. 

We have the area of the incident (see photo #1) plus areas of splatter. (see photo #2) The perpetrator himself was covered in the powder. It was obvious to me what had occured. (see photos #3 & 4) Despite the looming fact that I had to bring in the hazmat crew (me, myself & I) to deal with this situation, I laughed until I cried. Then I asked the perpetrator to remain where he was so I could retrieve my camera and record the evidence. Unbelievably, the suspect showed ABSOLUTELY no remorse for his actions. 

But I have to say, at least the house smells like baby powder instead of skunk. There is that.

Nolan and mom's gold flats.

Nolan loved walking in my flats yesterday. They were the first pair of mommy or daddy shoes that he could keep on his feet. He's been trying desperately all summer to wear daddy's flip flops and couldn't keep those on to save his life. There's just not enough room between those cute little toes. Ballet flats seem to work really well though. He can shove those little toddler feet all the way inside. When he walks they made the most wonderful sound...flaawack, flaawack, flaawack, flaawack! Of course, he chose the room with the best acoustics, the foyer. Just thought I'd share a really cute Nolan moment with all of you. We had a couple of these yesterday, but this was my favorite.  I am also adding a slideshow of some of the days highlights. Enjoy.

Explain this to me...

Why would you drink milk through a straw only to spit it out? Then when the milk is taken away from you try to drink it off the tray of the highchair? Especially when that milk is now mixed with mac & cheese and chicken tenders. WHY?

How can one get applesauce on the back of their shirt? Yes, on the BACK!!

How can a 1 and a half year old's feet smell worse than his father's feet after 18 holes of golf in 90 degree weather? HOW?

Lost in Translation pt. 2

Since NOONE but Toni comments (and sometimes 3 TIMES on one posting). I am now going to reveal Nolan's new words. It didn't turn out to be the fun posting I thought it would:( 

So, if you are interested...

1.Wahwoo = Waffle

2.Mahmoe = Elmo (which I know I will be sick of so VERY soon)

3.Bahboo = Bubble

Charmin and Bounty

Our BIG task for today was a trip to Costco. I love big box stores, especially when it's during the week and they aren't overcrowded. Anyway, we have returned from our mini adventure and I have brought everything inside. The paper towels and toilet paper come in massive quantities, the Bounty has 12 MEGA rolls, which they claim is the equivalent of 20 regular rolls and the Charmin comes in a package of 30 JUMBO rolls, which I guess is the equivalent of 75 regular rolls. I tell you this, because since we arrived home, 25 minutes ago, Nolan cannot get off of them. We have all these cars, blocks, puzzles, BALLS and scooters for him to play with and most of them light up or talk to you or play music!! What does he want to do? He wants to push around massive packages of toilet paper and paper towels and climb on them. We've lined the two packs up in various configurations and now we have put them in front of the sliding glass door to sit on!! I guess that gives him a better view of the backyard OH! Now we have realized we can stand on them and reach the door handle!!! It's a good thing he isn't strong enough to open it, because then I'd really be in trouble!!

A New Fragrance by Sophie Rhodes

I am continually amazed by animals. After Sophie's skunk incident we think we are finally 'skunk free'.  Today, after a trip to the vet for a de-skunk bath, carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning and five hundred dollars, she rolls in POOP! We finally feel like we have our life, house and noses under control and she rolls in POOP! Why, Sophie, why? Explain this to me. Does your Mango Tango Doggie Shampoo really smell THAT bad? Would really rather smell like skunk butt or stinky poop? 

I honestly think she'd rather smell like a skunk than mangoes. Skunk, by the way, when you are gagging on it smells like the most rotten fried burnt onions EVER! Poor Chris, AGAIN, is the one left to deal with her. I WAS asleep until she started barking outside. (waking Nolan at 6am, mind you!) I went to investigate, thinking I was going to be mad at Chris for leaving her outside to long. There he is washing her face and shoulders on the back porch...again. Needless to say, he's a little annoyed. So, she comes upstairs and gets sent to her crate, WHICH is right next to my side of the bed. Would you believe that after a trip to the vet for a de-skunk bath, carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning and FIVE HUNDRED dollars, she still smells like a skunk when she's wet?!?! ' Toilet de Skunk ala Mango' a new fragrance by Sophie Rhodes. Bleck!

Photos of Nolan Today

Lost In Translation

I will probably keep coming back to this subject, but little people learning the English language is so amazing to me. Nolan has a few new words which are so cute I can hardly contain myself. It's obvious to me what he's saying, but out of context (similar to namar = yogurt) it might not be so straight forward. I'll give you the Nolan version of the word and I think it would be interesting to see if anyone can guess the real word. Of course, creativity is always welcome.

1. Wahwoo
2. Mahmoe
3. Bahboo

If you'd like to post a suggestion just add it as a comment on this post. I look forward to seeing your answers. I'll post the most creative and the actual translation in a couple of days!!

SKUNKED! Pt. 2

So what you didn't hear about the Skunk incident is what poor Chris was doing while we where at the grocery store. He decided to get started removing the skunk from Sophie's coat. So he runs upstairs and puts on a old swimsuit and a white t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off. I tell you all this because the poor guy did look a bit ridiculous. He's washing the dog and nearly throwing up. Picture it, his night has already taken a pretty miserable turn when...the sprinklers turn on and soak them both. SH%$! Now, Chris is soaked, Sophie is soaked and still smelling like skunk butt. About this time we pull up from the grocery store, simultaneously it begins to pour rain! Now, Chris SO wet and SO miserable and gagging and barefoot on the back patio and he hasn't even gotten to the 'magic potion' yet. We finally make it and he douses her with it twice. Poor guy, I definitely got the good end of that deal with a run to the grocery store!