I'm in New York Don't You Need Me

It finally happened, after 2 plus years I left little Nathaniel home alone.  Oh wait, Kevin was there.  I hadn't even spent a night away from him, let alone 4 nights.  Everyone kept asking if I was going to be ok, I just kept saying 'Yes, I think so'.  I kept thinking 'should I be worried?'  hhhmm maybe?!?  Nah, I was leaving Nate in good hands.  The boys were going to live it up while I was gone.  Cookies for breakfast, chocolate for lunch, ice cream for dinner!!!  Oh no, I should be worried.

So why was I leaving my boys?  For my birthday me and my sister decided to go and vacation in New York.  New York is so beautiful and lively during the holidays.  It was going to be my sister's first time to visit there, I was so excited to be a tour guide (at least a rookie tour guide).  The Manhattan map was my best friend.  We did so much while we were there.  The highlights were seeing 2 live shows (The Jimmy Fallon Show and Live with Kelly and Michael), walking way too fast by priceless artwork in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, seeing The Rockettes, walking through the city streets in the snow and strolling through central park and eating at the Boathouse…. plus like a million other things.  

My feet needed a massage every night, but my sister wouldn't give me one - man I remember a time when I was able to make her do that stuff for me haha.  We drank some good wine, chatted a lot, froze here and there and laughed with and at each other :)  We definitely used our Metro passes to zip around the city.  One day was funny when a thing called *Santacon* was going on.  It was a huge bar crawl where everyone wears Santa suits.  It raises money for charity and they were EVERYWHERE.  The temperature hovered in the low 30s pretty much the whole time we were there so we would always say, 'Time to suit up' as we headed out of the hotel…. 3 or more layers (a vest that heats up), gloves, hat, scarf… whatever you could put on.

Wait, I forgot to mention … I was getting very few texts and calls from home.  They were suppose to fall apart without me there.  What's happening?  I was so busy in NY I didn't even fully realize there weren't any meltdowns or calls of panic.  Apparently, they were doing just fine (or hiding it very well) yah yah that's it, they were hiding it. I got to FaceTime with Nate when we'd take a rest at the hotel and I must say things did seem in order.  The best is when Nate would just say, 'bye bye' right in the middle of our talk - little booger.  Kevin even remembered that Santa was visiting our neighborhood and took him outside to see him.  There was only one major meltdown - something really bothered him about how Kevin cut his oranges.  Funny thing to get upset about - I think he was just missing me :)

I have to say I enjoyed my *mommy* away time.  I had forgotten how easy it is to just worry about getting yourself ready and only feeding yourself.  It was a nice change for a few days.   I did find myself noticing more little kids than I normally would.  After being sad to see my sister get out of the airport tram and head off to her terminal I could feel myself getting excited to see my little guy.  When Kevin pulled up to pick me up I went to the back to hug and kiss Nathaniel.  He let me for a second and then said,'Go sit down' and pointed to the front seat… once again, little booger!  Luckily, he made it up to me by giving me extra attention when we got home.  He was all hyper and wanting me to play with him.  I missed that little dude.  The house was clean, everyone looked fine…. man, I guess they don't need me.  I guess that means I get to go on vacation more! 

Times Square

Trump Tower

Waiting to see if we got into the Kelly and Michael show
at a Sbux that had a Christmas tree lot outside

Grand Central Station

Alice and Wonderland fountain in Central Park

Mood fabrics (from the Project Runway show)

Peppermint Mocha

Ahhh a nice peppermint mocha really makes it feel like the holidays, doesn't it?  Kevin and I both love peppermint mochas (along with most of the free world).  But, this is not the peppermint mocha I'll be talking about.  Nathaniel received a Play doh stamp toy in his stocking.  It looks kind of like a small bowling ball pin that has a swivel top that when turned changes the stamp image on the bottom.  You then push it in the play doh and it makes a swirl or flower, etc.  Well, I guess Nate has seen us use a pepper mill.  This toy reminded him of a pepper mill.  It is actually a lot like a pepper mill so it has been funny.  He looks like a waiter at a restaurant that asks if you want fresh pepper.  

Now I'm not sure why what he did next happened, but it did.  Nate kept running to Mocha's cage and twisting the toy in his cage and then running back to us.  As he was running he'd say 'peppermint mocha'.  I am assuming he means pepper mill mocha.  That is all that toy is known as now - peppermint mocha.  We couldn't find it last night and he just kept repeating where is peppermint mocha.  It cracks us up on several levels… one, I don't know where he learned what a pepper mill even is and two, why does mocha need some and three it hasn't been used in the play doh yet.

Regardless, Santa has a way with gifts ;) 

Toothbrush Torture

We all know that brushing your teeth is uber important… ok I use the word ‘all’ loosely. There is a small boy in my house that may not exactly understand why tooth brushing is important.  Actually, I’m pretty positive that he doesn’t.  We have been brushing Nate’s teeth for about a year and a half now and there hasn’t been much improvement in technique.   Nate’s understanding of what brushing your teeth is, is this…  mom or dad putting some glob of goo on a toothbrush and sticking it in his mouth while saying something to the effect of ‘touch every tooth with it’ over and over again. 

He lets us brush his teeth for about 3 seconds before running off with it in his mouth.  Oh wait!  He does come back.  His favorite thing is to then stick the brush under running water again and again and again while chewing on it.  These toothbrushes are destroyed pretty quickly.  They look like the dog got it (sorry Kona, I mean Mocha got it).  But no, it is just Nate torturing the toothbrush. 

I’ve let this ‘technique’ continue because I actually read that toddlers chewing on the brush can actually clean the teeth (what made me feel better is that I’m not the only one with a chewer).  And I’d be lying if I didn’t mention that toddlers can be quite opinionated and he is pretty sure he doesn’t want any help haha!  Needless to say, we probably should have a refresher course in teeth maintenance here soon before I spend too much on replacement brushes.  I bet there is a book for that huh?

Maybe a Little Too Honest

Nathaniel is really starting to get the 'Yes' and 'No' answering system down.  It has taken him a lot longer to learn 'Yes' than 'No'. Up until the last month or so you would know he meant 'Yes' if he repeated what you said or looked at you in a special way.  And you still have to prompt him sometimes when you ask something…. "Are you hungry?  Yes or No?" 

Now, I know this isn't the most interesting subject, but what cracks me up is how honest he is with his answers.  I wonder when we lost that natural honesty.  If we want to say 'No' we sometimes hem haw around because we feel bad just saying 'No' outright.  Not Nate.  I can't think of all the times he says 'No' because they are so spontaneous and funny, but here are some regulars that come up.

Me: Do you want to pick up your toys?   Nate: (no hesitation) No  

Me: Do you want to try and go pee pee before we go?   Nate: (again no hesitation) No

Me: Do you want to watch a show?   Nate: Yes

Me: Can mommy read you a book so daddy can go to work?   Nate: No, mommy downstairs (dad is so much better at it)

Me: Do you want to go to Target, Costco, anywhere?   Nate: No, no Target, Costco, anywhere

Me: Do you want kisses? Nate: No

Me: Can Mocha drink some water?  Nate: No

HHHHmmm there does indeed seem to be a trend.  I swear he does say 'Yes' sometimes, really I swear. Really!  

Ready, Set, Go

Christmas has started in the Hahm household.  It started with a birthday visit from my friend who I've been friends with since 8th grade.  It is always so great seeing her (Kelly).  We don't skip a beat.  I love that she loves seeing and being around Nathaniel.  It is always so hard to see her leave.  I'm pretty sure we squeeze a years worth of talking into a few days. We had fun black friday shopping, eating Thanksgiving dinner and hanging out at Opryland resort.  Opryland was all decked out for Christmas and kicked off the holiday season.  Nathaniel was looking for Kelly the morning she left. :(  He kept saying 'Kelly go bye bye'  and when Kevin got home later that day and he heard the garage he said 'Kelly home?'  Sad.  

But, on a happier note, we put up our tree and started putting up some decorations.  Kevin got the lights up outside even.  Everyday Nathaniel cannot wait to turn the lights on.  I have a ways to go to fully decorate the house, but soon everything will be festive.  

Two things that we have been doing everyday is 1) Elf on the shelf.  My friend Karen bought us this since she also had this tradition.  Nathaniel understands it better this year and wants to hear the book everyday and look to see where the elf is every morning.  We don't do any elaborate scenes with the elf like others do (not this year) we just move him around the house.  While it is a fun tradition the elf can be a little creepy when it is staring at you from the window sill haha… I'm sure I'll have a nightmare where the elf is attacking me.  Hopefully the dogs will save me.  And the second thing we have been doing is 2) Santa advent calendar. Nathaniel has been glueing a cotton ball to Santa's beard everyday.  He is so proud to show Kevin when he gets home from work.