I realized that much of the birthday post focussed on the party and not as much on the party
boy as I'd have liked. Sooooooooo...here are some more thoughts on our son:
I mentioned he liked animals, but feel I haven't really been clear about how. much. he. likes. animals. Blues Clues is a thing of the past. Now it's all about Planet Earth and the mongolian gazelle, snow geese, red-billed quelia (sp?) and on and on and on...He went to the zoo weeks ago and still speaks regularly of the stork and penguins and lion ("the daddy was sleeping!") and on and on and on...He's all but memorized his encyclopedia of animals and when he rides the carousel, it's less about the movement and music and more about picking out which animal he wants to sit on ("First I'll do the goat and then I'll ride the rooster!")
Another characteristic that many of you know about him is that he
remembers everything. Read him a book a few times and he's got it locked in:
Me (reading): Then the train comes out -
Nolan (correcting me): came...
came out
Me (double checking the book): Well...right you are...
See, it's not an important detail or name that I've misspoken, but just a verb that moves the story very gently along. And he enjoys reciting passages that delight him. Loves the contents page where he rattles off the names of all the stories in the book.
Noley likes things in twos: a train for each hand; each stuffy has a buddy; his animals have a best friend. Heck, he spent the entire 30-minute swim class holding a bucket in one hand and a boat in the other -- and still swam the length of the pool. The kid's got killer lungs and strong legs!
He is happy at school, has a routine and talks about the kids and teachers at random. Now don't ask him about school:
Me: Did you have a good day?
Nolan: No.
Me: Oh, ummm...what did you do today? Did you have music?
Nolan (changing the subject): When we get home...
Yeah, he doesn't want to report back. But if I wait, we'll be running laundry downstairs and he'll say, "S brought her trains to school and I played with Percy." And then talking about it is fair game (phew! Cuz I want to know what he does there all day!!)
While Zadie and I were in St. Paul, he wrote a song for her:
Now what we have here is a bumblebee
Now what we have here is a bumblebee
Now what we have here is a bumblebee
A bumble-dumblebee!
He loves to learn. He got a human anatomy book for kiddos for his birthday and we talk about the circulatory system (okay, the tubes that carry blood all around your body) everyday. He likes the x-rays of hands and the wrinkle-y feet of someone who's been in water for a long time. We just page through and talk about the pictures and he soaks it in.
He occasionally calls Dadsie "Joe" as in, "Jooooooooooooe - dinner's on the table!" or "Yeah, let's go to the playground, Joe!"
His most frequent request of us is to play. "Do you think you want to go play, Mommy?" Or "How about you put Zadie in the baby jungle and we will play?" Often we are snow geese, fighting for nesting ground or we are holding (two! one in each hand!) magnet animals/super heroes/stuffies and eating all the fruit and veggies in the fruit and veggie book. There are trains to be driven and puzzles to be assembled. And while he can entertain himself, he really enjoys us (still!!) as his playmates. The feeling is mutual.
Dadsie and I both have birthdays in January - birthday cake has been plentiful in the last two months! He didn't like being sung to either by all his friends or just his family (which he didn't get from me, as I revel in being the center of attention.) But he blew out his candles and enjoyed his cake. It's felt like a celebration all year so far.
He knows that saying "shut up" isn't okay, but that "shut the door" is - and those sentiments are often remarked upon together. Words make him laugh: rambunctious, ridiculous, chicken coop. Today I said "artichoke" instead of "apricot" - funnier than all get out.
Nolan is a treat and a delight; we're so lucky and so is Zadie.
Nolan received a board game from a kiddo at his school. It involves spinning a spinner-thingy, seeing which color it lands on, and moving your guy to the matching color-square on the board. Oh, and taking turns, waiting for your turn, and not getting involved in other activities while playing the board game. Nolan caught on like a champ. The second time we played it, he chose a different guy to be his guy - like he knew you could be a different color each time you played. Brilliant! Here's the kicker: at the end of the game, after you collect stickers with different animals (did someone say animals?) you put them on your card which might feature a cave or a waterfall or a desert, and then you tell a story about them. I can't really say that Nolan has ever really told a totally made-up story of his own. Often he re-tells stories from books or stuff he himself has done. But three-year-old Nolan gets it and we just sit back and listen to his imagination shine.
