"I just being a barber "

We thought it would be better if Nick told you what he did............






And then we took pictures of Mikey so he could SHOW you what Nick did.......

Yes, we were having a playdate and in less than 5 minutes, Nick had stealthed off to our upstairs bedroom, gone into our bathroom, climbed onto the toilet and then reached up into the cabinet where daddy's mustache/nose/ear hair clippers were stashed and became a Barber all on his own! So proud of his willingness to get a job in these tough economic times!

Luckily, Mikey already had his 3 year old pictures taken and his mom is one of my dearest friends so she will not refuse further playdates. He kind of has forgiving hair and you don't notice unless you look twice.

Nick is so speedy and tall now that I have to watch him almost every minute as he still likes to reach and touch and investigate.....and now obtain .....and then cut, draw, eat whatever. We have always kept things high and behind closed doors but he grabs things before you can even turn around and put them away. The fact that he even knew daddy had small scissors upstairs amazes me.......nothing gets past him now. I want to install video cameras everywhere so I can just watch him without being with him every moment of the day....it gets exhausting. There are things that he has learned are "off limits" but for him and his "way too creative" mind, we never know what he is going to go for next. I expect GREAT things of him some day with all of this creative and investigative energy. Our challenge is how to remain calm and get him to tell us what he did and not lie or sneak. At least for now, I know the look he gets when he instinctively or obviously knows he has done something he is not supposed to so as long as he tells us what he has done he gets a consequence but not as severe as if he continued to hide what he did. Parenting is so hard...........these are the days when I have to talk to God again about why we didn't get Nick as a baby so we could just have survived the sleepless nights and crying for a few years before he started locking himself in lockers and cutting his friend's hair! :)

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Speaking of how smart and observant our son is.......

A few weeks back, we had a conversation regarding Nick wanting to go to a hotel. He loves hotels and wanted to go swimming. I explained to him that we stay at hotels when we travel and that they cost money so we only stay at them when we travel. We had another conversation on another day regarding why daddy goes to work. I explained that he worked so we could have a home, food, and travel to see our families. A third conversation regarding what travel toothpaste was for and when we use it.

The following conversation brought all those ideas together in the most hilarious dinner talk one night last week.

Nick : I want to use my travel toothpaste (pause)

Nick:(with very serious look on his face) Dad, you need go to work!

Dad: No, I have been at work all day long already

Nick: (we) need to travel! (pause) You need to make money so we can travel!

Pat looked at me like are you kidding me....did my son just tell me to go work so he could travel? I thought in my head....well, yes, I agree, Wyoming , Utah, Idaho, California here we come! LOL!

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This months phrases......

1. ummmm, mom (or dad)......"problem is (weak excuse for why he can't do something)"

2. "not exactly"

3. While walking by a stroller at the store....."cool baby"

4. OK, whatever! (followed by me saying, what did you say?) "I mean, Yes, Man (mam)! :)

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We sure do love this crazy boy! He charms the pants off of all his teachers. They think he is just so cute! (he is) This week his speech teacher told us that she sees great improvement in his ablility to sit and attend to his lesson or task. She is so pleased. So are we!

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Hope everyone is having great fall weather like we are.....my folks are coming on the 14th. We can't wait and then we just found out Pat's parents may try to make a trip in November. Soooo exciting! Nick said he wanted Ata Bill to bring his big truck so they could go on a "benture" (adventure). He is so his mom's son! Now, if we just had some $$$$ for gas! I think it is a sad representation of our nation when we need to encourage our children to be a college athlete vs. a college graduate, a college coach vs. a college professor so that we can make a comfortable living! oops, off my soap box....lets just say, I am not surprised AT ALL with our economic crisis......Our priorities are reflected in our current mess. 'nuf said"

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Just one last picture for my sister and her family. Nick is loving the police uniform. BJ did he learn to pull up the socks all the way from you?? :)