Mischief Managed

Each stage of Nick's young life has been both a joy and a challenge. There are aspects of each stage that are so amazing you wish you could have time stand still forever; while at the same time your skills as a parent and a person are constantly being challenged. This toddler (pre-terrible-two) stage with Nick has been no exception. His vocabulary and communication skills have exploded in the last 2 months. He now has a very distinct personality, knows what he wants, and does his best to communicate to you what that is.

Parts of the communication exploration are amazing. Nick loves to say " 'ellow" (read: Hello) and "Bye" even to perfect strangers. My favorite part of his "Bye" is that it is almost always followed by "muah" (with any elaborate hand swoop from the mouth outward). Having your baby blow you a kiss when you have to leave them, makes parting less of a sweet sorrow and more of a funny, precious moment. He also runs excitedly to you leaping into your arms when you return home which is quite possible my favorite moment of every day.

However, this new personality Nick is developing most definitely comes with a mischievous side. He is getting into any and everything and LOVES to play tricks on mommy and daddy. We try hard not to laugh when he does it, especially if he is pushing the buttons of the other parent, but it is almost impossible to not at least snicker when he makes this face that screams "Gotcha" (maybe the cutest face ever). Here are some highlight of Nick's pranks and jokes:

The other day Nick decided it would be hilarious to rip apart his bag of Pepperidge Farm pretzel goldfish. He went to the center of the living room, surrounded by the pups, grunted extravagantly and ripped apart the bag Hulk style. The puppies began gobbling up pretzel fish as though a giant pinata had been busted  before them. The real down side came when the dogs began trying to lick up all of the salt and almost choked to death from lack of water close by.

One of his favorite new tricks is to get on the sofa and turn the light on and off. It is like we have some kind of toddler rave going on in our living room, accompanied with explosive bouts of uncontrollable laughter. This prank results in Jeremy pulling the chain on the light to ruin Nick's fun, but actually the joke is on Mommy because later that day or the next she is too short to turn the light back on by the chain due to the vaulted ceilings in our living room.

Other antics are those just to get a rise out of mommy, which is pretty easy to do. Last night, we went to dinner with Aunt Kim, Uncle Brian, and cousin Eliot to celebrate Kim's Birthday. Nick ate and emptied all of his grapes out of the styrofoam container and began wearing it on his head, he quickly realized this trick was upsetting mommy so after I wrestled away the container, he began wearing anything within his reach as a hat, including his cheese slices. Despite the laughter by the entire table, Jeremy informed Nick that we are not packers fan, and that cheese as a hat is not appropriate :)