Apples Go in Your Belly!

This morning, Nick insisted that he wanted an apple. He was indecisive about which kind of apple he wanted. "Want red apple!," he said. Then, when I showed him the red apple, he changed his mind. "No! Want GREEN apple please!" I handed it to him, but this apple was pretty hard to bite. "Cut it! Mommy cut it?" he asked. So, of course, I sliced the apple into pieces. Then he wanted to put the apple into this empty box that once held granola bars. I'm not sure why. "Apples go in box," he told me definitively.

"No, Nick." I replied. "Apples go in your belly." That's where the fun started. Check out what Nick did next:

Yup. This kid is very literal. I, of all people, should know this, seeing as I work with kids learning language for a living. My students especially struggle with figurative language and the many English sayings we have in this country. Of course my two-year-old wouldn't get it. His reaction made me laugh out loud, which made Nick think he'd done something spectacular.  I had to explain that when you eat, the food goes in your mouth and then down to your tummy. He was still a little confounded. Nick even tried to put the apple in my (larger than normal) belly by lifting up my shirt. Nope, I don't have a picture of that.  Ah, well. He'll get the concept soon enough.

Nick did eventually eat most of the apple, though it had some fleece fuzzies on it by that point.

Best Bathroom EVER!

Last Saturday Greg and I went out to dinner with his dad and stepmom. They live in Rockton, and got us a babysitter so we could actually enjoy our food, rather than dodging flying crayons and "Shh"ing constantly. We went to a restaurant called Brio in Rockton, and had a delightful time.

We had what's called a chef's tasting. That means that the chef picked all 5 courses for our dinner, plus wines to go with them. Alas, I had to pass on the wine, though I did try a sip or two of the whites. I wish I'd have taken pictures of our courses, but I didn't, for some reason. I can say that this was the best food I've ever had this side of the Atlantic. (Only Paris and Barcelona can beat this place!) The decor was pretty cool, too. Check out this mirror they have in the hallway:

I think my favorite courses were the scallops, the cauliflower soup, and, of course, the dessert--some sort of crepe with homemade vanilla bean ice cream and pears. I loved the eating experience as well. . . sitting around chatting and eating small portions of very delicious food for hours is exactly the perfect way to spend an evening. Oh, and the bathrooms. . .

Apparently, they are award-winning. Did you know that there's a hall of fame for cool bathrooms? I didn't, either. But there is, and the women's bathroom at Brio was the coolest I've ever seen. I guess the women's bathroom is supposed to be heaven, and the men's bathroom is supposed to be hell. There's even blue lighting in the women's bathroom and red lighting in the men's bathroom. I was especially impressed with the mirror and sinks (see above). I also loved the clouds on the wall. . .

and the grey tile on the floor. I did not, however, take pictures in the men's room, for obvious reasons. I just took plenty of photos in the ladies room.

I want to see if Greg and I can try a chef's tasting at some restaurants by us. I feel like this was an experience rather than just a meal, and the chef was clearly trying to impress. (He did!) Greg said he felt like we were judges on Iron Chef. The whole experience was very decadent (and delicious).

Plus, since I've been spending a lot of time in bathrooms as of late (baby sitting on my bladder), Brio certainly made that experience more interesting.

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday: Smashing Chocolate

 

Nick Sings "Happy Birthday" to Daddy!

Today was Greg's 37th birthday. We celebrated tonight with his mom and sister by going to Meson Sabika in Naperville. He was only marginally more well behaved today at the restaurant. He still has a minor case of the crabbies. Thankfully, though, the employees were kind enough to sit us in an empty section, so that we weren't quite as embarrassed by the throwing of crayons and the random loud noises that this toddler has been emitting lately.

Yes, that's Nick doing the finger trick thing with his plastic straw. Going out to dinner for birthdays is kind of a tradition in Greg's family. A tradition, I might add, that I really like. We were out really late, and I am exhausted. My tummy, however, is very satisfied. I think this baby loves tapas as much as I do. I think Greg enjoyed himself despite the misbehaving toddler, and that is the most important thing, since it is his birthday. He certainly devoured his cream puffs with ice cream and chocolate sauce.  :)

Here's a little clip I got of Nick singing "Happy Birthday" to his daddy. He kept singing, on and off, for a good half hour. Hey, at least he wasn't screaming.






Happy Birthday Greg!

Crabbiness Abounds

We're a little frustrated today. Nick is over his fevers, but clearly still isn't feeling well. He's spent today throwing fits over every little thing. In the car on our way back to Plainfield this afternoon, for example, he had at least four screaming, thrashing fits lasting 20+ minutes each. Tonight, he's been growling and flinging himself around until he bangs his head. Then he cries even harder. Nick has gone from being able to tell us exactly what he wants to throwing himself around the room screaming incoherently, with his only understandable word being, "No!"

I took this picture during one of his few cheerful moments, when he was playing his grandma's piano this morning. Check out his hair. Nick had some major bed-head this morning.

We spent much of our weekend going up to see Greg's dad and step mom in Rockton, IL. Each year we go up around this time because Greg's birthday and his dad's are both in the beginning of February. Since Nick's fevers were gone by Saturday morning, we decided to keep our plans and drive up. I'm glad we did, because Nick seemed to be in a much better mood around other people. He was especially glad to play with the puppies. These are very tolerant dachshunds, and they actually like it when Nick pets them. . .

and chases them. . .

. . . and hugs them.

Plus, visiting Nick's grandparents always makes him happy. They fed us a delicious snack of Gorgonzola cheese and Anjou pears. They always have chocolates out in a little dish, and Nick needs to partake every time he goes near this dish. How many little boys enjoy dark chocolate? Well, this one does. Observe the interesting and colorful combination of marker and smeared chocolate on his hands.

Yummy, huh? The best part of our weekend was actually dinner on Saturday night. Nick's grandparents had two of their friends come over and watch Nick so we could all go out. How do you think he behaved for them? Perfectly, of course. They were charmed, and he was a perfect gentleman.

He waited until this morning to do his whole fit-throwing and inconsolable screaming thing. The dinner was probably the single best meal I've ever had this side of the Atlantic. I'll post about that meal, and the amazing bathrooms in the restaurant, tomorrow. Hopefully by then my sweet little man will have returned. I miss him.

Fun, Exploration, and Snot: A Trip to the DuPage Children's Museum

I read this post today, entitled "Oh the Snot You Will See!" from a great blog that I love reading. I was sitting on the couch with a very sick, crabby little boy at the time. I laughed so hard at the poem that I nearly. . . well, let's just say that pregnant ladies have to cross their legs while laughing. This poem is so very true. But it also made me realize how Nick probably got sick.

The doctor said it's some sort of virus that causes high fevers and, well, lots of snot. He's had fevers as high as 104.6, and as his fevers spike, so does his temper. I have spent the last three days sitting around the house trying to placate him. My normally cheerful child has been. . . well, he's been kind of a jerk. The only plus is that he's been quite cuddly and wanted lots of hugs and snuggles. This is not a usual thing for Nick, who normally never stops moving.

So where did he pick up this bug? Last Sunday, Nick really needed to run around somewhere. It's been pretty cold outside, and this boy had tons of excess energy to expend. So Greg and I took him to the DuPage Children's Museum in Naperville. It's been about a year since we took Nick, and he was able to do so much more this time!

Nick met lots of new friends, and laughed and ran for three hours straight. He made a ton of noise. . .







































and danced up a storm.

Nick learned about simple machines (levers, of course).

He also picked up some kind of bug from one of the many germy children also visiting the museum. Sigh. I suppose picking up viruses and such is a normal part of developing his immune system. I'm definitely not going to stop visiting fun places for fear of germs.  But maybe, just maybe, I'll start carrying around hand sanitizer when I go to snot-infused places.

Snopocolypse 2011: The Aftermath

Alright, I know. . . that sounded like a rather dramatic title. But things were looking pretty dramatic last night. Check out the view from my front door. I think this was around 10 p.m. on Tuesday.

I had a truly crazy afternoon at work, and then a 2 1/2 hour drive home. I was careful and took the long way home, avoiding the back country roads. It was pretty boring, considering that I didn't go much faster than 10 mph the whole trip. I felt somewhat better, though, knowing that I would have Wednesday off from school. I love snow days. While the blizzard was pretty crazy yesterday, (see picture below) things were looking much better by late this morning. We decided to go outside, but just look at what we found when we opened the door.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nick was eager to go outside and play in the snow, but it was very cold once we got out there. Our side and backyard were pretty cleared of snow, because the blizzard had blown it all towards the neighbor's house. The deepest snow was up by the garage and the front door. Grandma Toni's car was nearly covered!
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Here's Nick and Greg showing off their winter gear.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Our next door neighbors loaned us a sled for Nick to try, and Greg took him for a few trips up the street and back.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nick was a little crabby and complained about being cold. I asked him if he wanted to go inside and he said, "No!" So we played for just a little longer.
 

I showed Nick how to make snow angels, and . . .

snowballs, too.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Right about this time Nick told me he was cold again. I asked if he wanted to go inside, and he said, "Yes, Mommy." So inside we went to shed our many layers of clothing. Here's what our entryway looked like.
 

We were only out for about 25 minutes or so, but Nick was shivering when we came in. His nose was running pretty bad, too. I took his shirt off, and the poor boy was burning up. Poor kid had a temperature of 102.7! We're still not sure what he has, but he's obviously not feeling well.

His nose is running, his eyes are watering, and he's kind of achy. There are no other symptoms that we've seen. We've been giving him tylenol and lots of snuggles and just hoping he gets better. Good thing I have another snow day tomorrow. I wouldn't want to leave him when he's running fevers like this. Plus, they haven't plowed us out of our subdivision yet, so we're stuck at home anyway.