Softy-soft

Nicco loves soft things. Who doesn't, really? Anyway, he named my soft robe Mommy's soft; he has three little fleece cuddly squares called Baby Softy, Broncos Softy, and Duckie Softy; he snuggles his Soft Blankie; his favorite toy is his Soft Bear. This afternoon when we arrived at his swim class, I had to dig him out from under all his stuff. I named all his soft things one by one as I removed them...SpongeBob, Soft Blankie, Soft bear...Soft Boo.

Nicco is picky about what he can be called. Nicco, Boo, Buddy, Bug, Baby Bear, all seem to be acceptable. He does not like being called a Monkey and he objects to SpongeBoo NiccoPants. Perry the Platypus (of Phineas and Ferb fame) is the only Secret Agent allowed in our house, there can be no Agent Boo. So when I called him Soft Boo at the pool today, he was highly offended and said indignantly "I am NOT SOFT!" Then to emphasize his point, he rubbed his little bare thigh and immediately changed his tone. "Oh," he said, "maybe I am."

N-I-C-C-O; That Spells Nicco!

We went to the State Farm office today to look at converting our auto coverage from Colorado to Arizona as well as to evaluate our home insurance policy. While we were discussing options, this is what Nicco did:
All on his own, without prompting or assistance. This is the first time (that I am aware) he has tried to write his name. At home, he either lets me hold his hand while I write it, or he will let me make dots for him to trace. I am not sure if they have worked on it at school more or not. His teacher just told me about the one time they tried and he was nearly in tears because he is "not doing great at this." I know it is a small step, but I'm still pleased and proud! (He also sounded out "Fresh Fish" at the grocery store.)

Then again, he didn't finish because "WAIT! O is not next!" pound fist on table, throw pen and paper on the floor, hang head in shame and dismay, cry tears of frustration. He did not accept my assertion that the letter following the "i" is not an "o" because it is open on one side, like a "c."

Like I said, small steps.

American Dream

This afternoon, Patrice joined 52 other newly minted US citizens in a moment that culminated a years-long journey.

When Patrice was very young, in his early twenties, he left his native France in pursuit of what we call the "American Dream." He left his home country to escape the stranglehold of socialism and to pursue happiness in the form of freedom and liberty to succeed or fail by his own actions, to labor for himself, and to keep the fruits of his labor, rather than hand them over to a corrupt (yet somehow morally superior?) government system to disperse among the entitled population getting by on social security, disability, and other public funded welfare programs.

Is there a better time to become a citizen than now, where we witnessed this very week the power of the vote, the demonstration of a frustrated public who will be pushed only so far, and no further? A time where our lifestyle and values are being threatened by a tyrannical government that wants with all its might to take over every aspect of our lives? Now, as an American, Patrice has a voice and a vote. He gets to participate in the democracy that guarantees the blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The road to citizenship began several years ago, when Patrice first entered the country. He brought a suitcase, less than $100, and fewer than 5 words of English. He learned the language, went to work, and eventually arrived at the courthouse in Tucson where he recited the Pledge of Allegiance with his fellow Americans.

Enter cynical me. There were a couple of stumbling blocks in the path...we moved from Colorado to Arizona after he started the application process, and somehow, the government institution screwed up the paperwork (surprise) and process to change the address. Patrice received his notice to have his fingerprints taken at our Arizona address, asking him to report in Aurora, Colorado. It took several phone calls to finally correct that problem. Once he cleared that hurdle, he spent several evenings studying the 100 questions about American history, government, and civics from which the questions would be selected for his exam. As we reviewed together, I was pleased that I would certainly pass the test without studying, but ashamed to realize how many questions I did not know the answers to. On the day of the exam, Patrice was prepared to demonstrate fluency in the language, culture, and history of this great nation. He was asked 6 civics questions, had to read and write the phrase "We the People." All of this available in Spanish, in case he needed a translation, and administered by Mexicans. Sorry, Mexican-Americans. This took 5 minutes. He passed. He was given a date to appear at the courthouse to take his oath and be sworn in as a naturalized citizen. (Exit cynical me.)

Today, Patrice came home and picked us up to go along with him to the courthouse. We stood in line with the other candidates and their friends and families to pass through the security screening. On the wall, there was a sign listing things you cannot bring into the building. The words "NO CAMERAS" were printed in large, bold letters. I wanted to cry and could not believe that I would not be allowed to document the ceremony for our family annals. But, being the obedient girl that I am, I ran back to the car and put the camera away to avoid a lecture from the security officers and a disturbance that could delay or prevent me from watching my husband take his oath. I made it back in plenty of time, and we entered the jury assembly room, periodically lit by the flashes of cameras as candidates and their families stood together in front of the judge's bench and the flag and the seal of the USA at the front of the podium. What the what??? Of course cameras are allowed. OF COURSE THEY ARE!!! So, I beat myself repeatedly on the forehead for taking my camera back to the car and settled for whatever pictures I could get from Patrice's phone. Oh, wait. What was that announcement? NO CELL PHONES DURING THE CEREMONY??? YOU WILL BE ISSUED A CITATION IF YOU USE YOUR CELL PHONE??? Almost in tears, I silently vowed to memorize every moment so I could document it in words, if not pictures. Then I just decided to throw caution to the wind and turn the cell phone to silent in order not to interrupt the ceremony and be issued a citation. Such a rebel! (pictures will be added later when Patrice gets home and I have access to the phone again)

Re-enter cynical me. There was a young hispanic gentleman translating every spoken word for the candidates in Spanish. I couldn't help feeling disgusted and insulted. I may have even vomited in my mouth a little. I am sure the Vietnamese and Somalian candidates appreciated the translation as much as my French candidate did.

The candidates signed in and took their seats in the first 3 rows. Their countries of origin were acknowledged. There were people from France, Italy, Ukraine, China, Vietnam, Canada, England, Somalia, Afghanistan, El Salvador, Spain, Uruguay, and Mexico. The Mexican contingent, very appropriately for the solemnity of the setting and the occasion, shouted and clapped, instantly transforming the ceremony to the atmosphere of a soccer game. Nice. (Blech...okay, exit, cynical me.) We all stood as the Judge entered. He welcomed the candidates and expressed his pleasure and pride in the assembled group. He spoke as a citizen, welcoming them to the land of the free and the home of the brave. He commended them as a judge, for taking the proper and lawful route to citizenship. He admonished the crowd to enjoy the blessings offered by this great nation.

Then the candidates all stood and took their oath:

I, (Patrice Boudou), here declare on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

Following the naturalization oath, we all recited the Pledge of Allegiance. I got a little choked up. So did my husband. Following the pledge, the Judge invited anyone to share their stories or feelings at this solemn occasion. He looked around the room at timid faces who were not inclined to speak. Full of emotion and not wanting this moment to pass without any words from the audience, I stood and told how my husband left his country many years ago to pursue his dreams in freedom and liberty, and how pleased and proud I am this day to call him "My Fellow American."

Massachusetts Miracle

The people speak! I am giddy and thrilled and happy that the people in MA turned out and voted and sent a very clear message as to what our American Democracy is: by the PEOPLE for the PEOPLE!!! This special election in Massachusetts was a battle won in a war that is still being fought, but I tell you Mr. Brown said all the things tonight that a president should say in times like these. We'll keep our eyes on him. Let Freedom Ring, baby!

go to youtube and search Massachusetts Miracle. If that video doesn't give you chills, well then, you have no soul.

It feels good to have faith renewed in the American people!

Blog Book, First Edition

Some time ago I was talking with Sheila about how I don't believe in the permanence of anything on the internet and that I would one day like to make my blog into a book. A few days later, she sent me a link to a company that does precisely that! So I spent hours and hours uploading and arranging text and photos to make a satisfactory book, only to have to START ALL OVER every time Patrice cleaned up the computer. It only happened twice, but I was really pleased, happy, and mostly relieved when January 1 arrived and I could finalize my project and send it off to be made into a book. It arrived today! Hip, hip, hooray! Nicco browsed through the pages, flipping back and forth, reliving the memories recorded within.
I learned a few things that I will change in future editions. First, bigger is better. Some of the photo layouts make the pictures too small. Next time, I will keep the text on one side and pictures on the other, rather than trying to put text and photos all on one page. That way I can probably make the text bigger too. Sometimes I squeezed too much and it is a little difficult to read. It will only get more difficult as I get older. I thought about making a table of contents, I will probably do that next time. I didn't include comments from blog posts as I went along and since the software to upload the blog posts did not include the comments, it was just way too tedious to add them all, so next time I will do that. Overall, I am very happy with it! It is much better than a boring snoring photo album, and as tedious as it was to arrange everything, it is MUCH less tedious and time consuming and considerably less expensive than making scrapbooks. There are over 500 pictures, which would cost at least $50 to print them all, plus the cost of either photo albums or scrapbooking stuff. So to have a hard cover book with all my pictures and stories in 258 pages for $70 (plus shipping) is pretty darn reasonable!

Fresh Squeezed Part II

We picked a bucket full of grapefruits off the tree today.

There are two reasons this picture is not so great...one is that the settings on my camera are clearly off for the lighting situation, and two is that it was so darn bright and sunny! (77 degrees today...) Nicco was very proud of the giant grapefruit he found and picked.

The bucket of grapefruits, and there's plenty more where that came from!
Squeezing the juice is hard work! Thank goodness it's an electric juicer!

Half of the grapefruits, halved.

Finally, the bucket is empty!

Nearly 5 liters of freshy-fresh grapefruit juice. Mmmmmmm.

Monday Fun is Back!

We took Nicco to the International Wildlife Museum yesterday. Stuffed animals from all around the world!

Here's my boy next to the lion outside the entrance. There was also a cheetah near the entrance. When we drove by, I asked Nicco what that animal is and he said "It's a moose." I snortled and suggested that it was probably a cheetah, maybe a leopard or a panther. It wasn't until we parked and walked up to the actual entrance that I noticed the rather large elk on the bridge overhead. The moose comment suddenly made sense and I felt bad for snickering at my little boy. (bad mom)
This picture is out of order. (I thought I was being so careful!) You enter the museum in the bug room (below) then you follow the path marked by arrows on the floor to the other exhibit halls in the museum. Mr. OCD did not like wandering off the marked path. Must.Follow. Arrows.

Millions (okay, maybe just thousands) of butterflies, moths, and other creepy crawlers.

Face to face with a skorca skull. (That's a sky-orca for anyone who doesn't watch Penguins of Madagascar)

Petting the ferocious tiger.

Being pounced upon by the ferocious tiger.

Bears, just like at the working house! Every wall in this hall was covered with mounts of various creeters. Hundreds and hundreds of creeters. Grandpa Madsen would be envious of the deer head wall!

Nicco finally agreed to step off the designated path and approach the leopard.

Because the 'gator was on the floor in the middle of the hall rather than behind the roped enclosure or mounted on the wall, Nicco thought he might be alive. He walked up to him timidly then knocked on his head and said "Hello??? ... He's dead, mom."

Walking under the giraffe bridge

again...

The mountain goat mountain. I thought this was cool. The mountain is huge and it has mountain goats and big-horned sheep from all over the world climbing up to the top.

Nicco recited the "Goin' on a Bear Hunt" song as he wandered through this cave. "...it's dark in here...is anyone around?...I see two eyes...and a big furry body...RUN!!! IT'S A BEAR!!!"

And he crawled around like a ferret.

Staring up at the Wooly Mammoth. Across from the mammoth was an elk whose antlers were big enough to lie down on length-wise. The boss told Patrice about such creatures, but Patrice thought he might be exaggerating a bit. Not so.

There was a small theater where they show National Geographic films. They had a polar bear video running. We sat down and watched for a few minutes until Nicco whispered to me "How long are we going to be here?" We promptly left. He played around in the tunnels and caves for a few more minutes then declared our visit done.

Fresh Squeezed

Nicco and I picked oranges off our tree this morning.

Mmmmm...mmmm...mmmm...YUMMY!

That is all.

Rough Stuff

Every once in a while when we were kids, Dad would come down the stairs after changing out of his work clothes, kneel down on the floor, and put his glasses on top of the stereo. The moment he reached for his glasses, we would erupt in squeals and giggles because that was the sign that we would get to play "rough stuff." All four of us would climb on top of our dad and he would tickle us, pull us, push us over, bulldoze us, and carry us around on his back. Even though there were four of us, I think that our childhood "rough stuff" was mild compared to Nicco's version. Tonight, Nicco was riding on Patrice's back, shaking his head back and forth, squealing, and pounding his daddy. Patrice said "I have a monkey on my back!" Considering the pounding of fists, I said he was more like a gorilla. Nicco stopped squawking long enough to say, very matter of factly, "It's me, your kid." and went right back to his noise.

A little bit later, the game evolved to one in which Nicco climbed up on our bed, ran and jumped into his daddy's arms. He can be a little unpredictable, and the mommy gets a little anxious. One time when he stood up after being thrown back onto the bed, he stumbled in his dizziness and almost fell off the bed. I reached out to block him and he looked at me and said a little breathlessly, "That was close." Then reading the anxiety on my face, he reassured me "I'm still alive."

Well THANK GOODNESS! Carry on!

Where Have I Heard That Before?

Yesterday, Nicco wanted to play a game on the Wii. He had to take one out and put the new one in the console. I helped him find the box he needed, but when I asked him to put the game inside the box he said "I can only do one thing at a time."

Reverse Psychology

After spending a few weeks playing around on Starfall.com, Nicco has learned all the letters and sounds and can read a few sight words and even sound out several simple words. He surprises me every now and then, like when we drove past a shop and he said "O-puh-eh-n. Open. Mom, that store is open, I guess we can go in." He can also count pretty high, only omitting 7 and mixing up a couple of the teens here and there, and he recognizes and can put numbers 1-10 in order. I'm not sure where he picked that up, because starfall doesn't really address numbers much. He is a quick learner and an enthusiastic student for the most part, but for some reason, (maybe because he couldn't do it "great" the first time...) he has been reluctant, even stubborn, about attempting to write. I know, WHAT??? My kid? Stubborn? NO WAY. He was on the verge of tears at school when they did writing practice, he gets angry when I try to help (make) him practice, so I have just let it be. He will try (and get it) when he is ready. Mom and Dad got him a really great dry-erase book for practicing lines and letters and I bought him a set of dry-erase markers to go with it. I thought that having something special to practice with would encourage him, but he just skipped to the last page with the blank space for free-form scribbling. He does love his special markers, but is intimidated by making lines. When we packed up the Christmas stuff, Patrice had him trace letters on tags to label the boxes. He did the first letter with characteristic Nicco-style enthusiasm, but then got stubborn, angry, and frustrated. Also characteristic Nicco-style.

Fast forward several hours...We put in a video, Nicco wandered between the movie with us and the office with his "stories" (a.k.a. Starfall) and at one point, of his own volition, he pulled out his "special book" and colors and started writing. When he did the A, we said "That's great, but there is NO WAY you can do the B." and so it went, through both the upper and lowercase alphabets.


And as you can see, he was very proud of himself.

Bonne Anee 2010

Ringing out the old:

Last night, we went up to the working house to watch the dog while the boss is out of town. Nicco showed off his diving, floating, and other swimming skills in the hot tub for about 45 minutes. After the soak, we got our comfies on and settled in front of the fireplace. We turned on a show for Nicco at about 10:00, thinking that after playing in the warm water for so long he would fall asleep quickly and we could watch a mommy/daddy show. No such luck, Nicco stayed up through all of Madagascar 2. We snuggled into bed and put on a late-late show to watch until either Nicco fell asleep or 2010 arrived. The boy got his silly on and could not stop laughing. He even uttered "I...can't...stop...laughing!" between bursts of laughter. At midnight, I told him to give his daddy (who was mostly asleep) a kiss and tell him happy new year. We watched 2 minutes of madness in the streets of New York, turned everything off, and went to sleep. Big night!

Ringing in the new:

We are cleaning up the house, taking down Christmas, relaxing a little, hopefully signing papers for a new house, and setting goals.

Tam resolves to:

*learn French

*exercise every day

*finish my Pulitzer reading list



Nicco resolves to:

*learn French with Mommy

*keep his toys orderly



Patrice resolves to:

*practice French with Mommy and Nicco

*exercise every day

(P.S. I started this post on January 1. It is now January 2 and so far, a big FAT failure at our resolutions! Nothing like getting off to a great start! In our defense, we have spent nights and mornings at the big house to watch the dog. Things are not normal. Back to normal on Monday. Monday is a good goal starting day, right? Also, nothing like starting off by making excuses!)

(P.P.S. We submitted an offer on a house today. We really like it. A lot. Anyone who wants to cross their fingers, say a prayer, light a candle, sacrifice a goat...whatever...in hopes that the owners and the bank accept our offer, the sentiment would be appreciated.)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer...

...according to Nicco:

"On a froggy Christmas Eve, you'll go down in my story."

Jacknives

Nicco and I were playing "exercise" this afternoon. For some reason, he really likes the strength training exercises where he follows the trainer's instructions. He makes me giggle.

Here he is, listening attentively, learning how to do jacknives.

Not quite there...

But on the third try, check out that form! His pudgy little boy belly will be a six pack before you know it!

A Holly, Jolly, Sniffly, Snuggly...

The best laid plans...We all know the saying, right? We had plans for a fun Christmas Eve, sharing treats and traditions with some new friends, but the Daddy came home from work with serious sniffles and body aches. I dropped off our treats and regrets at our friends' house then went back home to baby my baby. Instead of Boudou Christmas Crepes, we had leftovers and chicken soup. Nicco tracked Santa via Norad's Santa Tracker website just until he got past Europe, and just one hour after a 2-hour nap beginning around 6:00 p.m. Nicco was ready for bed. I wasn't prepared for that! We hurried a note and plate of goodies for Santa's stop at our house then trundled off to bed. Nicco came in at about 7:30 this morning and asked if we wanted to get up. He was giddy and excited, as all 4-year olds should be on Christmas morning. He was thrilled that Santa found our house, ate our cookies, and left a note. Wouldn't you know it, there was indeed a red train named James for Nicco.

The look on Nicco's face says it all! He gasped with delight at each surprise, even the underwear in his stocking! We opened gifts live via the web cam with Papi and Mamie and Tante Zouzou so they got to share in the child-like joy of our child.

It was a sentimental Christmas journey this year...Sheila sent See's lollipops that Grandpa Madsen frequently gave to us growing up, Danae sent Blockhead, a game we played often growing up, and Mom and Dad found a near identical replica of Grandma Martindale's chilli sauce that she used to send us every year growing up. If only someone had sent us some figs....

Nicco and his two favorites (the red train named James and the GI Joe fighter jet shooting plane) helped Daddy make crepes. Patrice filled one with bananas, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. Nicco took a bite and said "I LIKE these tacos!"

With our whole family feeling a little weary with the sniffles, we plan on more Christmas snuggles. And really, what's better than a happy, snuggly family?

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Nicco's school scheduled a visit from the Jolly old Elf today. We know he is busy, so it is great to see that he managed to take time to visit all the good little boys and girls in our neighborhood! In the car on the way to school this morning, Nicco said "I'm not ready! I didn't write my letter yet!" So when we got home, we wrote a letter together. It said:

Dear Santa,

I like choo-choo trains. I want one. I want one that is red. His name will be James. I have been a good boy this year, so I am on the good list. See ya soon.

Love, Nicco

He held my hand tightly while he waited for his turn, walked cautiously up to Santa and handed him the letter. Santa said he's pretty sure he has a red train named James already packed up in his sack for Nicco. Awesome! I guess I know what Santa's local helper will be doing Thursday morning while Nicco is at school...

Quote of the Day

The other day Nicco came into the office with a scratch above his eye. I said "Oh no! You have an owie! How did that happen?" He replied immediately "I didn't jump off the couch." Hmm. Can anyone guess how he got his owie?

Hair Cut

I always like Nicco's hair best just before he really needs a trim. His curls are at their curliest and I think he looks cool, whatever that may mean coming from a mom. Once I can tell that the hair in his eyes is bugging him too much, I know it is time. He was distracted by the hair in his face every time he went under water at swim lessons, so he was due.

Before

His mess o'curls

After

I think he looks much younger when he gets a trim. He was extra wiggly this time, I may actually have to pay someone to do this chore some day.

Swim Lessons

Nicco finished up about 6 weeks of swim lessons on Wednesday. He loved it! I loved it! His teacher, Mr. Chris, was great. Nicco was visibly nervous and cried on his first day when he had to go under the water. Chris was very gentle and reassuring, saying things like "It's okay, I know it's scary. Let's take a breath, get the water out of your eyes and mouth, and let's do it again." When Nicco fussed and fought and said he didn't want to do it, Chris said "I know you don't want to. Let's do it anyway." And what do you know, Nicco got over his fear and anxiety in just one lesson! Chris was firm when he needed to be, gentle when he needed to be, silly and fun when it was appropriate, and Nicco looked forward to his lessons each week. I loved watching him improve from one lesson to the next, sometimes even making huge strides in a single session.
Here he is under water-no tears!

Popcorn popping up from the bottom of the pool. Many of the skills Chris worked on were safety skills...how to get out of the pool, how to float if you fall in the pool, how to pop up if you sink to the bottom. While I will never let my little man in the water without a grown-up nearby, I certainly do feel more confident that he will at least know how to control himself safely if he did fall into a pool by accident.

Nicco practiced his skills in the tub and in a pile of pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals. He is making "sandwich hands."

Sandwich hands, chin on chest...and dive. I anticipated broken wrists, cracked noggin, etc. each time he jumped. It made me crazy. CRAZY!!! He will start level two in January.

Fun and Games

Mom brought Nicco a new stuffed ball when she visited at Thanksgiving. Since then, Nicco's interest in balls and games associated with balls has been renewed. Once we put up the Christmas tree, I had to nix the ball throwing, kicking, and hitting in the living room. The boy staunchly refuses to play ball outside. The rocks and cacti are not very inviting. Also, he always seems to get the ball game desire right before bed time, when playing ball outside under the best of circumstances (weather-wise) is highly inconvenient. Not to be dissuaded from playing ball, we found an acceptable field...the hallway. Nicco is pretty good at tossing and hitting his "baseball." I'd like to think he has some athletic talent, but more likely it is the size of the ball and bat...
One problem with the game is that if Nicco misses the ball, he dives for it. Anyone else see an emergency room trip waiting to happen, given the corners on the blind there? I thought my brain would explode watching him bonk his noggin over and over again. I suggested a quieter game, and he said "Like hide and seek?" It is less wild, if not quieter...

Nicco found me hiding in the closet.

Then he hid under the bed and under the table. He giggles and squeals and just cannot believe it when I find him. He got himself stuck under the table. Needed to be rescued. Even though our game of hide and seek was something of a rowdy romp, it was so much more fun than watching another episode of SpongeBob!