Boy in Charge

This evening, Nicholas made some rules for Dad. Just to make sure Dad get it, he posted them on the wall too:

"Do not be mean, BaBa."

"Do not scare"

"Be good"

"I am watching you"

... ... Boy, has Dad been that bad? Sigh...

On the other hand, Rachel played train with Nicholas this evening for the first time. To reward that, Nicholas made a sticker with the word "Good" and put it on Rachel! As Nick puts it, "Meimei loves me the best in the world!"

The boy sure understands the basics of motivation theory! :-)

BTW, last night, it was Dad who Nick "like the most".

Mickey's Secret

Everyone has been looking forward to the Disney cruise in December. A little incident yesterday had almost caused a little scare though.

"Did you know," Nick began, "There is not Mickey Mouse in the Disney World. It is just people pretending."

"......"

"That is because the real Mickey Mouse lives in Mickey Mouse Club House!"

At least, there is still hope...

Mom's Business Trip

Nicholas was so happy that Mom finally got back from her two-day business trip this morning, because he really misses Mom. Nicholas had been asking questions like "Why can't I go on the business trip with Mom?" "Why I never get to be on a business trip?"

While we were waiting for the school bus this morning, Nicholas saw a taxi around the corner and he was so excited -- "Look, Mom's taxi!"

It turned out Mom took the bus back.....

The Tooth Fairy Business

Nicholas lost his first tooth! The one that has been hanging on since Rachel's Birthday party has finally given up today at lunch time.

During the short walk home from the school bus stop, Nick was definitely showing off his knowledge about Tooth Fairy --

"Did you know, she gives you money".

"Oh" (Yeah. Where do you think she gets the money from, baby?)

"... ... and I can buy stuff. If you want something, I can buy it for you too.."

"Ohhhhhhhhhh" (hmmmmm)

"... ... She will give you $100"

"... ..." (damn inflation!)

---------------------------

Just as Dad was writing this blog, and Mom was googling about the tooth fairy business, Nicholas rushed into the room in tears announcing he did not want the Tooth Fairy! He made sure that Mom send an email cancelling the Tooth Fairy appointment -- "she has a special computer that she will get the email, right?" "she will listen, right?"

Biking W&OD Trail

Over this long weekend, Dad and Nicholas Biked the Washington and Old Dominion Trail. This was the first time Nick went on the "bicycle road", and it was Fun!

On Day 1 (Wednesday), we took a short (2 mi round trip) ride to inside the beltway with Nick's little Maqueen bike. But we decided to take a giant leap and bike to downtown Vienna to see the red cabos.

Nick was in full gears today. In the co-pilot's seat, he was such a good paddler, giving Dad a lot help going up and down the hills, and he "was not even sweating". Dad, on the other hand, was totally exhausted.... Sigh...

Nicholas' Homework

Now Mom has talked to Mrs. Weise, these are some of the homework coming back:

- Number of Sides in a Square
- Number of Legs of an otupos
- Value of 7 dimes
- Value of 7 nickles
- Legs of 6 dogs!!!!

Not only did Nick has the answers, he even read the questions right!

And Nicholas' first journal today:
"Win(when) I come home today, I ned (need) to do works! I am doing math and days of the week"!

New Journal

Dad bought Nick a journal today so that he can start writing diaries!

That was an idea from Mrs. Weise, Nick's teacher. Mom met with Mr. Weise for parent teacher conference last Tuesday. As suspected, Nicholas is doing great at school. He scored the highest in one of the recent exams, which Mom and Dad are still struggling to understand what it was all about. Mrs. Weise also suggested Nicholas' reading and math skills are at the level of first or second grade, and he should start writing three-sentence diaries everyday!

Home sick

Nicholas has been home sick for a week now.. Fevers over 105F, which scared the hack out of mom and dad - two different antibiotics plus Morton. And the doctors drew 5 tubes of blood from Nick.. Sigh..

"that is so old!"

This fall, Nicholas is going be in the U6 soccer team, because he is 5 and half now. After a practice today Nicholas really enjoyed it. "U5 was too small." He concluded. But, "Six -- that is so old!"

Dad's wage

Nicholas has been collecting coins for his new piggy bank -- as he said, "if you need to buy stuff, just let me know!"

So he was really excited to find a quarter and a dime in Dad's car on the way back home. But being a curious boy, Nicholas always has question. This time - "Dad, is this the money you made today?"

Dad: ......

On a serious note, Nicholas has become quite an expert in all kinds of games. He loves playing Connect Four these days, and not to mention video games. When Nick and Dad went to Dave and Busters last week -- Yeah, Nicholas finally managed to earn enough stickers for the trip -- we actually did a race, on two separate motor cycles! Our little boy is really growing up. And of course, when it comes to video games, practices has really helped as well :)

The Powser of Incentives

Nicholas is all about earning stickers these days:
- 1 for practicing piano
- 1 for doing the homework
- 1 for finishing dinner in 20 min
- 1 for sleeping by himself
- 1 for a no-accident night

His goal? 20 stickers so that he can go visit Dave and Busters again, a place that Nicholas loves so much. And he seems to be well on his way!

Learning Bicycle

And Nicholas is a natural :) For the first time yesterday, Nick and Dad biked side by side. And that was so much fun, except it was killing Dad's heart!

Toys for Sale

Nicholas insisted in selling his toys last night -- he had four toys in mind: "the fire truck, the crane, the big train, and the big Thomas". He even made a sign for it.

 Asked about the reason for the sale, he replied, ""When they buy the toys, they are going to give us money, right? I want to buy stuff, for you guys!"

How sweet that is..

A conversation about money and work

Nicholas did a great job in his swiming class today. Afterwards, we played at the playground. Finally, it is time to go home --

Nicholas: "Everyone needs to go home"
Dad: "Yes. But some people do not have homes, isn't that sad?"
Nicholas: "They could buy houses"
Dad: "But they don't have money"
Nicholas: "Oh. They need to work to make money"
Dad: "Yeah"
Nicholas: "How many cents do they need?"
Dad ......

Kindergarden

Nicholas started Kindergarden last week, which he is very proud of! How big a kid he is now? here are some examples:

- Reading. He now reads "chance" cards while playing his favorite "car" monopoly game.
- Writing. He just made a 6-page book about "Beach". So cool..
- Science. The other day he saw the strach mark cream mom used during pregnency. "Mom does not need this any more." He said, "But we should save this for Meimei, because she is a girl" -- "But, will Meimei hurt?"

What a great big brother!

Too excited to sleep

Nicholas is not early bird. His daily route typically involves Dad dragging him out of the bed after 8am, shouting "we are going to be late for school!"

Well, this morning, Nicholas woke up at 6am, and had to neogatiate with a sleepy Dad about how soon he can leave the bed. The reason? Mom bought him a box of Space Shuttle legos! He started working on it all by himself last night, and is almost done with this morning's work -- good job!

Do you have enough money?

Nicholas is learning the concept of money these days, just as Mom and Dad are reworking the family savings plan. So, when Nicholas asked to go to his favorite restaurant, the Cheese Cake Factory. Mom and Dad started to explain to him that we needed to save money. That resulted in the persistent questions -- "Do we have enough money to go to the Cheese Cake Factory yet?"

Finally, we went there last weekend, and Nicholas was so happy!

My sister loves me

Now Rachel is over 9 months old, her admiration for the big brother really shows, as she follows him everywhere. The other day, Nicholas was having a "swiming bath" in the bathtub. Just mastered advancent swimming skills, he put his head under the water. But that really caused big concern for Rachel as she was watching. So much that she bursted into tears. And Nicholas had to explain to her, "Don't worry. I am not going to die..." :)

Nick finally can put his little head under the water and swim

Last Thursday (May 19th), Mom picked Nick too late and we got a traffic jam as well. So, when Nick and Mommy got to the swimming pool, the class was almost over. :( Well..God closed the door but opens the window. Nick's teacher was so nice and offered him to go to the next class with her. The trick is that Nick is in Class 2, but this next class is Class 3, which required more skills. Amazingly, Nick did a great great job. He struggled a little at the very beginning, but he was so brave and was willing to swallow some water so as to catch up with others...I am telling ya, this boy is growing up and he will be a great great person. Strong will and smart guy. :)

Oh, I am off the topic, let's continue with Nick's little swimming adventure. In Class 3, the teacher gave each of them a floating pad, all the students are required to swim with their head down from this side to the other side, I would say roughly 15 feed. Nick was able to do 2 feet at the very beginning. Mom was so worried that he was going to drown himself. Well, at the end of the class, Nick accomplished this and swam all the way to the end. Well, Mommy is really proud of her son..Love you, Nick.

Valentine

Nicholas had been preparing Valentine's Day cards for his school friends during the weekend. So, when Dad drove him to school this morning, Dad tried to explain to him what a Valentine is - "You know, the person you liked the most is called Valentine".

"Oh."

"So, who is your Valentine?"

"You."

How sweet it was..

Meimei is not a Kitty

Today, Mom sent Nick to school. On our way, we listened to Nick's favorite CD with many cute children songs. One of them is " i love my little kitte, she is so cute". Mom asked Nicholas" Nicholas, don't you think Meimei is like a little kitte and she is cute.." "no, mom, meimei is not a kittie" "I know I know..." Mom had to reply and try to explain "but she is so cute and tiny and feels like a kitty" "NO Mom, meimei is not a kittie" "huh??? Why then" Curious Mom asked. "Well, does meimei have tail? " "huh..no" "then she is not a kittie" Well...Mom burst into laughters. My little cute son. I love him. :)

Creative Talent

For Nick, it has been a busy month helping Dad with interior design and constructions.

Nick started with his own room. After complaining about "My room is not pretty" for so long, Nick finally took matters into his own hands. He put up pictures all over his bedroom, along with artistic items for decoration, like the bucket from his toy backhoe. It worked great, except when the tape sticking the bucket to the wall fell off at night and scared Nicholas!

Next, Nick help Dad assembled the new L-shaped desk in the study. He worked really hard to tight all the screws and, when Dad made a mistake, he yield "Stop", just before it was too late!

When the desk was done and Dad declared "mission accomplished", Nicholas realize that "the room is not pretty" -- So it was fixed by putting all kind of artwork on the wall.

Great job!