Life these days is pretty….well, “normal”. I’m not sure what “normal” looks for other families but for us it looks like this:
4:30 am wake up calls. It’s early. Oh.so.early. But if I don’t get going that early I can’t get myself together before Andy & Nicholas need me when they wake.

 I recently started reading a new book & the writer equates mommy-hood to learning to walk on a balance beam. You have to decide what is going to live on the beam with you & what isn’t. What lives on the beam for me? Hot, homemade breakfasts with my people every.single.day. Hence, the 430 am start times: it means we get to eat together before the day starts. Sometimes, when the stars align, and Nicholas sleeps a bit late, Andy & I get to have coffee together. No distractions. No noise. Just us. It’s pretty great. 

Nicholas is growing by leaps & bounds. He’s over 30″ tall and has surpassed 20 pounds. He is going to be tall like his daddy (& is proving to have his metabolism too- he eats all.day.long). 

He is thriving in his new classroom. The teacher says he likes to be “involved” in lots of things & is often “curious”. This I’m pretty sure is a nice way to say he’s nosy & a bit bossy- which were euphemisms used by his mamas teacher many moons ago. (He comes by it honestly).

People often ask “what words is saying now?”. He’s not, really. He likes to say “mama” but it’s usually in reference to food. When he’s  hungry he says “mama mama mama” over & over again as he walks to the kitchen. 

He does sign. A lot. He’s better at it than us so sometimes we find ourselves looking in our sign dictionary or asking each other “what do you think that means?”. He signs for “more” (food), “please” (food), “milk”, & “banana” (food), & “sit down”.

He loves to smile (at himself in the mirror) & fist bump people. He likes exploring everything & everywhere; especially places he shouldn’t be. Those are his favorite – places & things he shouldn’t be exploring. And chances are, if you sit down he will bring you a book & ask you to read it. 

He is mesmerized by how things go together & work. He takes his toys apart & tries (often successfully) to put them back together. This weekend he discovered how fun a salad spinner is & played with it for 2 days straight. 

He also knows how to operate the TV (no, I don’t  sit him infront of the tv for extended periods of time). He knows how to access Netflix on our smart tv & will turn it on & “ask” through a series of signs & points to turn on either Curious George or VeggieTales.

A few weeks ago, he started swim lessons. We opted for private swim lessons where they focus more on water safety than they do “blow bubbles with mommy now!”. Neither Andy or I are in the pool with him. It’s him, the swim instructor, & one other boy. They teach them not to be afraid of the water, of splashing, and by the 2nd class had him comfortable going under water & even holding onto the side on his own. He seems happy too, which is an added bonus! 

So that’s our normal. Normal toddler-hood filled days that turn into early evenings before we get up & do it all over again.

We do have some travel coming up in the next few weeks which is sure to our comfortable “normal” & toss it on its side. More to come on that but I’m sure we’ll deserve our own reality show once it’s over.