The Clean Gene

Nolan has inherited the clean gene from the Lloyd's. Honestly, he can not have a speck of dirt or God forbid something sticky on his hands. He always wants his hands washed. I fear I may have had a little to do with this. I am a known germaphobe. Not only is half of my family clean frieks and germaphobic but I think it also goes hand in hand with my working in surgery.
I took Nolan to McDonalds to get an ice cream cone today after his Dr. appointment. He actually asks for a napkin, two years old and he has to have a napkin in one hand and his ice cream in the other, oh, and one on his lap! He would wipe his mouth after each lick and when the ice cream started melting he said "Oh, no! It's dripping!" Then carefully wipes up each drop on his hand. When he was all done he wiped up his lap which had nothing on it and said "All done, here you go!" so I can dispose of the dirty napkin.
If only I could get Britton to at least keep his room from smelling like a zoo! ;-)

For Valentines Day Jack's preschool went on a field trip to a Surprise Fire House! Jack and Nolan were in heavan. All the little kids and some little brothers and sisters got to climb all over and even inside of the fire trucks! The firemen were so great. They opened up all of the secret compartments on the truck and showed the kids all of the tools and gear. Two of them even got all geared up and walked along on their knees so the kids could touch the gear, that way if the kids ever saw them in action they wouldn't be afraid.

All the kids got to walk through the fire department and see where the firemen ate and slept and what happened when they got a call. The fire chief asked if any of the kids knew what else they did besides put out fires. Jack was quick to announce that they came to our house all the time when he fell down and hurt himself.

After the field trip everyone headed over to Surprise Park for a Valentine exchange and cookie decorating! Can you say sugar rush!!

Big Brother, Big Helper

There's a new picky eater in town. Nolan, who once would eat whatever you put in front of him has learned the phrase " I don't like that, I want a popscicle!".
He won't even try anything unless it's the usual stuff he likes. It's so frusterating because I just know that he will like it if only he would take that first bite! Jack, who is now almost 4 years old, has all of the wisdom and experience of a big brother who has been through this sort of thing. Sitting across the table, Jack is just FULL of advice for Nolan on how and why he should eat his food. He goes over and over the fact that Nolan will not get a snack if he does not at least try his dinner. He even demonstrates that it is in fact edible by taking a big bite of his food and saying "See Nolan, it's yummy and now I have big muscles! You should try it, you might like it!" Usually this works because Nolan mimicks EVERYTHING that Jack does ( which is where he got the " I don't like that" phrase in the first place). Tonight however, his terrible two stubborness was in full effect and he would not have any of it. So after Jack finished his plate, he went over and told Nolan he would help him eat his yummy food. I swear, just when you think you are going to throw in the towel because you are sure that your kids don't listen to one single word that you say, one of them does something like this! Jack stood there and very sweetly told Nolan to "eat his yummy yummy vegetables so his tummy would get full" and even put the spoon up to his mouth and pretended to eat a bite and said "Mmmmmm!" and then carefully fed Nolan every last bite of his dinner! I couldn't help but laugh at Jack's facial expression with every bite, how he opened his own mouth. I don't know when I started getting a kick out of these little things in life! I just think this was simply sweet and am glad to know they actually do listen to us!

nieces