Officially 4 and a half!

I gotta tell you, this boy purely amazes me.

My Nicholas astounds me with his intelligence, his constant need for what I'm calling "intellectual stimulation," his ability to notice everything (I swear his mind does not stop working!)....and all from a boy who I was worried about 3 years ago when he wasn't talking!  Oh please!!!

Now, officially 4 1/2 years old, Nicholas is cracking me up on a daily basis with how he views the world.  One day, he wasn't too pleased with my explanation of some random thing.  With great insistence, he responded to me, "Well Mommy, there must be a reason for it.....so figure it out and tell me!"

I call him my little geek-in-training.  He's infatuated with understanding how things operate, the mechanics of how things work and he has a remarkable memory for learning experiences.  He is unbelievably creative when he's pursuing his own play ideation.  He creates elaborate play schemes and thinks to use toys and household objects in ways I'm sure no other child has come up with. 

About a month ago, he came downstairs first thing in the morning and announced, "So Mommy, today I want to build anemometer!" 

Shocked, I asked "Nicholas, exactly what is an anemometer and where did you learn about it?" 

Nicholas:  "An anemometer measures wind speed and all I need to make my own is 4 white plastic cups, one red cup, two pieces of cardboard, lots of tape and a really big stick.  I learned about it on Curious George on PBS Kids, Mommy."

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Around here, playing in our vehicles is still a favorite activity.  In late April Nicholas matter-of-a-factly explained to me, "I really, really, really want to play in Big Truck, but Daddy always says no to me."

(momentary pause as the thinking gears are turning) 

"I know...I'm going to try to trick him...Yeah, so I can then play in the truck!"  

(pause)   "Hmmmm, now how can I trick him?"  And yes, he was tapping his chin in deep tricking thought...

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Respecting Nicholas' intuitiveness, its been a constant struggle to know what is best to say to him regarding William's medical needs.  He comes up with comments that leave me not knowing whether to laugh or cry.  One morning while watching me change William's umpteenth poopy diaper... as I was all tangled in his central line tubes and trying to keep up with poop wiping before it was leaked everywhere...Nicholas asked, "Mommy, when will William finally get the tubies taken out of his belly?" Dumbfounded, I said, "Well, he has to be able to eat and then his diarrhea has to stop and then he can get his tubies out." His response: "Well, that would be good because then you can stop wrapping him with Press & Seal for bathtime and start wrapping your meats to put them in the freezer like it says to do on the package instructions."

Can you just picture him going to school and sharing with his class that Mommy wraps his brother in Glad Press & Seal instead of wrapping her meats!

You can tell, despite him not sharing many feelings about our chaotic life of trying to meet William's medical needs, Nicholas continuously thinks of next stay in the "Blue Kid Dancing Hospital" (his original term for Upstate Golisano Hospital).  You know his wheels are turning as to where he will stay, who will take care of him and of course, what PS3 game he will borrow from the hospital's Family Resource Center.

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One afternoon last week, we were enjoying gorgeous spring weather while out on the playset.  Nicholas looked at me and said, "Ya know Mommy, I'm wondering why I don't have tubies like William?  I think I should have them too and have medicines and a backpack like him too." (cue another heart break for this momma....and tack on another 2 years of counseling he'll need as an adult).

Recently, I've been taking the approach that we are all born with our own strengths, differences and needs....William happens to have a very sick belly and needs a lot of medicines and visits to doctors.  We are lucky our Nicholas is very healthy.  He appears to be buying it, but still, I'm certain his mind is bending in every possible way as to why his brother has 2 tubes sticking out of his chest and why he has to carry a backpack around for 19+ hours a day.

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Its mind-boggling to hear him say, "Awww, this is AWESOME!" I gets super pumped for things and is just all boy inside.  He's growing up so fast and still changing and discovering new thing everyday.

With pre-school ending in just a couple more weeks, the delimma of whether to send Nicholas to kindergarten as a late-birthday 4-year-old or voluntarily hold him back from starting until 2012 as a 5-year-old has weighed on me tremendously.  Nicholas scored a 147 on his kindergarten readiness test (average being 85-115), so he was clearly placed in the superior range for basic academic readiness skills.  On the other hand, we struggled everyday with his limited attention span....I'd approximate it to be equal to that of an ant for tasks that are not part of his agenda.  This creates a lot of difficultly for so many of life's basic daily living skills, like getting dressed in a timely fashion and eating a meal... in say, less than a half hour. 

Nicholas also has a strong need for rigid routines.  Heaven forbid he's pressured to move faster than his usual speed for things like getting ready for school or that he misses an episode of Curious George and his morning is practically ruined.  We're also hoping someday Nicholas will expand his food repertoire to include more items than just his basic toddler menu.  

I'm always enthralled to get a glimpse of the world....from Nicholas' perspective, that is!