One of life's necessities.

Yesterday, I learned the importance of the sucker/lollipop.

All the boys in my Nealon family have hair that grows OUT. It doesn't just get longer and lay down, it poofs. I know many that would take this "problem" of vast amounts of thick, coarsely textured hair any day of the week. :) This hair also grows like it is on some sort of sterroid. I know for a FACT that we spend more (annually) on each male in our house getting their hair cut than I do in a year....and mine is typically cut and colored!

I digress.

Yesterday, Declan was looking shaggy. In addition to the previously mentioned challenges with his hair, he also has some sweet cowlicks that I think make his need for a haircut become more prevalent faster.

I took him at 2:45 following a remarkable 3 hour nap. He was happy and I thought this was our ideal shot. We had to wait 10 minutes at Great Clips. (Who knew 3:00 was a busy time?!) And then shortly after putting him on the booster seat and getting his smock on him, I quickly discovered they were OUT OF SUCKERS. Oh boy.

It went downhill from there. I had no idea that this sugary sweetness was such an integral part of his haircutting experience. He flipped out. He was trying to dive out of the chair. He would NOT sit still. I have never dealt with this. I have never experienced a crying child in the haircutting chair. Until yesterday. About 5 minutes in, I offered to hold him in my lap and let him watch videos of himself on my phone while the lady attempted to finish the cut. This lasted 5 minutes, but was still not without a challenge. Through additional tears (his, not mine) I finally just said maybe we would come back later to finish the cut.

So we left (I paid first) with his 3/4 haircut.

Several hours later, we tried again. This time, I found 2 suckers in our [seriously old] candy stash in the pantry and came prepared.

Wow.

The difference was remarkable. All of the same staff was there and one lady even said they thought I had twins...and he was the twin. Nope. That damn sucker makes all the difference in the world. He never cried, never attempted to dive out of the chair. He even let her use the trimmers on his neck.

Note to self, ALWAYS carry have a sucker in my purse in case Great Clips is out.

5 1/2 is funny

Earlier this week we were eating at the Zagar's house and there was a comb with a pick on the end on the counter. About 10 minutes into dinner, Connor holds up the comb and says, "Mom, this sure is a fancy fork!"
Of course it reminded me of Arial and "The Little Mermaid" thinking a fork is a comb...

Brian had to work at the Women's Expo today, so I got the baby seat put on my new bike (thanks Nana & MonteD!) and we pretended it wasn't 39º outside. We made it around our big loop and about 100 yards from our house Connor chimes in, "Mom, why don't we just spend winter at the beach? The ducks do it."
Very good point, little man! :) Ducks also don't have jobs. But what I loved most was that I know he didn't hear this from somewhere else. He didn't say "fly south" or "migrate", just go to the beach. :) What is ridiculous is that his first time stepping in the ocean was at Castaway Cay on our cruise. He didn't feel great and the water was too chilly to really splash & play. The beach to him is along the shores of Lake Michigan.

Connor walked in on my plucking my eyebrows this afternoon. He was horrified. "Mom, WHAT are you doing?!" I tried to explain. "Why don't you want any eyebrows?" "Doesn't that hurt?" "You will look funny if you don't have eyebrows." In the end, he approved and said they were even. :)

His favorite game on Brian's iPad is "Stack the States". He knows many of the states now by shape and can place at least 10-15 on the map. Trying to raise him right. The only problem is that is still requires some major assistance for him because he can't read the questions. (Brian and I are now experts on US trivia and I got a new high score on the capital conveyor belt game: 72!) The last few days, all of C's artwork that he creates during "free choice" time at school has been American flags. He knows that we love them and I also think he likes practicing his stars. We only got in one argument over the amount of tape needed to adhere said flag to the fridge (stainless steel = no magnets).

Declan struck again in Connor's room. In addition to finding ALL of my hidden snack places (I admittedly hide kid-type snack food around the house so we don't eat it when we are grazing in the pantry. I say, "we" and I mean it...but I mainly mean Brian. :) Well, Declan finds ALL of the places and comes out with treats of all kinds. He runs up to me saying "Mum." with his little arms out. He is currently sporting his second black eye and a gash in his chin from a week and a half ago that probably could have used some stitches or glue, but it was on daddy's watch and he is fine. Good thing he's a boy. :) The black eye was at a neighbor's house. I'm not sure what happened, but she said he cried for about 45 seconds and had a red bump on his cheek. So of course it turns into a black eye. I digress.

[I assume] Declan broke the CD portion of Connor's clock in his room. I assume this because I've seen Declan walking around with it, and there is no way that is good for the machine. The little man drops or throws just about everything. Connor is all about routine and part of his routine is books, prayers, night-night music. He's been at a loss without music for the last week. I gave him Declan's sound-machine giraffe, but he said it just wasn't the same. Tonight I finally took the CD player from Declan's room into Connor's (Declan doesn't like listening to it anyway...he actually cries if it is on). It had a CD that Leslie/Gramma gave to me/Connor when he was just an itty-bitty baby. Connor asked if I was going to put his CD in and I said that I wanted him to listen to his very first night-night music tonight. He obliged. We have a space heater in the boy's jack-n-jack bathroom to heat both rooms and I leave the door closed until I turn off C's light. I told C I was going to open the door and asked if he was okay. He replies, "I'm just having a happy cry." What?! "Yes, a happy cry. I love my music, and this song, and I'm so glad I have it back." omg. My little love. :)

I'm trying to think of other funnies. Oh, he told me recently that he only takes a bath if it is a pattern. Yes, a pattern. Like, "Bath, no bath, Bath, no bath". or "Bath, Bath, no bath, Bath, Bath, no bath." I was not trying to be too much of a smarty, but asked if he was going to throw a shower in there or just stick to baths. :)

This morning he came in our room at 7:30 wanting me to get up....on a Saturday. Like the mother-of-the-year that I am, I told him he could turn on Netflix if he wanted and I would get up at 8:00. He couldn't find the remote (We have a chair that literally eats the remotes. Getting them out is like performing surgery.) When I came out at 8:00, I found 4 fully assembled puzzles on the fireplace hearth. He did come in our room twice, but I'm so proud of him for not harassing me...like he normally does. He put together 8 more this morning. The little guy is getting so stinkin' smart.

Oh, the other night when he was begging me to "watch a show" before bed, I finally caved and said he could watch one show in our bed. I was listing several shows that we have recorded on the DVR. "Octonauts, Rescue Bots, Jake & the Neverland Pirates, Daniel Tiger, Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" (Declan LOVES the last 3 in the list and Connor actually likes to watch them with him.) But I was really surprised to hear him choose Sesame Street. I looked at him questioningly and said, "Really". His response, "It is the longest." Of all the shows in the list, it is the only one that is an hour... See, I'm in trouble. He is smart as a whip!