Nicholas, you are so ridicholas!

Oh what a fun time I had with my grandson today! He is the cutest, absolutely most hilarious little guy in the world! And he is soooo much like his daddy, it makes me giggle.

I wasn't supposed to see him today. In fact, we had him all weekend so his mommy could go for a well-deserved time away with girlfriends. She works days only this week, or so we expected, so when she picked Nicholas up yesterday evening we were informed that he would be taken care of without our help right until Friday. So imagine my suprise when mommy called me at 8am this morning! They wanted her to stay late at work; could I pick him up from daycare?

Ok, pause here...have you heard such a ridiculous question? OF COURSE I COULD! I had other things I was supposed to do tonight, like attend Pampered Chef training, go for coffee with a friend I haven't seen for a while, continue the purging I began in the kitchen yesterday, hang up the laundry that's laying around in baskets all over the place, or wash my hair. (No, not really wash my hair, I just threw that one in there, as I hear others do that in the evenings.) But when held up against the option of hanging out with cool Nick, my to-do list seemed erased.

Work was good today. I finally found the time to clean up! Which is a good sign, I'm all caught up otherwise...in fact, I'm ahead. The old Molly Maid in me came out and those guys didn't know who had replaced the otherwise laid back Liz. The end result was beautiful, including the fresh smell of Lysol and Vim. My male co-workers thanked me. (FYI - it takes more than one SOS pad to scrub clean a toaster oven used by guys who love cheese and detest cleaning.)

I also got to see my daughter again. We had lunch. At least I think it was my daughter I sat and ate with. This particular version had blindingly bright shock pink hair. Not just a few strands either. Her whole head looked like a glow-in-the-dark Pepto Bismal bottle! Sigh. Thankfully, she has such a face that it even outshines florecent colours. My girl could be bald and still extremely beautiful. (For anyone who doesn't know, Christina is taking hair-dressing at school so I expect a few changes over the next several months.)

Today's theme must be hair, because when I picked up Nicholas from daycare they had used glue and paint (or something like that) to create a bright blue mohawk out of his soft, blond hair. I was stunned. "Isn't he cuuuuute!!!!" the young daycare workers squeeled as if they had created a masterpiece. I have a hunch one of them is related to Picasso, I'm sure I saw a trace of it in their creation. I don't like Picasso's art and I didn't like Nicholas' hair either. However, just like his auntie, Nicholas is beautiful no matter what his hair looks like and on the bright side, at least it wasn't pink, right?

I didn't want to spend the evening picking up toys, singing babablacksheep and saying no to the snack cupboard all evening, so Nicholas and Bamma went straight to the mall. I covered his head with a hat and explained a bit about what was acceptable and not for a young man at the mall. Nicholas of course understood and kept his hat on. I actually think he was slightly embarrassed by the new do himself. Of course his hat sat on his head the same way Marge Simpson's hat does, a wee bit up in the air. One might think he had a pet in there.

We went straight to the hair dresser and made an appointment for Nicholas. Enough was enough and I was sure his mom would agree...the boy needed a hair cut. We had 1/2 hour to kill before chop-chop time so we hit the food court like any Fehr would. Apparently, a mohawk makes the boy hungry; he not only ate his spagetti but also most of my pizza. (Natalie and I got him hooked on pizza when we ordered it for breakfast on Saturday.) He also downed a milk carton and part of my water bottle. I like watching a boy eat, totally abandoning himself to his food with utmost enthusiasm. Big Nick grunted with pleasure as he twirled the cheese off the pizza and swooped that spagetti between his lips. So cute.

The hair cut went well. Bamma was SO proud of her little grandson! He sat perfectly still, and made his disapproving frown only when he got spritzed. It took a bit of scrubbing to get the blue out. "What is that stuff???" the hairdressers questioned amongst themselves. Only Picasso would know.

Once Nicholas looked like a normal boy again and the thousand Goodbye's were said (Nicholas says bye as if it were a question... bye? bye? bye?) we were off to Shopper's Drugmart for a reward. Have I mentioned how brilliant my almost 16 month old grandbaby is? I took down three different snack items, all of which I know he loves, and explained "You only get one, Nicholas, now choose carefully...which one would you like?" He right away grabbed the bag of banana/strawberry snacks. I asked if he was sure and he nodded. To be totally sure I took the bag back and gave him one of the cans containing star shaped treats. He handed it back and went straight for his original choice. So, I put the rest back on the shelf, tore open his bag of treats and he started grunting happily again as we continued shopping.

I got to go to all my stores without Nicholas complaining once. He even helped me pick out a hand lotion at La Senza. I knew he liked the same one I did when he tried eating it. Such a darling. Even Bampa complains at the mall, and he certainly won't come to La Senza with me!

We found Nicholas some shoes, in fact they're Airwalks. (Beats me what Airwalk is but it seemed like an important brand so I thought it might justify the purchase.) They were on sale for $7 and perfect for Nicholas' wide feet. He let me know by not kicking them off right away.

Before heading home I let my grandson check out the play area. A very cool place. That's where Nicholas became ridicholas!!! He started laughing, and throwing himself backwards on the floor. Not tantrum style, just totally opposite. The other kids were fascinated by his lunatic ways, even the older cooler 4 year olds. And the parents couldn't help but laugh along. Nicholas ran around and laughed out loud for about twenty minutes. I think he might have been tired, but he was having so much fun I sure didn't want to interupt. So were all the spectators. I could have charged a fee for watching and they all would have stayed. Did I mention he's like his daddy?

It wasn't until he ran out of the play area and down the mall that I had to call it quits for the day. As mentioned in an earlier entry, I don't do running, so I limped as fast as I could to catch him. Barefoot! (No shoes allowed in the play area, not even for Bamma's and certainly not Airwalks!) Leaving bags and all behind Bamma chased ridicholas Nicholas past several stores and shoppers. That was fun.

When we got home, the true dizzy lizzy came out. First, I parked at Kat's house thinking it would be so much easier to just go straight there. Not until I got out of the car did I remember I didn't have her keys with me. So back in the car and home to Bamma's. In the house, grab the keys, say bye? bye? bye? to Bampa and off we walk to Kat's. Nicholas became ridicholas again. He laughed and fell so many times I was cramping from laughing too hard myself. Clearly the little dude was not aware of Bamma's bladder "issues" when laughing, or he might have offered up a Huggies or two. Not that size five would fit me, but the gesture would've sufficed.

At this point we both were tired and ready for bed. However, after many choice words with the "stupid" door lock at Kat's and explaining to Nicholas that he needn't repeat everything he hears Bamma say, I realized I had the wrong key.

Back to Bamma's, hi and bye? bye? bye? to Bampa and laugh and fall, laugh and fall all the way back to Kat's. To my relief I had the right keys this time.

HOWEEEEEVER...mommy dearest had left the chain locked and Bamma is not Inspector Gadget. So around the house, through auntie Charlene's we go, stopping to comment on every beautiful flower and falling and laughing, falling and laughing, until we reach the back door. Have you ever tried opening Kat's back door??? I suggest you don't unless you want an exercise in patience. She likes to lock the handle. The handle likes to stay locked. It probably enjoys the frantic barking of crazy Kilo the wiener dog, and the sound of Bamma's outside voice speaking in Italian.

Once in, my beautiful baby grandson walked straight upstairs laughing himself straight to his crib. There he laid down, gave Bamma a kiss, waved bye? bye? bye? until I shut the light off, and voila! he was sleeping. Beautiful, wonderful, incredible, miraculous, marvelous, straight-from-heaven, ridicholas Nicholas! I love you my sweet! You are indeed my sunshine, just like your daddy.

Bye? Bye? Bye? It's bedtime. This Bamma's exhausted!

Yawn!

I'm sitting here at my computer, listening to the clunk,clunk,clunk of the wannabe drummer playing Rockband in our basement. I should be in bed. I am so very tired. I'm tired in the morning, tired in the afternoon, tired in the evening...you get my point.

Funny, I do not know why I'm so very sleepy all the time. Most people would blame the weather. It has been raining a lot, and it's cold for summer.

When the kids were younger it meant so much to have balmy summer weather. I would take them out for picnics, we'd go to the park or the zoo, and we loved the beach more than anything. Cold summers were disappointing.

Now I find I'm home most of the time, rain or shine. I cannot complain or blame. It was very warm and beautiful outside for a while and all I heard was complaining regarding the heat. People were sweating to death! Now apparently they are freezing to death. I for one am the same...thanks to air conditioning.

I don't go out much. If I do it's over to a friend's house or out shopping. At work the temperature is consistent one week to the next. I feel I have no right to complain about the weather as it makes little to no difference. Certainly the rain would only make me sleepy if I actually paid attention to it, no?

Then there is stress. I could blame my sleepiness on the fact that I just started a new job and I look after our grandson on a regular basis. However, I absolutely love my new job and I love my grandson even more. (I miss him terribly if I don't seem him for a day.) So no, not stress.

Rod thought that my medication made me groggy. So I stopped taking my happy pills over a month ago. Nothing changed. Am I depressed? That could make one sleepy. However, I'm happy. Exciting things to look forward to even. D-day is in 6 days! Woo hoo...light at the end of the tunnel!

Jesus has given me such inner joy and peace lately too. Depression has been far from my heart. In fact, driving back and forth to work has been my main time of worship this past month. I sing along to Avalon and Newsboys and my heart is filled with such praise. One day I just started crying; the happy kind of crying. I said out loud "I love you so much Jesus, I just love you so much!"

You see, God has been so very good to me. He brought me through, he strengthened my resolve, he healed my emotional pain, he gave me joy..the real kind, the kind I asked for, the kind that remains when chaos reigns in circumstances. How can I not be thankful?

I know, now more than ever, that whatever comes my way, sun or rain, joy or pain, loss or gain, God will reign!!! (Hey that ryhmed! And I didn't even try.)

God is good. It is true! All the time he is good. Even when nothing makes sense! Believe me my friend, GOD IS GOOD!!! He knows. He knows! One day we'll get it. All of it.

Anyway, back to being sleepy. So, what's my take on it? I blame myself. Not stress, not weather, not meds. Once upon a time when I couldn't sleep at all I asked God to grant me the ability to sleep. Just like I asked for the ability to eat again. I vowed never to complain about my weight or feeling tired; I'd rather be fat, sleepy and happy than thin, awake and miserable. Yupp, God answers prayer. That's what he does, it's just who he is. So I shouldn't be suprised that I am sleepy and hungry A LOT. Summer or winter, meds or no meds, stress or no stress.

Praise God for sleep! Praise God for a cozy bed and a husband to sleep beside! Praise God for a comfy couch during the day! Praise God for food, the ability to cook and the choice not to! Praise God for air conditioning! And praise God for the teenagers in my basement pretending to be rock stars!

I love my life, and I really love my Jesus! And that's the honest truth.