3rd Tooth Gone!!

Nico lost his third tooth yesterday.  HIS THIRD!!

It has been getting pretty loose.  Then yesterday after school he got kicked in the mouth (on accident) by a friend.  And it came out!!!

The tooth fairy came last night, and left the boy $5!!

2nd place judo

Nico's second judo tournament went pretty well.  He got thrown in his first match, but recovered pretty well.  In the second match, he got thrown and the referee called it an ippon, but was overruled by the other judges.  Nico jumped on the chance and pinned the kid.

Dave has been working with him on his osoto gari.  In the first tournament, he would go in trying to throw it, way off balance and got countered pretty easily.  Well it worked, because in the next three matches, he quickly threw it and got ippons.

I was so proud!  He ended up taking second in the tournament, in his weight class.  There were a bunch of kids there, including some from the Cohen brothers. It was a lot of fun to watch!

I think it ended up being a great experience for Nico.  Dave and I were both a little worried that if Nico had a bad tournament, that he might not want to keep going in judo- only because it is kind of hard to keep going when you're not sure you're improving.

In any case, judo is done for now.  We will start back up again in the fall.  Maybe even try to sneak into a few camps this summer.

Spring

So much big news this spring!  We should probably start with Nico's first Judo tournament- the last Saturday of April.  He did pretty well- he fought against a couple kids who have been doing judo for much longer than he has.  He went 0-4 in the tournament, but managed a couple of really good throws. We agree that one of the main things that we he needs to work on is to not be overly committed to and off balance for a throw.  Most of the times he was thrown came about when he was off-balance trying to do something.

He had a really good time and paid attention for pretty much the whole day.  He was a champ- he didn't seem to be bothered too much when he got thrown.  

We also have been in the process of moving.  We decided in January to start looking for a new place, since our last landlord was raising the rent at the old place.  Given that there there was a lot we didn't like about the place (how far from public transit, lack of a dishwasher, overall junky appearance), it wasn't a hard decision to make.  Also, with only one dog, the backyard calculation changed a bit.  

We had been kind of discouraged about places in Chicago- it seemed near impossible to find anything in a safe neighborhood on the north side- we were thinking that we might have to move out to the burbs (and take Nico out of his school) or do something else we didn't want to do.  Dave (yeah, I am throwing him under the bus), because he reads DNAinfo every day, had heard about Rogers Park being real sketchy.  It is one of the few "pockets" on the north side of Chicago where there is some violence.  So, we (read: Dave hadn't really ever considered it).  

But then we started looking at places (in earnest) and ended up driving through Rogers Park.  It is really near Loyola- near the lake.  And Dave was like, this neighborhood is kinda cool.  Because some parts of Rogers Park (further west) are kinda of a shit hole- rents are fairly low here.  But there are several stops on the red line, which stops next to my office.  So, we focused our search here. 

We ended up finding a place in a building that has mixed use units.  That is, the first floor has a pet salon, a massage therapy place, and a theater.  The second and third floors are residential.  The back side has decks and wooden stairs and walkways.  There is also a little courtyard which is nice.  There is a place for grilling (if we did that) and a place to sit outside.  The back deck is big enough to maybe have some plants and such- and I am going to be putting my deck planters up soon.  

The residential spaces used to be a doctors office or dentists office.  So the layout in the common areas is fairly open.  The unit is three bedrooms and two baths.  Hardwood and tile throughout.  One of the bedrooms  is *much* smaller than the others- but that is where we've stuck JJ- its a little hidey hole.  The other two bedrooms are pretty big.  It's on the third floor- so we almost always have a nice breeze going.  Its all new- so the AC works like a boss- which is something I have never experienced.  It also has a dishwasher.  A dishwasher. 

Very happy with it.  Pictures to come!!

The Nico Sport Life

Nico's reading is really taking off.  He will read just about any book about sports.  Double bonus if you're talking Chicago sports.  In fact, this past weekend, he and Dave were playing "All Star Team of All Time-Cubs edition" which is where you name who you would have on a team, if time wasn't an issue.  Nico drafted obscure historic era catchers and short stops- guys he learned about in books.  

It was pretty great.

  

He really would do all of the sports, if we let him.  We're tying to keep it to 1 sport at a time, but sometimes we get a little overlap.  For example, he was in a hockey skating session while also playing basketball.  We're also in the middle of another hockey skating session- which will overlap with the return of spring soccer by a couple of weeks.  

We've also been on a mission to find a new judo club.  The problem with the club that Dave has been working out at (in Evanston) is that the practices are so late (starts at 730).  This means that if Nico is going to attend, he's not going to bed until almost 10pm, which is no bueno.  So, Dave has been looking around.  He found a club that practices in the late afternoon/early evening- so Nico has tried it out a few times.  Really likes it.  So that is his club now.  He is set to do a club tournament next week.  In conjunction with it, he has a Throw-A-Thon happening- where he is trying to get pledges for every throw he does in 2 minutes.  Maybe some grandparents want to kick in some money for such a worthy cause?:)

Spring is for Moving

Where do I even start?

How about, do I even blog anymore?

I know.

2016  has been pretty crazy so far.  I started the year by teaching two courses at the same time.  That was a first for me.  Yeah, its not like what regular tenure track faculty deal with (because they do it year round), but was a big deal- since I still had all my regular work duties to do.

I also had a perfect storm of things come together right at the end of the quarter: two work trips with prep for a conference sandwiched in between.  It was pretty crazy.

We're also moving.

The moving bit is bittersweet for me- mostly because it means we're leaving our neighborhood, which we like.  We like being as close as we are to Nico's best friends (and soccer).  But the neighborhood isn't ideal.  Despite the fact that we live in a city with good public transit, we rarely take it.  It is actually more of a bother to take it than it is to drive.  Plus our neighborhood, while great for families and friends and soccer, isn't great on other things (like being close to coffee shops and public transit).

Also, our house is kinda shitty.  Let's be honest, friends who have actually visited it- it is kinda shitty.  Like most landlords (as it seems), ours isn't really interested in keeping the place up.  The windows are old and drafty, the ac is weak, the floor in the basement is a mess, the dryer just developed a *new* squeak.  We try to get the handy man guy to give the place some attention, but he doesn't respond to our texts.  It also doesn't have a dishwasher.  And our landlord raised our rent by $100 this year.  That is huge.

So we started looking in February and found a place last month.  We have paid the move-in fee and are going to sign the lease next week.  Its in East Rogers park, just north of Loyola University.  Rogers Park has some tough spots, but it looks like they are mostly west of where our place will be.  Its a definite bump- I think I will be able to take public transit to work almost every day- which gets me reading and knitting more.  In the summer I will mostly be commuting by bike- which will likely be easier.

The place is in a multipurpose building.  Some shops are on the first floor, then apartments on the second and third.  All the places for shops aren't filled up yet- I am crossing my fingers that one will become a coffee shop, quilt shop, craft shop, candy shop, stationary store, or crossfit gym.  That would make this place perfect.  As of now, there is a boutique pet store/salon(?) and a massage therapist place.

The actual living space is a 3/2, all on one floor.  It is smaller- it looks like I will be losing the girl cave.  But it has more closets than the place we have now.  And a dishwasher.  At the age of 36 I will finally have a dishwasher.  What will I even do with my life???  Nico's school is a magnet school- so it won't matter that we are moving (since we are staying in the city).  Which is good- we are kind of in love with his school.

So now, we're just packing and thinning out the stuff.  That takes a lot of time.

Sport

Nico had his last skate of this skating session last week.  It is a pretty cool set up.  The classes are pretty short- 30 min.  This makes sense if you know how much time the kids spend falling on the ice or getting up.  My guess is that its better done in 30 min spurts.  

But Nico has improved 1000% since he started- which is basically just a testament to how quickly kids learn things.  We think we're going to keep him going... we're going to sign him up for the next session.  

I am okay with him playing hockey.  Basically I am trying to run out the clock on football.  He  *really* wants to play football.  And I don't like the idea of him playing a sport with the culture that football has.  And the injuries that football has.  Also- if he were in the 99th percentile for size- it might be worth it.  But he isnt.  There is a decent chance that he is going to be 5'7" or 5'8"- and I am sorry, but when you're O-line is 6'+, you can't have a quarterback that is 5'7".  Plus, hockey and soccer lend themselves to each other. 

But the kid wants to play lacrosse, rugby, baseball.  My guess is that when he actually sees wrestling, he'd be into that too.  But apparently, this is the way to do it.  Those kids that came of age in the late nineties and early aughts whose parents poured tons of money and time into playing competitive soccer year round- a lot of them ended up losing seasons when they are 16, 17, and 18 to ACL and MCL injuries.  Theoretically the way to ensure you don't become a walking bag of injuries is to keep playing other sports- don't specialize.  At least not until you're 14 or 15.  

So we will see.  

But hockey is cute. Especially since he is such a huge fan of the Blackhawks.  I think he would be perfectly happy with a Blackhawks jersey to wear every day of the week.  This weekend we got him a Toews jersey.  Its hard because he adores Patrick Kane.  But then there was the whole sexual assault charges that happened (last year?)- so we're not actively encouraging the Kaner love.  

Gordon the Good

I haven't wanted to write this, but I have needed to.  The four people who read my blog regularly already know (from the Facebook and from texts and phone calls).  Gordon died at home on Feb 6.  

It was weird, he hadn't been himself for a while.  It had been hard for him to move around, and he hadn't been sleeping upstairs with us.  Since the back step has been icy and slippery, I had been trying to walk him around the block, because it is easier to get down the front steps.  

I came home from work on Friday (2/5) and Dave said that Gordon didn't move much all day and he just layed on his dog bed wimpering.  So, after dinner, I carried him upstairs and gave him a bath, which has ALWAYS perked him up.  Afterwards, he RAN downstairs and then took turns pulling Dave and me around the neighborhood.  So we figured this was just him being sore from the arthritis and being old.  But the next morning, he wouldnt move out of the foyer, even as we came and went from the house.  This is very strange for him, because he doesn't like people stepping over and around him.  He usually finds a place to hide from all that.

  

I had grading and stuff, so Dave took Nico to hockey and I ran an errand, when I came home, he had moved to a dog bed, but had an accident on it- which is completely uncharacteristic of him.  So, I picked him up and carried him to the front door, thinking I could get him to go outside.  He wouldn't/couldn't.  There is a person in a our neighborhood who posted a photo of a vet making a housecall, so I tried to get in touch with her so that he could come look at Gordon,who at this time was breathing hard.  I got him settled onto a dog bed in the living room and settled in next to him.  

On their way home from hockey, I texted Dave to let him know that Gordon wasn't doing great.

They had stopped to bring home dinner and Dave had the conversation with Nico about how Gordon wasn't doing great.  About two minutes after they got home, Gordon started shaking (maybe a seizure?).  Nico came and sat on my lap and was there when Gordon died.  

I have talked to a couple of people about it, and the conclusion is that it seems like Gordon might have been hanging on, for one last look, which is stunning, if you ask me.  He was a really good dog- and he had a really great life.  I am just so thankful that we were there when it happened.  

Drake is okay, I think.  There were a couple of days early on when he wasn't all that interested in eating.  But I think he is getting used to the idea of being an 'only' dog.  He doesn't have to share bed space or couch space- so I think he is okay with that.  

Hockey Skating Lessons

So this happened this weekend.  We promised Nico skating lessons for Christmas and the session started this weekend.  Before kids can play hockey, they have to start to learn to skate, because aint nothing more dangerous than a bunch of kids who can't control their bodies on ice trying to play hockey and swinging sticks and such.

Nico had a blast.  He had to work with the little scooter sled for a while before they ditched the sleds for skating without.  I think its only going to be a few lessons before he is buzzing around like a little hockey machine.

Despite our better judgement, this is going on during the same season as basketball.  We didn't really want to be the kind of family where our kids' extracurricular activity runs things.  But here we are.  The good news is that when he starts being a little monster, I can threaten to take away more things, to get him to fall in line.  There was an incident at Legos a couple of weeks ago and I suspended Nico for one lego practice, you would have thought the world was coming to an end.  It was awesome.  It sucks while it is going down, but I would much rather have a kid who cares passionately about things like legos and basketball and skating lessons than a kid who DGAF.

Not too much longer

Occasionally, when I take Nico to school, the drive goes by quicker and we get a few minutes at his school, before there is supervision (read: before I can leave Nico).  Often he climbes into the front seat and cuddles on me before he goes.  He's really getting too big for it, it requires quite a lot of gymnastics to get into the front seat when you're starting to get tall.  

Definitely going to miss these days when he is a rotten teenager and I have to put the muscle on him.  

Hockey Gear

One of my favorite things that Nico is doing lately is wearing a vest under his clothes.  He does this so it looks like he is wearing hockey pads.

The kid is actually quite smart.  He knows that we wouldnt let him wear his actual hockey pads to school.  But that no one is going to fuss about a vest under his clothes.  

Seriously- it makes me laugh.  

New Years

New Years was so much fun this year.  We went over to the G's House.  The kids played hockey against the dads.  It was pretty intense.

M and D made crab cakes for dinner.  And they were amazing.  AMAZING.  Easily one of the best meals I have had in a while.  In fact, I can't remember the last meal I had that was even on this level.  

The other moms (2) and I put away four bottles of champagne.  Let's just say that I was nervous for a hot minute that I was going to barf.  A 36 year old mother drunk enough to barf!  THE SHAME!!

Chicago Boy

So, is this kid a Chicago boy or what?

Christmas

I know right?  How far behind can I actually be?

So Christmas was fantastic this year.  Our plans were to meet up with the NiCodys in Louisville, with Mom and Dad B.  Mike and Gay had plans to be in LOU as well, so we were hoping to see them.

Mike and Gay sent Nico's presents ahead of time (a set of Call of Duty Mega Blocks), Chicago Bears Swag, and a new judo gi (Nico *really* needed a new one, since his old one was WAY too short.

Santa brought Nico the Nerf Cam ECS-12 gun that he has had his eye on for months.  Granny and Grampy gifted Nico more nerf ammo and weapons- so needless to say, he is fully stocked.  Since Christmas, we have already had several gun fights- which is a lot better when you have a legit ammo supply.

The cousins had a wonderful time playing together.  They really got along quite well.  Nico and Maddox convinced JJ, Cody, and Dave to play sport with them on more than one occasion, including a football game in the rain.  

Dave and I got Nico some hockey gear- which he really LOVES.  

He really wants to play- but is kinda crap at skating- so we're signing him up for hockey skating lessons.  It is really very easy when your kid loves sports to want to sign them up for ALL OF THE THINGS.  But, I think Nico tends to lose his mind a bit when he has too much going on (read: he can be kind of a jerk).  And frankly, I don't want to be like some of these other mothers we know, where the kids do chess club, language lessons, sports, etc.  We've been trying to just keep it at one official sport per season: soccer in the fall and the spring, basketball in the winter, judo in the summer.  I am not sure how exactly hockey will fit into the equation.  

But the good news is that there is hockey and skating year round here- so we could really get into the hockey as basketball is winding down.    

N is for Nico

This is what Nico wore for his holiday show.  The holiday show was a slight debacle.  Long story short, his class didn't do a performance and he didn't go on stage.  And he didn't wear this in the auditorium.  But he was stinkin adorable regardless.

Sleepy Reader

This meatball fell asleep while reading.  This is the first time he has done that.  

Rounding third- headed to home.

We're skidding into the end of 2015!  Let me tell you- this year had been hard.  Just flat out hard.  I am really looking forward to 2016 lightening things up a little.  Sometimes it is just one thing after another.  Little known fact about me: I love the shit out of Christmas and Christmas music.  So, I have been listening to the commercial radio station in town that is playing Christmas music since before Thanksgiving (don't judge).  Of late, they have taken to doing a "Christmas Wish" segments, where they call people up and grant them a Christmas wish. Usually it is in the form of $300-$500 to be used for something.  Like, there was one day where the mom who had put the wish in for her son, it was to get her 12 year old kid a new coat.  And here I am ugly-sobbing in the car while I drive Nico to school 1) because how freaking sad is it that a 12 year old had never had a new coat *and* that was his mom's Christmas wish.  Also, 2) shit is tough, but it aint't that tough.  

*sighs, with hand to forehead: I just want to buy all the things and travel to all the places. Why can't I just do that?

In other news, Nico is really starting to get the hang of reading.  We're not quite at the place where we cuddle up on the couch, all of us reading our separate books.  But, we're close, I think.  Its surprising to me, how many words he can read, even the tough ones.  

Nico continues to grow like a weed in front of my eyes.  The other day, he explained that he was an idea man.  When I asked him what he meant he said, "I am just an ordinary man who comes up with ideas."  HA!!  Hilarious!!    We got a tree just after Thanksgiving, from a ucut farm out in Aurora.  You know. The one like the kind I want to own. *soon, little farmstead, soon.  I don't care what Dave says about you.  The tree has been up for weeks, but suffers the indignity of being on the receiving end of errant balls and such from sports in the house.  I guess it really is a case of you reap what you sow, because when you play sport in the house, you can't be THAT upset that when two Christmas ornaments are broken because they hit the deck.  But, speaking of Christmas, it isn't even Christmas yet and I already did the Christmas card thing.  I know, right?  I did fall down on the job a little in that I ordered metalic gold envelopes.  Metalic gold. Guess what looks like garbage when I write on them with a marker?  Yeah, those *adorbs* envelopes.  

So that is that. So looking forward to Christmas.  JJ will be in town, as will Mom and Dad, the Royses, and the NiCodies.  

There will be chaos. 

Winter is Coming

Nico got his first report card of the year last week.  Overall, pretty good.  He needs to work on producing neater work and listening a little better, but I could have told you that.  His reading is really starting to take off.  His reading at the beginning of the year was where they want it by the middle of the year.  

What is funny (at least to me), is that whenever we work on practicing spelling words, I *jokingly* tell him I am getting real tired of him getting them all right all the time.  So I went with that routine when I talked to him about his report card.  For a second, he was a little scared, since I was being so serious.  It was always funny when my mom did that with us kids...she'd "get after" us for bringing home all As... telling us that we better shape up and start bringing home Bs and Cs. 

It was hilarious when I started driving the struggle bus at Ft. Myers in the IB program and I had to redo Trigonmetry.  Joke's on everyone else, since I haven't had to use a Trig a day in my life.  Boom.  

*drops mic*

We had our first winter storm this weekend.  We had maybe an inch of snow on Friday night and woke up Saturday thinking, is that all?  Then proceeded to get another 3 inches on Saturday.  We made a game day call for Dave to try to make it to Louisville for a birthday party of one of his best good friends from high school.  It took him 2.5 hours to get out of Chicago, and the roads were just a hot mess south.  So he turned around and came home. 

The good news is that we are headed down there for Christmas, so he might get a chance to see his friends afterall.  Sunday we took one of Nico's friends for sledding at the sledding hill.  I even got in on some of that action.  Let me tell you, even as an adult, sledding is really fun.  

Skaty McSkaterson

A couple of Sundays ago, Nico's good school buddies had a play date.  One thing led to another and we all decided to take the boys ice skating.  Wyat (in the red) and Alex (in the blue) are both taking hockey and skating lessons, so their skating was pretty good.  They also had all the equipment- so they bombed around the rink having a blast.  

Given that this was only Nico's 3rd time skating, he wasn't as good.  He wasn't wearing pads- except for the helmet.  So, when he crashed, he was crashing on flesh.  He must have fallen down 100 times.  But he got up every time.  And didn't cry.

The cool thing up here, is that there are a ton of setups where you can take skating lessons.  There will be a 4 or 5 session skating class where you learn the fundamentals and when you can prove that you're not an absolute menace to society, you get to move onto playing hockey.  Which is cool and that Nico wants to do, in addition to lacrosse and baseball.

Turns out that all this school and work nonsense just gets in the way of Nico playing sport and Dave/Me ferrying Nico to sport.

The Garden Plot

So, I mentioned before, that I am trying to start us in a garden club in the neighborhood.  Well, they let us in!!  Wooo hoo!!  We are plot #94 of the North Park Village Garden Club.  

The plot is about 10 feet wide by about 20 feet long.  It is completely covered in weeds and lemon balm.  My neighbor has been a member of the NPVGC for 30 some odd years and the plot I am on used to be her son's.  

The last couple of Saturdays I have spent a couple of hours trying to get the plot in order.  Since we are at the end of the growing season, we're basically just doing getting the paths on either side of the plot in good order and clearing the weeds.  I am probably going to put some weed paper down, which will help keep the weeds from taking it back.  But, it's not terrible to spend all day pulling weeds when they smell like lemon balm.  

I have been doing some reading on the matter, and think I might go with the square foot garden method.  I am real tempted to put in some strawberry beds though.  I don't have to give the plot up every year.  If I want this plot next year, I can have it.  I would love to just have some strawberries.  But It would be 2 years before they start producing.  No one else seems to have strawberries, so maybe that is because they don't grow well in our area.  I don't know.  Maybe I should just stick to carrots and garlic?

And, I am not saying this is going to happen.  I am just saying.  That, if they don't watch themselves, I going to get all up in there and figure out how to have chickens or bees.  Just sayin.  

The First Tooth

Nico lost his first tooth on Sunday night.  It was a little loose and he was laying in bed reading and fussing with it, and it just came out.  He was quite pleased with himself.  

The tooth fairy came and left him $5.