Short Stories About Nikos

Guilty As Charged
I was in the bathroom earlier, when suddenly Maya started wailing. She rarely cries to begin with, but this was clearly an "I'm HURT!" sort of cry. Naturally, I ran out, swooped her up off the floor, and started calming her down. She had no visible injuries, but Nikos was sitting right next to her on his little yellow car. I assumed he had hit her while riding it, and I asked him what happened. He said nothing-- just glared at me and crossed his arms (guilty much?). I ignored him for a bit, working on calming Maya down and examining her for any visible injuries. In the meantime, he walked off... But a few minutes later he walked back, gave her a big kiss, and said, "Sorry I pull your hair, My-my. That's not nice." I'm pretty sure I just about died from the cuteness. And Maya returned to her happy, giggly self pretty quickly, so that was good.

Oh. My. Gosh.
This is what Nikos has started saying recently. It makes him sound like a toddler-sized valley boy, and it is hysterical! It is usually accompanied with "WOOOOOW!!!" For example, this afternoon he was reading his "Things That Go" book-- a book loaded with pictures of cars, planes, boats, etc. Every time he turned the page, he'd say "Wow, a trash truck! Oh. My. Gosh!" Or if he drops something, he will also say "Oh my gosh," sometimes throwing in a "you silly goose!" for good measure. :)

Man vs. Boy
Nikos has also suddenly realized the differences between men and boys. Not sure where that came from, but he informed me the other day that Santa is not a good boy-- he is a good MAN. And Daddy is a MAN too. Mommy is a girl, and Maya is a baby. And that is how we classify things 'round these parts.

Birthdays
For someone who apparently hates his own birthday and all the attention it brings, Nikos is really excited lately about my birthday and his sister's birthday coming up. He is constantly talking about what he will buy me (which has varied-- a car, an elephant, a dinosaur, and, lately, a princess) and what he will buy Maya (a baby doll!). He discusses eating cupcakes and looking at invitations and who is going to be there and how he is going to sing the "Happy Birthday" song. It is too funny!

Then, today, we went to the market. I usually tell him that if he is very, very good, I will buy him a Hot Wheels car (they cost a whopping 98 cents). This is a very effective little bribe-- he LOVES those cars! Anyhow, he was on his absolute best behavior all the way through the store, and then we went to go find the car display-- only to find it had been replaced with beef jerky! DOH! I knew they still had to be there somewhere, so I did one big lap of the store, searching every endcap. He asked about where the cars where, and I told him I was sad because I couldn't find them. His response? "No, you're not sad- you're happy! We go to birthday party, remember?" hahahaha!!

Big Girls Don't Cry
So I was singing this song to a semi-cranky Maya the other day, and Nikos thought it was funny. On our way home from dinner tonight, he asked me to sing it. He sang along with me-- especially the part that goes "Big girls... don't cry-ay-ay." Then he stopped. He pointed at Maya, and said "She not crying, she happy! She a happy girl!"

And that was the end of the song. :)