The challenge of children

Yesterday, Luc had asked me to build a ‘Sears Tower’ out of stickle bricks. This was quite a challenge, but I managed to build one that was accepted by Luc the construction manager. I went to the kitchen and in the meantime, Godzilla Nic wreaked his own form of havoc on our construction. This caused no end of frustration for Luc who screamed abuse at the departing monster. Paul came to placate Luc, and helped in the reconstruction efforts. Apparently, he didn’t get things ‘quite right’ as Luc screamed at him “No, not Hancock Tower! I want Sears Tower!!!” Really Paul, do you not know the finer points of Chicago architecture and antennae?! 

Nicolas has the sweetest disposition – but has a keen eye for finding danger – and has octopus arms that seek out danger or dirt, no matter how much you seem to watch him or hold him. There are many times where we have pulled him out of the toilet (where he loves to splash his hands) and while we attempt to wash his hands, he has grabbed a toothbrush, emptied the trash and pulled all the towels off the rail. Paul believes that Nic plans all his attacks with precision, anticipating how we will deal any misdemeanour and staying one step ahead of us. I wouldn’t be at all surprised.

Nicolas has worked out how to use his high chair as a ladder to climb onto the dining table or to reach things on the shelves. He loves climbing onto his and Luc’s small table to play and to climb up on the (low) windowsill to look out the window and watch the action in the street. He is a born adventurer and seems to want to conquer every ‘peak’ in our home. We have had to move our stools away from the kitchen bench (into another room) as Nic uses these to climb on the kitchen bench. One day, after pulling Nic out of the bathroom sink, I had to rescue him from the kitchen bench before he reached the knives. He is a very bright little boy and often moves furniture or toys around to climb upon to reach his goal. We have a recurring thought of ‘damned if we do, damned if we don’t when it comes to Nic: if we lock the dishwasher, Nic turns it on, running a program. If we don’t lock the dishwasher, then Nic opens it and tries to climb inside or grabs anything of interest – generally the nice shiny knives of course. AHHHH!

Photo: The boys under ‘Cloud Gate’, affectionately called ‘the Bean’ at Millennium Park, on Thursday.