January Nolanisms

• Nolan asked if the babies would cry when they came out of my belly. I told him yes, but he could help hold them. He then ran to the kitchen, where he opened a drawer, pulled out one of his old pacifiers that I had no idea he knew was there, came back and asked if he could give the babies the pacifier right then.
• Nolan has been asking ALOT of questions about where babies come from. You really think Brian and I would have thought this out a bit, but we didn't, so it's been a fly-by-the-seat of our pants kind of answers. A couple nights ago, after story and prayer time, Nolan asked how the babies got in my belly. I stole Cheyna's answer and explained that when a Mommy and Daddy love each other very much God puts a baby in the Mommy's belly. Nolan seemed totally annoyed and said, "BUT HOW?" I was thinking and trying to come up with something when he looked at me as serious as can be and said, "Mommy? Did you eat those babies?" I laughed so hard, I cried and he was laughing, too. I don't think I ever answered him, so he probably thinks I ate them.
• Nolan tests us everyday, as I'm sure most 3 year olds do. Quite often he asks Brian or I, while pointing his finger at us and a challenging attitude in his voice, "Are you telling me what to do?" We tell him we most certainly are and then he'll say, "Oh, okay. You can tell me what to do."

• We constantly tell Nolan that feeding the dogs people-food will make them sick. (and he rarely feeds them people-food). The other night, after a very trying dinner, Brian and I were cleaning up while Nolan was (not) eating the rest of his. The dogs sit next to and beneath his chair when we let them in the kitchen and for whatever reason they were in there and placed waiting and hoping. Suddenly Nolan reaches over with a half of a hamburger and holds it out for Tootsie, laughing. Then he pulls it back. It was almost the final straw for us. Brian says to Nolan sternly, "Nolan, what is going to happen if you give Tootsie that burger?" The correct answer, of course is, she'll get sick. But Nolan looked at Brian with a poker face and replied, "She'll eat it, Daddy." And don't think for one second Nolan didn't know what a smart aleck remark that was. We managed to refrain from laughing until he was in bed that night.