Fun with Friends...and Odds & Ends

Aidan, as you're getting older, you're also becoming more of a social butterfly. You used to acknowledge other children, but now you're really into playing with them, especially your best bud Brady and your awesome little pal (and next door neighbor) Luke.

Here's some evidence:

You're always pretty excited to see Luke! The other day we were at the park and Luke and Tammy came a little later. You saw Luke coming and you ran up to him to say hello! Then you put sticks on his head. No friendship is perfect.

You're also getting along great with Brady! You guys play together, hang out, and encourage each other to be silly...and get wet.


...Very wet...


You guys were so dirty (and wet) from the park, that you even bathed together. What? Friends do that, right? I took some video, but I'm not going to post it here, as the video went from G to R rated pretty quickly when Brady decided to stand up.

But there were some funny moments in your growing friendship.

Brady, standing up, turned his backside to you and bent over. You turned to us and said what anyone in your situation would say: "Meow."

Also, you thought it was very hilarious to continually pour water on Brady's head. You would pour it, then laugh. Pour it, then laugh.

But when Brady tried it on you, you got upset.

So, yeah, friendships need to be fine tuned; but you're off to a great start at learning the basic tune!

Here are the odds & ends:

1. You've been watercoloring with your Mommy, and the results are great!

2. You've been talking a lot more, and trying out new words: especially names.

You now know my name, "aaahn" and Mommy's (hall). And your own ("adn!"). You're working on family and friends names too. You called cousin Kobi "koko," you're working on "Bekka" and have "BG" (Uncle BJ) and "kai" (Kari) pretty much down. Of course, you know Mi and Yaya and Pop too!

3. You're amazing us with your Nursery Rhyming.

Your Mom worked with you pretty diligently one day to get you to fill in the blanks on "Humpty Dumpty". You say 'wall,' 'fall,' 'men,' and 'again,' at all the right places, very excitedly!

But, the other night, we were reading you stories and decided to try some more fill-in-the-blanks, and without any reminding necessary, you new the words to "Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat" which you now request by your name for it: "Been" (since you love to say "been"). We were floored by this development!

"been" "queen" "there" "chair" --- you're quite the rhymer...and really surprised your Mommy and Me by pulling that out of your hat!

4. DANCING!
The other day we heard some street musicians and you just started to bebop and dance all over the place. I helped you out by calling dance moves: clap! snap! spin! drum! (and you beat your hands on the ground). I tried to get  video of it, but by the time I got the camera out, you had found a nearby puddle to dance in. But that was cute too...and still involved some really top notch dancing.



Now you love dancing! Whenever your Muppets songs come on, especially your current favorite ("Life's a Happy Song", which you request by brushing your teeth...trust me, it makes sense), you dance, dance, dance!


With friends, and dancing, and painting rhyming, life really is a happy song (although there are a few cadenzas of Grade-A tantrums). We're ecstatic to sing along with you!

Little Girl: Week 13 & 14

Week 13

Week 14

What you might notice from these images is that the touch up paint I used to paint over some scuffs on that wall doesn't quite match the surrounding paint. What you really should be noticing is the growing bump around your Mom's mid-section. It's hard to believe we're officially out of the first trimester, but looking at that bump makes it a little easier to believe. It also makes it a lot easier to take because you're Mom is now out of those first trimester doldrums: no more queasiness, no more extreme weakness, no more sleeping 20 hours a day, and no more exaggerations from your Dad. That makes leaving the first trimester behind a very sweet deal. Your mother's pregnancy with you is simultaneously going by so quickly but not quickly enough. Some moments I'm ready for you to be here already; other moments, like when your brother is having a 'two-year-old moment', I'm glad you're safe and sound (and self-contained) in that beautiful, burgeoning bump. We didn't get to see you, but your Mom went to your 14 week checkup and heard your lively heart beat. Dr. Bertrand said that everything was progressing normally and wonderfully. We couldn't be more pleased, little one. You're growing, your mom keeps showing and both of us are crowing. As you can see below, we had a LOT of family in town last week and we showed your pictures, showed off your video and told everyone we could find that you're 98% a girl (official confirmation comes in a few weeks). Boy or Girl didn't matter too much, we just wanted you to be a happy, healthy baby. But...it's super sweet knowing you'll be the sugar & spice and everything nice side to this operation; though your brother's pretty sweet, nice and a bit spicy too.

You are 14 weeks along and you are the size of a lemon; which sounds like a sour note, but we already think you're as sweet as can be.

Passovster with your Family! A Photo Extravaganza

What has plagues, eggs, tornadoes, surprise birthday parties, matzah, and temporary tattoos?

What has Cousins galore, Aunts and Uncles AND Grandparents?

What involves the lake, the zoo, the arboretum, the aquarium, and Benihana?

That's right, the excellent Passovster/Mimi's Birthday Family Break Extravaganza!

For Passover/Easter/Mimi's 70th your entire immediate family on my side got together, including your long-lost cousins from England (okay, they're not lost, they were just in England). We all gathered in Dallas for a week of fun, catching up, wrestling and a lot of eating.

Little Girl, it was a lot of fun to tell all of your aunts, uncles and cousins our good news...that we found you you were a girl! They were psyched...especially Grayson and Aunt Mendi.

Aidan, It was so amazing to watch you instantly reconnect with your older cousins. You wanted to kiss on them, hug them and wrestle and giggle with them too. You were in hog heaven being surrounded by your great cousins...and they really had fun too!










It was also wonderful  to watch you, Aidan, bond with your Aunts and Uncles too. You have a special place in your heart for Aunt Rebekka, and she's pretty keen on you too. But, you also really liked Uncle Keith, and even let him hold your hand and cuddled with Aunt Deborah, Aunt Mendi and Uncle Taff too!







And now, a gratuitous amount of adorable pictures from the week: