Hours before dawn, you two and Brady awoke for part-II of your sleepover. You guys chatted, played, and talked. When the sun rose, you all played some video games, hung out, at some pancakes that I made (5 out of 5 stars, according to Brady!), played outside, got muddy, got clean, and then swabbed the deck!
Then more play time, more fun and more hanging out.
Uncle Jeremy came to pick up Brady, and Aidan, you kindly gave Brady your favorite Toy Story Woody doll you'd had since your 1st birthday. That was so kind of you; you thoughtful, thoughtful guy!
By mid-morning, you both were already exhausted.
But then you had an idea...facepaint! And you find our guy to do it...me!
You were all smiles before...
and after...
Then you had another idea....paint Daddy's face! So... I said... yes!
Julia, you gave me a snowman...
Aidan...you gave me a smiley face!
Then...you both decided to put on a show! Julia, you grabbed a microphone and a bouquet of flowers. I don't know if you've outgrown the purple curtain theater or not, but since it was so nice outside, this performance was held on our newly made, freshly swabbed, deck/stage!
We had Kiss and Kindergarten Classics, Moana and Gummi Bear.
After a late sleepover night and early morning with your buddy Brady, even after face painting magic, and a live performance of awesomeness, you guys were a little wiped out. You both fell asleep in the car during errands, though you both deny it. I hope you had sweet car dreams of an awesome morning!
...And any time y'all want to paint my face, you're more than welcome to do so!
You both have songs in your hearts, and that makes me happy, because singing and music make me happy too!
We sing a lot- whether it's rocking out to some of our favorite 'jams' in the car, our Beatles/Ben Folds (or even Kenny Loggins) lullabies each night, or working on our Michael Jackson or Les Mis during the day, or even channeling our inner Weird Al and making our amazing parodies, we sing at least once a day!
It's good for the soul!
And it's so good for me and your mom to see how much JOY music is bringing both of you!
So, what song exactly is in your heart?
Here's a snippet of what's been spinning on our records in the summer of '17.
Julia, you said: 'Dad, me and Aidan want to put on a rock show upstairs. Can you paint our faces like Kiss? I want to be the kitty and Aidan wants to be the one with the long tongue!'
Heck yeah, I can!
And HECK YEAH to you and Aidan for wanting to ROCK AND ROLL all night and PARTY EVERY DAY!
You guys are amazing rock stars, amazing actors, amazing imagine-ers, and I hope you never lose that confidence to dream big and creatively express yourselves!
What happened next was some pure magic, made entirely by you!
Listening to the two of talk to each other is inspiring, hilarious, heart-felt, lovely, and makes your mother and me so proud...no matter the subject area.
You are really good friends, and hearing you relate to each other verbally kinda like little grown ups is really a huge treat and hugely rewarding.
We love that you're buddies; we love that you communicate; and we love you!
Here's a loosely transcribed interlude from the other morning:
<Interior- Bathroom. Morning>
J: I am pooping.
A: Big or small?
J: Big!
Daddy: Aidan, do you need to go potty too?
A: Yes, but I have to wait my turn. You going to work?
Daddy: Yes... to earn that monay!
J: Money? That makes you sick!
A: Yeah, that makes you sick. We don’t eat it.
J: Will you tell us a story about Frozen?
A: How about Star Wars? You’ll be Luke Skywalker, and I’ll be Darth Vader
J: I wanna be the princess.
A: How about, I am Jabba the Hut, you are Jabba the Hut, and you are Jabba the Hut.
J: No I wanna be the princess only!
Daddy: What about Preston? Can he be Chewbacca?
A: Yeah! And what about Toby?
Daddy: How about R2D2?
A: No….. he is Jabba the Hut!
Daddy: What about mommy? Can she be Han Solo?
J and A: Yeah!
Here's another amazing example, which I was fortunate enough to catch on video:
The truth of the matter is, that you both just love each other very much...
Julia puts on princess costume: Aidan, will you kiss me now?
<long silence. Aidan thinking>
Aidan: Wait a second, I think I need to get my costume.
It's very hard to keep up with you these days! It doesn't seem that long ago that we were celebrating your first steps...but granted that was in August, and you've now been walking for over 6 months! Every time you leap forward- sometimes literally- it seems like you master your new steps immediately and they seem just like another tool in your belt. You're a natural. And, naturally, you've been growing by leaps and bounds since your first birthday.
I can't even begin to enumerate all the amazing things you do, because you do so many amazing things that it's hard to keep count! It's hard to not take some of these steps for granted because you just keep piling them on.
You climb. Whenever and wherever you can.
It started innocently enough with the slide.
And then assisted with some stairs.
But before Thanksgiving, and before we knew it, you were climbing up to the kitchen table.
And then the bathroom sink.
And the couch, and stairs unassisted, and whatever else you could find:
You have a sense of humor!
You talk: it started out with just Mama. But soon after you started saying "bubba" for Aidan and "gaga" for Dada. You love saying "Mimi" and "Yaya" and "Baba" and "Ba" ("pops" is a bit hard to say).
You started saying "ay-oooo" - which is hard to write, but it's very clearly- intonation wise and in usage- "thank you."
You say "Yo yo" for Joseph...and yogurt.
You say "bow wow" for dogs. But lately, you've gotten even better at saying "Do-jeee" (which is either "Toby" or "doggy." But, you also just call them "boys."
You LOVE "wah wah" (water)...love drinking it...love playing in it. Love everything about it.
You have your own distinct word for "Banana" and "watermelon." Though, I can't even begin to try type up how you say them.
You LOVE babies too. You hold dolls of all kind- some baby dolls, some spider-men, some shreks- and rock them and sing "baybee....baybee...baybee."
You also love living babies too. Every other child who's not Aidan is pretty much "baybee" to you. Asher is "baby." Brady...maybe you're saying "baydee"...but it's a close race.
And, recently, you started saying "Cheese!"
(you've been saying it for the food, but recently extrapolated it to other meanings)
And recently, you masted "Aidan"...and are putting it to good use. You wake up from naps calling his name, wanting to play. And you can also tell him what to do by name as well!
You also recently mastered my name: "Dah dee." You say it so properly that it just sometimes breaks my heart. One morning I was getting ready to go to work and I heard you asking her where I was: "mama.... daddy?"
I came out of the bathroom and you saw me: "DADDY!!!!" You wanted me to hold you, so I did and we cuddled for a few minutes. When it was time for me to go, I gave you back to Mommy, which is normally 100% a-okay. But this time, you cried: "Daddy...Daddy!"
I did go to work, and missed you so much, as I always do. But, as I always do as well, I came home to hear you talk to your "daddy" even more! You're so so active!
You run!
You wrestle!
You joke!
You reach, and bounce, and stack, and eat as good as any of the big kids!
You sing!
You are smart:
You love animals (stuffed and real):
And...you love, love, love.
And we all love you. You are growing so much, dear Julia, and we couldn't be more proud to be part of your life every day.
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