So, we busted out the green screen, stormed our brains, got creative, got out the characters, wrote the script, and made one of our most epic productions yet!
And by "we" I mean, "you." I love taking y'all's direction and helping you guys bring your creations to life. I follow your lead (and okay, sometimes hog the spotlight a little bit...) and I love watching how bright you shine.
And now, I proudly present, a Purple Curtain Theater Production: Longlocks and the 3 Sharks!
A cold-ish, grey day in December. You two wanted to PLAY Star Wars.
THAT was a blast.
But then, we had another idea.
How about we go SEE Star Wars!?!?
We've been taking you guys to see the new Star Wars Movies since "The Force Awakens" came out in 2015. You were 5 and 3! Aidan, you screamed out loud "NOOOOOOOOOOOO" when Kylo Ren killed Han Solo. Julia....you wanted to BE Rey!
And now...here we are...4 years later!
And we're going, as a family, to see what may be the LAST Skywalker Star Wars movie ever!
We laughed. We cried. We LOVED IT! The FORCE was strong with All of us!
When we got home, we made lightsabers together. And then an epic battle took place!
The soundtrack of our lives has varied over the years to include nursery rhymes, Beatles, Showtunes like Les Mis or Hamilton, Weird Al, Disney, and Alt Rock.
But lately...lately the four of us have been enchanted, energized, and darn-right obsessed with the soundtrack to the movie, "The Greatest Showman."
Mommy and I saw the movie first; downloaded the soundtrack; and then started singing. The two of you immediately got sucked in to the magic of the music. We burned you CDs of the songs and you started learning the tunes, singing the songs, and dancing to the music. Then we took you to see the movie and your obsession only grew!
"Dad..." you asked me once, Aidan, fresh out of the shower and looking into the mirror, "How does PT Barnum style his hair?"
Julia, you memorized the words of the trickiest song, and wanted to fly through the air on the trapeze like one of your favorite characters! So you did...in the backyard!
You both couldn't contain yourselves and told everyone you saw about the movie- including spoilers...whoops!- about the movie for weeks and weeks!
And this all started back in February!
The music has kept us dancing through camping trips, spring break road trips, time apart, time together, backyard productions, and many a commute.
We even started singing "A Million Dreams" in our lullabyes and for driveway ukulele dance performances!
And I LOVE it.
In fact, I love it so much that I had you both convinced that my car ONLY played Greatest Showman music! And you loved it!
Here's a small compilation of your greatest hits!
Everyone I know in the office, our friends, our family, our neighbors all have "Greatest Showman Fever." And seeing the happiness it brings you, and me, and Mama...I'm okay if this is one fever we don't cure.
Ladies and gentlemen...this is the moment you've been waiting for.
It might seem like it's been a while since I've talked about our potty training efforts and successes. Well, it has been a while, but that doesn't mean the successes aren't flowing. But, they're not exactly a royal flush either.
We've rewarded with Reece's Pieces, Whoppers, M&Ms, Marshmallows, Episodes. We've read countless books on the potty (your favorites for potty time are "Give a Mouse a Cookie," "I can read with my eyes shut," and "Everyone poops." We've sung countless songs ("Drip drip Drop it's an April shower"). And we've created memorable characters, like Little Bunny Poo Poo, The Flower that grows in the window, Thunder and Lightning Pee Pee Guy. And we'll keep on keeping on with all of that too.
But, we're still not ready for prime time.
You're such a busy boy, and a bit stubborn too, and with Julia's birth we've taken a few steps backward (just make sure you don't step in anything). You're a big boy, and we're super proud of you for all you do, and all you doo-doo.
So, there's been a disconnect between our desire for you to go potty and for your desire to go potty.
Things have been moving in the right direction recently though.
I developed a sticker chart system: one sticker for pee, one for poo, one for dry diaper and one for telling us you need to go. When you fill up a chart, you get to go see a BIG movie!
Here's the first chart! And you'll notice, I might have gotten a bit too excited about making the chart. Even before one sticker was put on the chart, it was very full already. But, you got the idea, and you filled it up (and filled the potty too!)
And we went to go see "Frankenweenie!" You, me, Julia and Mommy! The ticket taker was very pleased to see that you've been earning so many stickers! You loved the movie and even yelled "night night Sparky" when Sparky, the dog, died. Good stuff!
You were in awe of the movie. We were in Awe of you. 25 stickers
So, we started charting a second chart (and you can tell, I chose a simpler design this time). And guess what?
You pee-peed, you poo-pooed (this might be slightly embarrassing by the time you read this) and filled another chart to the brim! So don't wipe that smile off your face...you got to go see another movie! This one was "Hotel Transylvania!"
You, me, Mommy and Julia. The (same) ticket taker was not as amused to see us again telling him the storied success of your bowels and urinary tract. But we were impressed, and so glad to reward you for your fine work!
I think you were very proud too.
Your review of the film was pretty substantive:
So, we did another potty chart!
And guess what? Give me poo, give me pee, Aidan gets to see another BIG MOVIE!
Way to go! This time it was just you, Julia and Mommy and you went to see a good one: Monster's Inc!
note: Julia slept through all three films.
You love going to the movie theater, and request it: "Big Movie and Pop! Pop! Popcorn!" So, the reward system is working.
But, we still have a lot of resistance, and you tell us 'no' more often than not when it comes to potty. We don't want to force the issue, and give you anxiety about the porcelain throne, so we've decided to alter the tactic a bit, based on a book we read.
We're going to be getting a LOT MORE STICKERS! We're going to get stickers for all of the good big boy things we do, not just potty stuff. So, hopefully, by taking the spotlight off the potty it will feel like the pressure is off. The last thing you need on the potty is too much pressure...you just gotta relax and let it all go.
So, your Mommy drew and developed a whole new sticker system for you. Her drawings are so adorable and informative.
You really seemed to like them too. You already got 3 stickers before you went to school this morning!
Now we just have so much more to celebrate!
Before you know it, this chart will be loaded to the brim with stickers too and we'll be off to see a BIG MOVIE yet again.
I know it'll be a while until we can close the lid on this whole potty training business and I really don't believe Mimi when she says I was potty trained in one day. But, it doesn't matter how long it takes or how it all comes out, what does matter Aidan is that we love you and we are very proud of you.
Here's to stickers and big movies and songs and books. I hope that our new reward system really continues to click with you, but we know you'll figure it out eventually. And that day may be very sad, though. One day I won't get to spend 20 minutes reading to you and doing silly voices and songs to convince you to stay on the potty long enough to let nature happen.
So, just getting to spend an extra twenty minutes with you, sitting on the edge of a cold porcelain tub is reward enough for me.
But I may steal one of your M&Ms from time to time anyway.
We may be on the scenic route to getting there, but we still think that you're Number 1 when it comes to Number 1 (and 2) (on the potty).
My babies, It's 2013 and we have a lot to smile about.
Julia, you're 12 weeks old, and already so responsive. I can make you smile just by smiling at you!
Aidan, you continue to amaze and impress us. I love it when you say "Daddy, Let's play! Playtime!" It's almost heart breaking when you say that right before bed. But, there's a whole new year of play times ahead of us.
You're getting better at going pee pee and poo poo on the potty, and collected enough stickers on your sticker chart to get to see a BIG movie. You offered some insightful comments loudly through out the movie, explaining it to us ("Sparky, night night"...sparky was actually dead..but he came back. The movie was "Frankenweenie"). But, the look of amazement on your face when we sat down in the theater (now your 4th or 5th time at the big movies) was pure gold.
If only you knew that that's how your Mother and I look at you sometimes. Pure awe and amazement.
In fact, that's how we feel about both of you, Julia and Aidan. We are constantly amazed that we made you...that you are from us, but already so different from us. So new and awesome and unique in this world.
And that's what a New Year is all about, I guess.
But, with amazing kiddos like the both of you, every day is New Year's Day.
So smile, kids! It's 2013, and we have a whole new chapter in our adventure today. And I won't make you wear these hats again...until next year.
A lot of people have been posting their children's 'favorites' as part of the new school year. I think it's a great idea, as it's really cool to take a time-capsule-esque snapshot of a kiddo at that date and time.
Julia, as of now, your list is really quite easy:
Favorite Food: Placenta Favorite Band: The Darkness Favorite Song: The Sound of Silence; Heartbeat Favorite Movie: Dark City; Dark Crystal Favorite Book: The Heart of Darkness Favorite Activity: Growing, Bouncing on your Mommy's bladder. Favorite Place to hang out: the womb
But soon enough- yikes...in 2 weeks!- you will soon have a whole new experience, and we can beef up your musical and culinary tastes.
But Aidan, your favorites are a bit harder to pin down. You can be obessed with something for weeks on end, or minutes on end. Some favorites are evergreen, like Toy Story or the color Yellow; you never get tired of them. Others, like broccoli or sweet potatoes, you may have over-dosed on and now you aren't as fond of them as you used to be. I set out on a week's long quest to find out all of your favorites direct from the horse's mouth. This was foolish, because one cannot simply ask a 2 year old what their favorite movie if they have no intention of watching said movie and, as mentioned before, your favorites vacillate from day to day on some items. So, there is some parental editorializing in the lists. But, trust me, this is pretty accurate, and has been approved by your mother.
Favorite Color: Although you love many colors, this one's easy:Yellow. Always has been. 'Nuff Said.
Favorite Super Hero: Hulk. Unless Buzz Lightyear counts as a super hero.
I made your lunch for school yesterday and included a little hand-drawn Hulk that said "Hulk Love Aidan." Miss Jessica said when you saw it, you whispered "WOW!!!"
Favorite Book: This is a tough one. You LOVE to read. In fact, you fell asleep on a book over the weekend, napped on it, and spent the rest of the day with 'newsprint' on your face.
You've loved two pop-up books nearly to death: "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Charlie and Lola's I will not Ever Never Eat a Tomato." Those could clearly be candidates for favorite book. "Olivia" was a fan favorite for a long time, as were the old "Sesame Street" books Mimi and Pops brought over. You love "Mouse Cookie"(what you call "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie") and "Everyone Poops" ("Poops book!") "Gossie and Gertie" and REALLY love "Ice Mice" (what you call "I can Read with my Eyes Shut"); In fact, 1 of the 4 times I asked you what your favorite book was, you replied "Ice Mice." Time two, you said "Horton Hears," which is a very good book too. But, 2 out of four times you said the same book:
"Hippo, no Hippo"
and
"Hippo book"
So, you really like Sandra Boynton's "But not the Hippopotamus." And that's going down as your favorite!
Favorite Song: This is a tough one. You love you sing; you love to listen to songs; you love to request songs be sung to you; you love to do sing-a-longs with Mommy and Daddy.
Lately you've been singing "Happy Birthday" to yourself quite a bit (Happy toy ou/happy to you/happy to you). You've also been really into Muppet's Bohemian Rhapsody for the longest time. You used to call it "Mama," now you call it "Muppets." But the cool thing, is that now you are singing it! You know one whole verse, and sing it like this:
Easy Come/Easy Come
Little High/Little Low
Any rainbows
Dont Matters
To Me
to me!!!!!!!!!
So that's definitely a candidate for favorite song.
But, you also love 'classics' like the "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Twinkle, Twinkle," "Old King Cole," "You are My Sunshine," "I'm Looking Over (A Four leaf Clover)."
Your favorite Lullabye right now is "Pooh Song" (aka "The House on Pooh Corner" by K-Log), which was one of your favorites as an infant and has recently made a comeback.
But, executive decision here, I'd have to say that your favorite song is "Let it Be." This is one of your favorite tunes, whether it's "Letter B" (the Sesame Street cover) or the actual "Let it Be," this tune rocks your socks off for some reason. You sing it with us, you sing it on your own, we can us it as 'bait' to get you into the car when you don't want to go ("Want to listen to "Let it Be?"). The answer is always "YES!" to Let it Be.
Favorite Food: You are a pretty dang good eater. The problem comes when we find something that you really like, and then make a lot of it, and then you burn out on it...like mashed sweet potatoes, rice, etc.
But, some foods are always golden, and you could probably eat them every day if we let you. But we're not going to risk letting you burn out on them!
So, your favorites are: sausage, edamame, mango, oranges and avocado. Oh yeah, and pizza!
Favorite Movie: Toy Story. You love Toy Story. Toy Story 1, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3. You've loved Toy Story since before you could talk. You called it "Ha ha" because of the scene where Woody and the Shark have that little conversation about Woody's hat in the first movie (yes, we've seen it a million times). You love Toy Story so much that you had a "Two Story" themed second birthday party. Thanks to some very kind Uncles and Aunts and Grandparents you have a whole "Andy's Toys" set. You carry them around and play with them daily. Buzz is your favorite. You cheer "Finity and BEYON!" at home...and on the swings...You know the words to "Fren in me" ("You've got a friend in me"). So, yeah, Toy Story is the bomb.
You've been branching out lately, though and enjoy "Horton Hears a Who," "Bug's Life," "Madagascar," "Finding Nemo" and "Monster's Inc."
But, when you ask to watch "Woody Moozy" we know that you're a Toy Story guy at heart.
Favorite Toy/Posession: "Blankies." That's your blanket. We don't know how it happened; you've slept with many stuffed animals and toys and even books. But you grew attached to your Blankies. It's great to sleep on, makes a great monster maxsxsk (as you showed your mother and I last night), and even is sometimes a lion's mane! It's great to hide under, and to wear as a cape, or to tuck your toys in to bed with.
Where you go to sleep, blankies goes too.
Favorite Activity: You love to play outside. Running around, picking up rocks, making rock soup, looking for rolley polies, blowing bubbles, doing 'airplanes' and kicking the ball...you're an outside kinda guy. You have been for a long time.
But, you're also a water guy. If there's splashing or dripping water around, you're gonna find it, you're gonna splash in it, and you're gonna love it!
Favorite TV Show: Wonder Pets/ Timmy Time/ Blue's Clues/Sesame Street
You don't watch many shows, but when you do, you've got an opinion on what 'epsodes' are the best. You do love Sesame Street, and were asking for it yesterday ('sesame street moozy plesase'), but as of today, I think that if you had to choose any show to watch, it'd be Timmy Time, the spinoff of Shaun the Sheep (which you also love, and like to sing the theme song to "Shoppa Sheep, Shoopa Sheep...Bleet!), the spinoff of Wallace and Gromit.
Favorite Animal: Tough one. You've been liking horses, dogs, koalas, kangaroos, grasshoppers, butterflies, cats, and pandas. But, here's another executive decision, your favorite is the "elephant." You love making the elephant noise, singin the elephant song (from the "Jungle Book"), reading "Stomp the Swamp" (an elephant romp), and "Horton Hears a Who" (a Seussian Elephant of great esteem).
Favorite Phrase: Normally only sitcom characters have catch-phrases. But, here are a few of my favorite 'catch-phrases' that you love to use as you're learning this language.
"Bye-bye, See ya!" (useful to say bye-bye, see ya to inanimate objects, animals, toys and nature as you're leaving a room, building or park. Such as "Bye-bye park, see ya!" Or "Bye-bye bed, bye-bye diaper, bye-bye Buzz. See ya!")
"Have it" (like "Strawberry. Have it!" or "Have it, Daddy!")
Alright, so it's taken me a week to put this post together, and thus, your favorites have probably all already changed and changed back. But, consider this a 'snapshot' of a young man, with a lot of opinions, and a lot of love...and a lot of favorites. Your favorties may change as you grow up, but one thing won't: you're one of your mother's and my favorite boys in the entire world (and our favorite first-born son). So put that on OUR lists. It won't be changing.
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