Aidan,
You are making some stellar associations and doing some great imaginative play as of late. Sometimes, they amaze us, sometimes they crack us up (because, c'mon, some of this stuff is funny to an adult); but all in all, they just show how fast your brain is working and continually learning and re-assessing the world around you.
Disappearing Act
A few weeks ago, when you had a double ear infection and bronchitis, we had to give you medicine via oral syringe three times a day. This stuff must taste horrible...because you hated it.
At first you fought us...that didn't work.
Then you thought you could cry your way out of it. That also didn't work.
Then you adapted and tried something more clever. You kept your raspberry motor running the whole time, so anything that entered your mouth would be immediately spit out. That also didn't work...babies gotta breathe.
So, you figured out the ultimate solution: if you could just disappear, then we wouldn't be able to see you and we couldn't give you your meds! But how to make oneself disappear...oh, that's an easy one!
When you saw your Mom or I approaching with the antibiotics in hand, you immediately covered your face with your hands! And, as an avid player of peekaboo, you know that when the hands go up, Aidan disappears!!! Cute, clever, funny and very smart of you. Unfortunately, that trick didn't work either. But, good news: the ear infections are gone (and so are the antibiotics).
Under The Sea
Back track a little: your vocabulary is growing day by day, but sometimes there are easier ways for you to talk to us than use your words. Most of this creativity comes out when you request a song for us to play on the iPod.
When your arm reaches to the sky dramatically and you say 'Mama', you want to hear the Muppets sing 'Bohemian Rhapsody.'
When you used to say 'Ha Ha,' you wanted to hear "You've got a friend in me" from Toy Story (Because 'ha ha' meant Woody at that point.)
"B" means you want the Sesame Street classic Beatles spoof, "Letter B."
When you trumpet like an elephant, you want to hear the elephant march from the Jungle book.
Your song-du-jour for a while was this little ditty from "the Little Mermaid." (at this point you and your Mom had just watched the Little Mermaid, and you loved it!)
You request this song by conducting a bit with your hands and singing in a high voice "Hoo hoo ho ho." Under the sea entertainment at its finest
Okay, flash forward to last weekend. We took you to the Dallas Children's Aquarium, and we walk into the door into a magical world where we're seemingly underwater. Fish surround you in big tanks and your first reaction was to sing The Daughters of Triton, "Hoo hoo ho ho!" And they say that the seaweed's greener in somebody else's lake...
In the Bathroom, by the sink, on the toothbrush...
Another amazing feat of cleverness that has just been cracking us up is your budding skill set as a detective. You're finding clues everywhere!
Now, this post is really making us sound like parents of the year because I'm talking about all these movies and shows that you watch. But, give us a break! Your Mom's pretty much been sick 24/7 since week 4 of your baby sister or brother's journey! So, at any rate, lately you've been really in to Blues Clues. I'm really happy about this development, actually, because it's a pretty educational show and it does for attention spans what lying does for Pinnochio's nose..that is, makes it longer. I'm so ADD from my Sesame Street-riddled past that I could hardly watch the show at all. Plus Steve's pleated khakis are gross. But, the issue was that you didn't want to watch it either. It was either too slow, or too advanced or something. But, around when you turned two, you actually requested to watch this show. You saw Blue, the dog, and said 'arf arf arf!' So, we watched it, and you loved it.
In the show, the dog leaves her blue paw prints on items...these are clues. Then pleated-pant Steve solves a mystery based on these clues. Not a scary mystery like "who stole the mummy's emerald scepter?" But a more cool mystery like 'what song does Blue want to sing?'
Any way, so you've been a fan of Blue's Clues for a few weeks. You even request the show by name" "bloo cloo." And then, all of a sudden, while your Mommy and you were brushing your teeth one morning with your Snoopy Tooth brush you started saying "cloo! cloo! cloo!" It took your Mom a minute, but then she saw what you saw: right there on your toothbrush were Snoopy's paw prints! And of course, paw prints are clues!
Then you started seeing 'clues' everywhere: on paw printed washcloths, and towels and t-shirts. And you'd tell us: cloo! cloo! Cloo!
You even started pointing out semi-clues. The apple logo on the back of someone's iPhone? Close enough! It's a cloo too!
We are tickled pink by this development. You're so smart and clever, and unintentionally funny too; and we couldn't be more proud of our budding detective. You even like to try to draw a clue on your MagnaDoodle with Mommy's and Daddy's help! We even play a little "Blue's Clues" ourselves from time to time, involving a crudely crafted clue on a piece of construction paper that materializes from time to time!
Do Eat the Pictures
Okay, okay, final bit of bragging about my clever, funny, creative boy.
We've been encouraging you to stop and smell the flowers for a long time. You do this quite well with real flowers all the time.
A while ago, I can't quite remember when, you started smelling flowers in books. I think it must've been that interactive sensation, "Pat the Bunny," that originally encouraged this type of imaginative engagement with literature. Now you smell the flowers whenever the appear in books, even if they don't actually smell.
For Valentine's Day, your Aunt Sham gave you a cute Valentine shaped like an ice cream cone. What's a kid to do but lick it? We know you're pretending because, after the first lick, the jig is up that it's not really a sugary treat. But you kept on licking.
Now, to be honest, I can't remember which came first the Valentine or the about-to-be-described behavior, but they go hand in hand...or tongue in mouth.
When reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," you used to name all the foods. Now, in addition, you help yourself to tasting all the foods too!
When you come to this page, which is now pretty much the first page you flip to and the only page worth eating... I mean reading, you take your time and lick, pretend eat (nom nom nom) and chew up all of the foods.
Did you try the watermelon today?
"Pop!" you say, before trying the lovely lolly.
Mmm...pickle.
This, as you can imagine, is hilarious, endearing and just plain awesome.
I just hope you don't get a paper cut on your tongue.
One of your other favorite books has no edibles in it, but you also started to interact with that one too. In "Hello, Van Gogh," the other night you decided to greet Van Gogh's Landlady in a very romantic way:
You planted kiss after kiss after kiss on this painting, while your Mom and I beamed with pride.
You truly are a book lover.
Between the books and the clues, the singing and the hiding, you are just wowing us around every turn. You're creative, you're making connections, you're hilarious and you're aware of so much. You're melting our hearts...and our faces!
You're Aidan at almost 25 months...and we couldn't be more proud!
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