Getting Back Home: Late January

Ah....home sweet home...

After three weeks living with Mimi/Pops and Yaya/Baba while our floors were being redone, we were finally able to move back home. And- not that we didn't have fun with our family- but it feels good to be home and get back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Not to say that there wasn't work to do...

You guys have been huge helps in the remodel, you even put together IKEA furniture...

...set up the entertainment system...

...do whatever this is with whatever those are...

...and make sure the storage container is empty empty empty:

Despite a few differences in our landscape, it felt good to get back to our home.

can you spot the kiddos?

And...while we were still in transition we had some open spaces and open drawers and took advantage of both:

You were pleased to get back to your playground...

...back to our sunshiney house...and our old rooms...even if we didn't use the bed all the time..

...and to visit some of our old haunts, like the zoo:

So...now we're back home...and able to do some monkeying around...

Despite getting nipped in the butt on the remodel and unpacking from time to time...

In general, it just feels good to get back to hanging around without having to live out of a trunk.

#ZooPuns

The Many, Many Sides of Aidan

Aidan,

Your Mom and I love how complicated you are. You are into bugs and getting dirty and muddy, but you hate for your clothes to be wet (one drop of water may make you want to strip nekked, rather than be slightly wet). You love to be rough and tumbly, but are also super sensitive and love beautiful things like nail polish, girls, beautiful walking, and flowers...always flowers.

You stop to smell the roses, literally, and can be very introspective; but you are also very very silly.

Two recent memorable conversations really help illuminate some of the many sides of you.

The other day you and I had a conversation that went something like this:

Me: Aidan, how was your day at school?

Aidan: Poo-poo.

Me: Come on! How was school?

Aidan: Poo-poo.

Me: Okay okay...with NO poo-poos, how was school.

You stopped to think. A long-ish thoughtful silence. A cheeky grin emerged.

 Aidan: Pee-pee!

See? Silly, clever, and hilarious! (though your mother has trained me not to laugh too hard at such 'potty humor'...but it was a very nice loophole you found, and that deserved and got a huge laugh.)

This situation quickly turned into a crazy tickle-and-laugh festival.

But, this morning you were much more thoughtful.

I recently found this long-lost magnet under the oven and plopped it up on the dishwasher. 

It's a Picasso painting called "The Old Guitarist"...and we have it in Magnet form!

I was getting ready to leave for work for the day when you took me by the hand and said "Dad, come here! I have to show you something!" We walked hand-in-hand to the dishwasher, where you sat down and I crouched down next to you.

You pointed at the magnet and tried to collect your thoughts, which were clearly very big, as it took you a few moments to say what you wanted to say.

Aidan: "Dad, see? When you get older and older and you will play the guitar like this. You have a beard, and you look like a grandpa. And you'll play the guitar."

Pretty deep right? You weren't necessarily concerned about me being old and playing guitar, but you were definitely very pensive about it; you'd been studying this magnet for a while and wanted to show me. Even your sister's interjection (Julia: "When I get older, I'll be a skeleton!") just further complicated your thoughts... 

Aidan: "Mom will you be a skeleton too?"

But then, the deep thoughts quickly evaporated and turned into what you both wanted to be for Halloween (there was talk of ghosts, skeletons, princesses and snow monsters).

But the depth of your thoughts just amazed me.

I love how multi-faceted and darn right human you are. There are many sides to you, and I never want you to shy away from showing us any of them. You can always share your silliness and pensiveness, fragility and strength with us my son. 

But, judging from the photos I found on my phone after your 'session' with it, I don't think we have to worry about you not revealing your many, many sides any time soon.

I love your happy side, and your sad side; your silly side and your sad side. Even when I'm an old white-bearded skeleton man, I'll always be happy to sit with you- with or without guitar- and just listen to your thoughts.

I love you, my son.

The Dog, the Dad and the Wardrobe

The other day you followed me into the master bedroom closet as I was changing afterwork. You decided it would be a fun time to play: play with Toby, chill in the dog bed, play with the camera, make funny faces and play with shoes. I couldn't agree more!

Not to air our dirty laundry, which is literally on display in all of these video clips, but who knew so much fun could be had in the wardrobe? I had to video you playing and share it...it's just too good.





Normally when you follow us into our closet, you want to hear the music box that your Mom and I got in Paris. It plays "La vie en rose," and now you love that song! But on this day, all you wanted to do was play! You even tried to give Toby one of Mommy's shoes.

It's so wonderful to be able to imaginative play with you like this.



So, we may not have any skeletons in the closet, but we certainly did have lots of dirty laundry. But, more important than that, we had a lot of good clean fun!

Preggo Yoga, or Preggoga [(c) Aaron Weinstein]

Your Mom's back has been hurting her recently. Why? you may ask. Well, we're pretty sure it's a normal part of pregnancy: the growing weight of a big baby bump adds pressure to the spine-- it's arching out more to compensate for the extra weight. And so, to help her back feel better, your Mom has relied on a time-tested technique: complaining about it.



Okay, maybe she's only doing some minor griping, and she totally deserves to gripe about it. If I had to carry a watermelon (actually more like a mango inside a small watermelon) around all the time without being able to use my hands, I'd whine too. Or maybe I'd make a fruit salad. But, that's not an option here.

So, I've been resorting to one back-pain remedy a lot: the back massage. I don't want to creep you out- and I know it will, because it creeps me out to see Mimi and Pops engage in any more physical contact than a high five, hand hold or hug- but, I've been performing back massages to rave reviews. The reviews normally go something like this:

Me: "All done. How did that feel?"

Your Mom: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

But, massages aren't cutting the mustard any more. So, I suggested we bust out the prenatal pilates and yoga DVDs that have been collecting dust. Exercise is good for any body, but prenatal yoga is supposed to be super good for the pregnant body. And just for good measure, I figured I'd tag along and try the work out with your Mom too. Enter: Shiva Rea Prenatal Yoga.

We've done pilates and yoga before. But this Prenatal stuff was weird.

First of all, you know how they say that everything looks flattering on a pregnant woman? Well, that's still true...as long as it's YOUR pregnant woman. Everyone in this video was wearing a form fitting unitard (see Shiva, above), and it left nothing to the imagination. Plus, I was jealous because I don't have a unitard and I probably would have looked lumpier than the pregnant-est yogaer in one.

Secondly, the video had three women (each in different trimesters) demonstrating how the more pregnant you get, the less mobile you become. The third trimester workout lady (who was probably due to deliver right at the end of the video) basically sat in a chair and did the hand jive the whole time.

Our oddly-named pregnant yoga hippy for second trimester folks, Britta (which Shiva Rea insisted on pronouncing as "Brit. Ta." (as if we didn't know there were two t's), was fortunately mobile enough to still get a good work out in. And your mother followed along very well, stretching and breathing and kegeling and all that.

I, on the other hand, was still freaked out by the unitards. Maybe it was the fact that each trimester lady had a different color on: red, green and blue. And this color combination always reminds me of "Alvin and the Chipmunks" who always freaked me out. Partially because they're talking chipmunks. Partially because they don't wear pants. And partially because of this photo from my childhood which was recently unearthed:

More frightening than My Little Ponies.

And don't get me started on Shiva Rea's odd pronunciation habits. By the 30th time she said exhale as "ex-ale," I'd had enough. Plus, I couldn't participate in the 15 minute kegel workout, so I bowed out.

But, don't worry, I stayed on the sidelines to make sure our star Yoga-er wouldn't fall over or anything. And she didn't fall over! At the end of an hour of Preggo Yoga, or Preggoga (which I've copyrighted), your Mom felt great. Her back was feeling better, she felt relaxed and refreshed. I guess she didn't have giant Chipmunk related trauma as a child.

But, the first thing your Mom said after Yoga was the following: "I need a giant bowl of cereal."

So, this silly workout was actually a pretty good workout! She worked up an appetite (which would have happened anyway), and she worked out her back-- giving her more strength and flexibility for you to continue to grow and grow.

And, judging by the picture below of you at 19 weeks, we're gonna be experiencing a lot more back pain, and a lot more "ex-aling" with Prenatal Yoga workouts.