Aidan, over Thanksgiving, you really seemed to nail your list-making skills. By which, I mean, something really just clicked and you realized how to use the word 'and.' And ever since, you've been listing things and telling us about them and genereally being exciged about the word 'and' ever since.
It all started when we were at Mimi and Pops' house and you and Mommy were sitting underneath Mimi's 'Medusa Lamp.' It's got about 12 lights on it, and each one has a different colored glass shade.
You were excited by this and started listing the colors:
"Blue and Pink and yellow and Red and Green."
Ever since, you've been listing all sorts of things...sometimes you skip like a record, but no matter what, it's adorable and amazing and just, generally, awesome.
Sometimes you climb into bed with us in the morning and tell us all about the farm: "rooster and cow and chicken and chicken and pig and cow."
Sometimes you tell us all about your favorite movie: "Buzz and Woody and Jesse and Lotso and Hamm and Buzz and Green and Buzz."
Typing this out isn't really getting the point across too well about how cute this listing is, so I will try to capture it on video. But if I don't, rest assured, it's adorable. Something about the cadence of your voice and the lilting way you say 'and' when you're thinking about what to say next!
"Next Dinosaur. Two Dinosaurs"
And you don't really need to think too hard about what you're saying next, because words just seem to come to you. Sometimes we know where they come from, and they're simply adorable.
When playing upstairs, I introduced you to "Pinnochio." This is hard to say, but you tried your darndest:
"Hi Hokey ko pokey!"
"Hi pokey pokey!"
"Hi Mokey po kokey!"
Sometimes you just make a phrase you've heard your own. Like when at Gigi's house for Thanksgiving, I took your Hulk toy out of the bag of toys we brought and you said "What's up, Hulk?"
Other times, you really floor us by saying something we didn't teach you.
Like when you see something amazing you used to whisper "Wow!" Now you say "Wow, Cool thing!"
And, all of a sudden, your catch-all, all purpose phrase has been "Oh. My. Goodness!"
It comes out of your mouth at the cutest and most unexpected times. I know you know how to say it, but everytime you do on your own accord, it cracks me up. For instance, last night I told you that Aunt Kari had a baby in her belly. And you whispered: "oh. my. goodness!"
You also have been telling your mom and me how "sited" Julia is. We cracked the code, and we're excited that you're excited that Julia's excited!
With your communication skills really kicking butt lately, we all have a lot to be excited about!
What do Buzz Lightyear, a little Kitty Cat and a lot of upset tummy times have in common?
Halloween 2012 and Introduction to Tummy Time!
We had a wonderful Halloween! Tammy, Bryan and Luke invited us to crash their neighborhood party and then go trick-or-treating. So I rushed home, put on my costume and we headed over.
Aidan, your Mom had been discussing Halloween with you all day, and you were eager to tell me all about it. When I walked in the door, you were ready to go and said "CANDY HOUSE!"
On the way, I asked you what was about to go down. You seemed to have a pretty awesome grasp:
So, we landed in Luke's new neighborhood, and got everyone in their Halloween costumes before the festivities began and the costumes slowly got soiled, sticky and destroyed. Your Mommy and I did a great job on your costumes this year, if I do say so myself. Your Mom crocheted your Buzz helmet and papier mached the jet pack, and I painted it! Julia, your Mom crocheted your costume too!
(your Mom also painted my costume).
So, may I introduce the winners for best costumes for 2012 Halloween:
Little Kitty Cat:
And her Space Ranger Protector and gatherer of much candy, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command!
Mid-"Infinity and Beyond"
Luke was happy to see you and some of the other children were very happy to meet you!
Then the costumes came off, because the kitty didn't like her hat, and there was a Bounce House for Buzz. Aidan, you had a blast playing with Dinosaur Luke and the other kiddos on the bounce house!
Then bouncing, plus hot dogs plus two cup cakes tested the limits of Buzz's iron fortitude, and the dress whites of a space ranger's uniform got sullied a bit by some upchuck.
But that doesn't get in the way of a Space Ranger's sacred duty to collect candy! So when the sun set, Julia and Aidan, the three of us were off with Mommy, Bryan, Tammy and Luke to Trick-or-Treat! And Julia, you didn't really seem to know or care where you were until you got hungry and Mommy had to go feed you in the car. But Aidan, you were in your element!
As you and Luke went from house to house, filling up your pumpkin buckets, you really got the hang of it. You liked ringing the doorbells (which made me realize how tall and grown up you are!)
and you said "Trick or Treat!" Or sometimes just "Candy!" You'd say 'Thank you' and 'Happy Halloween!'
But, you were all business. There was no time for small talk. You'd proudly announce to each friendly neighbor, "Next House!" and we'd move on!
Finally, jackpot, someone gave you a lollipop and that pushed you over the edge: best night ever!
We said goodbye to Luke, Bryan and Tammy, as Dinosaurs need their sleep.
But you were determined to go to more next houses! So as Mommy went to feed Julia in the car, you and I went to even more houses! You may have been a bit sticky, and bit tired, but you would not take no for an answer. Even as you sat in someone's front yard for a breather, you were ready for more and more houses!
So we loaded up the car, and headed home and you and I went out Rex-and-Buzz for even more houses!
You milked your lollipop for the next several blocks, and stayed excited as we looped around our own neighborhood, having the time of your life.
You may have started to show signs of fatigue, especially when people had the gall to dare not to be home, but you were mostly in high spirits and loved this special night. I loved it too.
Finally, with pumpking bucket full, we looped back around to the final house of the night.
We went inside, showed off our new bling and sweets, and then hurried off to an all-important bath and then bed. This Space Ranger had a huge night and was up waaay past his bedtime.
But it was way worth it to see that smile.
And I think it left an impression on you as well. This morning at 6:30am, almost a full week after Halloween, you climbed in bed with us after playing on your own for a while. Clearly you had been playing with your Black and Decker toolbox, because you came to bed with an orange tool tray and some nuts and bolts. You started doing your early-morning talking fest, where you free associate your mind with fun words. You came to bed telling us about the tool tray.
"Red! Red! Red!" Then you decided it was Orange. "Orange! Orange! Orange Bucket!"
Then it got good. "Orange Bucket. Orange Bucket? Candy! Trick or Treat! Costume. Buzz Lightyear! Halloween!"
Awesome!
And with good cause too: Halloween is awesome. Except that between your loot and the leftover candy for trick or treaters, we now have a pantry too full with delicious candy.
Your Mom and I may have beena bit too overzealous one night and both wound uip with upset tummies after eating one too many fun-sized candy bars. They didn't seem so fun after the fact.
So, we learned our lesson and have been limited to one a day.
Speaking of upset and tummies, Miss Julia, you might have slept through Halloween (which is a-ok!), but you've been working on your tummy as well. Aidan gathered all the treats on Halloween, but you are working on a new trick!
That's right, you're holding your head up so well, that we decided it was time to try Tummy Time and Playmat time!
So in and around the night of your first Halloween, was your first Tummy Time! And, as to be expected, you got a little upset. But, that's okay: tummy time is a hard work out, and you did fabulously on your first go, and even better each subsequent time!!
Your Mom and I have been so proud of the super displays of awesome baby-ness you've displayed during tummy time. You're growing so fast..too fast. And before you know it, if you keep this tummy time up, next thing you know, by next Halloween you'll be cruising the neighborhoods, gathering candy and getting upset tummies with the rest of us!
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.
I haven't told you about your second Christmas/Hannukah or New Year's Eve and it's already late January. You've been growing and changing so quickly that it's hard to keep up! But here are the highlights:
+You liked Hannukah! But didn't necessarily love posing for Hannukah pictures: + You didn't dislike Santa: +You loved the lights on the Christmas tree and constantly requested that it be "on." + You loved dreidels and worked really hard to spin them yourself
+ We had Hannukahs with Mimi and Pops and Christmas with the Roomianis: + You finally got the hang of opening presents around the 4th night of Hannukah...
when I turned my back for a moment and you had torn open Uncle Joseph's present under the tree! A crock pot did not interest you (no video).
+You ate your first donut during Hannukah...and it was awesome!
+ Mr. POTATO HEAD is awesome! + Jingle Bells Snoopy is HILARIOUS!
+Preston and Toby continued to be your bestest buddies!
+ You got your first hair cut (and you already need another!)
+We went to the park tons (and tons of parks) and you got bolder and bolder in your independence. You now climb the structure and go down the slide all by yourself!
+You also took to the water fountain like a fish to...well..water!
+We played with friends and you even got some matching Buzz Light Year Pajamas from your God Parents, the Nodelands and hung out with Brady and the Shields a lot!
+ You continued to LOVE Toy Story and all things Toy Story. You even created your own signal for "To infin
+ You got and destroyed a Toy Story tent in under a month (it was faulty construction...not your fault!)
+ Your favorite song is now "You've got a friend in me" from Toy Story. We listen to Randy Newman ALL the time now.
+ You are requesting things with your expanding (and creative) vocabulary. - "Ha ha" or "Ba" is Toy Story ("Ha Ha" is "Howdy"..we don't get "ba") - You request your #2 favorite song, Muppet's Bohemian Rhapsody, by saying "Ma" and pointing up to the sky (very clever if you ask me...you combined "look up to the skies and see" with "mama" to let us know what you want...and yesterday we heard the song 25,431 times!) - You request your #3 favorite song in the world by saying "Oh wee oh," which is quite accurate: - You created your own sign for "thirsty" which is very accurate - Last night you told us you were hungry with a brand new sign: putting your fist in your mouth! - Yesterday in Target your Mommy was looking for me and calling me by name. You responded by quickly learning and echoing "Ahn..Ahn!" (my name is Aaron...nice to meet you!)
+You "help" us "clean"
+You can now eat at the table like a big boy! (and you do a great job of it!)
+ You are some sort of acrobat: - we inherited Addison's old play mat and you keep trying to do somersaults on it all by yourself!
+ You are some sort of monkey: - You're climbing like crazy. Your green chair is your ticket "up" (also, your vocabulary continues to grow! "up up up!")
- Today your Mommy turned her head for one second and you had scaled the safety gate to the stairs and were rapidly climbing upstairs!
+And...major milestone...you're now officially forward facing. It's so hard keeping up with you nowadays, not just because you're scaling walls and growing like a weed. But you're changing and growing and maturing into a great kid every second of every day. It's hard to look backward when you keep us facing forward!
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