Aidan, we had ourselves a little 3 day weekend (thanks, US Presidents for doing something to get us a day in mid-February off of work!)
But, given the amount of things we saw, games we played, fun we had (and how well we slept), it felt like a 10 day weekend!
And you, my son, were an energetic ball of amazingness. You jumped, you ran, you scooted, you petted, you splashed, you played...in short, you were a weekend warrior!
You and your new friend, Red Balloon, went to Home Depot with me, and then the playground.
We took a hike around White Rock Lake, and fed the birds (you continued your trend of eating most of the bread for the birds, though..but you did feed a few fowl friends).
You watched a little movie and wrestled a lot with your friend, Brady.
Even Uncle Jeremy, me and Uncle BJ got in on the wrestling too.
We were super stars at Target:
Pirates at home and the park (pirates ARRRRR your new favorite thing, by the way. You were telling us the whole weekend "I'm a Pirate!" "I'm a Captain!" "Yo ho ho mateys!"):
You loved on and played with your sister, who has started to play back! (She even grabbed your hair, much to your dismay!)
You played downstairs:
Upstairs:
Outside in pajamas:
And outside in water:
We rocked the zoo:
We rocked some picnics:
And Rocked out in general!
You wore wet clothes, dry clothes, pirate costumes, witch costumes, pajamas with sneakers and pink sunglasses.
But most importantly, you wore us all out!
But...it was in a really, really good way. And, we can't wait to battle another weekend with you as soon as possible, you Weekend Warrior!
On Monday I stayed home from work since your mother, you and Julia (and me too, a bit) were under the weather. But, being under the weather has its perks too: some good cuddles.
You awoke from a nap a bit too early, so you fell asleep again on me. I was honored to do it, and even caught a few winks myself.
I'm so grateful for the relationship we're building, Aidan. And I'm also thankful that we still get moments like this, years after we first held you.
So we slept for a little bit, until I awoke and put you back in bed, where you slept for about 45 more minutes.
You awoke in a much better mood and seemed to be feeling all better. I'm not going to say that sleeping on your dear Papa has magical powers...but I'm not going to say that it doesn't either.
You're 4 months old and you're still happy, you're laughing, you're grasping, you've found your hands...
and you've found your feet.
You've certainly found your voice.
And we all are finding you charming beyond belief.
So what's new with you, you might ask. You've been smiling and laughing and grasping for a while now. Well, all those skills are getting refined and super better than before!
You're eyes are changing a bit...maybe they'll be a little hazelish? Who knows!
You're working really hard on rolling over! You can get up to your hip...and almost over!
You're sleeping in your very own crib in your very shared room with your big brother...and doing super well with it!
And, well, you're just an all-around happy-go-lucky growing girl!
You're 4 months old now, and you basically sat up by yourself for your whole photo shoot. That's new!
Pops and Mimi were on hand to help me get the best smiles. They got some special Julia cuddles afterward too.
They certainly helped you smile...but I know the effect was mutual. You make us all smile as you giggle and laugh and beam your four-month-old little spark to the entire world.
I see so much of me and your mother in your beautiful face. And, of course, you look like your brother too. But you are uniquely you, and you have already carved out your own unique place in this world and in our hearts.
We had a fantastic weekend. The weather was beautiful, you kids were awesome, we were together as family on a weekend when it was extra important to have a fun, memorable time with family. And the results were beautiful. Instantly cherished. I'm nostalgic for this last weekend already, and it's only Wednesday.
On Saturday Mimi and Pops took us to an Opera! It was your first, Julia, and your second, Aidan. Mimi and Pops took you the previous weekend to see "Jack and the Beanstalk." You loved it and told us of "beanstalks" for the rest of the week. We went to see a movie about Jack Frost and whenever they said "Jack" you said "Anna Beanstalk!" After it. You were extra "fee-fi-fo-fummy" that week, though you always like to pretend to be a giant.
So, you were psyched when we told you we got to go again. This production was more a sample platter of different songs from different operas: Barber of Seville, Carmen, Marriage of Figaro. And you liked it! You clapped at the end, were excited to see the orchestra instruments before hand (and told us during the show that a "trombone says Wah wahhhh." You liked seeing the "violet" and the "bass" and were pretty engaged in the music. Occasionally you started talking, and I'd remind you to whisper. You, recalling your favorite book of opposites, said "whisper....AND SHOUT!" That cracked me up, but was pretty loud. You even investigated the sleeping guy next to us...by getting in his face and seeing why he was sleeping.
Julia, you did very well! You kinda just wanted to see some of the action and and even tried to sing along.
It was a lot of fun, and very cool to expose you kids to awesome operatic music so early on. And even better to see the positive results. Thanks Mimi and Pops for taking us!
As a return favor, we then took Mimi and Pops to the Deck Park which you love so much. Julia slept while you, Aidan, played in every fountain the park had to offer.
You even figured out how to become a fountain yourself!
The next day, we took a family trip to the arboretum, much to your delight. And with no place to go and no time table to meet, we just let you lead the way...and you had a blast! Running, checking out the little houses, flirting with little girls, trying to wrestle with some older boys and basically being a very good boy.\
Jules, you enjoyed the Arboretum too, facing the world and even getting to get down and roll around in the grass too!
I think it made you pretty happy.
Then the two of you met up, and we headed out back into the real world as a family.
Julia, you are 16 weeks old now! And you sure do have a lot to say on the subject.
You'll talk to anyone who will listen!
Preston:
Pops:
Your Dear Parents:
You just have an awful lot to say for yourself, young lady! We get the general idea, but we don't fully know what you're talking about.
It's a shame too, because I bet you'd have a great story to tell about your latest adventure in growing up. A few weeks ago...wow has it already been weeks?...you spent your first nap and night in your crib!
We decided to try it again, and institute it as a more regular type thing, now that you're officially in the can-be-spoiled-and-pick-up-bad-habits-age-and-no-offense-but-we-don't-want-you-to-sleep-in-bed-with-us-forever phase. So, we're two nights in, and it's a little rough on everyone.
When you start crying in the middle of the night, we're at the point now where you're not hungry. You're just crying because you're awake. So we either let you cry it out and go back to bed (which works pretty well) or we come comfort you.
Aidan copes by sometimes waking up and trying to crawl in bed with us.
Or we find him with his blanket, hands and pillow up over his ears.
Now, for the most part, you're sleeping great! We're talking like maybe one or two crying bits a night, so we couldn't be more pleased with how you're doing in your own crib in your own (shared) room!
And someone else was pleased this morning too...which made someone else very pleased!
This morning at around 7:30 am, your Mom heard a bit of crying. Then some Aidan talking. Then some Julia giggles.
She ran into yours and Aidan's room and found Aidan in your crib, right next to you, giving you a kiss. You were giggling and laughing and talking to him. Generally excited to see him!
Everyone was very happy with this situation, except for me and your Mom!
Of course, we trust that Aidan would never intentionally hurt you, but he's only (almost) 3, and can't really be trusted to provide infant care. That reminds me...are you still an infant? Or are you now officially a baby? I'll have to look into this later. Plus, how did he even manage to climb into your crib...must have been some serious acrobatics and climbing and risk-taking to get in there...so who knows how he landed safely without hurting you. But, it's clear that he did it well, and that you weren't hurt.
Your Mom lifted him out of the crib. And Aidan told her why he had decided to get in the crib with you in the first place. Three simple words:
"Julia Needs Kiss."
And he knew he was the man for the job.
Now, that line is very close to my favorite part of the story, but my absolute favorite part is your reaction to the whole thing.
According to your Mom, who witnessed the whole thing, you were happy as a clam to have your brother in the crib with you. You were giggling and smiling and just all-around happy to see him.
Just imagine the story, though, if we could only understand your language. What a story that would be!
Needless to say, Week 16 was the week you began to sleep in your shared room. In your crib. With your brother (in his own bed). Week 16 is also the week that we rearranged your shared room to try to discourage climbing and kissing.
Week 16 is off to a good start. I can't wait to hear what you have to say today!
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