Julia, Aidan, and the Lion Dragons

On cold-ish, grey-ish Saturday morning in February, the two of you and I went to go see some dragons. You were very pumped, and didn't even need to really know what you were getting into!

 

You just trusted me that we were going to see some dragons, and that that was super cool.

 

So we drove downtown, and walked straight up to the Chinese New Year festival, found the stage, and took our seats.

 

 

The drumming started first.

And then the Lion Dancers came out on stage to perform.

 

 

 

And then the Lion Dancers hopped OFF the stage and into the audience to be petted, played with, and mostly fed (dollar bills in red envelopes).

 

 

Aidan, you didn't miss a beat and were not scared for a second. You hopped right up and wanted to pet, interact, and peer inside their mouths.

 

 

The big red one was your absolute favorite.

 

Julia, I think you said the red lion was your favorite too. But, you wanted absolutely zero- zip- nothing- nada to do with them. You clawed deep into my back and would NOT let go, which is a-okay with me!

 

So, you and I huddled close while the lion dragons came to check us out, and your brother went to explore some more.

This being my first Chinese New Year celebration too, I was unaware of the tradition of bringing money in little red envelopes to feed the lion dragons. You wanted to feed them, and got very creative. You were quite proud to find 'a piece of red trash' that you grabbed and fed to one of the younger lions. The lion was not pleased with this snack and bit you in the tushy! You thought it was hilarious and told everyone who would listen that the lion bit you in the tush!

 

 

 

 

Julia, you held tight. Aidan, you asked to go up on stage and play the drums.

Despite a few butt-nips and scared-kids, it was a very happy, magical Chinese New Year!

You are both brave, and sensitive, and bought in to the magic of the Lion Dance.  Next year we'll bring some money!

Julia says

 

"Daddy I need medicine for my nose, so it can breathe!' (You were stuffed up)

"Daddy where is the moon? I think it is up in the sky!!!"
 

"I have to take my socks off so I wont slip...and fall...and die." Well that escalated quickly!

"You can sing to Toby while I sing to Preston and he will not bite me."

"Aidan, can you dance with me?"

Creek kids

Ball at the mall

Last weekend it was really grey, and cold, and yucky outside. Julia, Aidan- you and I tried to go to the indoor playground at the rec center, but it was closed. Then we went to the playground outside. We saw the fountain.

Then off to the jungle gym. I was freezing, but you two didn't seem to mind. Aidan, you just put your socks on your hands instead of mittens. Julia, you ate a bag of green chips in the cold. I was frigid...so we all decided to go to the mall instead! Just the three of us. First we saw the ducks and turtles, then the hammering giants,  then a really cool water tower. Then we saw the ice cream. Being the responsible father I am, I got you guys ice cream for lunch!

Aidan, you protested the whole notion of spoons, and things got messy.

After ca major clean up, we went to the library (the one in the mall!!!)

Aidan, you spelled your name all by yourself! (With a little help to safeguard against multiple letters)

Then, I taught you two how to walk arm in arm. You guys loved it!

The next day was even rainier and colder! So I took te two of you to a different mall for a different kind of fun!

Then the two of you cleared the top of the mountain and wrestled the giggles out of each other. Body slams, pinning, and lots of laughing!

We had a ball at the mall!

Masterpieces

Julia, Aidan,

Recently you both have had an artistic awakening or renaissance or self-discovery or something.

Aidan, you used to color and paint a lot. But something over the past 18 months made you shy away from it. You like to paint some, but really had no interest in coloring or drawing or writing. Now sculpting? Play-doh? You could do it all day long. But, for whatever reason, you decided you didn't want to color or paint, and we embraced that decision (and bought a lot of Play-doh).

But late last year your Mom and you started experimenting with less permanent mediums...ie, the Magna-Doodle. No pressure on a magna-Doodle! And you doodled away. Eventually, we started leaving you letters to trace on the Magna-Doodle, and you loved it. You trace the letters at  least once a day and, of course, let us know what letters they are. And, low and behold, recently you started just writing the letters by yourself! Super cool!

Then we started experimenting a little more. Your mom or I would help your draw a circle and then let you draw a face. And, before you knew it, we were drawing your FIRST STICK FIGURES on PAPER! Mommy and I were so pleased!

And then, surprise! For my birthday, I got a signed fully original piece of artwork just from you!

I love it! We proudly hung it in a prominent place at home!

And now, you know what you're saying? You say "I'm Good at Painting, Mommy!" 

Yes you are! And your artistic expressions have started to flow on to paper again!

Also, your Mommy nearly cried when you used scissors properly for the first time in our presence. One handed clipping brought so much joy!

You made a ROBOT:

 And this beautiful masterpiece, which has a surprise involving staples, googly eyes and a lot of glue on the back. This is actually the thing you were working on when you told mommy "I'm good at painting."

Julia, you have always been interested in coloring. You like to use lots of colors, and even have some favorite crayons (which, much to your dismay, I can never seem to find).

Here is one of your latest works.

You're not opposed to collaborations either. You and Mommy worked together to make me a "Silly Mermaid" for my birthday!

For Christmas, Aunt Nessa got you an over-sized Frozen coloring book and you have become quite taken with it. It's the first coloring book that you really showed interest in, and you slave over it with the greatest detail.

Look at the eyes, which you chose to color blue and her mouth, and how you labored to color in each little gem stone green (and one red).

The two of you don't have to be artists, and we really don't mind if you don't like painting or drawing (even though it is such a big part of your mom's career and education). But we love that you guys can both find any way to express yourself artistically. 

And, when dealing with a toddler and a kid when there are paints and markers and crayons at eye-level and fully accessible, we are thankful that most of your masterpieces in these mediums are on paper!

Love

Julia puts on her princess dress.

Julia: Aidan, do you want to kiss me now?

Aidan: ...in a minute. I need a costume.

Aidan puts in his Spider-Man costume.

Fin.

Words with Aidan

Aidan, as we approach your fifth birthday, you have been experimenting more and more with enhanced vocabulary techniques, and also just saying some really sweet and funny things. This is by no means an exhaustive list. But, just a few things you've been saying here and there that either crack us up, or are memorable for other reasons.

1. Your teacher, Miss Mary, called you "Honey." Straight-faced, you turned to her and said, 'Don't call me 'Honey.' I'm not a bee!"

2. Yesterday I asked you and Julia what a bee says. You said "buh." I said, "That's close...bees say 'buzz buzz buzz.'" You said, "No. The 'B' says 'buh.'".... as in "The A says 'ah', the B says 'buh,' the C says 'cuh', and the D says "duh." Duh! 

3. The other night Mommy and I were in your room as per usual as you got ready for bed. Out of the blue, you said "Mommy, you are good at driving, and sleeping and painting. I am good at putting my pajamas on and getting ready for bed!"

4. Lately you've been into saying things are disgusting. We're not exactly positive you know what the word really means, but you like saying it. "That's disgusting!!!!!"

5. The other day you were mad at your Mama and you told her "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it....you fool!"

We had to cover our chuckles... how do you know what a fool is!

6. "CANNONBALL! (poopoo)"

7. You were in the bath tub, Julia climbed on your back. You balanced her and said "Steady, girls!"

8. Yesterday you told me "Take a hike!" But you didn't know what it meant. So it wasn't mean.

It's so great to witness the development of your vocabulary...and your mouth. And when it's meant to be funny, you have us in stitches.

"No...you're cracking me up!!!!!!"