Last night I was at Mom's Sanity Night, where a bunch of moms of small children get together to hide from the kids and talk about the husbands. Jason and Aidan went to McDonald's, of course. Afterward Jason tells me they came home and played. Apparently I'd left the TV on the Entertainment Channel and when Jason turned it on, there was some show about celebrity boob jobs. Aidan apparently was mesmerized by these boobies and made several comments, the most delightful of which was, "Big boobies. That girl give her friends gooky." Yes, he'll forever be the "Boob Man."
On another note, Aunt Cassie and Rebecca sent Aidan an Advent calendar. It's very cool and has his name on it. Each pocket has an ornament that velcros onto the fabric Christmas tree. He doesn't quite get it yet, as he was trying to take the ornaments out to play with them. I hope that he'll understand after a few days of doing it.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
For Love and Elmo Shoes
It all started with an impulse buy. Jason went out to get cat litter and ran across some of these. Aidan loves them. He wants to wear them to school but we don't allow that, of course. Not because I'm opposed to him wearing them to school but because I'm afraid he'll get tackled and some other kid will take them. Last night he wore them to bed and then woke up in the middle of the night yelling for Daddy to put them back on his feet. I guess they'd fallen off.
I'm still holding out for my little guy to be sensitive. We've noticed a near perfect correlation between his crying at drop-off and the mood of the other kids. If another kid is in trouble or crying for any reason, Aidan gets very upset. Last night Jason overflowed the humidifier (which, by the way, I told him would happen but he doesn't listen to me) and started yelling and getting all stressed out about it. Aidan got screwed up for the rest of the night. We had to move all of his furniture out to clean up the mess. It disturbed him that nothing was in order. Very particular, that one. It all has to be just so. To help get back on track, we picked up all of his toys and put them away before bed. It seemed to be very therapeutic for him to clean up. Sounds like another, bigger version, Rinaldo that I know.
More evidence of Aidan's sensitivity is his love of Lauren. On Monday when I dropped him at school the class was at circle time. When I asked him where he wanted to sit he chose a spot next to her. Lauren's little face just lit up when he smiled at her. It was so darn cute! I watched them as they greeted each other and made shy googly eyes back and forth. It was like there was no one else in the room. They truly were in their own little world. Last night I was talking to Jason and said, "I don't know what Aidan's girlfriend's name is. Do you?" Just then Aidan yelled out, "Lauren!"
I'm still holding out for my little guy to be sensitive. We've noticed a near perfect correlation between his crying at drop-off and the mood of the other kids. If another kid is in trouble or crying for any reason, Aidan gets very upset. Last night Jason overflowed the humidifier (which, by the way, I told him would happen but he doesn't listen to me) and started yelling and getting all stressed out about it. Aidan got screwed up for the rest of the night. We had to move all of his furniture out to clean up the mess. It disturbed him that nothing was in order. Very particular, that one. It all has to be just so. To help get back on track, we picked up all of his toys and put them away before bed. It seemed to be very therapeutic for him to clean up. Sounds like another, bigger version, Rinaldo that I know.
More evidence of Aidan's sensitivity is his love of Lauren. On Monday when I dropped him at school the class was at circle time. When I asked him where he wanted to sit he chose a spot next to her. Lauren's little face just lit up when he smiled at her. It was so darn cute! I watched them as they greeted each other and made shy googly eyes back and forth. It was like there was no one else in the room. They truly were in their own little world. Last night I was talking to Jason and said, "I don't know what Aidan's girlfriend's name is. Do you?" Just then Aidan yelled out, "Lauren!"
Monday, November 27, 2006
Testosterone
In the last few days I’ve become immersed in the wonders of raising a boy. Jason says it’s just the effects of testosterone and that it’s coming from the inside as opposed to the environment that we have provided for him. I guess I imagined our little guy permanently sweet and gentle, not really feminine but still tender hearted and thoughtful.
His teachers comment regularly on how physical he is and we’ve seen it too. He greets his friends with a surprise tackle. Whenever Mommy is around he tones it down a bit by tenderly giving out hugs and kisses in thanks or to say goodbye. In the back of my mind I always knew he was aggressive at times. I just thought the masculinity, the kind that makes some men oblivious to everything, would start later than 2 years old. Isn’t he too young for this?
On a few occasions Aidan has stomped on bugs outside when the intention was to help him admire them. This prompted us to put effort into teaching him to control this aggression in the same way that we teach him not to hit or bite when he gets frustrated. It’s funny; whenever he’s taken on such behavior we immediately start to question where he’s seen it and where he’s learned it. Other parents often comment, “Well, that’s just boys.” I thought this was impossible. Why would aggressiveness be “just boys?” This didn’t make sense to me.
Last night we were watching some stupid action movie called xXx (well, only two scenes) and as we were trying to figure out what the movie was, there was a chase scene with big explosions and a guy on a motorcycle being shot at by bad guys in a helicopter. It was action-packed. Aidan watched it with wide eyes and since it didn’t show any real blood or gore, we thought it was fine. After that scene was over, Aidan looked over at me, did the sign for “more” and said, “More bad guys, Mommy!” He enjoyed it! Jason explained, “He’s a boy. Boys love this stuff. It’s in them. It’s testosterone.” As the Mommy, I just don’t get it!
Later in the night, we were all playing in his room. Aidan has a semi truck that has a car trailer on it. The purpose is for the truck to pull race cars but I had a better idea. I put all of Aidan’s Little People and farm animals on the trailer and called it a parade float. I thought he’d like that. Not only did Jason make fun of it and call it “gay” (which is such a derogatory use of the term and I was angry that he said it in front of Aidan), but Aidan picked it up and threw it. After Jason relentlessly made fun of me for my, as he called it, “quite creative use of toys but clearly a girl thing” we went back to the non-creative throwing of toys. So much for avoiding gender stereotyping.
His teachers comment regularly on how physical he is and we’ve seen it too. He greets his friends with a surprise tackle. Whenever Mommy is around he tones it down a bit by tenderly giving out hugs and kisses in thanks or to say goodbye. In the back of my mind I always knew he was aggressive at times. I just thought the masculinity, the kind that makes some men oblivious to everything, would start later than 2 years old. Isn’t he too young for this?
On a few occasions Aidan has stomped on bugs outside when the intention was to help him admire them. This prompted us to put effort into teaching him to control this aggression in the same way that we teach him not to hit or bite when he gets frustrated. It’s funny; whenever he’s taken on such behavior we immediately start to question where he’s seen it and where he’s learned it. Other parents often comment, “Well, that’s just boys.” I thought this was impossible. Why would aggressiveness be “just boys?” This didn’t make sense to me.
Last night we were watching some stupid action movie called xXx (well, only two scenes) and as we were trying to figure out what the movie was, there was a chase scene with big explosions and a guy on a motorcycle being shot at by bad guys in a helicopter. It was action-packed. Aidan watched it with wide eyes and since it didn’t show any real blood or gore, we thought it was fine. After that scene was over, Aidan looked over at me, did the sign for “more” and said, “More bad guys, Mommy!” He enjoyed it! Jason explained, “He’s a boy. Boys love this stuff. It’s in them. It’s testosterone.” As the Mommy, I just don’t get it!
Later in the night, we were all playing in his room. Aidan has a semi truck that has a car trailer on it. The purpose is for the truck to pull race cars but I had a better idea. I put all of Aidan’s Little People and farm animals on the trailer and called it a parade float. I thought he’d like that. Not only did Jason make fun of it and call it “gay” (which is such a derogatory use of the term and I was angry that he said it in front of Aidan), but Aidan picked it up and threw it. After Jason relentlessly made fun of me for my, as he called it, “quite creative use of toys but clearly a girl thing” we went back to the non-creative throwing of toys. So much for avoiding gender stereotyping.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Aidan and Santa
Nana and I took Aidan over to see Santa on Saturday morning. We were the only ones there, so they had plenty of time to let him get used to the idea. We first took several pictures of Mommy, Aidan, and Santa. I finally just gave up trying to talk him into sitting on Santa's lap and went to look at the pictures. While I was examining pics, Santa was giving Aidan a candy cane. Just then he ran up to Santa, hopped up in his lap, and gave him a big hug and kiss. (This line is commentary from Aidan: '0;'[--)
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Preparations for Daddy
Nothing much going on with the little gobblin. I have to note that our sleeping has been wonderful. We've not had to get up with him since we were in Houston (only one night while out of town isn't bad) and before that it was a week or so. I think he has definitely grown into sleeping through the night. Now that I say that, he'll probably get sick and wake up 3 or 4 times tonight. Overall, without illness or other extraneous circumstances, he's sleeping well. And so are we.
I think I have everything ready for Jason to recover from oral surgery. Soft food, clean sheets, books, a container to throw up in, Nana coming to help out, and we've tried to warn Aidan. We've told him a couple of times that Daddy is going to be very sick tonight and that he won't be able to play, pick him up, etc. I'm sure he has no idea what I'm talking about. When they left for school I asked Aidan who was picking him up from school today. That he knew, "Nana!"
I think I have everything ready for Jason to recover from oral surgery. Soft food, clean sheets, books, a container to throw up in, Nana coming to help out, and we've tried to warn Aidan. We've told him a couple of times that Daddy is going to be very sick tonight and that he won't be able to play, pick him up, etc. I'm sure he has no idea what I'm talking about. When they left for school I asked Aidan who was picking him up from school today. That he knew, "Nana!"
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Rise and Shine
It's really hard to get Aidan going in the morning. Anyone who has ever seen his mother early in the morning would know where he gets it. Today was especially difficult. He just wanted to snuggle into me on the couch. Because I also tend to be a snuggler, it was all I could do to work toward getting him up and out the door.
Usually we can get him going by talking about school so we tried that first. I asked him if he was learning about turkeys this week (it helps to have the lesson plans in advance) and he said yes. Jason asked him what sound the turkey made and belted out with an incorrect animal sound, I don't remember which one. Aidan started to laugh and then declared that a turkey says, "Gobble, gobble."
One day last week at pick up I asked him what he'd done that day. He ran over to the art board and showed me the moose that he'd made. It's just a moose head made from construction paper but the cool part is the antlers. The kids made hand prints for the antlers by dipping their hands in paint and pressing them against the paper. His teacher commented that Aidan thought that was the greatest project ever. Yesterday the moose art was sent home and he was still taken with it. I had to hang it up in the kitchen to show how that I appreciate how special it is.
Most days Aidan has an internal tug of war about school. He loves being with us but also really enjoys school. At times when he feels like he's not had enough time with us, he's more difficult to get to school. It's hard on us too. We know that he's now at the age where preschool is really great for him. He's learning so much right now. I notice every day that his language is improving. He's also started sitting on the potty again (but I'm not holding my breath). His big development lately is his singing. Although he's been "singing" tunes for some time with an accurate word here and there, he's now really singing the songs using the actual words and phrases. He loves the "ABC Song", "Elmo's Song", and most of all, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
So, in short, I think I've learning some things about childcare. He wasn't ready for daycare until he was at least 18 months old. He really needed to be with us until then, although he did start full time at 12 months. I think for him 2 would have really been the ideal age. I'm also very glad that we've found a preschool that's a great match for him. Obvious from our prior experience, the best can become a disaster if it's not a good match. I know that daycare doesn't "hurt" a child, but it's important to follow the needs of the child. We've not done this perfectly, but we've been fortunate to have the ability to follow through with this strategy somewhat. Live and learn. I'm sure whatever we do will result in some neurosis but we have to do the best we can.
Usually we can get him going by talking about school so we tried that first. I asked him if he was learning about turkeys this week (it helps to have the lesson plans in advance) and he said yes. Jason asked him what sound the turkey made and belted out with an incorrect animal sound, I don't remember which one. Aidan started to laugh and then declared that a turkey says, "Gobble, gobble."
One day last week at pick up I asked him what he'd done that day. He ran over to the art board and showed me the moose that he'd made. It's just a moose head made from construction paper but the cool part is the antlers. The kids made hand prints for the antlers by dipping their hands in paint and pressing them against the paper. His teacher commented that Aidan thought that was the greatest project ever. Yesterday the moose art was sent home and he was still taken with it. I had to hang it up in the kitchen to show how that I appreciate how special it is.
Most days Aidan has an internal tug of war about school. He loves being with us but also really enjoys school. At times when he feels like he's not had enough time with us, he's more difficult to get to school. It's hard on us too. We know that he's now at the age where preschool is really great for him. He's learning so much right now. I notice every day that his language is improving. He's also started sitting on the potty again (but I'm not holding my breath). His big development lately is his singing. Although he's been "singing" tunes for some time with an accurate word here and there, he's now really singing the songs using the actual words and phrases. He loves the "ABC Song", "Elmo's Song", and most of all, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
So, in short, I think I've learning some things about childcare. He wasn't ready for daycare until he was at least 18 months old. He really needed to be with us until then, although he did start full time at 12 months. I think for him 2 would have really been the ideal age. I'm also very glad that we've found a preschool that's a great match for him. Obvious from our prior experience, the best can become a disaster if it's not a good match. I know that daycare doesn't "hurt" a child, but it's important to follow the needs of the child. We've not done this perfectly, but we've been fortunate to have the ability to follow through with this strategy somewhat. Live and learn. I'm sure whatever we do will result in some neurosis but we have to do the best we can.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Our Growing Family
On Saturday Aidan and I spent the entire day touring Lexington's pet stores. We saw hundreds of orphaned cats and dogs and talked about how they all needed families. Luckily, Aidan was not so into the dogs and only had a passing interest in the cats. He really enjoyed watching the hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, and other small animals. What he enjoyed most, however, were the aquatic animals and reptiles. Having once owned an iguana, many fish, some crabs and some adorable frogs, I can fully understand his fascination.
We settled on a hermit crab appropriately named "Crabby." Nana says he's named after her but I won't comment on that. He's pretty cute and very social. Whenever we pick him up to look at him he comes pretty far out of his shell to say hello. Aidan loves that. Jason says he wants to stop there since crabs are pretty easy, pretty self sufficient. You just clean their habitat once in a while and make sure they have plenty of food and water. Other than that, they can go about a week without maintenance. Aidan, however, has some other plans. He wants a fish. I wonder how long it will take him to talk his daddy into that.
Aidan doesn't want just any fish. He wants a catfish. He also saw some small sharks that he called catfish. I think the defining feature is the whiskers. He seems to like those whiskers on his fish of choice. Problem is that we currently only have a five gallon aquarium and I'm really not interested in buying anything bigger. I guess he'll either take a beta or a goldfish and then move up to a larger aquarium as he gets older.
In other family news, Jason is home now and for the first time in a week Aidan had a difficult bedtime last night. Could it be that Jason gets him way too energetic before bedtime and he has trouble calming down enough to sleep? No, that couldn't be!
We settled on a hermit crab appropriately named "Crabby." Nana says he's named after her but I won't comment on that. He's pretty cute and very social. Whenever we pick him up to look at him he comes pretty far out of his shell to say hello. Aidan loves that. Jason says he wants to stop there since crabs are pretty easy, pretty self sufficient. You just clean their habitat once in a while and make sure they have plenty of food and water. Other than that, they can go about a week without maintenance. Aidan, however, has some other plans. He wants a fish. I wonder how long it will take him to talk his daddy into that.
Aidan doesn't want just any fish. He wants a catfish. He also saw some small sharks that he called catfish. I think the defining feature is the whiskers. He seems to like those whiskers on his fish of choice. Problem is that we currently only have a five gallon aquarium and I'm really not interested in buying anything bigger. I guess he'll either take a beta or a goldfish and then move up to a larger aquarium as he gets older.
In other family news, Jason is home now and for the first time in a week Aidan had a difficult bedtime last night. Could it be that Jason gets him way too energetic before bedtime and he has trouble calming down enough to sleep? No, that couldn't be!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
The Cute Things He Does
Aidan and I are doing very well with Jason gone. Makes me wonder whether Jason is a big source of stress, but that's an issue for another day. We've got quite a schedule going. Yesterday after school we made dinner together and then played all night. We painted pictures, marched around the house while playing multiple musical instruments, and went through basically all of Aidan's toys. We really had a great time and were both exhausted at bedtime. I was sharing stories of our adventures with Jason on the phone and he said I should blog about all of the adorable little things Aidan has been doing and saying. This post will be dedicated to that end.
The absolute cutest thing he did last night was pretend cooking on his wooden stove top inherited from Rebecca. When all folded up, the thing looks like a suitcase with a handle so when Aidan picked it up he said, "What's this, Mommy?" I opened it up and took out the pot and lid, utensils, salt and pepper. Then I showed him how to pretend cook. Because he'd just watched while I cooked dinner earlier, he was really into it. He'd open the pot and stir. He picked up the salt and spooned some into the pot. I asked him what it was and he said, "Mustard." Next he spooned from the pepper and declared it "Diet Coke" (gee, I wonder where he heard that brand). Then he asked me to taste his concoction. Since it wasn't really Diet Coke and Mustard, I complied, "Mmmm, yummy. What's in there besides mustard and Diet Coke?" His reply was, "Peas, Mommy!"
Some of you have already heard this story but I'll recite it for those who have not, plus I need to get it on record. As we were checking in at the ticket desk to leave Houston on Monday, Aidan was examining my new earrings that I picked up at the Renfest. I was holding him out in front of me and he was closely examining the earrings as I was observing his serious facial expressions ready to pounce if he started to pull. After a minute or two, he looked at me very seriously and said, "Mommy, twinkle twinkle little star in there." Then he put both hands on my face and turned my head to look at the other earring. He declared, "Twinkle star in there!" of the other one. He was very excited!
Did I mention that our boy has a great memory? Last night at bath time Aidan asked to go see Daddy. I reminded him that Daddy was gone on business. For the first time I said that Daddy is in Florida. Right after I said it I was thinking to myself whether Jason would be seeing Lenny while he's there but then decided that he would not since they didn't agree on it when we saw him last weekend. Just then Aidan said, "Grandma Agett go see Daddy in Florida." I couldn't believe it. How would he remember that Grandma Agett lives in Florida? The most likely thing is that he overheard someone recently discussing whether Jason would see Nancy while there but Jason doesn't recall having had a conversation with anyone about that. Surely he didn't remember from some other time that Nancy lives in Florida and then just put that together. These things just blow my mind!
The absolute cutest thing he did last night was pretend cooking on his wooden stove top inherited from Rebecca. When all folded up, the thing looks like a suitcase with a handle so when Aidan picked it up he said, "What's this, Mommy?" I opened it up and took out the pot and lid, utensils, salt and pepper. Then I showed him how to pretend cook. Because he'd just watched while I cooked dinner earlier, he was really into it. He'd open the pot and stir. He picked up the salt and spooned some into the pot. I asked him what it was and he said, "Mustard." Next he spooned from the pepper and declared it "Diet Coke" (gee, I wonder where he heard that brand). Then he asked me to taste his concoction. Since it wasn't really Diet Coke and Mustard, I complied, "Mmmm, yummy. What's in there besides mustard and Diet Coke?" His reply was, "Peas, Mommy!"
Some of you have already heard this story but I'll recite it for those who have not, plus I need to get it on record. As we were checking in at the ticket desk to leave Houston on Monday, Aidan was examining my new earrings that I picked up at the Renfest. I was holding him out in front of me and he was closely examining the earrings as I was observing his serious facial expressions ready to pounce if he started to pull. After a minute or two, he looked at me very seriously and said, "Mommy, twinkle twinkle little star in there." Then he put both hands on my face and turned my head to look at the other earring. He declared, "Twinkle star in there!" of the other one. He was very excited!
Did I mention that our boy has a great memory? Last night at bath time Aidan asked to go see Daddy. I reminded him that Daddy was gone on business. For the first time I said that Daddy is in Florida. Right after I said it I was thinking to myself whether Jason would be seeing Lenny while he's there but then decided that he would not since they didn't agree on it when we saw him last weekend. Just then Aidan said, "Grandma Agett go see Daddy in Florida." I couldn't believe it. How would he remember that Grandma Agett lives in Florida? The most likely thing is that he overheard someone recently discussing whether Jason would see Nancy while there but Jason doesn't recall having had a conversation with anyone about that. Surely he didn't remember from some other time that Nancy lives in Florida and then just put that together. These things just blow my mind!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Basketball Memories
The most fascinating thing happened on our way home from Houston. As we were about to touchdown in Lexington Aidan started telling Jason that he has a ball on his foot. I was only half listening at the time but realized pretty quickly that what Aidan was referring to was his ankle bone. He said it was a "ball in there." Jason explained that the ball is called an ankle and that it helps him move his foot. Then Aidan said the most bizarre thing.
"Boy yesterday broke ankle playing basketball." Wha? What boy? "Boy on TV yesterday." I asked Jason if Aidan had watched basketball the day before. No. Have they ever seen someone hurt their ankle while playing basketball? No. Where did this come from? Five seconds ago he was learning what an ankle was. Now he knows you can hurt it playing basketball?
Makes you wonder where these things come from, huh? Good memory, I guess. Apparently better than ours.
"Boy yesterday broke ankle playing basketball." Wha? What boy? "Boy on TV yesterday." I asked Jason if Aidan had watched basketball the day before. No. Have they ever seen someone hurt their ankle while playing basketball? No. Where did this come from? Five seconds ago he was learning what an ankle was. Now he knows you can hurt it playing basketball?
Makes you wonder where these things come from, huh? Good memory, I guess. Apparently better than ours.
Food, Food, and More Food
Well, the big talk whenever we see relatives (like we did last weekend) is how much Aidan eats. He's a little vacuum cleaner of sorts. He's an eating machine. He couldn't stop if he tried. This morning we were running a little behind because he slept in a little and I didn't have the heart to wake him before 8 AM. Since I knew I wouldn't get him to school before 8:30 for breakfast, I put him in his highchair and gave him some mini pancakes. Now, remember that they are mini so a full serving is 12 pancakes. I gave him 6 with a bowl of syrup for dipping and went on about my business. A few minutes later he was asking for more. I gave him 3. A few minutes later came the request, "More pancakes, please!"
So here is where my dilemma comes in. Is he just eating mindlessly because he loves pancakes or is he really hungry? I decide to change to something with more vitamins. Apples and raisins. He starts eating like there's no tomorrow. Then he asks for crackers. An hour and a half later he's still eating so we put the crackers and apples in a baggie for the car. He insisted that we had to take the raisins too. He ate all the way to school! I guess the answer is he was hungry.
Last Saturday at the Renfest Grandpa was fascinated by the way Aidan ate. He had turkey and popcorn and pretzels and just kept asking for more. Luckily, Aidan seems to like all foods and not just a few like a lot of kids do. He'll eat a well balanced meal if that's what he's offered so we have to always make sure there's a nice variety available. Another trait I've observed is that he seems to slow down throughout the day. He wakes up asking for food, eats a large breakfast, a good sized lunch, a nice snack, and then a much smaller dinner. From what I've read that's the appropriate way to eat and it seems to come naturally to him, so I have to think it's a good thing.
So here is where my dilemma comes in. Is he just eating mindlessly because he loves pancakes or is he really hungry? I decide to change to something with more vitamins. Apples and raisins. He starts eating like there's no tomorrow. Then he asks for crackers. An hour and a half later he's still eating so we put the crackers and apples in a baggie for the car. He insisted that we had to take the raisins too. He ate all the way to school! I guess the answer is he was hungry.
Last Saturday at the Renfest Grandpa was fascinated by the way Aidan ate. He had turkey and popcorn and pretzels and just kept asking for more. Luckily, Aidan seems to like all foods and not just a few like a lot of kids do. He'll eat a well balanced meal if that's what he's offered so we have to always make sure there's a nice variety available. Another trait I've observed is that he seems to slow down throughout the day. He wakes up asking for food, eats a large breakfast, a good sized lunch, a nice snack, and then a much smaller dinner. From what I've read that's the appropriate way to eat and it seems to come naturally to him, so I have to think it's a good thing.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Proof That I'll Get This Ph.D.
Well, I took a tarot test online just to see and got the most appropriate feedback. Sort of eerie, really. Posting the response below. Notice that it mentions the two most important aspects of my life: motherhood and dissertation.
You are the World
Completion, Good Reward.
The World is the final card of the Major Arcana, and as such represents saturnian energies, time, and completion.
The World card pictures a dancer in a Yoni (sometimes made of laurel leaves). The Yoni symbolizes the great Mother, the cervix through which everything is born, and also the doorway to the next life after death. It is indicative of a complete circle. Everything is finally coming together, successfully and at last. You will get that Ph.D. you've been working for years to complete, graduate at long last, marry after a long engagement, or finish that huge project. This card is not for little ends, but for big ones, important ones, ones that come with well earned cheers and acknowledgements. Your hard work, knowledge, wisdom, patience, etc, will absolutely pay-off; you've done everything right.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
The Stars At Night Are Big And Bright...
...deep in the heart of Texas. Yes, our Houston trip is over and we are back safely at home. Overall I'd say a great trip. As far as Aidan goes, he travelled extremely well both going and coming. As stressful as it is to carry all that stuff-- car seat, stroller, snacks, diapers, activities for the plane, computer, DVDs, blanket, stuffed animals, etc.-- the last thing we need is a difficult child. He really was perfect on the plane and went right along with the frequent transitions from plane to airport to train to plane to bus to car. Quite an adventure for him.
Delta was terrific with our peanut allergy issues. We had a total of four flights with them on this trip. On two flights they served no peanuts at all and announced to passengers that peanut consumption should be avoided onboard. On our first flight they had cleaned especially for him. On another they checked the seats and found peanuts, so they changed our seats. On the flights that did serve them, we had a buffer zone of two or three rows to avoid contamination. It was clear that this was an important issue for them as well. Jason says that although he's not usually brand loyal, he's rather fond of Delta now.
It's hard to sum up all that we did. We really did have a great time. Aidan loved playing with Rebecca everyday. They both seemed to enjoy their slumber parties. We all enjoyed the Renaissance Festival. And we all really enjoyed meeting and getting to know Jennifer's family. We can't wait to go back for the wedding in March!
Delta was terrific with our peanut allergy issues. We had a total of four flights with them on this trip. On two flights they served no peanuts at all and announced to passengers that peanut consumption should be avoided onboard. On our first flight they had cleaned especially for him. On another they checked the seats and found peanuts, so they changed our seats. On the flights that did serve them, we had a buffer zone of two or three rows to avoid contamination. It was clear that this was an important issue for them as well. Jason says that although he's not usually brand loyal, he's rather fond of Delta now.
It's hard to sum up all that we did. We really did have a great time. Aidan loved playing with Rebecca everyday. They both seemed to enjoy their slumber parties. We all enjoyed the Renaissance Festival. And we all really enjoyed meeting and getting to know Jennifer's family. We can't wait to go back for the wedding in March!
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Gearing Up For Travel
Aidan went to the doctor yesterday with his daddy and the verdict is that he has an earache. He's feeling a whole lot better today, although he's still a little fussy and clingy. We're gearing up for the trip to Houston on Friday. I stopped at the store to get some DVDs, earphones, and other pacifiers for the plane. I also got him a placemat to eat off of so that he won't have to eat directly from the tray table. Even if we clean it, you just don't know how many years of peanut oil might be on it.
Tonight we'll start packing for our trip. I think Aidan is probably starting to think we're not going since Jason has been telling him he'll see Rebecca for a week or more. I know they will have a great time together. I'm sort of dreading the travel time with a 2-year old. Granted, he's done pretty well in the past and now he's old enough to be really engaged in what is going on but he's also has a little more trouble sitting still than he once did. Hopefully he'll sit in his seat and watch his movies on both legs of the flight. After all, he's does pretty well in the car as long as he's engaged in other activities. We'll do our best!
Tonight we'll start packing for our trip. I think Aidan is probably starting to think we're not going since Jason has been telling him he'll see Rebecca for a week or more. I know they will have a great time together. I'm sort of dreading the travel time with a 2-year old. Granted, he's done pretty well in the past and now he's old enough to be really engaged in what is going on but he's also has a little more trouble sitting still than he once did. Hopefully he'll sit in his seat and watch his movies on both legs of the flight. After all, he's does pretty well in the car as long as he's engaged in other activities. We'll do our best!
Monday, November 06, 2006
Papaw's Visit
We had so much fun visiting with Papaw Steve and Fabyan yesterday. No visit could be bad that starts out with gifts! Especially when they are punching balloons, trains, and apples! Three of Aidan's favorite things.
Although Aidan wasn't feeling well (we think he's getting his molars), he played ball in the backyard and showed off his new swingset. On Saturday Jason had raked a big pile of leaves to the bottom of Aidan's slide so that he could slide into them. Aidan has had a great time with it, but the leaves that come out of his shoes and clothes have made the house a mess.
Papaw told Aidan that they'd go fishing when he gets older and Aidan was fixated on that idea. He kept saying, "I wanna go fishing." I'm not sure he understood the "when you are older" part. At one point Papaw said, "You, me, and your daddy will go fishing." Aidan responded, "Mommy go too!" Yes, he's still a mama's boy for now. Hopefully he'll never outgrow that!
We're really looking forward to our Houston trip this Friday, although we sure have a lot to do between now and then. Hopefully Aidan will be feeling better by the weekend so that he can have a good time with Rebecca.
Although Aidan wasn't feeling well (we think he's getting his molars), he played ball in the backyard and showed off his new swingset. On Saturday Jason had raked a big pile of leaves to the bottom of Aidan's slide so that he could slide into them. Aidan has had a great time with it, but the leaves that come out of his shoes and clothes have made the house a mess.
Papaw told Aidan that they'd go fishing when he gets older and Aidan was fixated on that idea. He kept saying, "I wanna go fishing." I'm not sure he understood the "when you are older" part. At one point Papaw said, "You, me, and your daddy will go fishing." Aidan responded, "Mommy go too!" Yes, he's still a mama's boy for now. Hopefully he'll never outgrow that!
We're really looking forward to our Houston trip this Friday, although we sure have a lot to do between now and then. Hopefully Aidan will be feeling better by the weekend so that he can have a good time with Rebecca.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
The Money Pig
Since we're no longer nursing in the morning, Aidan showers with Jason every morning. The shower helps them both to wake up and be refreshed for the day. It also gives the two of them some alone time. And allows me to sleep an extra 15 or 20 minutes in the morning. To take the place of bath time in our nightly routine, we've adopted a new task.
Every night before bed Mommy and Daddy empty their pockets so that Aidan can have the coins. As he learns the name of each coin, he puts them into the slot on his "money pig." He really has a lot of fun with it and so do we. As the money pig fills up, we plan to take it and him to the bank to show him how to put the coins into the counter, how to deposit into the bank, and talk to him about what it all means.
Even before this activity, we'd been putting all of his money into his account. That's right, every time he gets any money-- even $5 for a birthday-- it goes into his account. Right now he's only getting about 1% return, so when the account is large enough, we'll put it into some other type of money market to earn more. It'd be great if we could earn enough on investment to pay for college and I really don't see why we wouldn't be able to.
Every night before bed Mommy and Daddy empty their pockets so that Aidan can have the coins. As he learns the name of each coin, he puts them into the slot on his "money pig." He really has a lot of fun with it and so do we. As the money pig fills up, we plan to take it and him to the bank to show him how to put the coins into the counter, how to deposit into the bank, and talk to him about what it all means.
Even before this activity, we'd been putting all of his money into his account. That's right, every time he gets any money-- even $5 for a birthday-- it goes into his account. Right now he's only getting about 1% return, so when the account is large enough, we'll put it into some other type of money market to earn more. It'd be great if we could earn enough on investment to pay for college and I really don't see why we wouldn't be able to.
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