seeing santa and talking about santa are two different things

for the past few weeks, aidan "gets" the idea that santa is a happy man that says "ho, ho,ho"; dresses in red, and will be bringing aidan presents under the tree because "he's a good boy."

fast forward to sunday, when we attended "breakfast with santa" with our birth class friends. in addition to breakfast, the kids get to visit with mrs. and mr claus, as well as get a goody bag and story time.

remember last year's santa picture?  let me remind you:

this year:




no tears and faces of horror, but the kid wasn't in the mood. sit on this guy's lap? no way, no how.

naughty or nice?

check out this video, courtesy of disney family. a little holiday fun at aidan's expense.

that's a big bow!

aidan and i went christmas shopping at target last saturday to pick up a few odds and ends. we found this in the gift wrap section. target has everything! so, if you're giving your sweetie a new car for christmas, go to target for your BIG bow.

i'm a good boy!

it appears that this will be the year that aidan "gets" christmas.

last year, he enjoyed ripping paper off presents. he was introduced to santa, which resulted in this adorable image of horror:



this year, he is already talking about being a "good boy so santa brings me presents under the tree. every day."

we are emphasizing the "good boy" aspect, pointing out that throwing his food, making raspberries with a full mouth of food and talking back are not "good boy" behaviours and santa "doesn't like that."

don't even think of praising good behavior with anything other than, "you're a good boy, aidan!" i forgot what "good" thing he did, but i praised him with a "you're awesome, aidan!" to which he replied, "no! i'm not awesome. i'm a good boy!"

he said wha?!?

the last two months have been a flurry of new aidanisms-- paul and i continue to be surprised by the words coming out of our son's mouth. there are some phrases i still don't get (like "mikojojoboyo"-- i've tried to repeat it back hoping to figure it out, but he just laughs. like it was a joke he made up with his day care buddies to see who could get their parents to say it first. 

here are the some of aidan's key aidanisms; at least the ones i can remember off the top of my head:

"i don't like that." or "i don't like it."

emphasis on the word "like." the first time he said it, he wasn't a fan of the freshly baked banana bread i had made. what made this funny was the fact that aidan didn't like that he didn't like it. he likes everything! eventually, he went back to the kitchen counter where he put the "offending" banana bread pieces, tried another taste, and triumphantly exclaimed, "i like it mama! i like it!"

"that's not funny."

he is now the judge of what is funny. what i say or what daddy says in conversation is "not funny."

"stop talking!"

this is accompanied by his little hand clamping down on your mouth while your lips are flapping.

"that's funny! HA!HA!HAAA!" (his toddler evil laugh)

usually, it's not funny. and he's doing something he's not supposed to.

"i'm sorry!"

he has gotten really good at apologizing when he's done ya wrong. but today, he was running into things with his little motorcycle and he ran into my bag, toppling over my daytimer. "i'm sorry. i made a little mess!" it was the cutest thing i'd ever heard.

he sings! he sings all the time. today, he started singing one of the imagination movers songs. here is a video of him singing happy birthday to his tito. so cute!

let me hear your body talk

for the past month or so, aidan's daycare has been helping him transition into the older toddler room. he would spend the mornings in the waddler room (read "not potty training") and spend the afternoons with the toddlers. three of the girls in that room were with aidan in the waddler room until about 5 months ago. (that whole girls potty train faster than boys thing, I suppose.)

today was his first entire day in the toddler room. it was touch and go for a minute there-- "i want to go upstairs!" he said, clinging to paul. (he wanted to go to the waddler room where he would see miss gerilynn (our favorite filipina) and get his morning hugs and kisses.) luckily aidan's little homeboy, CM., transitioned along with him. CM was sitting on the floor playing with toys and he was excited to see aidan when he arrived. actually, it was CM that offered a toy car to aidan, who then said "Hmm!" and let go of paul long enough to set him down next to CM for a little playtime.

we walked out of daycare with a conspiratorial "whew!"

picking him up after work, he was outside playing with the girls. he had a great day. apparently, all three girls brushed his hair. and, there was the following comment on his daily report card made by his teacher:

"i was standing with aidan while he was on the potty. while we were waiting, he said, 'come on pee-pee. it's time to come out!" his communication skills are awesome! LOL."

i think he's on to us

it is saturday morning in the mcjannet household. aidan is feasting on a morning's breakfast of strawberry yogurt and peanut butter toast. he is also checking out little einstein's on the t.v.

daddy walks over to mama and gives her a kiss: "good morning my sweetheart." smootches ensue.

"excuse me. mama and daddy!"

was that aidan?

"excuse me, mama and daddy. get back. get back!"

huh?

daddy: "aidan do you want daddy to back away from mama?"

aidan:" get back! get back!"

we test this by smooching again.

"no, mama daddy. nooo!"


apparently, SOMEONE is gunning for only- childdom.

the boy and the sea

here is a video clip of aidan dipping his toes in the pacific upon our arrival in cannon beach. the kid has no fear of the water. 

i better get him swimming lessons. and fast!

and we're back

it is now week two after taking two whole weeks for our family vacation. it took that long to get back to normal. we've still have some kinks to work out. more on that later.

our annual trek to the oregon coast was extended to just shy of a two weeks, ending with a couple of days in portland, and ending with a visit to the oregon zoo and my long-awaited purchase of the iphone 3g. sigh.

i've posted a sampling of picture highlights here, but the main highlights of our trip were:

1. vacationing with your in-laws can be fun and a win-win. they get to spend time with their grandson and you and your hubby get to have time to yourselves. my in-laws are the best!
2. yes, you are on a vacation from work-- but vacationing with a toddler is, as my hubby put it, "a whole kind of different work!"
3. toddlers don't know about the whole sleeping in thing. 
4. cannon beach is beautiful. the sea air can do wonders for your peace of mind.
5. i went to cannon beach spa and had a volcanic spa treatment. now that's the way to start a vacation.
6. we discovered hug point and ventured out of cannon beach to visit manzanita (my new fave little sea town, especially for shopping!), nahalem, and other little towns i can't remember the names for.
7. oregon has the cleanest public bathrooms i've ever seen in a state park
8. we had one rainy day during our entire stay in cannon beach. it was a great opportunity to take a drive, check out the shops for tax free shopping and end up at tillamook for ice cream.
9. cannon beach bakery cinnamon bread makes the best french toast.
10. the only time i eat bacon more than two days in a row is during vacation and it accompanies the aforementioned french toast.
11. i read two books in seven days.
12. i turned off my blackberry. i brought my laptop to upload pics, but couldn't find free wifi anywhere in cannon beach. this was totally different in portland where you can find free wifi anywhere. i am wired 24/7 and the break from technology was a welcome break. 
13. i had close to 700 emails in my inbox while i was away. 
14. scott, susan and baby milo (as aidan refers to his little cousin) came down for a weekend and we spent some time as a big ole mcjannet family!

i could go on, but it's late. i'll let these pix speak for themselves.

the words every mama wants to hear first thing in the a.m.

first words out of aidan's mouth this morning when he woke up:

"My Oakleys! My Oakleys!"

i had to assure him for a few minutes that they were safe and sound in the car and he could wear them later when we went out.

sheesh. even paul doesn't do that!

a father and son fourth

nothing says 4th of july like fireworks. this year was aidan's first with fireworks. i don't know about you, but the "snakes" they lit in this picture look like nothing more than turds. coal colored turds that spiral and unfurl when lit. yuck.

luckily, aidan saw other sparkly fireworks. click on the picture to check out our 4th of july album.

our oakley lovin' boy

finally, aidan wants to wear his oakleys! if it's bright outside, he asks for them.

usually, he wears his half-pints which are designed for a kid's little face. in this picture, , he is wearing daddy's bottlecaps. and they stayed on while he ate his afternoon snack of apples in the car.

who said he could change the bedtime routine

once upon a time, we had a bedtime ritual that was like clockwork:

7:30 p.m. - the family watches mickey mouse clubhouse
8:00 p.m. - brush teeth with mama or daddy
8:05 p.m. - put on a fresh diaper and jammies
8:10 p.m. - kiss mama or daddy goodnight (depending on who was tucking him in that night); blow kisses as he goes upstairs. mama or daddy reads him a story. after the story, we turn off the light and aidan crawls into bed.after about five minutes, he's asleep.

8:35 p.m. mama or daddy comes back downstairs and the little tyke is down for the night.

mind you, the nights were not always this smooth. sometimes aidan didn't want to brush his teeth. sometimes the alternating mama/daddy taking turns didn't sit well with aidan. "mama's turn" he would decree, even it was daddy turn. and, sometimes aidan needed to cry it out for 15 seconds before settling down.

well, now it is more than a year later and aidan has decided to change up the routine. sigh.

7:30 p.m. - the family watches mickey mouse clubhouse
8:05 p.m. - mama and daddy tell aidan it's time to brush his teeth. he says, "no way."
8:10 p.m. - finally getting his teeth brushed, but he takes FOREVER. he decides to play with the water instead. when he's done he might dump water all over the sink. he then runs to daddy or mama (whoever isn't helping him) to "show off his shiny, white teeth."
8:20 p.m. - putting on a fresh diaper puts aidan into wrestling mode. he will not stay still. if you try to pin him down, he laughs his head off. if you try to take off his shirt, he either giggles incessantly or gets mad and cries because he doesn't want to take off his shirt. it takes 2 minutes to calm him down.
8:23 p.m. - kiss mama or daddy goodnight (depending on who was tucking him in that night); blow kisses as he goes upstairs. rather than sit on your lap and take in a story, aidan wants to sit in the chair. or play with a toy, ifyou go thru the list of books to find out what he wants to read, he says, "no." he will then take a book andtell you his own story. sometimes he says actual lines from the book. it is cute and makes for a moment
of pride, but when it's almost 9 a.m., it tries your patience!
8:45 p.m. - lights out-- but now he asks for the light to be on. you finally convince him it's night-night time and the light needs to be off. he will lie down, only to sit up in bed and make random announcements like,"boogies. boogies are in the nose." or "daddy at the hockey game. go,go, daddy go!"
8:46 p.m. - sleep time. or a good one minute cry before settling down.


maybe it's the longer summer days and the light nights. we'll ride out the summer and hope some semblance of the old routine makes a comeback.

a gathering of the O.G's

that was the name suggested by john, one of our birth class parents. it stands for "Olive Garden" because we tend to end up there for lunch after we get together. note to parents with a big group of kiddies-- the "O.G." in everett has been the best at getting us seated quickly and they are attentive and kid-friendly. i suggested to "OG" could stand for "Oh, Geez" which is what i think we've all uttered after one of our kids has done something not so cute. 

at this month's "reunion," we met up at the imagine children's museum in everett. we had a reunion there earlier this year, but aidan was sick and we couldn't make it.

this picture shows aidan in the sandcastle exhibit. meant to be a giant sandcastle, the structure is built with sturdy padded vinyl complete with turrets and slides.  his second most favorite exhibit was the cafe picolo-- a pizza restaurant complete with a kitchen, chef's hats, an "oven" full of pizzas and other food. (play, plastic ones of course!) as you'll see in this picture gallery, we had a hard time dragging aidan away from the pizza.

if you've got toddlers, this is a great place to take them. for only $7, you get several elaborate exhibits (a farm, a veterinary clinic, tree house, theatre with stage, and a huge jungle jim and play area on the rooftop.) We ended up purchasing the annual membership-- the museum is close to home and we were not even close to seeing all the exhibits. it will be a great way for aidan to play and explore, rain or shine.

redesigned again

in my first apartment, i used to re-arrange the furniture all-the-frickin' time. it was a tiny studio and i was always trying to find ways to maximize my space. and to make room for more stuff. and, because i was bored.

fast forward to today, where blogs make rearranging so much easier. no moving heavy furnture and dealing with dust bunnies. just browse for cool layouts and make them your own. ahh.

so here's my redesigned mama blog. i wanted to broaden the scope so that i can write future posts about the folks raising this aidan dude (um, that would be mama and daddy). and i also redesigned my other, even more neglected blog. i hope to post more on that, too.

see you online!

just for fun

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

happy father's day!

wake up daddy!

holy crap-- it's been over a month since i last blogged

it's already june?!

i have been too busy to write-- bad for a blog, but great to know that i am spending time with family and friends. work has been busy and it promises to pick up now that i'm in the midst of building an online branch. 

ooh! intriguing!

aidan continues to regale us with his spunk and "where the hell did that come from" phrases. lately, my posts have been clips of video of managed to get on my little cannon s1000 (which, frankly, has enabled me to capture more aidan moments than i can ever remember.) i figured why attempt to describe his latest "thing" when i can just post the video and have you see it for yourself? 

so here's what's been going on with our lil stinker:

• he's sleeping in a toddler bed. a fairly smooth transition. he fusses for about 10-15 seconds when we leave the room and then he sleeps through the night. 
  
• sometimes, he freaks me out. this is related to the sleeping in a toddler bed. he can climb down and walk over to our room. one time, he was standing quietly at the end of the bed and i looked up and saw his little shadowy figure. it kinda freaked me out.  usually, he will wake up around 5:30, pad over to our room, walk over to my face and gently pat my cheek to summon me from my sleep so i can lift him onto our bed. we can usually get another hour of sleep in. ahh...
• he's a talker. "no WAY, mama!" "no WAY, daddy" (with me, he uses a "get outta here" hand gesture. "no problem!" (sometimes used correctly; sometimes not!) "nice shirt, daddy." "pretty, mama!" 
• mr. manners. suddenly, he says "bless you, mama" "bless you, daddy" when you sneeze or even cough. he also says "thank you," after he gets what he asks for (saying "please," of course.) oh, and he finally says "sorry, mama" or "sorry, daddy" when he does something wrong.
• time out! speaking of doing something wrong, he's been in time out a lot recently. little infractions we are trying to nip in the bud now, like putting his feet on the table while we're eating (we lowered his high chair and now it's no longer an issue. only took us 5 days to figure that out. duh) he still likes to throw his food, especially when he is already full and doesn't want to eat anymore. nevermind that WE are still eating and trying to enjoy our meal.
• car games. one of his recent faves is to say, "daddy asleep again?" this is based on jeff, the the blue wiggle that has a penchant for falling asleep anywhere (isn't that narcolepsy?) in any case, he says "daddy asleep again,"  to which paul "falls" asleep. did i mention we are in the car when he plays this game? did i also mention that paul is driving?!? paul pretends to fall asleep and then aidan gets a kick out of yelling, "wake UP daddy!" and then laughs and laughs when daddy sputters awake. he's started to play "mama asleep again" and "aidan asleep again." aidan pretending to sleep is hilarious. he has the heavy breathing and the head to the side down, but he doesn't quite get that  you should close your eyes for the best effect. 

i think this post summarizes the latest happenings over the last of the month-- at least with aidan. this weekend will be busy. besides being father's day weekend (happy dad's day!), we will be going to the tiny tot's teddy bear picnic program at benaroya hall (thanks, storm, for the tickets!) with our friends the gruenders. and on sunday, we will welcome back scott, susan and their brand new baby, milo. aidan will get to play with his little cousin. (paul and i like to refer to milo as "aidan's little brother." :) it will be interesting to see how he interacts with an infant.

lather, rinse, repeat

...can find wonder and joy in the tedious task of washing cars.

sorry seems to be the hardest word

for the longest time, aidan has never been able to say "sorry." the funny thing is that he knows when you say it and why-- he just refused to say it. when prompted by me or paul for him to apologize, he'd instantly cover his eyes with his hands or arms as if to shield himself from the shame. it was his version of a wordless "sorry."

it has just been in the last week or so that he will now say, "sorry!" but, as the elton john song-inspired post title implies, it is still hard for him to say. the other day, aidan pinched me when i didn't pick him up. (you wouldn't think such little fingers would hurt, but he's a little crab, i tell ya!.) so i prompted him, "say sorry, mama." to which he replied:

"sorry daddy!" (paul got a laugh out of that)

prompted again, he then said:

"sorry, mickey!"

prompted again, he then said:

"sorry mower!" (that would be his plastic toy mower in our kitchen)

finally, he said "sorry mama" and then went on his merry way.

at least he now says "bless you" whenever you cough, sneeze or blow your nose. so there's hope yet of raising a well-mannered little boy!

hat trick

aidan went to his first major league baseball game april 19th. it was the mariners vs. the oakland a's. unfortunately we can't say that saw his first major league win since 1) we only stayed until the 3-4th inning and 2) the mariners lost.

he had people watching, eating garlic fries, and he allowed us to see the mariners up to bat while sitting in our seats before getting antsy and wanting to roam around. the nice thing about safeco is that you can wander around. aidan was too young (you have to be at least three years old) for the play area and the line was near epic proportions for the "moose lodge" where you could take pictures with the mariner moose. but, no matter. aidan had fun checking out the sights, learning about baseball (some) and hanging out with mama and daddy. you can see more pictures of aidan's baseball outing here.

below is a video of aidan doing one of his "i'm bored check out what i can do" antics. amazing how entertaining a toddler and a hat can be.

breakfast with aidan

mickey!

Happy Easter!

taking turns and other new things

this was a banner week for a 'what's aidan learned to do/say' lately.

taking turns. aidan is big on taking turns. aidan's turn, daddy's turn, mama's turn. for the first time, aidan exercised the freedom of choice and decided that it was mama's turn to read him a story before bedtime. "are you sure? don't you want daddy to read to you" i would ask him. "no, mama's turn,' he insisted. i have to admit it felt good to be the chosen one. it used to be that paul and i had a separation of duties-- i help him brush his teeth and paul changes his diaper, puts his pjs on and takes him upstairs for a bedtime story and 'night night.' there are drawbacks, like having it be mama's turn 2-3 nights in a row. even when i was out with girlfriends for dinner the other night, it was "mama's turn." sorry, paul.

birthday! aidan turned two on the 12th of march. we had a small get-together for him last weekend with family. there were a couple of presents from me and paul that he hadn't opened a day or two afterwards. after dinner on tuesday, i asked aidan if he wanted to unwrap the presents. he said, 'birthday! birthday presents!" that surprised me because at the actual gift opening at his party, he was a little cranky and wasn't totally into the opening presents thing.

easter eggs! we picked up aidan from school today and apparently they colored easter eggs as an art project because he had pink dots on his face, arms and a blue-green hand. obviously, more than eggs got dyed-- we have a human easter egg. we tried washing it off at home, but the dye is stubborn and we managed to only make it fade a few shades.

daaaddy! maaama! it used to be that aidan would wake up in the middle of the night or would be less than enthusiastic about going to sleep so he would cry it out a bit and then finally go to sleep. since then, his cries have turned into plaintive cries and screams of 'daaaddy!' and 'maaama!" the first time, it just melts your heart. it still pulls at the heart strings, but somehow your own exhaustion helps temper the guilt and you're able to let him cry it out (after about a minute or two, he finally goes to sleep) or you quickly go to his room, assure him it's okay, and rub his back for a bit to soothe him to sleep.

the mutha of all diaper changes

wednesday morning started like most-- at 5:30 a.m., aidan woke up. i went to go get him and was greeted with one of most nasty smells imaginable.

you would think that after two years of dirty diapers, i'd be used to it. but this time, it was B...A...D.

whatever he ate at school did not agree with him. he had so much watery poop his diaper couldn't hold it all. he was sleeping on his stomach, so the poop seeped out of his diaper, soaked his pj's, and he had poop up all over his torso. 

i called for daddy back-up. he peeled off his wet and poopy pjs while i ran a bath. try holding a naked baby, caked with poop, to carry him to the bathtub for a scrubdown. ick.

in the meantime, i had to strip his bed, open the windows, gather all his soiled clothes and put it in the laundry. 

somehow, aidan was in good spirits pretty much the whole time. 

and that was our wednesday morning. good times.

aidan turns two

click on the picture for more...

a seinfeld vocabulary

in the last two weeks, aidan has been picking up phrases, repeating them and using them randomly like mad. something flipped his language switch into overdrive. i have to be careful; he has already been exposed to mommy's litany of swear words. oops.

as responsible parents, paul and i are making sure to teach him 'please,' 'thank you' 'i'm sorry' and all the other polite phrases expected of a well-behaved child. but we're also having a bit of fun with him. hopefully he won't hold it against us.

we started with, "you're kiddin' me!" which sometimes comes out 'you're killin' me,' which is actually funnier.

yesterday, he learned "get out!" ala elaine on seinfeld, complete with the shove. (he doesn't shove very hard; we made it more of a hands on shoulders kind of thing."

perhaps "giddyap" or "salsa" will be next. stay tuned!

pitchin' a fit

wow. i'm still tired after what happened this afternoon.

aidan had his wellness checkup today. paul and i had to pick him up from daycare-- waking him up from his nap to take him to visit dr. wong. he was in pretty good spirits.

then, we got to the children's clinic waiting room. the last time he was here, he was pretty sick. maybe it he was still groggy. maybe memories of feeling bad came back. whatever it was made him cranky. he wanted to be picked up and then he wanted to be put down, only to ask to be picked up again. he wanted to sit on mommy's lap and then daddy's and then mommy's again. these were not good signs.

then his named was called and we went into the examination room. major fit pitchin' ensued. the nurse, a really nice lady with a three-year-old of her own, somehow got his measurements even though he was writhing and crying hysterically. we had to strip him down to his diaper and he was not liking that at all. once the nurse left, the wait for dr. wong was interminably long. aidan could not be comforted. he was crying so hard he was almost hyperventilating. in between sobs, he managed to tell us he wanted to get dressed and leave;

"shoe?? shoe on? shoe on??" (translation; 'get my shoes on and let's get the hell out of here!')

"shirt-shirt-shirt?? shirt on? pants?" (translation; 'get me dressed and let's get the hell out of here!)

"open door?" (let's get the hell out of here already!)

paul and i were pretty much in a sweat, each taking turns holding and comforting mr. grumpy pants.

i finally ran to the car and got binky and mickey mouse. (we are trying to wean aidan from the binky, limiting it to the car and bedtime, but this was a frickin' emergency!) apparently while i was out doing that, paul found that stroking aidan's face and talking to him softly started to calm him down. 

by the time dr. wong got to us, aidan was the perfect patient. apparently, better behaved than the 10-year-old she had seen before aidan.

by the time we got him dressed and out the door, he was back to his agreeable self. of course, ol' mom and dad were pretty much wiped for the rest of the afternoon. thank god we didn't have to go back to work. and that we won't have to go through this until his next check-up-- when he's three!

and then he was TWO

that's right. my baby is now two. 

it's amazing how fast the 2nd year goes. when your baby is born, it is such a monumental effort to get to that 1-year mark. every week is a milestone. you get through hundreds of diaper changes, feeding sessions, pumping sessions,  worry that he's going to roll over on his stomach when he sleeps, go to doctor's visits every three months, hoping to get past that official milestone where your baby is safe from the dangers of SIDS. you take lots of pictures of every smile and smirk-- real or 'just gas.' the first word, the first crawl, the first piece of solid food, the first steps, the first of many plastic outlet covers that will inevitable break your manicured nail.

you get the picture.

in year two, you're no longer worried about keeping your precious child alive-- you're trying to keep up with them! aidan is a talking, walking, running, jumping, climbing bundle of energy. every day he surprises us with a newly picked-up phrase of facial expression. he is learning free will and choice-- and he's starting to exercise it. it's an amazing and sometimes trying time, but i wouldn't miss it for the world.

i was out of town for work and got back in time to give aidan special birthday hugs, snuggles and bedtime story time. at daycare, they posted his birthday sign on the door and had cookies with the other kids. his lola and lolo picked him up from daycare and had lunch with him and daddy. before picking me up at the airport, dinner was had with nana and papa for more birthday grandparent celebrating. by the time he saw me, you could tell he was a little tired from the day's festivities, but within minutes, he smiled and screamed 'mamaaaaaa!' as if he finally realized i was really home and here to stay! 

we'll be celebrating his birthday this sunday with family. the theme; mickey mouse clubhouse. stay tuned for pictures1

brushing teeth

for several months now, aidan will only brush his teeth with mama.

i can't remember exactly how that happened. paul usually does the night-night routine, which included the teeth brushing , diaper changing, and tickling into pajamas. for some reason, aidan pulled the mother of all tantrums because paul wouldn't "let" him do something. so i stepped in and now i am his co-brusher of choice.

here is the routine:

i pick aidan up and go the foot of the stairs.

"is this where we brush our teeth?"

"Noooo..." aidan says.

we then go to the closet, the fridge, the kitchen sink, the laundry room and the garage door before finally stopping at the bathroom. (lately, he'll say "noooo" even if it is the right room, with a sly look on his face as if to test me.)

"do we need this?" (i point to the step stool)

"we need this.: (aidan agrees)

he then climbs the steps and i hand him his cup, toothbrush and toothpaste. he likes to squeeze the toothpaste on his tigger brush, which he does pretty well. he always says, "there you go!" then he asks me to turn on the water.

now since he is only almost two, he isn't the most prolific of tooth brushers, so i give him a chance to do it himself. he's pretty good with the front back and forth routine, but that's about it. so about a minute into it, aidan will hand over the brush and then i get to finish the job while he plays with the water, filling the cup that holds his brush and then taking sips. somehow, i brush his teeth between the sips and the water pouring. he's much better about opening his mouth lately, but it used to be quite a game for him. i found that if i start with brushing his tongue, the rest of the mouth follows.

then, he pours the last of the water and we put the brush and toothpaste back in the cup. sometimes he'll make faces in the mirror or play with the water left in the sink. then, finally, he runs to daddy for his goodnight story-- but not without blowing kisses to mama.

for the next few days, paul will have to do toothbrushing duty while i'm attending a conference. i hope aidan doesn't put up too much of a fight!

it really should be called the Sucky Six

i'm reading "the happiest toddler on the block" right now because i was such a fan of "the happiest baby on the block" and the swaddling techniques we learned. learning to swaddle aidan helped to calm aidan and helped us keep our sanity in those first three months of parenthood.

the funny thing about the toddler on the block book is that dr. karp, the author, compares toddlers to chimps. mainly, because human babies and baby chimps follow the same development up until 18 months and then human babies start to out-develop the chimps with their language skills and whatnot. 

every time i read these kinds of books, i'm struck by how aidan is a textbook example of whatever i'm reading. for instance, dr. karp talks about how there really isn't a "terrible twos." really, the tantrums and behavior associated with the "TT's" begin six months earlier, at age 18 months. (thus the title of this post.) at 18 months, aidan would fall to the floor and cry, go the the stairs and rest his head on a stair to cry, or run off a corner of the house howling and then, as quickly as it blew up, the tantrum disappeared and he was sweet ol' aidan again. 

of course, dr. karp says that while tantrums may taper off, they will rear their ugly heads again, though not nearly as much.

tonight was a good example. we had a late start for dinner because we had to pick up paul's car from the dealership for some routine maintenance. aidan was grumpy. he wasn't hungry. he wanted mickey. NOW. (we watch the mickey mouse clubhouse before he goes to bed.) even after paul walked him over to the couch to get the recording started, aidan was still upset. "yes, i want to watch mickey. wah-wah-wah." complete with tears and sobs. he was getting what he wanted, but he was tired. it was a meltdown, a little one, but a meltdown all the same.

i haven't gotten to the tactics yet of how to "deal" with toddlers and their tantrums yet. i was tempted to skip the beginning pages where dr. karp attempts to explain his theories behind his methods, but i keep thinking i'm going to miss something if i do that.

i'll be sure to post what i've read and whether it's worked. stay tuned!

 

nit picking part iii

we brought aidan to daycare today a little earlier than usual, prepared for a long line of kiddies and parents waiting to have their heads examined, so to speak.

nothing. we dropped him off as usual after playing 'push the cars across the round table' with a few of the kids. i guess the waddlers are safe from the nit picking. 

i hope they're able to keep those little buggers at bay. (i'm referring to the nits, not the kids.)

nit picking part ii

when we picked up aidan this afternoon, there was a letter to parents. 10 kids had cases of lice. for the next 7-10 days, they are going to check the kids' heads for nits before you drop them off. eek.

nit picking

oh, man. did we dodge a bullet today.

we dropped off aidan at daycare a little later than usual. we were getting into our good-bye routine when one of the daycare staff came in with rubber gloves on. apparently, a child was found with nits/lice so now all the kids had to be examined.

"since you're both here, i'll do aidan first so that if he has 'em, you can bring him home."

great.

so while she was very gentle about the whole process, aidan (who was already fussy for some reason) did not enjoy having his hair lifted from his scalp in search of the offending nits. we got a quick lesson in nits-- if you see white stuff and you can blow it away, it's dandruff. if the stuff doesn't move, its nits.

lucky for us, aidan has a little dandruff. i've never been so happy to have a child with dry scalp.

i did it!

we picked up aidan as usual on tuesday and he was in the older toddler room. occasionally, they will put aidan there if there are too few teachers to the ratio of kids in the younger toddler (known as the "waddler" room) or if they are short staffed. aidan is one of the older 'waddlers' and since he is turning two next month, i think they are slowing transitioning him into the toddler room. he appears to like the teacher and kids in that room.

anyway, when we picked him up the teacher said he used the potty today. that's why he has the sticker on his hand-- it says "i did it."

we were so surprised we forgot to ask how they got him to "do it!" we've had a potty in our bathroom for a while, but he mostly is interested in standing on it and sitting on it as a chair. he seems to be teetering on the edge of embarking on the potty training journey, but we haven't pushed it. it may be starting now-- i can hardly wait. can we allow ourselves to start imagining life without diapers and wipes?

rock of ages

well,more like pebble, really.

the weekend before i had to go out of town for work, we visited nana and papa for dinner. it was a nice time and we were towards the end of our visit when we suddenly caught aidan grinning mischieviously as he had something in his mouth. we didn't think anything of it since he had been helping himself to peanuts earlier. a quick sweep of his mouth with a finger didn't reveal anything was in there, but his binky was found near a scattered pile of decorative glass pebbles on one of the low tables.

naw, he couldn't have? could he?

it wasn't until monday, when i was in washington d.c./virginia that i got a text from paul around 10 p.m. "mom just called. aidan passed it-- all is well."

what a relief-- you think you can watch your kid's every move and then something like this happens. according to my mom, i swallowed a nickel at his age. luckily for both of us, we got through our experiences unscathed. you can bet that the counters are clear whenever aidan visits papa and nana's house from now on.

when i got home from my business trip, my mom (and aidan) gave me a present. here it is:

i knew that someday i would be a recipient of gifts made by aidan, but nothing that was actually "made" in aidan. ick.

hugs, not drugs

after a week of battling a bug, coughing fits, 10 days of antibiotics and passing a decorative pebble (more on that later), aidan is back in fine toddler form.

a couple of days ago, we picked up aidan from school as usual. on this particular day, he decided not to grab his coat and head out the door. instead, he ran around the room and decided to play peek-a-boo in the corner behind a stack of toddler chairs.

his playmate, lana (who we refer to as "aidan's girlfriend" because she appears to dote on him over the other boys) followed suit. while she was hiding, aidan looked around and asked "where's lana?" we pointed to the corner where he was previously and said, "there she is!"

aidan then walked over to the corner, and with arms outstretched, gave lana a big, cuddly hug which she seems to enjoy.

this was the first time i had ever seen aidan hug anyone that was not "family." it makes me wonder who else he's snuggling with during his school day. hmmm....

random pix with the new camera

we have a nice camera-- it's a sony that we like to use for special occasions and vacations. but, it's big and bulky, and i like to be able to point-and-shoot and take candids. so, i picked up a cute little canon that is smaller than my ipod, but fast and enables me to take pix without a flash.

i've been playing around with it over the last few days. here are a few pix of aidan being tossed in the air (as only a daddy can do), stomping on the last remnants of snow after last week's storm and scoring a basket with his new indoor hoops.

i'm hoping that having the camera more handy will encourage me to take more pictures of aidan and his antics, as well as whatever wierdness i run into during the ol' 9-5.

making room for "vocal"

every day after school, we get a report card from aidan's teacher telling us how he was, what he did, what he ate and what his favorite activity was-- it also tells us how many hours he napped. his standard report card usually shows that he has been happy, playful, cooperative; that he ate all of his meals; that he took a 2-3 hour nap and that he needs more wipes or diapers. sometimes we'll get a note that says he had fun with art projects or playing outside.

on this day, we got this:




the teacher actually wrote in "VOCAL." At the bottom of the report card, she commented that Aidan learned a lot of new words that day. We still don't know what words. I guess they'll come up in conversation one of these days. I wonder if he blurted out "fork?"

hatin' the high chair

i guess it was only a matter of time. aidan eats all his meals at school sitting at the table in his own chair-- why should home life be any different?

for the past week or so, aidan puts up a fuss when we put him in his high chair. he doesn't want to belted in. he doesn't want his tray attached. uh-uh. no way. get that thing away from me. nooooo!

so the other night, we set up the booster chair we usually cart around with us when we go out. it belts onto any chair or slides into any restaurant booth. it changes our seating arrangement somewhat because now aidan sits at the head of the table with paul and i flanking him on either side.

now who's in charge?

he managed to eat his dinner, but splattered pasta sauce all over the placemats. i'm going to have to pick up some plastic ones with numbers and cartoon characters or something.

this morning, he ate his breakfast at the table like a big boy and exclaimed "all done" after his last bite of cheerios and yogurt.

there goes one more piece of baby furniture to storage.

the "hard drop-off"

we just learned that term today when we attempted to drop off aidan at school today.

due to the snow, lot of kids hadn't made it in yet. he was exciting to go to school this morning, but somehow actually being there pitched him into a tantrum of toddler proportions.

they combined the kids that were there into another classroom other than his regular one until more kids came in. i think that's what set him off. he went running down the hall and we had to carry him back writhing and crying back to the room.

i came into the room just as i heard paul explaining to one of the teachers that aidan usually isn't like this; but he's been on a tear the last few days. the question she has asked (i learned later) was "is aidan usually a hard drop-off?"

i wonder what other daycar/school lingo the teachers use, particularly after the parents leave...

never say never

okay, so many months ago i said "ta-ta" to blogger thinking wordpress was oh-so-much better.

well, it wasn't.

the layouts were clean. the site was always accessible. but, wordpress doesn't allow you to use the cool badges and widgets services like flickr and shoutmix let you create (unless you're hosting your wordpress blog on your own server) which i wouldn't dream of doing.

so, now i'm in the process of manually moving over the posts i have on the wordpress blog because wordpress doesn't have a function to export posts into blogger. (but they do have a tool to import posts from blogger.) bastards.

i won't be able to move comments over, which sucks. sigh.

thanks for taking me back, blogger. i shouldn'ta left ya in the first place.