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.