today's soundbites

aidan:  "why do chickens sit on eggs?"

me:  "why?"

aidan: "Because they don't have chairs!"

(in the car after filling up the tank, going through the car wash and lunch)

---

aidan:  "i love hot chocolate. but not too hot. i only like hot water in the shower. i like my hot chocolate warm, not hot. i like to drink hot chocolate when it's cold outside... i want chocolate milk at our house..."

(aidan was so excited about the idea of hot chocolate that paul couldn't get a word in edgewise about how he'd get the hot chocolate tomorrow on their way to uncle scott's house in the morning.)

---

aidan: "i can't wait for M to see my super why costume. she is going to be jealous!"

(M is a girl in aidan's preschool room. i think she is his first crush. one week she's his 'friend' and the next he's not. already playing with his little heart. grr...)

being a good sport

the other day, aidan said, "mama, i want you to come downstairs and play mario kart with me!"

aidan is 4 and a half years old. when he has good behavior at school and uses his "listening ears," we allow him to play on the wii before dinner. he usually plays be himself, so this was an unusual request.

all his days of playing and all my days of not playing (where the heck did some of these races come from) quickly got me my first defeat. the kid beat me on the first race! 


and oh man-- the trash talk!


"mama, why are you so far behind?"
"i beat you, i beat you... nyah nyah nyah!"
"oh yeah! oh yeah! [with victory dance]


since i'm the adult, i have to set an example. so i say, "aidan, that's not nice. you have to be a good sport!" 


then i won a race and man, was he MAD!


"I don't want you to win , mama" and then he pinched me. 


to which i replied, "aidan, maybe we shouldn't let you play anymore because you aren't being a good sport."


"i am a good sport, mama! i want to play mario kart!"


his behavior got much better after that.


the next morning, after aidan went potty, he came up to me and said, "mama, i'm sorry i pinched you and was a bad sport when we played mario kart yesterday."  then he hugged me. (paul didn't even know that happened, so he wasn't coached or anything!)


it was a proud mama moment, for sure.

mama gets the stinkeye

when we dropped aidan off today, he was a little clingy. he had a rough morning. perhaps he sensed that mama and daddy had the day off from work today so why the heck did he have to go to school? oh well, he has lots of valentine's day partying today.

i went rogue on the routine today. our streak of non-eventual happy drop-offs is over.

Z, a little girl that has a crush on aidan, took my hands so we did a little twirl around. then another girl wanted to join in. and another. and then one of the boys. in minutes, i was holding hands with 10 kids and joined the teacher for an impromptu ring around the rosy. we ended up on the floor in the shape of a heart!

aidan would have none of it. he stood there, arms crossed, and gave me the royal stinkeye.

what was i supposed to do? pull my hands away and say, "eww.. sorry! my hands are only for aidan you little hooligans!"

oh, well. i'm sure he's fine now, playing with his buddies. :)

in his own words

since it has been many months since i last posted and so much to share, i think it best to use aidan's words to help describe how aidan has grown lately. or, more accurately, since my last post. i can't believe he's turning 4 next month! gah!


"mama, i want you to do all my things."

the "things" aidan is referring to is his list of to-dos for me. basically, he lists out all of the things i already do after i get him to bed and finally go to sleep myself. it's part of the bedtime routine-- he won't be staying in bed until he tells you his things. this is how it goes," i want you to brush your teeth, go potty, go downstairs, work on the computer, watch tv, turn out the lights and go to bed."

in the morning, he comes to my side of the bed and says, "mama, i want you to do my things, please." those things are, "i want you to put your clothes on, go potty, put on your glasses, come to my room, sit on my sofa and talk and then go downstairs and watch my shows."

the latest addition to the night time routine is his insistance on counting the speakers in the living room and picking up his toys. this is after he's been tucked in but before he's told us his "things." (Once he tells you his "things," it's the light at the end of the tunnel.

"and, i think that's all i got" or "and that's all i got"

this is what he says every night after he tells you his "things." Once you hear this, he's pulling up the covers to his chin and saying "good night, mama. don't forget to do my things! have a good sleep!"


"you're right mama, you're right"

usually said after i say something ordinary, like, 'we need to peel the orange because the skin is yucky." sometimes daddy gets a shout out too.


"i already took a shower. right now! yesterday!"

aidan is still working on his choice of words to communicate the past and present. yesterday could actually be months ago. or tomorrow.


"daddy, i want you to play a game with me and then we'll watch one show. mama will do the dishes."

ever the negotiator, instead of watching two recorded shows before bed, he'll instead want to play mario galaxy or his trains-- but with one show. and since mama is not as good at playing as daddy, she doesn't mind doing the dishes. :)


"i don't like this shirt! i don't like these socks!"
he's developed a distaste for hoodies and shirts with zippers. and, he's picky about his socks. who knew?


"daddy, i want you to pick me up and carry me like the garbage."
after aidan takes a shower in the morning, paul wraps him up in a big towel. aidan likes to lay down on the floor all snuggled up until paul picks him up by the towel ends and twirls him around and then, like the garbage, carries aidan in this towel "bag" to the bedroom to get him dressed.

the rest of these quotes speak for themselves:

"see that yellow M? that's mcdonalds! i like their cheeseburger!"

"is daddy's foot all better? Is he playing hockey tonight?"

"i don't want to wear my jacket. i want to get sick!"

"i don't want to wash my hands. i want germs!"


ah, out of the mouths of babes. can't wait to hear what's next.

Tap, Tap, Tap-- is this thing on?

You know it has been a long time since you've blogged when...

1) you forget how to log-in to the blog.
2) a full season has passed and you haven't blogged a word about it.
3) you consider redesigning the whole thing-- DO OVER!
4) your kid doesn't look much like his picture on your blog.

I've been so busy launching a website at work and various other work-related web stuff that the last thing I wanted to do was more of the same at home. I've mostly been futzing around on Farmtown in FB. I'm two levels away from farm nirvana!

The summer was great-- lots of time was spent outdoors since we had such great summer weather. Lot of parks added water playgrounds we just had to explore. Aidan and I planted our first garden this year which yielded a bumper crop of zucchini, tomatoes, and lettuce (we're still enjoying a late batch of green beans.) Paul built a fine fence complete with trellis and arbor so I could plant four kinds of clematis. We visited with friends and family from out of town-- it was a busy summer! You can see pictures on my website at http://www.paul-n-laurel.com.

So, to reward you for my lack of posting this past summer, here is a video of Aidan singing the Meatball Song. No longer adverse to acting up in front of the camera, here is one of three versions of Aidan singing:

A question for the Moms and Dads out there

I'm fairly certain I have a couple of parents reading my blog out there, so I'd like to post this question to you-- where do you go online for to get parenting advice? Ideas for things to do with your kids? A place to commiserate/rant/share tips? :)

I'm participating in an exciting project with our Marketing Department at work that will be announced soon. As part of the launch, we're gathering a list of online parenting resources.

So please share by leaving the URL and a brief description in the comments. Thanks!

did it just say what i just heard?!

so aidan and i were up early (ugh) watching the disney channel when one of his toys began spouting off something disturbing. sure, toys do wierd things when their batteries wind down, but really-- this is downright creepy.

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let me introduce you to my little friend

toddlers are curious creatures. they ask a lot of questions. they like to poke and prod.

now for toddler boys, around the age of 3, they become particularly intrigued with body functions. probably because of the whole potty training process and the parts involved.

so of course, aidan has suddenly become very aware of his penis.

we try to use the anatomically correct term and try to refrain from using euphemisms like "peepee" or "weewee" and such. he pronounces it "pe-nus."

for the past several weeks aidan has been putting his hand down the front or back of his pants. i like to ask him," what are you doing, aidan? is your penis still there? good, now take your hands out of your pants." in the shower, sometimes he slaps at it. now, i thought that was a sensitive area, guys! i mean, what's with all the drama when some dude is dealt a blow in the 'nads? it looks like it hurts to high heaven!

paul says when it's your own penis, it doesn't hurt. really?

aidan has offered up a couple of great lines regarding the ol' "pe-nus:"

[after a bath] aidan says, "look mama! my penus is big! like daddy's! "

(no comment. this is a family blog after all.)

[in the morning] aidan has said, "look mama! my penus is up. because it slept all night!"

car talk

Our best conversations are usually when we are on the way home. We've picked Aidan up from daycare and he's has his afternoon snack while we talk about our day.

[Paul and I are talking about something at work]

Aidan: Stop talking-- I want to talk!

Us: What's that, Aidan?

Aidan: Stop talking guys.

Us: Okay, Aidan. You talk. What do you want to talk about?

[Silence]

Aidan: I can't talk. You help me guys.

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Aidan: Mama! I want more booty!

Me: How do you ask nicely?

Aidan: Booty please!

Me: The whole thing, please! (Lately, I've been able to get away with just giving him "the look" and I don't even have to say anything.)

Aidan: Mama, can I have some Pirate Booty please?

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Us: Did you have fun at school today, Aidan?

AIdan: Uh-huh. (Usually his mouth is full with grapes, oranges, or the aforementioned Booty)

Us: What did you do today?

Aidan: I play with playdough and I pinched [child's name omitted to protect their identity and Aidan's reputation]

Us: Aidan, it's not nice to pinch your friends. You shouldn't pinch your friends.

Aidan: It was funny--- bwaa ha haaa!

Us: That's not funny, Aidan.

Aidan: It's he-larious!

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bombs away and target practice

two weeks ago, aidan started  wearing "big boy" character briefs. we have been lazy in the potty training department. we don't want to push and we know that aidan knows the steps to "the process." he just doesn't care to put all those steps together. 

so, we were surprised when his teacher encouraged us to put him in underwear, saying she'd be happy to help him out and clean him up. 

the first two days were, in a word, gross. pee-wet thin cotton is one thing. thin cotton coated with poop is quite another. paul has been the lucky recipient of the poopy pants.

after those two treacherous days, the rest of the week was great. he stays dry for most of the day and we (as in the parents) have trained ourselves to take him to the potty every 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

as a grown-up, you don't have to think about these things; you just... go. but toddlers haven't learned to listen to that little alarm that goes off in their brains when their bladder/gut is full. it's more fun to keep playing with your lightning mcqueen cars and thomas trains than to stop, drop trou and sit on the potty. think about it-- for the majority of their lives, they've become accustomed to steeping in their goo until the parentals changed their diapers. it's another transition that is going to take some time. and patience. and more underpants-- otherwise, i'm going to be doing laundry every day. 

paul has come up with two ways to get aidan excited about going potty. so far, so good.

target practice:  it's exactly what you think. aim and shoot at the targets floating in the toilet. so far, we've had cheerios (a traditional favorite); mini marshmallows and, in a pinch, little rolled up balls of toilet paper. aidan loves target practice and proudly announces he hit the targets every time.

bombs away.  this is relatively new and is a work in progress. no bombs yet, but we've been able to get aidan to sit at least for a minute. 

yet one more milestone to work towards.

a new song learned

we dropped aidan off at preschool today a little later than usual and the kids were gathered around the teacher, getting ready to listen to a story.

teacher said, "aidan's here! should we sing to aidan?"

this is what they sang:

if aidan's here today, clap your hands [clap, clap]

if aidan'a here today, clap your hands [clap, clap]

if aidan's here today, raise your hands and say "hurray!" [all the kids cheer, "hurray!"]

if aidan's here today, clap your hands [clap,clap]


it made for a smooth, fun dropoff. paul and i joked that we should sing it at our next morning meeting at work.

Omama!

last week, aidan saw barack obama on tv, which spurred this conversation:

aidan: what's obama?

mama: obama is our president.

aidan:  our prezdent?

mama: yes. president obama.

aidan: obama? that's obama?

mama: yes.

aidan:  obama. ooobama. omama!

mama: no, Obama.

aidan:  omama! obama! omama! obama!

"obama-omama" is now aidan's favorite funny thing to say. 

sleep, sweet sleep

i am happy to report that we are now back to our regular sleeping schedule. okay, he wakes up at least once during the night, but goes back to sleep. and, he sleeps until 5-5:30 a.m. that may sound early to you, but it is just fine by us.

no one wins in a standoff with a toddler

here is the winning recipe to ensure you and  your spouse will not get any sleep for two consecutive days:

1. 1 toddler, 2 months shy of his three year birthday
2. same toddler, moved to preschool and shorted the usual transition time between the current and new room due to snow storm. just before the holidays, no less.
3. the holidays. nuff said.
4. two nights with nana and papa
5. getting back to the old routine
6. toddler learns how to turn a door knob and open their bedroom door (natch!)

stir together, simmer and get one ornery toddler who refuses to go to sleep and/or sleep through the night, effectively rendering parents into zombie like state for next day of work.

on tuesday night, aidan sat up in his bed after storytime and announced "i'm not going sleep." eventually, he laid down. but, once mama got up to leave, he stood and screamed and cried for "my mama!" door closes, end of story. oops-- not so fast. where did he learn to turn the door knob? why is he coming out of his room and coming downstairs?! doesn't he know that 9-10 is mama and daddy's time to unwind?!? nooooo!  almost two hours are spent escorting aidan back to his bed, hearing him cry and having him come out. he finally gives up and goes to sleep-- only to wake up at 4 a.m. ugh.

wednesday night. the worst night ever. aidan refuses to go to bed. thus begins a 2-hour stand off where we no longer close the door (which ticks him off.) after telling him it is night-night time and he must go to bed, we spend the next two hours escorting him back to his bed, helping him climb into in, patting his head and leaving (all without saying one word.) he is furious. paul and i sit on our bed and wait for him to come out of his room to begin the entire process again. we tag team and takes turns escorting him back and forth.

after an hour and a half of this, aidan is showing signs of wear. he no longer walks down the hall between our rooms. instead, he walks to a nearby stool a couple of feet from his doorway and rest his head on the stool. we escort him back to bed, he struggles to climb up, he seems to settle for sleep, but yelps when he sees we aren't going to stay by his side all night.

10 minutes later, i've removed the stool. he now walks to the coffee table and rests his head on it. 

at the two hour mark, after paul has escorted him to bed and we hear him scream in protest. he stops suddenly. we peek outside our door to find aidan sound asleep in his doorway. game over. he's safe, sound and we aren't going to attempt to move him to his bed.

two hours later, he awakens. i quickly get him into bed and he falls back to sleep.

one hour later. guess who's up and ready for more? ugh.

paul has me go downstairs to get some sleep. i have to go to the basement because the pitter patter or footsteps, followed by paul's bigger footsteps and the accompanying carrying on are too much. i set my alarm for an hour so i can relieve paul.

the hour goes by too fast. i head upstairs and find that the game continues. it is  5 a.m. paul is inclined to keep this up until our alarm goes off. i say, cut our losses-- let's go to bed and heck, if aidan wants to come to bed with us, so be it. we've been telling him all along he can come to our bed in the morning. when i tell him this, he gleefully says "okay!" and jumps into our bed. 

damn.  that's what he wanted all along.

so, we sleep. i sleep through the alarm and paul has to wake me up. aidan is asleep. we have breakfast. he sleeps. we get ready for work. he continues to sleep. paul gets him dressed and he's half awake. by the time i get dressed, i assume they've gone downstairs. but i look over at our bed and aidan is still asleep, but fully dressed. we finally get out the door to head for preschool and work. coffee is no longer a nicety-- is is a necessity.

it is thursday, 9:57 p.m. the kid is asleep! and instead of catching Z's, i'm blogging. 

good night. sweet dreams!

"that's poops!" and other aidanisms

here is the latest batch of aidanisms to kick off 2009:

poops: used as a filler word to describe a sentiment (usually something he doesn't like or agree with). example: "no! that's poops!" or used as a comedic device. example: "santa poops is coming to town... hahaha!"

that's not  working so much. said when, well, something isn't working.

i don't like that! pretty self explanatory, no?

mama, daddy, can i have a cookie now? pretty much when we get home, before dinner. at least he asks each of us if we want a cookie and he will give us one. he sure knows how to share.

mama, daddy, can we watch movers and mickey now? our after dinner, pre-night time ritual. 

what happened? what's happening? what he says when my dad is trying to figure out how to turn on the tv and cable to find aidan's shows (see previous aidanism)

i don't watch super goo! it's scary! aidan loves watching imagination movers, but for some reason, the episode called "super goo" where mover rich and mover smitty get stuck together with mover's dave's sticky invention didn't sit well with him. it was, well, scary. 

oopsie! his version of oops. he's usually dropped or spilled something when he says this.

no, daddy, no-- stop dancing! what aidan always says when paul starts bustin' a move to the theme song of imagination movers.

that makes me mad...  GRRRR!  aidan scowls and growls. his eyebrows furl. he reminds me of my dad when he's pissed. :)

that makes you happy!  what he says after he pinches/kicks/hits you and you say you're sad. he then gives you a kiss and says "i'm sorry!"

i want hangerber and stir fries!  translation: "hamburger and french fries"

the christmas that kept going, and going, and going

merry christmas!

sure, it's january 8, 2009, but we have a belated, rescheduled christmas eve gathering to go this sunday due to the white christmas of 2008. so, for now, it is still kinda christmas.

we had planned to begin our own little family traditions of waking up christmas morning in our house instead of at a grandparents' house. we had planned to have breakfast, open our christmas stockings and ooh and aah over the gifts to each other.

but that blasted snow cancelled all our eve gatherings and we ended up spending the night at one grandparents' home and then another. but it was a low key, relaxing christmas and 2008 marked the year that aidan finally "got" christmas. he learned all the names of santa's reindeer. he learned to sing "jingle bells" and "santa claus is coming to town." (he still sings it and we're well into january.) he"got" that santa brings presents to good boys and girls and puts them under the tree. every day. (we had to tell him it was only one day a year.)

aidan still has to learn about opening presents-- that is, that you keep going until all the presents are opened. of course, the kid got tons of toys from adoring uncles, aunts, and grandparents. but, once he opened one present, he had to be strongly encouraged to keep going. as far as he was concerned, he already had a toy to play with-- why were we interrupting him with this opening present stuff?

he still has another present at my parent's house to open. a little something from a surrogate lola and lolo who are good friends with my folks.

aidan's new toys are still in the box we put them in when we finally returned home. the tree is still up, as well as the lights on the house. we got some work  to do this weekend.

we celebrated a "new york new year's eve" at the gruender's house. we celebrated 2009 with a countdown john found on cable tv. it was a nice way to ring in the new year with friends. usually, we stay home and watch movies. correction-- paul watches movies and i fall asleep around mid-way into the 2nd movie. aidan and kohl had a great time putting on their hats and tooting their horns. they also had fun playing with kohl's trains and wrestling and running. my baby has turned into a boy.

i'm hoping for a happy, healthy and hopeful 2009 and wish the same for you and all of your loved ones.

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!"