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."

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.

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.

happy valentines day, aidan

Dear Aidan,

Today is your first Valentine's Day! You are only 11 months old, so you don't understand the hoopla surrounding this day. This morning, while we were opening each other's Valentines day cards and gifts (thanks for my card, by the way!) you were content crumpling up the red envelopes strewn all over the dining room table.

Valentines Day is a special day in our household. Not because of the flowers, the candy and the gift-giving (ignore those commercials, Aidan, no one really wants the Journey Diamond Necklace or the stuffed animals-- but girls want flowers. Remember that.)

It is a special because Valentines Day 2000 is when I realized your daddy was someone I wanted to get to know better (months before, your daddy asked me out and I said "No" because I was wary about dating someone I worked with.) Remind me to show you the valentine card he gave to me. A week later, we went on our first date (February 23rd-- now you know where Daddy's hockey jersey number came from.) Eighteen months later, your Daddy asked me to marry him and less than three years later, you were born!

Someday too soon, you are going to get caught up in trading valentines with your schoolmates. You will share your heart with your first crush, your first love-- and you'll experience your first heartbreak. While I don't look forward to your feeling the sting and ache that love can sometimes bring, I can't wait for you to experience the kindness, friendship, passion and comfort of real love. I am fortunate to say that I have this with your Daddy not just on Valentines Day, but every day. That is my Valentines wish for you today and always.

Love, Mommy

P.S. When you're ready for wooing tips, ask your Daddy. He's good at it. ;)