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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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."

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.

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

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?