Imagination!!!! (and other mommy bragging!)

It's time for another visit to Aedan's imaginative play! A few examples...

At Michaels shopping with Nonna, Aedan picked out a dragon and promptly said "I like this dragon. Dragons save the princess. I need a princess!"

Yes, Aedan is still convinced that dragons save princesses. He plays "save princess mommy" over and over and over. He "flies" to me, gives me a hug and says "I save princess mommy! I save you! I save the day!" He will hear nothing of knights or princes. DRAGONS save princesses.

Tonight, Aedan spent more than half an hour playing baby fish in the waterfall... basically he draped a blanket over the side of the bed and pretended to be a baby fish falling over the waterfall. Then his mommy fish had to save him and pull him back up. I eventually got tired of this and asked Aedan "Can we play something over than baby fish and the waterfall?" Aedan answered happily, "Yes, Mommy! We play baby fish and the waterfall in the RIVER!"

Aedan has also gotten much more detail oriented in playing with his little people (and Hayden's dollhouse which he loves when he gets the chance!). They "walk" with the traditional little hops, go through doors, and go through daily routines (drive to school, sit in desk, play on playground, drive home, go potty, go to bed). It is incredible!

A few other random brags...

Still singing EVERYTHING! He knows soooo many songs!

Has memorized and will "read" 3 or 4 different books to us (probably more - we just started discovering this. I am hoping to get a video soon, but he is still shy about it!)

Art skills are progressing sooo well! He colored a picture of spiderman last night that was incredible! Spiderman was red (mostly in the lines), the sky was blue, and the buildings were green. Still not on par with Hayden's perfect details, but pretty awesome!

He conquered his fear and finally saw "How to Train your Dragon" - TWICE! He loves it!

He knows Left from Right!!!! Wow! It's incredible! I have 6th graders that struggle with that!!!

He quotes movies right and left. If you say a movie line, he will reply with the next one. I swear between the imagination and role playing and the mad memorization skills, this kid is going to be an actor!!!

He is super sweet and says "thank you," "I love you," "I love it! I love it" (when you give him something he likes), and offers to help sooo often! ("mommy you need_______________?")

Also super sweet, he really misses Daddy when Daddy works and tells us "Daddy has to work while we asleep. Daddy works at hospital. Takes care of sick people. Makes them better." Where does Mommy work? "Mommy works at school. Teaches kids how to pretend! Like Aedan!"

He can show you "happy" "sad" "surprised" "excited" "shy" and "scared" and can be various animals experiencing those emotions. It is ADORABLE.

He just learned to do a somersault today!

He completes puzzles up to 16 pieces without any help and up to 40 pieces with minimal assistance. He is so smart and the reasoning he uses is amazing.

He comes up with the most incredible observations. Yesterday, we rented Alvin and the Chipmunks (the squeakuel) that he loved so much in theatres. Holding the DVD on the way home, Aedan said "It's Alvin, Simon, and Theodore! They're silly because they TALK! Other chipmunks just squeak!"

In the car, he tells me "Be careful! Watch out for that car! Slow down! There's a light! It's RED! Means STOP! (or It's green! Means Go! Or It's yellow! be careful!)

He has finally decided he is a "big boy" instead of a "baby" (a little sad for Mommy!) and is expressing some interest in the potty ("Big boys where pull ups and underwear, go to potty and get prizes!") but isn't quite ready to do it himself. That's next, I hope!

"I Not Mean To" + Rodeo +Songs

Aedan just "flew" from the highchair to the couch... and got a little bumped up in the process. Apparently this was rather accidental (we hope!) as when we told Aedan not to do that anymore he replied "I not mean to!"

Last week we went to the rodeo... apparently our little man has been a little SPOILED. I tried to get him on the pink elephant ride he LOVED last year by telling him "look! It's like Dumbo!" Aedan replied "No.This the rodeo. Dumbo at Disney World!" He then continued to refuse any rides all day... (partially due to being sick...) Later, there were fireworks inside the stadium during the national anthem. Aedan cried out "boom booms! Where Tinkerbell?" Hmmmm....

Aedan is singing quite a bit now. He knows all the words to "Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood" as well as most of the basic kids songs. He sings it to his new Winnie the Pooh plush as he lies in bed at night!

Eagles, Pooh, Moo-Moo, and More

Save the Day

Sitting in high chair and wanting to get out...

Aedan: Help me!

Mommy: Aedan, what would you like us to do?

Aedan: Save the day! Save me!

Eagles

Aedan: Gah!

Mommy: Gah?

Aedan: Gah! Gah! Like a bald eagle! That's what he says. Gah! Gah!

Moo-Moo Milk

Aedan has been very interested in babies recently. We were talking the other day about tiny babies while we ate ice cream....

Aedan: I a baby!

Mommy: You are a big boy! Or at least a big baby. Tiny babies can't eat ice cream.

Aedan: tiny babies in mommy's tummies?

Mommy: Yes. Teeny tiny babies live in their mommy's tummy until they are big enough to come out and be held.

Aedan: Then eat ice cream?

Mommy: Well, little babies have to eat mommy milk

Aedan: I eat mommy milk?

Mommy: No, baby. Mommy can't make mommy milk anymore. You are not a tiny baby anymore so you drink Moo-Moo cow milk

Aedan: Yes. I drink moo moo milk (then he stops and thinks for a few minutes) I a baby cow???

He then proceeded to pretend to be a cow for a good 20 minutes. A few minutes in, he asked for milk. I gave him the cup and he replied

Aedan: Thank you, Mommy Cow.

Pooh

We watch at least part of the original Winnie the Pooh movie at least once a day. Aedan is obsessed. His favorite part is the scene with the honey tree and the "rain cloud" and bees. He loves to pretend he is a bee and that the duvet on our bed is a beehive. He climbs under the covers and pretends to make honey. The back of our couch is apparently the honey tree and he "climbs" it several times a day.

Imagination...

Aedan continues to pretend to be all sorts of animals daily... Now, when he is an animal (whatever animal it is...) He is the baby ("I baby kitty cat!) and we are "Mommy Kitty Cat" and "Daddy Kitty Cat." He speaks in whatever tone he thinks that animal should have (usually a squeaky little voice) and we are expected to follow suit!

Dragons and Dinosaurs

Aedan has developed a love/hate relationship with dragons and dinosaurs. On one hand, he claims to be afraid of them (especially dragons; he will randomly hide his eyes and say "I scared! I scared of dragons!") but at the same time, loves to play with both. He is also convinced that dragons save princesses. He loves to pretend to be a dragon and frequently tells us he is going to save a princess (usually HayHay).

Ice Skating, Snowboarding, Etc.

Aedan definitely got into the winter olympic spirit. One morning at Nonna's house, he stood on a little knee pad and exclaimed "I snowboarding!"

The big fascination, though, is figure skating. During the men's short program, Aedan pointed to the TV screen and said "I want to go there! Aedan jump on ice skates! Jump! Jump!" Mommy and Nonna immediately started planning for his Olympic debut in 2030. Later in the week, Aedan begin to dance and "skate" and jump along with the skaters on TV. Daddy, who loves speed skating, asked Aedan if he wanted to skate fast like Ono and Aedan replied "No! Skate like MOMMY! Spin! Spin!" That comment earned him a trip to the ice rink, where he skated in normal figure skates (not double blades) for the first time and mastered 4-6 feet of forward marching! The whole time, though, he kept asking to jump and spin, so we did a lot of Mommy carrying him, spinning him around, and helping him "jump."

Disney World

Apparently there is some drug that Disney puts in all of their food and maybe even the air around the place... We are all already desperate to go back. Aedan has been begging to "go to Disney World!" and (failing that) "watch Disney World movie!" (a sing a long movie that is actually "Disney LAND fun") for several weeks now. Sooo... today we decided that we would replace our fall NY/CT trip with a visit to Disneyland in CA (a first for all of us). When we asked Aedan if he wanted to go to Disneyland, he loudly protested "NO!!!! I not go to DisneyLAND! I go to Disney WORLD!" Hmmm... this may take some explaining... Surely he can't know that DL does not have a Pooh's Playful Spot (my only hesitation for doing the land over the world in the fall if Aedan remains as Pooh obsessed over the next 6 months!)

Pirates and Mickeys and Clowns - Oh My!

Aedan is really getting into dressing up this Halloween. Last week, we let him try on my old clown costume that Aunt Sandy made when I was 3. He was so proud of himself and ended up wearing the costume to school because he cried when Nonna tried to take it off!

We also ordered him a pirate costume to wear to the Renaissance Festival. When I showed it to him he grinned and said "Arggg!" I had no idea he even knew what a pirate was!!!!

Finally, he has a Mickey Mouse costume to match Hayden's Minnie Mouse. We let them wear them this past weekend to go to the aquarium (we started out heading to zoo boo but it was too crazy!). Aedan's favorite part of the costume? The gloves that give him "Mi-Mi hands!" He even got upset when I made him take them off to eat!

I also won him a cat costume on e-bay since all month long he has told me he wants to be "mi-mi and meow-meow." It has not come in yet so I am just hoping it gets here by Thursday for him to wear to school! You would not believe how hard it is to find a boy-ish cat costume in 2-3T!!!! In other cat-related news, Aedan is now saying cat instead of "meow-meow" about 1/4 of the time.... or rather he says "titty tat!"

Costume pics to come soon!

Cute Stories and Cute Pictures!

Aedan (and this blog, lol!) is really missing Mommy while I am finishing up work on Midsummer Night's Dream at school... the past two nights, he has refused to let Daddy put him to bed or even be in the same room while he goes to sleep. He gives Matt a hug and then says "Bye Bye Dada. Dada OUT!" while pushing at him to leave the bed! Then he clings to me like a life-line - "My Mama. Mama hold..."

Last night, we were having our frequent "Baby" vs "Aedan" debate. I asked him if he wanted us all to call him "Baby" and he smiled and very enthusiastically said "Yeah! BABY!" I laughed and said "Awww... but I like AEDAN!" he gave me a hug and said "Yeah. I like Mama! And I like Dada!" It was soooo cute! Definitely the closest he comes to saying "I love you" at this point and one of his longest speeches ever!

Nonna texted me this morning to tell me that he answered a question for the first time in chapel (apparently Noah put MeowMeows in his ark) and was singing and doing hand motions too! I am getting a little dissapointed that we won't be here for the school's Christmas program this year (we will be in Disney).

Speaking of school - school pictures got here last week! Enjoy!

Petco

Story from Nonna earlier this week...

"I asked Aedan if he wanted to go to Petco with me. He said "yah", JUMPED up and came over to me... and "petted" me on the head, saying, "pet Nonna"!"

Tail, Tail, Tail! (and other odd words)

Okay so the "tail" thing is sticking... tonight, waiting to get into the bathtub, Aedan pulls at his diaper and and whines "tail out! tail out!"

He has also (finally!) started saying "train" instead of just "choochoo."

Other odd quirks... He will not say Bunny's name. Most of the time he will start to call her "Zete" (what he calls Zeke) and correct himself and just say "No DOG!"

Weird word... stone. "see Mama, rock. stone. stick." "stone Aedan?" "Stone." Where did he learn that?

He also knows what snow is apparently... again, where on earth did that come from?