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?

Butterfly!!!

Yet another story I'm sure my son will LOVE reading about in 15 years... Just remember, Aedan, your dad carried around a doll for 3 years and is plenty masculine (and a great dad too)

Aedan LOVES butterflies. They have a butterfly garden at school and he will stand and watch them with a big grin. We have had a lot around the parks and houses this summer too. Almost every time he sees one, Aedan cries out "bu-fly! fly! fly bu-fly! fly in sky!" and then procedes to flap his own "wings" and run around "flying" himself.

Well, this morning at Nonna's house, I was hugging him goodbye when Aedan spotted a little glittery snow globe with a butterfly inside on Nonna's dresser. "Bu-fly! Hold bu-fly!" So we let him hold the snowglobe, which he proceeded to hug close to his chest grinning, "Hug! Hug Bu-fly!" in the sweetest, most loving tone he usually reserves for Meow Meow.

It was the sweetest thing... I am thinking I may have to find my old beanie baby butterfly for him!

Baby's First Rehearsal

Aedan came to rehearsal with me for the first time today! He was soooo good! We were doing a run through of Midsummer and he played choochoos on the floor (heard him say "train" multiple times which is new!) on his new mat from his great Aunts and chased a balloon around the classroom. The whole time he was there, I only had to stop and pay attention to him once! Otherwise, he entertained himself and/or played with my kids that were off stage.

Mmmm.. Treat!

Aedan has a new "treat"... Matt gave him a whole apple yesterday and Aedan thinks it is so exciting to be able to eat it like that! We have to take a couple of bites to get him started but then he muches on it all by himself! It is adorable to watch him attacking it!

"Hold ME!"

Okay... Short post for today, but just wanted to share my munchkin's adorable new habit. Extremely frequently in the past couple of days, he comes up to me, holds up his little arms and says "hold me. need hold me. meeeese...." today he also asked "sit [with] me Mama." Impossible to resist!!!!

I really stink at this....

But I should try a lot harder... I really do want a record of all his cute little quirks!!!!Sooo... My new (school) year's resolution is to blog daily... Today I am going to start with as many recent anecdotes I can remember...

First of all, Aedan now has a big boy bed - yay Aedan!!!! It took it being shaped like a racecar, but at longlast there is a sleeping space he is not afraid to occupy on his own... he's still not crazy about the idea, however. The other night when I asked him whether he wanted to sleep in his bed or mama's bed he thought for a minute and replied "Mama sleep vroom vroom bed." Nice try, kiddo!

This morning, Nonna texted me with an adorable story... Aedan pointed to a picture of an alligator (specifically the tail) and said "snap snap tail!" Immediately, he then patted his own butt and said "baby tail!"

Aedan still refuses to say his own name... You ask "is your name Aedan?" and he replies "Noooo...baby." He also insists he is NOT a "big boy" but will now tell you he is a "big baby."

Driving home with Daddy the other day, he began to cry. Matt turned around and asked what the matter was. Aedan had spilt his juice. His reply to Matt? "Baby sad. Baby all wet!"

Aedan LOVES Aristocats. Disney does not make any merchandise featuring Thomas, Berliose, or Toulous. Consequently, Aedan carries around a Marie stuffed "white meow meow." He sleeps with it, tries to feed it, and takes it to the grocery store. On a recent trip, it was sprinkling on the way in and Marie got a little wet. Aedan kept a running monologue through the first half of the trip "Oh no! Meow Meow all wet. Dry Dry Meow Meow!" He was not remotely concerned that he was a bit wet as well.

Twice in the past month, Aedan has asked to put on a tutu.. it is the cutest thing in the entire world!!!! He somehow knows they are for dancing and he prances around and "twirl twirl"s

Not as much a funny anecdote as just Mommy bragging, but Aedan knows 20 out of 26 letters and 3-4 numbers as well. We are starting to play with three letter words... he LOVES Boggle Jr. and will sit and play with it by himself, reading all the letters off the little cubes and matching them up with the picture/word cards.

Just because it is so darn cute... here is messy Aedan (Daddy gave him m&m ice cream!)

Recently, Aedan tripped and fell while running across his room. Before I could say anything, he jumped up and said "baby alright Mama. Baby's o-tay!"

Last week, I was sick... Aedan continually came up and said "Mama alright? Mama sad?" I finally taught him "sick" so when he was running fever later in the week he curled up in my arms and said "Baby sad. Baby sick."

He is already learning how to get what he wants... the other day "Mama, where [did the] cookies go?" Me: "Aedan, you don't need any more cookies." Aedan: "Dada, where cookies go?"

We already have a little actor on our hands. When watching Lion King, Aedan does all of Simba's parts "Come on! " "Dad? Dad, where are you?" He has also started calling Matt "Dad" half the time - we totally blame the movie.

I guess that's all for now... Will try to keep remembering these and will post new ones!

At 18 Months...

Aedan is such a great little man... He loves cars and trains and is constantly running around with a "vroom vroom" as he says. He got a ride-on car that we can push him in for Christmas and will push it to the front door and then look at me and say "vroom vroom ride OUTSIDE."

He is also very into "pretend" play. He loves to "cook" in his new kitchen and feed us all of his creations. He has several baby dolls that he loves to hug or push in his shopping cart. One has a pacifier that Aedan will put in its mouth and say "baby night-night" as he pats its tummy or head.

He loves to read and especially likes "Where is Spot?" (my favorite at his age too!) which he will bring to us while asking "Where is he?" He is still a master at animal sounds and can do an elephant, duck, horse, cat, bird, chicken, cow, goat, sheep, snake, lion, bear... and probably more I am forgetting here. The sheep is new and he will bring us his farm books to find the "baabaa" plus loves his "baa baa black sheep" book. He also loves to pretend he is an elephant by walking slowly and making his arm a trunk while making his elephant sound "aroo!" He got to ride an elephant at the Rennaissance Festival this year and while he was totally solemn during the process he is so proud of himself when we watch the video.

Aedan's favorite foods are mandarin oranges (he will eat an entire HUGE can in one sitting), cheese, yogurt, chocolate, and ice... Nonna got him hooked on the crushed ice she is always munching and now he will run around asking for "ice! iiiiice?" so we taught him to add "baby" to the end and sing "da da da da da da dum" so now we have a little Vanilla Ice rapper baby. I just hope he doesn't destroy the few teeth he has (still only 4!) He also has definitely developed a sweet tooth... he knows Grammie usually keeps sweets by her chair and when we visit he will run up to her and ask for "snack" while signing "more please." I hate him having candy, but I know how much it means to her to be able to hold him for a few minutes (usually he is just too busy to slow down to be held!)

We are getting ready to move right now and I am pulling out all of his baby things to pack and/or sell. He has gotten so excited playing with so many of the toys he is really too big for - it's adorable! It has also been so nostalgic for me - these first few years just fly!!!

Totally Stink at this Blogging Stuff...

But a quick update anyway...Our little guys now has so many words I could not even begin to list them... He climbs ladders (up and down), "cooks" in his pretend kitchen, sings, dances, knows 4 colors, counts to 3, and can identify the letter "A." He is growing up so fast I seriously can't believe it sometimes. I know I need to do a better job of keeping up with it all here, so I am going to try! (Call it a new year's resolution!)

In just one year...

We went to the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago and I am really getting caught up now thinking about how much has changed in just a year... Here is Aedan last year at the pumpkin patch - crying because I tried to lie him on a pumpkin by himself...

And here he is this year (no big smile since he was 1/2 asleep!) :

My baby is growing up so fast!!!! He's still bald and chubby and sweet, but other than that, he has changed soooo much!!! I love seeing all the changes, but I just wish I could slow it down a little - it seems like yesterday that he was that tiny crying baby!!!

More Words... :-)

We are talking more and more around here! Aedan now says (reasonably clearly):
Mama (also "my mama")
Dada
Nana
Gaga
ChooChoo (doodoo)
Ball (ba)
Shoe (doo)
Uh-Oh
Night-Night (ni-ni) (meaning pacifier!)
Banana (na-nana)
More
Snack (nak)
Cup (up)
Read (ee?)
Meow
Roo (elephant sound done while raising his arm like a trunk)
Rar (lion sound)
Mmmm Mmmm (monkey sound, done while bouncing like a monkey)
kitty (ki)
tee (TV)

He also occasionally says:
nay (horsey sound)
ooo (moo-cow sound)
u-u (buck buck - chicken sound)
uf uf or ow ow (dog sound)
bebe (baby)

Hugs and Kisses

The past week or so, we have had a VERY affectionate little one on our hands. He gives big hugs (he'll run up to you just to hug you!) and huge, slobbery, open-mouthed kisses!

The past couple of days, he has started kissing EVERYTHING special... first it was the animals, and this afternoon it was the pictures in his books... He knows he's being silly and giggles the whole time, too!

Animal Play, School Days, and More

We are finally back home after two weeks without power due to Hurricane Ike. Aedan's favorite part of being back is playing with his animals again! He will carry around a toy for Pixel or Angel as they follow him (running!) around the room, giggling the whole time! He is also learning to pet nicely, throw a toy for Angel and hold toys for Pix to bat at.... Soooooo cute!

Aedan is also finally back at school. I picked him up early the other day so that I could take him to his doctor appointment and his teachers were so sweet about him, calling him their "model student!" After we were so worried about him napping (he lays down on his mat and goes to sleep all by himself!) and being left (recently he doesn't even cry when Nonna leaves!), this is just such a releif! I'm also really excited that this year he gets art time, outside time, and books read at school - he has even asked Ms. Teri to read to him! He looked so cute and tiny sitting with his class at their little table for lunch. He is the youngest in the class and you can definitely tell!!!

Speaking of the doctor appointment, we LOVE our new pediatrician! Aedan's doctor since birth, Audrey Tamm, just took a position at a hospital as a pediatric hospitalist, so we switched to another doctor in the practice, Joseph Edralin. Dr. Edralin came in and sat down on the floor to play with Aedan immediately and actually did all of his examination down there! He was also really sensitive to our concerns about vaccinations, and very knowledgeable and thoughtful about the issue! We're soooo excited since we were really worried about losing our sweetheart pediatrician, Dr. Tamm!

Mommy's Little Monkey

Talking has finally, finally "clicked"!

Though "Mama" is still really rare and often mixed up with "Nana" ("Dada" and "Gaga" are pretty much interchangeable too!) - I am finally hearing it.

His favorite word remains "snack" but "cup" is coming in a close (and convenient!) second... We know where his priorities are in any case! He is so funny saying "cup" - it's really "up" (without the "c") and then he sticks his little lower lip out as if that's a required part of the word!

Aedan also says "night-night" ("nae-nae") which really means "pacifier"...), "kitty-cat," ("ki-ca") "banana" ("na-na!" - his favorite snack), "read," ("ee") "uh-uh" (for "uh oh"), and "no." He still signs very well for "no" (shaking his head), "more" (ASL - putting hands together), "come on" ((he uses his whole arm to gesture and nods his head that direction!) and "please" (ASL - rubbing chest).

The favorite new trick, however, is animal sounds. When he's in the right mood, we have heard a sheep, a rooster, a chicken, a dog, an owl, a bird, and a duck. However, we CONSTANTLY have either a little monkey or a kitty cat along with us. It is utterly adorable!!! He loves to look at pictures or videos of monkeys or kitties too and will go to the computer or his books and ask for them by pointing and repeating the sound! Soooo cute!!!!

Sick....

I honestly think we need some sort of super-power as parents that let's us freeze time in the world around us when we are sick.

I have a cold. (And no, the irony of the fact that I have a "cold" in 90 degree weather is not lost on me.) It is not life threatening or incapacitating. I'm not staying home from work or calling the doctor. However, chasing after a 14 month old and constantly providing new and exciting activities as well as cleaning up after the same feels like cruel and unusual punishment right now. I just want to be able to curl up on the couch, watch tv, and eat some Jello. Doing that right now would mean having a five pound cat, a ten pound dog and a twenty-four pound monkey all climbing on or around me crying for bites of Jello. All of course, to the tantalizing musical interludes of Backyardigans....

Technically, I could ship off the monkey at least to his grandparents, but then of course I would worry if he was happy or not, missing me or not, etc. plus, I would miss out on one of my few free days with him... Thus, my original comment about needing to freeze the world around me, indulge my selfish sicko desires, and come back when I am feeling better.

Honestly, the freezing power could be used for so much as a parent... time to clean, cook, go to school, work, or party without missing a beat... hmmm - somebody get on that, please?