Nice nap?

Aidan is playing with language this week. On Friday, he surprised Mama by asking for "Mack-ey" and "bus-ey" , instead of "mack" (milk) and "bus". He now alternates between calling eggs "eggs" or "eggies", too. Mama thinks it is kind of amazing, because it means that he has picked up the whole idea of diminuitives, and is experimenting with them himself! Aidan is also playing with the names he is calling us too: sometimes it's "Dada", other times it's "Daddy" ("da-DEE"), sometimes it's "Mama" (what he has always called me), other times it's "Mommy" ("MA-mee"). He's definitely trying different options on for size.


On Thursday, Aidan ran to wake up Daddy, and said, "Dada! Nice nap?" It was so cute! Mama always asks Aidan if he's had a nice nap when he wakes up, so that is probably where he picked it up. But it is way cuter coming from Aidan!


On Saturday, Aidan helped weed the garden at church along with other members of his Thursday playgroup, and had fun digging in the dirt with a shovel and kicking the soccer ball on the lawn. While he napped, Mama went on the flying trapeze again, which she loved! Then, that afternoon, we all went over to Aidan's friend Cira's house to celebrate Cira's second birthday. Aidan wasn't interested in the delicious lamb, couscous, or veggies, but he sucked up the juice-boxes, munched on pretzels, and was in heaven when they served chocolate and vanilla ice-cream cake! He had a ton of fun jumping on Cira's bed with her and climbing in and out of box tunnels, too.


On Sunday, we chilled out. Aidan helped Mama shop at Target, had a nice long nap, and we all went to the park.

Sentences

It is becoming the norm this week for Aidan to talk in full sentences. We are hearing a lot of:
- Dada, come!
- Mama, go!
- Yeyo boo-bus go der. [Yellow school bus go there].
- Wat bus is? [(Do you know where my) white bus is?]
- Boo choo-choo book is? [(Do you know where my) blue train book is?]
- Aidan go out. Go park!
- Boo choochoo go IN nunnel! [Blue train goes into the tunnel] Come out! (from his train book)

And of course:
- Moah Ming Ming! Two! One? Didle-bit moah? Pease? [More Ming Ming (Wonderpets TV show)! Two (more)! One (more)! Little bit more? Please?]
His language constantly amazes us!



Aidan is also changing his routines with attachment objects. For quite a long time, Aidan had to bring his white and blue city bus or his trash truck and his “baby” (blue Ugly Doll) with him to daycare, and he refused to put them down while he was there. Now, he brings them, but drops them on the ground and ignores them most of the time while he is there. He also used to sleep with his baby and his bus or truck, but he hardly ever wants to do that any more. Mama thinks that this is because Aidan is getting more comfortable with his life routines. He just seems less anxious and more confident, so we are happy about that!



This week we had a pretty normal week, but looked forward to the long Memorial Day weekend. It was packed! On Friday afternoon, we had a surprise party to celebrate the college graduation of Sara, Mommy’s friend, and the mommy of Aidan’s friend Grace. On Saturday afternoon, we had a surprise birthday party for Christa, Mommy’s friend, and the mommy of Aidan’s friend Johnny. Both were successful, and fun! Aidan loved eating watermelon and playing with his friends at both, and at Sara’s party, walked around before she got there with his finger to his lips saying “Shhhhh!!!”


After the party Saturday night, we packed up the car and drove up to the Catskills to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Ruane for the rest of the long weekend. Aidan was thrilled to see them Sunday morning! The weather was beautiful, with the exception of a couple of scattered thunderstorms, and we all enjoyed the relaxation. Grandma couldn’t believe how Aidan was regularly talking in sentences! He threw lots of rocks in the stream (his usual occupation up there!), and helped Grandpa water the garden. Mommy and Daddy enjoyed sleeping in, hanging out with Sara (Daddy’s cousin-in-law) and getting lots of cooking for the week done! On Monday, Aidan started playing harmonica like a professional, first slow then fast (to massive fanfare) – it even sounded like “Row, row, row your boat”! And Mama and Daddy went out to see a movie together. The last movie we remember seeing in theater was “I am legend” with Aunt Frances Christmas 2007! It was nice to go out again!

Of nursing and dancing

The biggest news this week is that, in our steps toward weaning, Mama and Aidan are officially down to one nursing per day. Until Thursday, Aidan was nursing in the mornings and before bathtime at night. However, on Wednesday and Thursday night, Aidan went to bed late, woke up late the next day, and didn't ask for milk from Mama ("Mack! Mama!") when he woke up in the morning. Since two days of anything is a big step toward a new routine, and Mama has been looking to work more towards weaning, she decided that this would be the end of the morning nursings. And the transition is going pretty well. Aidan isn't thrilled when he doesn't have the option of milk with Mama after waking up, but we have been giving him extra warm cocoa and Wonderpets, and he has been doing okay so far.



In other news, Aidan has developed a hilarious new dance that looks something like Irish step-dancing! It is really funny. On Thursday at playgroup, he was listening to Troy sing and play guitare while leaning against the stage in the room, and he just started his new kick moves. It cracks Mama and Daddy up! (Check out the video.) He is also now mimicking "funny faces" that Daddy shows him: he puffs his cheeks out, closes his eyes, and then laughs because he knows he is being silly!




This week started out well, with Daddy coming home from Sweden early enough on Monday afternoon to play with us at the playground. This weekend was very social for us: on Friday night, Mama had a "girls' night out" with some of her friends; on Saturday, after going to Children's Museum with Aidan in the morning, we had Aidan's friend Cira's family over for dinner (ahi & spinach pasta - yum!); and Sunday after church we went over to Aidan's friend Rowan's family's house for lunch. It was fun! Cira and Aidan did a great job of sweeping and mopping up the house after dinner Saturday (check out the video). And on Sunday night, Daddy told Aidan to say, "please, ma'am, can I have some more?" at dinner time, and Aidan looked brightly up at Mama and said, "Pease, ma'am!" - it was adorable!

Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!

Mommy and Aidan had a great week while Daddy was in Sweden at a conference this week! Of course, we missed Daddy, but things were much easier this year than when he was gone at conferences last spring.


We book-ended the time with two weekends in the Catskills with Grandma and Grandpa Ruane, and Aidan was elated to be with them. During the week, Aidan had an extra day of daycare on Monday (as well as Tuesday and Wednesday), and some babysitting Thursday and Friday morning, and then we drove up to the Catskills at naptime and saw grandma and grandpa thatnight. So, all in all, Mommy had backup with Aidan every single day that Daddy was gone! It was great.



It was a rainy week in Manhattan, and on Thursday, Aidan learned from an older (6 year old) boy named Sebastian how to make really big splashes in puddles! He was transfixed by watching Sebastian go round and round and round again, making gigantic splashes, and asked him to "go in!" some "more!" again and again. And then he tried it out himself, and had a blast soaking himself through, too! Puddles are awesome.


In the Catskills, Aidan was a complete Grandpa-magnet. He followed him around, helping him water plants, dig up weeds, walk up and down steps, make sure the tractor could hold Aidan's weight (he loves sitting on that tractor!), and just in general was thrilled to be near him. While we were up here, Aidan mastered a couple of important pieces of vocabulary: "Gampa! Come!" and "Mama! Go 'way! Go in!" at one point, he said, "Mama! Go in Gama's house!" (he didn't want his Grandpa time cut into!) He also had a blast with Grandma, helping her water plants, playing with her throwing stones, and just being with her.


We had a nice dinner on Saturday night to celebrate an early Mother's Day, together with lots of family: Alex's cousin Tim and his fiancée Ulrike were up with their family (Tim's parents and grandparents) for the weekend doing wedding planning, so we all went out for dinner at the Downtown Cafe in Kingston. The food was delicious (Mommy had trout with a strawberry sauce, with crème brûlée for dessert), and Aidan had a blast throwing bread and sticks into the nearby river, and watching ducks (who loved the bread) and boats. Thanks to passing thunderstorms, we all also got to see a beautiful double-rainbow (very auspicious for Tim & Ulrike)!


On Sunday, Aidan debuted his first ever "Aidan do it!" statement while in the bathtub (he wanted to be the one who held onto the move-able shower head). It made Mommy remember all of the "Abbi do it!" stories from when she was little! Aidan is definitely her son.

Rainbow

On Sunday night at bathtime, Aidan was playing with his colored bath recorders and xylophone, and he finally managed to name all of the "rainbow colors" (including red, the one he hasn't managed until now)! According to Aidan, that is: "yet" (red), "oh-age"[with a soft "g" - or a hard "sh"] (orange), "yeyo" (yellow - his favorite color without question!), "geen" (green), "boo" (blue), and "peep-oh" (purple). He sat in the bath tub after Mommy had let the water out, engrossed in naming and playing with his colored musical instruments for maybe 20 minutes! He is so cute.



This week, Daddy got sick (a flu - but not the dreaded Swine flu, as far as we can tell) and Aidan was very worried about him. Mommy let Daddy sleep in in the mornings to help him recuperate, and each day, Aidan would run into Mommy and Daddy's bedroom as soon as Mommy would let him to say hi. He would then run back and forth, getting as many of his buses as he could, and giving them to Daddy, to make it easier for Daddy to wake up. After all, Aidan loves waking up with his buses, so his giving the buses to Daddy was both very good sharing and also very empathetic! It was really sweet.


On Wednesday, Aidan walked or ran 13 full city blocks! After visiting J. Hood Wright Park on 173rd Street after daycare, Aidan wanted to run and walk, so we took our time going home, and he didn't stop until the bus-stop by our house on 187th street! By 181st street he had slowed down, but was still interested in "tagging" the little fences next to the trees on the side of the street (we touch each one and say "tag!" and then do it again for the next fenced tree). But he kept going the whole way! Mommy could not believe it. It was a full 3/4 of a mile! That's a lot for a not-even-two-year-old! Almost even more amazingly, Aidan did not pass out asleep as soon as we got home, but instead went to sleep at a normal (late) time. He did sleep really well that night, but not unusually so. The only major difference is that ever since then, he has been asking for massages - Mommy rubs his back or legs, and he stretches out, gets a bit glazed, and repeats over and over: "moah - moah" (more, more), every time it looks like she is going to stop! Poor baby - he must be sore!


On Friday, Daddy left on a "big adventure" for work (he is going to Sweden for 11 days). After having a playdate with Aidan's friend Cira (a friend from daycare who adores him and treats him like a little brother - they are very cute together), Mommy and Aidan had our own "little adventure": we drove up to the Catskills to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa Ruane for the weekend. Aidan slept basically the whole way up (a great afternoon nap), which made the drive easy. And we had a wonderful weekend. Mommy made curry, and Aidan spent almost the entire time with either Mommy, Grandma, or Grandpa, throwing stones into the stream. He is definitely right-handed, and is already working on that baseball throwing arm! On Sunday, we drove home during his nap time again, and it was again an easy trip. Mommy is happy that everything turned out so well, and is looking forward to next weekend in the Catskills as well.