It's time to build a word!

I wish it were possible to put into words just how truly incredible I think Aiden is. Practically every day I feel as though I am talking to a new kid, full of new ideas, experiences and joys. I swear somedays I can't get over the fact that he's two; a full of energy, little person who likes certain things certain ways. Yet... he is and with all of his interests and quirks so emerges this amazing person who I find is just so enjoyable to be around. I've not yet met another kid who really just wants to laugh as much as he does. His smile and his laugh are truly infectious, they just make every day so much more enjoyable.

So now onto our last couple of weeks. Well as you can see from the pictures we have discovered that we have a little pool shark (Dave actually got Aiden saying he's a pool shark - tooo cute!). Granted he's not tall enough to play so he manages while being very closely supervised, but he loves it. Perhaps because it has to do with balls, and we all know how long that obsession has been going on! Anywho it's a new form of a ball sport for him so of course, he's totally into it!

Beyond his fun new activity he has really shown a more enthusiastic interest in his letters the past few weeks. He helps me sing the ABC's in the car, points out letters he recognizes on anything, magazines, posters, books, etc. He even grabbed my huge literature book the other day and exclaimed "I'll read dis one!" Granted it's a far car from Mr. Brown Can Moo but we gave it a shot and he quickly lost interest. However, the best story was one from the other day. Now we have become pretty particular in what Aiden is allowed to watch on t.v. - there's just too many absurd children's shows these days. So really the jist of it is he only watches Curious George the Cartoon and Word World, both found on our wonderful PBS station. Well word world is interesting and for those who haven't seen it it's theme song is: "It's time to build a word! Let's build it, let's build it now!" Anyways, a typical Sunday afternoon and Aiden is running around playing and he starts to take off all of his magnetic letters off the fridge and sets them on the floor right in front of Erik. He then proudly looks at Erik and exclaims "It's time to build a word!" And I get so excited I sing "Let's build it, lets build it now!" And that's what we did, we built words and I relished in the fact that he instigated all of it. Oh and I wrote PBS a note thanking them for the age appropriate educational shows they provide and got a very kind letter in return.

So besides his letters/words Aiden is really into helping with things, hence the picture - Aiden putting together a bookshelf with Erik, oh and he also helped Grandpa put together a picnic table! Of course his helping consists of using his toy hammer to bang things and then mimicing what you do with other tools, but hey it is super cute! This past month he has also become very aware of his role in the scheme of things. For example, he becomes conscerned with who is going places. If I say "Come on kiddo, we're going to go to the store," then his typical response would be "Mama come, Aiden come too?" Or Dave's personal favorite, after he has placed himself somewhere, declaring "It's me in there!" It's really just so neat to see how his mind is developing in terms of how he's placing himself.

Well I suppose that is all for now, though I'm sure today he will say/do something that will make me want to run back here to record it! Hope this blog finds you all well. Love and miss you all!

I OMP it in da mouth!

Welcome back to our blog! I know, I know... I'm actually writing without a huge gap between posts - shocker! Things have been pretty hectic but in the last couple of weeks there's been some fun stuff to report! First of all Dave, Erik and myself took Aiden to the fair thinking it would be sooo much fun....boy were we wrong! Let's just say the fair will be better to try next year with him. Some of the animals and games left him in tears and I think the whole experience was just a bit overwhelming for him.

Aiden is getting a lot better going on the big boy potty! Yea - we are so proud of the progress he's making. He gets super excited to get his star sticker when he goes in order to eventually earn that cookie - the thing this kid will do for food! When had a minor setback when he refused to use the potty at mommy's house. Yea that was weird, it took moving his potty to the "big bathroom - the HUGE one (Aiden's words)" to get him excited about it again. LOL.

Well a lot of you have been asking for some pictures of our new house so I'll add a couple - nothing spectacular but a little glimpse at it!

So here are some views of Aiden's room and our kitchen/dining room, I promise more to come but I hope for now these work! So anyways, back to Aiden! You may be wondering about the title, well it is the phrase of the month for Aiden and it couldn't be funnier. Anytime he's about to eat anything he proudly tells us "I'm going to OMP it in da mouth" and makes that lovely OMP sound to demonstrate how. LOL it really is hilarious. IN fact the other day as I was packing an apple in my backpack for school he enthusiastically asked me, "Adien OMP mama's apple in da mouth?" When I told him it was mama's apple, he showed me his piece of banana and said "Oh Aiden OMP a banana," and walked away. I'm so going to miss these phrases as he gets older. Oh and this picture is of Aiden showing you all how he "Omps" lol.

Beyond that he is really making an effort to learn his letters and numbers - he is sooo excited when he regonizes one it melts my heart. He loves building, reading, coloring, playing with his music toys and of course anything having to do with going outside. Right now we're currently looking for a place to take him to do basic toddler gymnastics (so tumbling) which hopefully he'll start in the next month. He's also become so opinionated about really little things. Like last night he wanted the "green cup not da red cup" - I really love it.

Well hope this blog finds you all happy and healthy, we miss you!

Waank you!

Welcome back to our blog! It's been a fun month since I last wrote, so there is a lot to catch up on! First of course there was Aiden's birthday and I have to say we have one very lucky kid! To have so many people who care about our little guy - well let's just say it is such a blessing. This year his cake/birthday party theme was none other than balls - go figure. The kid is as obsessed as ever. As far as presents go the kid made out with a tricycle, golf set, basketball stuff, dino toys, a baseball chair, a new coloring desk and sooo much more! Thanks to everyone - it was sooo generous and fun!

This summer has also been full of new adventures and fun activities! From the zoo, to Explora (the science museum), the natural history museum, the aquarium, baseball games, bbq's, fishing, swimming, going to parks - you name it and we've probably done it this summer! This picture below was taken in the mirror room at Explora, which he thought was awesome!

We've also ventured off on a trip to Angel Fire in which Aiden got to go on his first ever boat ride! And while renting a boat seemed iffy to me, he proved to be as easy going as ever, relishing in watching the water whoosh by and trying to stick his fishing pole in the water. He even got to try driving the boat (fully supervised of course)!

One of the best parts about this summer though has been hearing how much Aiden is developing verbally. It seems as though every day there is a new phrase he has learned and he now speaks mostly in sentences. And though some words still come out hard to understand he will not let you off the hook until you know what it is he has said. In an effort to remember some of his cutest phrases (because let's face it this is just like a baby book online) I'm gonna write them on here:

1. Waank you = thank you

2. Hold joo (this one is heard a lot) = hold me

3. Haba dat or dis = I want to have that or this

4. Woo-pepper = Wood pecker

5. Whereyago = There you go

Other than that really it's just fun watching him as he is his normal adventurous self. He loves to laugh and smile and make others do the same. He really is such a ham! However, now that we are fully into his 2's - the disagreements are a bit more frequent. It's funny everyone always talks about how much he looks like his daddy (and rightfully so), but as his personality comes out- well that's when we're all starting to see a bit of mommy coming out. Lord help us - he has my stubborness.
It's just so neat to watch how his mind works. For example, yesterday we went to breakfast and he started to throw a fit because he was ready for his much anticipated trip to the zoo. So as he's standing on the ground next to my chair in the restaurant he starts yelling "Now know my ABC'S.... next time sing meeee " - ok bad that he's yelling in a restaurant (and that was quickly rectified) but sooo cute hearing where his mind is. He also had a hilarious experience playing what he refers to as ninja warrior (thanks Rick lol) in the shoe store yesterday. After he tried on shoes (which by the way he loves lol) he started jumping up and down and rolling on the ground yelling "Ninya orior" - oh he's a hoot!

Well that's about all for now, hope you enjoyed the fun little stories and updates. The next couple months I'm sure will be just as eventful as school for me starts back up (did I mention I have 25 books this semester -arg!) and Aiden gets to visit with grandma twice a week again. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as this hectic year continues!

Start of summer

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Aiden blog! Things here have been as hectic as always so let's play a little bit of catch up! Aiden's summer has started off full of activities. We enrolled him in swim lessons with his buddy Destiny (the one checking out his booty lol) and he loves them! I can't even begin to describe how hilarious he is in the water. He has no quams what-so-ever about jumping in by himself and is somewhat ok with the going under water that they do every class. Overall the class was such a success that he's doing a second session of the lessons with daddy!

Since life has been so crazy between summer school, moving into the house and all that jazz, I've tried my hardest to keep Aiden fully entertained. Last week we ventured off to the zoo with grandma and got to do some very exciting things! They had several booths set up so that the kids could feed certain animals, and we were happy to participate! All together we fed some very pretty and aggressive birds (they stole our cup of nector lol) and a giraffe.

As the Fourth of July approached we were a little concerned how our own little firecracker would do with all the noise, as last year it really freaked him out! However, this year we've learned that the louder things are the happier Aiden is, therefore the Fourth was fine. Mom, Erik and I took Aiden to the Balloon Fiesta Park to watch the firework display and afterwards he kept telling us, "Fireworks, booom! Pop, pop!"

Along with that these summer monsoons have been histerical! I can't even describe to you that look of sheer joy he gets when he hears thunder. He runs to the closest window of the house and yells, "BOOOM. THUNDER!" In his Aiden growly voice that is hilarious. I'm so glad that those things excite him instead of scaring him.

Well so far this summer we've got a pretty good start on fun activities with the little dude. It's just so nice to give him the chance to explore life to it's fullest! I know this is a rather short blog and I have way more to say, especially with his birthday just a couple of days away and my over emotional state regarding that, and his sudden attitude swith (he's TWO AHHH) but we'll save it for a blog next week when I have birthday pictures to post! Love to all!

Sticky goldfish melt my heart

Hello everyone and welcome back to our Aiden blog! Sorry the posts are so far and few between, but life is proving to be very busy so it's rare that I even find a minute online that isn't fully consumed with school. To make up for it i'll try to post tons of pictures, because I know that's what ya'll out there want!

Well I guess we'll start with our little baseball kid! Aiden has always been funny when it comes to balls, always chasing after the other kids balls in the room, it's always been the toy he has zeroed in on. But now it's even more fun, he searches for bats to hit his balls then runs around the room after every hit, not to mention that great arm of his! Watch out everyone grandpa may get his wish one day to see this little dude on a pro-team! This week we even took Aiden to go see the Isotopes, Albuquerque's own minor league team and I hafta say he did pretty great with his first ball game hotdog, the ice cream oh and of course watching the guys "Hit the balllllllll!".

In March Aiden, grandma and I trecked back to Illinois on a 24 hour train ride to visit family that Aiden had never met. The ride there he did great, it was inspiring enough to warrant a return train ride home. However, pretty much the whole time we were there he had the flu and I must say I have never had a more unvacationy vacation in my life. It was one of those times that really reminded me that yeup I'm a mommy and I'd do anything to trade the pain and discomfort he was in for my own. Funny how those little moments work their way into your life to remind you what a great thing you have. Aiden, of course, was a champ with it, fussy though he was, he stayed on Aunt Debbie's bed without much of a quarrel and once we saw that great smile of his again we knew he was back to normal! And on our last full day there we finally got out of the house, managed one day without rain and headed strait for the zoo! All in all I'm so glad we went and were able to introduce Aiden to his great-aunts, uncles, second cousins and of course Great Grandpa. It was amazing how quickly he took to grandpa, like they've known each other his whole life. His reaction to Uncle Steven was priceless as all he could do was stare, until I finally asked "Does he look like grandpa?" To which I got an enthusiastic "uh-huh." However the one thing I could have totally done without was the drunk people behind us on the train trying to give me parenting advice, but that's a whole other story...

Since we've returned from our trip our normal, hectic life has returned. Easter came and went and still there are plastic eggs all over the place as he loves them! Yet each day Aiden becomes more and more exciting and full of new firsts. He's said several full sentences now, which still is taking us by surprise when he does it. For example, the other morning he asked me "Can I take this?" when we were on our way to grandma's and he wanted his baseball bat to tag along.

Oh and now our big news, for the first time ever yesterday Aiden pee-peed in his poty! Thanks to our tireless group effort in making sure he sits on it and gets rewarded for doing so ( a whole 1 m&m) he finally got his cookie, the ultimate reward for doing his deed! Now just keep your fingers crossed as we hope this is not a one time thing, we're aiming to be done with this by his second birthday! So please send us good potty thoughts!

Other than that Aiden is his great, normal self, fully of smiles, laughing oh and running of course! Now don't get me wrong we are fully working our way into the two's, with increased tantrums and disagreements, but still more often then not we have a lively, happy kiddo. You can tell he loves that spring is in full bloom and his outside time has really increased. He is also really growing in kindness lately, weather it is to schmooze something outta grandma by saying "please gramma" or by having a meltdown because mama didn't know it wasn't ok to kill an ant she found wandering her kitchen. Or my favorite is telling the woman who sneezes in the grocery store "Blesh you." But today in particular it really struck me how generous he is, always wanting to share as he handed me his slightly jelly covered goldfish and said "for mama" and smiled as he ate his. I can't help it I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful kid.

So I hope this sufficed for now, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

Dinos! Planes! Aiden-penguin oooh and Bubble Q

Hello all and welcome to a much belated blog! I am sorry for the months that have passed, but we are back and ready to talk (and of course share fun pictures!). So for those who haven't heard we are back in Albuquerque and working hard! Dave seems to be enjoying his new job (however, not so much the traveling part) and school is keeping me more than busy.

Aiden is as fantastic as ever! He has completely exploded with his language these past few weeks. Making sure to answer questions with his ever enthusiastic nod, "uh-huh" and "no". I love it! Perhaps the best part are his little sentences that he tells us ever so happily, like, "I want juice please," or "New oo-ooo watch?" (translation curious george), or even "Ab-ud-eew" (I love you). It's just so neat to see how far he has come from just a few weeks ago to now.

Now as for our blog title, well how to start. Our son is obsessed with dinosaurs... they are everywhere. And now thanks to my wonderful family, it has transgressed into something even deeper...everything is a dino-thing. Imagine my shock when one day he askes me to "draw dino-bunny," WHAT? lol. So we have dino-bunny, dino-bear, dino-bug, you name it and it's a dino. Then to add to it, the boy is loving planes right now and especially being turned into Aiden-plane, so needless to say our arms are getting stronger! Aiden-penguin is his night-time alterego lol. After his bubbles that penguin towel gets put on and bam! Aiden-penguin is checking out his Aiden self, nakey, in the mirror.

Now for the "Bubble-Q," well that has been inspired by our no meep-meep law that has been in affect for a bit now. For those who dont know his "meep-meep" is what he called his binkie and since thats been gone there's been a need to add more conversation to our car rides. With that we've covered all animal noises and are now on to our ABC's, which he copies very well, but now has become quite fond of the letter W, which he pronounces "Bubble-Q." Oh how he loves this letter, telling people in restuarants it all the time - oh what a ham we have!

Well to kinda wrap up let me just tell you a few things we've noticed. Aiden is a hoot, trying to get people to laugh and smile and he is good at it. He's that kid in the restaurants waving to all the ladies and the one on the playground following all the kids laughing. We feel so very fortunate to have such a great little man and it is so fun to watch as he's transitioning out of being our baby to our big boy. Keep your eyes out for new blogs as we are venturing on to the potty training stage! I'll be better about more pictures and posts, but until then, much love and blessings go out! =0)

He found his winkie!

Oh it truly is a wonder how the littlest things can make a kid happy like, for instance, discovering a body part you didn't realize existed! Oh to be young! Well things here have been more hectic than ever. The new things Aiden does and says each day alone are enough to keep us on our toes, but we've also planned our move back home to make our days even more jam packed with packing!

Aiden is growing in leaps and bounds these days. He walks, he runs, he jumps like a frog, goes up and down the stairs and plays ball with Stitch. He is signing a lot more to us as well and every day we feel more and more grateful that he's picked up on it so easily. He'll tell us when he's ready for his nap, when he has a poopy diaper, when he wants milk, or water, when he's all done eating, when he wants more and when he wants food (that one happens to last all day long). We can't help but feel that the sign language has saved us from many a tantrums just because he can tell us what exactly it is he's wanting and/or needing.

His word vocabularly has also increased significantly. Right now the most common words we hear are, "Dada, Mama, Woof (that's Stitch lol), Up, Down, Nana, Apple, Blue, Ball, Duck, Owl, Balloon, Hand, Toe, Head, In, On, Off, Cup, Hat, Bubbles" and then there are the two huge ones, "Out and Book." Now those are the two that come much more demanding. "Book," is by far the cutest one. He'll go pick out a book, walk over to you, hand it over and look up at you with those beautiful green eyes and ask, "Book?" Who could say no to that? Though after 6 times in a row it's either time for a change (for our sanity of course), or for a new book lol. Now "Out," is a much harder word to contend with, because not only is it a word, it is the word that sets his whole attitude in a new direction. If you are getting him dressed, the whole time he chants the word, shoes cannot be put on without the promise of either stepping out for a second or leaving the house and if you even think that you'll be able to step out to take out the trash, or check the mail, well think again... saying this kid loves to be outside, would be to big of an understatement.

Along with the craziness that our house has become, I've been trying hard to keep Aiden and myself busy with out of the house trips during the last tidbits of sunshine Seattle will see this summer. We've done a petting zoo outing (see above), trips to the Greenlake wading pools, various parks, shopping centers, we even took a ride on a mini-train in Country Village the other day. In the midst of all of our activities it's become pretty aparent that the things we will most about Seattle are some of the great friends we have made over the years, especially this year.

The play group that Aiden and I have been a part of this last year has been a saving grace, for both of us really. All the women are so insightful, wonderful mothers and we will miss them terribly! Aiden has made so many great friends (see Aiden with his best bud Owen to the left), as have I. It's hard for me to think of what a week will be like without seeing Lindsay and her son Owen, as they have become a staple in our week, keeping our sanity in check! Or to see Aiden's favorite femail duo, Shannon and her daughter Gigi (Aiden's girlfriend below)

I mean look at these kids... they have such a blast together! Thank you guys for making this last year such a fun experience and please come and visit us!

I almost forgot that Aiden also got his first haircut! Our little man did so great, sitting in his little car chair, as we watched our little man transform into a less hairy version of himself! lol.

As you can see it's been a crazy couple of months (my apologies that this is all so scattered!). However, I think the nicest part of it all is being able to watch Aiden as he becomes this totally wonderful kid. He is so loving (yay our kid hugs, kisses and cuddles now!), smart, funny and is just a blast to be around. We feel really blessed watching him grow into his own and can't wait to see what comes next. Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers and I'll try to keep up with this more! God Bless! =0)