One little moment

The other day while at the park with Aiden, I realized something - I have spent countless hours at this very park in my own childhood. Playing, walking, running the nearby track, sneaking away with boyfriends, going on picnics - this park has so many memories for me. And now, watching Aiden enjoy countless hours here, leaves me feeling both sentimental and so grateful. It's so heart warming to know that so many of his memories will be tied to a place where so many of mine are from. How neat is that? I love these moments with him. I don't know if I mention it enough, but I love being a mom to this boy. =o)

The never-ever-ever's

Welcome to the ever changing days of toddler hood. One day I have the little boy who's playing with imaginary friends, and the next we have the never-ever-ever's. Here are just some examples of our over dramatic three year old:

1.Take for instance Aiden's bath time the other night with Dave. Dave goes to put on his jammies and Aiden's response: "No I won't put them on, I want to be cold forever and ever and ever!"

2. Getting dropped off at Grandma's and refusing to let go of the toy he brought from home. This is fine, no argument from the parents, oh but that's not enough for Aiden, he still has to get his point across. Yelling at Dave's car he says, "I won't take this back to Dada's house, not ever, ever, ever!"

3. Even the simplest things such as his plea for chocolate milk over regular milk. "No I don't like regular milk (a lie), I will never-ever-ever drink it!"

Oh the joys of being three.... ;)

"Now I'm back to Aiden" (and his wild imagination..)

This week has been very exciting indeed. First of all, I have been off from school and finally allowed the time to play properly, that I have so missed this entire summer. It couldn't have come at a better time! Aiden's imagination is soaring right now. I've already posted on Sarge and Jumpy Joey, which have become a great use to us, especially when it comes times to eating tricky foods. For example, the lines "What's that? Oh Aiden I just heard Jumpy Joey say he'd like some broccoli" has been used and with (knock on wood) desired results.


However, today came another imaginary friend into the world of Aiden. Upon another reminder to go back to bed during nap time I heard him yelling from his room, rather upset "No I told you to go to bed! I said it's your nanite time!" First thinking that he was talking back, my initial reaction was to go talk to him about using nice words with mommy or face a time out and then nap time. This did not happen. As I walked into his room, there was Aiden sitting on his bed, talking down to it. I asked him what he had said and his response came out without a seconds thought "I'm telling Hoe Hoe to go to bed!" First of all, seriously, where does he get these friends names??? Secondly, the initial shock is not nearly as entertaining as what follows. I learned that Hoe Hoe came from our car, he has yellow (blond) hair and blue eyes (which of course prompts Aiden to tell me he has red hair from God and green eyes from Mama), and he needs a nap. I tuck both Aiden and Hoe Hoe into bed, when they wake up, both insist on a shared snack of peanut butter and jelly crackers. Now here's where it gets good. As Aiden eats his snack I fold laundry, when I turn my head to check on him, he's covered, I mean arms, tummy, legs, and back, in jelly. Not that there was a lot to begin with (I'm very stingy with jelly on stuff, too much sugar), but you can be sure there were none left on his crackers. I immediately ask the question "Aiden why is there jelly smeared all over your belly?" His response: "Hoe Hoe did it." Fast forward an hour and there we are at Target, chasing Hoe Hoe through the store as a very upset Aiden is directing me where he has run off too. Thank goodness Aiden decided to strap him into the shopping cart with him after the third time. LOL.















The third and final big jump in imagination has been Aiden's ability to transform into different things (hence the title). While we occasionally get Aiden the superhero, Aiden the dinosaur, or even Aiden the little baby, Aiden's biggest transformation is into that of a puppy. I wish I could describe how adorable Aiden puppy is, barking at little sounds, eating his food face first, I swear he gives Tops a run for his money at being a dog. And each time at the end of his transformation he declares "And now I'm back to Aiden!"
































Beyond his great imagination I have become convinced that Aiden will be voted "Class Clown" one day. He goofy behaviors and fun loving attitude will be enough to convince anyone. He truly is the funniest kid I have ever had the joy of knowing.






















































Hope this blog finds everyone well, much love to you all! =0)

Birthday Fun Part II

Just a couple of shots from Aiden's actual birthday dinner at Grandma's House. I can't tell you how blessed we feel to have so many people who love our little guy!













































































































































And if you're wondering, yes, the evening did end with all of the kids being "Cornholio" - this is a weird family... =0)

Camping/Birthday Fun

I know it's been about a month since his birthday, but I thought I'd share our camping adventure. We had such a good time playing in the stream next to us, enjoying camping food, and just taking a day to completely relax. So sit back and enjoy the multitudes of pictures!

<---I call this shot the Mud Monster

Sarge and Jumpy Joey

I know I still need to write about Aiden's fabulous birthday, but I couldn't risk forgetting this one...

Over the last few days Aiden has continuously mentioned the people that live in his belly. At first we thought the only seemingly normal thing - that he connected a rumbling in his tummy to a concept that made sense to him. This is not the case. We finally gave in today and asked him about these people, to which he declared "There are two guy people in my tummy." Ok... (it gets way funnier!). So then of course we asked the only natural next question, do they have names? Without hesitation Aiden responded "Yea they names is Sarge and Jumpy Joey." Oh my. Apparently not only do these two guy people live in his tummy they also come out and play. Imaginary friends? Perhaps. However, since these conversations he goes to lengths to lift up his shirt to show us them, and also has declared that they eat the food he eats. I'm offically confused and yet strangly delighted by his growing imagination.... as long as it doesn't get weirder than this lol.

Where did it go?

I'm sure you all could have seen this one coming: sentimental Teresa. Looking, thinking back on the past three years and wondering where did my little baby go? I actually thought the other day, how well I'm handling it all. I know me and when I think about how fortunate I feel to have Aiden, well it's all I can do to keep the tears from welling up. But then the other night I went out with my dear friend Becky, and sure enough the second I start talking about his up and coming birthday, tears filled my eyes and out came that blubbering fool I had kept at bay. I can't say they're tears of sadness, just amazment. Everyone says cherish the moments because they go so fast, but it's easy to forget in the midst of not sleeping at night because of cries, or dealing with tantrums during the day. But then sure enough here we are, almost three years later, and I can't believe the little boy I have now. I feel so blessed.

So here's to the little baby I cuddled all those years ago...














And the big boy, who melts my heart each day with his smile and laughter...



















Love you little man, you bring so much joy and laughter to our lives!

Fears, Fireworks and Family

As long as I can remember, Dave and I (and other family members) have feared for Aiden. His lack of fear in his approach to life has caused some concern. Before now, his zest for life has also come with a lack of fear, in anything. Jumping off objects that are too high for our comfort level, running without any attention as to where he is going, nothing seemed to cause him concern... until now. Now, are almost 3 year old (said fighting back little tears, ohhh there's a blog to come about that..) has entered into a fear stage. It started with his inability to jump into the water at swim practice, something he loved last summer.

















We naturally just assumed it would take some re-getting used to. This has not been the case. Instead the boy who loved the warm waters of the JCC, clings on for dear life.












I thought the best solution would be to practice more, get him more used to playing in the water, we did, however, have months without access to a pool. So one day we called Aunt Nina and asked to come swim at her apartment. Once we got there I remained optimistic, certainly with his favorite Aunt around to show off too, he'd jump right in. Nope! Now instead of one person to cling to, he had two (though at least this experience awarded some smiles).



























Oh, how I wish I could say this was the only fear hurdle we are desperately trying to jump these days. Instead, we were sad to learn of Aiden's fear of fireworks (and the loud noises that go with it). Needless to say, the Fourth of July, was spent doing a lot of holding, comforting, and ear covering.














Though in the midst of all the trauma, we did manage to get a lot of great family time in. And at one point we were even able to convince Aiden to try out a sparkler, and lo and behold he did really enjoy watching those colorful smoke bombs. While this proved to be somewhat short lived, he at least got some great play time in with Dylan and Sophia.