This month went by in a poof! It seems like you waved that wand up on stage with the magicians at the fair and summer vanished. School is right around the corner! There were so many transitions this month and you breezed right through them (minus not being sure you need to nap anymore). I wish I could say the same for myself. I've been feeling a bit batty but nothing a little game of "abracadav-raaaa" with you can't fix. You are so good at distracting me from my worries with fun little games. Look mommy I made the french fry "abracadav-raaaa"! We wish we could get you to make more broccoli disappear!
During a streak of cold rainy days I started pulling out all your fall clothes to be sure we had what we needed ready to go. You took one of the bins and filled it up with friends, and said "Here is my pile of animals I'm going to take to college soon!" I think you think college and school are the same thing or you are just ready to move out. Then you went on to say, "I won't grow up too soon right? Oh mom, when I grow up maybe I'll have too many animals." You kept jibber jabbering and I literally had to hold back crazy mom tears. All this growing up is just too darn fast. In the meantime, I distracted you and me with a batch of foamy animals hidden in little dissolvable capsules.... which you really think is magic!
One of my favorite memories from earlier this month is how excited you'd get about finding scenes in the clouds. "Look at the clouds it looks like flying broccoli!" You ask questions, "Can you find a cloud that looks like a kid playing with his mom and dad?" This is usually your favorite game to play in the car. Second is looking for the "Big Blue Bugga" which is a gigantic blue cricket-like pest on the roof of the pest control building along the freeway (A RI landmark). If we hop on the freeway you ask if you get to pass the Biiiig Blueee Bugggggaaa! When we drive past you yelp, "Here he comes, he just flew on our car!"
This month we got used to spending a ton more time together - which meant that you were testing out some boundaries with me. Your dad took a surprise trip to Australia and you were lucky enough to have your grandparents around to spoil you, which means we never quite fell into a routine. You tried giving up nap, but then you would fall asleep at dinner with your goopy fork in your hand. I think once school starts you will get into a groove again, but this was definitely the month of transition. I am in denial and instead of full on canceling our Gymboree membership since the classes won't fit with your new school schedule, I put it on hold. There is something about saying goodbye to Gymboree that makes me sad. We've had so many fun memories there.
At Gymboree Art, while painting the big wall mural, you announced that you were painting a forest! The teacher said "what lives in the forest, animals?" and you replied, "no, they all live in the zoo!" We clearly need to get you out for more hikes ;) although your loud kid hiking means all the animals pretty much disappear. I think you would just love to find a little froggy or something like that though, so we'll keep looking. In the meantime, we have the frogs at the pet store and your plastic froggie friends. You love naming the frogs (my favorite being Frogerson). You convinced me to go back to our neighbors garage sale to buy this frog game that was a little too old for you. It's actually a challenge for your dad and me, but you like cheering us on as we try to flick these frogs up onto this moving tree.
You like naming your toys and making up words lately. You got a truck with a push bar which you like to take on walks. You named the truck Francine and when I asked why you said "because it look like a pig!" Uh, okey dokey. It makes sense to you. You also got tons of new stuffed animals this month between your grandparents and daddy's trip treats. There is Uno, your new Vermont Teddy Bear, and Patches, the horse that turns into a pillow and a blanket (also from Vermont - Thanks G/P!). The Australian animals your dad brought home have different names nearly everyday. You love to create rhyming made up names for animals and then the last animal you name doesn't rhyme and you laugh. You love to rhyme with made up and real words.
You think it is a funny game to stick stickers all over your legs and arms and call yourself "polka dot sticker Aiden!" We set up a sticker chart for "Aiden's good sleeping" and if you get "enough" stickers you get to go see Toy Story on Ice, which you've been begging to see after seeing segments on Youtube. The incentive works about 50% of the time to get you to settle down for bed AND stay asleep all night. The other 50% of the time you are motivated to be a "sleeping superhero" and you tell me how brave you are. I'm afraid that your sleep habits will never be stellar, but at least I don't have to get up to go to work after restless nights anymore. You're my curious nonsleeper and I'll take it, because at least I'm never bored with you.
I was on the phone the other day and you came over from your puzzle, looked me right in the eye, and said, "Mom, this is serious, please stop talking, it hurts my ears." Uh ok, I guess if I can dish it out, I should be able to take it because I know I've probably overused that "this is serious" remark lately. Poppop got so many awesome photos of you this month. But also in the mix there were some photos with an expression we dubbed the "hostile cheese face" where you would munch your teeth together and appease us. That expression is right up there with the face you make when you pretend you got soap in your eye. Or that mischievous look in your eye when I caught you trying to eat a raw squash like an apple. There are some expressions that I will always remember even if they aren't captured on film.
There were so many fun new memories with Gran, Pop and Lizzie while they were here. Lizzie won the Golden ticket at the carousel by pulling the golden ring. You loved playing hide and seek and one particular time with Gran she hid really well. All of a sudden we heard her giggling from deep under the pull out sofa. You were pretty surprised! You loved bossing PopPop around to make all the vehicles in your elaborate building kit. In true grandparent fashion, there was a new game that Gran created where you throw the squishy ball in the stairwell and it bounces in all crazy directions. When Poppop tried to take your ball away, you yelped, "It's not a 'take-my-ball' It's a stair ball!"
We cruised up to Vermont and we were all pretty charmed by the bright sunny summertime version of Vermont (minus all the closed restaurants that must cater to a ski crowd). One of your favorite car distractions was showing us on the map "How to get to Austin!" We'd ask if you meant Boston, but you'd always correct us that you meant Austin. You told everyone about how you visited two "fad-tories" in Vermont - one that makes teddy bears and the other makes ice crrrream! You gave Gran and Pop a bit of a run for their money with the potty, but overall you were a good grandson. You are a lucky, lucky grandson!
You know how to con me into buying things. Like a trip to get shoes earlier this month when while I wasn't looking you put on these funny little cowboy boots. You convinced me that they would be perfect for you to pretend to be Woody...and I could be Jesse... and as you kept talking you were trotting around in the store being all cute. Some man passed by and started singing "These boots are made for walking...and that's just what I'll do" and you chimed right in. That's how I was suckered into buying those cute boots even though you will probably outgrow them before the end of the month.
You're a pretty determined kid, but there are some times when you just aren't up for trying something new or even putting on your own pants. You'll say, "I can't go backwards on my bike - Oh look, now I can!" You like to say "I can't" followed by a celebratory "I can!" One rainy day when it was just me and you we played Chutes and Ladders for over two hours and you were determined to slide down every chute you could land on and were excited about it - even though I repeatedly tried to tell you that was a bad consequence (that leads to two hour games!)
You pull out so many funny little phrases including some that you mix up occasionally. You told us that you have "macaroni pizza, uh no I mean pepperoni!" You joke that you'd like a ham-a-burger and then laugh. You told me the other day that "gummy worms sleep on a bed of ice cream!" You love playing with your pretend food by stuffing it down your shirt and saying it is in your tummy. You're all time favorite thing is to watch Lion King snippets on YouTube. You'll say "Can I watch the Lion King Can You Feel the Life?" (instead of Love) And you'll make up your own additions to the song while dancing your animals around - "Can you feel the live upside down - oh ya!"
Your personality is so easy to peg now. Gran Gran in her curlers still gets the scaredy cat in you to come out a bit. Gran said you are a unique combination of confidence with a dash of hesitation. You came downstairs after your grandparents left and your dad was still going to be out of town for a while, and you gave me a pouty lip and told me, "There aren't enough people in my house to hug!" I told you that I would give you double hugs and you said, "That will help, but what about ice cream too!?" You know how to try to add in a little magic to the day and that makes me feel like one lucky mom.
Love, Mom
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