emberley's birthday

Illustrator Ed Emberley celebrates his 78th birthday today (turns out he is a Massachusetts native that went to RISD and Mass School of Art). I remember his fun step-by-step drawing books and I look forward to sharing them with Aiden.

"All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."

In honor of his birthday, here is a batch of Aiden art:

impulse

J and I both decided on an impulse to go see Where the Wild Things Are this afternoon. We didn't have a babysitter, so we each went along to two different showings because we're smarty ;) and we might have to do that again sometime. I went while Aiden was napping, so I didn't even miss any of the real wild thing action. Aiden and I made a huge batch of pumpkin muffins while daddy went to see it.

I think that the movie was more than I expected. It really left you thinking. I'd seen the sneak peak on the OnDemand and the trailer and I wish I knew less about it and had gone in fresh, because many of the coolest parts were already included in the preview. I think they did a good job translating the same feel of the book. It is a movie more about childhood than for children. I enjoyed seeing it on the big screen because some of the shots were so awesome. I also liked hearing the audience react. There was a little 5 year boy asking questions and I wondered how I would answer questions like that from Aiden. Then there was another little kid snoring away since it's a fairly slow, deep movie. Some reviews complain that it doesn't have much of a plot, but I think that the viewer has to use their imagination to elaborate on it. Of course, I like movies without plots according to J. It definitely delivers a thoughtful and thought provoking take on the classic book.

lost in the shuffle

I just realized that I had a bunch of posts that I'd never published! Here is a dated rundown of the incomplete posts, so that they aren't stuck in draft mode forever - I also published some in their original spot (which you google reader folks, etc may see?):
10/31/07 - places my water has not broken
Here are some scenarios and places my water has not broken:
- At the Ruby Tuesday's Garden Fresh bar while scooping up some cottage cheese
- Fighting a bit with the embroidery machine making some surprises
- Sneezing while trying to open the window in 50 degree weather because baby brewing sure is steamy
11/1/07 - postpartum party plans
Hot dogs, cold cuts, brie cheese, and wine will be the top menu selections. All three I've avoided based on mixed advice that these are "bad" for your developing fetus. For whatever reason anytime I saw someone eating a hot dog at the baseball game or getting a sample of soft cheese at the farmer's market, I craved that food.

11/20/07 - quotable quotes
Should I change him? No, I love him just the way he is...

3/11/08 - wish I knew
1. It would be nice to have a mobile that doesn't need to be wound up and doesn't power save after only a few minutes.
2. Miracle swaddler blanket. Aiden never really liked being swaddled, but it may have made it easier if we'd had one of these to hold his little arms against him wrapped in a blanket. He's such a little hot box I'm pretty sure this fabric would've worked well too.
3. Car seat strap covers - This prevents the straps from getting tangled and it's padded against the baby so when it slips it doesn't look like its cutting into his chubby neck.
4. The recline on the swing is very important, otherwise the baby will slump over too much.
5. More than three buttons shouldn't be allowed on baby clothes. The best outfits are those that snap and zip, don't need to go over the head, and have easy access for diaper changes. In the winter it also helps to have feet and longish sleeves that can be pulled over the little paws. I know it seems obvious but I didn't not realize how complicated the baby dressing can get.
6. Keep water bottles wherever you plan to nurse. Cups are easy to knock over.
7. Some prenatal/lactation vitamins are harsher on your stomach than others. The first batch I had was rough, but the next batch advertised being light on the stomach and they really were.
8. Always bring the caps to all the bottles you plan to use with your pump. Keep the pump parts refrigerated if you can't do anything but wipe them down (they even sell special wipes to wipe them down).

3/25/08 - sleeping through
American Academy of Pediatrics defines "sleeping through the night" as a five hour stretch of sleep. If so, Aiden's got that covered.

3/27/08 - i love you from
For weeks I've been chatting with Aiden
I love you from
your eyes to your thighs
your chin to your shin
your ear to your rear
your lips to your hips
your nose to your toes
Dad made up a new one: I love you from your thumb to your bum.

5/4/08 - drink
Aiden has grabbed the bottle out of his dad's hands, but we've reached a new milestone in the last couple weeks. Aiden is fascinated and fixated at trying to get Dad's soda can (which isn't baby friendly at all with it's sharp edges because somehow he knows to try to stick his tongue at it). He grabs and even grunts with pinchy hands reaching out every time dad takes a sip.

2/20/09 - addicted to hand me downs
Yep, I will take hand-me-downs from anyone and be excited about them. I think used kids clothes are the smartest thing. I am especially excited when they actually still have tags on them... and this was especially true with the itty bitty kiddie stuff that in those tired blurs in the first few months the new parents didn't even know that they were there... hidden in the closet waiting to become the best hand-me-downs around.

wild rumpus

Where the Wild Things Are - the movie is out! To celebrate here's the part of the book leading up to the wild rumpus - Aiden thinks it's funny to "argue" with his dad:

We hope to get out to see it soon - sans Aiden, although it would be a fun first movie I've heard that it's for bigger kids...and it's not likely he'd sit still that long.

family photos

So I'm keeping my top four favorite images from our family photos last weekend for our holiday card, but here are the "outtakes" - Colt State Park, Bristol, RI (right down the road from where J and I met)

best buddies

Aiden's best buddy Tyler is one of the original gang at school. So they have technically known each other since February of 2008. (Aiden has been friends with this kid longer than I've known some of my friends!) I'd like to think that they will be some sort of lifelong friends, but given how often people move around these days (especially people like us) and that we don't even live in the same school district, it's not too likely. It is fun to think that they both can call each other a "first friend" though. Tyler is a funny kid who loves to cheese...
They learned to share with each other waaay back in 08 ;)
It's a cat chasing mouse game!

fun with rebecca!

Everything with Aiden's nanny is so perfectamundo (just wish she would never finish school!). Playing dress up and flying around the house is a favorite - Rebecca's getting some strong muscles!
Rebecca and Aiden get out and about quite a bit too. They would venture out to the beach in the summer which Aiden loved. He would show Mama and Dada how to stomp in the sand and splash in the waves just like Becca... They've also been getting out to the farms now that fall is here (I think this kid will hit them all this season). I'm so glad that he gets some outdoors fun in during the week too.
She taught him to say cheese - which usually brings on this funny face - uh oh, backfire!


Photos and video from R's camera - I love that she shares their trips with us on film :)

boo at the zoo

We headed over to the Buttonwood Zoo - mainly because we expected the Toe Jam Puppet Band to be playing, but they were taking the day off too - but they were setting up for the Boo at the Zoo. It was pretty cute when we first got there and asked Aiden to tell us what he'd like to see on the map. He explains that he would like to see the zoo choo choo at the beginning of this video:

Boo at the Zoo from LB on Vimeo.

determined

We are determined to squeak out more outdoor fun this fall. We headed over to Colt State Park to get some family photos taken with my friend this morning and it was beautiful with that fall chill in the air. (I'll post photos later once I have time to sort them -videos are surprisingly quick to put together compared to photos for me)

A town north of Providence had an AutumnFest complete with fireworks last night, so we bundled up a bit (it wasn't really that cold, but a little more bundled than sweatshirts - although there were some hard core New Englanders in shorts still). Aiden mostly cruised in the stroller (which is becoming more and more rare) with wide eyes looking at all the flashy lights. We ended up on what I thought was the safest ride for a little kid, the Choo Choo Train, which Aiden loooved! We had so much time to kill, we also ended up with an elmo cd that sings Aiden's name, which he was so excited about it kept him awake in the car. Although we thought for sure he'd konk out on the drive home, he was still bouncing around when we got home. I guess boom colors are too exciting to make you sleepy.
We're off for some more fun today - yay for a day off!

AutumnFest from LB on Vimeo.

zzooommm

Random week in review with lotsa zooming trucks and cars, a dancing skeleton, a trip to the apple farm, a friend Tyler and a tunnel:

Zoom Zoom from LB on Vimeo.

chinese fortune

"A leader is powerful to the degree he empowers others" - The first fortune cookie Aiden cracked himself. He promptly threw half it on the floor and rushed off to show the fishies. He was beyond excited to see the dragons and roared at the lions with his arms swiping the air. He even ate a bunch of rice which he usually just pokes at with his spoon.

You might notice (just barely in this photo) that I chopped my hair on Thursday - I said shoulder length, but I would call most of it chin length. I like it though and I don't look like a boy this time ;) J took about 20 minutes of me swaying my head back and forth to notice - He thought I just had my hair back ;)

We got a ton of stuff done yesterday. I painted the mail box so it's a nice bright white again. J took three trips to the dump with cardboard and assorted stuff we'd been meaning to get rid of in the basement. I think it somehow doubled the size of our basement. I promptly found my dream yard sale that was all toys! Aiden hopped out of the car with me and picked out this Little Tikes Car Carrier Truck (which is big enough for him to ride on), a big boy basketball hoop (too tall really for right now), and the best toy of all - Shake and Go Speedway - the 2005 Toy of the Year. All for $11! So I added to the basement toys as we slowly move inside for the winter. It will be nice to have another play area.

photo class

A favorite from the hundreds of photos I submitted on proof sheets for my RISD class on Wed. We present 5 of our top images for critique each week and I had to use this reflection one for the color assignment. Here are two others that fit the assignment.
So glad he still fits in corduroy overalls...

read for the record

On October 8, 2009, join Jumpstart as we read Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Pledge to read today to help us set a world record. Last year they had over 700,000 people pledge to read Corduroy. This year they are attempting to break the record with over a million people reading the Hungry Caterpillar.
Register your own reader at

http://www.readfortherecord.org

photos

pumpkin palooza

Yesterday before I hit the wedding assisting circuit (which went so, so well despite the rain) we headed over to this little pumpkin craft fest in the rain. Aiden loves running in the rain but we were happy to see that they'd moved most of the fun inside. The crafty folks had these cute booboo bunnies and little stitched plastic canvas cars which Aiden loooves. He spent the day crashing the little cars together and visiting the guitar store and the pet shop.

This afternoon after trying to relax a bit this morning we headed over to the Pumpkin Palooza at a fun little farm about 15 minutes down the road. Aiden hopped across the field to the "pumpkin match" and waved at the "bear crow" on the fence. They had all sortsa fun attractions, but Aiden's favorite was throwing rocks in puddles. He had a pretty long attention span with the corn/sand sifting. My favorite was the teepee with the drums inside. We picked up our first pumpkin of the season which now greets us by the door.

Pumpkin Palooza from LB on Vimeo.

fall fun friday

Such a nice time of year to take a day off and drive up to the North Shore of Boston to see some old friends in town from Wyoming! My college roommate and I lived together for all four years in college and it's nice when you can just jump back into hanging out just like the old days (and eating her bestest pumpkin muffin recipe which I made into a quick cake to bring up).

Farms and Old Friends from LB on Vimeo.

Aiden was a good traveler on the quick trips and liked to sing songs and snooze. We also got to make a flamingo and paint with rolling balls at Gymboree that morning - Making for a really nice day off for me. I'm glad Aiden and I got in some extra mommy and me time because today I am assisting a wedding photographer that I consider to be a rockstar. It's such an awesome opportunity (people pay 1,000 of dollars to watch her shoot at conferences) and I'm even getting paid! Huge super thanks to J for sharing Aiden time and being so accommodating two weekends in a row!

23 months!

Dear Aiden,

I was so amused by your reaction to the wedding extravaganza this month. Friends were coming up to you and patting your back looking for your energizer bunny windup knob. You'd then turn around to give them the knuckle bump that my cousins taught you. You were asking everyone for cake nearly all night long, and I'm still surprised that you recognized that elegant three tiered thing as a cake. You showed off your dancing grooves until you were falling over from fatigue because that is how you roll.

One of my favorite memories of this month was getting you ready to wear your first tux. We took you to the tailors to get it taken in at the shoulders and hemmed because I didn't have time to deal with it myself. You weren't too keen on trying it on until I told you it was your penguin suit and you could waddle better in it. You put on that jacket and waddled over to the mirror and hopped up on the pedestal so she could measure your pants. The seamstress and I could not stop laughin at you. The next best part was buying you some old man black socks with gold toes and stitching up some little hippo cummerbunds for you... all you needed to add were some suspenders - next time ;)

You had a certain little boy excitement at the family picnic after the wedding when you were down by the river getting all muddy and grubby. When you saw the little crabs in the water you stepped back with wide eyes saying "all done" over and over. This is your way of dealing with little scares. You had some pretty big wacks at music class this month and that doggone cut by your nose just minutes before we left for the airport. You are surprisingly calm in between tears during these moments. I think you're just soaking in all the love and attention. You've even taken to laughin and pretending that you have booboos on your knee.

I know you're still a baby when I look at your chubby little feet, although your toes grew this month which is creeping those cute baby feet closer to little boy feet. You've evolved into one of the bigger kids at Gymboree. You were wearing your elmo shirt and there was a younger kid running up to you to point just like you used to do. You are still attracted to playing with the bigger kids. You will sometimes run after then saying, "hey guys, waaait, high five time" I have a feeling you're not going to be a shy kid. It's great when you click with another kid, like that fun bigger kid that liked to run in circles reving like a car. He even told you that you could be the "red car" (which I guess to him was the coolest Lightening McQueen on his shirt!).

You've definitely mastered copying us. As we were waiting to turn at the red arrow the other day in the car, you noticed that the other light had changed, and you said, "You've got green one dada." You will sometimes try to tell us what to do - "Mama go in your room" or "Sorry Feifer you need to move" or "Up, that Aiden's chair" - but you're politeness is getting there and when we ask you to ask nicely you will say please. If we grab your hand or arm to pick you up, you like to point out in a very posessive way, "that Aiden's arm" You've even woken up in the middle of the night yelling, "those are Aiden's toes"...who knows where that came from Mr. Bossypants. Your dad and I were talking about our expensive hobbies (guitars and cameras!) and your dad jokingly asked you if you were going to have any expensive hobbies to which you replied, "Nah, Dadda, I play basie-ball." We really wonder where you get these funny responses and we look forward to more conversations.

Towards the beginning of this month, some funny old lady in the grocery store asked you a sort of rhetorical question as you beamed at the elmo balloons floating around the cupcake stand, she said "Look at you, are you happy?" You turned towards her and responded with "I always happy." No exclamation in your voice, just a simple quick response. We are so lucky that this is normally the case, but you do manage to have those overtired crazed baby moments too. Or how about those moments were you dump your yogurt drink on the floor and quickly explain "That's a bad baby, not nice." Uh ya, you will learn.

Your book of the month seemed to be the happy birthday dr. suess book. You say it kinda like "haappy burtday." It was your best bud, Tyler's second birthday this month, and even though you had to miss his party because it was on Lizzie's wedding day we had you help pick out a present. Your dad made it really clear to you that you were picking a present for Tyler. You came home from the store with a knex cowboy elmo set that you clearly loved. You immediately told me that it was Tyler's elmo. When he opened it, he was off to play with more of your toys, while you beat at the box saying Tyler's "psent."

You picked up on using gender more often this month. If you see a girl you will say "there her is." The funniest instance of this is when we asked you who my aunt was, your first response was "girl" but then when we asked what my Aunt's name was, you replied with "Lulu, da girl" You like making up funny names for your animals now too. Your dad started teaching you the names of dinosaurs (which means mommy needs to learn how to identify a bracciosaurus now too!). He also decided to have a very clear cut answer for the doctor when she asks us how many words you speak and understand (as opposed to words you just repeat during a song, etc), so he made a list. You are up to at least 750, no kidding.

Your imagination is taking off. Your favorite new game is to go on a dinosaur hunt. You may be walking around the neighborhood or looking out the window or riding in the car and you all of sudden you will yell out "I see a dinosaur way up high" If we ask you what is he doing, he is usually eating, sliding or walking. If we ask you what do dinos eat? According to you, they like fruit, grass and houses. You told our neighbor that the dinos you saw were eating houses and he said he was going to up his homeowners insurance.

You continue to like to help, and I will usually let things take longer if it means that you are determined and feel that sense of accomplishment when you get the buckle or load the corn into a bag at the farmer's market. The new Mr. Potato Head Tubby Tater my Hasbro friend got you is something you are determined to play with and line up the spokes just right, but geesh it is tough to get them in all the way so you normally end up doing it over and over. I'm glad you persevere even over Tubby Tater's hat staying put.

I look forward to a whole new season of fall fun. Pumpkin picking and halloween tricks are in the works. You're already excited for the ghosts in all our neighbors yards, but you are "all done" with the graveyard in your old school buddy Junior's yard. Looking forward to more tricks and treats this month.

Love, Mama

tgif wish i was in ohio

We took a quick trip to the apple farm before Liz and David's rehearsal dinner to get some apples for the family picnic. Aiden was a bit overdressed, but wanted to hold every pumpkin.

Apple Farm in Ohio from LB on Vimeo.

Aunt Heather (otherwise known as Lulu the Girl from Aiden's nicknaming) bought Aiden these funny little presents. My mom and I aren't too keen on teaching a one year old how to play with swords, so it became the magic energy stick that you used to tap nicely ;) We know it's quirky...but we had tons of fun with them. Thanks for all the good laughs!

Ohio Playtime Sept 09 from LB on Vimeo.