ella's first

We celebrated Ella's first birthday today! Aiden was excited to help blow out the candles, putt a bit, wear the party hat, and ride Daniel's awesome Thomas choo choo. All the photos here: http://flickr.com/gp/brennans/FVsG21

playground

Just so I don't forget when it starts snowing again this week, but Saturday we were at the park in our little spring jackets (with a sweater underneath and fleece lined pants, but we'll take it)! It was over 50 degrees! Aiden was giddy... so was I. The first weeee of the season:

audobon

So Aiden and I did get away from the addictive Ok Go videos on Youtube this morning. Since J is out of town I wanted to go some place low key, but different. We headed to the Family Fun Day at the RI Audobon Society which Aiden dubbed "the park" and we broke our cabin fever in the nice warm sun. The absolute highlight was the 1/2 mile walk on their Boardwalk Bay all the way through the tall grass to the water. I honestly think Aiden walked twice as far as he normally would because he was so excited to be outside ;) All in all I think he walked just over a mile all on his own. He was really curious about this group of crows that were "talking" to each other (and I think getting ready to nab a small animal, so we headed on our way before the live Discovery Channel unfolded in front of us). There was hardly anyone around, but Aiden did manage to make friends with this little boy who was trotting along the path and caught up to us.

The Environmental Center was hosting a craft table, so Aiden decorated a shamrock with a orangutan photo and put tissue paper grass and clouds around him. He was rocking the glue stick. He was also excited to complete their little picture scavenger hunt in the exhibition hall. Although the dark room where the skunk was hiding was almost a deal breaker. He did come in after I walked in to push the spotlight on for him...then he kept telling me how "brave" he was to find the "hiding" skunk. There was a huuuge whale that he was trying to hide from. Aiden made "hiding" the theme of the day, but I'm just happy the sun wasn't hiding! We are headed out again to enjoy it some more after nap time...

awesome

Aiden and I can't stop watching this:

Then this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJKythlXAIY

And this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHJ88HmwPkM

The evils of youtube!

favorite puzzle

more singing

I'm posting this for me to listen to whenever I need a cheery distraction:

28 months

Dear Aiden,

This was the month of "I need" - I need more muffin, I need to climb up here, I need to play more....more and more needs. We are figuring out how to make sure you understand that your needs are important but so are mommy and daddy's sleep needs, etc, etc. This month was a doozy, hmmf, I'm just going to concentrate on the good things this month, instead of the uh ohs (like the big uh oh you said as you pointed up to our bathroom ceiling with the big saggy drippy spot). You help us remember and appreciate the simple needs - a big hug or a giggle or a new story or a new puzzle or a warm shower.

You had a habit of enthusiastically saying "I have an idea!" I'd ask, "What's is your idea?" You'd reply with a combination of responses "Hmm, it's a good idea!" or "Actually a question" or "Let's do it!" or any other jibber jabber to get our attention. You were excited to complete your own big puzzles and ask us whether the pieces belong in certain spots. You typically want us to repeat the question for you instead of actually answer it. After we'd finish a whole puzzle you'd smile and say "we do it to-gether." Your other favorite game is counting how long it takes to complete the new vehicle puzzle. You will even count while your dad and I try to race to put it together. You can do it just a little bit slower than we can, which means we must be slow big kids.

Your little baby voice still trips you up occasionally, but I do love it (and I'm sure I will miss it). You have certain phrases you say all the time really fast that your dad and I understand better than most. Sometimes words sound pretty similar, like cuddling sounds like coloring. One funny little consequence of your baby voice is that "pigwits" are baby pigs.

You are pretty patient about repeating whatever you are saying until we get it, but many times you start saying puhlease over and over instead. It's as if you are saying pleease understand me. Sometimes once we understand you, you've already changed your mind. I think sometimes it's a little game to you to immediately contradict yourself - "I want to go downstairs. Ok, let's go. Oh, I want to stay upstairs." The opposites game can be a bit challenging especially if accompanied by a whiney voice.

I've had a new work schedule that started this month where I get to leave for work when you are still sleeping and bang out all sortsa extra morning work. That means I get 7.5 hours awake hours more with you each week - that's almost a whole day! It's like we get to spend a long weekend together every week. Can you tell that I'm excited about this!? We get to go to Gymboree play gym together (which is sometimes too crowded but eh, it's the winter) and I'm learning the routine. You, your dad and Rebecca have whole games there that I never knew about! Your favorite is the "I want to hang" game for as long as possible to test mom's catch reaction time.

You like this funny little book that talks about what animals like to say. Now when we ask you what daddy says, you answer "daddy say i proud of you." My heart melts because I do know that your dad is so proud of you, although I think he taught you to say that ;) We were proud of your dad this month too when his first book arrived. It was fun to actually hold it in our hands and you liked to joke that mom was the flying woman on the cover.

You like to point out any scratch or scrape lately. You'll point at them and say "you have a booboo." You will examine your nails and ask for specific nails trimmed. Then you will insist that I need a nail trim and you want to help. You are Mr. Personal Hygiene although your hair always seems to be pretty messy, especially in the back. It doesn't matter how much water I use to comb it through but it will pop back into its contorted shape. The little whispy hairs that stick up and glimmer in the sunlight never want to stay down, but they are more fun that way. You were bouncing on your old zebra bouncer the other day and I did notice that your hair must be thicker now because it didn't bounce up quite a much as it used to.

This month we signed you up to start Montessori school in the fall. Your grandparents are excited that you will get the same experience I had as a kid. I realize that the HB motto does ring true: we learn not for school, but for life. As your dad and I sat observing the school before turning in your deposit, I thought about how these kids aren't "learning" just in the traditional sense, but they are gaining so much from being the classroom. Just as I was thinking how perfect this particular early learning environment seemed, your dad whispered to me that he thought that "this will make Aiden a better kid." I wholeheartedly agree.

You love to pretend your little figures, whether it be cars or lions, are talking to each other. Somewhat frequently the little guys will say "don't do that" or "ow, don't hurt me" which you then follow up with a jabbered I'm sorry lesson for your little toy. One of your favorites this month was penguin bowling and you were laughing as you pretended that they were grunting and groaning to stand back up after the ball hit them over.

You were a good molar teether most of the month with another two and half peeking through. There were cute funny faces and munches on your fingers and some night time yelping solved by a little bit of tylenol. You have developed some bad behaviors, like wanting to climb up in your high chair on your own, which you can do, but isn't so safe. Maybe unintentionally, you made a good nose blow but you forgot to get the tissue first - Auntie Lizzie dubbed it your first snot rocket- ugh. There was one night where you woke up whining in the middle of the night, mostly about why I didn't let you eat the dirty mashed potatoes that you accidently dropped on the floor at dinner many hours earlier. You think it's a game to rumble and kick your zingo tiles after you win the game. You think it's fun to put one foot on a bag/toy/box and trying to slide across the floor...until you slip and fall. We're getting better at redirecting you when you try to cause some trouble.

You had fun visiting with Gran and Pop this month. They spoiled you with lotsa new books and toys. It was sweet when you read books at the bookstore with PopPop while Gran picked out all these awesome learning books for you (and even some party favors for the future). You are so lucky to have a family that loves you very much.

I feel like our neighborhood is a good fit for us. I wish we knew the families even better, but as it warms up it is fun to reach out to the kids you see outside playing. We headed out on Valentine's Day when we saw "your friends" out to give them some crepe paper flowers. You were playing shy with your chin down looking out over the tops of your eyelids. I ask you what you're doing and you explain that you are "hiding behind your eyes." You eventually stopped "hiding" and took a nice cozy ride in the wagon with your littlest neighborhood friend around the melting snow.

You love picking up on parts of your books. You have the color mixtures and the rainbow colors down. You understand that Mommy's mommy is Gran, my Dad is Pop, and my sister is Aunt Lizzie (pronounced Ant like a good New Englander). You love to explain that "caterpillars turn into butta-flies" and "pollywogs turn into frogs." You ask us to draw monsters and rainbows for you so you can color them in. You had this funny game where you would hold up hot pink playdoh and say "it's coooold pink, brrr..." and laugh.

There are so many things that you are on the verge of really "getting." You're just starting to understand the Simon Says game. You have this sense of independence when you know you are successful that leads you to literally giggle with glee. You are getting better at pulling up your underwear or pullup. If I ask you why not just underpants, you tell me that you "wear both because it's better." You get excited to say "i can pull them up" as you yank them up. The new pull ups where the trophy or flags disappear if it gets wet doesn't seem to matter much to you, but maybe it will help eventually.

One of your favorite new words is super! "That's a super story" after reading a book is my favorite phrase. I promise not to use super when I see holes in the wall, so as to avoid confusing you with sarcasm. I'm ready for a super duper month as we get closer to spring.

Super smiles, Mommy

won't my mommy...

toe jam

It makes my day when I get messages like this from Rebecca:

"We went to toe jam today! I figured it's been a while since we've gone and with all this crappy weather there's not too much to do. I saw the flip lying on the end table so I took it. I got a few snip-its, but the boys are more interesting in watching what's going on now more than actually participating. He had fun though and the toe jam men told a story about a moose that made friends with a monkey and a giant, and believe it or not while we were on the way home I asked Aiden what was his favorite part and he said the moose story was his favorite. I asked if he remembered who the moose made friends with and he remembered it was a monkey and a giant! He's such a smartypants! hehe I love it!

Well hopefully now that it's March 1st the weather will start to clear up and we can actually do more outdoorsy things. However, I saw a display at the zoo today of a whaling museum that they have in New Bedford, I think that would be fun!"

baboon quesadillas

good list addition: cookie cutter quesadillas that talk to each other!

good list

#1: Daguerrotypes

I just finished a History of Photography class that covered all of photography since its inception. I was immediately intrigued by the daguerrotypes that my instructor had in class and I turned to ebay for one of my own. $10 later I have my own old school print (probably from the early 1900s). It's such a good combo with all my old vintage cameras. It's not a stunning example or in the best shape, but I think it's pretty darn fun to see in person. I wish they sold photos in cool little containers like this nowadays. Sorry for the cheesy blue background ebay photos.



#2: The National Wildlife Federation's Wild Animal Baby magazines.

 Not only does Aiden love getting his own piece of mail each month, but these fun books are fairly well made and good little learning books. Aiden loves the little Sammy the Skunk that hides on the pages so you can search for him. It even came with a Sammy backpack.



#3: Retouched photos - So if you can't capture the perfect light the first time around that filters away the lines left by good laughs, use Photoshop.  Here is my slightly over-photoshopped (the blur threw it over the edge I think) portrait on my Poppy that employed nearly every layer mask technique I learned in my winter session Navigating the Digital Darkroom course.  Valuable tools!

#4: Scrapbook Blogger - This was a super cool online site I found that automatically imports your blog into a book.  My friends had done this for all of the stuff I'd written about my pregnancy as the-best-gift, but I think they had to do it by hand - copy and paste.  I knew I didn't have time to copy and paste, so I was happy to have found this.  It is a bit pricey and the image quality is so-so, but I got a 250 page hard cover book of the first nine months of writing.

cat in the hat's sister

We met up with some friends for a sale at this little kids store with a visit from the Cat and the Hat (since Dr. Suess' birthday is coming up this week). It turns out it was actually the Cat in the Hat's sister reading stories, which kept Aiden's attention for quite a while (even though he may look a little bored in this video). It was a good little outing doing something different than the usual. The visit was topped off with a free gift from the Cat - a new vehicle puzzle! Aiden plays with it by testing each piece on one vehicle and asking "does this is match?"

language lab

Aiden and I went on what he dubbed a "big adventure" through the rain to the Brown Child Language Lab.  They had his name from the Infant Lab study we'd attended in the past, so they asked if we'd come for another experiment.  This experiment was looking at how kids learn to pronounce specific sounds.  They had a sound proof room with a computer screen and wireless microphones.  I was invited to come in with him while they showed him pictures and asked him to repeat whatever the computer voice said.

The first round included funny robots and pudgy panda bear animations that said phrases with made up words like "he tried to fugded" or "look, he chocallated"  I guess the study was using crazy words that didn't make sense for the fresh pronunciation.  Well, it turns out that the "made up words" kinda made Aiden upset and he seemed scared of the robot animation.  His upset with the made up words reminded me of when I used to babysit my Spanish professor's daughter in college.  Her daughter would get really upset if her mom spoke spanish and would even try to cover her mom's mouth.  It's something about the unfamiliar that overstimulates them I think.

After he was about half way done, he started putting his hand over his eyes and saying he had to hide from the robot.  Then he jumped out of his little red chair and went over to the door and said he was all done.  We said we could take a break after I attempted to convince him that they were just funny robots.  We tried again with a different portion of the study that used cow and piggy pictures where he just repeated actual sentences.  He was excited to go back in to see them and he breezed through all of those actual words.

He was very excited to get this bear shirt which he says he got for "being a good boy."  As we left, he said good bye "but not to the robot, I do not like him." I was glad there was no crying and just some no, no, no-ing, and the overall experience was something Aiden felt happy about in the end. I was also relieved that the researchers were happy with him and said he "did better than most" (which must mean they have a hard job!)  It did make for a big adventure to convince a very strong willed, independent "twonager" (who is now exerting himself just like a teenager would), but we're still smiling.

 

second olympics

We watched the start of the opening ceremonies although I have to admit I didn't last too long. Then Aiden and I watched the rest on tivo in the morning. We were both mesmerized by the big lights that looked like whales and fish. Aiden looked at me with his mouth still hanging open (either from teething pain or awe or a combination of the two) and then he smiled.

During the summer Olympics opening last year, my folks were in town to watch Aiden pull up to see the tv a little closer (that's before he even really knew what the tv was since at that age we hardly watched it when he was awake, so he was mostly interested in the flashy tv). Here is my post from back then:
http://ababybrennan.blogspot.com/2008/08/first-olympics.html

This year, we've watched them on some evenings and lazy afternoons. We usually just pick whatever is on, but my favorite catch was the new Ski Cross event. We were rooting for this french woman whose kid was in the audience (Aiden loved her bunny gloves). Well, she bit it in the quarter finals, and as I ooooed and said oh no, he said "that french lady is stinky." J and I just had to laugh. Who knows where he picked up calling things stinky like that?

Another funny thing about these Olympics was that Aiden wanted to know the names of the ski jumpers. (I think his visit to Montessori taught him to ask for names and use his name...)
Here is a repeated dialogue:
Aiden: What his name?
Me: That skier's name is Ronnie
Aiden: Go Ronnie Go!

I'd imagine that watching the Olympics every two years will feel like a milestone - It's something that comes around consistently and it's fun to look back and remember what life was like when you cozied up and watched them the last time.

This commercial really struck a cord with me - So true for this mom!

"To their moms, they'll always be kids."

uh feb

Dear February,

I'm pretty much ready to say good bye, adios! To be fair you've already had your way with us last February in the big boiler bummer. But let's just say that the two big holes in our wall in our second floor bedroom and the ceiling of our first floor bathroom arenotarenotarenot funny. You have a nice open weekend to make up for your bad joke. By the way, please stop raining.

The accomplice to February's havoc: the fixed leaky bath tub pipe -

This too shall pass... But good bye Feb, good thing you are a short month.

thanks gran and pop

In really good news, my folks where here while J was away for the second time this month (one more to go) and we had fun doing a bunch of nothing. I owe it to them that I kept my sense of humor and didn't feel a lick of loneliness. I thank them for spoiling Aiden with a whole new set of cars, pillow chases, and lotsa games. I'm sorry that we made Pop sick and Gran miss her favorite classroom gig, but I really appreciate them and I know Aiden and J do too ;) Thanks, thanks, thanks.

bleh blah ra ra

It's February again. The evil month where I am inevitably physically sick with some variation on tonsillitis (this time my boss said I sound like a dying seal) and just plain sick of winter. Here's a classic caught while PopPop was testing out his flash.

I was on the computer researching what might be making Aiden boof all over the place. My left eye was taking the crazy-cancer-doomsday-internet searches waaaay too seriously. I promise I am keeping my sense of humor. Shortly after my dad laughed at me after looking at his photo, I took Aiden to a doctor's appointment where they ruled out anything "dangerous" and then I started researching carpet cleaners.

In really good news, we are signed, sealed, delivered at Aiden's new school. We went for an observation today and the classroom in action was so calm. I seriously wanted to sign up for the 30 year old version (or just go back in time and be almost three again). It was nice that the teacher literally cheered when we said that we were turning in our deposit. I wish he could start earlier than the start of the school year. It's so nice to feel like we've made a match...

I hardly knew what to do with myself tonight because I didn't have class! I'm looking forward to a semester off while I wait for the rest of my required classes to pop up on the schedule (either in the summer or fall). Aiden is excited that mom doesn't have to go work in the car quite as much.

tgif video

antiques

J went out of town so we all went on a little excursion to one of my favorite places (that daddy won't miss visiting). The antique center was full of vintage cameras this time - two of which I snagged for my easter basket ;) Thanks easter bunny. Here's a funny robot guy that replaced Aiden's old favorite telephone (which he couldn't find this time because it must have sold):
Every time I see this bright blue velvet couch I daydream about redecorating - but I'm pretty sure this won't look good with milk spills on it:

Most of the time we look with our eyes, not with our hands... but sometimes we get to snap a few pretend photos:

hippo quilt

My mom picked out this fabric to have her friend Karen make this fun hippo quilt. Not only is it adorable with it's Boynton inspired hippo applique, but the fuzzy fabric on the back makes it nice and cozy. Aiden thinks it's the best place to have hippo picnic parties.

valentines

We were excited to spread some valentine cheer yesterday. We ventured out in the balmy 40 degree day - Believe it or not it did seem warm enough for a wagon ride in some layers! The neighbor kids were all out and about playing with walkie talkies and basketballs. I handed Aiden some crepe paper flowers to give to each of them, which meant he was smothered with hugs. He's been playing shy lately, but the chatter box came back out once he was snugged up in the wagon with the littlest neighbor girl for a bumpy ride from her sister. We went down the street a bit to visit the chocolate lab named Angel, who thinks there are treats buried in the snow. Then our noses were getting cold so we said goodbye, can't wait for spring, and we all went back inside.

Daddy J got our some yummy steak and went to town making us a nice dinner with a yummy au jus. Dinner was ready just in time for GranGran and PopPop to arrive from Ohio! J's going out of town again later this week, so it will be so nice to have them here. Aiden and I were waiting at the door when they pulled up and he sure was excited. He defined "bouncing off the walls" when Gran pulled out the enormous valentine's card she'd brought. They also brought all the toys we'd left behind at xmas time and a bunch of extra treats... they are good at spoiling! There were lotsa thank yous. My favorite are all the paintings, photographs, and frames that they'd brought which we are getting ready to scan and sell at craft fairs this spring. More later...