Dear Aiden B,
You are now known as Aiden B at school and I laugh when I hear you calling yourself Aiden B. You even called me Mommy B the other day when I came to pick you up. I'm glad that you have latched onto your own name and identity at school. You're the kid at school dropoff that turns to the other kids that are hesistant to come in to encourage them to come to the door. You tell them "it will be fun, come on!"
I will remember you playing hours and hours of playdoh this month. Mushing, rolling, poking, cutting, and shaping tons of colors at once. You ask me how many points on the star and laugh if I answer incorrectly on purpose. You have these crayons that have little faces on the end and you love to wrap them in playdoh "to keep them warm." You make playdoh pizza with extra toppings like matchbox cars. You love squishing it through the press to make hair or noodles. Your Gran says this was her all time favorite thing to do too.
You really started using phrases that you've heard at school, which is fun to hear. You talk about "turning your voice off" and "look at me and what do you see?" You understand the rules and have picked up the habit of telling us the new rules, "My daddy had to go back to work but he didn't see the sign on my hand that said don't go!" The teachers frequently tell you you must have missed something instead of correcting you. It seems to work well. You are adamant about "what Mrs. Healey says" and you think what she says should fly at school and at home, except for the always-putting-your-toys-away deal. I think the trick is making everything seem more important, like your "works" at school. Or even better is making clean up into a game, like toy basket sorting and identifying all the vehicles, tools, animals, and shapes into their own piles.
You like using words you think are funny to say, like scrumpt-u-ous. You will repeat scrumptious with the funniest little pronunciations until you get it just right. Then you will tell me that your mini wheats are truuuly scrumptious! During the breakfast song at school (where you told them that you eat broccoli for breakfast) you learned about mini wheats and you really wanted to try them. You pulled my hand down the cereal aisle asking me what mini wheats looked like. We found some and it turns out you love them! Your favorite lately is a bowl of mini wheats and a square of cheese for breakfast (sounds pretty french to me).
Your sidekick, arm load animals this month were the three australia animals, a platypus, koala, and kangaroo, your dad brought home from his big trip last month. You proudly wore your australia hat to school for hat day the other day. You've already learned this fun song about the continents that says "and don't forget Australia! " and you get excited every time. You even told your teacher about your dad's big trip.
One of my favorite times of day is when we are driving home from school and you tell me random bits about your day. You also like to play with toys that you left behind earlier. One of the funniest things was when you started talking with your Lightning McQueen car to your ear. You told me that you were on your "car phone" to call your cousin Kayley and tell her a new story. As we leave school, you carry your backpack (not a bookbag you tell me) as you strut out to the car and start most of your stories then. Most of the time it's about a new song that you learned or a new "secret" you heard. I think "let me tell you a secret" is the way that Mrs. Healey gets you to quiet down and really listen. You usually tell me what all your friends did for their work before you reveal what you did.
Continuing in the tradition of the "man bat" creation that you got so excited about last month, you love to make up funny combinations of words and even fully made up words and names. You sing some songs from school and sometimes make up your own songs that relate to your favorite stories. The breakfast song and the hello song are clear favorites. It's pretty fun to learn the songs from you! And to find out what all your friends like to have for breakfast ;) You tend to always claim to have O cereal, although that is never actually the case.
You are still addicted to Lion King videos on youtube and now like to watch the broadway show performance the most. You imitate the call at the beginning of the Circle of Life "nah-te-wen-yaaa!" You even dream that you are Simba and woke up yelling about Rafiki the other night. You will click through your own videos, although sometimes you ask for help, "Ah, excuse me mommy, it's stuck." Your little excuse me is one of my favorite things. "Excuse me mommy, I want to take your picture, say cheeeese!" Then you take your little old vintage fisher price toy camera and switch out the little color wheel and tell me what color I am - "Mommy, you are pretty blue!"
You love to play the same pretend games over and over. One of your favorites is switching out roles as the big bad wolf, woodsman, and little red riding hood. You will pretend to be the big bad wolf most of the time and you have to chase little red riding hood all around while growling. These are what they call playground games at school ;) You get how to play go fish but you have a habit of announcing the card you pick up with a loud whisper. You are just starting to understand that trying to play by hiding the cards will help you make more matches.
We like to go on little adventures and walks after school and one time I asked you "Are we having fun or what?" You looked right at me with a smile and said "Or what!" What a little jokester. I think you do actually like hunting down squirrels and visiting farmer's markets. I look forward to another month filled with fall fun and a few more face paints (where you ask to visit the bathroom multiple times just to look at your bat in the mirror). It's going to be fun!
Love, Mommy B
