Aedan: 23 Months, Week 5 (Week 105)
In our last month before moving out of Oxford and up to Sault Ste. Marie, I decided to take advantage of days that Samantha doesn't have preschool to go on fun outings with the kids. On Tuesday we planned to go to Jump and Jack's with Stephanie and Isaac. The weather was supposed to get rainy as the day went on, but it was pretty nice in the morning, so we decided to stop by a park near Jump and Jack's first. It was a pretty fun playground with lots of different climbing structures and the kids had a lot of fun playing together. Both Samantha and Aedan love playing with Isaac for different reasons. Samantha likes to play imaginary games with him, and Aedan likes to make funny noises and be silly with him. While on the playground, Aedan was trying to be very brave and climb up right behind the big kids, not realizing that he was too little to tag along. Samantha and Aedan both had a great time on the swings as well. Samantha always wants me to push her super high, and Aedan always wants me to do under dogs with him.
After getting our fill at the park, we went to Jump and Jack's and Stephanie was able to get us in on her punch pass. It's always fun to come here every few months with Aedan to see how much he has grown, developed, and changed since the previous time. For example, the last time we were there, he was pretty unsure about climbing and sliding by himself. However, this time he had absolutely no fear at all. He could climb up on platforms that he couldn't reach before, and he was much more comfortable just taking off on his own. In fact, there were a few times that I had to have Samantha and Isaac find Aedan to make sure he was doing okay and didn't need me. Aedan loves slides and will go down them over and over again. Well, these three slides in the picture below drew his attention right away, so he climbed all the way up the steps to go down the slide. I followed him so that I could ride with him down the slide since I didn't think he was big enough to go by himself. Sometimes kids get going pretty fast on these slides, and I didn't want him to fall back and hit his head. We went down the slide several times together, and he smiled and laughed the whole time. However, later in the morning I noticed that Aedan made it all the way to the top of the slides without me noticing and he was almost ready to slide down. I called up to him to tell him to wait for me, but then I figured I'd let him try it out on his own. He discovered how to drag his hands along the sides of the slide to slow himself down, and I was so proud that he did it all by himself. Aedan immediately went back up to slide again and this time went down with Isaac. Isaac was going down the slide next to him by sliding on his tummy, so Aedan copied him and went down most of the way on his tummy, squeaking all the way down.
Another fun area was this section with three smaller slides right next to each other. Samantha, Aedan, and Isaac went down these slides over and over again, having a wonderful time with each other. I think Aedan really enjoyed feeling like he could have fun doing everything just like the big kids. I tried to take a video of how much fun they were having on the slides, but when I got my phone out, Aedan's arm got stuck backwards on the slide which is why he's making this squawking sound. He was fine once I helped him off.
Aedan particularly likes Stephanie, and after awhile he grabbed her hand, said, "Come on," and pulled her by the hand so that she could go down the slide with him as well. It's cute to see him interact with other people. He loved these slides because they were easy to climb up and slide down over and over again.
Here are Aedan and Isaac playing with the giant balls together. They are both so silly and goofy together. They've grown to be pretty good buddies. It was nice that Aedan was able to climb around mostly by himself because it gave Stephanie and me more a chance to talk and catch up with one another. There was only one time when Aedan tried to walk across a section with ropes and his foot fell through, causing his leg to get stuck and much crying to ensue. However, he was just fine after I came up and helped him out.
Wednesday was a typical day with Ben going to campus, Samantha going to preschool, and Aedan and me going to Bible study. However, both kids were extremely tired that morning, were fighting with each other constantly, and were not listening well at all. It made for a frustrating morning, and I always hate those kinds of mornings where we all rush around and leave in bad moods. I told Samantha that she was going to nap that afternoon, and she said that was fine with her because she wanted to nap. She napped for almost two hours, sleeping until 4:15. In fact, I put them both kids to bed at the same time, reading books, singing, and praying together in Aedan's room before Aedan and I tucked Samantha into bed in her room so that I could then go back and rock Aedan to sleep in his room. I figured that would be the best solution because then she could get a head start on napping rather than waiting until I was done with Aedan. By the time I was done with Aedan and laid his sleepy body in his crib for his nap, Samantha was already asleep and snoring. She was clearly tired which is why she had such a bad attitude that morning, and I was glad she was getting the rest her body needed.
We had a pretty rainy week, meaning we had to find indoor activities to keep us busy. On Thursday morning we went to the Art Explorers program at the Miami art museum. It was the last one we would be able to participate in, and Samantha loves them so much. Stephanie and Isaac were there as well as some preschool friends, so it was a fun little group. Miss Connie does such a great job coming up with songs, stories, rhymes, and interactive, engaging activities. This week's topic was on bugs and Aedan loved holding his little ants, bringing them up when it was his turn. He still was not overly interested in the stories and would wander around during that part which was somewhat distracting to Isaac who just wanted to follow Aedan around and copy what he was doing. I tend to just let Aedan wander as long as he's not being loud or going places he shouldn't. If I were to make him sit and listen, he would just scream and wiggle away, which is much more distracting than him just wandering around. It's interesting that these story times don't catch his attention better because he will sit and listen to books just fine at home. I think he just likes the one-on-one attention better and likes to be able to sit close up to the book to see the pictures and to talk to and interact with the person reading. However, what is even more interesting is how focused Samantha can be even in a group of kids that is moving and making noise. She is great at blocking out distractions and is entranced with the story, follows right along with the songs, and is extremely attentive. I love to see this part of her personality because she will be such a wonderful student for her kindergarten teacher. I love to see how much she has grown and learned through her time in preschool at the TRI.
Since both kids took good naps on Thursday afternoon, Ben and I decided to go forth with our plans to run some errands with the kids that evening. I needed to stop by JoAnn Fabrics to order the new fabric for the curtains for Samantha's new room in our new house. Samantha was a big fan of the store and stood looking at some of the magazines of doll clothes for quite awhile. This is the fabric that Samantha chose. I think it looks very pretty and will go well with the color of her walls as well as her existing comforter and decorations. She made a good decision, and I'm glad that I let her choose what she liked.
We had one more errand to run that evening, so we went over to Sears in the mall to look at dishwashers. Our new house has a dishwasher that leaks and the seller offered to either replace it or give us $300 towards buying a new one. We decided to take the $300 so we could choose one that we liked. There is a small Sears Home Store up in Sault Ste. Marie, so we figured that would be the easiest way to order the dishwasher and have it ready to pick up when we move in on June 3rd. The salesman was pretty helpful in showing us the differences in the different models and what makes the price increase by $100. We settled on one that was pretty nice, met our needs, and only cost us $90 more than the $300 we will be getting from the seller. It was getting close to 8:00 at this point and our kids were getting tired, but they were enjoying walking around the store while we made our purchase. We even found an area of furniture on our way back from the restrooms, so Samantha and Aedan enjoyed climbing on the bunk bed together. Again, Samantha mentioned how she can't wait until Aedan turns 4 and they can share a room and have bunk beds with her sleeping on the top and him sleeping on the bottom. We'll see what she thinks about that idea when she is 7 years old. :)
Friday was a busy day for us because it was Aedan's birthday. He was turning 2 years old! It was such an exciting day, and we were ready to celebrate our little man. He is certainly a two year old now, for he doesn't do anything halfway, he throws his whole self into anything he does and is full speed and full energy from the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to sleep. He is sweet and cuddly, while also being silly and wild. He loves to wrestle with you, but he also loves to share kisses and hugs. His favorite person in the world is Samantha, and he can't wait to see her and play with her every morning. He is learning and growing more and more each day, from climbing and jumping with greater ease and confidence, to speaking in multi-word sentences and babbling very intently to anyone who will listen, to screaming (or crying) at the top of his lungs. He makes us laugh and smile daily, and it is a joy to be his mom and to be entrusted with his care.
After dropping Samantha off at preschool on Friday morning, Aedan and I stopped by the Dollar Tree to buy plates, napkins, party favors, and balloons for his party that evening. He helped me pick out the balloons and was excited to hold them as we walked out of the store together. However, even though they were tied to a weight, he kept saying, "Blow away, blow away," because he was scared that the wind would make his balloons blow away.
From there, we went to the pediatrician's office for Aedan's two year check-up. Even though we haven't been in this office since his check-up last year, he remembered that he gets a sucker at the end of the visit and was pretty fixated on that for most of the time there. Even though they were pretty quick in attending to us, there is only so much to entertain a two year old in a small office room. Plus, Aedan would rather play with the stirrups on the exam table, the pipes under the sink, the paper covering the top of the table, and the drawers on the table, than look at the many books provided for the kids to look at while waiting. He got to stand on the big boy scale to get his weight and came in at 30 pounds which is in the 84th percentile. His height was 36 inches which is in the 88nd percentile, and his head circumference was 20 which was in the 97th percentile. When Dr. Buerk came in to talk to me, she said with those numbers as they are, Aedan could grow up to be 6'2" or 6'3". That would be so interesting if he were so tall because we don't have very many tall people on either side of our family.
Then, she discussed the answers we gave for the Ages & Stages Questionnaire, saying that he was at the highest level in Communication and Gross Motor and was slightly below average in Problem Solving, but the questionnaire assessed through 25 months 15 days, so she said to look back at the questions at that time to see if he has any more mastery of these skills by that point. She did give us a special paper to help us help him increase his problem solving skills, so that will be something we can be more intentional about with him. Dr. Buerk also talked about how two year olds get more opinionated and say no more often, so to give them a choice between two equally good choices, which we already do quite a bit. She did have a couple ideas for helping to clean up that I thought were good because we often have trouble getting Aedan to agree to helping us pick up toys. She said he will be more likely to do anything if it is turned into a game, like getting baskets, putting toys in them, and pretending they are a train taking the toys back to where they belong. Or, playing 1-2-3 where we tell Aedan to put away one thing, then two things, then three things, which also teaches him counting skills. We talked a little about eating and drinking, how he can now drink 1% or 2% milk and should have 16 ounces a day and then water after that. I asked about how he doesn't care much for vegetables, and she suggested putting cheese on them or giving dip with them, which we already do with Aedan and doesn't seem to always help. It seems like it's a texture thing to him and he chews them up but then spits them back out. Who knows, I imagine this phase will pass, and in the meantime, we will continue to offer him whatever vegetable the rest of the family is eating. I also asked the doctor about the dry skin on back of Aedan's legs and she said it was just dry skin, not eczema, and she said that we can put hydrocortisone cream on it three times a day to help it go away, but that we should be using a lotion to help keep his skin better moisturized as well. It was a good check-up, and the last thing they had to do was prick his finger to draw blood for a lead test. Aedan bleeds slowly, so it seems like it takes forever for them to get the amount of blood needed. He was getting a little impatient with us holding him, holding his arm, and squeezing his finger. However, he enjoyed interacting with the nurse, playing with her hair, and making her laugh. I was glad that he didn't have to get any shots on his birthday and that his check-up went so well.
On Friday night we had plans to celebrate Aedan's birthday with friends from our small group at Hanover Park. Ben got home early that afternoon to help me decorate Cookie Monster cupcakes, and we had grapes, pretzels, hummus, and juice boxes for snacks. Several families weren't able to come due to sickness or being out of town, but Aedan still had a great time playing with Evie, and Samantha had fun playing with Daniel and Olivia. It was a pretty nice night, a little chilly, but at least it wasn't raining as it was most of the week. Here are some pictures of our little party to celebrate Aedan turning two. :)
When we tried to light the candles, the wind was blowing a little too hard, causing them to blow out, but Aedan didn't care too much. He was just excited about everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to him and eating his Cookie cupcake. We had a little trouble making the frosting the right consistency, I think due to a problem with our icing recipe, but they still tasted good and really that's all that matters.
After all the kids got some snacks and a cupcake, they all ran back out to play. Samantha and Aedan both really enjoy the merry-go-round and the tire swing at this park. However, at one point, even though Daddy told him not to, Aedan was trying to push the merry-go-round along with an older girl. However, he is not strong enough or fast enough to do this, so he tripped and fell down on the ground. The little girl didn't notice that he had fallen and basically trampled him, shoving his little face down into the dirt and mulch. He just laid in shock, crying, until I went over to help him up, tried to dust him off a little, and then led him over to the picnic table where I could get a wipe to properly clean him off. He was fine after that and went right back to playing, although we didn't stay for too much longer because it was already close to everyone's bedtime. It was a fun, simple celebration, just perfect for a two year old.
Saturday morning was one of those mornings where the kids were playing together very cutely. Lately, Aedan was been slightly obsessed with purses, and you will often find him carrying one around the house. Well, on Saturday morning Samantha and Aedan were explorers together, which apparently meant that she had to wear a hat and a purse, and Aedan had to have two purses and a blanket. It was cute to see them pretending together, even though it was a bit hard for Aedan to carry everything up the stairs to the next area they were exploring. I love to see their relationship grow and change, especially as Aedan grows up and becomes more interactive and more verbal.
Mornings are almost always pleasant with the kids. Even though they wake up too early for our liking sometimes (between 6:30-6:45), they usually wake up in good moods and that is the best time for them to get along with each other and play happily together. On Sunday morning, they were both sitting in Samantha's room looking at books and reading together. Aedan sat there flipping page after page, babbling away, and I tried to get a video of it, but like usual, he stopped pretty quickly after I got my phone out to record. He didn't want to perform for me.
However, Samantha was more than happy to perform for me. We have been trying to encourage her to practice reading more, to practice her popcorn words so she doesn't forget all that she has learned between now and when she goes to kindergarten in the fall. We practiced reading this Sofia book the night before, so she decided to show me how well she could read the book on her own. As she was reading, she had such an expression of accomplishment, and I love how she asked for me to send it to Miss Betsy, her preschool teacher. Ben and I often tell her how much she will like it when she can read on her own, and we hope that as she gets more into learning how to read in kindergarten, her interest for it will take off even more and she will pick up on it quickly. She certainly loves to look at books and have stories read to her, so I'm sure it will come more naturally than she thinks.
We started and ended our weekend with a celebration of birthdays. On Saturday Samantha helped me bake Daddy's cake, then I filled it with ice cream on Saturday night, and on Sunday after church Samantha picked purple for the color of his icing, and after I got the icing done and the words written, she decorated the cake with sprinkles. I think this is the best birthday cake Ben has ever had. Definitely the most colorful. :)
Once back home, we got Daddy's ice cream cake out of the freezer and sat around the table to sing him "Happy Birthday." I love this sweet picture of Daddy holding hands with his two kids. Everyone's smiles are so great. :) I love my family.
I'm so glad that Ben had his camera going while we sang "Happy Birthday" because I love Aedan's reactions. He is so excited about the candles being lit that he shakes and shrieks with delight. Oh, the joy of little kids. Birthdays aren't as exciting when you are turning 32. He is more excited about singing than Samantha, I think. Plus, I love how Samantha accidentally says Aedan instead of Daddy during the song.
The kids had fun picking presents out for Daddy, and Samantha even helped me wrap them all on Saturday, but I think they had even more fun opening the presents, I mean watching him open them (wink, wink). Samantha had mentioned several times that she wanted to buy Daddy new white undershirts since a lot of his have holes in them, so that was the first present he opened.
We were also trying to find something fun for Daddy as a present, and I noticed these game sets with a bean bag toss game and ladderball combined. I know Ben likes to play corn hole, so I figured he would enjoy a game set like this. Plus, it's another way he can interact with the kids outside in our new backyard in Michigan.
His final present was from me, and it was three books that were on a list he had sent me a while back of books that he would like to read in his free time this summer. When we got the books in the mail, Samantha asked, "Is Daddy going to like these books? They don't look very interesting." Ha ha, at least she's being honest, but I assured her that he would find them very interesting. It was a great birthday celebrating Daddy. :)
On Monday morning, Samantha went off to preschool and Aedan went over to a friend's house to play, so Ben and I were able to go to Menards together to get paint and all the supplies needed for painting the downstairs bedroom and office in our new house. I thought it would be much easier to get what we needed without having to drag the kids along, and Ben lovingly rearranged his schedule and got work done earlier in the weekend so that he could go out with me that morning. It was fun going shopping on our own and not feeling rushed or frazzled because of dealing with two whiny, wiggly kids in the cart. I felt like we had a productive morning and slowly but surely, things are getting checked off my to do list.
Monday evenings always go quickly because Ben gets home later from class, we eat dinner right away, and then it's pretty much time for bath time and bed time. However, that doesn't mean we can't play a little bit. On this particular evening, Samantha wanted to dress Aedan up for a ball. She was wearing the Elsa dress, so of course Aedan had to wear the Anna dress. He liked it for about two minutes and then wanted it off. Daddy was able to get a few pictures first, though. I'm sure he will love these pictures when he grows up. :)
(Blog about April 26-May 2, 2016)
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