Story

I took Aidyn to the library today, and on the way home she decided to tell a story. These are her exact words:

"Once upon a time there was a price who wanted to find a princess. He wanted a book that was a little different. And they lived ever ever after."

Finding of the House

Every time we come home from a trip, as soon as Aidyn sees our house she says, "There's our house! We found it!" I didn't really think anything about it until she started going to our friend's house for babysitting three days a week. Every time I pick her up and take her home she asks me, "Daddy, where's our house?" Then she starts calling for the house, "House! Where are you!?" As soon as we get home she's super excited that we found our house, clapping her hands and laughing, "We found it! We found our house!"

Then it dawned on me. Have you ever thought what driving around town looks like to a two-year-old? Apparantly Aidyn thinks we just drive around randomly, sporadically turning onto various streets, until eventually we happen upon our home. To her, it's not "welcome home," it's "Thank God we found it Dad! I was getting worried."

Flashback

Aidyn, July 2008, upon seeing Auntie's navel ring:

"Oh, Auntie! I'm sorry. That is very stuck."

Try That Plan

No luck with the potty training yet, but Aidyn has an idea.

Last night Aidyn spent a few hours with her friend, Lexi. I found out that Aidyn is very interested in the treats and stickers that Lexi gets when she uses the potty. So, on the way home I asked Aidyn about Lexi.

Me: "I heard that Lexi goes potty."
Aidyn: "Yeah, and she gets stickers and treats. Maybe we should try that plan!"

My Feet On

Tonight we had some friends over for game night and Aidyn was walking barefoot down the stairs with one of the kids. She said to Taylor, "You have your shoes on!"
Taylor said, "Yep, I have my shoes on."
Aidyn: "I have my feet on!"

Friends

I have really been loving how Aidyn is growing in her friendships with other kids her age. Last night we were at church for a Financial Peace University class and afterwards we stopped by the Middle School Ministry kickoff event to share the rest of the cookies I made for our FPU group (since I have such a big butt!). We were sitting in the chapel listening to what was definitely NOT night-night music and her friend Beckham came by. He saw Aidyn and said, "Wait!" then ran off. Aidyn and I just kind of looked at each other, and then she turned her attention back to the music videos on the big screen.

A few seconds later Beckham returned with his two sisters, Leia and Lexi, and yelled, "Look! It's Aidyn guys!" and then it was just a big jumble of hugs all around. They took off running through the empty chapel and played a sort of follow-the-leader game between all the rows of chairs.

I just watched and thought about the importance of friendships in Aidyn's life. My prayer for her is that she'll continue to develop quality friendships--some friends who will speak into her life as she grows up. Right now if you ask her who is her favorite friend, she'll reply, "Lexi. And Daddy." I hope that we can always be some of her favorite friends without sacrificing our responsibility to her as parents.

Brighting

I love how Aidyn uses what words she knows to make herself understood. Case in point from this week: Driving in the car, we turn a corner and the sun shines directly on Aidyn's face. She responds with, "Mommy, the sun is brighting my eyes."

It's too _______-y

Aidyn has learned to add -y to the end of her words to make a noun into an adjective. Here are two examples from today:

After her nap she saw a book in her room with a bear on the cover. She said, "We can't bring this book downstairs. It's too beary."

At dinner Daddy was singing and Aidyn was unimpressed. She said, "No, Daddy, don't do that. That's too singy"

Brooklyn and Headsprout

Aidyn loves an online learning game from www.headsprout.com (which by the way is on sale for half off to anyone with kids still learning to read!--there's even a 3-lesson trial. It's a bit pricey, but we think totally worth it!) and we try to play what she calls "Spaceship Game" at least every other day. Our friends Jay and Cara have a new baby, Brooklyn, and a beautiful blog that shows how Brooklyn is growing. One day a few weeks ago we went online to play her game and I showed her Brooklyn's picture in their blog. I think an immediate friendship was born! Now each day before we play her game, I'll say, "Want to play Spaceship Game?" and she'll reply, "Yeah, but first we have to see the baby!"

I told Cara about Aidyn's fascination with Brooklyn and she (very sweetly) posted a shout out to Aidyn, a really cute picture of Brooklyn holding a sign that says, "Hi, Aidyn!" So, today I was very excited to show her the blog before we played Spaceship Game. Aidyn woke up from her nap late and I told her that Brooklyn had a surprise for her--she was very excited!

We went online, went to the blog, and I showed her the shout out. I showed her that the sign said, "Hi, Aidyn," and that Brooklyn and her mommy made that picture just for her. I explained that it was very special and very nice of them to send a message to her. I told her that Brooklyn lives really far away, all the way out by Uncle Dennis in California. Then I told her it was pretty cool, right? She looked at it for a minute and just said, "Oh. Let's play Spaceship Game!"

I Have an Owie

First of all, note the time of this post. Yeah, that's right, 4:10am. Ok, now the post:

When we put Aidyn down to sleep at night we turn on her fan, a cd (of either stories or songs), and a little lamp. The lamp and stories turn back off after about 15-20 minutes, but she's usually asleep before then. Sometimes, if she wakes up in the middle of the night, all it takes is to turn the cd and lamp back on and she's asleep again with no problem, then they turn themselves off after a little while. Obviously tonight is not one of those nights!

Tonight she woke up and I went in her room to give her a little reassurance. I noticed that she has a stuffy nose and figured that's what had her up in the night. I even changed her diaper, thinking maybe that was bothering her. Then I turned on her light and her songs and quietly stepped out of her room. She was quiet for a few moments (you know, just enough time for me to snuggle back under my covers and get almost asleep--about 15-20 minutes) and then began crying, "I have an owie! I have an owie! I have an owie!"

Concerned that something truly serious had awakened her tonight, I got up and went back in her room, listening to "I have an owie!" all the way there. I opened her door and she stopped crying after one last pitiful "I have an owie!" I went by her bed and asked her, "What's owie, Baby?"

Her reply: "My light and my music turned off!"

I think the first fable we'll have to learn is The Boy Who Cried Wolf!

Night-Night Music

The other day Aidyn was riding in the car with me (Donnie) and I turned the music on in the van. The radio station is usually tuned to KLOVE, our area's Christian radio station, and on this particular day it was playing it's typical mix of Christian songs. I think the channel is pretty boring--it seems like they only play the slow songs from the good bands--and apparantly Aidyn agrees. As soon as I turned on the radio she said, "No, Daddy, I don't want to listen to night-night music!" So I changed to the rock station and she began bobbing her head with the music. Even my child who is the perpetual musical (breaking out in song at random moments) knows where to find the good music!

Breakfast

As we've mentioned before, Aidyn knows what she wants--especially for breakfast. Today the conversation went something like this:

Daddy: "Aidyn, what do you want for breakfast?"
Aidyn: "Ummm...I will have....um...."
Daddy: "How about a banana?"
Aidyn: "No, bananas are too sticky."
Daddy: "How about an apple?"
Aidyn: "No, apples are too cold."
Daddy: "How about some milk?"
Aidyn: "No, milk is too cold. But, I will have some chocolate milk."

Flashback

Aidyn, about 18 months, playing with Daddy on the floor. Daddy is opening and closing his legs like a gate and Aidyn is laughing hysterically. Daddy stops and Aidyn says, "OPEN!!"
Daddy: "What's the magic word?"
Aidyn: "Abre."

Thanks, Dora!

King Me!

Aidyn's most recent kick has been "beautiful princess." She has princess sheets, princess blankets, princess toys, princess shirts...even princess shoes for pete's sake. Last week she picked out her frilliest dress to wear to church (complete with tennis shoes) and proclaimed herself "a beautiful princess!"

Today before her nap she apparantly reached a new decision:
"I don't want to be a beautiful princess anymore. I want to be the king!"

Mean Streak

Aidyn's "two-ness" is starting to come out more and more. Today we had to have a very serious talk regarding using nice words. A couple of days ago she decided that "Mommy! No more talking!" was an acceptable form of communication, but today was even worse. This morning she pointed her finger at me and said in her meanest possible voice--"No, Mommy! You don't talk to me anymore!" It landed her straight in time-out, of course. I hope we can teach her soon how to use nice words instead!!

Baby Belly

I apparantly need to lose weight. I'm not sure what's going on, but Aidyn is suddenly very interested in the size of my belly. Today at church she looked down my shirt and said, "You don't have any baby in your belly Mommy." I'm not even sure where she found out about babies in bellies anyway!

Mad Lips

Today Aidyn found a book on the shelf that she thought looked like a good book to read. It turned out to be an old copy of Mad Libs that we had hanging around. I read the title to her and she said, "I don't want to read about the Mad Lips!"

Big Butt

We are really trying to work on this potty training thing, but it's just not happening. I have to say I'm a little surprised that she didn't catch on more quickly, but I just have to keep telling myself that she won't still be wearing diapers in high school so we're going to be ok.

Lots of the books and articles tell you to model using the bathroom for your child, or at least point out to them that you're "going on the potty like a big girl." So today Aidyn was sitting on the potty (and nothing was happening besides reading "Elmo Uses the Potty" for the 50th time) and I decided to talk to her about it. I explained that Mommy uses the potty like a big girl and she said:

"But you have a big butt and I have a little butt. And, you have a big belly but I have a little belly. And I don't have to go potty."

Thanks, Aidyn. Thanks a lot. I think I'll definitely be sticking with my diet after that wonderful, uplifting encouragement and I'll be sure to use similarly loving words when you're wearing diapers to Algebra class.

Cheese Everywhere

I just picked Aidyn up from her first day at her new babysitter's house. We're really blessed because she doesn't have to go to formal daycare and she can play all day with her "favorite friend," Lexi, thanks to the willingness of one of our friends to watch her three days a week.

She told me all about what a fun day she'd had and all the different toys she'd played with. Then I asked her if she'd eaten lunch yet and she started to giggle.

Direct quote: "Yeah, we had cheesy noodles [macaroni and cheese] and there was cheese all over the place. Yeah, it was so silly and funny."

So, apparantly, I also need to send a cleaning staff to our friends' house after lunch each day!

That's Not Cute

Earlier in the summer Aidyn began using the word "cute." One morning as Daddy was getting her dressed, she said, "Daddy, that's not cute." He figured she didn't know what she was talking about and finished getting her dressed, then took her to church.

Mommy came home from work later in the afternoon and saw what Aidyn had worn to church. She asked, "Did you let her wear that to church? Because it doesn't match."

Daddy: "Yeah! She said it wasn't cute, but..."
Mommy: "Well...next time you should listen to her!"

I guess fashion sense is instinct!

Aidyn's Dictionary

Of course, every child is going to have some mispronunciations and alternate words when they're learning to talk. Aidyn's are particularly adorable. Below we've listed a few, including translations.

fork and shirt were a little dodgy for a while...that's getting better. You can use your imagination for what her mispronunciations were. Let's just say that "r's" are difficult.

oapaneal (oatmeal)

meat (neat...she will even correct us if we try to enunciate the n. "No! MMMMMMeat!"

mutt (mud)

beeenana (banana)

o-sauce (applesauce)

mickey (a diaper. This developed when she noticed that Mickey Mouse is printed on her diapers. She will even use it: "Mommy, I need a mickey change.")

Just a few that we could think of right now. More to come, I'm sure!

Yoatgurt

Aidyn has, for quite some time, known exactly what she wants. And by this I mean that if we ask her in the morning what she wants for breakfast, she will usually respond, "Um.....I will have _____________." Sometimes it's a banana, sometimes she wants cheese and crackers, and sometimes we have to gently guide her decisions ("No, Aidyn, pretzels are not a breakfast food."). But, she always has an answer for that question, and has had an (usually) appropriate response since before she turned two.

This morning we asked, "Aidyn, what would you like for breakfast today?"
Her response: "Um....yoatgurt."

So Proud

We are constantly telling Aidyn that we're very proud of her, but I'm not sure that she completely understands what it means, as evidenced by our interaction yesterday:

"Mommy! I'm so proud to see you!"

I guess she missed me when she was in church nursery!

...And Anyways

Aidyn is finally learning to talk on the phone to Mamie and Pappy all by herself! Before we'd have to sort of force her or use speaker phone because she wouldn't hold the phone and talk. Today she was talking to Mamie, holding the phone in one hand and her baby doll with the other hand (wish I could've gotten a picture!) and she was just telling Mamie about her day and about all her friends.

Then she said, "...and anyways," and changed the subject to something else!! Once again, it must be one of the phrases we use a lot!

Flashback

Aidyn, age 28 months, upset that Aunt Sarah was around:

"Auntie can't look at me anymore!"

Do we think this child really needs a sibling?

It's Raining!

Today we've been driving all around town running errands and it's really raining a lot! We used the "brella" and still got wet just from the puddles. Aidyn has had a lot to say today, including "we're waiting soooooo patientwy" in the bank line, but my favorite was in the van:

"Mommy, where is the sun?"

We got to have a good talk about how God waters the earth with the rain and the sun hides behind the clouds which led into a great discussion about Noah and the Ark. She decided that the way God waters the flowers is "pretty cool."

Which reminds me of another great story of Aidyn's from lately. A few weeks ago we were riding in the van and I was talking to Aidyn about prayer. We'd been trying to get her to "help" with prayers at meals and bedtime but just hadn't gotten her to try it yet. Then spontaneously she said:

"Dear God thank you for the flowers amen."

I think God hears those prayers more than any other type, don't you?

Flashback

February, 2008
Aidyn, age 2, asking for dinner at Chuck-E-Cheese

"Mamie and Pappy will take me to Chicky Jesus?!"

Sure is! Must have!

So, you start to notice what kind of things you say a lot when your kids pull these random phrases out and use them against you!

Us: "Aidyn, did you go poop in your diaper?"
Aidyn: "Must have!"

or

Aidyn: "The floor is wet."
Us: "Yep, I just mopped so the floor is wet."
Aidyn: "Sure is!"

It makes me laugh!