I Am A VERY Good Big Sister

This week we welcomed our first foster care placement into our home. Hailie Rose is 7 weeks old and is a really wonderful baby. We didn't get too much preparation time for Aidyn, that being the nature of foster care, but we were fortunate to have three days to prepare her for having a new baby in the house.
We picked Hailie up on Monday and right from the beginning Aidyn has been very helpful (sometimes too helpful, but what can you do?!) We have provided lots of encouragement to Aidyn about being a good big sister and she has really taken that to heart. I was a little worried about her being jealous when I need to hold Hailie but she has surprised me with very frequent, "Mommy, Hailie needs you to hold her."
Her favorite new saying, though, is: "I am a VERY good big sister!" And she's right!

Happy Thanksgiving

While learning about Thanksgiving and thankfulness this week (in the bathtub of all places--it's amazing what you can teach your toddler while she's soaking in the tub!) Aidyn melted my heart.
We were not far into the discussion, so I was surprised and delighted at her answer to my question: "Aidyn, what are you thankful for?"
"I am thankful for my Mommy and my Daddy."

Sometimes They Fall Off Ladders

Aidyn is starting to understand the concept that Mommy is at work while she's sleeping at night. I work in a busy ER and I spare her the gory details, but she knows that when I go to work I'm helping people who are sick.
Yesterday morning I woke her up and was getting her dressed and she noticed that I was wearing my work clothes. "Did you go to work?" she asked.
"Yep," was all I said.
"And you were helping people who were sick?" she questioned further.
"Yep."
"And sometimes they fall off ladders and you help them?" she asked.
I suppose it could happen so what could I say but, "Yep!"

That's fine

Again, a phrase that I must use often: "That's fine."
Aidyn's take on the phrase: "I can have a cookie if I want to. That's fine."

Disobedient Daddy

Aidyn is usually pretty easy to discipline. She has her moments, of course, but she knows that we expect her to obey and that there are consequences for disobedience. Over the last several months she has started "tattling" on Mommy to Daddy or vice versa when she feels that something hasn't gone her way (particularly if someone tells her no).
One day she came to me crying after Daddy had disciplined her and I asked her what was wrong. "Daddy doesn't obey me!" she cried. We got to have a great little discussion about Ephesians 6:1 and that God expects Aidyn to obey Daddy, not the other way around. It still hasn't sunk in, I don't think, but at least it's a start!

Flashback

For a very long time Aidyn's word for bath was "bap." About a year ago when Aidyn was not quite two she suggested: "I need a bap."

Cuddle Bug

There was a period of time when Aidyn was almost two that I was worried I'd never get cuddles from her. She was just too busy running all over the place to stop for hugs or kisses. Lately, though, she's been so cuddly and takes every opportunity to snuggle with us. She gives wonderful kisses and hugs and frequently says (unsolicited) "I love you Mommy." My favorite line from lately though is, "Don't you want to cuddle me?"
Of course I do!

Scary Fruit

Daddy has a t-shirt with an artistic drawing of a withered-looking tree sprouting skulls as fruit and with snakes as roots. Ok, it's not as dramatic as it sounds--it's actually a pretty sweet shirt. Aidyn has never really liked it though and one day several months ago she was sitting in Daddy's lap and noticed that he was wearing that shirt. She said, "I don't like the scary fruit shirt."

Disney Tapes

I can't believe they still work! These are the Disney books on tape that I listened to as a child. I know they were played over and over and the copyright date on them is 1978, so I was surprised that they still worked when I found them in Aidyn's closet tonight.

I put the Pinocchio tape in for Aidyn and gave her the book. I showed her how to turn the pages when the chime sounds on the tape (ah! the memories!) and sort of sat back and watched her discover. She caught on very quickly and turned the pages at all the right times...spellbound! She went on to listen to The Three Little Pigs, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, and would have just kept listening all night except it was time for bed. I'm so excited to share more of these stories with her. Maybe I'll try to put them on cd to preserve the audio, but either way these 30-year-old tapes will bring joy to another generation. All Aidyn could say was: "That's pretty cool!"

Ta-Da!

The other day Aidyn was eating pancakes and had gotten syrup EVERYWHERE (as usual!). She picked up her fork and realized that it was really sticky. Instead of being bothered by it, she just held up her very sticky hand with a very sticky fork just glued to her palm and said, "Ta-da!" What a great magic trick, right?!

Jesus Loves the Little Penguin

Aidyn sings EVERYTHING! I think we've mentioned this before, but it never ceases to amaze me how many things she can turn into a song. Today she was singing an actual song, Jesus Loves Me. Here's how it went:

"Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Yes Jesus loves me
Yes Jesus loves me
Yes Jesus loves me (repeat x infinity, then transition directly into a made up song about a penguin, roughly to the tune of A Tisket A Tasket)
A penguin, a penguin
A little funny penguin
He walked around and (transition again into the Lullaby Song that Nana taught her)
Go to sleep, go to sleep
Close your eyes little penguin"

Not sure where the penguin came from, but apparantly Jesus loves him and he needs to go to sleep. The lovely impromptu medley was immediately followed by a special announcement: "Mom. I pooped."

Macaroni and Cheese Fish

A couple of days ago Tracy, Aidyn, and I were at Wal-Mart (Lord help 'em) and Aidyn was really getting bored. Eventually we got to that point. If you have a kid you know what I mean. It's the I'm-sick-and-tired-of-sitting-in-this-cart-and-I-want-to-do-something-else-NOW point. Truth be told I was getting bored too. So I did what we always did when Aidyn was ready to go and we still had some things to pick up- we went to look at the fish in the pet section. Aidyn always loves looking at all the different fish.

When we got to the fish tanks she immediately spotted one that she really liked. "Ooooh look at those fish daddy!" she said. I saw the tank of fish she was looking at and thought this would be a great teaching experience. So as I was getting ready to tell her that those fish are Albino or Golden Tiger Barbs.....they are a color morph of the regular Tiger Barb from Indonesia and Sumatra ......this fish doesn't exist in the wild.......it was bred specifically for aquarists.....they are schooling fish so we'd have to by at least 6.........she interrupted my thought process by excitedly stating "Wooow that's a macaroni and cheese fish!" And I just laughed hysterically. Well take a look. Why isn't that named the Macaroni and Cheese Barb?

What's for Breakfast?

We've mentioned in previous posts that Aidyn knows very well how to choose a breakfast meal. Recently she's been learning to eat cereal "like a big girl" with milk and a spoon. This morning's cereal of choice: Rice Krip-sies.

Flashback

In the week before Aidyn turned two we were visiting my family in Pennsylvania. Aidyn had received a video of Dora personalized with her name and picture and was intently watching it. I guess we grown-ups must have been making too much noise because she (very politely) turned around on the couch and said, "Talking please!"

Need a Diaper

Yet another setback in the potty training world (or maybe an advance, I don't know).
Yesterday after her bath I was drying Aidyn off and she began fussing; not really crying, just kind of whining. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I need a diaper on so I can go potty."