A Letter From Aidyn

I received this in my e-mail this week from Aidyn:

xxcvbbnn ...///zzxcvbb n m,,.//'wertyyuioppaaaaaiddddddddddyyyyynnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn ddddddddddddaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyymmmmmmmmmmmmmoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeieepoep[re[oprf0-p[rf09e490e90e90e0or-p[r4=[r=]r=[3e\e4[]r[3]34'4r][4][e][r[]r[rf[pr[p[p4po3r'o43';r[';refp;rf;fr'r'rf'?fc"f;f';rf'[prf[p43[op3e-91wpqo[329p32wip3es'o[e31qo93;3wop32][23[p

We are working on learning to type her name and I have ordered a child-sized mouse for her to begin mouse skills as well, but this was just cute. She has been asking often lately to "type letters" to Nana and I was pleased to receive one myself.

Thank You

Aidyn has effectively melted my heart.

We have been working with her on manners and politeness literally her entire life. Interestingly, I receive a weekly e-mail from Baby Center that details development specifically for your child's age and barely a month ago the headline read, "Begin to teach your child manners." I thought that was a little late to wait, personally.

Last night, though, a lifetime of manners education for Aidyn led to a heart-melting moment. During a hastily-prepared dinner of eggs and sausage, Aidyn looked right into my eyes and said, without prompting of any sort, "Thanks for making dinner for us, Mom."

Rectangle CD's

While we were cleaning this morning Aidyn was listening to those Disney books-on-tape in her room. She came to let me know that it was time to change the tape and said, "Mommy, the story is done. I need a new rectangle cd."

Correctly Spelling "Food"

So I made the ladies breakfast this morning. Hot oats and buttery toast on a ridiculously cold Saturday morning hit the spot. After we ate, Aidyn came up to me and said "Yum Yum Yum. That spells food."

You Can't Eat Money

Aidyn and I have been reading through an old children's book called "Caps For Sale" for a bedtime story. After reading the book every night for a week and after Aidyn practically had the book memorized we stumbled across a rather interesting sentence. In the middle of the story there is a peddler who cannot sell any of his goods (caps). One day his sales are so bad that "he didn't have any money for lunch." Upon reading this line one night Aidyn says to me; "Hey he can't eat money!" It took me a second to see what she was talking about. So I explained that he had no money to buy lunch and not that he was going to eat his money for lunch (which of course he had none so now he couldn't eat lunch at all). There is something to be said about the literal thinking of toddlers.

Foster Baby

Having Hailie has been such a joy and Aidyn has done so well with her. Usually she is saying, "I'm a good big sister," "That's my baby sister," or just "That's my baby." But last week at church someone asked her, "Is that your baby?" and she replied, "No, that's our foster baby."

I Wish...

Learning how to use a new phrase is always fun. Aidyn's new one is "I wish..." and it can take many forms: "I wish I could have a cookie, " or "I wish I could watch a show." The best one though was on the last day we were in California after Uncle Dennis's wedding. Uncle Dan, Auntie Jen, and Addison had already left and we decided to take the kids into the hotel's hot tub for a little swim. While in there Aidyn announced, "I wish Addison could swim with us."

Tuesday

I've been trying to teach Aidyn some common responses to questions that adults ask.
1. How are you? "I'm fine thank you" (we're working on it, she's getting better at being consistent with this programmed respnse)
2. What is your name? "My name is Aidyn" (pretty good response)
3. What is your last name? "Aidyn Mingo" (apparently the whole thing is the last name because that's the only time she'll say it. I just want her to know it right now in case she gets lost.)
4. How old are you? "I'm two. I'll be three at my birthday." (that is ALWAYS the response...wonder what she'll say after she turns three!)
5. When is your birthday? This is the new question we've been working on and yesterday afternoon I tried to quiz her in front of Daddy. The desired response is February 25, but she just said, "Tuesday." We just cracked up laughing. How does she know anything about what Tuesday is?
She is so smart it scares me and sometimes I am absolutely shocked and humored by the things that come out of her mouth.

The Pirate Captain

Last week we were flying to California for my youngest brother's wedding. The airport was an experience for Aidyn. Not that she's never been in one before...she's just now old enough to notice things (like all the jets for example). She kept noticing the airport-wide PA announcements. When we got on the plane and the captain did the welcome announcement she asked, "Hey who sayed that?"
"That was the captain." I answered. "Do you know what the captain does?"
Aidyn swiftly answered, "Yeah, he's the pirate!"