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!