Can't Touch the Packages

We put up our Christmas tree a couple weeks ago and began placing packages underneath it almost immediately. The girls were given strict instructions not to touch the packages until Christmas, but of course they were very interested. I caught Aidyn playing near the gifts and noticed one on the floor quite a distance from under the tree where it belonged. I instructed her to put the gift back under the tree and she said, "But Mom...the package came out from under the tree and I can't put it back because I'm not allowed to touch the packages."
Oh yes, of course, how silly of me.

Surgery

Last night Aidyn informed me of her need for an emergent medical procedure.

Aidyn: "Mommy. I need surgery."
Me: "You do? Why?"
Aidyn: "Because the batteries in my arm are dead and I need to put in new ones."

A Case of the Goosebumps

Aidyn, running frantically into the kitchen as I was making dinner last week: "Mommy!! Mommy!! I have a case of the goosebumps!!"

Two More Sleeps

Aidyn counts down to every event based on how many sleeps there are. We've been counting since 28 sleeps until Christmas so she's really getting excited now that there are only 2 more sleeps left. I figure she's learning to count backwards so it's okay!

She's also been incessantly singing "This Is What Christmas Means to Me" by Tommy Walker ever since she sang it in front of church with her preschool group on December 13. The lyrics include the line, "There's a Savior born on Christmas day, born to take our sins take them all away."

As she was singing it earlier she realized what she was saying and excitedly asked, "Mom!! Is there only two more sleeps until the Savior is born?!"

Boring and Slow

Once again my child's music tastes are more sophisticated than my own. Thursday night as we were riding in the car I turned on the Christmas music station. Aidyn endured an entire song and a half before she piped up from the backseat, saying it slowly for me so I'd be able to understand: "Mommy. This. Christmas. Music. Is. Boring. And. Slow. Dash On is the best Christmas song ever." So not only is a Desperation Band song her favorite ever as I've blogged before, now T'was the Night Before Christmas by Family Force 5 is the best Christmas song ever. Check it out and see why she calls it "Dash On." You should see her dance to it!

Tattoon

Words that rhyme, apparently...

• cartoon: an animated tv show
• saloon: a western bar
• afternoon: the time between 12:00pm and about 5:00pm
• Saskatoon: a city in Saskatchewan, Canada
• cocoon: a scary movie or a butterfly incubator
• raccoon: nocturnal animal
• typhoon: the natural force that leaves my living room looking the way it currently does (wait, that's my kids)
• tattoon: Aidyn's word for body art

Kipcake

Aidyn made her very first snowman with her Daddy last week when we got our first big snowfall. She excitedly named him Kipcake Mingo Julia Faith Snowman.

Not sure where Kipcake came from, but they sure had fun!

No Hair

Aidyn has been quite self-conscious about her hair lately for some reason. I think it might have something to do with the fact that her curly locks get tangled so easily and she sees that Kassie's hair is silky straight and not so tangly. Both girls hate having their hair combed, but Aidyn a little more so. She mentioned recently that she wishes she had straight hair like Kassie. I absolutely love her curls and told her so, I also told her that God made her with curly hair and Kassie with straight hair and how cool is that?

Aidyn took the lesson to heart. Several days later she approached her Dad:
"Daddy. God made me with curly hair and Kassie with straight hair."
Then Kassie from the peanut gallery: "And He made you with no hair!"

I Don't See a Lump

Kassie [playing pretend at the dinner table]: "I have a baby in my tummy!"
Aidyn: "Nuh-uh! I don't see a lump!"

Are These For Real?

Last Sunday we were blessed by friends with free tickets to the Bethlehem Marketplace at a church near our house. The church sets up a very realistic recreation of Bethlehem complete with shops, music, and buildings to replicate the time of Jesus' birth. I was very humbled by my observation that in all the noise and business of the little town's recreation they had tucked the baby Jesus and his quiet parents in a back corner cave that you could literally have passed right by without even noticing.

We had explained to Aidyn that this wasn't the for-real Bethlehem and not the for-real baby Jesus and she seemed to understand. As we walked through the town we bought some grapes for the girls from one of the marketplace shops and as Aidyn looked down at her handful of grapes she asked earnestly, "Are these for real?"

Chicky-Lou Auntie

My sister Sarah has always just been "Auntie." Aidyn hasn't ever called her anything else and for a while she was the only Auntie she really remembered. Auntie calls the girls "Chicky-Lou" in a cute little teasing voice and the girls think she's wonderful. It helps that we've seen Auntie Sarah twice in the last 3 months and that half of Aidyn's clothes come from Auntie ("Who bought you that outfit? I't's so cute!"..."Auntie bought me this!")

She is realizing now that she has three Aunties not counting all of our very good friends that we simply refer to as "Auntie"and with family coming to town for Christmas from California, Minnesota and Florida she's been asking about her family that she doesn't get to see as often as we'd like. She's having a bit of trouble keeping "Auntie Jess" and "Auntie Jen" straight although she has very vivid memories of dancing with Papa at Auntie Jess' wedding. So we've been showing her lots of pictures and reminding her of everyone's place in the family: Auntie Jess is married to Uncle Dennis, remember we went to their wedding? Auntie Jen is Addison's mommy (she remembers her cousin perfectly!) and now they have a new baby Makenna, too! She is so excited to see family in a few days that she's not counting down to Christmas, she's only counting it as a day in between family visits.

The other night she showed that she is finally getting everything straight. I was telling her that I was talking to Auntie on the phone and she said, "Which Auntie? Chicky-Lou Auntie?"

Do You Have Mom for Christmas?

Ever the eavesdropper...

Me [to Donnie]: "Do you have Mom for Christmas?"
Donnie: "I think so."
Me: "Ok, she wants a calendar with all the kids' pictures."
Aidyn [emphatically]: "You can't have Mom for Christmas!"

The Monkey Class

A few months ago Aidyn had her first set of school pictures done. They were adorable. She had individual portraits taken and then a picture of both the classes that make up her K-3 class. When we got them we were asking Aidyn who all the kids in the picture were. There was an adorable little girl, who happened to be African-American, in the photo and Aidyn pointed to her and said, "Hey, is she a monkey?" I was horrified! "Who is teaching my child such slanderous racial slurs?" I thought. I was starting to get angry that some teachers at her school were teaching this to the kids.

It turns out that they give the classes names at the school so that 3-year olds can know with ease which class they are in. Aidyn's class is called the "Teddy Bears" and the other class is called the "Monkeys," the latter being the class to which that little girl belonged.

It is so funny how innocently ignorant children are at this age.

Thinking in the Past

Aidyn and I were talking the other day, I don't really remember what about, and she was telling me that she had to think about something for a long time. Her words: "I thinked, and I thinked, and I thook."

Growing

The other day at breakfast I asked Aidyn what makes us grow. She told me that it was "Sleep, drinks, and apple powder." She was drinking some cold apple cider and "apple powder" was as close as she could get to saying "apple cider."

Married

This morning Aidyn proudly announced to us that she was married. Tracy asked "What do you do when you are married?" Aidyn said, "You dance with the King." Okay?  Take that how you will.

Dear Aidyn, Love Mommy

Dear Aidyn,
I love you so much and I have really been noticing what a wonderful person you are. Specifically I have been watching you with Kassandra. Kassandra has changed dramatically from the little girl she was when she came to our house and I can take no credit because I know the true medicine for Kassandra's life was YOU. You are much too little to realize what a profound and life-changing difference you have made in her life and yet I think you do understand that you are helping her.
The way you supportively sit by while your mama holds another child who is sick and the way you comfort her by gently touching her little leg in my lap shows your wonderful compassion. I have been so impressed with your sharing with Kassandra what it's like to have a Daddy, like when you've said, "Oh, don't worry Kassie, Daddy always comes home," and "Daddy doesn't hurt you." I love how gently you correct her when she calls blue "green" or a square "a circle" and can truly see your teacher's heart. I love how you have helped Kassandra love church and praying and learning Bible verses and loving Jesus like you do. I love how you've shared your love for music--teaching her everything from the Alphabet Song to Light of Salvation--and your love for books--freely sharing even your most beloved volumes with her.
Although you still have trouble sharing your toys with Kassandra just as any three-year-old would, you have so generously shared your Mommy and Daddy with her and in this you have shared with her the best gift you could ever have shared. I have so enjoyed coming to this realization and wanted to share it with you here because I know that you do not yet understand. But someday I will tell you this in person and hopefully you will know that you have made a difference just by being wonderful you.
Love,
Mommy

Movie Theater

Lately we've been playing "Movie Theater" in the living room, complete with all the lights off and popcorn, candy, and soda! The kids love it and it gives us a chance to wind down as a family in the evening. Our first movie showing was Earth from Disney which, it turns out, is just the Planet Earth footage repackaged for kids without the graphic predator scenes. The girls liked watching "the movie about animal families" and Aidyn asked some good questions and made some good comments throughout. Here's a list of her thoughts on the movie:

• "Ohhhhhhh! Look at the snow waterfall!" (it was the ice cap home of the polar bears)
• "Does the baby reindeer cry?" (asked after seeing the scene of him being hunted by wolves)
• "Someone broke it!" (upon noticing a river through the ice)
• "Caterpillar's food is leaves." (this was right after the predator scene and I think she noticed it doesn't eat other animals)
• "What are the things that are mean to the little lion king? Oh yeah, hyenas." (not sure what made her think of this)
• "Do the animals cry in the big animals' bellies?" (another predator reference--this one is also a reference to the fable about The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids which we had just recently read)

I Am a Giant

Aidyn, at Perkins, playing with her food:
"I am a giant! Fe fi fo yum! My fruit is little yummy guys."

There's a Bee In There!!

After driving nine hours back from visiting Nana and Papa last weekend, Aidyn must have had some ringing in her ears for the first time in her life. She came out to the living room near tears and said, "That sound in my ear! There's a bee in there!"

These Toilets Are Not American?

Aidyn is terrified of the toilets that flush themselves. She is always scared that they're going to flush while she's still going potty, so she always checks before she will go on any public toilet whether it is self-flushing or not. Recently we were at a Perkins that had traditional toilets and she asked me, "Do these ones flush by themselves?" When I told her that they did not she replied, "These toilets are not American?" It took me a minute to understand what she meant but once I got it I replied (while trying to keep myself from laughing), "No honey, these toilets are not automatic."

Dotty Skin

Aidyn recently discovered that when she's cold some changes take place on her skin. "Daddy! My legs are all dotty!" If you think about it, dotty actually makes more sense than goosebumps.

I Remem--What's That Word?

Aidyn has such a wonderful grasp on the English language. Sometimes it cracks me up. This past weekend she was testing the difference between remembered and reminded. "Mom. You forgot to find my penguino* before bed. But I remem--what's that word? Oh yeah, I reminded you."


*Aidyn refers to her stuffed penguin in Spanish only. Who knows.

Not Come Hering

Aidyn sometimes gets upset when she tries to boss Kassandra around and Kassandra doesn't want to listen. A few days ago it was this: "Mooooooooommmmmmm, Kassie's not come hering!"

Birthday

Aidyn has learned her birthday and will proudly proclaim that it is "February twenty-fifth!" Followed almost immediately by: "Is it February yet?"

Cardboard Address

When we bought our dishwasher we turned the box into a little playhouse for the girls. A friend from work said that at one point when her kids were small she had a box like that in her living room for over a year so we'll have to see how long this one stays here.

Aidyn decided that the playhouse needed an address. Daddy helped:

D: "What should the number of the street address be?"
A: "Um...29."
D: "Ok, 29. And what is the name of the street?"
A: "Pretend Road."
D: "Ok. And what city is it in?"
A: "Um...Whole City."
D: "And what state is Whole City in?"
A: "California!"

So, written on the front of the makeshift playhouse (in crayon, no less) is the address of Aidyn's cardboard home: 29 Pretend Rd., Whole City, CA. Feel free to send her some mail...she just might get it.

Chicken Pock Pie

Two weeks ago I had a minor procedure done under sedation that pretty much put me out for an entire day. One of our wonderful friends graciously brought us some dinner to help make our day a lot easier and it happened to be one of our favorites--Aidyn refers to it as "chicken pock pie."

Jackie Hair

Aidyn has a friend named Jackie in her class at church. Jackie is an little African-American girl who is sooooooo cute. Aidyn was reminded of her the other day when I put her hair into pigtails and lifted her up to see herself in the bathroom mirror. "Oh!" she said. "That's my Jackie hair!"

Braille

The emergency instruction card on the MARC train from Baltimore to Washington D.C. (which Aidyn licked) was printed with braille.  Aidyn asked what the bumps were and I explained that they were braille and helped blind people be able to read.  I love how quietly she sits and soaks in new information!  Her ability to retain is also wonderful because on the return trip she picked up the instruction card again (and did not lick it this time) and proclaimed, "Braille helps people who can't see read!"

Stop Licking That!

During our visit to Washington D.C. today I found myself repeatedly telling Aidyn not to lick things.  Apparently our nation's capitol tastes great because today alone Aidyn licked:

1. the MARC public train window,

2. the emergency instruction card on the train,

3. the escalator handrail on the Metro subway,

4. the chain surrounding the Lincoln Memorial,

5. the elevator glass in the Washington Monument,

6. the table in the Smithsonian Cafe,

7. the guardrails and/or glass at too many exhibits to count or list,

8. the plastic pouch of the kangaroo model in the mammal area of the Museum of Natural History,

9. the mirror in the San Francisco-themed diner where we ate Philly cheesesteaks which was run by an oriental woman and a middle eastern man and had Jewish music playing (very cultural licking occurred here).

Ok.  Ew.  Hopefully that was all because that is SO gross.  Stop licking that.

Obama Checked Our Bags

Aidyn has only ever seen President Obama once or twice on television and although she knows that he's the president, she has no idea what he does or how important he is...obviously!

I told Aidyn that President Obama lives and works in Washington D.C. where we were visiting today. I told her this as we were walking to the Smithsonian Castle to visit the museums. As we entered the castle a man (who did not resemble Obama in the least...except for his skin color) inspected our bags before we were allowed in and Aidyn exclaimed, "Obama checked our bags!"

'Cause I'm Not Sixteen!

Auntie [teasing Aidyn as we got in the car]:  "You wanna drive?"

Aidyn [incredulously]: "NO!!"

Auntie: "Why not?"

Aidyn: "'Cause I'm not sixteen!"

Who knew that she knew how old you have to be to drive!?

B-I-N-G-O

I told Aidyn that the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. had a special bingo game that you could fill out as you saw each animal.  She was very excited and exclaimed, "A b-i-n-g-o bingo game???"  What a great connection with the song that she was able to make and remember the spelling of the word!

Taxiing

As we began our flight to Baltimore this weekend Aidyn was upset with the airplane because she wanted to fly and it kept "driving," as she called it.  I explained that the airplane can't take off here ("why mom?") because it can't just take off anywhere ("but why mom?") because it might hit the building if it takes off too close to the airport ("why mom?") because it needs to go out to the runway to take off ("why?") because that's the way airplanes are designed ("oh, I see").  Finally she asked what it's called when the airplane is driving and not flying yet and she learned a new word: taxiing.

Ending

This weekend we went to Baltimore to visit Auntie.  On the way here I was enjoying watching Aidyn soak in all the information at the airport.  One of the things in which she was very interested was the moving sidewalks at the airport.  She has also been very interested in new vocabulary words and the moving sidewalk gave her a chance to learn a new word.  As we came to the end of the sidewalk, the automated voice declared, "The moving sidewalk is ending."

Aidyn said, "Mom, what's ending mean?"  So, we had a great discussion about beginning and ending in the airport!

Broke the Log

Aidyn's doll must have been misbehaving.  I'm not sure exactly what she did, but she broke some ordinance and Aidyn pronounced, "She's in jail because she broke the log."

Bedtime Stalling

Aidyn's bedtime stalling has not been a recent development. I've blogged about it before here and here and here. Last night she tried again over an hour after she was put down for bed.

Aidyn [calling down from upstairs]: "Daddy? Daddy? Daddy?"
Daddy: "Yes, Aidyn?"
Aidyn: "Um. Well. Um. I have to tell you something."
Daddy: "What is it?"

Aidyn: "Um. Well. Did you know I'm not reading books anymore?"

Daddy: "Ok, Aidyn. Now get back in bed. Good night."

Then several minutes later...
Aidyn [calling down from upstairs]: "Daddy? Daddy? Daddy?"
Daddy: "Yes, Aidyn?"
Aidyn: "Um. Well. Um. I have to tell you something."
Daddy: "It better be really important because you're supposed to be sleeping."
Aidyn: "Um. Well. Um. Did you know that you didn't put the toilet paper back on the roll thingy?"
Daddy: "Yes, Aidyn. Now get back in bed or you'll be in trouble."

Red Peppers

After finding a piece of red bell pepper in her vegetable beef soup yesterday...

Aidyn: "Why are you starting me on hot peppers?"
Me: "They're not hot peppers, they're sweet peppers. Try one."
Aidyn [tries one]: "Oh, they're good. Thanks. They're not hot ones. You're not starting me on hot peppers."

Oh, I See

Our little girl is like a 30-year-old in a 3-year-old's body. (Well, actually she's in the 50th percentile for a 30 month old despite being 45 months old...she's in the less than 3rd percentile for her age, but hey...who's counting??) Recently she's been asking a lot more "why" questions and listens very intently to the answer, then responds, "Oh, I see." Such a big girl!

Wrenching and Screwdrivering

My parents are in town for the week and my dad is doing some handyman projects around the house for me. Aidyn has been singing, "Pappy the builder, can he fix it? Yes he can!" One of the projects was a much-needed dishwasher which he successfully installed last night. This morning the girls noticed the dishwasher and remembered that Pappy had put it in and Aidyn said, "Yeah! Pappy was hammering and wrenching and screwdrivering."

What Animal Eats Apples?

This morning at breakfast:

Aidyn: "Mommy, what animal eats apples?"
Me: "I'm not sure...maybe monkeys? Or birds?" Then I had an epiphany, "Oh, and horses. Horses like apples."
Aidyn: "Then I'm a horse!"

I guess she wanted apples for breakfast!

Half-Naked

This morning as I was dressing the girls for school I overheard this:
Aidyn: "You're naked!"
Kassie: "I'm not naked! I have underwear on!"
Aidyn: "Well, then you're half-naked."
Kassie: "Yeah. Half-naked."

I didn't even know Aidyn knew what half meant! Although technically she was more like 3/4 naked, so maybe the definition is still up in the air.

You're Ruining Our Pumpkins!

The girls went to a pumpkin patch last Thursday for a field trip with their preschool. After they chose their pumpkins and brought them home we decided to carve jack-o-lanterns with them. Aidyn was very excited to carve pumpkins, but it's obvious that she had no idea what the word carve actually meant. As Donnie began to cut the lid off the pumpkin, Aidyn said, "Daddy! You're ruining our pumpkins!" Later she also said, "Daddy! You're breaking the pumpkins!"

We're Just Dancing

Those two little girls that we have do NOT like to go to bed. They stall and fight it sometimes for hours. Tonight was no exception and as I went into their room to discipline them for the third time they were standing on their beds. They dived under their covers and acted innocently until I asked why they weren't sleeping. Aidyn said, "But Mommy, we're just dancing."
I calmly instructed them to stop dancing and go to sleep and then left their room laughing quietly to myself.

That Is a Good Answer

Mamie and Pappy arrived for a visit tonight and as I was putting the girls to bed Aidyn asked, "Are Mamie and Pappy going to be here when I wake up in the morning?" I let her know that they were and she happily replied, "That is a good answer!"

Stop, Drop, and Roll

Aidyn has learned about fire safety from some firefighters at school this month. One of the things they learned was about what to do if your clothes are on fire. Aidyn demonstrates quite hilariously: "First you stop [puts her arms straight out very dramatically], then you drop [literally flops to the floor face first], then you cover your face [covers her face], then you roll [rolls dramatically and rapidly back and forth across the floor]." You'd have to see it to get the full effect, but you get the idea, right?

What's Inside My Body?

Aidyn was watching television with me this week when she randomly piped up, "Mommy, what's inside my body?" We got out one of her children's encyclopedias and looked at all of the pictures of our insides. She was very interested and now routinely asks to look at "the inside of the body book."

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

Last night I heard Aidyn and Kassie talking together in the kitchen. Aidyn said, "When I grow up I want to be a doctor." Then she asked, "Kassie, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Kassie thought a minute then replied, "I want to be a patient."

Aidyn Spilled

Ok, so this isn't really Aidyn's words, but it's about her so I think I'll put it in here anyway. A few nights ago Aidyn was complaining of her stomach hurting before bed. I didn't really think much of it, although I should have because it's not like she says that kind of thing often. Not long after I put her to bed Kassie yelled down over the baby monitor in a very tattley, singsong voice: "Moooooommmmm, Aidyn spilled in my bed." Sure enough, strawberry-flavored vomit everywhere. And poor Aidyn sitting there wondering what she'd done to get tattled on about!

Random Question

Aidyn's deep question of the day:
"Mom, could a dog 'meow'?"

But We Can't Have Cereal

That's our girl. Always thinking ahead. This morning at breakfast:

Aidyn: "Mom, can you read us a story while we eat?"
Me: "Sure."
Aidyn: "But we can't have cereal."
Me: "Really? Why?"
Aidyn: [with a slightly exasperated tone..as in, 'don't you know anything, mom?'] "Because when we crunch it will be too loud and we won't be able to hear the story!"

Taking for a Long Time

Been meaning to blog this one for a while because it's so cute when she says it. Aidyn doesn't simply say, "You're taking a long time." She always adds an extra word and says it: "You're taking for a long time." I don't know why she adds that, but it sure is cute to hear her say it.

My Butt Doesn't Cover the Whole Potty

Aidyn is learning how to use the big potty without the little seat that snaps in to make the hole smaller. It's hard for her to balance on the big potty because she's so little but Kassie can do it, so she really wants to try. A few days ago she pointed out that she was using the big potty "the cool way" as she calls it and then said, "My butt doesn't cover the whole potty like yours does, Mommy. Because my butt is little but yours is big to cover the whole potty."
This isn't even the first time she's said I have a big butt, remember? Thanks, Aidyn.

Remember in the Supermarket?

Several weeks ago we began preparing Aidyn for a new foster placement. We had been told that Milwaukee county was overflowing with kids needing somewhere to go and we decided to start being open to Milwaukee placements. So, I asked Aidyn one day at the grocery store if it was ok for us to get another baby to stay at our house for a while and she said, "Yeah, but I want a sister." I said we'd see but that we were hoping for a baby boy. "Noooooooooo," she whined. "I want a sister." I let the matter drop and figured we'd get whatever we got.

Fast forward to last Thursday. We accepted a placement of one newborn boy, AJ, and his three-year-old sister, Kassie. That evening at bedtime Aidyn reminded me, "Remember in the supermarket? I told you I wanted a sister!"

Well, You See...

When Aidyn is having a tough time she will sometimes begin to pout. She knows she is only allowed to pout in her room, so she will immediately state, "I am NOT pouting, mom!" before I even have a chance to send her to her room. I try to ask her if she wants to talk about whatever is bothering her and she's getting better about talking about her feelings. The last few times we've had a heart-to-heart about her problems she begins the conversation with, "Well, you see..." Such a grown-up!

Do You Like Cake?

The other day we were trying to decide what to have for dinner and Aidyn was just trying to be helpful: "Do you like cake? I like cake. I will show you what we need to make cake." And off to the pantry she went!

Random Phrases

Here are some of Aidyn's random phrases from our house just today. This should give you a glimpse into a day spent with her. All of these occurred outside any discernible connected conversation:

• "I'm just going to put one sock on, okay. But not the other one."
• "Is it thirteen day? Because it's already been eight day, nine day, ten day, and eleven day. So is it thirteen day now?"
• "I'll be right back. I have to go tap dance."
• "I don't want to wear pants outside. I have shoes on, that's good enough, right?"
• "What does 'activity' mean?"
• "Do you want me to do bum dancing?"
• "Can I have one of those green beans?" (no green beans in sight...at least none I could see!)
• "I'm not pouting. I'm just sad."
• "I am a beautiful butterfly! But now I'm going to be a worm. See?"
• "Can I go to dancing after gymnastics?"
• "I wish we had a jack-in-the-box. But we don't, do we? Can we get a jack-in-the-box?"
• "Oh no! Some laundry fell in the basket, Mom. I won't fold them."
• "If some little kid doesn't know how, grown-ups help them."
• "'Wink' and 'blink' rhyme. You know why? They both have the 'wink' sound in them."
• "See? I do balleray dancing with these shoes."
• "I'll tell you what else. Do you know? It's a surprise! We have to drive, Mom. It's the park! Do you want to go to the park."
• "No, I'm talking about when. When. When! WHEN!!! Hey. 'When' kinda sounds like 'Wendy.'"

And so many more...

Use the Doorknob??

I blogged earlier about Aidyn's new favorite song. Today we were riding in the car and she wanted to listen to "Breaking the Doors Wide Open" as it is now affectionately known. As we were playing it, Aidyn contemplated out loud: "Shouldn't they just use the doorknob?"

Are We On the Sidewalk?

Tonight we went through the drive through at McDonald's to get Aidyn's favorite meal: chicken and fries. As we left the parking lot Aidyn asked for some fries in the car. It's hard to steer and pass food to the backseat, so I told her, "Let's wait until we get on the road."
"Ok," she said. "Are we on the sidewalk?"

Ice in Coke

Tonight we poured Aidyn some Coke out of the bottle and she was concerned that there might be ice in the Coke. She doesn't like ice in her drinks because she thinks it makes it too hard to drink without spilling. Donnie assured her that there was no ice in the bottle and said, "Do you know why?" He was all ready to explain that ice might melt in the bottle after the factory but Aidyn had her own ideas about why: "Because the hole is too small."

I Think of Mamie

Aidyn today, totally out of the blue: "Whenever I see Dora I think of Mamie." Okay...

The Good Part

Aidyn has a great memory for songs. I know I've blogged about this before, but I was reminded of it today in the car. She has been enjoying a song called Light of Salvation which she refers to as "The Making the Doors Wide Open Song" from the Desperation Band. I like it much better than any of the kids cds we own, so we play it a lot in the car. Today we were listening to it on the way to Box and Barnobles and she piped up from the backseat: "When are we going to get to the good part?"

I asked her which one was the good part and she replied, "The 'we have made a choice' part." Listen to the song and see if you can hear her good part.

Outside Inside

Aidyn was helping me fold laundry today. I use the term helping lightly since what she was actually doing was crumpling all her underwear into little balls and talking about how good she is at folding them. I just encouraged her and nodded along...she will learn how to fold properly soon enough and the undies are no big deal. One pair was giving her trouble though and she became frustrated, shouting, "It's outside inside!"

Ladders and Sadders

Aidyn has really been enjoying learning to play games. She is actually very good at taking turns and being happy for whomever wins. It's cute to see her spinning, rolling, and moving pieces on the board since we're really big board game people. Today, though, she wanted to play a new game: Ladders and Sadders. I learned that this is her name for Chutes and Ladders (and it makes sense if you think about it!).

Pete After Me

Overheard at the dinner table tonight: "Daddy, pete after me this song. Happy day..."
Daddy: "Happy day..."
Aidyn: "Flip it over..."
Daddy: "Flip it over..."

Not Funny Ha-Ha

On the way to the doctor's office today to have a look at Aidyn's swollen eye she piped up from the backseat: "That was funny. But not funny ha-ha, funny weird." I laughed and had to ask where she'd gotten that from and she matter-of-factly replied: "Backyardigans." Who says you can't learn anything from tv!?

Box and Barnobles

So...you know you shop at a certain place too often when your child tries discussing the place with you. Recently a new Target was built near us and Aidyn refers to it as "the new cart store" or "the red dot store." Tonight though she wanted to talk about "Box and Barnobles" which I can only assume to be the infamous bookstore!

Tip of Your Tongue

"Do you know what you taste on the tip of your tongue?" Aidyn asked after her second day of preschool last week. Do you know? Because I didn't. But she does: "Sweet things, like candy," she announced.

I Didn't Like When You Laughed

Aidyn does not understand when we laugh at her cute antics. If you've been reading this blog very long you know how hard it is not to laugh when she says this stuff. Lately she's been folding her arms and putting her head down when we giggle. I ask her what's wrong and she just says, "I didn't like when you laughed." We've been trying to help her understand the difference between laughing at her and laughing because she's cute but she doesn't get it. Poor thing...hopefully she'll figure it out soon because I don't think we'll be able to help ourselves!

You Wanna Piece of Me?

While staying with Nana and Papa this summer Aidyn was telling Papa how Daddy likes to tickle and wrestle with her. Papa taught her a new thing to say when Daddy tries to wrestle and Aidyn showed us when we got back from Poland. She rubs each side of her nose with her little thumbs and says, "You wanna piece of me!?"

Skeetos

Aidyn's awesome babysitters bought her a Mountain Dew Slushie and a bag of Skittles at the gas station today. I'm surprised she was able to nap after all that sugar!! After she woke up she was asking for "just a few more Skeetos." I had no idea what she was asking for until she showed me the red bag on the table and held out her hand.

Bowtizing

Today we went to the church picnic at Phantom Ranch for the annual baptisms in the lake. It was really cool to see everyone get baptized and Aidyn was very interested in the whole process, especially since Donnie was doing some of the baptizing. She was intently watching her Daddy dunk people under the water and she asked, "Why is he doing that?" I explained that it's because Jesus asks us to and we obey Him and it shows people that we love Jesus and want to follow him. She seemed satisfied with that answer and then said, "I like watching Daddy bowtizing all those people!"

Butterfly Wings

On Wednesday Aidyn decided she wanted to wear her butterfly wings to visit her prospective new preschool. I didn't really mind, I guess, but I was curious to know why she wanted to wear them. I asked her and she replied, "So that everyone will see me and think I look beautiful."
How could you refuse that?? So, I let her wear them.
On the walk from the van around the school to get a good look we passed a lady who smiled at my little butterfly and said, "Ohhhhh. Don't you look pretty?!"
Aidyn just looked up at me and said, "See Mom! I told you!"

Flashback

A few months ago I painted Aidyn's nails. She came into my room in the evening that day as I was lying down to nap before work to "tuck me in" and I asked her to turn off the light. She huffed indignantly and put her tiny hands on her hips and said, "But then I won't be able to see my pretty nails!"

Z-O-O

Aidyn is learning about spelling. She's known for quite a while how to spell her name, but this past week she learned how to spell zoo. It's very cute as she recites, "z-o-o" so proudly!

Who's Bill?

This morning as I was paying a few bills Aidyn asked what I was doing. I told her I was paying bills and she asked, "Who's Bill?" I tried explaining that bills are the money we pay for electricity and phone and stuff, but she just kept repeating, "But who is Bill?"

Serious Weeding

Aidyn came out of the house two days ago and took one look at our flower bed in the front, shook her little blonde head and proclaimed in her most serious voice, "Daddy needs to do some serious weeding."

Each of Our Eyes Are Stuck to Us

I love to listen to Aidyn sing! Sometimes she gets songs stuck in her head which I find hilarious...she's only 3!! The other day she had "Hey Diddle Diddle" stuck in her head and we got to hear her sing it about 25 times on the way to dinner at Chili's.

One of the cd's she really likes is called...well, I don't know what it's called because Aidyn just refers to it as "the shine shine songs." She likes to listen to shine shine songs at bedtime and sometimes they get stuck in her head the next day. Last weekend she was singing one of the songs from that cd which goes:

"God loves us so much
That He gave His only Son
To come and save us
Each and every one
And if we believe in Him
We'll have live that never ends
This is how God shows His love."

One of the 20 times she sang it through she stopped after "each and every one" and asked me, "Mom. What does 'each' mean?" Now, for just a second, try to explain the word "each" in language a three-year-old will understand. It's hard!

So I answered, "Well, um...it means like every one...um...or like individual ones...um..."

And then she rescued me: "Like, 'Each of our eyes are stuck to us.'?"

All I could do was laugh and say, "Yep. Each of our eyes are stuck to us."

We Need to Show That to Daddy!

Last week at dinner Aidyn was talking about a movie she likes, Veggie Tales' "Rack, Shack, and Benny" which is loosely based around the story of the faithful Hebrew friends who were thrown into the fiery furnace in Daniel 1-3. She was pointing out one particular part of the movie and said, "Remember that part, Daddy?"

"I haven't seen that one," he said.

Aidyn looked from him to me incredulously and said, "We need to show that to Daddy!"

I Don't Think It Worked

Aidyn loves her Daddy. A lot. She has always adored him and is only now starting to come around to the idea that she has two parents to love. No, seriously! On Tuesday she demonstrated that she is still Daddy's Girl. He was at work and we were home together just hanging out when I informed Daddy's Girl that it was time for a nap. She began crying for her Daddy (I think just to stall on the nap a few minutes longer) and I calmly informed her that Daddy would be home in a little while, after her nap. She eventually settled down and took a good long nap.

When she woke up she came down the stairs with Hailie Bunny in tow and looked around the downstairs. Then, very dejectedly, she came and stood before me saying, "I don't think it worked."

"Don't think what worked?" I replied.

"My nap didn't work. Daddy's not here."

My Butt Burped

Plagued by an episode of gas, Aidyn complained, "Excuse me. My butt burped."

He Died

Today I was a little worried that I was going to have to try to discuss death with Aidyn. Recently we watched the movie Faith Like Potatoes and Aidyn happened to come into the room just as a little boy falls off a tractor and is crushed by the wheel. She commented that there was a lot of "jelly" on the boy's face and on the ground and wasn't sure what to think when the doctor said it was "too late." They never actually said that the boy was dead, so I'm not sure that she made the connection when he didn't show up in any more scenes.

Today she was playing with her guys in the kitchen and the daddy fell off the back of the chair she was playing on. As he hit the ground she said, "He died." I was already trying to plan what I would say if she asked me anything about death but she just continued, "He needs new batteries."

Where Did It Go?

At the museum today Aidyn was fascinated with the coin-spinning vortex bank thing. You know, where you put the coin in the slot and watch it spin around and around? Matter of fact, the coin vortex and the escalator were probably her favorite exhibits. The first time she put a coin in and watched it she was very surprised when it disappeared and actually bent down to try to look underneath and see where it went, exclaiming, "Where did it go!?"

This Reminds Me...

Today at the museum after we went to the Planetarium we were walking down the stairs and Aidyn said, "These stairs remind me of different stairs as ours." I just thought it was funny that she even knows what "this reminds me" means!

I Hear a Macaw

I'm not going to lie. This kind of freaks me out. But those of you who know Donnie really well will probably just agree that this is some kind of weird genetic thing.

Today we went to the Milwaukee Public Museum. Aidyn was very excited to go in the rainforest area after lunch and she really enjoyed seeing the fountain and the big trees that they have in there. The museum has ambient sounds that they play in every area and the rainforest part is no different. The sound loop includes lots of different bird sounds and at one point Aidyn exclaimed, "I hear a macaw!" Sure enough, right above us on the ledge was the macaw exhibit. I have no explanation except maybe genetics and Diego.

Consequences and Considerate

For all of those who still somewhat disbelieve that these are Aidyn's actual words, here are her two newest ones, both four syllables.

A few weeks ago Aidyn was behaving terribly in the store and we were forced to put back something we had planned to buy her. She learned the meaning of the word consequences that day and the lesson has stuck. She understands that there are both good and bad consequences and frequently discusses which one she plans to get based on a desired action.

This past week while Nana and Papa have been visiting they've taught her about the word considerate and it's meaning. Aidyn has always been very polite (under threat of pain :-) and she now understands that being considerate is part of being polite and learning to live with other people. She is not perfect by any means, but having words to go to in some of the more difficult times with her really helps her stop and think about her actions. Are you being considerate? and Will there be good consequences or bad ones? have been some of our best questions lately to help her make good decisions.

Chocolate Ones!!??

Saturday evening I announced that I would make brownies while everyone else went to church. It's ok...I went on Sunday :-) Aidyn was very excited about my forthcoming baking venture and excitedly asked, "Brownies??!!"

"Yep," I replied.

Her excited response: "Chocolate ones!!??"

Stylin'

Aidyn wore a really cute black dress with white designs and black leggings to church today. She picked out a black headband and her shiny black shoes as accessories and I grabbed her sunglasses on the way out the door. When I picked her up from her Sunday School class, she was wearing only the dress and leggings (I'm probably lucky she still had those on) and the rest, including her socks and shoes, was in a pile near the door. After I redressed her, we left to lunch and she put her sunglasses on proclaiming, "I'm stylin'!"

Motorcycles

Aidyn [arriving at church and seeing the motorcycles lined up in the parking lot]: "Mama. Do you see those motorcycles?"

Me: "Yeah, Baby."

Aidyn: "When I get big I'm going to get a motorcycle to ride. And I'll ride in the front and you'll ride in the back."

Me [supressing the desire to scream]: "But you'll wear a helmet, right?"

Aidyn: "Yeah! A red one! And what color helmet do you want?"

Me [almost losing control over that scream]: "Blue, I guess."

Aidyn: "Ok, cool."

Me [praying silently]: Lord, help me in 13 more years.

Why Is the Moon Following Us?

Donnie tells lots of stories about the funny questions he would ask as a very inquisitive little boy. Today I got to hear Donnie's dad speak at church and he highlighted one specific question that has come through the generations.

Don Mingo, age 5, while driving with his mom at night: "Why is the moon following us?"
Donnie Mingo, age 4, while driving with his dad at night: "Why does the moon follow us?"
Aidyn Mingo, just last week, while driving with her mom at night: "Why does the moon look like it is following us?"

What a hilarious coincidence that all three generations have asked this astronomical question with such earnestness. Many people in the church service then came to me asking, "Did she really ask that?" (as if my father-in-law lied throughout his sermon...:-) and I confirmed the story. Aidyn is such a verbally intelligent child, I look forward to the next several years as she gains more understanding to match her vocabulary.

Flashback and Mayonnaisey

I have posted before about Aidyn's ability to add -y to the end of any word to describe what she's talking about. I thought that I had also blogged about her ideas about how soda tastes, but apparantly I had not. The first time Aidyn had soda she was just around 2 (yes...I am a bad mama, I know). She described it very eloquently: "It tickles my throat and makes my mouth hot."

Last night she upped the ante: "Pepsi is very mayonnaisey." We're not sure exactly what the idea is behind this statement, but knowing Aidyn we're sure it has some deep philosophical meaning.

Riddle

Aidyn in the bathtub the other night:

"Ok, Mama. Here's a riddle. What says 'boom, boom,' and has four legs, and [looking around the bathroom] a towel?"
"I don't know, Baby. What What says 'boom, boom,' and has four legs, and a towel?"
"I don't know Mama. That's why it's a riddle!"

Right Behind Cinderella

I have always been so thankful that Aidyn has the vocabulary to tell me what's wrong, even at this tiny age. She is very articulate about it, too. Just a few days ago she was describing how her ear hurt "way down deep inside." That's pretty precise and very helpful from a parenting standpoint!

The best example of this was from two nights ago. Aidyn had on a Disney Princesses t-shirt (that if you know me well was only on her because we didn't have any other clean clothes around) and was complaining of a tummy ache. I asked her to show me where it hurt and she pointed to her stomach saying, "Right here. Right behind Cinderella."

First Day of School

Today was Aidyn's first official day of school (yes, I know it's only May and it's a Saturday, but we haven't taught her the calendar yet so we're good!). She really enjoyed using all of her new school supplies (scissors, glue stick, crayons, pointing finger, pencils) and made an art project for the first page of her school file that she entitled: "The Boat" (I guess if you squint really hard....)

Here are a few pics of her first day:

Writing her name with the big pencil.

Using scissors with such small hands is really hard!! (She is so patient and only asks for help when she's tried hard to make it work herself. We will practice lots with scissors!)



I think the glue stick was probably her favorite part. I love how intently she works on a project.

We worked on this "practice" project and learned about the light and darkness that God created on the first day. She made the first page of a creation book by coloring half the page with a black crayon and the other half with a white crayon (she didn't think that one worked too well :-). She got to glue on a big number "1" and a sentence about God creating the light and the darkness. Over two hours later as I type this post she remembers what God created on the first day ("The dark and the light") and the first two verses of the creation song we're learning this week (she seriously remembers it better than I do...hmmm...maybe Mommy needs preschool??).

We had a great time and I'm looking forward to these times with her over the next days, weeks, months, years...who knows??!! What have I gotten myself into?? LOL!

It's Too Hard To Be A Kid

I don't remember what she wasn't allowed to do, but Aidyn came up with a sentence to voice her frustrations, complete with the stomping of feet and folding of arms typical of other three-year-olds: "It's too hard to be a kid!"

Don't Worry, I'll Help You

I've been really sick for the past 2 weeks with a terrible migraine that I couldn't shake. I tried several medicines, endured a spinal tap, and have now won myself an appointment with neurology but I'm only just now feeling well enough to read the computer screen.

At the beginning of my headache quest Aidyn was wanting to play with me. I was sitting on the couch and she was pleading with me to get up and play some active game but I just couldn't. "Mommy is stuck on the couch, Baby," I told her.

Her thoughtful response as she tried to pull me up by the arm: "Don't worry. I'll help you!"

Eating Pink Hearts

Aidyn got to choose the breakfast cereal at the grocery store with Nana last week and she chose Chocolate Lucky Charms (What!!?? There isn't NEARLY enough sugar in Lucky Charms...we must IMMEDATELY add chocolate!!). While snacking on a bowl of them she found one of the marshmallows.

Aidyn [holding up the marshmallow for identification]: What's this, Mom?
Me: A pink heart, I think.
Aidyn: But we don't eat pink hearts for real, do we?
Me: No, not for real.
Aidyn [popping it into her mouth]: Ok, good.

Daddy! Get Me Hided!

Aidyn plays a wonderful type of Hide and Seek which usually amounts to her hiding under a blanket. This past week she really needed some help getting under the blanket when Nana was looking for her and excitedly asked for some help: "Daddy! Get me hided!"

The Lord's Breakfast

I've decided that I need to bring Aidyn's classical art education up to speed. This past week while visiting Nana and Papa's house she discovered a wooden representation of The Last Supper and pronounced: "Look! The Lord's Breakfast!"

Is This How You Spell "Nana"?

Aidyn has learned to spell her name and has started wondering about the spelling of other people's names. This morning she came out of the kitchen carrying a handful of random magnetic letters from the fridge and asked, "Mama--is this how you spell Nana?"
I answered, "Nana is n-a-n-a."
She turned around repeating to herself, "N-a-n-a. N-a-n-a," and went back to the fridge. A few moments later she called out, "Mama--we don't have all those letters!"
I guess I'll need to go buy another couple sets of fridge letters for her spelling practice.

No School for You

Aidyn's incentive for potty training is getting to go to school. I know that doesn't sound like such a great incentive, but for her it is. She is so excited to be a big girl and go to school that it has actually been a good reminder for her when she has an accident. I have never held it over her head at all, unlike the way she used it with me this past week. I did something she didn't like (I can't remember what now) and she pointed one little finger at me and shouted, "No school for you!"

Things Happen

Hailie has moved to her new family. We were very blessed to have her with us for these past few months and Aidyn was so proud to be a big sister. We softened the grief just a little bit by giving goodbye presents to the girls including matching stuffed bunnies. Aidyn named hers "Hailie Bunny" and now carries her pretty much everywhere. We had been preparing Aidyn for the time Hailie would leave right from the very beginning, so Aidyn was pretty ready for the day when Hailie would go live with her Forever Family.

The week Hailie left we spent a little extra time preparing Aidyn. One of the days Donnie asked her, "Are you going to miss Hailie when she goes to live with her Forever Family?"
Aidyn replied, "Yeah, but we'll get another baby."
Donnie told her that it might be a while before that would happen and asked her if she'd be okay with that. Aidyn's adorable response: "Well....things happen."

Let's Hear a Bible Story

"I'm Miss Jodi and we're going to hear a Bible Story," is the new theme of pretend time. Miss Jodi is her Sunday school teacher and is apparantly making a great impact. I love listening to her "Bible stories" even though the one this morning was about Winnie the Pooh going grocery shopping. I guess I just wasn't aware that was in the Bible. Here's the dictation from this evening's Bible story:

"Winnie the Pooh story: One day saw an empty jar, the end. There's nobody in there."

I Don't Know Where My Legs Are Taking Me

Sunday at church Aidyn made a craft and she was very excited to show it to me. We were walking down the hallway after I picked her up from her class and I was looking at the purple and pink cross she made with flowers all over it (such a girly girl!!). I handed it back to her and she immediately handed it back saying, "Can you hold this because I don't know where my legs are taking me."

Resurrection Reading

This morning Aidyn and I read all four accounts of Jesus' resurrection from the Gospels together (Donnie was already at church for the services) and she listened very attentively to each one. Every time one of the people said, "He is...," I would pause and let her say, "Risen!" It was so sweet to hear her help me read the Bible!

I didn't give any commentary or explanation, but I'm sure they have been learning the resurrection story in Sunday school over the last few weeks and I wondered what Aidyn had picked up. After the reading, I asked Aidyn: "What did you like best about the stories?"
She answered: "Well, I didn't like the part where the mean guys put Jesus in the different kind of cage. But I really liked when the angels came and helped him get out!"

Jesus is risen! Happy Resurrection Sunday to you all!

Well I'll Just Text You Then!

I am starting to believe that the "terrible threes" will be much worse than the "terrible twos" that we didn't have too much of. Aidyn has such a little attitude and can really be whiny and angry when she doesn't get her own way. Whoever said that man is basically good obviously never had a preschooler.

Case in point from this afternoon. Aidyn and I were playing telephone. She would pretend to dial me up and I would answer. We'd have a short conversation, hang up, and repeat (over and over!). We played this for about 15 minutes and I finally decided to stop the game. So I let her know that I wasn't really feeling like playing telephone anymore. She stomped her feet and said, "Well I'll just text you then!"

My Voice Doesn't Work Down Here

Aidyn has been struggling with, well, being a preschooler. She has had some several weeks of consistent disobedience in the evenings after we pick her up from the babysitter's and I think she's just trying to figure out how to transition her day. But, my philosophy of child development aside, here's what happened today.

After her time out this afternoon for disobeying Daddy, he went over to talk to her about it. He told her that we don't disobey and she said "Yes, Daddy," and they hugged and everything was all good. Then Aidyn said, "Daddy I need to tell you something. I need to tell you in my room." Donnie answered that he didn't really want to go upstairs right now and that she could just tell us right down here. Then she said, "But my voice doesn't work down here. It only works in my room." When he laughingly said, "That sounds like a problem," she responded, "Yeah, it's breaking into little pieces."

(And as an aside...Aidyn is sitting here while we talk about blogging this story and she keeps saying, "Yeah, that's what I said!" Donnie asked her if we had left out any parts and she said, "Yeah. You have problems.")

It Makes Jesus and God Sad

I don't even remember what it was about because we've waited too long to blog this, but a few weeks ago Donnie said something to me at dinner that Aidyn must not have liked (and just for the record, I'm sure it wasn't something mean enough to elicit this response from Aidyn). "Don't say that to Mommy, " she said. Donnie asked her why and she said, "Jesus wants us to be kind." When he said, "That's very true.," Aidyn replied, "It makes Jesus and God sad and then they go to their homes."

Aidyn: The Musical

Donnie has said many times that living with Aidyn is like living in a permanent musical. She will randomly burst into song, even singing her sentences ("Mooooommmmmmy, I nee-eeed a dri-nk!") or sometimes singing songs I didn't even think she knew, like from Sanctus Real the other day and perfectly on pitch: "Whatever you're doing inside of me, it feels like chaos but I believe." Today in the grocery store I had quite the backstage show at her life musical.

As we walked into the store she saw the display of balloons and noticed that one of them was a star. "Twinkle twinkle little star..."
Then we walked past the cakes near the bakery. "Happy birthday to you...."
Then past the cereal aisle where they had the Alphabits cereal. "A, B, C, D, E, F, G...."
Then I grabbed a block of cheese and she was playing with it between her hands like a gate and began singing again. "London Bridge is falling down.."
Then as we were checking out she smiled and said, "That was a great song, Mom."

I Am NOT Captain Hook

Aidyn is such a chatterbox (wonder where she got that from!) and will do anything to bust into a conversation. We are trying to teach her to interrupt politely with "Excuse me, Mommy and Daddy" but it doesn't always work fast enough for her. A few weeks ago at dinner she really wanted to enter the conversation we were having, probably about some mundane adult topic, and she decided to get creative. She waited for a natural break in the conversation and then randomly shouted, "I am NOT Captain Hook!!" She definitely got our attention!

Jesus' Ears

Aidyn has now started going to the three-year-old class at church and I've been impressed by how different it is from the toddler nursery. They actually have a lesson and a memory verse then a paper to color that has extra ideas to reinforce the lesson throughout the week. It's also exciting because now she gets to sing on stage with the other preschoolers at the Palm Sunday services. We bought the cd's from church that have all the cool Sunday School songs they sing (whatever happened to "Jesus Loves Me?") and we've been listening to them in the car so she can learn the songs really well for her little concert. One of the songs is her favorite about how Jesus hears when we pray and we can talk to him anywhere, anytime. The song is called "Jesus Hears," but Aidyn insists that it is "the Jesus' ears song."

I Am a Clo

One of the few memories I have from when I was a little girl is the time I asked my mom why the singular of "clothes" isn't "clo." It made total sense to my nine or ten-year-old mind and is the reason I laughed hysterically when Aidyn said this at TJ Maxx this past week:

Me: "Aidyn, come on. It's time to check out."
Aidyn [hiding in the clothes rack]: "I can't Mommy, I am a clo."

Interview With Aidyn

I hope to do this interview with Aidyn every year around her birthday. I think these interview questions were influenced a bit by the fact that my mom and dad just got us a Wii last week and she's had fun playing it with me lately, but I really enjoyed hearing her answers (some right on and some I have no idea what she was even trying to say). I typed her exact answers...

1. What is something mommy always says to you? You said no, you said obey, and you said we have to do something
2. What makes mommy happy? When I obey
3. What makes mommy sad? When I disobey
4. How does your mommy make you laugh? For saying silly words
5. What was your mommy like when she was a little girl? You were like mommy or Aidyn or Hailie, I think like me when I was a big girl and I can talk like a big girl
6. How old is your mommy? Mommy is 28 (wow...I didn't think she knew that)
7. How tall is your mommy? Big and like this big [stretching arms]
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Play with me
9. What does your mommy do when you're not around? Work and watch Diego
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? For remote controls
11. What is your mommy really good at? Doing the wii
12. What is your mommy not very good at? Doing something like doing those things
13. What does your mommy do for her job? You help people who are sick
14. What is your mommy's favorite food? Cheesy noodles, no, not cheesy noodles--cheesy noodles
15. What makes you proud of your mommy? Like running, no like when I don't disobey like that
16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be? Your wii guy or the mommy
17. What do you and your mommy do together? Play wii
18. How are you and your mommy the same? I am white and you are blue
19. How are you and your mommy different? Like this [makes popping noises with her mouth]
20. How do you know your mommy loves you? Like cuddling

Tears

This morning Aidyn woke up very early, so I got up early too so that everyone else could stay asleep another few hours. Her tear ducts have been blocked since birth and still occasionally get blocked in the morning although there has been enough improvement in them that we are not too eager to have surgery to fix them. So, she will sometimes have tears running down her cheeks even if she isn't sad--people are always asking her, "Why are you crying?" I wonder if she gets as annoyed as I do about it?

Anyway, as I wiped the tears from her face this morning she said, "That's just water. It protects my eyes so I can see better." (No kidding, her exact words. Why am I even surprised by this stuff anymore?)

Just So You Know

Sometimes it is so hard to discipline Aidyn without laughing out loud at her antics or at the things she says. Yesterday gave a perfect example:

Aidyn had already been told not to squish the leftover birthday cake through the plastic wrap. I know it's tempting because it feels really cool to squish it like that with your hand, but we had already had this discussion a couple of times. In a moment of trying to get a project done with my mom while she's here neither of us were paying attention. I hear from right next to me near the cake, "Mom. Just so you know, I'm doing it." I look over to find a little hand squished down into the cake and a little girl with a guilty look on her face. I immediately sent her to the steps for a time out...so I could have a laugh!

Horseded Around

A couple days ago Aidyn was roughhousing with her daddy on the living room floor. Usually he is very careful with her and she really loves this time wrestling with him. This time there was an accident. Aidyn lost her balance and fell backward, slamming her head into the tv stand making a sickening sound as it hit. She immediately began crying and went to her daddy for comfort. He checked her head and saw just a small cut and went immediately for some Motrin and an ice pack. She ended up getting a big bump on the back of her head, but was really fine as far as head injuries go.
The next morning I asked her, "How's your head today?"
She replied, "Daddy horseded around too much with me and I hit my head and got an owie."--in other words, she was just fine :-)

My Toes Are Sick

Aidyn loves to be massaged. A couple of months ago she started a new game called "The Rub My Skin Game" that is only properly played if we massage on her skin and sometimes for as long as thirty minutes! On Tuesday she took the game to a whole new level.
While playing with my mom on the couch she lay down and asked for a back rub, on the skin of course. Then she switched gears to playing doctor and asked for Mamie to check her heart by placing her ear on Aidyn's belly. Aidyn would even say that Mamie was the doctor, Aidyn was the patient, and Mommy was the lollipop. I was just glad to be part of the game, I guess. Finally she put her feet in Mamie's lap and signalled for them to be rubbed (usually she pushes her foot not-so-gently into your hand as a signal), saying, "My toes are sick Mamie." I think Mamie medicated them well with her toe massage!

Birthday

Aidyn turned three today! Hard to believe, right? Well, it's an exciting thing for the birthday girl and this morning when she came downstairs with her sleepy eyes and bed head Daddy was already gone to work so he could take a short day and be home for birthday celebrations. My mom and I began singing "Happy Birthday" to her and her little eyes welled up with tears. She got a true sad little poochie lip and began to cry. We asked what was wrong and she said, "But we can't have my birthday without my daddy." Needless to say, she was very happy to see him home early from work!

Beautiful Day

I think we are finally getting somewhere on the potty training. Aidyn has been dry and clean the whole day in her princess undies and is pretty excited about it. She exclaimed, "Today is a beautiful day to go potty!"

I Got This

Overheard while Aidyn was brushing her teeth...
Daddy: "Want some help?"
Aidyn: "No. I got this."

Good Fixer-Guy

My mom and dad are here for a week to celebrate Aidyn's birthday. My dad is our personal handyman and always does a bunch of little repair jobs around our house when he visits. This time he successfully installed bookshelves in Aidyn's room that I had been unable to put up (despite a dozen holes in the wall!). Aidyn saw them and was very impressed. She said, "Pappy is a good fixer-guy!"

Valentine's Day

Today I bought Aidyn and Tracy a Valentine's Day rose. When I got home I explained to Aidyn every year there is a special day where everyone tells everyone they love that they love them. Then I told Aidyn I loved her and gave a longstemed (de-thorned) white rose. She looked at it with a great smile and then looked at me and said "Oh daddy that's good."

Melted my heart right out of my chest. That $4 was soooo worth it.

There's something in my leg

So we had a big breakthrough a few nights back concerning potty training. It was about 9pm and I heard Aidyn banging around upstairs. I went up to put her back to bed when I found her on her potty chair. She had, all by herself, removed her pajamas and her pull-up and was sitting on the potty. After we both shared a mini victory Aidyn started absent-mindedly feeling her leg when all of the sudden,
"Daddy! Dhere's somefing in my leg!"
"What?"
"Look I got somefing in my leg. Look!"

Then I noticed she was touching her ankle bone on the inside of her left foot. Well.....yes. Technically that is something that is in your leg.

President Obama

Aidyn and I watched the Inaguration together a couple of weeks ago and talked a little bit about President Obama and what his job is as President of our country. I was sure at the time that she had absolutely no clue what I was talking about, but it has been my practice ever since she was born to just keep talking to her even if I felt the topic was way above her head. I have been surprised before, but this time was blog-worthy.
This afternoon while we were eating lunch, Donnie and I were discussing a newspaper article about Cuba and how it related to Obama. Aidyn, eager to join the conversation as always, piped up: "Oh, yeah, President Obama, he's the new one. What does the President do?"
Donnie said, "He is in charge of our whole country and he's our leader. He has a big job."
"Yeah," she replied. "I know. President Obama plays music for all the people."

Eyebrows

Aidyn is getting better at facial expressions and it's very cute to see her express herself that way. Today she showed that she also has a pretty good understanding of the expressions she's learning to make. I overheard:
"Look, Dad. See my eyebrows are down so I must be sad."

Flashback: thank you's

Tonight at dinner, after Aidyn asked if she could be excused from the table, I remembered how Aidyn used to think that you had to add that to any polite phrase asking for something. It wasn't long after she turned two but it kinda went like this:

"Please milk and bescused from the table."

Pray-stalling

Aidyn has turned her bed-time stall tactics spiritual. Usually its "I'm still hungry" or "I'm thirsty" One night after our bed time routine (bedtime story, feed the fish, pray, and then hugs and kisses) Aidyn grabbed my hand.
"Do like this with your hands daddy." she said, instructing me to hold my hands prayerfully.
"I just want to pray with you for a little while."

I smiled, lovingly I kissed her on her forehead, and told her goodnite.

I can handle it

Last week I took the ladies out to lunch/ early dinner at Olive Garden. When it came time for dessert I decided that I would share mine with Aidyn. So I showed Aidyn the dessert menu and asked what she wanted for dessert. She said "chocolate." (A girl after my own heart.) I showed her all the chocolate stuff they had and she picked the chocolate mousse cake (or something like that.)
So Aidyn and I started diggin in. After about half of the cake Tracy cautioned me about letting Aidyn have too much of a very rich cake. Aidyn asserted "I can handle it" and then took another big bite.

Potty training? Phhhtt!

I'm sitting here checking my facebook and Aidyn comes over to me and says "Daddy I pooped. And I have pee pee in my diaper."
"Okay", I said, "do you need a diaper change?"
"I still have some poop to do dad" she says.

So if that is any indication as to how potty training is going....yeah.

Mad-lion and the Bass

Lately I have decided to stop feeling guilty about how much tv Aidyn watches. She really doesn't just sit around watching it all day or anything, but I definitely don't always keep to the one hour or less per day guideline that I've seen for preschoolers. The fact is that she has learned more from Dora, Little Einsteins, Jack's Big Music Show, and lots of other shows than I ever expected. The other day I was flipping through channels and we saw a jazz band playing on PBS. Aidyn points at one of the band members and said, "Look! He's playing the bass!" She will often ask to be played like a guitar (strumming on her belly), or like a drum (patting her back), or a piano (tickling the ivories on her ribs), or a tambourine (shaking her all over). I think it's great that she's learning a lot of things that we don't necessarily have a lot of interaction with. She's learning to make connections between related concepts, too. She loves the book Madeline and recently the characters on the show Toot and Puddle visited Paris. She said, "Look! It's Paris, just like in Mad-lion!"

Did You Fart?

Sometimes Aidyn just cracks me up. Today she was playing with her guys and accidentally let out a little gas. So, she made one of her guys say to another one: "Did you fart?!"

Looks Like I Need a Treat

This morning Aidyn saw me unpacking some candy left over from Sno Camp this past weekend and a brilliant idea occurred to her to attempt to score some:
"Well, Mommy, " she said. "I obeyed you. Looks like I need a treat."

Chinese New Ear

Aidyn has been watching Ni Hao Kai-Lan, a show on Nick Jr., kind of like Dora, but teaching Mandarin Chinese instead of Spanish. She really loves it and it is a really cute show. Recently they did a special about the Chinese New Year and it must have really impacted Aidyn because today she said, "It's Chinese New Ear!" We tried to correct her and tell her it's Chinese New YEAR, but she would have none of it. "No! Chinese New EAR!"

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!"