Catch Up

I decided to come for a nice long visit with my mom ( aka Mimi) so the Wednesday before Easter Annabelle, Aidan, and I flew to Tennessee ( that was an adventure in itself and needs it own post). We spent Easter at my aunts house in Virginia. It was a good day and Aidan got lots of goodies from the Easter Bunny and lots of attention from family.

Aidan is talking, talking, and talking more. He is now putting 3 words together to make sentences. He amazes me with the words he uses such as tasty, messy, Oh Man! Oh No! Everything is now "mine". His favorite thing to say is "My shovel" ( for some reason he is very possesive over his shovel or any shovel for that matter) He also is constantly "talking" on his phone and saying "Hewo, yeah, yeah" . The other day he picked up his phone and said "Hewo, my shovel".

The weather is beautiful today in Tennessee so we went to the park by the lake and then had yummy ice cream afterwards. Here are some of the pictures I have taken since we arrived here. I finally got my new camera and I took a bunch of Clinton and Aidan when we went to Legoland, the beach, and Coronado Island. I still have to upload them to my moms computer so it will take awhile. The first night we arrived here we discovered Mimi had purchased a bunch of new toys including a tricycle complete with helmet!Aidan sporting his new helmet

This picture is for Cara. These are the bunny cakes I made this year for Easter.

Easter Morning

Aidans favorite of the day was definitely the jelly beans the Easter Bunny put in his eggs. He LOOOVVES jelly beans.

At the park today

Aidan picking a dandelion

Aidan learned how to blow a dandelion today!

Mimi and her sweet boy!

Aidan decided his bucket made a nice hat.

Eating yummy ice cream at home!

reverse psychology

How things have been going in our house lately. This morning.....

Me: Aidan ,are you ready for some pancakes for breakfast?
Aidan: No! No! No!
Me: getting back into the bed.... Ok, I will absolutely NOT make pancakes for you.
Aidan: Pancakes! Pancakes! Pancakes! Eat!!!!
Me: Ok then lets go have some pancakes for breakfast.
Aidan: Yeah!

I love it that reverse psychology works on them at this age~

Aidans growth

Aidan is at such a fun age right now! As an educator I watch him in delight and amazement. It's so fun to watch him in action and to see the little wheels turning in his brain. Yesterday we were sitting on the couch after lunch watching Yo Gabba Gabba and I whispered in his ear " Do you want to go to the park?" I did this because I didnt want Annabelle to know that we were going to the park because frankly I just wasnt in the mood to deal with her ( having both of them can be a hand full sometimes and I feel like poor Annabelle always gets the short end of the stick). His face immediately lit up and he said " Park, Bumba Park!" Bumba is what he calls Annabelle. He then went over and started tapping her and saying "Bumba Park!" "Bumba Park!" like come on Annabelle we're going to the park! Needless to say we all three ended up at the park. When we were there I was pushing Aidan on the swing. He started saying Shamu, Shamu! ( We went to Seaworld on Saturday). I said " Yes we saw Shamu at Seaworld". He then says "whale". I said "thats right Aidan Shamu is a whale". He then points to a springy riding toy there that is a Sperm Whale and says "whale". I said, "yes thats right that is a whale too". Smart boy!

Aidans vocabulary is really starting to take off. I know that developmentally this is the time when this should be occuring, however, it still amazes me! Aidans favorite book right now is a lift the flap book of Sesame Street that teaches tons of vocabulary, colors, shapes, and letters. When we got to the shapes page he started identifying and naming all the shapes. He even named rhombus! He is even starting to be able to identify letters. I dont think it is developmentally appropriate to teach kids letters at his age, but I don't oppose toys and books that he can play with that teaches them. It is surprising how fast he is picking it up. Letters are one of his favorite things right now. The other day he brought me a block with an "F" on it and a foam letter "F". He points at each one and says "F' "F". He also likes it when he has two or more of anything that are the same. Clinton and I took him on his first hike the other day. He kept throwing off his hat. I said, "Aidan you have to wear your hat. Look daddy is wearing his hat, mommy has on her hat, and you have to wear your hat" . That is all it took and for the rest of the hike he kept pointing to each hat saying, hat, hat, hat. He wore his hat for the rest of the hike.

Aidans favorite expression right now is "No Way". I asked him yesterday "Aidan, are you going to be my snugglebug today?" his reply "No Way". I asked him this morning " Aidan, can I have a kiss?" his response " No Way". Sigh- my baby is growing up.

Maybe I am so amazed by Aidans growth because as a Special Ed teacher I am used to teaching things 20 times or more before a child actually even begins to get the concept. But, I sure think our boy is a genius!

Laguna Beach

The day before Cara left to go back to WV we went to Laguna Beach and Newport. We had lunch at my fav restaurant The Cliffs. We then met Jacob and Suzanne at the park by the beach for a playdate. We ended the day at Sprinkles cupcakes. YUM! Have I told you that I REALLY miss Orange County? I have also really missed Cara since she left on Saturday! What a great visit we had!


Cara and I were cracking up when we were driving around and turned around to see this. Aidan reading a big ole book!
AHHH... Cara and her baby Annabelle at the Cliffs restaurant

All of us at the scenic overlook in Laguna

Jacob in the blue tube, happy to show me his car.

Aidan loooved this particular park for some reason. He was busy laughing and playing

This is what you get when you attempt to get a good pic of 2 toddlers who just want to get down and play!

There, at least that is a little better.

Annabelle waiting patiently at the park

YUMMO! Sprinkles is the BEST!

You can tell by his face that Aidan LOOVVES Sprinkles cupcakes and was even asking for them the next day!

Precious Annabelle sitting nicely at the Cliffs.

Last of the Maui Pictures

Here are the last of the Maui pictures. The last day was a full day for us. Our plane did not leave until 9 oclock at night. We checked out of our condo at 11:00. We then stopped by Barnes and Noble to stock up on some reading material, had lunch at the Hardrock Cafe, visited the Maui Ocean Center, and finally stopped alongside the road to do some whale watching. We then got to the airport really early. Clinton wore Aidan out chasing him around the airport. It did the trick because Aidan slept ALL the way home. NIICCEEE!

Here is Aidan last March in Maui..... March 2008

My sweet baby!

and...... this year in Maui...

March 2009...

My big boy toddler!

Fun at the Maui Ocean Center....

Outside the Hardrock Cafe...

This picture cracks me up! As I Mentioned earlier Aidan is copying EVERYTHING we do. Here he is copying his dad. To cute!

AHHHH...... Beautiful Sunset!

Pictures from Maui

Here are some more pictures I took last week. This was the night of the Luau. Cara and I took Aidan into Lahaina before the Luau and took some pictures by the old Banyan tree. We then met up with Clinton and had a great time eating good food and watching the hula dancers and fire dancers. I got Clinton and Aidan matching shirts this year, but couldnt find a dress to match.

Dada and his boy

We had a hard time getting a good family photo this year.

We took this picture while we were in Lahaina. Aidan was fascinated by the birds and actually sat really still and did a great job holding it.( and yes mama I wiped his hands off as soon as we were done)

Dancing at the Luau