SnuggleBunny

We're Having A...

2012-02-09T16:04:00.002-05:00

Boy! Yeah. Another boy, oh boy. Sean and I are excited, it will be nice to have two little boys and hey, we'll save a ton of money on clothes. We both had a hunch from the beginning it would be a boy but now we've got hard proof in the form of ultrasound pictures.

My doctors have been doing a whole battery of tests the past couple of months, all of which came back normal. We did have a little bit of panic however, when she mentioned that the baby had a tiny calcified spot on it's heart. Both Sean and I were immediately wondering if this was dangerous, in need of surgery or otherwise cause for alarm. The doctor assured us that it's not dangerous, it doesn't need any treatment and doesn't affect the heart in any way. It can be a marker for Down's Syndrome but our age combined with the fact that every one of the other multiple (more reliable) markers for Down's was negative means it's most likely nothing and will fade with time. Which then made me wonder, WHY DID YOU TELL US? Do they enjoy watching us panic? At home I sat down and did some research and not only does it sound like we have absolutely nothing to worry about, but apparently it's much more common in children of Asian or mixed Asian descent. So, we're not worried, and after talking about it, we decided that even if we had a child with Down's we wouldn't do a thing differently.

Aiden was thoroughly underwhelmed by the baby news. He had been hoping for girl, but mostly, he just really doesn't care much about this baby that he can't see or touch or play with. Some days he likes to hold my belly and sing to it and other days he asks us to please stop talking about it and help him find his crayons. I'm sure he'll form some strong opinions once the baby's born but for now I can understand his disinterest.

Aiden has been very busy at school and next week they are having a big Valentine's Day party. He and I are going to make some heart cookies that he can decorate over the weekend and he's got a whole bunch of glitter and stamps to make Valentine's for his classmates. I'm not very crafty but I figure it only needs to look like a 4 year old made them, so I'm safe. Hopefully Sean and I will get out one evening for a dinner date but that may not be until after V Day.

All of this baby excitement, combined with the unseasonably warm weather we've been having, are making the winter seem to fly by. Normally February seems like a long slog but this year it can't help feeling like spring is just around the corner.

Last Night I Dreamt I Went to Manderley Again...

2012-01-20T20:00:00.004-05:00

Wait, that's something else entirely. I actually dreamt about blueberry waffles. I also dreamt about visiting a doctor whose office doubled as a general store. I also dreamt that we found out the baby is a girl. Yes, the crazy pregnancy dreams are still going full force.

Also going in full force is the baby's heartbeat which I got to hear today at my doctors appointment. Nothing is quite as lovely as that swooshing sound. A few nights ago, while watching an episode of The Big Bang Theory with Sean, I even felt the first little tiny flutters (clearly this baby appreciates nerd culture. If you don't watch that show, you should).

In three weeks we will find out the sex of the baby. It's funny because for the most part I really didn't care one way or the other. We've assumed it's a boy, so I've just been operating under that idea. However, now that the actual date of reveal is so close I'm feeling like HOW CAN I WAIT THREE WEEKS? The problem is that for the briefest of moments I allowed myself to ponder what it might be like to have a girl and now I'm totally frazzled and desperate to know one way or the other. We'll be happy either way and blah blah blah, but can you just imagine little pink dresses and bows?

As for my other, already confirmed boy child, he's been so wonderful lately. He's still having a blast at school and seems to be learning a lot. He can tell you the number of stars on our flag, the meaning of the word "symmetry" and is learning to use scissors. Yes, back in the day parents used to just let children learn to cut with scissors by supervising them but now we have to have school lessons around it. I'm not even joking, apparently so many kids were starting kindergarten with no idea how to use scissors that it's become an issue. Parents these days are wee bit overprotective perhaps?

He's also picking up some new phrases. Anytime I try to get him to do something he doesn't want to do he tells me I'm giving him a heart attack. He also loves to ask how everyone is doing. Each morning he asks "Daddy, how as work? Was work fun? Did you do a good job? Mommy, how was sleeping?". Adorable, but it does make me feel like a slacker. However, the one phrase that has us both blushing and laughing is "I'm sexy and I know it". He heard it in a song and it has stuck. He loves to tell us he's sexy and he knows it. The way I see it, he was bound to learn the word eventually. Sean and I don't swear in front of him but I have no problem telling Sean I think he's sexy and he has no problem returning the sentiment. Oh well. He knows the word is not okay for school and we figure that there are far worse things he could be saying.

I have to laugh when I think about it however. It was a line in a song and he immediately picked it up and there was no saving the situation. Maybe I'm a terrible mother for saying it but I laugh hysterically when he sings it. Oh, there's also a dance he's added to it. When my brother and I were kids we always listened to The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Queen when we were in the car with my dad and it must've been kind of hilarious to hear us singing along to Fat Bottom Girls. I would never have dreamed of singing it at school but you can bet we belted it out in the car. I'm hoping Aiden develops similar good judgement.

Bo is also sexy, he definitely knows it.

Snow Business

2012-01-13T17:32:00.009-05:00

It's mid January already! I cannot believe it. We've spent the past couple of weeks recovering from the holidays and getting back into the daily grind. It hasn't felt much like the heart of winter since there hasn't been any snow, and I've been sharing this sentiment with anyone who would listen, until of course it snowed.

Aiden and I took full advantage of the white stuff and spent the morning making a snowman and throwing snowballs. For the rest of the day I was exhausted beyond belief. Running in snow is hard.

I am this excited for snow!

FINALLY!

So is shoveling it. Apparently it's not considered helpful to quote the statistic on the number of people who have heart attacks while shoveling as your husband is about to go out and shovel. Also, I found this fantastic fur and leather hat (no, that's not his hair, it's the fur) tucked up in the hall closet. He actually agreed to wear it while outside and he said it was the warmest hat he's worn. Also, I love it because it really brings out the Mongolian and Russian in him. He's so adorable in it, but he didn't really want a picture, thus the closed eyes.
I know you're probably wondering where you too can find an authentic fur and leather hat such as this but alas, this one is truly vintage.

Also, every day that passed after Christmas had me cursing the gigantic pile of toys collecting behind the couch and spilling out of the existing storage bins, so I finally went out and picked up new ones. Aiden helped me sort and toss, and now it's slightly more manageable.

The before:

The After:

So, that's our January so far. Snow and storage bins and a hat. We northeasterners really have to stretch the limits of "entertainment" when it gets into the winter months.

New Beginnings

2012-01-04T14:40:00.003-05:00

So, since I didn't record anything about my pregnancy with Aiden, I want to make an effort this time. Sean and I really didn't tell anyone until Christmas, and even before then we didn't talk much about it to each other out of nervousness. Finally telling people has felt very strange, almost uncomfortable, because it really makes it real. It definitely hasn't really sunk in yet and still seems very tentative, at least to me, so I'm waiting for that moment when it kind of becomes real.

It's funny but things feel so different this time around. When I was pregnant with Aiden it never occurred to me that anything might go wrong. I had some worries but they were more about labor and less about something happening to the baby. Also, I was getting up at 4:30am to work a full day before sitting in class for three hours, so you know, I didn't exactly have time to think of everything that might go wrong. This time however, I'm constantly coming back to the same worries about miscarrying. We've had to deal with some related issues in the past few months, so in some ways they're legitimate worries, but even after my doctor assured me ten times over that everything is going swimmingly, I still worry. What can I say, I'm a World Champion Black Belt Worrier.

One thing not helping the worry are my constant nightmares! They involve crazy, unrealistic scenarios and yet I wake up in a panic and feel off-kilter for quite a while. The upside is that apparently the more nightmares you have during pregnancy, the less likely your are to suffer from postpartum depression. Who knows how accurate that is but here's hoping there's some benefit to them!

There are even more little details that I'm finding different from the first. With Aiden I was starving all the time and I couldn't get enough steak and milk. I'm not a big red-meat eater and I don't drink milk, so that was strange. Now it's fruit. I'm craving mangoes, watermelon, cherries, oranges and anything else in the produce section. Still not crazy about milk or meat. However, in general I'm not very hungry (which I'm sure will change in the next few weeks).

Another difference is my belly! With Aiden I didn't start showing until I was about five months, and even then it was more of a "Is she pregnant or is that just cheeseburgers?" kind of bump. Right away this time my clothes were uncomfortable and by 12 weeks there was a bump. I suppose after the first your body just doesn't hold it all in quite the same. Nevertheless, it's nice to actually look pregnant rather than just bloated. I've just had to go shopping for some actual maternity clothes as I opened my box of maternity clothes from last time and discovered I had two tank tops, a pair of jeans and a pair of Capri pants. Whoops. Suddenly I remembered that I borrowed almost everything. Luckily with the after Christmas sales I'm pretty much stocked up and for very little money which was nice!

So now for the ultra unflattering bathroom lighting shot:

14 Weeks

Christmas and Gifts

2011-12-26T20:35:00.004-05:00

I haven't posted anything since Aiden's birthday because we've been really busy this month, but I did remember to take some pictures of our own little Christmas morning. It was hard this year because Sean had to work Christmas Eve although he did manage to get Christmas night off. So he came to church with us and then had to run off to work. Aiden woke up on Christmas morning and was shockingly patient. We went downstairs to see if Santa had come, and he had indeed, but we ate breakfast while we waited for Sean to get home from work before we opened any presents.

After presents Sean went to bed and I took Aiden over for Christmas at my mom's house, which was lots of fun as usual. After that I picked up Sean and we headed to my dad's family's Christmas get together. Poor Sean is always overwhelmed at this get together as he was an only child for most of his life and has three cousins who he doesn't get to see much. I, on the other hand, have six aunts and uncles (plus their spouses), there are thirteen of us kids and two great grand children. We are also very noisy and by the time we arrive everyone is usually full of the Christmas "spirit". I'm constantly having to prompt Sean with names and names of spouses and which person does what, and he usually has to explain what he does for a living about five times.
Anyway, we had a lot of fun and Aiden enjoyed hanging out with my cousin Alexandra who is only two months older than him.

Our big exciting gift this Christmas wasn't actually a present, but the fact that we're having another baby. It has been such a long road getting here that I can't believe how different things are from our experience with Aiden. Aiden was a surprise when we were totally unprepared for baby. This time we planned and waited and when we were finally ready...nothing. It's been over a year of trying combined with some health issues on my part and now we're actually pregnant. For a while I was really trying not to get my hopes up or even think about it too much so now that we're starting the second trimester and hopefully in a safe place it seems so odd to finally tell everyone. It still seems surreal and I'm nervous to really wrap my head around it, but hopefully it starts to seem more like reality. It has definitely been the best thing we could've hoped for. Today is also our second anniversary, so here's to two babies and two wonderful years together!

Aiden Is 4!

2011-12-05T14:07:00.008-05:00

My baby turns 4 today! This was a special year because he got to have an honest to goodness birthday party with all of his school friends at a local children's museum. This museum is seriously cool. It's two floors of all kinds of hands-on play areas such as a "pond" with lots of stuffed animals, a "bandstand" with sensors that play music when you cover them, and a vet area with real animal x-rays and a trolley right in the middle. That is a tiny sample of what's in this place, and when all the kids got there it was a free-for-all of fun and playing. After an hour and a half of play time the kids all got together and had pizza, ate cupcakes and did some crafts. All of the kids in Aiden's class are so adorable, and one girl even sang him "Happy Birthday" in Swedish! It really is so nice to seem them interact and to get to chat with all the other parents. Aiden had a ton of fun too, which was the whole point after all.

Today he brought some treats to school to celebrate and the teachers had made him a paper crown to wear all day. It was adorable!

Since he's turning another year older I sat down and "interviewed" him so that he could look back and remember what his "favorites" were at this age. I thought it would be impossible to get him to sit still and pay attention but he was very interested in answering all my questions. He's ready for the spotlight apparently.

Aiden at Age 4

His Favorite Book: "Green Eggs and Ham"

His Favorite Song: "The Polar Express theme song and The Dog Song" (that's The Dog Days Are Over by Florence + the Machine, mommy and daddy's favorite singer)

His Favorite Food: "I love shrimp! And pizza, grapes, bananas, donuts..." (this list went on and on. He's not too picky I guess!)

His Favorite Drink: "Chocolate milk and real milk"

His Favorite Toy: "My firetrucks... Oh yeah, my trains!"

His Best Friend: "Rainbow" (awwwwwwwwww)

His Favorite Place: "I really like Disney World, but I also really like Starbucks"

His Favorite Color: "Color...hmmm....purple?"

His Favorite Game: "Playing with my blocks!"

His Favorite Dessert: "CAKE!"

What He Wants to Be When He Grows Up: "An alligator"

All the Rest of November!

2011-11-25T18:50:00.024-05:00

So! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had dinner at our house this year and everything went off mostly without a hitch. This amazed me as we got back from a week in Disney World last Saturday and I was certain I'd be going crazy this week, but not so much. All went well.

I keep telling people I'm going to post the Disney photos and then I get really busy doing something like taking a nap or making a snack. And then there was that whole Thanksgiving thing. But now, as promised, the photos!

We got there on a Saturday, after getting up at the unholy hour of 4AM to catch our plane. The plane ride and our connecting flight were totally fine, Aiden was an angel, we got there in three hours total. The only hitch was the vicious air sickness that overcame me on our descent. That, and the lack of airsickness bags. Yeah. We got off the plane and Aiden and Sean were all "YAY DISNEY WORLD!" while I looked and felt like hot garbage, and prayed someone would please put me out of my misery. We spent the rest of the day relaxing at our hotel, the boys went out for a swim, and we all went to bed very early.

The next day we went to Hollywood Studios, which has more along the lines of shows and tours than rides. One ride we did go on was the Toy Story ride which was AWESOME. We saw the classic Indiana Jones show and did a couple of the backstage tours. Perhaps the coolest part of the park was the Star Wars ride. We didn't go on the ride because it was too scary for Aiden but we ate dinner next to it and got to watch the little show they put on right outside. They pull all of the kids out of the audience (the young padawans, if you will) and dress them in Jedi robes and give them light sabers so that they can complete light saber training with a Jedi. They learn all these moves, and then when they think the show is over, out comes DARTH VADER!!!! And each child gets to try out their moves against Darth Vader until they finally defeat him, whereupon they receive their official Jedi certificate. HOW COOL IS THAT? I don't even like Star Wars but these kids were having so much fun, and were so excited to face Darth Vader I can only imagine they returned to school after vacation and were catapulted to immediate popularity by showing their friends photographic evidence of their Jedi prowess.

The next day we went to Magic Kingdom which is by far the best park of them all. We even set aside two days for this park because there is just so much to do. All I can say is that we went on every ride that Aiden could get on, which is about 99% of them. Aiden did all the classic rides including Dumbo and the teacups. Between him and Sean I thought our teacup would spiral off into the upper atmosphere they had it spinning so fast. Aiden's favorite ride was the speedway cars. They are little go carts that ride a rail so you can steer but you can't go too far off course. First he rode with Sean and spent the whole day begging to go again. I took him on it the second time and, because I'm a fun mom, I let him drive. He was having SO MUCH FUN. I had to push the gas because he couldn't reach, but he steered with everything he had (although he could barely see over the steering wheel so it was quite a bumpy ride). They even gave him an honorary Mickey Driver's License. It was constant fun and rides and Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream. Aiden had so. much. fun. We loved that this park is totally geared towards the kids. They have Fast Pass so that you can return and skip the line incase it's a really long wait, but even waiting in line was fun because so many rides have toys and games and interactive parts along the waiting area.

We did Epcot on Tuesday, which was another day of nonstop action. In the morning we did all the science and technology rides on the one side of the park and then in the afternoon we went and did the World Showcase. They also have a whole undersea area that they've updated with a Finding Nemo ride and an interactive show where you can talk to Crush, the sea turtle from the movie. We were trying to be budget conscious when it came to food, but at Epcot we stopped in France and had ourselves a ridiculously rich, multi-course meal. It was SO GOOD. Towards the end of the meal a man came over pushing a little food cart and stopped in front of us. He lifted the lid off the platter on the cart and underneath was Remi, the little rat from Ratatouille. He chatted with Aiden and decided that although he really liked Aiden he couldn't come home with us because we have a dog and he's very afraid of dogs. The whole interaction was such a surprise I didn't even get a picture. That's Disney for you though. You never know what fun thing might happen.

Wednesday we left Disney and went to Universal Islands of Adventure. I had never been before so I was curious. The park is basically different areas dedicated to different themes. The first area we saw was the Dr. Seuss area, with rides and attractions all based on the books and drawings. It was perfect for Aiden and he went on every ride twice. Or three times. The second area we came for was....THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER!!! It was fantastic, everything we hoped, although it could've been a lot bigger. We saw the Hogwart Express, enjoyed a couple mugs of butterbeer, had a very delicious lunch at the three broomsticks and visited the Hogs Head. Sean and I loved just wandering around, visiting Honeydukes and Zonko's, so neat. Other than those two areas however, we were not impressed. Aiden was too small to get on any other rides and they just weren't particularly interesting. Pales in comparison to the Disney Parks.

Thursday we headed to Animal Kingdom which Aiden loved. We went on Kilimanjaro Safari, where they take to out to see all the animals native to the Savannah, such as Hippos, Elephants, Giraffes, Lions, Monkeys Rhinos and everything else you can think of. Aiden kept rattling off the names of all the animals he'd seen to anyone who'd listen.

Friday we did one last day at Magic Kingdom, it was both my birthday and MICKEY MOUSE'S BIRTHDAY!!! How cool is that??? Also, how strange is it that Aiden was born on the same day as Walt Disney? We are obviously a Disney family. It's in the stars.

Our flight back the next day was uneventful, no airsickness! And basically it took us about four days to recover from all of the fun and sun. Seriously, it was exhausting and just completely magical. Everything we hoped for as Aiden's first time at Disney.

The Holiday Season Has Begun.

2011-11-08T14:47:00.004-05:00

On Sunday Laura, Tierney, me and all three of our moms went down to New York to see "How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying" as a day long birthday extravaganza and it was FANTASTIC. Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette headlined and it was incredibly funny. The whole trip was so wonderful, from spending time with my friends and our moms to eating at Carmine's and watching the show, everything was fun. When I was thinking about the whole trip I couldn't put my finger on what exactly made it so special, above and beyond the obvious, when I realized that what really sealed the deal and made it such a relaxing break was the fact that I was not in charge. I didn't have to plan a thing!
I am so thankful that these wonderful women arranged for show tickets, train times, reservations and a carpool to the train station. My friend Tierney even had warm bagels waiting for everyone right as we left that morning. The most strenuous decision I had to make was what to order for dessert (and trust me it was one I really pondered over). What a nice break to just be able to show up for the fun and not be in charge of arrangements. My friends are the best.

Now that the fun of that trip is over we are heading straight into Holiday Mania. Today Aiden and I sat down to write out the invitations for his birthday party which we have to hand out this week since next week we'll be in... DISNEY WORLD! Yay! Then four days after our return we're having Thanksgiving at our house and a week after that will be his actual party. And then it's a slippery slope straight into Christmas and New Year and we'll reemerge in 2012 with our heads still spinning from the madness. Full steam ahead.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T10:09:00.006-04:00

Aiden has his party at school today along with the costume parade and a little show with lots of Fall an Halloween songs. Aiden sings his heart out at home but the minute he saw all of the parents watching he clammed right up. Still, he was adorable and all of the kids at the school had fantastic costumes.

All the kids singing! Except Aiden of course.

Aiden the bumblebee.

Aiden and his wonderful teacher Mrs. Booth

Even Bo is getting into the holiday!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like....Halloween?

2011-10-28T09:46:00.003-04:00

It snowed last night, which is not all that unusual for late October except for the fact that it actually accumulated a little. It started in the afternoon and when Aiden got up from his nap and saw the snow he turned to me and shouted "MOM! GET MY SLED! GET MY SKIS! WE'VE GOTTA GO OUTSIDE!". After dinner we did spend a little time outside making and throwing snowballs and watching our boot prints fill with wet flakes.

Suddenly it felt like Christmas rather than Halloween. It was lots of fun until 8:30ish when the power flickered a few times and finally went out. Apparently the combination of wet snow and trees with all their leaves proved too much for a power line. I was bumbling around in the dark looking for the flashlight when Aiden came running into our room completely terrified. Sean was the only person who remained calm. We all climbed into our bed and watched Harry Potter on the portable DVD player until the power came back an hour or so later. It was definitely a fun adventure but I'm ready to have fall back at least until Thanksgiving.

Autumn in New York

2011-10-19T20:45:00.005-04:00

Stuff keeps happening, and I keep intending to sit and write it down but then life happens. Honestly, between October and January we're booked solid. It's truly nuts.

It's finally, actually fall! The leaves have finally changed color thank goodness. This weekend we plan to go get a pumpkin to carve, while on Sunday we're hoping to help my best bud Laura carve one of her 100 pumpkins. Yes, that's right, 100 pumpkins. They love Halloween over at her house, and they've previously carved 50, but this year it's 100. I don't have the talent or energy to do it so I'm glad she does because I know it's going to look really amazing on Halloween.

On Sunday afternoon we'll be heading to a Halloween party hosted by one of Aiden's school friends. It's a costume party and Aiden has decided to be a bumblebee this year. He originally wanted to be a shark, then he thought he might go as Buzz Lightyear again, but then he found an old bumblebee costume that used to belong to Sean's sister and that sealed the deal. It's kind of funny, this costume is meant to bee a large costume for a small child (1 to 2 years) but Aiden is so skinny he can still fit into it despite the fact that it's more of a bumblebee vest than a full bumblebee suit. Still, he's resolute in his decision, so we've added some wings and he's good to go.

Then the next weekend Sean and I have a Halloween party, followed by Aiden's school parade and party on Monday. I'm making some goody bags for that and I can't wait to see all the kids marching with their costumes. So cute.

We've also got big things going on for every weekend in November, but I'm trying not to get too far ahead of myself or I collapse in a pile of stress and anxiety. I'm trying to remember to actually enjoy everything as it unfolds rather than rush around planning for the next event.

Hopefully we'll get some good pictures of Aiden out having fun that we can share with everyone.

Bo

2011-10-10T20:08:00.004-04:00

Happy birthday to Bo, who is a year old today! He was born on 10/10/10, how cool is that?

Nap Time

2011-10-07T21:55:00.002-04:00

The Good, The Bad and The House

2011-10-06T15:14:00.003-04:00

We've been quite busy these past couple of weeks. It seems like the fall and early winter are always the busiest times of the year. The biggest thing has been Sean's work. He spent the past three weeks living at work and coming home every 17 hours or so for a brief visit, or so it seemed. Just thinking about the amount of time he spent there and the fact that we never knew when he'd actually be home is exhausting. It was awful, but it's over. Test passed, promotion granted, life moving forward. Now he'll actually be able to take some time off and we're trying to plan a trip to Disney in November. Just thinking about how much fun Aiden will have is getting me twice as excited for it. I've tried to explain to him what Disney World is about and he doesn't really get it, so seeing his face when we get there is going to be one of those moments that makes the stress of raising a child SO WORTH IT.

Aiden is still cruising through school. He loves it and is making lots of friends, mostly girls since there are only 3 boys in a class of 11 and the other two boys are very reserved. He has already been invited to 2 parties which is something Sean and I forgot was a big part of school. Everyone has birthday parties, the whole class gets invited, gifts must be purchased and Saturday morning must be given up. I'm already trying to figure out what we're going to do for Aiden in December. Oh the pressure.

Now that Sean's work is leveling off, we're trying to fix up the house a little bit. It seems like everything has fallen apart as of late. That dishwasher and oven we purchased over the summer? The oven is still not installed. We thought we had a drop-in stove, two professional installers thought we had a drop-in stove. Only once the second installer had sawed through the wood cabinet that the stove is set into did we all realize that we have a free standing stove that was hidden behind the cabinet front. The stove cannot be returned. It also cannot be installed without serious work. While we tried to figure out what to do, the furnace broke. And then the garage door broke and the SUV in on the fritz. Basically we've been making phone calls and filling out paperwork in our free time.

Luckily, in the midst of the madness, we got to spend part of the weekend at the gorgeous Boston Harbor Hotel for the wedding of our friends Ben and Angela. It was a beautiful day and the wedding was right on the waterfront. My mom watched Aiden for us so we could have a child-free night which was something we desperately needed.

So we've been having fun, having some not- so- fun and doing a lot of repair work.

Young at Heart, And In the Face Too, Apparently.

2011-09-23T15:40:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I was walking through the grocery store, pushing Aiden in a cart and just wandering through the produce aisle looking for garlic when a woman threw out her arm and stopped me.
"I just HAVE to ask: is he your son or your brother?". When I told her that yes, in fact, this was my child, she stared at me and said "But you look so young! I mean, you look really young, like you could be fourteen!".
I wasn't exactly sure how to respond to this so I kind of laughed and she hurriedly assured me that this was a good thing and blah blah blah. I'm sorry, someone assuming you're a 14 year old mother is not a compliment. I realize I look young, uh, because I am young, but fourteen is pushing it.
My friend Tierney has the same problem of being mistaken for younger than she is and I'll chalk some of it up to the fact that we're both short. Real short. It's just made even more awkward when you're with your child and people are giving you the sideways glance and trying to calculate in their heads.

Another time I was at a store and the cashier said "You look way too young to be a mom!" and I smiled and said "Yeah, I am too young" and just left it at that. I think the whole "you look so young!" business would be more flattering if I were 30 or 35 and looked especially young but being 23 and looking 23 (or 16 depending on the day) just feels uncomfortable.

I get this sentiment pretty frequently. No one has any qualms about commenting on my perceived age which seems so odd to me. Again, I assume it's supposed to be a compliment but it's still awkward to comment on a stranger's age or looks right? Am I being too sensitive?

The funny thing is that this has only ever happened to me here in the Northeast. When we lived in Charleston, South Caroline (a city with a lot of military families), a lot of the other moms were in their early to mid-twenties so I was completely normal. I never felt out of place or like I was considerably younger than anyone. It's a definitely a cultural thing since the average age of first time moms is still 25, not crazy far off from where I was.

Anyway, I guess I should learn to just smile and say 'thanks' but I do hope people will stop acting so flabbergasted that I have a child if we have another one!

A Bushel and A Peck

2011-09-21T09:37:00.003-04:00

On Saturday we went apple picking which is a fall tradition we missed out on last year since we were still in South Carolina where fall doesn't exist. My mom and I like to go early in the season because that's when her favorite, Macintosh, are ripe. Sean is on night shift this week so we'll have to go again with him although he could care less about the apples and only wants to know what kind of apple cider donut crop we'll be having this year.

It was unusually cold last weekend which made it feel even more like Autumn and we all had to bundle up. While we were waiting for the day ti warm up a bit I told Aiden about going apple picking and I think he thought we were going to the grocery store. When I explained we were going to pick them off trees he kept telling me how he hoped there would also be some orange trees too.
Well, we got there and he went bonkers for the hay wagon that takes you out into the orchard. Then he went bonkers for the animal pen with goats and sheep and tiny little pigs. Then he went bonkers for the glass bee hive that lets you watch the bees come and go. Same with the donut machine, the aquarium and the farm machinery.

I thought he would have fun but I had forgotten about all of the extras besides apples that he'd be interested in. It was a fantastic day and he passed out in the car just about when we pulled out of the parking lot.

My Dream Guy

2011-09-13T19:55:00.003-04:00

I had a dream the other night that I had gone to my bank and opened a new Roth IRA account (and yes, I realize this is the most boring dream ever). In my dream I went home and told Sean about it and he started panicking and yelling about how I had thrown off his projections for our annual contributions and that he was trying to keep track of our accounts. The dream continued with him in a royal conniption before I finally woke up.

Later that morning I remembered my dream and started telling Sean about it simply because it seemed so funny that he would have such a freak out over retirement investing. He apparently wasn't listening too closely and didn't realize that I had said it was a dream because right after I said the words "Roth IRA" he whipped around and said "YOU OPENED A NEW IRA ACCOUNT? You should have told me! How much did you put in? WE'VE GOT TO KEEP TRACK!".

Yep. I know him so well. Too well.

Preschool: His Verdict

2011-09-12T21:39:00.002-04:00

NO MORE PICTURES MOM!

I can't seem to get a decent picture of Aiden these days as I'm always aiming at a moving target in really poor lighting. He is totally over having his picture taken unless you catch him in a really good mood and then he decides it's the Aiden Show and will vogue like it's his job.

He started his second week of school today. Both days last week involved prying him off of us in tears each morning. Even though he raved about school and all the fun he had, he was still a little freaked out by the whole concept. This morning Sean and I walked him to his class where he insisted on hugging us both goodbye about 14 times before putting his backpack away by himself, taking a deep breath and charging into the classroom. This was unexpected as Sean and I were both pretty certain that it'd be a couple of weeks before drop-off would happen without tears. The teacher just stared at us, we stared at each other and then the teacher gave us a silent but very enthusiastic thumbs up. After the classroom door closed Sean and I both leaped into the air and high-fived. Yes! Score one for Aiden! GO PRESCHOOL!

Preschool seems to have opened up a whole new dimension of Aiden's personality which is just endlessly entertaining to witness. A new phrase he's adopted is "What was I saying again?". He likes to stop mid-sentence, cock his head to the side, and use that one before going on. Another is "You know." I always have to explain you him that no, I don't know, because I don't go to preschool.

He's got a buddy that he likes to play trains with. Apparently he and this other kid are both obsessed with trains and play with the train table to the exclusion of every other toy during free play.

Also, I found out tonight, he has a crush. He told me she brought a cat for show-and-tell and wore a pink shirt with sparkles and that he'd like to "hug her and kiss her and then say hi to her". We're obviously going to have to have a conversation about the order in which these things should happen and the fact that perhaps asking her to play at the macaroni table with him would be a more appropriate gesture.

He's also started singing. All.the.time. As in "Mommy, don't turn on the radio, I'm gonna sing" and he proceeds to serenade me with a song he's made up about school buses to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" all the way to the grocery store. I know they sing a lot of songs at school so that explains some of it, but I also think that a part of this comes from Sean. Neither Sean nor I can sing but Sean will make up the weirdest songs with the most complicated melodies about anything. He did it all the time when Aiden was a baby, epic ballads about whatever wandered through his mind at the time. I think maybe Aiden was paying attention.

It's so interesting to hear directly from Aiden about what goes on at school because he will give us a really monotone rundown of their activities that's occasionally punctuated with "AND THEN WE PLAYED WITH A PARACHUTE!" or "AND THEN I PAINTED WITH MARBLES!".

I'm just so appreciative that he's having a really positive experience and making new friends. I can't wait to hear about his day because suddenly he has so much to talk about and it's like meeting him for the first time.

Our First's First

2011-09-07T14:45:00.007-04:00

He went to school today! We've been talking about it for weeks and his teachers even sent him a postcard with their picture and a note last week so that he'd feel more comfortable on the first day. He hadn't wanted to talk much about preschool until last night.

We stayed up for a half hour past bedtime talking about what his first day would be like. We lay there, side by side in his car bed, talking about snack time, his teacher's names, where the potties are and what activities they might do. He learned a new word, the one to describe that funny feeling in your tummy before you try something you've never done before: nervous.

He went to bed excited about the next day but this morning was a different story. It was pouring rain and he was groggy and cold and did not want to get dressed for school. He dragged his feet through breakfast and put up a fight at every turn but finally we made it out the door.

Sean and I were just as nervous as he was and we were trying to make sure we found the right entrance, that we arrived not too early and not too late, that we played our part in making this a smooth transition. He was nervous from the moment we stepped inside. He cried and clung to Sean's shirt before it was even time for us to leave. There are about eight children in his class and some cried while others wandered away from their parents warily but without tears. One thing we noticed is that Aiden towered over most of the kids. His birthday is four days after the cutoff for the older class (it's the same for kindergarten) so he'll likely always be older than most of the others.

He has two teachers and two helpers in his class and each of them are so unbelievably nice. They immediately swooped in to help the kids find a toy or book and get comfortable. His head teacher came over helped us disentangle ourselves from Aiden. We left feeling a little drained by how distraught he seemed but I knew (or hoped at least) that he'd be fine once we were gone.

Sean and I had been musing about everything we could accomplish while he's at school but instead we sat and had breakfast and wondered what they were doing at school.

When we went to pick him up it was a complete turnaround. He marched out of the classroom with his teacher and immediately told us about how he played trains with the other children and painted a picture of a car and sang with his teachers and can we please invite everyone over to our house to play?

In the car ride home he announced that "This morning I was just nervous. Then I played with the kids and my teachers and had fun". Well, sounds good to me.

First day, all rumpled after a morning of fun.

...and a fish face for good measure.

Try This...

2011-08-24T17:59:00.002-04:00

...on a day when you get to the office really early and no one else is around. I guarantee the rest of your day will be a little better.

Grasshoppers

2011-08-23T16:04:00.010-04:00

To-School Fashion

2011-08-19T18:50:00.009-04:00

I would say "Back to School" but as Aiden has never gone, he won't be going back will he? Tricky.

Anyway, we had planned to head to our local outlet stores to get Aiden some school clothes and on Wednesday afternoon we just decided it seemed like the right time. Both Sean and I are pretty frugal people, so much so that we literally got into a debate today over whether or not I should purchase the all important September issue of vogue because in Sean's opinion $5 should get me a book not just a magazine issue. He finally relented but said that if I get Vogue then he gets a box of double chocolate Klondike Bars. It's all about compromise in our house.

Anyway, something snapped inside of us when we stepped into Osh-Kosh. Suddenly we knew that our three year old deserved the most stupendous school wardrobe the world has ever seen and no expense would be spared. We were picking up mini blue jeans and tiny little rugby shirts willy-nilly. Dress shirts with teensy blue pinstripes? Yes please. Cool looking navy and white track jackets? Don't mind if we do! Aiden, of course, had no interest in any of this and we were about to check out when he decided he wanted some striped hooded sweatshirts, so we had to get them too since it was the only thing he'd actually agreed to.

As for shoes, Aiden is now the proud owner of new Sperry's topsiders. Apparently he's going to start life as a preschooler looking like he owns a sailboat and has a summer compound in the Hamptons. Sean just has such preppy taste and it felt like we were finally bonding over clothing, one of my life's passions. It's not often his eyes light up while browsing sweaters or he wants to have a conversation about different denim rinses. When the moment happens you just have to seize it. So I did. And now our kid could be an extra in a Polo ad.

Anyway, we rounded out the trip with a stop at Coach, where Sean ever so graciously bought me a purse. I'm pretty sure it was a lingering effect from whatever overtook us in the Osh-Kosh store but nonetheless it was a very sweet gesture and I'm very grateful.

On a whim we found ourselves wandering Harry and David and it wasn't until we were walking out with a bag full of cake and cookies that we realized we were really hungry and sleepy and should probably not open our wallet again while in this state, so we got dinner and drove home.

Once we were home Aiden suddenly took an interest in these big bags of stuff we'd gotten him and he actually asked to try it all on. So we did:

I maybe slightly biased but he's gorgeous.

"Gross mom, leave me alone"

Sa-weet track jacket.

"This is my winking face!"

Cutest. Backpack. Ever.

"Mom, can I wear this to bed? PLEASE?"

Office Work

2011-08-14T23:47:00.003-04:00

I spent this past weekend updating the office. Sean and I have a habit of discussing what needs to be done around the house and then sort of doing it all in one insane whirlwind rather than a little at a time. We needed furniture this past winter. We went to the store and came home with two couches and a massive Thanksgiving worthy dining set. Now we're redoing the office, getting two new kitchen appliances and contemplating tackling the ever-more-lumpy driveway. Maybe next spring we'll paint the exterior and re-floor the entire interior, you know, just for fun and heart attacks.

Anyway, the office is my secret shame. It is the place to pile bills and old books and kitschy toys and anything that doesn't have a home elsewhere. It wouldn't be such a problem if it wasn't one of the first things you see when you come into the house.

After one too many attacks of claustrophobia incited by the dark brown (faux!) wood paneling/dark brown carpet/ low lighting and piles of junk, I decided I'd had enough. I told Sean I'd be painting it blue. What I meant to say was that I'd be painting it blue, clearing it out, rearranging the furniture and adding some lovely paisley throw pillows for good measure. I was three steps into this plan before I realized that I was effectively ruining his man-cave. That kind of dingy, cluttered, electronic filled place where men go to be men? The man cave. And now Sean's was "river mist blue" and just waiting for it's throw pillows.

What was done was done, and Sean did his best to assure me that he didn't mind and besides, if we ever finish the basement he'll just flee down there with his piles of stock reports and his USB cables.

I really did have good intentions. This all started as an attempt for some "togetherness" and frankly, the place was a fire hazard. We both spend a lot of time on our computers. He in his man-cave and me, well, wherever I want since I've got the laptop. I thought that by rearranging things a teensy bit I could have a little workspace in there too, someplace to share with him when we're both on the internet. It's just that we have very different tastes when it comes to making a room feel comfortable. Sean and Queen Victoria would have been decorating BFF's. I prefer something more modern and colorful. He's all about wood paneling and leather bound books, I like clean lines and bold colors.

We've been pretty good at accommodating each other, at least until this weekend when I knocked down his fort and put up a doll house. I've learned my lesson now, and I appreciated the fact that he did his best to assure me that "River Mist Blue" and paisley aren't so bad.

It's hard sometimes to figure out how to compromise when you can have such disparate ideas but I've realized we both want each other to be happy and that provides the flexibility needed to find common ground.

Eyes Open

2011-08-09T20:09:00.007-04:00

Sean, whose has finally succumb and traded in his reading glasses for contacts, has been wandering around the house all day today commenting on how clearly he can see everything. He used to wear his glasses for driving or when he was on the computer but, as his eyesight has slipped a little more in the past few years, he decided he'd better try something more consistent.

This whole summer seems to have passed in a blur of heat and sun and errands and grocery shopping. I feel like I too have been walking around, making out the shapes of everything around me but not really seeing them. I've been going from day to day and chore to chore without really focusing on anything. There have been a lot of loops and curves thrown our way in the past couple of months and it's so easy to sort of check out of it all and just focus on putting one foot in front of the other without looking at where you're going.

I was walking down the hallway and I reached out and grabbed Aiden as he was sprinting past me. We were wrapped up in one of those rib crushing hugs when it occurred to me that I hadn't done that in a while. That stop-you-in-your-tracks feeling of rediscovering something that never should have gotten away is not one I want to have again. I want to ensure that there will always be bear hugs and belly tickling and I want Aiden to know that I am always focused on him, no matter what else is going on or how crazy life gets. I've got to make sure I stop, listen and watch.

Life has been moving fast lately. Summer is slipping by and soon he'll be starting preschool. The realization that he is growing so quickly and there isn't even time to blink because you'll miss something has hit me so hard. I want to make sure I'm always looking, always watching, even when things get messy because you never know when you might see something beautiful.

Shoot!

2011-08-06T15:56:00.005-04:00

Rock

Paper

Scissors

Montreal

2011-08-02T21:59:00.006-04:00

We're back from our brief Canadian jaunt! It was lots of fun although very crowded since unbeknownst to us July and August are the busiest seasons in Montreal and oh yeah, it was a holiday weekend for them. We drove up on Friday and met some serious traffic which meant we spent over an hour sitting at the border. We kept ourselves entertained with Harry Potter on CD and by watching the people who felt the need to climb out of their cars chat up everyone else stuck in the gridlock. Once we got into the city we had to drive in circles around the hotel looking for parking since it seemed their parking garage was full. It turns out that the they keep all the doors to garage closed and you sort of have to drive straight at it before it flies up at the last second and lets you in. It seemed bizarre to me but then again I don't often have to park in major metropolitan areas.

I was worried about the hotel since we were staying somewhere new as our usual hotel was completely booked. The only picture on the website was an awkward shot from the outside of the building that showed only the first couple floors and the underside the of awning. Luckily the place was gorgeous. We had a fantastic and slightly dizzying view of city from our room.

We planned on eating at this lovely little french bistro but it was overflowing with a large group of cigar smoking businessmen so we settled for the cheesy but delicious Mexican place next door. Aiden loved it and I had to laugh when our waiter brought him a complimentary virgin daiquiri.

The rest of the evening we spent in the hotel pool. My theory on this is that you could tell a small child you're going on vacation but instead take them to the closest hotel with a pool and they'd probably be just as happy.

The next day we ate breakfast at the same place we always do when we're in Montreal. The food is so delicious that Aiden happily ate a spinach omelet with Hollandaise sauce. You read that right: 3 year old + spinach = breakfast. A true miracle. Sean had fruit crepes (literally every type of fruit including grapes and watermelon stuffed into paper thin crepes) with thick English custard. There were also some banana and Nutella crepes. So delicious. I would have spent the rest of the day eating more breakfast but we had promised Aiden we'd go to the Bio-Dome so we did eventually leave the restaurant.

The Bio-Dome was smaller than I remember but still lots of fun. However, the rainforest section was particularly brutal since Aiden insisted that Sean carry him through the entire area and they were both dripping with sweat by the time we entered the next area. The penguins and the monkeys were our favorites overall. We left early and still sat in traffic for an obscenely long time. One amusing thing that happened on the drive was when we passed a cemetery and Aiden looked at all the headstones and said "Ooh! Building blocks!". Oh the innocence. Overall: wonderful trip but terrible traffic. Would like to go back very soon.

It Seems I've Lost Something...

2011-08-02T21:57:00.002-04:00

That would be about 12 inches of hair.

Back!

2011-07-28T16:26:00.007-04:00

Whew. It only took me wayyy too long to realize that there would be no buying a new camera cord since the camera is six years old and was purchased in a different country. Oh well. We're currently relying on the teeny tiny point and shoot we used to use. The picture quality isn't great but then again my skills with a camera aren't that great, so it will do!

So what all has happened since we last left off? Harry Potter came out. This was pretty monumental in our house. We read the books to Aiden and he has seen several of the movies (minus the scary endings) and he has spent the past couple of weeks talking about them. He likes the flying Ford Anglia, the Hogwarts Express, the scary dementors and the fact that chocolate is the medicine of choice in these stories.

Also, my garden has produced a serious bounty of snap peas and squash (not a single carrot grew. I have no idea what happened there. A true agricultural mystery). I, however, have failed miserably at actually harvesting the vegetables. I bring in the squash when I find it but it likes to hide in the foliage of the plants. The snap peas produced enough to feed our entire block and I was too overwhelmed to try and pick them all. Instead, Aiden likes to stand outside and eat the raw peas which is totally fine by me.

Sean's work has been typically overwhelming with him frequently working straight through weekends. This weekend will be the first time in months that he's been able to take his full four day break without having to go into work. We're taking advantage by fleeing the country. Seriously. The original plan was to head up to Niagara Falls and then to Toronto but we've instead settled on the much more manageable location of Montreal. We love the city and I love listening to Sean bumble through his lunch order in broken French despite the fact that we both spent six years studying the language. It's incredibly cute.

When we get back we're going to try and take Aiden to the horse races and I also have a hot date with the hairdresser on Monday. This should be the most relaxing weekend we've had since February. Hopefully I remember the camera!

Blame It On the Dog

2011-07-10T17:23:00.001-04:00

So, I haven't posted anything in a while, and it's totally Bo's fault. He ate my camera cord and now i have to go get a new one, at quickly since it's been a month now!

School Day, Sick Day and A Day Off

2011-06-11T15:51:00.008-04:00

On Wednesday Sean and I took Aiden to visit his new preschool. It was both a relief and and a little anxiety inducing to finally meet everyone and take a look around. It was nice to have an image of where he'll be going in the fall, and both the teachers and the children were so nice and welcoming. I think Aiden was a little overwhelmed but later in the day he told us that everyone was very nice and he wanted to go back and play with all of the new trucks (of course). However, I can't believe he's going to go off in his little backpack (oh yes, they get to bring backpacks) to school. Where is the time going?!

The next day Aiden kept complaining that he was sick. Sometimes he says this because he thinks he can get a movie or a popsicle out of it, and he was pretty upbeat, so I didn't think much of it. By that afternoon he'd slept through naptime and dinner and was running a fever of 103. It was scary how quickly it had escalated. I gave him some Tylenol and fluids and he went to sleep. The next morning he woke up, drank down two huge glasses of cold water, ate his breakfast, my breakfast and Sean's breakfast and was as peppy and energetic as ever. Thank goodness it was just a 24 hour bug and nothing more serious.

Since Aiden was feeling better we decided to drive to Fort Ticonderoga just to get out of town for the day. Once we had completed the winding two hour drive Sean and I agreed we should have picked a better place to escape to. The fort is neat, but not exactly worth the two hour drive, and it's Americade (a huge motorcycle rally) this weekend so it was jam packed with bikers.

Nevertheless, we had fun just doing something out of the ordinary. The people watching was certainly fun. One big burly leather-clad biker even stopped to tell Aiden that he liked his orange sunglasses. And really, you can't get a better endorsement than that.

Sleepy

2011-06-07T14:36:00.002-04:00

On (Play)Dating

2011-06-03T16:02:00.003-04:00

Aiden has never had an official playdate. I, being his mother, would be responsible for that sort of thing and seeing as how I really don't know any three year olds other than my own, I have never officially organized a get together for my three year old and any other three year old. Whew.

A lot of it (all of it) stems from the fact that my only mom friends are the moms of my friends. Yeah. So anyway, I've kept my eyes open and tried to seize the mom friend opportunity when it arises except it never really does in any solid way.

Sean can't figure out why I haven't made any mom friends yet with the amount of time I spend bringing Aiden to the playground and library and story time. The thing is that meeting a new friend feels a lot like trying to get a date. I'll be at the playground chatting with another mom, who happens to have a child the same age as mine, and the whole time I'm trying to figure out how to broach the subject of a possible playdate.

But I don't want to be too forward! Maybe they actually live quite a long way away and are only in town for the day? Or their child goes to preschool everyday and today was just a day off and they don't have time for you? What if you think they seem really cool but they are secretly thinking you're really boring? Oh the anxiety.

I'm afraid of blurting out "Hi you're really nice and your kid is too can I have your number? You want to come to my house? LET'S BE FRIENDS'' and then looking like a creep. (Although my mom likes to remind me that she said something very similar to woman she was talking to 15ish years ago and they are super best friends to this day).

I had pretty much given up hope, figuring that when Aiden starts preschool he'll make his own darn friends and I'll stop having to be his wingman. Then one fateful day we met this very sweet woman with two adorable kids at the bookstore. Sean and I talked to her for quite awhile before we found out that she, and her 2 and 3 year olds, lives two streets away! Hark! What sounds is this? I do believe it is opportunity and it is knocking!

Both Sean and I did our best to casually mention how nice it would be for the kids to get together! (Wow, I sound really old when I say stuff like that). We outlined the ways in which it would be so convenient! And fun! Our kids! Playing together!

She nodded and smiled and that was that. We didn't see her again. Our hopes were dashed and now Sean understood how completely awkward it can be trying to make friends with a parent for the sake of your kid.

But! We ran into her again this morning at the very same bookstore! She immediately came over and said hello. When started talking about the kids and soon she said that her son would be done with preschool in three weeks and that we should absolutely get the boys together.

Sean and I were giddy and kept nodding and smiling and telling her we couldn't wait. After she walked away Sean asked "Wait, are we supposed to ask her for her number? Should we give her ours? Do we just casually run into her here again next week?"

And so, 3 weeks from now, Aiden is set to have his first playdate ever. We'll just be over here waiting by the phone.

Memorial Day Memories

2011-06-01T22:06:00.005-04:00

As of last Thursday Sean passed a big milestone at work. In the days leading up to it he was putting in a full day's work on each day off and pulling some crazy long days (we're talking 17 hours on occasion). Finally things should ease up a bit for him which makes both me and Aiden quite happy.

However, he still had to work straight through Memorial Day weekend which made me feel kind of bad. Every morning Sean would put on his work clothes while Aiden and I put on bathing suits and sun screen. We had so much fun and spent as much time as possible at the pool or the park but we definitely missed Sean.

His day off was yesterday and we spent it getting some errands run, visiting his dad and taking Aiden to see Kung Fu Panda 2. Aiden's first trip to the movie theater was last summer when we saw Toy Story 3, and it was such a huge deal. This time? Not so much. The movie was fantastic but he's so much older now that he sat by himself with the gigantic 3D glasses perched on his nose and kept waving us away every time we tried to hold his hand. He will not be caught holding his mom's hand at the movies, thank you very much.

Today we took Aiden over to the Crossings, which is an amazing park in the next town over. It's got tons of walking trails, a gorgeous picnic area and a brand new playground complete with that cool bouncy rubber surface under all the play equipment (unlike the lovely gravel playgrounds we grew up with). Aiden tends to be a little shy around other kids and hang back when there's a lot of activity. Today however he took off like a rocket and Sean and I kept having to remind him to stay within our line of sight. He was all over the place with the other kids (and there were a TON of kids). Sean and I couldn't help but get a little giddy over the fact that he finally seems to be coming out of his shell.

We hesitated over sending him to preschool this past year because he was very, very shy. We decided to wait until this fall and we're so glad we did. He is absolutely ready for that kind of setting now and rather than focusing on getting over his shyness he's actually ready to focus on making friends.

On a separate note: I picked out the preschool this past winter and Sean gave it a quick review and agreed that it sounded good. After we registered Aiden, Sean suddenly decided he wasn't certain this was the perfect place despite me assuring him that lots of other parents recommended it and that Aiden would be going to kindergarten with these same children. Today he called them to arrange a visit for Aiden, and in classic Sean fashion, he realized that three of the five teachers were mothers of his highschool friends. This just cemented my belief that Sean knows everyone in town. Everyone.

Suprise! No...Not Really.

2011-05-22T17:09:00.004-04:00

Aiden just got his 'start of summer' super short haircut. He also got his first black-eye, earned by whacking himself in the eye with a toy. He's also in shorts constantly now that the weather is regularly 70ish or warmer. All of these things combined make him seem like he's grown a ton in the past week. His big boy buzz cut, a purple-blue shiner and impossibly long legs sticking out from last years shorts.

Also, the things that come out of his mouth lately leave me flabbergasted (and occasionally wishing I watched my own mouth more carefully).

We were in the yard and a very old, very loud car drove past. Aiden made a face and muttered "beater car". It cracked me up. Sean and I always refer to junk cars as "beaters" and I guess he was listening.

Yesterday he came up and showed me a little red mark on his leg and promptly declared "A pimple! I got pimples all over!". This made me cringe a little since he's obviously heard either Sean or I complain about our skin (not that we really have pimples all over, but I know I can be oh... a LITTLE DRAMATIC when I do find one).

Perhaps the funniest thing he's started saying is "SURPRISE!" and then telling me what wants.
"Surprise! You let me watch a movie!" or "Surprise! You give me chocolate now!". I sure wish surprises worked that way.

Sean's Birthday

2011-05-16T15:29:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was Sean's 24th birthday. I had decided that this year Sean was going to have a party, with friends, and a big, big cake. He deserved it. He's an amazing husband, father and friend and he's been working so hard these past few days/weeks/years.

Last year I bought him a birthday present that broke within weeks, threw him a birthday breakfast that went totally awry and drove him to his birthday dinner 45 minutes late. This year I needed to redeem myself. Also, Sean never makes a big deal out of his big day. He never asks for any gifts or requests any special treatment but you know what? Sean deserves to have everyone make a big deal out of him once in a while.

His two friends from college, Owen and Mikey came to stay for the weekend. The boys all got to hang out and do man stuff, like assemble Sean's new grill. Saturday afternoon we had a big cook out (or cook in since the grill was in the garage and we ate inside, out of the pouring rain). More of our friends came over and it was a really fun party. Aiden even managed to behave himself throughout, except for trying to sneak a worm into the house inside a toy pickup truck.

By Sunday afternoon we were both totally exhausted. Sean came away with a lot of thoughtful gifts, a refrigerator stuffed with party food and hopefully, some good memories.

Garden Party

2011-05-11T21:20:00.000-04:00

Now that the weather is getting warmer, Sean and I have been trying to fix up the seriously neglected yard and gardens around the house. We haven't been able to do much of anything with them for the past two years so this year, now that we're all actually home, we are making up for lost time.

Last week Sean had three days off and we spent each day trekking to Lowe's and back, car trunk full of topsoil and mulch, and working outside. We've been wanting to plant a vegetable garden and finally worked out exactly where everything would go, but it required replanting several plants (by several I mean A LOT). i have never done much (okay, any) gardening in my life that wasn't under the direct tutelage of my mother or aunt so I've been kind of nervous about undertaking what seems like a rather large project.

Overall, everything seems to be going according to plan, if not slightly slower than I'd hoped it would. I'm finding that while I don't particularly enjoy the process (especially the way spiders and worms seems to pop out of nowhere) I really love the results which makes it worth it.

Aiden loves to help. By help I mean that he likes to take a sand shovel and rearrange topsoil or pick up worms and carry them around like a pet. It's been a fun family adventure and hopefully this summer we'll have a nice little vegetable garden to show for all the work.

Wishing You...

2011-05-02T21:50:00.004-04:00

...a little peace on earth.

Easter

2011-04-27T22:04:00.007-04:00

I'm going to try and update more since Sean was teasing me about falling down on the job. Aiden picked up a cold this past week and was out of commission for several days. I always feel so torn about what to do when he get sick because on one hand I want to swoop in and cuddle him (even though he HATES it when he's not feeling well) and on the other hand all I can think about is how everytime he sneezes on me I'm five billion germs closer to getting sick myself which will be miserable for BOTH of us. Of course I ended up coming down with it by Friday night.

I woke up on Saturday and felt like I'd been hit by a truck. Fever, chills, extreme dizziness and nausea. It was bad enough that Sean and my mom pretty much took over with Aiden, for which I was extremely grateful. I felt so much better by Easter morning, still sniffly but not anywhere near as flu-like.

We ended up having a really wonderful Easter. The only unfortunate things were that a) Sean had to work that evening and b) the camera battery died! We didn't get a single picture of Aiden with his basket of goodies or in his Easter clothes. We went to church in the morning and then had a lovely dinner at my mom's house with my aunt and uncle. I was worried that things wouldn't feel the same with Sean at work but there were so many people around that we still had fun.

The past couple of days have been warm, feeling almost like summer, and Sean has even had a little to spend with Aiden. We've been taking Aiden for bike rides, cleaning up the yard and spending time at the park.

Aiden has been reveling in the attention from Sean and he keeps amazing me with how much he's growing. He's starting to overcome a lot of his shyness and is much more eager to talk to other children. Another weird quirk: he's a backseat driver. We were heading towards a red light when he said "Woah mom, slow down, red light ahead!". Uh, yes, I'm aware. He's constantly warning me about parked cars and oncoming traffic. The kicker, however, was when we were driving to my mom's house which is only a few blocks away, and he gave me turn by turn directions. He got every left and right turn correct and I finally asked him to show me his left and right hands to see if he really knew, and voila, he did.

Back!

2011-04-20T14:33:00.008-04:00

Wow, usually I don't wait two weeks to put up a blog post. I kept taking pictures and thinking of things I wanted to write down but then the weather got warmer. We started spending almost every day at the park or walking by the river and I kept forgetting to post anything. And then life got crazy. Sean's job has gotten crazier. I didn't think it was possible to add more stress and hours to an already ridiculous schedule but they always manage think up new ways to do it. It's amazing.

Anyways, we did manage to sneak off to Boston for a day and a half last weekend. This trip had been a lifeline for weeks, we just kept looking forward to it and counting down the days. I imagined a couple of sunny days leisurely roaming around the city, chatting with college friends and dining out. In reality it was about forty degrees with 30mph winds. We had dinner with friends the first night and the rest of the time was just us. The city was a madhouse with crowds pouring in for both a Redsox home game and...the Boston Marathon. Yeah, whoops, we didn't realize we'd picked the same weekend.

What could have been a desperate weekend of dodging crowds and bone chilling high winds was actually really relaxing. It was nice to visit friends, however briefly, and it was a relief to be out of town, alone together, and just not thinking about work or chores or anything other than how many pastries we could eat for breakfast.

Aiden had a wonderful time and was thoroughly amazed by things like tours buses, the facade of one particular Chinese restaurant and the pigeons in Boston Commons. Easy to please.

What was perhaps the most amazing thing was that Aiden, who has a tendancy towards anxiety over new things, willingly slept alone in one of the hotel beds, tried lots of new foods, happily chatted with people he hadn't seen in a year and beautifully behaved the entire time. That alone felt like the best vacation I could have asked for.

Overnight Guest

2011-04-04T16:49:00.008-04:00

Bear is staying with us for a few days while Sean's mom is out of town and Aiden couldn't be more excited. I was a little worried how Bo and Bear would get along since she's skittish around other dogs and he's just never been around any since leaving his sisters.

I left the two of them together Sunday while Aiden and I went to church. When we headed out Bear was nervously whining and Bo was running circles around her. When we got back the two of them were curled up together and perfectly calm.

Guest of honor.

Resident canine.

Fifty pound difference.

I'm glad that they seem to get along so well. Bear is always very calm and sedate and doesn't seem to mind both Bo and Aiden zinging around her in circles. Bo even tries to herd her like a sheep. When they go out together he waits for her at the door and follows behind, always keeping an eye on her.

Seriously, I need to take a page out of her book because nothing seems to faze her. Maybe she recognizes that all of the noise and attention is just their way of showing love? Or maybe she's just too lazy to shoo them away?

Sign of Spring

2011-04-02T15:34:00.004-04:00

Aiden just got his first real bike. It's bright orange with flames and even has a hand brake (that he can barely wrap his hand around. Luckily it also brakes if you backpedal). When Sean first put it together it looked enormous and I was certain that Aiden would be too short to ride it but then he climbed on and pedaled across the room.

With his first bike comes his first helmet. It's also very flashy with a picture of Lightening McQueen on it. He loves to carry it around but refuses to wear it, and for this reason, he hasn't gotten to ride the bike yet. We keep offering to take it to the bike path or the park but he scrunches up his nose at the helmet.

Hopefully soon he agrees to the helmet and we can get him outside on the bike path. Otherwise, I may need to have my dad (who use to participate in a lot of biking road races and has therefore taken a few spills) explain in greater detail just exactly WHY we wear helmets.

Sign of

2011-04-02T15:34:00.000-04:00

Educational and Slightly Terrifying

2011-03-25T14:27:00.007-04:00

Sean is working the night shift all week which means that I have been searching for ways to get Aiden out of the house and ensure that Sean has a chance to sleep without the incessant noise of a three year old and his excitable puppy.

Laura called me up yesterday and suggested taking him to a local Children's Museum. I hadn't heard of this particular place before so we loaded Aiden into the car and drove over to check it out. Much of the museum was dedicated to local wildlife, which Aiden loved. There were tanks with turtles and fish and even a gigantic bullfrog or two.

There was an area sponsored by a news channel where you could give the weather in front of a green screen and it would play back your performance with graphics. Laura was our demonstrator while Aiden and I watched on the tv.

As with several other museums we've been to, this one had areas sponsored by GE. Specifically a demo of how wind turbines work.
Yes, the whole museum was very educational and hands on and we made one last stop in the animal room. There were tanks of iguanas, frogs, snakes and even cockroaches but none of this bothered Aiden. What bothered him was the faux bear skin draped over a log in the corner, casually arranged as part of the 'wildlife' scenery of the room. He took one look at it and hollered "MONKEY!! WITH CLAWS!" and screamed in terror until we rushed him out of there.

No matter how many times we explained that it wasn't real and it wasn't even a monkey, he STILL spent the rest of the afternoon recounting his horrifying brush with a frightening clawed monkey.

Oh well. At least he'll remember it, right?

Two Steps Foward, One Leap Back

2011-03-21T14:58:00.006-04:00

It is officially spring as of yesterday. And today? We woke up to snow. Soaking wet flakes coating the skylight in our bedroom, clinging to the driveway and the grass that had just reappeared after months under some of the biggest snow drifts in memory. Just last week Aiden and I were out traipsing through the mud brought on by the mild spring weather and now we are holed up inside, me shaking my fist at this precipitation that won't quit.

Spring in the Northeast is incredibly frustrating in the way that it is a constant stop and a start. Thirty and snowing. Sixty and sunny. Forty and raining. Seventy and mild. All the way to June when one day it's eighty and summer.

Like life in general, it's full of ups and downs. There's not a thing we can do about it other than smile and keep going.

I'm just glad I have two such wonderful guys in my life to make it easier. In Aiden's words, when life hands you a snowy spring: "Well, maybe we go ski then mommy".

A St. Patty's Day Walk In the Park

2011-03-17T15:56:00.008-04:00

The weather was gorgeous today so Aiden and I packed a picnic lunch and headed over to the park to spend the day outside. Tons of children were out running around, along with geese, ducks and a pasture full of cows. Laura came with us and we took a walk around the park to see what we could see...

We Did Nothing and It Was Everything We Thought It Could Be.

2011-03-14T14:46:00.004-04:00

Sean is on his last day of his four day weekend. We've had such a great time just hanging out, visiting family and friends, and we even managed to squeeze in a night out for Sean and I. I haven't really had much to post for the last week because we were either counting down until Sean's big weekend or we were actually enjoying it.

On Friday the weather was on and off rainy, but the temperature was somewhere around 54 degrees. When the rain finally stopped we all went for a walk and even took Bo, who usually only gets to explore the backyard. Sean and I took Aiden to storytime in the morning and then we spent the day relaxing. Aiden and I also decided to make a loaf of banana bread. We mixed up the batter and put the pan in the oven. As soon as I shut the oven door Aiden looked at me and said "Okay, press 'play'!".

Saturday and Sunday were spent visiting friends and family and ensuring we also spent adequate time just lolling around in our pajamas. I've found that the more time spent in pajamas = the better you feel when the weekend is over.

Today I've been busy working on some homemade chicken soup while Aiden and Sean work on an enormous lego project together. The two of them have had there heads together over the coffee table and a huge pile of Lego pieces for the better part of the morning. They took one break so that Aiden could have a peanut butter sandwich and Sean could check the stock market. This is Sean's favorite thing to do when he's home on a week day. Aiden climbs into his lap and they read reports and watch the Ameritrade command center. One day I couldn't find Aiden anywhere and I finally caught him sitting in the computer chair in the office, pushing the mouse around. I asked him what he was doing and he said "Checking the market".

So, to recap: our weekend = friends, family, chicken soup, pajamas and Legos. Lots of Legos.

The Lair

2011-03-06T14:33:00.002-05:00

The Independent Streak

2011-03-01T14:20:00.008-05:00

For the past couple of weeks Aiden has been really....challenging. That's the PG version of what I'd like to say to describe his behavior. Two was full of tantrums and whatnot but three? Three is a whole different ballgame. It used to be he'd roll on the floor and yell for a minute or two when he didn't get his way. Now if he doesn't get his way he makes eye contact and smiles while sweeping all of his toys and markers off the table and onto the floor. That kind of behavior.

Sean had missed a lot of this because he was working the night shift. I had time to adjust and start coming up with more creative consequences for bad behavior but Seany was totally blindsided, and honestly, I think he was a little offended. Sean is used to being the fun one who comes home to a very eager little boy and suddenly Aiden didn't want anything to do with either one of us.

His new phrases are: "Mine!" and "I do it!" and "Leave me alone!". Oh, and the really painful one: "Daddy, go to work".

"Mine!"

"YOU DO IT!!!"

"No, wait. I DO IT!"

But then? Then Aiden got sick. He's picked up a hacking cough and runny nose and suddenly he likes us again. He's spent the last couple of days climbing into my lap and resting while we read books. Now, I'm not exactly glad he's not feeling well, but I sure am glad he's remembered that I'm actually a pretty nice person. I'm also remembering that, despite the independent streak, he's a pretty nice person too.

Peace at last.

As We Live A Life of Ease, Everyone of Us Has All We Need

2011-02-25T17:22:00.002-05:00

This week my mom and I went to see a Beatles cover band called Rain. They're surpringly good, they play all the music themselves and run through a good sample of songs from each Beatles 'era' complete with costumes and vintage videos.

Aiden and I always like to listen to the Beatles and this week I've been playing them a lot. Yesterday, during Sean's day off, they were working on building a Lego train and Aiden piped up with his own cover of Yellow Submarine.

I'm glad we're instilling a good taste in music if nothing else.

This and That

2011-02-18T13:28:00.007-05:00

I know I said I wouldn't comment on the weather until spring but it's actually sunny out and 50 degrees today! Yesterday was gorgeous too which meant that Aiden and I could go for a walk around the neighborhood (shockingly, he actually walked the whole way. Goodbye stroller!). We also took a little time to blow bubbles.

Since the snow has been rapidly melting he also asked if we could make a snowman before it was all gone. We made the world's tiniest snowman.

Frame of reference for you:

Aiden has been full of energy lately which is pretty taxing. However, he's also been incredibly sweet. One day, after going to storytime at the library we decided to run over to Starbucks. I'll usually grab a coffee and head home when it's just me and him. That day we grabbed our beverages and headed to the door but he said 'No mommy! Sit down!".

He found a table and plunked down in a chair. I came over and said "Why are you sitting here? What are we supposed to do?" and he looked at me like I was crazy. He said "Talk to me mommy!". So we actually sat for a half hour or so and talked. He told me all about a dream he had with Thomas the Tank Engine, we talked about all the cars and buses outside and the photographs on the walls. I cannot believe I am the parent of someone who can sit and chat at a coffee shop. Where is my baby?

In other news, Sean and I went on a date. I even got to wear high heels. It was lovely. Photographic evidence:

The Never-Ending (We Hope) Story

2011-02-14T10:09:00.000-05:00

So, in honor of Valentine's Day I thought I would share the story of Sean and I. For those of you who only read to hear about Aiden you may want to check back tomorrow because this story has little to do with him. Well, sometimes it has everything to do with him. It suppose it depends...

Anyway, here is a photo of Sean and I at age 18. We actually met at 17 but I don't have those pictures on the computer. (And we still look exactly the same).

We were both taking a psychology class. I had researched it thoroughly and decided it sounded like a perfect introduction to my future college major. He just had time to kill.

Fate would have it that the seating was alphabetical in this class, placing Sean directly behind me (a big thank you to our ancestors for carrying the family names to America and allowing for our serendipitous meeting). At first I ignored him because he talked NONSTOP. To anyone. To everyone. Sometimes he would poke me in the back and try to talk to me. I'd lend him a pen. He'd share his notes with me. Very romantic stuff.

Soon we were assigned a group project together. We started to talk and I discovered that beyond the sophomoric sense of humor and jock attitude and constant chatter he was...nice. Like really, really nice. Oh, and smart. Very very smart. And also? Everyone loved him.

I had grown up two blocks away from him, going to the same elementary, middle and high schools and often having the same friends and I had never met him! But everyone else had. He was friends with all of the guys on the sports teams. He was friends with all of the nerdy kids. Teachers would stop him in the halls just to make conversation about skiing or tennis or concerts. He scared off bullies who picked on smaller kids. Unfortunately he also thought I was 14 and a freshman. I finally set him straight on that point and he asked me out.

Then came Prom-gate. He went on and on about how since he was a senior he wouldn't be going to Prom (we only had a junior prom). So I asked him to go with me (I was so brave, right?). He got very shifty and uncomfortable and laughed it off, telling me to ask him again in a month or so. To my seventeen year old heart that was a definite NO THANK YOU CRAZY GIRL. To him, he actually meant for me to ask him again in case we had broken up or someone in my own grade needed a date or whatever. A month, and then two, went by and I'd rustled up a different date and someone else in my grade asked him anyway, AND HE SAID YES. This should have been grounds for immediate dismissal as a boyfriend/friend and yet? We kind of just went with it. Well, we still argue to this day about whether I should have asked him again or whether he should've just said yes in the first place. But it's all good natured. Mostly.

We started dating pretty casually. He was a senior, I was a junior, he was leaving for college eventually and we figured things would run their course and we'd probably break up before the fall. However, things started to get complicated because the more I got to know him the more I kept thinking about what a fantastic husband he'd make. Like, I could spend my WHOLE LIFE with this guy because he was perfect. Normally it would be wonderful to know you'd met such an amazing person, however, I was 17 and that kind of thought was downright scary. You see, I had a pretty tight ten year plan and meeting my future husband at 17 was definitely not on it. I would meet my future husband in grad school maybe. Or at the law firm or private practice I'd be working at in my late 20's. So naturally, I couldn't let myself fall head over heels for Sean.

So we broke up. And then we got back together. And then we broke up. And then got back together. Each time initiated by me regrettably. But there were my plans! And...and...people don't marry their high school sweethearts except in country songs and romance novels. Right?

Sean was entirely baffled. I didn't want to let on, but so was I. I really really loved him and I couldn't imagine dating him and falling that hard only to break up eventually. Because I was certain that would happen. Again, people don't marry their high school sweethearts. That's just not something that level headed people with lots of plans do. So, in a move that makes no sense whatever, I'd break up with him to spare myself future heartbreak. Except that I'd be really heartbroken and so would he and it would rain all the time and the flowers would all droop and all the colors in the world would turn gray. Okay, so I exaggerate, but you get the idea.

So there were three or so years of mostly blissful dating with this occasional on again off again and back on again nonsense... and enter scene: Aiden! And let me tell you, Aiden was NOT in the plan. This was obviously a point where we had to stop and really look at ourselves and what on earth we were going to do about the future. Each stepping stone towards my goals that I thought would be neatly laid out one in front of the other were suddenly all rearranged. Everything was up in the air but we took a leap of faith and headed forward. Initially I resisted the whole getting married thing. We needed to simply see how we handled having a baby before marriage would come into play.

Both Sean and I know what it's like to have divorced parents and we knew that was not something we wanted our own child to deal with. We both realized that what was waiting for us on the other side of pregnancy would stretch us to the limit. Trying to figure out marriage wasn't something I could do just then simply because we took marriage very seriously. Ours would not be some shotgun event we plunged into for appearances. Ours would be something we discussed and considered and stepped into when we were fully ready to take it on. Having one major, life altering event unfolding before us was enough. So we waited. And honestly, I'm glad.

The intensity of dealing with a newborn, school and work was mind blowing. Everyday was like running a marathon. There were days were I felt like I couldn't do it. It was too much. That was when Sean would step in and take over. Like a life ring in the middle of raging ocean tide, the love he had for Aiden and for me was the most achingly beautiful thing I'd ever witnessed. It became very clear to me that we'd be together forever. Someone who would stick by me everyday through late night exhaustion and hormonal outbursts and empty bank accounts was all I could ever ask for. There was this greater love and commitment there that I hadn't been able to see before but was abundantly clear to me now. Suddenly it didn't matter about how old we were or what huge obstacles we were hurdling or even what was in the stupid plan. This was happening now. He was here right now. He could have been anywhere else and yet he was changing diapers and coaching me through my computer class and gladly eating my overcooked chicken dinners.

Still, we waited until he had graduated before having a wedding. In the meantime we moved to NYC and shared a crushingly expensive apartment in a trendy part of town where we knew no one. I set the very sensitive smoke alarm off every few days with my sauteing on the stove. We watched Seinfeld reruns at night and listened to the nonstop sirens. We explored the park and met lots of children and their nannies and learned to love food out of a truck on the street. We learned more about each other and what it takes to get along together, alone.

And then in December 2009 we finally said our vows in front of our parents and friends. Embarrassingly, I sobbed through mine and worried about my nose running when we finally got to kiss. I didn't worry about whether or not this was the right thing to be doing. We'd had a trial by fire. The 'worse' of 'for better or for worse' had come already. I have faith that when we face trying times again we'll remember how much stronger we are when we lean on each other.

And now? We're busy living the rest of our lives together.

So lesson one: when you find a good guy, just be happy and hang on to him. Lesson two: "Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans". The story of my life.

Still, we think it's gonna be a happily ever after. We're obviously made for each other.

What Else Would We Do?

2011-02-12T15:03:00.006-05:00

Our standard way to celebrate any holiday: make cookies.

Heart shaped for Valentine's Day, naturally.

Mr. Muscles helped roll out the dough.

Red Hot's and red sugar.

A whole batch of masterpieces.

Delicious.

Sowing Bountifully

2011-02-10T14:54:00.004-05:00

Last week Aiden was eating an apple and bit into the core. He saw the apple seeds and wanted to know what they were. I explained how all trees and plants come from tiny seeds like these. Naturally, he asked if we could go outside and plant them.

We tried the next best thing. I remembered this trick from when I was in elementary school, and we wrapped the seeds in wet paper towel and tucked them into a plastic bag. We set it aside and I almost forgot about it. When Sean came home he asked what the heck was in the bag and I told him we wanted to see if the seeds would sprout. He was MIGHTY skeptical. He insisted that you can't just take seeds from a fruit and expect it to grow a plant. I asked him how he thought plants grew in the wild? Now, I realize we're not about to grow a prize winning, apple giving orchard starter here, but I was pretty certain it'd make a neat science experiment.

Lo and behold, a few days later I opened the bag and they had sprouted. Genuine roots were growing from the seeds in our meager little plastic bag. Over the weekend we took Aiden to Lowe's to pick out some pots and some more seeds and we've planted some herbs and put our little apple seeds into their own pot.

Everyday Aiden comes and checks their progress.

They might have had some very humble beginnings but it doesn't mean our little apple tree won't grow.

Party

2011-02-05T15:13:00.003-05:00

Sean is on day 2 of his 4 days off and we are hunkering down for...more snow! You'd have never guessed, right? I think I'll stop mentioning the weather until April because it's a little monotonous. We made a quick trip to the grocery store (and by 'quick' I mean 'we barely made it out alive'). Sean keeps forgetting it's Super Bowl weekend and was shocked that a) so many people were out shopping and b) they were all buying unsavory amounts of junk food. I had to point out the chili/cocktail weiners/bacon covered pizza I'd slipped into our cart.

Tomorrow Sean has big plans to go skiing with some friends. It will be nice since he loves skiing and has been reduced to escaping to the mountain for only a day or two a year. Then tomorrow night is, of course, Super Bowl!!!!

I am neither a fan of the Packers or the Steelers but I am a fan of chips, dip, chili, brownies, pizza and hilarious commercials. So it's worth it for me to watch. We're hosting our own Super Bowl party this year, although we do use the term 'party' pretty fast and loose around here. (Oh, you brought home bagels? BAGEL PARTY! There are three loads of laundry waiting to be done? LAUNDRY PARTY!). Mostly, it'll be Sean and I, my brother and my friend Tierney. Oh, and Aiden since we've decided he can stay up for this one. Sean doesn't have work on Monday so there will be two of us to deal with the inevitable overtiredness.

I LOVE FOOTBALL!

Snowy Day

2011-02-02T20:01:00.011-05:00

The Turtle, The Monkey and The Snake

2011-02-01T14:01:00.005-05:00

So, you'll never believe it but it's SNOWING AGAIN. We've had a full week reprieve between storms, which is good because this one we're having right now is supposed to be a super-mega-ultra mother of all storms. So big that Oklahoma is getting as much snow as New York. Yikes.

In keeping with the theme of the past two or so posts, we haven't been doing a whole lot other than our regular activities since the act of staying warm and out of the snow has become our main focus. I guess that's pretty typical of January/ February.

One thing I like to do to get Aiden moving a little is to turn on music in the afternoon and Aiden will dance and sing while I get some chores done. Aiden is becoming more and more creative and it shows whenever there's music on. Sometimes he sways along and lip-syncs and sometimes he comes up with the craziest dance moves you've ever seen. He's totally unselfconscious and fully committed to grooving which makes it the best entertainment. Here is one of his newest moves, the turtle:

****

In completely separate news, we found out there is a monkey living in our house. We put Aiden to bed on Saturday night and around one in the morning he came streaking into our room, completely terrified and babbling about a monkey in his room. We calmed him down and put him back in bed but not an hour later he was back with the same story about a monkey in his room.

He has some stuffed animals in his bed that make noise so Sean took them all out just in case they were the cursed 'monkey' that Aiden was talking about. Still, he returned to our room over and over again despite our best efforts to assure him that there was no monkey.

The next night we sat down with him to ask about this mysterious creature.
"Really mean monkey. Really sad mommy" he told me.
We asked him where the monkey was right that minute and he shyly pointed over his shoulder at the wall. The very same wall where his nightlight was casting a perfect Aiden-sized shadow.
We explained what shadows are and that they are nothing to be afraid of. The next morning he was still wary about the shadow-monkey, but then this morning he told me that he had kissed the monkey goodnight and that the monkey went to sleep.
Right. Okay. As long as he's gone I guess.

****

After all of the monkey-drama we went downstairs and Aiden started playing with some of his toy animals. He picked up his blue rubber snake and rested it over his shoulders.
"Hey mommy, I have a snake tie!" he said.
I asked him if it was just like the kind that daddy wears and he frowned at his snake before looping it around on itself and sliding one end through the hole, creating an almost perfect Windsor knot. I was shocked. He still can't put his own shirt on but he's pretty confident with a tie. Go figure.

Hopefully it will stop snowing sometime within the next ten years and we will be able to be a part of society again. Until then we'll be over at our house, staying warm and having all sorts of animal issues.

Over the Hump

2011-01-27T14:19:00.006-05:00

It has been cold this week. Really, really cold. Not only that but I've actually been suffering from a cold virus at the same time and the combination has been pretty unpleasant. It started last Friday and by Tuesday I was certain that a) it would never be warm again and b) I would never be healthy again. Today I have been proven wrong as it is a balmy 34 degrees (much better than -6) and I feel almost perfect. Yay!

In the meantime Aiden and I were holed up in the house except for a few errands and a trip to story time at the library. While we were home he did his best to amuse himself while I sat on the couch and groaned in agony. This is what he came up with:

Hopefully now that I'm feeling better and since Sean has the weekend off, we'll be able to have some fun with him!

Our Sunday Is Your Friday, and Other Nonsense.

2011-01-21T21:27:00.004-05:00

So, Sean is finally done with his first night shift rotation. To say that I am blissfully thankful would be an understatement. You see, it started off really great. We realized that instead of Sean coming home from work really late in the evening and thus missing dinner with Aiden and I, he was now home for 2 meals with us! We'd share a big breakfast together when he came home and he'd have dinner with us before work. Lovely! He also ended up getting a couple more hours of sleep than he would if he were working a regular day shift.

We soon realized however, that after seven days of this night shift nonsense, the benefits definitely don't outweigh the negatives. Sure, we share two meals together. We also don't have a single moment alone as Aiden is awake both morning and evening. Those extra hours of sleep he gets during the day? Doesn't matter since it's still miserable to stay up all night.

Not only that, I realized it's not fun to try and keep Aiden from making too much noise while Sean's asleep. It also means no noisy chores like vacuuming or really any kind of cleaning upstairs at all, and I realized that I hate being alone seven nights in a row.

Also, seven straight days of work, whether day/swing/evening, is a long long week. By Tuesday night, his last before a two day break, I was miserable and so was he. And now it's our Sunday evening. Yes, I realize it's Friday evening, but Sean's week starts tomorrow.

This is definitely going to take some getting used to.

We did have a lovely two day break together though. We visited friends, got hit with another snowstorm (although I don't think it's ever really stopped snowing between storms so it's like a really big two week storm) and tried our best to do a whole lot of nothing while we both recovered from this new schedule. Hopefully we start figuring out what works best for us and how to maximize our time together. At least this next week is regular day shifts!

I Also Left My Brain In the Car

2011-01-15T21:20:00.003-05:00

This post has no pictures. Sorry to disappoint, but at the end of it you will understand why, and probably be grateful.

We've been having a great week. Sean's night shifts have been going shockingly well, my BEST FRIEND LAURA showed up on my doorstep Thursday morning after covertly flying across the country and swearing all of my other friends to secrecy. Generally, life's been awesome. So naturally, this morning was necessary to balance out the ease with which we've been getting by.

I decided I'd take Aiden to the local museum where they have a huge Lionel train exhibit set up. So I said goodnight (or goodmorning?) to Sean who'd just gotten home from work, buckled Aidy into the car seat and we headed out.

At the very bottom of the driveway I heard a "THUNK" and since I could see the recycling bin but not the garbage one, I realized I must have whacked it with the ginormus SUV. I was half in the road, half in the driveway at this point and tried to pull forward but the combination of leftover ice and the steep grade of our drive meant that not even the 4WD could get that sucker moving forward.

I knew it'd only take a second to move the bin so I turned off the car, tossed the keys on the seat and hopped out. As I righted the garbage bin I heard a soft thump and hurried over to see that the angle of the car had caused the heavy door to just barely shut. I yanked on the handle to no avail: even though I could wedge my fingers between the door and the body of the car the latch had engaged and somehow the door was locked. All of them were locked. The trunk was even locked.

So my mothering instincts kicked in and I totally panicked. My car was halfway in the road, with my baby strapped in. All I could think of was some car racing down the road smashing into it. Once I reminded myself that I lived on a quiet stretch of clear suburban road and it was Saturday morning, I calmed down.

I decided to run inside and find the spare keys. Except my house keys were on the seat of my locked car. Right. Aha! Sean was home! I ran up to the house and rang the bell. I banged on the door. Nothing. Sean, you see, enters a coma-like state upon falling asleep and it was going to take more noise to wake him up. I knew that if I could just get the dog to bark that he'd wake up (we've discovered that when Bo does bark it's shrill enough to pierce your eardrums). I pounded on the door and rang the bell for a good ten minutes before an angry, bleary-eyed Sean came down (and Bo never even barked. What the heck).

And where were his set of keys? IN THE CAR. So, since my brain was addled with panic and he was running on ten minutes of sleep, we decided that the only thing to do would be to break into the car and rescue our baby. Wire coat hanger in hand, we headed down the driveway.

However, growing up in a sleepy neighborhood in a peaceful town where we had loving parents and enriching extra curricular activities kept us from learning the secrets of grand theft auto and we totally failed at unlocking the automotive prison. So, logically, we resorted to blaming each other. We had a refreshing five minute spat in the sub-freezing winter air about who was really at fault and who was currently suffering more. Once that was out of our system we decided Aiden was probably suffering the most.

I peered through the tinted windows of the SUV and attempted to communicate with Aiden, who I assumed was equally frozen from the temperature and sheer terror. I was wrong. He casually waved at me and smiled slyly. I asked him to try and undo the top of his carseat (which he KNOWS how to do). He just shook his head and smiled. Sean asked. Aiden rolled his eyes, stretched, and crossed his legs. I KID YOU NOT. I pleaded and begged and Aiden would wave or make goofy faces.

Finally we made the emergency call to AAA. We weren't actually members so they mercifully charged us DOUBLE and proceeded to wax poetic about the benefits of upgrading our four second old plan to platinum level, despite the fact that Sean had just informed them we had a toddler stuck in a car sitting halfway in the road in frigid temperatures. But please, do go on about your superb towing services.

Twenty minutes later, while my toes slowly lost feeling and Sean lost more and more sleep, we received an automated phonecall telling us not to give up hope, the lock smith would be there soon.

In relief I rested my forehead against the car window. Then Sean pointed out the "Emergency Roadside Assistence" phone number in the corner of that same window. The one that would've gotten our car unlocked for free since the car is still under warranty. WHOOPS.

Finally, an hour after the ordeal began, Aiden was sprung free. Sean returned to bed. All I wanted to do was take a hot bath and apologize to Aiden forty thousand times. My plans would have to wait as the first thing he said to me was "Ugh. Come on Mommy. Choo choo show!". So off we went.

Snow Much Fun

2011-01-10T13:47:00.009-05:00

(I wrote this post this past Sunday as a reflection on the fun we'd had being 'snowed in' and I forgot to post it. And now? Now we're looking down the barrel of ANOTHER snow event! It's officially January)

This past Friday night/ Saturday morning we had a snow storm. Now, I feel like the past three years or so we've had two to three day long snowstorms and storms that drop both ice and snow and knock power out, so this storm, which left us with about 8 inches of powdery snow and a pleasantly sunny Saturday in which to dig out seemed kind of quaint and not particularly threatening. Nevertheless, the weather reports made it sound like a very chilly and very white Armageddon was coming. So Friday morning I headed to the grocery store to pick up the essential life sustaining supplies we'd need in case the storm was truly awful: hot chocolate and bagels. I also dug out a few of our favorite movies..just in case.

As I mentioned, it was a lot of snow, not really a storm. We curled up inside with our movies and books and I kept coming up with reasons to refill everyone's mug with hot chocolate. Oh, who am I kidding, you don't need a reason to have a refill of hot chocolate.

That evening Sean's father and sister came over to go sledding with Aiden and it was so adorable. He had such a fun time and talked nonstop about it all night. Of course, I completely failed to take any pictures of the sledding fun.

I did manage to get a few shots of Aiden playing with Bo. By 'playing' I mean 'attempting to stalk'. Somehow, Bo got away every time.

Man Cold

2011-01-09T21:41:00.002-05:00

You guys, both Aiden and Sean have....man colds. It's similar to a cold a women gets except....much worse. The whole earth must come to a screeching halt to tend to the needs of a man suffering from a man cold.

Sean's started last week and he's generally been in good spirits as long as I ensure he's always got a cup of hot tea with honey. And fresh baked goods. And as long as I stop every few hours and say something along the lines of "honey...how are you holding up? Are you SURE you're okay?".

Aiden woke up with it today. It's kind of funny to see how he acts when he's sick because he tries to get away with murder. He's completely stopped speaking, merely moaning and grunting and pointing at what he wants. He decided he wanted a cookie and groaned until I brought him one, hoping it would make him feel better. When I handed it to him part of it crumbled and he looked up at me with a frown and finally said "ugh...It's broken!".

Yes, I'm on high alert over here with the sick men. I just hope none of the other men in our family catch it.

My friend Tierney told me about this video and it's pretty accurate:

Happy New Puppy!...I Mean, Year!

2011-01-03T14:19:00.005-05:00

So, our new little puppy is here and is currently asleep on my right foot. He's an adorable little sheltie, only 12 weeks and not quite 4 pounds. We picked him up on Friday after driving for hours and hours up into northern New York, through the candy cane forest, over the sea of swirly twirly gumdrops (okay, yes, that's from the movie Elf), and onto the ferry across Lake Champlain to Vermont. Then we drove an hour more into the country and down one long unplowed dirt road to reach the home of his breeders.

They told us that they were selling him because he was unfit to be a showdog like his three sisters. Apparently a puppy that doesn't bark or jump or nip and just likes to curl up in your lap makes a bad showdog but a very, very good house pet. Sometimes I wonder if he's actually a kitten and not a dog at all.

It's been a surprisingly easy transition. He's half house trained, but he doesn't bark at night and although he does like to chew he never nips at us. He's a doll.

His name is Bo. Actually, Aiden named him Rainbow but Sean and I decided to spare the poor puppy's manly pride and call him Bo.

Here he is:

In With the New

2010-12-30T13:56:00.003-05:00

Aiden plowing fresh snow.

We've been laying pretty low the past few days as we're recovering from Christmas and we had a big snow storm early Monday morning. However, the morning of the storm I realized that instead of laying around in our pajamas watching the snow fall, I would need to shovel us out before Sean got home (most of the snow fell/blew into the driveway after he left for work). So in frigid temperatures and skin lashing icy winds I went out and cleared the driveway. Oddly, it was perfectly clear at the bottom and covered in a two foot drift at the top.

The snowblower, you say? Oh no. Two years ago, with the help of an emergency call to my stepdad, I managed to figure out how to start and use the snowblower. I also realized that, due to the severe angle of the driveway and my nonexistent upper-body strength, using the snowblower involves me sliding down behind it into the road and then nearly being crushed by it as I attempt to shove it back up the drive. No use going side to side either as it still careens down into traffic.

Ever since Monday I've been tired and sore and Aiden and I pretty much just crash on the couch or play with his trains.

But now for the new! We are getting a new puppy! We wanted to hold off for awhile but one woman we've been emailing gave us the go ahead to come pick up a little male sheltie puppy. He's ten weeks old and so adorable the camera might explode tomorrow when I try and photograph him.

At first I was the one encouraging Sean to get the puppy. I figured we had a few months to prepare. Then Sean told me the news that tomorrow we'll be getting him from the breeder and now I feel like a new mom again. I was laying in bed last night running through everything I'd need to do today. Vacuum. Puppy-proof. Make space for his cage and bowls and toy and treats and food. Clear a space in the yard so he doesn't drown in snow when he goes out. Contemplate the fact that I just threw myself back into the dreaded potty training routine.

Despite the learning I've got ahead of me, I'm so excited for this little guy.

Christmas Goodies

2010-12-27T14:38:00.007-05:00

Santa. He came.

We had a pretty spectacular Christmas this year. We weren't having a baby, moving or getting married within a few weeks of the holiday so it was actually relaxing. I kept thinking about how not stressed I was, how I hadn't burst into tears or had a tension headache start while wrapping presents. We exchanged gifts, visited family all over the place and had Aiden in bed by 9pm with time for Sean and I to chat and relax. IT WAS WONDERFUL!!

The table.

Now, some parts were a little tricky, like the fact that I heard Santa was at our house assembling Aiden's big gift (a huge train table with tracks) until nearly 2am. Also, I had picked up a little bear full of hot coco for Aiden's stocking nearly a month ago. He accidentally saw it when I first bought it but I was certain he'd forget about it. Well, he pulled it out of his stocking on Christmas morning, frowned and said "No...mommy's one", and handed it back to me. Whoops.

Woody, new friend for Buzz.

Aiden amassed enough gifts for a whole village, but loved everyone single one of them. Our friends and family are always so generous with Aiden and we feel incredibly lucky. Sean and I had gotten each other a few gifts in addition to The Big Gift we usually get for one another. Ironically, they were both food related this year. Sean has a brand spanking new Weber grill (which we still have to retrieve from it's hiding place in my parent's garage) and I got a professional grade stand mixer. I think "professional grade" just means that it's twice as heavy as a regular one and all of the attachments are steel instead of plastic and incredibly lethal looking. I've thanked him for it by baking two fresh loaves of honey oatmeal bread and a buttery pie crust for a huge pot pie.

So, we'll just be over here playing with trains and gorging ourselves on baked goods.

Trust him, He's a Doctor.

2010-12-17T14:03:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was Aiden's annual check-up. I sort of forgot about it up until a day or two before hand. I casually mentioned to Aiden that we'd be visiting the doctor's office, the one with a giant fish tank. He looked at me with steel eyed defiance and shook his head. I brushed it off, he loves the doctor. He's always the best behaved kid there.

On the drive over to the doctor's office (the the Health Mall as I like to refer to the sprawling medical complex) I waxed poetic about what a saint Dr. Wong was. "Daddy and Nai Nai know Dr. Wong! He's so nice! You'll get stickers! Yay!"

He seemed unconvinced but we went inside. He enjoyed the fish tank in the lobby immensely but that amusement came to a crashing halt when it was time to be weighed and measured. He's big enough now to stand on a regular scale but he put up such a fuss that the nurse had me hold him and she took both our weights and then subtracted my weight from that. Yeah. I got weighed and HIS appointment. I was not happy.

The lovely nurse then went into an elaborate story about how Aiden was a choo-choo and she needed to make sure the choo-choo was working right. He unwrapped himself from around me just long enough for her to get everything done.

And then Dr. Wong came in. Aiden was so frightened that he had his arms wrapped around my head and used his legs to rocket himself off the exam table, the walls or anything he could reach. I could barely keep from dropping him on the tile while the doctor looked on with this very dismayed look on his face. He then said "Yeah.....Sean was like this".

Weirdly, when Dr. Wong left and the nurses returned to give him his shots he was fine. He barely grimaced when they gave him two vaccinations. Apparently the mere sight of a physician is scarier than two injections. I don't get it.

I told the story to Sean later and he laughed for about five minutes straight, totally amused by it and began to tell me how they required a whole team of nurses to hold him down when he was a kid. Next time Sean gets to handle to yearly physical. I'll still be recovering.

Aiden so gracefully displaying his spoils of war: a big Elmo sticker, which he
definitely did NOT deserve.

Perfection

2010-12-08T13:46:00.006-05:00

Before this season started I had lots of visions about how everything would go. We would linger over the Christmas tree, carefully selecting our favorite ornaments and sipping hot cocoa. We would laugh and chat while rolling out sugar cookies. It was going to be a little Norman Rockwell, a little Currier and Ives and a dash of Martha. Obviously these dreams were not very carefully thought out because I entirely failed to factor in that three year old.

We've started making cookies and each batch requires triple the usual amount of clean up because Aiden likes to tear or roll or smash each little crumb. He has to have a hand in the mixing and rolling and cutting of each cookie. I let him help as much as he'd like, but sometimes, okay a lot of the time, it drives me nuts even though he looks so cute and has so much fun.

We decorated our tree on Monday night and it was an exercise in self control. I had pulled out all the boxes of ornaments and lo and behold, I found all of the ornaments we'd used as decorations at our wedding! Suddenly I decided that this tree was going to be a vision of jewel toned glass balls with sparkling gold accents here and there.

Aiden decided he'd like his Elmo ornament to go front and center, along with all the other Disney themed ornaments.

I decided we should all have hot cocoa. Aiden downed his in two minutes flat and spent the night nearly spilling everyone else's.

I carefully located hooks for each ornament, which Aiden would promptly lose as he shook each one to see if they did anything cool.

The whole night I kept having to remind myself that this is his show now. These are his childhood memories and they shouldn't be filled with me groaning and gnashing my teeth over the details when what he should be remembering is how sweet the cocoa tasted, how perfect his Elmo ornament was, and how amazing the tree looked all lit up in the front window.

Big Boy

2010-12-08T13:39:00.002-05:00

Today Aiden walked upstairs and into his bathroom. He scoffed at his potty seat that was sitting over the toilet. He picked it up, put it into a corner, looked at me and said "I'm a big boy now" before peeing, STANDING UP.

I realize it seems kind of gross to have a trip to the potty incite an epiphany about how mature your child is but you know what? Parenthood is kind of gross and miraculous like that.

The Very Busy Weekend

2010-12-05T21:37:00.003-05:00

This weekend was nuts. Nuts in a good way, full of fun and more fun, but it's another weekend where I feel like I survived a tornado. I've been feeling like that a lot lately. This time last year I was in the middle of my senior year of college, planning a wedding and generally surviving with Aiden on my own and it was stressful and I was absolutely certain this year would be less insane. I'm done with school, Sean's home (when he's not at work...) so we have a little more money, a little more time together and less to get done. It should be a breeze right?!

But no, suddenly it takes ALL DAY to get a handful of errands done (I'd like to calculate how much time I spend just buckling and unbuckling Aiden in his car seat). Just trying to fit in a trip to the grocery store and time at church on the weekend becomes hectic. A lot of it is that I have higher expectations of myself now. Last year I was busy so if everything wasn't totally in order or the garbage didn't get put out or the clothes went a few more days without being washed, it just wasn't a big deal. Now I feel like it all must be done and done well and done with a smile or I'm slacking. Also, last year, I had a Laura. A best friend who would sometimes run errands with me (thus helping to juggle Aiden) or who could watch him while I finished work (although my other best bud Tierney helped a TON on Friday so I could actually buy Aiden some Christmas gifts). Also, Sean works such long days that his only real free time is on the weekend and in trying to savor that precious time together we end up being late to everything and barely squeezing in the necessary things we have to do.

I also have to remind myself that we are smack dab in the middle of the holiday season, which obviously adds to the activity. It's strange because I'm still very organized and pretty efficient and it's not like I don't enjoy having busy days, I just sort of (naively) thought that being home would make me less busy. Not the case.

I remember the first summer after Aiden was born, I was staying with my mom, and the days would stretch on endlessly. I remember feeling like I was totally stir crazy and could not figure out what to do all day with Aiden. There were even days like that last year. Now suddenly, we go go go all day and tumble into bed exhausted at night, and every day is like that. It's a new thing for me, and I'm having more fun than ever, but I don't exactly know when that switch got flipped.

Anyway, this was really supposed to be all about our weekend. On Saturday I helped my mom out with our church's Christmas fair which is a Christmas related rummage sale. Always fun as it contains lots of gorgeous second hand ornaments and decorations and a few totally wacky ones, like a plate celebrating "Christmas 1979" and an ornament engraved to "Don and Norma".

That evening Sean and I took Aiden out to dinner and then drove out to Bob's Tree's. This place sounded a little strange to me until we got there and it was a veritable Christmas wonderland complete with two gorgeous reindeer. We picked out our tree from their lot but next year we're going full throttle and plan to chop down our own. Watch our Griswolds, here come the Evanoffs.

We got back from the tree farm quite late and it was 9pm by the time Aiden was in bed. Sean and I then stayed up until 2am (worst. idea. ever.) so that I could finish Aiden's birthday cake, wrap his presents and we finished the last half of a movie. This morning I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. I might be the only 23 year old in New York who can't stay up that late.

Needless to say I decided we'd be skipping church since I had the kind of pounding headache one might get after the crazy night of partying except instead of having wild fun I merely frosted a cake. Woo hoo. Still, even after being awoken at 7am by Aiden, Sean and I managed to barely make it to my mom's house in time for his party at noon. Very rough morning.

The party was wonderful, super simple with just cake and pizza and our friends and family, but perfect. It was exactly what Aiden asked for ( all week he kept saying "Pizza! With Papa! and cake!"). Everyone was very generous and Aiden received awesome gifts. There will definitely be plenty to keep him busy this week.

There WILL Be Cheer

2010-12-02T13:47:00.003-05:00

It's officially Christmastime, although in my world it's been going on for about a half a month already. I play the holiday tunes as early as I can find them on the radio, while Sean covers his ears and cringes, begging me to wait at least until Thanksgiving.

I'm a little bit anxious as I've been seeing a lot of photos of other people's gorgeous Christmas trees and holiday lights and we don't have a tree yet. There are only 25 or so days to revel in the holiday spirit and I make every effort to enjoy each one, so I'm making Sean take us to get one this Saturday afternoon.

Sometimes I feel a little bit like the Christmas enforcer around our house because Sean is not the type to don his gay apparel and deck the halls. He does not care that Santa Claus is coming to town. He will not be putting candles in the windows or singing carols at the spinet. (Seriously, I could make these references all day). He does oblige me though and make sure there's a roaring fire in the fireplace all weekend.

I, on the other hand, spend this time finding the most perfect Christmas cards, and cookie recipes and going totally nuts buying gifts. And coordinating wrapping paper. I just love the way the season makes everyone a little more kind and merciful. Sean likes the fact that it provides an annual boost to the economy (although I'm sure in his heart he cherishes the kindness and mercy also. Probably).

Well, this year Aiden is on my team when it comes to the festivities. I pulled out all of our boxes of decorations yesterday and we went to town turning this place into a winter wonderland. Aiden had some pretty hilarious ideas about where everything should go (stockings on the piano? Wrapping the tree skirt around the snow globe? Advent calender on the fireplace?). Overall though, he loved it. We put in enough effort that I think Sean even appreciated it when he came home and saw everything. He didn't even mind that our banister is wrapped in garland that leaves gold spangles all over the carpet every time someone goes up or down the stairs.

I think he'll appreciate it even more next week when I get started on the peppermint iced sugar cookies and the cranberry white chocolate chip cookies.

The Post Where I Make You Cry

2010-11-29T16:45:00.002-05:00

Aiden turns three next Sunday. For some reason, this birthday has hit me harder than the others. When Aiden turned one it was like a sigh of relief. I was sad to see him growing up but it was a relief to see some of the stressful parts of caring for an infant fall away. When he turned two it was so much fun. He was walking and talking (a little) but definitely still our little guy. Now that he's about to be three....I don't know. He's his own man. The change in him this past year has been amazing. Physically he's grown so much just over the summer that he's more than half my height. He's talking, he's potty trained, he's got his own interests and a hilarious sense of humor.

It suddenly feels like someone has pushed fast forward and time is just slipping away. I'm just totally bowled over by the fact that he's no longer a baby. He's a boy. When he was younger I was so eager to see what he'd be like and now that he's starting to blossom I'm getting that panicked feeling as it dawns on me how one day he'll be grown, and he'll go off on his own. When you put love and hard work into something you want to hold onto it and savor it, but our children are one thing that we have to turn out into the world. You love them and care for them and drive yourself crazy trying to be the best for them, all so that they can stand on their own.

I know he's only three, that I have many more years ahead to love and hug and hold onto him, but I can already see that day that we send him down the road alone.

So, we made this video to celebrate the three years we've had together with our baby. I mean, our boy. The song is "Stop This Train" by John Mayer, and it's one of our favorites, all about how the best balm from the sting of passing time is just to savor each moment and don't look back (except at the pictures ). I'll warn you: get a couple of tissues and be prepared.

The New Car

2010-11-22T13:44:00.004-05:00

Guys, guess what? We got a new car! Well, it's used actually, but somehow it still has less mileage on it than our '09 Honda. Our one requirement for the new car was that it a) work and b) have all-wheel drive since Sean has a 40 minute commute on windy country roads that don't often see the snow plow. We searched high and low and settled on a '08 Kia Sorrento which we picked up this Saturday.

I was excited to have an all-wheel drive vehicle since I regularly curse our driveway every time it snows and the little baby Honda fishtails up the steep incline, narrowly missing the retaining wall. Sometimes it just can't make it and our neighbor lets up park in her driveway.

Now we have a big manly man vehicle that can easily tackle a snowy driveway. I truly was excited about the SUV until I read the manual. Every other page has yellow warnings that say things like: "Drive at slow speeds around corners as this vehicle can tip over easily!" and "This vehicle may roll over when in all-wheel drive mode!" and the worst one "Do not steer using the inside of the steering wheel as it may adjust suddenly without warning and SNAP YOUR WRISTS LIKE MATCHSTICKS!!!". Okay, so maybe the wording was slightly different on the last one, but you get the picture.

No joking: Saturday night I kept dreaming that I was stuck in a parking lot with half sized spaces, trying to park without scratching the others cars. I also dreamt that I did in fact roll the car over and Sean picked it up like it was made out of plastic put in back on the road. Strange right?

It's not all bad though. Sure, it has all the maneuverability and turning radius of a Sherman tank, but I do get a sense of satisfaction from being able to look down on all the smaller cars on the road. Maybe that's because I'm all of five foot two. It's got amazing trunk space and tons of leg room. Although, I did go to step out of it and miscalculate the height which caused me to plummet to the garage floor.

I will definitely get used to it, but maybe I could use a step ladder and a signal crew in the meantime.

It's My Birthday!

2010-11-18T14:44:00.009-05:00

Today I turn, in Aiden's words, "twenty-pweeee!". Or 23, for those who don't speak toddler. I get very nervous around my birthday, especially as an adult, because a bad birthday feels like a bad omen for the whole year. Frankly, I've been completely spoiled on birthday's past, so there's always pressure for the next one to live up to that standard.

When I turned 4 my mom hand decorated my cake with little candies so that it looked just like the Little Mermaid. I think I'll ask for that again next year. When I was 15 my mom, Laura and I went to NYC for a girl's day out. When I turned 16, Laura organized a huge surprise party and gave me an album of letters written by my friends and parents. When I turned 18, Sean took the train home from Boston so that he could surprise me before school. We went and saw "Harry Potter" (for those of you who know us, you know that it was a VERY romantic gesture) and then we drove to Montreal (where the drinking age is 18 so I actually got champagne on my champagne birthday!). Needless to say, I've had some fantastic birthdays. And one horrible one: on my 17th birthday not one single person came to my party except Laura, and it was at her house.

As a grown up though, it stops being an All About You party. Everyone's busy and there's just not enough free time. It's just less of a big deal as you get older. I figured today would be like that, especially since Sean and I are down to one car so I've been stuck at home. Except, it's actually been great!

Last night my mom took Sean and I out for dinner,where I enjoyed the double whammy gift of great food and a well behaved child. This morning my friend Tierney stopped by with a latte, which was the nicest pick-me-up. My brother came over at lunch time and played with Aiden and took us out so I could run some errands. My grandparents even popped by with a card and a gift. I was so surprised that everyone called or stopped by and it was so nice to know that they were thinking about me.

Plus, Aiden helped me make some cupcakes, and I realized that watching him make them was so much more fun than actually eating them. I think we're definitely going have to make them for his birthday.

Safety First!!!

Future Pastry Chef

Very Excited!

Lovely.

A masterpiece.

Official Birthday Portrait.

Uncle Ben and the choo-choo's. Wow, that could be a band name.

Yeah, it's been pretty awesome. Also, I know you probably thought Thanksgiving was the opening of the holiday season, but secretly, I like to think my birthday actually marks the start of it. So I give you full permission to start listening to Christmas music and bringing out the decorations.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone!

Two Dog Night

2010-11-13T21:54:00.009-05:00

This weekend Sean's coworker/friend Kelly headed out of state for the weekend and asked us to dog-sit her adorable Australian Shepherd. His name is Henry Jones Jr., also known as Indy, and he is AWESOME. For as calm and sedate as Bear is, Indy is every bit as energetic. It took me all night to get some decent pictures of him because he kept coming out as a black and white streak of fur.

It goes without saying that Aiden loves Indy, although he kind of pronounces it "Ninny", which makes me giggle. Last night the two dogs and Aiden played together for 45 minutes. In toddler time, 45 minutes is a lifetime. After Aiden went to bed, Sean took Indy out back to see how fast he could run a loop around the yard, and that dog is unbelievably fast. It's obvious why these dogs were bred to work on farms.

So basically it's been one big dog sleepover at our house.

There have been snacks:

And games:

And plenty of belly rubs:

And don't even get me started on the roughhousing:

Everything Since We've Been Home

2010-11-10T19:00:00.008-05:00

Things have been crazy! I was looking forward to a week or two off with Sean but every morning we wake up and don't stop moving until 11:30 at night. I've been so busy some days that my feet and back start to ache the way they would when I was tromping all over Brooklyn, and I've just been running around the house! The laundry seems to have quadrupled now that it's cold, the house needed a bunch of small fixes and we've finally had the chance to finish a lot of random errands. It's good, it's just exhausting also.

What has happened in the past two weeks? Halloween! Here's a picture of the cutest Buzz Lightyear in the galaxy:
He looooved Halloween. He got to actually go Trick-or-Treating this year, just like a big boy, and it meant a bucketful of goodies and getting to wear this super suit. Huge thanks to Sean's stepmom and dad for finding such an awesome costume.

We also got our furniture back, FINALLY. It was a little disappointing as the movers basically tossed the boxes in, assembled the furniture incorrectly and then left both our couch and coffee table in pieces. At least everything was inside the house though, right? We're all unpacked and Aiden has adjusted wonderfully.

Hide and go seek: packing materials edition

Who needs Jack? Aiden-in -the-box.

Yeah...this game involves putting a box on your head and spinning in circles. Also great entertainment for the spectators.

Next up is Aiden's birthday! He's excited for year three, even though sometimes he says he'll be turning 1 again. However, I can't wait for Christmas. Sean and I had to make a stop at Lowes and we happened to wander down the aisle with all of the blow-up lawn decorations and Aiden's jaw dropped. He stood, just staring, at Santa and the reindeer and penguins and Frosty and Snoopy. He was starstruck over a handful of decorations and I can't even imagine how excited he's going to be when we get a tree and put up stockings. He really gets it this year and it's making me even more excited for my already favorite holiday.

P.S.: We visited Sean's sister at school the other day and realized that the kids in kindergarten right now will be in highschool with Aiden. Mindblowing. Also: the district just emailed us and let us know that Aiden (due to the Dec. 5th birthday, the cutoff is Dec. 1st) will officially be headed to kindergarten in 2013. You guys, that's like, tomorrow. Heartwrenching.

I'm A Stay At Home Mom

2010-11-03T22:32:00.002-04:00

I thought people knew this but I guess I didn't make it very clear. I'm going to stay home with Aiden for now. Maybe until he's in school. Or maybe until he's in college. I don't know yet, but right now, being home with him is what feels right for me.

I often feel the need to defend myself when I tell people this since our society seems to think that it's okay to comment on/critique/criticize other people's (mainly mother's) life choices. People tend to look at me like I'm nuts or that I'm somehow giving up on life, which is so wrong. I know plenty of moms who love their jobs. They feel fulfilled and have a sense of purpose heading into work each day. I, on the other hand, during my last four years of going to school and working, was left with a feeling that my sense of purpose was sitting in daycare with strangers. I hated being away from Aiden, and not in an 'oh, I can't wait to see you at six o'clock (or nine o'clock) tonight' kind of way but in a way that made me realize I want to be the one taking care of my child and showing him the world, not a rotating crew of childcare workers.

I remember being in middle school and sitting on the afternoon school bus, watching a kid run off the bus and into his mom's arms and thinking 'wow, I want to be that kind of mom'. My own mom didn't get a chance to stay home (except briefly when we were very young), and I don't know that she would have even if she had the choice. She has a great job and she's awesome at it, and I'm no worse for wear having had a working mom, but I have always known I'd want to stay home with my own kids if possible. It just happens the baby is here sooner rather than later. So yeah, this is what I want to be doing now.

No one looks twice at a woman who works through her twenties and thirties and stays home when she has a baby at 39 or 40. Why can't I stay home with a baby who's going to be in college by the time I'm 40, and do what I want then? Sure, it's backwards but I've always been one to do things in my own time. And really, 40 is the new 20 anyway. I fully plan on going back to school or work or whatever the moment it feels right. (And I know a bunch of you are doing the sarcastic eyeroll because come on, she'll never go back! But plenty of people also said I'd never graduate after having a baby, in a neat four years no less!)

Sean and I have talked about it over and over again, and we both agree it's what's best for us. He's about to embark on a period of his career that requires 12 hour days and an ever changing schedule. Trying to work a forty hour week and care for Aiden while Sean works his own opposite schedule is my personal version of hell. I know that it would not do good things for our marriage or for my ability to be a good parent. It's not something we're willing do.

So I guess I just really wanted to come out of the closet about my firm decision to stay home right now. And to say that I totally support working moms and stay at home moms. And to say that I hope everyone voted yesterday.

Wait, wait...It's Been SIX Months?

2010-10-24T16:00:00.003-04:00

We're moving home on Tuesday! I had big plans that involved not panicking about the move, but alas, I've abandoned them. I kept assuring myself that since we're having professional movers pack and drive everything that there was no reason to stress out over anything. Except finding an acceptable route that avoids D.C. (Jon Stewart rally) and still gets us home in three days or less. And booking the three hotels (that must accept dogs). And wrangling a screaming toddler into dress clothes to attend Sean's graduation in addition to two other work functions for Sean (despite the fact that he will have no bed/nap). And cleaning the apartment. Let's not even get started on that big important test on Tuesday.

Yeah, I was totally kidding myself when I figured it would all just happen with little or no effort on my part. The only thing saving my sanity is imagining fall leaves, and crisp cool air and apple cider donuts.

We're coming home!

Can I join you down there?

*I forgot to add this, but the purpose of this was to say that we won't have internet access until next week, but a lot of you will see Aiden then anyway!

Mr. Smarty Pants

2010-10-18T15:16:00.003-04:00

You guys, we're coming home in a week and a half! Okay, that's assuming everything goes to plan (although I've given up on making plans, so basically, we'll be home when we're home).

Whenever we get there we're taking Aiden to see all the friends and family but I'm not sure anyone will recognize him. He's a little boy now, despite how often I call him baby, and he's all bony and skinny where he used to be soft and pudgy. When we left in May he was wearing 24 month clothing with the occasional 2T thrown in. Now he's wearing 3T and I even had to buy a couple of 4T shirts (he's got the issue where all of his shirts are baggy and boxy in the middle but the sleeves don't reach his wrists). Plus, he's got more entertaining phrases than ever.

Some of his favorite things to say:
"I already did it mom!" - He says this whenever I ask him to do ANYTHING.

"Come on, gotta get going!" - Yeah...I guess he got this one from me.

"Little baby one!" - He's obsessed with babies. I don't know why. Any bug or animal he sees he'll point at and call a little baby one.

He's gotten really good about saying 'please' and 'thank you' all the time, and is very concerned about the well being of everyone and everything. If we see a car on the side of the road he starts asking "What happened? Oh no, what happened?". If we see a tractor trailer without a trailer it's "Where's the trailer? Oh no!". It's so cute. He also has to point out that airplanes overhead are going to the airport, that firetrucks live at the fire station and any time we see an image of a submarine? He says "Daddy works there".

Yep, he's pretty smart.

The Game Where Mom Pulls A Muscle

2010-10-12T19:53:00.002-04:00

Charming, no?

Aiden's new favorite thing is to wait until I'm not looking and quickly climb onto the top of the couch, or the bed or a kitchen chair. Then, as I am walking through the room, I'm hit with a flying mass of knees and elbows which I must quickly catch while retaining my balance. Yes, he leaps off whatever precipice is closest and I have to catch him. No matter how many time-outs are issued, the fun of the game seems to outweigh the consequences. I'm walking around with a sore back and shot knees from being hit repeatedly with a human cannonball.

I've told Sean that when this boy is grown I'm going to drive to his house, ring his doorbell, toss him a giant bag of cats and see how he likes that. I think it's probably a comparable sensation.

A Taste of Charleston

2010-10-10T18:46:00.014-04:00

This has been one of the busiest weekends we've had in a long time. It's pretty much the last weekend before Sean has to start studying for his final test (well, study more than he already does, which is A LOT).

Anyway, Friday evening we went out with his coworkers for one of their birthday's. We had dinner at this VERY authentic Mexican restaurant, and Aiden was very daring and tried all of the food. It was delicious and we came home with enough food to last into the week.

Saturday we went to the beach with Steinn. It had been in the lower 70's for the past couple of weeks but this weekend it jumped back into the mid 80's, so the weather was perfect for one last trip. When we got there the whole place was flooded with surfers and we realized it was a big surf competition. They even had a DJ playing music and announcing the winners, so we listened and watched while Aiden built a big train made out of sand.

So, because big Mexican fiestas and surf competitions aren't enough fun for us crazy Evanoff's, we ran out that night and bought tickets for the Taste of Charleston food festival, which happened today.

I have to thank Steinn for tipping us off about this one, we had no idea it was going on. I was on the fence about the whole food festival thing because my best friend Laura has been to many and they can really vary in quality, and frankly, the tickets were pretty expensive. It was held at Boone Hall Plantation, a place I'd been wanting to visit but was reluctant about paying the rather exorbitant entrance fee to get into (I must sound very cheap, it's really just Sean rubbing off on me), so I figured I'd at least get into the plantation and get some free food so it wouldn't be a total loss.

Well, we figured it would be a few hundred people and some free samples, but we new we'd missed something when THOUSANDS of people flooded into the place carrying chairs and tables and blankets and tents. Turns out the trick is to come early, claim a little patch of shade and send a designated runner to the various food stalls to get the goods. We were stuck rambling around seeking a shady piece of dirt where ever we could. None the less, it was a blast.

There were about thirty local restaurants that had stalls, each stall had two or three dishes special to the restaurant. The portions are deceptively small, you think you have a little taste of food but it's so rich and fresh and delicious that it's very filling. We ended up trying shrimp scampi, a cake of fried grits covered in cheese, a prime rib sandwich with sauerkraut, fried shrimp, barbequed ribs and homemade chips. And she-crab soup. Oh, and the piece de resistance: dirty pie. Dirty pie is a big wedge of key lime pie on a stick, dipped in chocolate and frozen. It was the closest thing to heaven I've ever tasted.

Not only was it a food free-for-all, there was a live band playing Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Eagles, the local firemen brought a couple of trucks for the kids to climb on and, the thing that I was totally excited for: South Carolina's largest sno-cone!!!

Yes, I purposefully sought out this exhibition and made Sean and Steinn stand in the sun as we watched a man fill a plastic koi pond liner full of shaved ice and syrup. It was glorious, and truly, the largest sno-cone I have ever seen. The best part was when they handed out plastic cups and we all got free sno-cones! Seriously, I loved it, and you're never too old for giant ice treats.

Koi pond liner full of shaved ice...

sno-cone bonanza (also, very cute little girl in pink cowboy boots)

Once we were full to bursting with the lowcountry's finest foods we decided to explore the plantation house and gardens. I have to confess that, although I've been wanting to visit Boone Hall for the rich history, I kind of just wanted to see the house that the movie The Notebook was filmed at. Steinn and Sean obliged my wishes and took a few pictures for me.

Here I am enthusiastically posing in front of the house used for Ali's summer home (free sno-cone in hand)

Here I am pointing at the very gate Noah crashes into after Ali leaves for the city (still working on the sno-cone)

We've been ready to head back to New York for awhile now, we can't wait to see our friends and family and enjoy the tail end of fall. However, now I'm starting to wonder how I will get on in a life where the beach isn't twenty minutes away, and there aren't palmettos and sun everywhere, and don't even get me started about the total lack of fresh crab. I guess it'll be worth it to be back with loved ones. Probably.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend, and the food festival would be something worth flying back here for. Yes, this has been one of those weekends that we need a weekend to recover from, and it was totally worth it.

The Best Gift Ever

2010-10-06T13:22:00.005-04:00

Would you prefer him boxed...

Or in a gift basket?

A Scene from Yesterday Morning

2010-10-05T13:56:00.002-04:00

Whenever I tell Sean about anything stressful or hectic that happens during the day he tells me that, during the time he stayed home with Aiden this past spring, nothing stressful ever happened. Then I like to remind him that it's because he literally stayed at home each day, whereas I would go crazy staying home and try to get out of the house with Aiden as frequently as possible. However, in order for this to be a success, three major things must happen: a) he must wear clothing, b) he must eat breakfast in an acceptable amount of time (i.e. in less than an hour) and c) he must act with some modicum of civility when in public.

Yesterday morning this trifecta was totally blown. It started with the epic battle of the pants. Fall is finally here and the morning temperature hovers between 50 and 60 degrees, and as Aiden is still getting over a cold, I informed him he must either wear pants or a sweatshirt and shoes (not sandals). This request was met with such outrage that he voluntarily climbed back into bed in nothing but Lightening McQueen underwear and hollered for nearly forty five minutes. All the while his oatmeal was slowly solidifying into a beige mass. Finally, after a negotiation session that was more convoluted than any Middle East peace talk, he was at the breakfast table in shorts, sweatshirt and socks. Of course, then there was the matter of the now congealed oatmeal. I broke and made him turkey bacon and yogurt, in an effort to speed things along. Then, once we were out the door we still had to take bear out to...um...go potty. I also needed to stop by the mailbox to drop off a Netflix DVD.

So here we are, next to the little doggy poo area out back: I'm trying not to land face first in mud while bear, all 55 pounds of her, takes off after a squirrel. I'm shouting over my shoulder for Aiden to follow me, as I'm dragged down a hill to a large oak tree, and he is angrily shaking his head NO. Finally Bear stops to bark up the tree and I'm able to threaten Aiden until he comes over. However, I let out a scream of disgust as Aiden holds up the body of a mangled, long dead lizard and says "Baby lizard!". I yank it out of his hand while informing that this is, in fact, a nasty rotting dead lizard.

He then bursts into tears screaming "DEAD BABY! DEAD BABY! DEAD BABY!" at the top of his lungs. I pick him up to comfort him, and to get to him to stop screaming "DEAD BABY" so loud I'm afraid someone is going to dial the police. During this time Bear has wrapped her leash around my legs about six times before I finally drop it.

Momentarily, I breathe a sigh of relief as I see her finally stop to go poo. There I am: Aiden monkey hugging my front while he screams "DEAD BABY!" at top volume, my key chain (complete with enough keys to outdo any janitor) clutched in my right hand along with that Netflix DVD, Bear's leash trapped under my left foot, my leather purse dangling off my left shoulder and the little green dog poop bag in my left hand. I lean down as far as I can to try and grab Bear's mess when suddenly, like a drunken skier careening down an iced-over double black diamond trail, I feel my purse, my lovely leather designer purse go sliding down my left arm which is still outstretched in front of me until PLOP! It lands squarely in the still steaming pile of dog poop.

At this point I think I threw my head back and shouted to the heavens: "I GIVE UP".

October Sunday

2010-10-03T19:10:00.009-04:00

Once the rain (we got somewhere around 8 inches this week) finally stopped, our weather became decidedly fall-like. It's been in the mid-seventies with a cool breeze ever since Friday. We had a rather hectic morning and took off to the Palmetto park this afternoon. Or, as Aiden likes to say, we "headed to the 'metto".

Sick Day

2010-10-01T19:40:00.003-04:00

Aiden woke up today with a runny nose, but he seemed to be in pretty good spirits. It was the first sunny day in forever so we headed to the park. We came home around noon and Aiden completely gave out. He wasn't hungry. He wasn't thirsty. He was lethargic and sleepy but couldn't fall asleep because he was coughing and sneezing so much. Whenever I asked him a question he would either try to answer and end with "um..uh...bahhhhhh" or he'd just stare at me with sad puppy dog eyes. So for the rest of the day he camped out on the couch with cups of juice and a bag of cheerios, the only food he'd eat, and watched Curious George.

He's in bed now and I can still hear little coughs and sneezes. I feel so bad for him since I think Sean and I gave him the cold. I didn't even realize I was sick at first: I was tired and rundown feeling and my glands were swollen. However, all of these things happen a lot when your full time job is taking care of a two year old. A sign of being a mother: you're so busy thinking about your child that you only realize you've got a cold is because you've passed it to them.

It's so scary when he's sick, even if it's just a cold. He's still too young to effectively blow his nose so everything kind of leaks and runs and it's obvious his throat is hurting him. Every time he sneezes he looks up at me with this panicked look, like he doesn't understand whats going on. So heartbreaking. At least it's the weekend and we've got plenty of time to spend with him. Poor guy!

Little Engineer

2010-09-30T14:08:00.004-04:00

I secretly hope that Aiden grows up to be an engineer (obviously it's in Sean's genes). It's such a useful profession, no matter the area. Sean hopes Aiden grows up to be a banker. Or a lawyer. Or some kind of lawyer who specializes in banking but also has a medical degree. No pressure right?

Anyway, we were walking through the store a few weeks ago and they had all of these little boy shirts. Some looked like doctor's coats, complete with stethoscopes, some had police badges and some looked like a suit and tie. Then I found it....

The engineer shirt, complete with suspenders, taped up glasses and pocket protector.

I had to get it!!! It's so cute.

When Life Gets a Little Wild

2010-09-27T16:38:00.003-04:00

All throughout the night we were bombarded by nonstop lightening and thunder. Aiden woke up at 3am and 5am, and although I should've realized it was because he's terrified of storms, Sean and I just kept dragging him back to bed over and over, groaning at being awoken so early. Thus began our day.

As I was getting dressed I realized I couldn't find my wedding ring. I retraced my steps and looked in every spot I may might have left it but found nothing. I began to panic. How could I lose the material representation of my wedding vows? NOT GOOD. Then I remembered how Aiden tends to rifle through the things on my bedside table, the place where I keep my ring at night. I attempted to interrogate him about it but he would say "uh...wing? uh yes" , he'd run out of the room and come back with a balloon. Or a plastic car. Not my wedding ring. I was on the verge of tears begging him to think about where he put it, but finally I gave up. After five minutes of silence on my part, while I tried to remember what the insurance policy on the ring covered, I barely noticed Aiden shimmying on his belly under the bed. He emerged from the depths with my two rings in his hand, smiling and very proud of remembering his hiding spot, nevermind that I was pulling my hair out and explaining to him what "grand larceny" meant.

It poured all day, making errands extremely difficult since our main road tends to flood at the lightest rain shower. Aiden barely napped. Things were not really coming together for me. Every breath I took seemed to come out as a tortured sigh.

Finally, I decided to make some banana bread before Sean got home. Aiden likes to sit on the counter with me while I mix ingrediants, occasionally asking to stir things. Whenever I hand the bowl over to him I'm constantly reminding him to stir "SLOWLY!!!" or else there are clouds of flour and cascades of sugar and egg all over the place. Today I was just trying to get everything together as quickly as possible, convinced that this too would somehow implode. I was whipping the batter, lost in thought about what I hadn't accomplished today, when I felt two tiny hands on my arm.

"Slow mommy," Aiden said. "Slow"

He looked so serious when he said it that I couldn't help but smile. I let him stir the rest of the time. Instead of working myself up over what I could try and cram into the next two hours, I took his advice and slowed down and we went and watched Kung Fu Panda. It was totally worth it.

Before Bedtime

2010-09-23T19:54:00.004-04:00

The Second Best Toy Ever

2010-09-21T21:22:00.003-04:00

Everyone knows that the best toy in the world is an empty cardboard box. However, I'm starting to think that the second best toy must be a helium filled balloon. Sean and I had to get the oil changed in both cars yesterday so Aiden had to come along. He loves car dealerships, because he loves anything involving cars. We wandered around showing him all the brand new Honda's while we were waiting (and like the engineer in training that he his, he kept asking to see the engines and wanting us to explain what all the parts were).

Lucky for him, one of the salesmen came along and gave him a HUGE white balloon. I explained to Aiden that if he took it outside and let go, it would float away, so he needed to hold on very very carefully. The whole ride home he held that balloon in a death grip. When we got inside I told him he could let go and that it would hit the ceiling and that he could pull it back down by the string. Well he let go, and with eyes wide he watched it bump against the ceiling. He shrieked with glee and pulled it back down, laughing at how he could retrieve it all by himself.

sorry this is sideways:

The added bonus is that now I always know where Aiden is.

Start of Fall, Almost

2010-09-19T14:24:00.006-04:00

Wow, I didn't realize how long it had been since my last post until three separate people gently reminded me to get cracking and post something. The weather is finally getting cooler here! Although the high's are still 90 degrees almost every day, it only stays that warm for a couple hours and the mornings are usually in the seventies or eighties. It's so nice.

However, I am a little jealous hearing about the beautiful weather and the leaves and the great apple picking in New York. Although the weather is milder here, we don't have any leaves changing or crisp breezes or that wonderful scent of fallen leaves. Or apple cider donuts. Or hay rides. Can you tell I'm missing Autumn just a little bit?

We are nearing the last month of our stay, and I can hardly believe it. When we were in Brooklyn time seemed to crawl, it really felt like we were just going to stay there forever. We we moved down here it felt very temporary but still, I didn't realize just how fast it would go.

We've been busy visiting all of the parks that it was too hot to visit before. Aiden spends every morning outside playing since this is our last chance to get in a lot of that before returning home. We're planning on visiting the Magnolia plantation in the next couple of weeks and hopefully seeing Charles Towne Landing, which is Charleston's version of Old Sturbridge Village. If we're really brave we might get in one last trip to the beach!

Aiden has found the one leaf that has fallen off the trees

Who needs beautiful forests of colorful leaves when we have pollen floating on ponds?

Happiness Is A Warm Puppy

2010-09-07T14:19:00.002-04:00

Things You Don't Want to Hear From the Babysitter

2010-09-02T13:26:00.006-04:00

Sean and I went out on a three hour cruise around the Charleston harbor with five of his coworkers last night. I had really wanted to go but we were uncertain about finding a babysitter. The girl who had watched Aiden last time is due with her own son this week. No way was I asking a nine months pregnant woman to please corral my two year old.

In a crazy twist, Sean's coworker and his wife, who are expecting their first baby this December (there is something in the water here I swear!) offered to come over. I was a little nervous because Aiden has really only had friends and family watch him. This spring we had a woman come watch him for a few weeks, but her two daughters also came, and so he was pretty well behaved. Our babysitter here, Cassie, only came over once we had gotten him ready for/into bed. So, these two were about to face the ultimate challenge of getting Aiden ready for bed and putting him to sleep, since we'd be gone until 10pm.

I tried to convince myself that since they were strangers Aiden would probably be behaved. That's what we call: WISHFUL THINKING. Also, this man is a Naval Officer, which means he is trained to handle life threatening emergencies, so really, a two year old should be no sweat. RIGHT?

Well, the minute they walked in Aiden was dragging them over to play trains. And watch a movie. And play cars. We had to run since our ride was waiting in the parking lot, so we left Sean's cell number and headed out. Obviously, half way to the restaurant where the boat would be leaving from, it occurred to me that I didn't know if we'd get cell reception in the middle of the harbor, and even if we did, were we going to swim to shore and hail a cab back to the apartment? Either way, they didn't call while we were out.

It was an amazing time. There were free drinks and food and we sat on the deck of this huge catamaran and watched the sun set. It was so gorgeous and relaxing. And then we went home.

Aiden was asleep, and they assured us he had been a great kid. He had sat quietly all the way through "Finding Nemo". However, once the movie was over he ran around in circles with his blanket on his head and they couldn't get him to stop. Then he let the dog out. Then he jumped on our bed and pulled all the covers off. Then he peed himself. Then he refused to wear any clothes. They still insisted he was very nice.

Yeah. I was pretty mortified; I couldn't stop apologizing. Sean couldn't stop laughing. I hope we haven't scarred them too badly.

ChooChoo Backs for a ChooChoo Plane

2010-08-29T13:17:00.002-04:00

Aiden's favorite toy is his Duplo train track. He plays with it everyday, but can't quite pronounce it properly and thus walks around talking about his "choochoo backs" in this sing-songy voice. It's so cute, and even though we should be correcting his pronunciation, Sean and I tend to refer to them as the choochoo backs in the very same way.

He also has a train and a plane which will frequently get put together, and it has become the choochoo plane. Again, it's so cute we can't bear to correct him.

Saturday Night's Alright for...Bowling

2010-08-29T11:24:00.005-04:00

We took Aiden to the beach yesterday and Steinn came along with us. There was a really bad rip current so we didn't get to swim much, but Aiden met up with another little boy anyway. They were both playing in the sand, which naturally led to someone getting sand thrown in their face (poor Aiden) but he didn't seem to mind and kept right on playing. Usually we have to drag Aiden home from the beach kicking and screaming, but after we sat down for lunch he started to get weepy and kept saying "home now". So we left early and he feel asleep as soon as Sean pulled out of the parking lot. Obviously, he was in need of a serious nap but instead he woke up as soon as we got back to the apartment and said "I'm okay now!" and wouldn't nap the rest of the day.

The real fun, however, was that we decided to go bowling that night! I hadn't been bowling in years but I remembered being really good. Like really really good. So I warned Sean and Steinn that they shouldn't feel bad if I beat them by a huge margin. However, once we started I felt bad and let them win. I was just being nice, you know?

I had been a little worried about bringing Aiden with us because I guess I associate bowling alleys with old guys drining beer and smoking cigars. I don't know why. When we got there it was actually pretty nice and there were a million kids running around. Aiden was in heaven. Everytime Sean stood up to throw the ball Aiden would do a really elaborate dance and cheer. It consisted of punching the air and spinning in a circle while shouting "Go daddy go daddy good job!". He cheered even when Sean sank the ball in the gutter. Even Steinn got a very serious "Go Steinn go" cheer from Aiden. I didn't get a cheer, which was sad, but I don't take it personally. We even let Aiden roll a few balls down the lane, with Sean's help. He was ready to roll every single ball in the building down that lane.

We got home around 8:30 and instead of rushing into bed he curled up in our laps while we watched the tail end of a movie on t.v. We hoped he might sleep in this morning but no, he woke us up by asking "Where'd Steinn go?". Ah, Sunday mornings with a two year old.

Afternoon in the Garden of Good and Evil

2010-08-22T14:10:00.011-04:00

It has been a crazy busy week but a very fun weekend, and I finally have some pictures to post!

This past Friday we had a big get together at a barbecue place nearby, and gorged ourselves on ribs and hickory smoked wings while hanging out with some of the other KAPL guys and their families. Aiden spent a good portion of the evening talking to another little girl named Audriana and I'm pretty sure the entire conversation revolved around Curious George. It was a nice night out and always a comfort to know that everyone is going through the same experiences, both good and bad, at this school.

Yesterday we went to visit our friend/Sean's best man Owen, who was in Georgia visiting his family. We drove down to Pooler, GA to meet his parents and extended family and then drove into Savannah. It's a two hour drive, a straight shot down highway 17, and a pretty drive through the country.

When we hit River St. we had to drive along the trolley tracks. Aiden screamed "No train tracks!!!" the whole way. I kept thinking about Bill Murray in "Groundhog's Day" when he goes off about "Never drive on the train tracks!".

When we got into Savannah we headed straight for the Pirate House.

The Pirate House, and Sean's big noggin

This is a conglomerate of old houses all built together and turned into a restaurant. One part of it used to be a saloon where they'd serve the pirates that came up the river into the city. There was a tunnel built from the water and up into the basement, where rumor is that the pirates would kidnap drunk patrons and take them through the tunnel onto the waiting ships. Imagine waking up to find yourself on a pirate ship headed for the Ivory Coast. Yikes.

After that, we walked down river street and looked in some of the shops, and then checked out the old buildings.

Zoltar! from "Big"

Along the river walk

I was determined to find the famous statue of the girl feeding birds from the novel/movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil". We walked and walked and even checked in a graveyard, but alas, it could not be found. Turns out it was moved after the movie came out, apparently they weren't too pleased with the image the movie gave them.

We did get an opportunity to see a revolutionary war cemetery. They say both Savannah and Charleston are haunted, and I imagine they would be after 300+ years of history. However, I really believe it after going into the cemetary. Aiden is too young to understand death or burial or graveyards, but the minute we walked through the stone archway into this area, he was totally spooked. He kept whipping around, looking side to side, clinging to Sean. He refused to step off the brick pathway and finally Sean had to carry him. Very spooky.

Keep walking mom!

Aiden did not care to touch the tree, thank you very much!

By the time we got back to Pooler, Owen's two cousins and their family had arrived and Aiden was ready to lay right down and spend the night there. We loaded him back into the car and drove through two hours of high winds and torrential downpours. Overall, it was wonderful to see Owen and we had a great time doing something a little out of the ordinary.

Schroeder

2010-08-16T09:08:00.004-04:00

Weekend With Nai Nai, Pt.2

2010-08-11T14:20:00.007-04:00

Sean's mom came to stay with us this past Sunday. Sean had to study all day so she and I took Aiden to the aquarium, where he had all kinds of fun and came home with all kinds of prizes. He's really into Finding Nemo, and fish in general, so he loved loved loved getting to see them all up close. He even got to touch a starfish and a turtle, in addition to seeing penguins, sharks, jellyfish and the big attraction: an albino alligator. Aiden had tons of fun and has some new reptile toys from the aquarium that he loves to play with now.

The big tank

Pretzels!

His two new lizards

Eels

Boy's Best Friend

2010-08-06T21:41:00.002-04:00

Aiden loves bear. Loves, loves, love bear. He would squeeze and hug her to death if we didn't stop him. Here he is, trying to communicate in her own language:

Now he's trying a slightly different dialect, and apparently, it worked:

After Aiden went to bed this very same evening, a really bad thunderstorm started. Every time I passed Aiden's room I would notice that his door was suddenly wide open. I was a little annoyed because we've been having trouble getting him to stay in bed after bedtime, and I assumed he'd been getting up out of bed. However, when I checked on him he was totally asleep. Turns out Bear had been nudging the door open and going in to lay next to him whenever the thunder picked up.

Just Sit Back and Laugh

2010-08-04T11:48:00.003-04:00

Packing peanut catastrophe. Peanuts provided by Great Grandpa Evanoff.

That's what I've been doing for the past couple of days. We've been having a lot of fun, despite Aiden's continued wacky sleeping, because the weather has been a lot cooler. Everyone's in a better mood now that it's not 120 and smoggy. Even today, where everything has, so far, completely fallen apart, I'm just kind of scratching my head and laughing.

Today was/is supposed to be the best day yet, as it's Story Time day (Aiden's fav) and Sean's supposed to come home from work early so that we can go out for lunch together before he leaves to go study.

However, it hasn't quite worked out so far. At story time, while the kids were playing at the train table, more and more moms and kids were coming in and they were....crazy. Aiden was playing quietly with one boy, taking the trains apart and putting them together again, until his mom came over and asked her son "Why are you giving him trains? Put them over by us". Um, hello? Our children were sharing nicely and you felt the need to put a stop to it? WHAT?

The next mom came in and her son had brought two trains from home. She like watched him like a hawk and anytime another child would ask to see his trains she'd hop up and say "No no no, don't let anyone see them. They're ours and we're not letting anyone have them". Again....WHAT?

The third mom didn't let her son play with the trains because apparently it was book time, not play time. Except everytime he brought a story over to have her read she'd veto his choice because she didn't like the characters or there wasn't a solid enough plot. Her child was three. Seriously? Finally her child came to play trains and elbowed Aiden out of the way so he couldn't play. Apparently the mom didn't feel the need to speak up, so Aiden just walked away.

By this time Aiden was afraid to approach any of the other kids. After Story Time we headed home, and Aiden broke down in the parking lot. As I was trying to open the car door he dashed out between two cars. I yanked him to a stop by the back of his shirt, which furthered the tantrum.

He calmed down in the car and I pulled up to the exit. We had a green light but the women in front of us was stopped. I couldn't figure out what was going on until she took her foot off the brake and nearly rolled back into us. There were four cars behind me and I couldn't back up. Twice more she nearly hit us. I was honking like a true New Yorker at this point, making some less than PG13 hand gestures in her direction. Seriosuly, I looked like an old Italian man waving my hands around. Finally the cars behind me all backed up and she had enough room to awkwardly gun it out of the intersection.

By the time we got home my heart was in overdrive from everything. Also, Sean is now an hour late for our lunch date.

But honestly, I'm not even upset. I think we've had too much excitement for one day, and I'm perfectly happy to lay on the floor with Aiden.

Aiden, with shoes on the wrong feet and no pants, who walked out of his room at nap time and demanded to be let out of the apartment.

Schedule? What Schedule?

2010-07-30T13:54:00.002-04:00

For a while, as in over a year now, Aiden has maintain the same schedule: get up around seven, nap around one and bed around seven thirty. Everyday, day in and day out, he would do this. I liked knowing what to expect because I knew when he'd be well rested and when he'd start to get tired and cranky.

Since we've been here, as I've mentioned before, all bets are off. At the very beginning there were a couple weeks of crazy, no napping, all tantrum days. Then things evened out (mostly) and despite waking up earlier and earlier, he'd still nap in the afternoon (if only for a half hour) and be in bed by eight.

The past week and a half have blown all of that away. He's been waking up at two, three, five, six o'clock EVERY MORNING! He hasn't done that since he was eight months old. We bring him straight back to his room each time but he keeps on coming back. We've listened to see if there's noise outside or upstairs, if his room's too hot, if he needs to go to the bathroom, but nothing seems to help.

The worst part is that he is then such a tired wreck all morning that he's fallen asleep by eleven o'clock and awake by one p.m.. The days here are so hot (as in 115, 120 degree heat index) that we can't go to the park. So we're inside. For hours.

Basically, I feel like I'm dodging curve balls. Hopefully Sean and I can catch up on some sleep this weekend and he straightens his self out, since I can't figure it out.

Who's Scared? Not me.

2010-07-25T16:15:00.004-04:00

While Aiden and I were at the park we came across this rather scary looking guy:

I don't know if it's a centipede or a millipede or a caterpillar or an alien. It was pretty creepy and I was ready to leave it alone but Aiden insisted on watching it for the full twenty minutes that it took to crawl across the playground.

He waddle-walked the whole time, alternately trying to poke it and squealing in fear, while calling out "MOM-AY! MOM-AY!" the way he has taken to recently. It's funny, but he used to be terrified of bugs, and now he's more interested in them. Last summer he loved to swim, but this year he's becoming more nervous around the water. It's mind blowing to watch him as he learns to overcome certain fears while suddenly developing anxiety about things he never feared before. The newest scary thing? The dark. Suddenly bedtime has gone from poems and stories and a kiss goodnight to anxious hand-holding and repeated reassurances that "everything's okay! I'll be right out here! I won't even close the door all the way!".

In a lot of ways, parenthood has been like that for me. Yesterday I was terrified of him bumping his head on the bars of the crib, or choking on a cheerio, or lead paint in his toys. Those fears are long gone today, but now it's "is he socialized enough? are we too strict with him? would he hate us if we had another baby?". If feel so lucky to have Sean next to me, assuring me that "everything's okay, I'll be right here with you!".

Four Day Staycation

2010-07-21T20:50:00.006-04:00

Two of my best friends, Laura and Tierney, came to visit on Saturday and left yesterday afternoon. The evening before they arrived we had Sean's three coworkers (plus a husband and baby) over for dinner. Basically, we did a lot of running around grocery shopping and cleaning last week, then a lot of running around and having fun, and now I am totally wiped out.

Having the girls here was an amazing break for both me and Sean. The girls occupied Aiden which gave me a break, and Sean was able to escape and do some serious studying. However, the best part for me was being able to go out for a couple of evenings. When you have a small child, you stop remembering what the outside world looks like past nine o'clock. We all went to the beach, the pool, downtown and to the parks with Aiden. Then in the evening I was able to hand Aiden off to Sean and go out for drinks (we even a ghost tour of downtown!) with the girls. However, now that they've left, I am so tired from all of the fun and especially from wrangling Aiden without my two extra sets of hands.