Merry Christmas 2008!

Me: Did you know that Santa is going to come down our chimney while we're sleeping and put presents under our Christmas tree for you and Sky?

Aiden: Why does he come down the chimney? He should come through the door.

Me: Well, the doors are going to be locked and he doesn't want to wake us up.

Aiden: No...No...He should come through the garage door so that he can bring a big bag of presents.

Me: Yeah but he likes to sneak into the house when we're all sleeping.

Aiden: I'm going to close the chimney so that Santa can't come that way.

Me: You are? Why?

Aiden: That way Santa will come through the garage door.

Me: How are you going to close the chimney?

Aiden: I'm gonna go to the tool store and buy a big piece of wood and hammer it on the chimney.

Me: So what's Santa going to bring you that won't fit coming through the chimney?

Aiden: A motorcycle. A REAL motorcycle and he'll put it in the garage for me.


Aiden: Sky, Santa is going to bring you a BIG princess doll and a BIG truck and you can share the truck with me, okay?

Aiden and Nora drawing on the bathroom wall during bath. Nora is Aiden's cousin and she is just three weeks older than him. If you couldn't tell already, they are good buddies.

Aiden pouring Nora some pretend apple juice.

Every other night I have to plead with Aiden to get ready for bath..."just 5 more minutes, Mommy, just five more minutes and then I'll get ready for bath". But when you have a cousin to take a bath with "bath time" becomes "play time". Little Sky went to bed early so she didn't get to take part in the bath party but she definitely will next year.


We had a wonderful Christmas. Nana Beth and Bobba Steve came up from Roanoke and Uncle Ben, Aunt Jo Ann, Nora and baby Tyler came up from Richmond to stay with us. Uncle Caleb and Aunt Jayna (who now live in Centreville) came over as well as Aunt Meghan and her boyfriend Jeff hung out with us. We ate a lot of food (probably too much), we watched a lot of movies on the new TV, played a lot of games, built a lot of castles from couch cushions, rocked on XBox's Rock Band, opened a lot of presents, and the adults drank a lot of beer and wine.



This was Sky's second Christmas and she had a wonderful time. She loved having relatives staying with us the past few days. Every morning she's wake up and run out of the bedroom to find Aiden and Nora. I was a little worried about her feeling left since Aiden and Nora are so much closer in age but she definitely held her own and enjoyed herself.



Aiden and Sky's newest cousin, Baby Tyler. Little Tyler is super cute and such a good baby. Sky was very gentle with Tyler - rubbing his legs and kissing his hands.


Sky just being herself.
Aiden got lots a cool gifts for Christmas including a soccer ball, a toy tracker trailer with tons of matchbox cars in it, a writing activity set, music CDs, books, a preschool backpack and much more. Unfortunately for Aiden, Santa was not able to bring him a "REAL motorcycle" but Uncle Caleb did give him a toy motorcycle.

Aiden was very gracious and gave everyone hugs and kisses for his presents.
Aunt Meghan gave Sky a purse with matching sunglasses, and a pretend make-up kit.

Sky was very excited about her new tricycle.
Aiden loved opening presents so much so that he helped me and Sky open our presents.



Aiden, Nora, and Sky having Christmas breakfast together. Bobba Steve and Nana Beth spoiled us all with a great breakfast every day for the past three days.

Sky and her friend Sophia playing at the train table. In this picture Sky is saying "Sophia you know darn well that's not gonna work there". They are doing some city planning.



Sophia is two years old and lives down the street from us. Sky and Sophia have weekly play dates and we alternate houses. On Fridays they go to a reading program at the Oakton Library. They also like to share snacks and toys.



These pictures were actually taken by Teresa, our Nanny. Teresa and Sky have a lot of fun together. Since Teresa doesn't come over during the weekends by Sunday night Sky starts to miss Teresa and talks about her all the time.

Bup

The new boss of the house...Little Sky has turned the tables on Aiden. She has become a very aggressive, opinionated, physical little girl. Now Aiden wouldn't dream of snatching a toy out of her hand (and neither would I). She won't have that anymore. She stands her ground and then some.

The other day she decided it was time to turn off the TV so she walked up to it and pressed the power button and started to walk out of the room. Well, that didn't go over well with Aiden because he was in the middle of watching an episode of the "Wonder Pets" his favorite show on Noggin.

Just as she was walking out of the room she sees Aiden turn the tv back on. She runs back over and she turns the tv off again and stands guard. By this point, Aiden is really upset and he runs towards her (and the tv) "Sky, you do not turn the tv off!". As soon as she sees him running towards her, she gets in her fighting stance and blocks Aiden from the tv.

I worry about Sky hurting Aiden because she doesn't know her own strength and she doesn't yet know the damage she could do...especially with her fingernails. Aiden on the other hand is very careful not to hurt her so even if he does push her or take a swipe her he does it very gently and carefully.

Why "Bup"? That's her new nickname.

saturday morning soccer practice

Coach Ashley is focused on teaching the kids take simple instructions at this point. For warm up they play red light, yellow light, green light, then they run around in a big circle until she says "freezer" (stop) or "heater" (go). They practice kicking the ball against the wall and "wake up Fred" a little mouse that sleeps in the wall.

Aiden finds it very difficult to stay on task when there's tons of balls being kick around and kids running around on the adjacent field.


Bobba goes to soccer practice with us sometimes. Aiden enjoys having the extra attention and is happy to show Bobba his soccer skills.

Aiden works up an appetite during practice so we have a new tradition of going out to lunch right after practice.

passing the time

seventeen months old today!

Sky turned seventeen months old today!

So what she like at seventeen months?

Well, to start with she's very strong and extremely active. She definitely keeps up with her brother. Some times they play together other times, she just copies what he does from a distance.


From time to time things do get a little aggressive and someone ends up getting hurt. Sky doesn't know her own strength and she really hurts Aiden. Aiden on the other hand knows better and even if he swipes at her he does it gently and cautiously. Thank God Sky is not a biter but she is a scratcher and pincher so poor Aiden has to be patient with her.



Sky's vocabulary is growing in spurts. Some days she says 3 r 4 new words other days not so much but she's definitely trying.

She's started potty training and doing fairly well with it. She uses the potty a few times a day and is very proud of her accomplishments. We give her two M&Ms each time she uses the potty and that's all the encouragement she needs.

She's a very good eater. She eats fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, rice, pasta - whatever. Like me, her favorite is good ol' bread.

The Interview

This video was taken right before bath time so she was a little tired and very distracted.

bad little wolf

Aiden has started saying the phrase "bad little wolf". He mostly says it when he's wrestling with his Daddy or his Uncle Dullah. Of course the whole time he's wrestling he's cracking himself up laughing so he can barely say the words. Anyway, I love the phrase and I can't get it off my mind. This morning while waiting in line at the coffee shop, I watched a guy sneak his way into the front of the line. I was so tempted to call him out on it - "you bad little wolf!".

Aiden turns THREE!

Yahoo! Little man is now BIG man. Aiden turned three years old today. As his biggest fan, I could not be more proud of my little guy. He is a very well adjusted, caring, active, healthy, smart, friendly little boy.

He is using the potty regularly. As a matter of fact, just this week he is starting to pee standing up...okay to a little dude this is a very big deal. Sometimes he asks to got to the bathroom but most of the time he helps himself.

You may recall me complaining about his eat (or lack of eating), well not that is no longer a concern. He eats very well and sets a good example for this sister. He still has a mean sweet tooth but as long as he eats his fruits, vegetables and proteins, I don't mind that so much.

He is an adoring brother. He always wants to hug and kiss his sister. Sky enjoys the attention but sometimes she gets upset because he accidentally hurts her by hugging too hard or too long.

He loves to explain things - like how the fox in our backyard feeds his family or how you go about decorating a Christmas tree. "First, you have to find the or'ement that you like, then you have to put it up on the tree like this. Not like this but like this. You see? You see? You have to put it up high so Sky doesn't get it."


The Birthday Party

We had Aiden's third birthday party at the Little Gym. I think it was a success. The kids had a wild time "monkeying" around. The theme of the party was "jungle" or "Jungle Book".


This is a clip of the kids jumping on the air track - definitly one of the best activities at the party.



Aiden and Sky sat on Daddy's lap while the air track while it was getting inflated and then again during deflation.






The parachute was a big hit with the kids...I think the adults sort of got into it too!




Here comes the birthday cake! Check out Sky's expression!! Too funny.

Sky seemed very aware and accepting of the fact that Aiden was the man of the hour. However, she also seemed to know that as sister of the birthday boy, she was at the very least "a very special guest". We pulled an extra seat next to Aiden for Sky to sit close and help blow out the candles. I think she enjoyed her VIP status.


Here's Aiden blowing out the candles on his birthday cake. He was very happy to have his sister sit next to him and help with blowing out the candles.


The cake itself! I had it made a Wegman's.

Of course the best part of the birthday party was celebrating with family and friends. I hope everyone had a great time and THANK YOU for coming to celebrate with us. Aiden was so excited to see everyone there. I think for the first time in his life all of his worlds collided - family friends, friends from school, teachers, in-town family and out-of-town family all there together.


After wearing herself out, Sky sat on Grandma's lap and watched the rest of the kids play.

Nora and Shannon having fun.

It's amazing how quickly the kids forgot all about being shy after playing in the gym together for an hour.
Shannon trying on her new shades.
The shades were kind of a hit.

Aiden wasn't the only one getting extra attention...here's Aunt Meghan and Sky paling around together.
Aiden's buddy Nick.

Nora and Shannon hit it off pretty well.

Liam enjoying the cake on his fingers.

Miss Lauren playing with balloon on her chair.
Miss Jessica waiting for cake.
Aiden loves the noise makers.
Master Tyler showing us that he too can take part in the party.

Amelia and Cameron.
Good times for all!
Aiden's buddy Ben.

Shannon and Aiden...taking an annual picture together. Shannon was born one day before Aiden.

This picture cracks me up! "Ummm Mommy...she's got her arm around me."


Aiden's cousin Nora and her Mommy, Jo Ann.


Bobba and Sky also had a good time.

I'm not sure what Uncle Caleb, Uncle Ben, and Aunt Meghan are doing in this picture...but they look kind of cool. Any ideas?

The Interview

(coming soon)