jackie's birthday party

Jackie's Mommy and Daddy know how to throw a party! Everyone had a blast and got a good workout!


Its amazing how long Sky can bounce without tiring out.


Aiden going up the steps. You can see how Sky could fall backwards if I didn't follow her up.


You have to click on this picture to look at his face closely. It's classic Aiden.

Aiden maximized his time on the slide by going down as fast as possible, then running back around to the steps, climbing as fast as his little legs could take him, and back down the slide again. With his red cheeks and sweaty head he'd run by and say "i love you, mom!" to get my attention.


At first, Aiden sat and slid. The second round, he laid flat and slid. The third time he laid flat with his arms folded behind his head (in a relaxing position). Then to maximize the fun, he started to go down head first. Still that could have been improved up on so he'd dive down the slide and gown down head first even faster.


So according to the park rules (see the line above Aiden's head), neither Aiden nor Sky were tall enough to go on this slide but that sure didn't stop them.


The three musketeers - Aiden, Nicholas, and Ryan scarfing down pizza.


Aiden let his sister tag along the entire time. He made sure she was having fun too.


Sky about to come down the slide. It's really scary how fearless she is. She went on the longest and the steepest slide without hesitation. She'd fly down the slide and at about three quarters of the she'd lose control and tumble the rest of the way down.

While most of the 3-year-old girls hung out together at the moon bounce, Sky hung out with Aiden, Nick, and Ryan. She went down every slide they went down without hesitation. Unfortunately, I wasn't able take her picture because each time I followed her up the steps because she'd climb up 15 or 20 steps then stop and turn around to wave and get distracted. I was worried that at that point she'd lose her footing and fall backwards down the steps.

old habits

Sky found her old pacifier in the nursery and suddenly she was in love with it again for the night). She actually only took a pacifier for about four or five months and only because my pediatrician suggested that it might slow down her growth by satisfying her urge to suck and not get additional calories.

Aiden was not happy about Sky taking a pacifier again. He kept demanding that she take it out and put it away..."Sky, your not a baby. Take that out of your mouth!"

straight A's - booya!

I received a "report card" on Aiden's performance in his junior pre-school class. I am proud to say he received straight A's!!! The only thing he needs a little help with is using the scissors.

I try to talk to his teachers at least briefly every day when I pick him up. They tell me that they love having Aiden in class. According to Ms. Bridget, all the kids want to play with Aiden. He loves to participate during activities. He shares with his friends. He follows directions (most of the time). He's enthusiastic. He sets a good example for his friends. He's kind to other students and is generally a "sweetheart" to his teachers.

I need one of those bumper stickers that say "My child is an honor student at ...school."

pebbles flintstone

Sky's hair is getting really long so I've been trying different things with it (when she lets me). What do you guys think of this look? She kind of reminds me of Pebbles Flintstone.

sky prefers a furry pillow

you okay?

So everyone is congested and coughing again in our house. We were healthy for a whole three weeks before one of us picked up another bug somewhere. Every time one of us coughs little Sky runs over and rubs our backs saying "you okay? you okay, mommy? you okay Aiden?"

little uncle dullah

Aiden wishes Uncle Dullah was still this age...

crazy hair

Ever wonder what Sky looks like when she first wakes up in the morning? She sleeps hard!

She sleeps on her belly with hair tail up in the air. When she gets cold she pulls her arm under her chest and she's good to go.


Here she is jumping on the trampoline just minutes after waking up. Just like her brother, Sky can go from sound asleep to 100 miles/hr in just under 60 seconds.

Adam Junior

Adam Jr, I mean Aiden has started his lifelong love/hate relationship with computers. Don't we all have all have a love/hate relationship with computers?

The love...

I couldn't live without my computer. I use a computer for business and for pleasure. When a kid is sick, I research diagnosis and medications. I post to this blog several times a week. I buy educational toys and books for the kids. I look up recipes and fun activities for kids. I research vacation spots. I get my news and other peoples take on the news. I download music and I upload pictures. I keep in touch with family and friends using my computer. You know the list goes on...I can't even imagine where computing will be when Aiden and Sky are my age.

The hate...

When I'm in front of my computer my free time seems to evaporate away. The other night I sat down at the computer just to send ONE email and two hours later, I was still in front of the computure (by the way, the kids were sleeping!). And why is it that my computer only locks up when I'm in a hurry? How does it know I'm in a hurry??

Anyway...Aiden loves using the computer. He has a few alphabet and numbers video games he likes to play.

tired little girl

We all had a full day of activities yesterday. As soon as her pajamas were on and her teeth brushed, Sky took my hand and led me to hear bedroom "sleep mommy, sleep". Now that's what I call a tired girl! I put her in her crib and I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Three minutes later I went back to her room to check on her and say goodnight...the kid was already out and kind of snoring!

how do you say that?

While driving home earlier this evening Adam and I were eavesdropping on Aiden and Sky's conversation in the backseat.

Aiden: Sky, there's Ma'Jon's (my grandmother) house. But she's not there now. She's at the hop'able.

Sky: yeah, at hop-ul.

Aiden: No, Sky. Say hop-able.

Sky: ha-ul

Aiden: No No. Say hos

Sky: hos

Aiden: now say abul

Sky: awul

Aiden: now say hop-able

Sky: has-ul

Aiden: No, no Sky. It's hos-pa-bul

Sky: ha-sul

OLGA!!

I have no idea why but Aiden likes to call Sky, "Olga" from time to time. He doesn't just say "Olga" he says it in a very deep voice and stresses the "O" and "ga". As you might imagine, Sky doesn't appreciate it at all especially since he yells it from the top of his lungs about a foot away from her face.

nineteen months old today!

Sky turned nineteen months old today!

She is now as old as Aiden was when she was born and that blows my mind. She just had her eighteen month well-check and as expected she's still off the charts (over 100 percentile) in every area - verbal, physical coordination, height, and weight. When her pediatrician walked into the examining room Sky jumped to attention and said "Doctor, here ear" as she pointed to her ear. She remembered from her last visit (when she had the stomach flu and an ear infection) that the doctor looked in her ear with her flash light.

I think this little girl is going to be an overachiever in every facet of life. She is now talking in short sentences. She understands everything you say to her in both English and Farsi. She also now knows a few words in Tagalog and can count to ten in Tagalog.

She is already involved in a lot of extracurricular activities. Once a weeks she goes to the Little Gym where she's learned how to do a somersault.

She goes to the library twice a week for toddler reading time. She loves to sit in a big circle with other kids and listen to a story. After story time she spends a little time playing with other kids. She likes to pretend that she can read and sits there and mumbles to herself as she turns the page.

She has a standing play date with her friend Sophia once a week. They share snacks and sometimes even lunch together.

She tags along with Aiden to soccer practice on Saturdays. The way she participates with the rest of the kids you'd think that she was on the team.

She loves to play outdoors so I thank god for the warm weather the past few days. She likes to walk around our yard and identify deer poop and fox poop. I'm not kidding, people. She also spends a lot of time at the playground right before lunch where she works up a good appetite.

She's obsessed with stairs...that's right, stairs. If I let her, she'd just go up and down the stairs all day long. Maybe she's going to be a climber when she grows up.

Sometimes she fights with Aiden over a toy or a snack. If I try to resolve the situation by giving Aiden another one of the same thing they were fighting over she quickly changes her mind and tries to give Aiden the original object so that she gets the new one.

She loves to sing the following songs: Happy Birthday, Patty Cake, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the Birdie Song, and the Bumble Bee son.

She loves her animal figurines and can name and tell you the sound each make: lion, elephant, tiger, cow, giraffe, alligator, bird, horse, pig, monkey, duck, goose, snake, and probably others that I can't remember.

three ways to kiss daddy

Sky demonstrates that there are three ways she likes to kiss her daddy...

The classic kiss on the cheek.

The loving kiss on the lips.

And the fun Eskimo nose kiss.

too much fun

We went through three bags of stale bagels...


Two bags of stale sandwich bread...

One box of stale English muffins...
And an old frozen french bread.
Still, the birds wanted more to eat and the kids wanted more to feed.

tough guy

Aiden had a dentist appointment today. The kid didn't complain once. He was cautious but very good during the entire visit. He got his teeth cleaned and got a perfect check-up.

Thanks to my new iphone, now you get an even more intimate look into our lives!

a moonlit sky

This little girl LOVED playing on the beach. She chased her brother all around and did everything he did.

leave my family alone

A rottweiler took a liking to us and wouldn't leave us alone while we were out on the beach Saturday morning. He was friendly but a little annoying because he was jumping all over us. He knocked Aiden and Sky down several times and that wasn't so nice. Aiden finally told the dog off, "Leave my family alone. Go play with your own family."

the little house

We went to the "little house" for the first time in almost three months. I've been very worried about possible storm or ice damage so I was anxious to get there and check things out. Luckily, everything is in working order and the house is as cozy as ever.

We all had a great time this visit. The weather couldn't have been better...perfectly sunny, blue sky and temperature was right around 70 degrees. The kids spent almost every waking moment outside, in the sand. Both kids took long walks on the beach with us. Aiden was working on his rock collection while Sky was befriending every man, woman, child, and dog on the beach.





When they weren't playing on the beach they were playing in our yard. Since the house is so close to the beach, we have plenty of sand in our yard. We took out the wagon and all of their beach toys out of the garage and let the two of them go to town. Aiden was building roads and bridges for his cars and Sky was his little shadow.

we can't wait for the summer

I vow to spend every weekend at the beach this summer. No joke. We had so much fun last weekend that we hated getting in the car to drive back to Northern Virginia.

peanutbutter cookies

Adam and Aiden made peanutbutter cookies last night for desert. Adam provided the directions while Aiden did all the hard work. Every time I've tried to make these cookies I've over baked them. Every time Adam and Aiden have baked them they come out soft and chewy....mmm mmmmmmm.

Meeko

So you know my Mom calls Sky "Meeshko" so now Sky calls herself "Meeko". Sometimes instead of referring to herself as "me" or "Sky" she says "Meeko".

By the way, she pronounces "Sky" without the "k"...its very cute.

his shirt says it all

did he just say that?

Aiden: Mommy, can I got to the office with you?
Me: But today is a school day, don't you want to go play with your friends?
Aiden: No, I don't. I need to work.
Me: Work? You'd rather work than play?
Aiden: Yeah, I want to go to your office and work with some toys.



Aiden: Nicholas has big brother.
Me: Really? I bet he likes to play with his big brother.
Aiden: Why don't I have a big brother?
Me: Well, you have a little sister.
Aiden: I want a big brother!
Me: You can't have a big brother because you ARE a big brother.
Aiden: Then I can have a little brother?



Aiden: Mommy, Sky loves me.

partners in crime

Aiden has a new trick up his sleeve. If he wants to do something he's not allowed to do, he sweet talks Sky into doing his dirty work. Like the other day he wanted to turn the TV on but I wouldn't allow it. A few minutes later I heard him "hey little Sky, go turn the TV on...come on. Go press the button and turn the TV on."



Sky, eager to please Aiden promptly obeys his order and runs to turn on the TV. Of course this excites Aiden and he jumps up and down with excitement and laughter and Sky basks in the attention from her brother.

My Grandpa

Aiden calls my Dad "Bobba" or "Bobba Rahman" and Adam's Dad "Bobba Steve". The other day when I went to pick Aiden up from school he was in the middle of telling his classmates and his teacher about the deer tracks in our backyard. I heard him say "I went to the woods with my Grandpa and we found deer tracks and deer poop". I found it interesting that he was using the word "Grandpa" rather than "Bobba" when talking to someone outside our family. How about that?

Teresa, Sky, and Ms. Marcey

super bowl winner

Aiden looking a little tired the morning after the Super Bowl. While he wasn't very into the game, he sure enjoyed having family over for the event. He was up until 9:30 running wild and wrestling with Uncle Caleb and Uncle Dullah.

Bobba Steve is the big Steelers fan in the family and he is the one that bought Aiden this jersey. Wait 'til the kids at school see him!