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)

first day of soccer practice

Okay, so I know every mom thinks their kid is some kind of prodigy but in this case its clearly true. The kid has mad soccer skills. He can stop the ball, he can kick accurately, he is begining to dribble, he's super fast, highly flexible, and has the endurance of an athlete. I mean he can almost take the ball away from me when I play keep-away from him...THAT is impressive.

Taking a rest and listening to Coach Ashley.


The blue streak you see in the image above is Aiden dribbling the ball down the field.




Now THAT'S how you stop the ball. Like I said, he has mad skills.


"Put me in coach."


Aiden and his buddy Ryan practicing "throw-ins".

One (gummy bear)

This is kind of hard to hear but in this clip Sky is saying "one" meaning, she wants one gummy bear. She also says "please" and mumbles "thank you".

thanksgiving dinner

I look forward to Thanksgiving all year long - my family has a long standing tradition of having dinner at my Uncle Heidar and Aunt Anne's house (you may have heard me say "Molly, Tim, and Lou's house"). The food is outstanding and plentiful - we eat until we can't move anymore and laugh our heads off talking about the "old days". It's times like this that I'm reminded that I have the best family in the world. It is the most diverse group of smart, funny, caring, ambitious, hip, and headstrong people in the world. I'm so fortunate to have them in my life and I'm so happy that Aiden and Sky will have them in their lives growing up.

We always have a huge crowd for Thanksgiving. We typically have multiple tables. I'm glad to say, I have not made it to the "adult table". As matter of fact, sometimes we have two tables - the "adult table" and then the second level "adults" - me, I'm still in the "basement" group. We sit on the floor, in front of the TV watching football and cracking jokes.




One source of amusement is watching my cousins squirm as my uncle look around the room for a volunteer to say grace. As soon as the subject of saying grace comes up, it seems everyone is busy or just avoiding eye contact. It's not that we're not thankful or spiritual people, it's that fear of others (cousins) making you laugh inappropriately while you're saying a prayer.



There's Aiden with Molly. This little guy LOVES to be around family...I think it has something to do with all of the attention that he gets.

Little Sky had a terrible cold and the congestion made her very uncomfortable and cranky so she stayed home with my mom. I really missed not having her there with us but I think she was better off at home going to bed on time.

i wanna fly

There's Aiden jumping over the railing...kidding.

Aiden: "Daddy, Daddy, I wanna fly!"
Aiden: "Daddy, throw me up high. Touch my head on the ceiling!"

Poor Adam throws each of them up in the air until his arms feel like deflated tires. Somehow it's never enough and Aiden grudgingly walks away.


Sky: "I wa' fly! I wa' fly!"


Check her out! Legs together and forward...while I can't imagine any daughter of mine as cheerleader, she has the raw talent for a future in cheerleading too. Although, I don't know how she could possibly fit that in with her busy soccer, basketball, equestrian, gymnastics, swimming, and oh diving practice. ; )

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our new favorite activity...take the cushions off the couch then jump and dive on the cushions until you fall to the ground exhausted.

a lazy sunday morning

We spent the morning cuddling on the couch and watching Blue's Clues while Adam made us an awesome breakfast including eggs, turkey bacon, and toast. After breakfast Aiden and Sky joined Adam in the library while I got precious time to myself to take a shower and get dressed in peace.

I'd by lying if I said I don't sometimes miss the days when Adam and I slept in until 9 or 10 but there's something so nice about waking up to two cuddly, happy kids and the scent of breakfast cooking permiating the house.

a baby bee bee bee

Sky loves to sing. She sings while she plays. She sings while she eats. She sings during bath. She sings all the time. The song she's singing the most these days is the bumble bee song -

"I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee. Won't my mommy be so proud of me".

It sounds something like this -

"bing home bee bee bee. Wa' ma' mommy pow me."

she amazes me

I am not exaggerating when I say Sky has two or three new words A DAY. Just this evening she said a few words that I had never heard her say before complete unprompted.

When she fell, she said "oh fall".

She saw my phone and said "want phone".

She saw rice on the dinner table and say "benge" (the word for rice in Farsi).

After breakfast she asked me for "vi min" (I usually give them Flintstones vitamins after breakfast)

She's making two word sentences like:

"Want naan" (bread in Farsi)

"Want this"

She saw our cat Lynx jump up on the kitchen counter and she immediately ran over and said "get down!"

"Mommy sit" as she taps the spot next to her on the step

If you ask her where's Sky. About 50% of the time she pointts to herself and the other 50% of the time she points up.

I wanna be like my daddy

Aiden asked to wear a collared dress shirt this morning. Here's how the conversation went.

Aiden: "Mommy, I want to wear my that shirt." Pointing to a long sleeve dress shirt hanging from a hanger in his closet.

Me: "Well, it's Saturday and I think you'll be more comfortable in sweatshirt playing outside in the woods."

Aiden: "My daddy will wear a [s]weatshirt too?"

Me: "Probably. He'll want to play with you outside."

Aiden: "Mommy, go see what my daddy's wearing."

Me: "Why do you want to see what Daddy's wearing?"

Aiden: "I wanna be like my daddy."

Me: "Oh that's so nice. Do you want to dress like me too?" Just wondering what he's going to say.

Aiden: "Nooooo. Mommy. You're a lady. See, see you have long hair."

sky sees a rainbow

Around 3:30 pm today a really pretty rainbow appeared and we had a perfect view from our back deck.

I pointed the rainbow out to Sky and she was totally mesmerized.

For about ten minutes she was on the deck looking at the rainbow and playing in the puddles.

She also found herself a little worm. Thank god she took pity on it and threw it off the deck. Last time she stepped on it before I could stop her.

She's finally getting at that age where she's taking notice of things. She must have seen hundreds of rainbows in Kauai but at that age (ten months) she'd glance a couple times but that was about it.

She also noticed her reflection in the puddles....another source of amusement.

Where was Aiden during all of this? Upstairs taking a well deserved (me being the deserving one) nap.

sixteen months old today!

Sky turned sixteen months old today!

So what does she do at eleven months? A lot actually.

Some of her most common phrases: "want some", "go outside", "sit down", "all gone", "all done", and "my turn". She also has started to count to ten (though she needs prompting), she loves to sign and can really carry tune (I'm not kidding!). She can sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Start", the "Birdy" song, and "Itsy Bitsey Spider"

She climbs on everything. She's mostly fearless and scares us to death when we find her standing on the kitchen table on the very edge.

She's still struggling with her four canine teeth coming in. Her gums are super swollen. She's been running a slight temperature and is pretty cranky the past few days.

This past Monday she started daycare part-time. While her teachers said she did well for her first day, I think she really had a hard time. By the time I picked her up, she had lost her voice crying....yeah, I feel horrible about this. Apparently she enjoyed herself during circle time while they were all singing but then as soon as she remembered where she was she started crying again. To help her adjust, I'm going to take her in for one to two hour visits to the daycare for the next two weeks and then I'll slowly increase the time she's there alone.

She's starting to use the potty and on a few occasions she even asked to use the potty. I can tell she's an over achiever already... ; )

Nora's birthday party

Sunday morning Aiden woke up with only one thing in mind - going his cousin Nora's birthday party. He woke up super excited about singing "happy birthday", eating cake, seeing Nana Beth and Bobba Steve, and of course playing with Nora and baby Tyler in their "playroom".

Though you can't tell from this picture, the two of them are sitting on a pony. After posing for pictures, the kids got to ride the pony around Nora's backyard. Bobba Steve was guiding the horse at first and I swear the pony was almost galloping.


It's really amazing how close these kids are in age. Check out my Sky! Does she look like she's half Aiden and Nora's age?

All of us...including Nora's dog Phil.

Sky was loving playing with all of Nora's girl toys. I feel a little guilty. She only gets to play with cars, trucks, and trains at home....perhaps I should pick up some dolls and ponies for her?

her future's so bright

she's gotta wear shades....at home, at night, with her pajamas on.

I have a feeling I have a glamour girl on my hands. Sky loves to wear shades, rings, bangles, barrettes, watches, scarfs....you name it. She has a fashion sense at the age of 15 months!