Nicole Tasker Woods

Holding him while we rock in the chair around 9pm each night is my favorite part of his routine. He’s so soft and clean and warm after his bath. His hair smells super sweet.

Although I’m tired, my body aches and I still have a long list of things to do around the house before I can lie down and relax, this time with Aidan is so special to me. I love talking to him about his day and what he will do & see the following day.

I do not like when he holds up his milk cup and says ‘done’ because I do not want that moment to end. When he’s done with his milk, he’s so anxious to grab his blankie, slide off my lap and run into his room so he can jump into his bed (giggling the whole way).

He says ‘covers’ but doesn’t really want covers. He wants me to hold them up above his legs as he lies flat on his bed, and right when I lay the covers over him, he lifts his legs up over his head. This game goes on about 6 or 7 times until Cali comes in to see what the ruckus is about. When he finally allows the covers to drape over his body, I kneel down on his bed to give him a hug and a kiss and tell him I love him.

I do not like closing the door and leaving him in his room – even though he does not mind at all. I’d really like to scoop him up and sit with him a little longer.

So on those rare evenings when I hear him cry an hour after I’ve put him to bed, I’m not upset. Ryan may go in to rescue Aidan from whatever bad dream he had, but he still calls for me and says ‘rock’ – and in that moment, I’m always happy to oblige.

Momma comes to California in 3 weeks for a short stay and then to steal my son! Woot woot!!!

I’ll admit, I’m a tiny bit excited about Aidan spending some quality time with his Grammy Di & Grampa Jeff. Ryan & I are looking forward to a week off. We love Aidan and we have so much fun with the little dude, but we are tired. We need to regain our strength. We need to not have parental responsibilities for 7 days. That’s all.

I have this grand idea about who I’ll be hanging with and at what clubs I’ll be rockin’ at when I don’t have the A-man at home waiting for me to return.  But knowing me, I’ll spend each and every night in bed, eating bon-bon’s, drinking ginger ale. You know why? Because I can! No wet diapers to clean, no snot to wipe up, no hugs to give…sniff, sniff…wow, I think I might miss the little guy! Love you Big A!

My kid is obsessed with having us cut tags off the inside of his shirts and shorts. Even if a tag isn’t there, he will grab at the fabric and say, “tag?”

He had one really itchy tag and now he is laser focused on every single stitch of clothing he puts on and whether or not it has a tag.

He will also walk around holding a juice cup to his mouth with one hand and the other hand will be down the backside of his diaper.  WTF?!

The A-man has started to pronounce 2 syllable words very well. First it was TABLE, then the other day he said HIPPO, ZEBRA and RHINO flawlessly. I couldn’t believe it. Ryan & A were watching Madagascar and this was helping him brush up on his animal names. Right before my eyes he is growing up from a baby to a little boy.

But whenever I ask him, “Are you a baby or a big boy?” he says “baby!”

He is my baby boy – I don’t ever want him to grow up and leave me. Stay young forever my son.

It’s official – Aidan & I are going to Aruba! It’s been years since I’ve felt the warm sunny rays of the Aruba sun and I can not wait to share this extraordinary beach experience with my son. Just me & the Big A. Yay!

We fly out on my birthday, January 24th and then fly back on February 1st. It’ll be a week of warm bliss, vacationing with my folks. I’ve wanted to visit them on their yearly Aruba trip for some time now and I finally get to go! Aidan will be such a fish, he’ll be one beautiful baby-prune for 8 straight days. We won’t be able to get him off the beach or out of the pool. He’ll be in little boy heaven.

I decided to surrender my usual travel plans during the Thanksgiving & Christmas holidays and opt for a week in Aruba. I think I made a good decision!

Tonight, Aidan & I (along with friends of ours, Tim & Katie) will fly from Burbank to Sacramento. Ryan is going to meet us at the airport after driving up north from Los Angeles Thursday morning. He will pick us up and we will drive to Amador City where we will check into our hotel. We will not have any cell reception and very sketchy wi-fi so this weekend will be a true vacation away from work and all of our daily obligations. I’m looking forward to the inability to check my cell phone and reply to work emails.

Friday morning, we will get up at the crack of dawn, get rafting-ready in our swimsuits and sunblock and drive to the river. We will hopefully survive the white water rapids and surely be sore by the end of the day.

Saturday is a free day for everyone without any set plans. I intend to spend it with my son, exploring the town, shopping and eating ice cream. If that’s not the perfect way to spend a Saturday, I don’t know what is!

Then Sunday, the four of us will fly back to Burbank and then Aidan & I will load up into our car and drive home.

Not only does my little man snore when he’s fast asleep in his big boy bed, but he also knows how to fake-snore. Last night, we were playing with him between tubby-time  & bedtime. He was getting thrown in the air, climbing up on Daddy’s shoulders to get ‘tall’ and then being tossed on the pillows. He shouted “pelows” and burrowed himself in the pillows then starts to snort in and sing out like a cartoon snore. A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!!

It’s amazing how he picks up on something we show him and then repeats it.

When he’s done chatting away in his bed and is finally asleep, I can put my ear up close to his door and hear him snoring with tiny baby breaths.

I love knowing he is getting restful sleep. I hate when we have to wake him up from a nap, but he is super sweet in those soft moment immediately following his slumber. He’s clingy and wants to be held. Love it!

Aidan had a phase where he wanted a hug every second of every day. He seems to have grown out of that phase about 2 weeks ago and now everything scares him.

“Scared!”

“Of what?”

“Shark!”

“It’s OK, Shark’s are only in the ocean.”

“Get! Get!”

The little guy is really afraid of a shark getting him. It’s hilarious, don’t get me wrong, but I feel for him. I’m scared of sharks too. I’m smart enough to know that they won’t get me when I’m on the slide at the park or playing in the sand or walking the dog. But clearly, the Big A thinks that a shark is out to get him everywhere he goes.

I guess I should stop pretending my hand is a shark and saying “dun dun – dun dun – dun – dun dun dun dun dun dun – do – deee!!” as I grab his neck. Oops.

Spending a long 4.5 day weekend with Aidan over the July 4th holiday was exhausting! I do not know how my mother did it all those years with 3 kids. I can’t fathom having another one! The amount of energy the A-man has is unreal. He just keeps going and going and going. I don’t even get a break when I rock him to sleep before bed. He never falls asleep in my arms – not anymore! He wants to sit and talk. He doesn’t really like to hear me sing or lazily hum a broken lullaby because I’m just that tired. He insists on talking about what he will do tomorrow.

“Sheesh, park, swing, slide…”

When he went down for a nap each day of the holiday weekend, I would climb into bed and crash for the same 3 hours that he was down. And then when it was time for all of us to hit the hay at bedtime, I had no trouble falling asleep. I thought I’d stay up late each night and sleep in each morning during the holiday. Nope! I was in bed early and out of bed early.

Needless to say, I was excited to go back to work in my controlled office environment. I like my personal office with a door that I can close whenever I want. I do not have to stop what I’m doing to attend to someone else’s needs (unless the big boss lady comes a’callin). And I can do whatever I want on my lunch break–which usually involves a trip to the gym.

But I have to admit, by 5:30pm on Monday, the first day after the holiday weekend, I was missing my Aidan. I couldn’t wait to get home to hug him and kiss him.

Aidan has realized very recently that he likes to have his bare back tickled. And I tell ya what, I have some magic fingers and he LOVES it! He will stand with his back towards me so that I can gently caress and tickle his bare back. When I stop, I will wait and he will wait – goosebumps rising on his arms and belly. He turns his head to the side and says “like, again.” So I will give him some magic fingers again, and then stop, and the cycle continues.

I love to feel the little goosebumps spread across his soft baby skin. He’s so innocent and so sweet. I just love him.