Nicole Tasker Woods

Ryan is such a sucker! When he hears Aidan chatting away in his room at bedtime, he’ll hover next to the door and listen. If Aidan ever says ‘Dad’ then Ryan will immediately run into our bedroom and say, “He’s asking for me! I’m going to go get him…” Then he will open the door and wrap his arms around the Big A and they’ll stand in the darkness of his room talking about anything and everything. Then finally Aidan will say, “Mom come?” And that’s my cue to escape from the warmth of my bed and join the party.

Last night, in the darkness of the blue room, while we laid on the couch basking in quiet time before bed time, Aidan wrapped his tiny little boy hands around my neck.  His arms weren’t long enough to go all the way around so he pressed his hands to the back of my neck. He pulled my face close to his until our noses touched.

I said, “Mooch?”

He replied, “No. Nose.”

Then he moved his head left and right so we could rub noses.

It’s never a good sign when you’re driving to work at 7am (after being up since 5am) and you are starting to doze off behind the wheel.

When my car started to drift to the left lane, missing the car next to me by a hair, I jerked the wheel back and opened all 4 windows to let the chilly 47 degree air slap me back to a state of being alert.

Then I had to pee so bad I contemplated pulling over to the side of the road. Somehow, bumper-to-bumper traffic makes you have to pee REALLY badly.

When Aidan wakes up from sleeping, he is very vocal about what he thinks is in his diaper. Whether it is a “big poop” or “big pee-pee” – he lets us know. That way we aren’t caught off guard.

When you’re changing him, he wants to know what the verdict is and usually wants to sneak a peak at what’s inside.

Well, it’s mornings like the one I had today that I wish I was wearing a diaper because I wanted to have a big pee-pee.

This past week, I talked to my three best friends on the phone.

One of these ladies is my cousin, who I’ve known all my life. She lives in New Hampshire so we don’t get to see each other often, but when we do, it’s just like the good ol’ days–we easily fall back into our comfort zone and don’t miss a beat.

The second lady is someone I met in college. She was my dorm room neighbor Freshman year and by the time we were Seniors, we were inseparable. She lived in California for a while after graduation, but now she lives in Connecticut. I haven’t seen her in years, but chatting with her was just like our late night hang-outs back in Metcalf Hall.

The third is someone I met later in my life after starting my career at WB. She & I have had some crazy times at Target on our lunch break, as well as date nights to the movies where we could have easily skipped the flick to just keep chatting.

I may not have a lot of friends, but the three I have are pretty incredible.

I feel obligated to report that Aidan has been a delight in his weekly classes. He has turned a new leaf and is listening & participating. I’m so proud!

He’s even taken a couple of trips to the local libraries to practice whispering & reading quietly. But his favorite thing at one of the libraries is the large fish tank with a Blue Tang fish, which is the species of Dory from Aidan’s new favorite film, Finding Nemo.

He stood in front of the tank, mesmerized by the real-life Dory.

I’m not proud of the fact that my son is a terror in the classroom. He runs around the circle of kids sitting in a circle. He screams “Run! Fun!” while the rest of the class is listening to a story. He will kick a ball that everyone else is tossing with their hands. It’s downright embarrassing, but I have to remind myself he’s not even 2 1/2 years old. He’ll learn the appropriate behavior soon enough.

Last week, he has made great improvement in the classroom. He participated in story time, sat quietly & listened. I couldn’t be more proud of my terrible 2 year old, who isn’t that terrible after all!

I’ve been working on a 1983 film called THE RIGHT STUFF and every time I see an email pop up with the film’s title, I break out into song…

The first thing Aidan seemed to truly out-grow is pajamas. He wore the same six sets of PJs for a LONG time and then all of a sudden, they stopped covering his belly and were like high waters as the pant legs were not long enough for his bean stalk legs. I can only hope this means he’ll be extremely tall, which will assist in his hunt for stardom as a high school first string quarterback and then he’ll take the home-coming queen to prom. A full scholarship to a college of his choosing would also be nice.

And it all started with a pair of pajamas.

We ask Aidan these questions every day and his reply is always the same:

What’s your name?

A!

How old are you?

Two!

Who am I?

Mommy!

Who is that?

Daddy!

Who is your dog?

Cali best!

Because clearly, she is the best.

When this song comes on in the CD rotation in the car, Aidan sings, in the car “KEEP!” “POCK!” “SHOW!”

Ryan, Aidan & I took a tour of New England over Labor Day weekend. We had a desire to see some friends, the college where we met and put some major miles on a rental car. It has been a great trip and we’ve enjoyed this little vacation as a little family.

A little over a week before Ryan & I flew to Boston, my mom came to California for a few days then left with Aidan so that she (Gram) and my dad (Gramp) could get some quality time with the Big A. And I must say, they did their Grandparently duty of spoiling him because he was certainly rotten by the time we got there! But after 48 hours of his parents, he started to come around to his old ‘California’ chill self. Let’s face it, he’s supposed to be spoiled with his Gram & Gramp, isn’t he?!

It has been such a wonderful past few weeks. The first week was in California without Aidan and although I missed him a lot that first day and night that he was gone, I quickly bounced out of that funk and really started to enjoy my freedom as a mom without a baby! Ryan & I rarely saw each other as we were taking advantage of not having obligations to get right home after work. He would go out with friends and so would I. It was bliss!

We saw friends from college when we got into Boston and enjoyed a night in a hotel room with a king sized bed. We did the Nastalgia Tour of Wheaton College, had one last dinner with friends and then drove to my hometown of Northwood, NH. I texted my mom when we hit the road and told her to keep Aidan awake until we drove in at 10pm and that’s just what she did. I think we were more excited to see Aidan than he was to see us. At some level I think he realized that the fun Gram & Gramp stuff was going to come to an end once his parents came into the picture. But no matter how spoiled, he was still our sweet little boy, giving us lots of hugs and kisses. I didn’t realize how much I missed him until we were lying in his bed at my folks house with him drinking his milk and his finger up my nose.

We spent a few more days in Tasker-ville (had a cook-out-shin-dig of course) and enjoyed the homemade sand-pile, pool and bouncy house that my mom rented for 3 days.

Now we are in Franklin, MA to visit with some friends and their kids for a few days and then it’s back to reality on Friday. Best news about flying from East to West is that you get those 3 hours back once you land in LA and it’s only Friday! We’ll have the weekend to recoup from our travels. I always look forward to vacations, but I do enjoy returning to my house, my basenji and my bed.

My first night without you, Aidan, and I thought of you every single second. I miss having you near me, talking to me, smiling at me, mooching me. I drove home from dinner and the moon was lighting my way. It was so big, so bright and so close to me, that I felt like it was close to you too. Maybe we were both looking at the moon at the same time. Its glow painting the sky for you in New Hampshire and for me in California. I am counting down the days until I can hold you in my arms again and feel your head snuggle on my shoulder…your arms swing around and pat my back…your warm baby breath on my neck.