The two-syllable words that Aidan is saying these days sound A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E.
I love when he rolls in our bed and says ‘covers’ and actually emphasizes the 2nd syllable. Co-VER.
He has a hard time putting an ‘s’ at the end of words, although I try to correct him.
He has a book named ‘Otis’ and he calls it ‘Tois’ like he’s saying ‘toys’ – A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E.
We’ve got a busy day today!
We are going to start off with some post-breakfast cuddles and then we’ll shower and get ready for the day.
I’m bringing a change of clothes with us to lunch so that I can run off to get my hair beautified at 3 o’clock and then change for the events that follow.
But before that most-desired hour of beauty arrives, Ryan & I will take A to get some BBQ at Famous Dave’s and perhaps some dessert at Yogurt Land.
I will enjoy my 90 minutes of escape at the salon and then will meet up with Ryan at a friend’s house for a late afternoon backyard party.
Aidan will be napping while we visit with friends and his Grammy will be spending the afternoon/evening with him.
Ryan & I will part ways.
He will head home to put the Big A to bed.
I will make my way to the airport to pick up my Momma aka Gram!
Can’t wait to see A’s face when he sees his Gram from NH on Sunday morning.
Last night, I was rocking Aidan to sleep in my arms. He was drinking his milk and clutching to his blankie and my hands were wrapped around his small, sweet body. Back and forth, we rocked, his head lying on my chest, my chin resting on his soft hair. On the far wall, I saw the shadow of his tiny foot on top of my leg. I can still see it now. The moment was soft and sweet and so was that shadow of our feet.
When you are the first (and only) grandson, you pretty much get whatever your sweet little heart desires. And the Big A? All he wants to do is bounce! So his Grammy & PopPop got him another bouncy house for today. We are having a few friends over to eat, drink, bounce & swim.
Who knows, I might even bounce today!
Aidan enjoys a fake-snore no matter where he is!
The other day, A-man, Cali & I were out for a walk around the campus of Cal-Lutheran University to take in the beautiful weather, watch some baseball & look for chippies aka chipmunks. Aidan is pretty good at walking on his own, but after a while, he gets bored so he will start to weave from the side walk to the ivy to the dirt to the road. So I’m constantly slowing down to look behind me and tell him to keep moving.
He likes to kick the dirt when we transition from the cement side walk to the dirt bike path that trails along the side of a large, vacant field. I can hear him behind me scuffing the dirt and kicking little rocks with a constant dust cloud at his feet. 
I stopped walking when I could no longer hear his feet shuffling and turned around to see his back to me and his shoulders were rising and falling as he was fake-snorking. Up and down, snore in – snore out. “Come on silly boy, wake up and get walkin!” He turned around with a huge smile on his face and ran towards me to go beneath my legs saying, “Neath!”
When we got back on the cement side walk, he decided to cop a squat and proceeded to fake-snore again with his shoulders going up and down, his hands held out to his sides. Snore in – snore out – snore in – snore out. All while smiling that goofy smile.
Yesterday afternoon, I spent 2 hours wiping, scrubbing, spraying and cleaning the back seat of my car where the Big A did a 7-hurl up-chuck. His car seat will never be the same despite me removing all the fabric to give it a hot soapy treatment in the washing machine. I had to take multiple breaks because the sour smell of vomit was overwhelming.
I remember when my friend (at the time) threw up all over my apartment when I was living in Burbank — couches & carpet — and even though we had a professional cleaning crew come in to treat EVERYTHING, the smell of vomit still lingered for weeks. I think that some of those horrifying smells can never be eradicated, no matter how long you spend scrubbing and soaking the soiled areas. And after all of my cleaning and then my money spent to make things new again, that ‘friend’ refused to reimburse me for any more than 50% of the cost, claiming she was strapped for cash. Then she got a boob job. Hmmm.
Anyway, back to the up-chuck baby…
…everyone hates to throw up. But I think it’s worse for a baby like the A-man because he doesn’t really know why it’s happening and he can’t NOT think about how crappy it feels to be sick, which makes you vomit more.
The only thing I had in my car at the time of his technicolor-yawn was a stack of Starbucks napkins, which did help remove the chunks at some level. But they tore and left clumps of napkin on his arms and legs, which freaked him out. When I got most of the mess cleaned up (as well as I could with napkins), we drove the remaining 3 miles to home. On the way there, I heard him yell and I looked back at his pathetic little face to see him staring & pointing at one of the moist balls of recycled napkin on his knee.
Between the two of us, we had 2 baths & 1 shower and at this very moment, I can still smell the puke.
Aidan sings random words to this song: heart, big, crush, walls, down.
Today, Southern California welcomes its newest resident to a quaint apartment complex in Burbank.
I’m happy to report that by day’s end, my big brother, Curt, will be moved in and in two day’s time, he will be employed full time.
It’s been a long time coming! If any of you know my family, then you know what a great accomplishment this is for him. We’re all so glad that he can finally embark on the future that he was meant to have – as cool Uncle Curtis.
You wouldn’t think that three plastic birds and one dragonfly on long medal sticks would make a little man this happy, but I guess it’s the little things in life…
Blue eyes, you’ve got blue eyes
And you’re all that I need
We’ve got enough time
Let me take the lead
Blue eyes, you’ve got blue eyes
And the brightest smile
You’ve broken all ties
Let me hold you a while
Blue eyes, you’ve got blue eyes
And you make me dream
To you, I could never lie
You are all that I need
Blue eyes, you’ve got blue eyes
And live in destiny’s scene
For you, my heart flutters & flies
You are the sweet to my mean
Aidan had a hard time sleeping at the hotel in Amador City when we went up north a few weeks ago. Each morning he got up around 6am. He’d stand up in his day bed and stare at us in the adjacent bed saying ‘cars’ or ‘piss’ or ‘milk.’
I’d still be in a very sleepy state and Ryan wouldn’t even be awake (unless he was just pretending to be sleeping so I’d get up with A).
One morning I picked him up, got him his milk and we’d lay in the big bed together. But if he was talking too much or being too loud, I picked him up with his milk and his blankie and headed to the balcony. The hotel we stayed in had a balcony that had 3 doors connected to it; 2 for rooms which Ryan & I and Clark & Carolyn were staying in and the 3rd had access to the hallway between the rooms. I can still remember those early morning moments of me and Aidan curled up on a wicker chair together on the balcony, looking out at the street and town below, still quiet and sleeping. We listened to the birds and watched the people and dogs out for a walk. I would whisper in his ear and he would sit quietly soaking up everything around him.
I wonder if he’ll remember that moment when he gets older.
