Happy Anniversary to Us!

Happy Anniversary to us!!! Ok, technically not yet but.....6 Years and counting! And, we get to go out like adults tonight. Woohoo! Life is good huh?

Memorial Day 2008

It was a busy Memorial Day weekend. Saturday was our neighbor's 5th Birthday party. Aidan got to run around outside with all the other kids. Mostly he just followed BFF Brady around. Then Sunday we went to Suson Park. We went through the petting zoo. They had horses, cows, chickens, pigs, turkeys, sheep, even a peacock. Aidan was so excited! He named a bunch of the animals and their sounds. He's getting to be so smart. After the petting zoo, we walked around the little pond there. Then on Monday we went to the Museum of Transportation. Aidan had the greatest time. He's into trains right now so this was like heaven for him. They let you in a bunch of cars and even into a couple engines. Some of the engines were huge! Then to cap it off, we rode a tram (which was exciting to him all by itself) down to the little train they have. The train ride actually relaxed him. Although it was near lunch and nap time. We spent over an hour there walking around and not one whine from Aidan. We'll definitely go back. In fact, we are thinking about taking an Amtrak trip somewhere so Aidan can ride a real train. I think it would be fun. Next weekend is our 6th anniversary, so more fun activities. Then we get ready for the East Coast!

Smarties to the Rescue!!!

The funniest things make my day anymore. Aidan was petting Teddy(he's become more brave around Aidan and allows some love now and then) and pointed and said "Ear." Aidan had a look of surprise on his face, like he was surprised the cat would even have ears. I was surprised Aidan could identify them because I had never heard him do that before. Then he pointed to my ears and said "ear" and then to his own. Then we had to find our noses and he could even find his eyes. It seems like everyday he instantly obtains more knowledge, like he just downloaded it from the Matrix or something. He constantly amazes me. We had another hair cut today. We sat alone in the booster for the first part and did well. No crying or major squirming. I was very proud. Of course I did bribe him with Smarties. We weren't so cooperative for the clippers on the neck and around the ears. I touched them to show they won't hurt you and Tigger got a pretend cut with them. When that didn't quite convince him, all the other stylists came over to help hold him and distract him. I was very impressed with how nice they were. And NO WAIT! Anyone with a child understands this is the difference between a nice haircut and possible all out war. All in all, he looks very handsome. A couple battle wound scratches but nothing serious. I think we'll go back there from now on. Now he's lovey and cuddling me. Hopefully that means a nice long nap. Especially since we were up by 6:30am and you know how Mommy feels about the morning. Here's wishing you all a pleasant naptime too!

Looking the Gift Horse in the Mouth

This morning I find myself needing to vent a little. We have some friends, who will remain nameless just in case they ever find this blog, who have a little boy about a year older than Aidan. They like to play together and we have gotten together several times since we moved here. Just to clarify, these aren't our neighbors. Our neighbors are cool and very laid back. These friends are more high maintenance than our neighbors. Case in point, when we go out to eat together they have to bring McDonald's for their son because he usually is too picky to eat what's on the menu. We have the good fortune that Aidan eats just about anything. We haven't found a restaurant that he won't eat at. I realize that this isn't true for every toddler. Even so, I'm not about to cater to a picky eater. You can eat with us or wait till you get home, your choice. That's not even the end of it. They bring a portable DVD player with them for him to watch when he gets restless. It works but, I don't think this is a habit I want to encourage either. We watch too much TV at home. Anyway, how do you learn how to behave at the table and out to eat if you get to watch TV? So, there have been a few things about this family that have bugged me as you can see. Forgive my judgmental rant though you may agree with me in a few seconds.
Recently we found out that their anniversary was coming up and they had no plans due to the fact that they don't have a sitter. This anniversary is a big one so Julien offered to babysit so they could go out. At first they seemed shocked we would offer willingly, but they accepted and seemed to really appreciate the offer. We even offered to watch him for a trial run so he could get used to the idea and they could go do something together too. Great, right? Wouldn't you love to have someone volunteer to do that? So, this morning Julien calls me to let me know that we won't be babysitting. I ask him, as you are probably asking too, why. Apparently they are hiring a babysitter. Que?? They want to be able to tell the sitter what to do (boss them around) and they can't impose their rules in our home. ( Which that depends on the rules. ) But they want a boss/employee relationship with a sitter and they felt they couldn't have that with us. True. So #1- I was offended that they would hire someone when we offered our home to their son. #2- What rules are so important and they think I wouldn't follow? Do they think my rules are too lax? #3-Why do you need to be superior to your sitter? Why can't you accept the generosity and help of a friend? Why do things need to be more complicated than that? I have no problems watching our friends' kids. In fact, we watched the neighbor boy last night for a couple hours so Mom and Dad could go out for dinner, as Dad had been gone for 3 days on business. They asked last minute if we were busy and I said we wouldn't mind. They've done the same for us. That's the way it's supposed to be. You don't need to establish a hierarchy or a set of hard and fast rules.
Granted they said they didn't want to offend us but, is there any way not to be? It just seems crazy. Well, we won't be offering our services to them again. They wouldn't be able to afford my expertise and training anyway.

UPDATE: After I wrote the above, I saved it and headed off to lunch with Julien. What are the chances that we would pick the same restaurant, on the same day, at the same time as our "friends"? Well, if you're us, they're great! So not only do we run into them, we end up at their table and Julien pays for their lunch cause they got the last dinner out. *sigh* This is building my karmic bank right??? Talk about awkward.

Mother's Day 2008

Mother's Day this year was a really good one. The night before we went for Thai food at probably what is the best restaurant out here. That was so yummy! Then I got to open my present. I got a KitchenAid Stand mixer. Now I can make more cookies. I don't think the gift was a truly selfless one from my boys. :) My Official Mother's Day started out with breakfast in bed. Aidan and Julien brought me eggs, bacon, fruit, pancakes, flowers and a card. Of course Aidan wanted to share my pancakes. After that we hung out at home. Julien had a grand plan for the day but, was thwarted by the weather. 50 mph wind gusts are bad for picnics and the zoo. We did have a picnic in the living room though. Aidan thought that was pretty cool. Then I used my present to make homemade brownies. They were pretty good if I do say so myself. Especially with some vanilla ice cream. All in all, we relaxed and spent the weekend together. Now it's back to work. Trying to get my flower beds planted and the house cleaned. You know, normal stuff.

To Grandma's House We Go

Last week we made a trip up to my folks' place. It was nice to be home again. Aidan had such a great time. The weather eventually cooperated and Aidan got to roam around outside. We checked out the creek and looked for fish. We chased birds. We played with rocks. Very exciting! Aidan had the opportunity to play with a load of cousins too. Sophie ran him ragged of course. He's trying to say her name now. It comes out as "sosie." He has Emma pretty well down. She helps keep an eye on Aidan and Sophie and supervises. Then he had the chance to play with Kirin and Max. He and Kirin hit it off immediately. Although Aidan was a little confused about his name, calling him by his best friend Brady's name. He got it finally. He thought Max was cool. Until Daddy held him and played with him. At that point Aidan felt Max had received enough attention. It was funny. You could see in Aidan's face the realization that while Max was fun, he was taking all the attention away from Aidan. That was a new experience for him. Aidan is used to being the youngest and center of the universe. In the end, all had a good time. We went to Ross' to eat. Aidan loved the Banana cream pie. We pointed the pictures up in the restaurant and told him Daddy was in them. Aidan even got to go to Happy Joe's with my family for lunch one day. We had Taco Pizza, of course. Yum! Aidan even got a balloon. They have the same balloon machine that was there when I was a kid. You get to pick out what color you want and then it inflates in the machine while you watch. Very cool. Aidan loved it. He's big into balloons.
We're back now. Aidan is such a good traveller. He played with toys and books the whole way home. I think he's glad to be back in his own bed. I'm glad to be back in my bed too. No matter how much fun you have on vacation, it's always nice to come home.