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Monday, April 6, 2009

Is Spring Here Yet?!?!

Wow, it has been a long time since I have posted anything. I blame it on being too lazy to take the time to download any pictures. So I need to work on that! Ayden has been talking a lot more lately and I hope he keeps going. His favorite words lately are car, cracker, and more. He has made up his own signs for Elmo and Big Bird. The Big Bird sign makes me laugh every time he does it. You would have to see it to understand. On Saturday we met my mom and sister in Waterloo/Cedar Falls for shopping and lunch. Ayden was entertaining them at lunch with his "Frankenstein" impression. I will have to get a video of it and post it. It's so funny, he has been doing it since he was 9 months old.

Ayden will be 2 years old in less than 3 months. I got him his "big" present at Toys r Us Saturday since it was on sale. It was a great deal! I hope he likes it. It's a Little Tikes Jump n' Slide Bouncer. I can't wait until he sees it:)

We are hoping it warms up soon after an April 4th snowstorm. Ayden loves going outside more than anything. He's getting a sandbox for Easter and a pretend push mower so we can play with them outside...if the snow melts and it warms up! We have been keeping busy with Kindermusik and playdates, but looking forward to warmer weather where we can do more things outside!

Joel and I are still working on the house. Almost done with the trim then we will start on the deck and gutting the master bathroom. My next project will be painting the basement when I am not helping Joel. We took a trip to Homemakers, a huge furniture store in Des Moines and found the dining room table we have been looking at for awhile at 1/2 the price we were seeing it for online! They were also having a sale which helped, so we will finally have our table and chairs in 6 weeks. I can't wait. We are working so hard on making the house look nice so we can sell it and move to Ames. Hopefully our projects go smoothly and next spring we can start looking for our new house:)

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Another Faux Spring Day

Yesterday it was close to 50 degrees in February, and today it was the same. Tomorrow it is back to winter. It is supposed to rain/freezing rain/snow. Ayden and I enjoyed the past few days by going for wagon rides and playing outside after his nap. He loves going for wagon rides. Anything that has tires and he is a fan. I got him some boots from the Cars movie and he loves them. They are a little big so he is getting used to walking in them without tripping.





Over the weekend we went back to visit my parents because I had a hair appointment for Ayden and I in Cedar Rapids. My sister-in-law's sister does an amazing job and I have gone to her for years. Even when I was in Germany I would come back and have her do my hair. Ayden did well until the end when he got some hair in his mouth. My sister and mom entertained him while I got my hair cut and colored.

My sister was telling a story a few months ago to us and happened to say "duh" and Ayden started laughing hysterically. Whenever we say it now he laughs and will say it back to you. When my sister walked in the door last Friday night Ayden saw her and said "Duh!" Then a few minutes later I asked him who she was and he said "Duh" again. We now call her Aunt Duh:)

We got Ayden a slide last week since I have been looking for one for awhile and finally found one that didn't cost too much. Ayden has been having fun sliding down it and sending his stuffed dogs and cars down the slide. He doesn't climb up the steps, but just leans over and goes down on his tummy.



Ayden has also been quite the mimicker. He tries to copy what we say and any actions we make. He is so funny. He also talks all the time in gibberish. He has the most serious facial expressions to go with it too. He talks to me all the time and looks at me so seriously. I have no idea what he is saying, but he sounds so cute! I was reading him a book tonight and it had lots of animals and the sounds they make. He tried to copy all the sounds when I said them like "quack quack," "meow," and "woof woof." The other funny thing he did happened just before his bath. We undress Ayden in his room and he likes to run naked dragging his towel behind him to the bathtub. He took a detour this time by hiding in the closet. When I found him in the closet he was peeing all over Joel's clothes! I couldn't stop laughing. I know that will probably encourage him, but I couldn't help it.

Tomorrow we are going to a playdate at our friend Destri's house to get-together with our old Kindermusik group. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. Some of us got together last week too and it was a lot of fun. Hopefully we will be able to do it more often when spring gets here and the weather improves and cold and flu season ends. I'm also supposed to have Mom's Night Out with another mom's group I am in tomorrow night so I am hoping it will still happen depending on the weather.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The Elmo Obsession

Ayden has been obsessed with Elmo for a few months now. He loves to play with Hokey Pokey Elmo at my parents house. So much so that we have to hide it sometimes because the song is sooo annoying after awhile. I made the mistake of showing him the movie Elmo in Grouchland and now that is all he wants to watch or do. We have Netflix on demand so are able to not have to mess with putting in a DVD. Ayden will run up to me holding the remote and chomping his teeth together with his mouth open. (That is the sign he made up for Elmo awhile ago, I guess because he has a huge puppet mouth??) When it gets really bad I hide the remote from him. We got him a stuffed Elmo for Valentine's Day so I hope he likes it, even though it doesn't play music or do a dance or anything. I don't think I could put up with that for too long if it did. I would end up taking out the batteries:)




Today it was gorgeous outside, in the 50's which is rare for a mid-February day. After taking 2 hours during Ayden's nap to vacuum, and clean up our very messy car, I got Ayden dressed and put some boots on him to head outside. If you ask him, "Ayden, do you want to go outside?" he gets really excited and will run for his shoes and grab mine and bring them to me. He starts to cry if I'm not fast enough or try to do something else quick before we head out. We took a long walk up the road and back with Bailey and then he walked around the yard and went down to where Daddy works to check out the trucks parked there. He even saw Grandpa out in his tractor and got a ride which made his day. Tractors are his other obsession, even more so than Elmo. After walking around for about an hour and a half and going to visit Daddy a few times at the office we headed in for the day. I sure was tired after the long walk and fresh air, and I hope Ayden sleeps well tonight. It was so nice to get outside. We are really tired of being cooped up in the house because of the cold. Spring please come soon!!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Ayden and Mommy Make Muffins

This afternoon Ayden helped me make some muffins. I wasn't expecting him to be very interested or to be very helpful at all, but I was really surprised. I got a chair for him to stand on and pushed it up to the counter. I got out the muffin pan and muffin papers and he helped me put them into the pan after seeing me do it a few times. He closely watched me fill the muffin papers with batter and then he stuck his little fingers in one and licked them. I gave him the empty bowl and wooden spoon and he pretended to mix with it and then started licking the batter off the spoon. His face was covered in chocolate and it was soooo cute:)







Another activity we did this morning was to make Feelie Goop out of cornstarch and water. I got a really neat book for Christmas called First Art: Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos. It has a lot of neat art projects for little ones and I can not wait to try others. You mix 2 cups of cornstarch with 1 cup water and there it is. You can also add food coloring to make it different colors. Cornstarch mixed with water has a unique physical property-it's gooey when poured from a spoon, but hard when squeezed in your hands. It's a kinda weird liquid/solid at the same time. I remember doing this in school and thought it was pretty neat. Ayden on the other hand did not like it. I tried to get him to touch it and he didn't like it so I poured some on his hand. He tried shaking it off and then started to cry. We ended it soon after that. I have found he is not a fan of textures especially new ones. Maybe we will try it when he is a little older. The thing I like about the book is it gives lots of recipes for homemade paints, clays, and other things. You don't have to go to the store and spend all kinds of money because a lot of it is stuff you already have. Next we may try fingerpainting. I just hope it's not too messy.





Ayden is starting to talk more even though a lot of it is gibberish. He will say something and look so serious and he has this expression that looks like he can't figure out why we don't understand him. Like we are the ones speaking a foreign language. The other day I got him to say "cheese" when trying to take his picture, and he now says "duh." For some reason he finds this hilarious when you say it while rolling your eyes. It's a good way to get him to smile for the camera or to get him to laugh when he's upset. I was changing his diaper before his nap and he was mad so I started saying "duh" and then he would laugh and copy me. Probably not the best word for him to know, but at least it's something!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Catching Up With the Girls:)

I went back to Independence over the weekend because my friend Amy had a baby shower on Sunday afternoon. My parents were also having a family get-together with my dad's siblings and their wives and they wanted to show off Ayden. I also got to see my cousin Kathy who is pregnant with her second and has a little boy named Wyatt who is almost 2 and about 4 months older than Ayden. It was interesting seeing the differences and similarities in the two boys. I think Ayden has a bit of social anxiety because he is pretty quiet, kind of clingy, and isn't his normal rambunctious self when he is around large groups of people he doesn't know. I don't blame him though. After everyone left and it was just grandma, grandpa, me, Aunt Angie and Uncle Jeff he was the Ayden I know and love:) My parents were nice enough to babysit Ayden while my sister and I went shopping and out to eat that evening. It was SO nice to be able to shop without the little guy in tow. Too bad I didn't find anything for me though, but a few things for Ayden for next fall. It was nice not having to rush though and to stop and look at the book aisle in Target for more than 1 quick minute.

Amy's shower was a lot of fun. It's her first baby and she's having a little boy. She is so excited and it made me remember how excited I was when pregnant with Ayden. She got so many nice gifts and watching her open all the cute tiny baby stuff made me anxious to have another little one. Too bad Ayden isn't anywhere near being potty-trained. That would seal the deal if that was the case.

I had a great time catching up with my girlfriends from high school. Even though a few of us got together at Christmas it seemed like it had been longer than that. I'm not usually much of a gossiper, but I think it's different when you are hanging out with friends you have known since elementary school and grown up with. We all know so many of the same people and catch each other up on what's going on with other people we went to school with or know by living in the same town. It's also so much fun now since a lot of us have little ones and there are always funny stories to share. Now the little ones can play together too. We all still live in Iowa with the exception of Jaci, but we are all kind of spread out so it's hard to get everyone together often. Getting together with them makes me SO happy I moved back to Iowa. I know I missed out on a lot of gatherings and weddings when I lived in Germany, and moving to DC was a little better, but still pretty far. I always feel that I can totally be myself around them and we have known each other for so long that we all have a history together that you don't have with other "newer" friends. I miss my girls and am glad for any opportunity to catch up. I also can't wait to meet Amy's little boy soon:)

I did see two movies this weekend. One was pretty good and one was not. The good one was called "Righteous Kill" with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. It's about two cops in the NYPD who are trying to solve a case about a serial killer who is killing criminals. The one that wasn't very good was called "My Best Friend's Girl." Maybe I wasn't in the right mood to watch it, but I wasn't impressed. It's about this guy who has a side-business: men whose women have dumped them hire Tank to take their ex-girlfriends out on the date from Hell, to drive the women back into their old boyfriends' arms. He does horrible things like takes them to restaurants where the food is so bad they get sick, says wildly inappropriate things, throws up on them, takes his date to a strip club and hits on the stripper, etc. There are some funny parts, but the things he did were pretty offensive.

Well, that is all for now. I'm off to bed!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Yummy....Ketchup?

I was reminded while shopping today how NOT fun it is to go with a toddler. Especially a boy. I am really hoping that little girls like to shop more than my little boy does? That would be something nice to look forward to in the future if we ever have a little girl. I heard more whining today than I have heard in a long time. Let's just say it was a fast trip to Hy-Vee and the mall. Ayden must take after his dad with the shopping gene. Ayden's almost as whiny as his dad is when it comes to shopping:)

It was nice and sunny out today and a balmy 35 degrees so I took Ayden outside to play in the snow. After putting all the snow gear on him he wouldn't leave the house without one of his tractors. While I was in the garage getting out the sled to take him for a ride he took off for the road because he loves to look at the trucks that are parked down the road. After seeing him try to get around last time in his bulky snowpants and coat I didn't think I had to worry that he could move very fast. Boy, was I wrong. I had to drop everything and chase him down, and when he saw me chasing him he ran even faster. I really think he is going to be a track star when he gets older. So we postponed the sled ride for awhile and visited daddy at work. There is lots of room for Ayden to run around and he likes to show off for me, daddy, and Uncle Brett. After playing with his tractors, running around, and playing ball, we finally went for a 3 minute sled ride. He was done after the 3 minutes and ready for something else. It was starting to get dark so we went inside.



I decided to have something quick and easy for supper so I made pigs in a blanket and fries. After loading Ayden's tray with all sorts of choices like toast, hot dog pieces, cheese, crackers, banana, fries and ham he pointed to the ketchup bottle after seeing me squirt some on my plate for my hot dog. He's had ketchup a few times, but seemed indifferent to it, so I squirted some on his tray. He stuck his fingers in it and put them in his mouth. He had the funniest look in his face like it was sour or something, but kept licking the ketchup off his fingers. After finishing what I put on his tray he signed for more and pointed at the bottle. I squirted more and he ate it all again. I was pretty grossed out that that is all he wanted to eat for supper. I knew toddler's went through weird eating phases, and have even witnessed it for myself, but this was one of the weirder/grosser things I have seen for Ayden. I was able to get him to eat some yogurt after all the ketchup. He has never turned down his yogurt, but maybe I should hide the ketchup bottle for awhile...




Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Baby Song, Baby Sign, Baby SMART!

Ayden had his last Kindermusik class today in the Baby Sing, Baby Sign, Baby Smart! class (ages 0-18 months). Next week he moves up to the next age group (18 months - 3 1/2 yrs) which is called Kindermusik Our Time. Ayden loves going to Kindermusik. He has been in it since he was 6 months old, and it has been so much fun watching him change and gain confidence in himself. Ms. Judy is an excellent teacher and is always so happy and excited and just has a way with children. She always has a huge smile on her face, which sets the children at ease. Every Tuesday I take Ayden to class from 10:00-10:45. At the beginning of class there is usually something set out for the babies to explore or play with. Sometimes it is books, some type of instrument, a stuffed animal, or plastic cups, but today it was a little mat jungle gym for the babies to climb on and through. While the babies do this it gives the mommies time to chat with each other. Other things we do in class are different types of dances and songs, but Ayden especially loves the bouncing songs. It's even better if he gets to "fall over" or get tossed into the air. Today the babies got to play with little symbols, and an assortment of different musical instruments that Ms. Judy brought out in a big basket. Ms. Judy also let each baby take a turn hitting a big symbol with a mallot, and the babies loved the noise it made. Ayden did an especially good job hitting it multiple times. Relaxation time is a few minutes with the lights off listening to relaxing music. Ayden usually lays tummy down on me and is completely still the whole time while I rub his back. Yes, even I cannot believe he stays that still for a few minutes. I think it helps that I rock and sing to him for about 5-10 minutes before his nap and at bedtime. He is such a cuddle-bug!

The class ends with the "Goodbye" song. I like that we do different things every week in class, but the songs are done often enough that they have become familiar enough to sing when we are at home. Other things we have done in class are play with the parachute which is still one of my favorites still. It reminds me of when we did that in gym class in elementary school. Everyone gets a turn to sit under it while the other half of the class lifts it up and down on the mommies and babies. You should see how wide their little eyes get when it gets lifted all the way up. There are just too many fun songs, dances, and activities to name them all. I also like that Ms. Judy uses baby sign in class. I started teaching it to Ayden when he was 6 months old, and finally when he was about 1 he took off with signs. Now he knows probably 20-30 signs. It really is amazing and I can't believe how fast he catches on now. It has made him able to communicate with us which makes him much less frustrated. Now if only we could get him to talk more...



One of the best things about class this semester though was the great friends we made in class. There is a group of about 6-7 of us that started getting together for playdates. Someone different hosts it each time at their house. We love it! I get to talk with the other moms for a few hours and Ayden gets to play with his Kindermusik friends. We have so much fun together and it's nice to have other stay-a-home-moms to talk to. There are a couple others moving up to the next class too, but we are all still all planning on having our playdates. It's so nice to be able to get out of the house a few days a week to hang out with our friends:) We will miss seeing them on Tuesdays though when we start going to the Friday evening class next week.



Well, I have more to write but will save that for another night! I think I will go read my book for a few minutes before I head off to bed.