4 years

All I have to say is...Holy Cow! I can't believe you are already 4 years old! We visit the doctor next week, so I don't have all the measurements right now.

 

You are still attending daycare/pre-school at the hospital mommy works at. You just moved up from the Roost class (3 year olds) to the pre-K Space class this past August. Most of your friends moved up too, so you weren't alone. You have many friends who you talk about on a daily basis, including, Connor, Parker, and Lily. You went to Parker's birthday party this past July, which you had a blast swimming. You have become more and more adventurous as well. Recently while at GG's house, you decided that it would be a good idea if you took the little red wagon over to the hillside and just hop in and ride the wagon down without anyone helping you. You nearly gave me and your daddy a heart attack, but you made it down safely. You are involved in bitty soccer again this fall, and so far, have been enjoying it. You want to do the bitty basketball program in November, which I have every intention of signing you up for. I am so glad that you are opening your mind up to trying different things.

Some of your favorite television shows are mainly on Nickelodeon. They include Bubble Guppies, Paw Patrol, Team Umizoomi, Mike the Knight, and TMNT. You are still interested in Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and have recently become obsessed with Transformers (mainly the Rescue Bots, but also the movie). Your recent obsession led us to have a Transformers themed birthday party for you.

You have upgraded to a twin size bed, in which you decided to go with Spiderman bedding. You sleep in your own bed for the most part, but still like laying down with Mommy until Daddy comes to put you in your bed at night. This past May, you became potty trained (finally). Just all of a sudden, you decided to start going in the big potty and started wearing underwear. You had a couple accidents at night, but those haven't happened in a few months. And for the most part, you are dry all day long. I can probably count on one hand how many times you had an accident during the day, which I am grateful that is all. Everyone kept telling me it will just happen, and sure enough, it did. I was so happy, and you have been doing a fine job since.

You understand simple math problems, love to put puzzles together, enjoy playing the game of Life, and memory games. Your favorite foods include Macaroni and Cheese and tacos (although not together). You started taking showers all by yourself (with minor supervision to make sure you get clean), and do a decent job at it. You are looking forward to going to kindergarten (although you still have 2 more years thanks to your September birthday), and being a Big Brother.

You have grown up so much in the past year. It scares me to think that you are almost to school age. I will keep enjoying our cuddles at night, and our mommy and me dates. You are definitely one spoiled little boy, and are loved so much by everyone. Happy 4th Birthday little one!

Rocking your little world

Aidan,

Busy things have been happening around your house lately. And here in December, you are going to have your whole world turned upside down. I don't think you realize quite yet how much your life will change when your little brother comes. Right now, you seem excited about it, but I have a feeling that will change when you see how much time he will require from your mommy. I know you will be such a big helper, and an amazing big brother. And in time, you will learn to appreciate your relationship with your baby bro.

Daddy and I have been busy getting things ready for his arrival, and you even helped with the baby registry and putting furniture together. I love watching how much you already love him. And come December, you will get to meet him for the very first time.

Love you,
Mommy

I've been meaning to post about our trip for a while, but kept putting it off cause life got in the way as soon as we got back. You know, the usual, work, sleep, eat. But I am going to work on this cause it was an amazing trip, and I want to make it a interweb memory :) I have about 4 days of vacation to talk about, so this may get long and boring, sorry!

Day 1, March 21, 2013
Our flight took of at 8:00am, so we were lucky enough not to have to get up before the bakers over at Panera Bread started their morning shift. But we still had to be at the airport about 6:30am to check baggage and grab some coffee/breakfast. We went to the Starbucks in the airport, since we had about 30 minutes before we needed to head to the gate. Well, the coffee was scorching hot, so I barely got down 1/4 of my coffee before having to toss it out and go through security. Needless to say, there was a Starbucks on the inside of the gates (but they were already boarding our plane, so we missed out). Fail.

We had a connecting flight at Chicago Midway, with an expected layover of about an hour. So we found our gate, then headed somewhere to grab a bite to eat. It was odd cause most of the places serving food were for lunch, and people were around eating sandwiches, pizza, and chinese food (and even drinking beer!) at 9:30 in the morning. Oh well, I guess it is 5 'o clock somewhere, right? We grabbed some sandwiches from a place that wasn't too bad (can't remember the name though), and headed to La Guardia Airport in New York City.

We arrived a few minutes early at the airport, and found our way to the baggage claim where my Aunt was waiting for us. We picked up our luggage and headed outside to the busy streets to find my uncle. And oh was the traffic crazy on the drive to the hotel! I swear there are no rules to driving in NYC (no turn signals, no courtesy, etc). I'm a midwestern girl and an aggressive driver, but I don't think I can handle driving in this town. I would probably piss someone off enough to get myself into some trouble. I do have a bit of road rage...but that's another issue.

Anyways, we dropped off our luggage and checked in to the hotel we were staying at in Long Island City. It wasn't a bad location, and we were really close to the subway station for easy access to most anything. Anyways, we decided to go grab a bite to eat for lunch. We started walking down the street, which we pretty much found nothing, and were looking for some pizza place. Well, we asked a police officer who was at the crosswalk where this place was, and of course, she said that it is no longer there (it's a Subway now), and that there is a good "spanish" place down on the corner to try out. Ok, so we did. We walked in, and basically walked right back out. It didn't look clean and the food didn't appeal to anyone. We ended up driving down to Brooklyn, and found a place called The Smoke Joint. It has BBQ food, and was on the Food Network's 'Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives'. I had the pulled pork sandwich, and it was a-mazing. I would highly recommend this place for anyone in the area.

the Brooklyn bridge

some of the housing in Brooklyn, NY

We decided to do some sightseeing that afternoon, and drove over to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge to get on the Staten Island Ferry. The ferry ride was about 25 minutes and was free of charge. We were unable to see the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island due to the damage of Hurricane Sandy, so we just viewed the Statue and the Manhattan skyline from the ferry ride. We rode over to Staten Island on the 5:30pm ferry, jumped off and back on the ferry, and rode it back to Manhattan. On our way back, the sun was beginning to set, and it was a beautiful site. I was able to capture some awesome pictures of the island and the statue of liberty as well.

 Staten Island Ferry

 Manhattan Skyline

The Statue of Libery, Ellis Island

Once we got off the ferry, we just walked around the Financial District of Manhattan. It was quiet since everyone had gone home already. We headed over to see the Charging Bull, and took some pictures. Since it was getting dark, the temperature was going down as well, and boy were we getting cold. We found a Starbucks (nearly one on every corner!), and got some coffee to get warm. We headed back to the car and started to head back to the hotel....until we missed our turn, no thanks to the GPS.

 The Charging Bull, Financial District

We ended up taking the long route back to the hotel, and passed China Town, the Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building. We were getting close to Times Square, and could almost see all the lights of the billboards as were were zipping in and out of traffic. We took some underground tunnel to get across the river over to Long Island, and made it safely back.

Derek and I decided to go walking around and check out the subway to buy our metro passes for our stay. We purchased the passes, then walked across the street to a place called "Big New York Chicken & Pizza" (I think). We bought some fried chicken and potatoes and walked back to the hotel. The food wasn't too bad for being a questionable restaurant on the corner. But I do believe that they had an "A" rating from the health department, and we learned that that was a good thing to look for.

ER Visit

Written February 14, 2013

Aidan,

You just had to give your momma a little scare yesterday, didn't you??? You were at preschool/daycare just doing your own little thing while mommy was working....then next thing I know, I receive a call from the Director of the Learning Center telling me that I needed to come get you right away and take you to the Emergency Room. She said that you fell and cut your chin.

So, I'm in panic mode trying to get away and get to you to see what happened. When I get there, you and Miss E are on the floor up front awaiting my arrival. She is holding towels to your chin, and you are just calm and so brave. I guess you were getting ready to line up from outside, when (while running) you tripped and fell over your shoe and faceplanted into the sidewalk. You had a pretty big gash on your chin, enough to warrent a trip to the ER. So Miss E and I went over to get you all taken care of .

I must say, you were being so brave the entire time. You didn't cry at all (at least since I had been there). We checked you into the ER, and then we said goodbye to Miss E (who had to go back to her class), and went on back to our room. A nurse came in to put some pain medications onto your cut (that way it would be numb for later), and said it needed to stay on for a long time to work best. So we waited in the ER room watching cartoons and updating family about what was going on. We probably waited about an hour and a half until we saw the nurse practitioner. She was really nice, and really good. She stitched you up (and this was when you were screaming for me the entire time), while two other nurses held you down so you wouldn't get pokes elsewhere. Mommy was there with you the whole time, but you couldn't see me cause I had to be at your feet holding those down too.

We finished with a whopping 5 stitches! You were so brave and strong, the ER nurse gave you a little teddy bear for your bravery. When it was all done, you and I went back over to the daycare so we could wait for daddy to come pick you up. You told me that you didn't want to stay at school, and you would rather go home, which was fine. I took you back to your class, and you ate lunch and laid down for nap. Daddy came to pick you up right after nap so you could go out for ice cream.

Today, you are acting just fine as if nothing has ever happened. You tell me that it doesn't hurt anymore, which makes me happy. We get to go see the ENT today for your ears, and then we are going to go to a valentines day party at mommy's work this afternoon. You will get to show off your battle wound to everybody.

You are definitely my little brave monkey. I love you so much.

Happy Valentines day baby,

Love Mommy

Christmas (a bit late)

Aidan,

I had planned on writing about Christmas, oh maybe a couple weeks ago, but never got around to it. Mommy fail. But we have been super busy, and I haven't had time to get on the computer to post anything. So I guess it's better late than never, right?

Anyways, you had an amazing Christmas. On Christmas Eve, you didn't want to go to bed, but eventually you did at around 10:30pm. It really annoys me that you are such a night owl (always have been). So Daddy and I got up in the closet to get all the gifts we bought for you, and waited for Santa to bring you your special gift and fill your stocking.

The next morning, you did not want to get up, not even for presents! That's another trait you get from your momma, you are such a grouch when you wake up. So I tried to convince you that Santa came, cause he left the plate of cookies and milk on your nightstand that morning. I showed you, you got up, grabbed the last half-eaten cookie, and climbed back in bed. At this point, it was 7:30am, and we had to get moving to make it to the rest of the days activities.

Finally, you climbed out of bed, made your way downstairs, and then you saw what Santa brought you...a Toy Story Bicycle and a Toy Story Helmet! Just what you asked for!!! You were excited, but still groggy. We put the helmet on you, you got on the bicycle and rode around the kitchen for a while. Again, we were already running behind, so I told you that you had other presents waiting for you under the tree. You know what you said? "Not yet mommy". Really? What kid doesn't want to open presents??? Apparently mine. You did finally get to the rest of the presents that mommy and daddy bought you. You received a Leapster GS with a couple of games, and a couple of wooden puzzles. You really enjoyed all of it. And there was still more to come.

We all went upstairs to get ready for Christmas festivities, and on our way out the door, we realized you missed your stocking. Again, mommy fail. So we let you have at it. You got some more hotwheel cars (you love those, by the way), a mario and luigi stuffed animal, and of course, some candy. And on our way we went.

First stop was the Prost Christmas. Unfortunately we arrived late, so we ate breakfast, opened presents, and had to head out within an hour to go to Grandma & Papa's house. They had bought you a double sided easel for Christmas. You LOVED it. It has chalk, markers, crayons, magnets, the whole shabang.

Next stop was the Welch Christmas. You mostly stayed downstairs in the basement with the other kids watching cartoons and snacking on stuff I'm sure you weren't supposed to be snacking on. Did I mention this was where the desserts were located? Anyways, you ate a great meal, much more than I anticipated you eating. Then we opened presents. You received a big wheel from Grandma Loretta and Papa. You also received some other gifts, such as Thomas the Train cars, pajamas, and other stuff that I cannot remember. You seemed to have a great Christmas.

Sadly, when we were wrapping things up, your Great Grandma was having problems so we took her to the emergency room that night. I sent you and your daddy to grandma's house to hang out while I helped figure out what was going on. Sure enough, grandma was admitted, had some surgery, and is now getting better. We went to town and stayed for 4 days after her surgery. You were able to hang out with Grandma and Papa, and boy did you have a good time. Lucky for us, neither caught the nasty bug that was going around in the family. 

It also snowed on New Years Eve, and you and daddy went outside to play for a little bit. Boy was it cold! I think it was around 10 degrees with the wind chill...burr!!

Anyways, Merry Christmas little one. I'm glad that your daddy and I can make it special for you. Love you lots!

With all my love,

Mommy

**sorry for lack of pictures, I've been unable to upload any to blogger**