Catch Up

Okay, lots to post! So much I want to say! First let me catch the family up then I'll post stuff for my digi scrapping friends.

For The Grandmas: Aiden seems to have been born funny. He can barely talk and yet everything is delivered with perfect timing. First, he only seems to pick up the funniest, most unusual words. His current vocabulary has expanded to include hot ("ot"), scissors ("surzzurs") and gross ("gruss"). And he FINALLY learned an animal sound! He can quack ("carc, carc" as it comes out) but won't really do it when asked. He'll repeat after you and of course, will quack intermittently throughout the day. For no apparent reason at all. LOL!

The funniest thing EVER is how spontaneous he is with words. For example, he's been really bad about grabbing at hot irons and scissors that I leave too close to the counter edge. I usually respond by saying "Scissors are dangerous. OW! Scissors can hurt." Two days ago Aiden was holding a chunky board book while I was carrying him when he dropped it corner-first on the top of my foot. I set him down and was saying "Ow! Ouch!" in fairly animated tones when he looked at me with a very concerned look and in a serious tone stated "Scissors. Ow." I about fell over laughing! Later that same day he had yet again opened the bathroom drawer where I store my hot iron and was pressing the plates together and letting them release. I said "Aiden, is that dangerous?" in a warning tone and he looked up and said "Scissors. OT!" So apparently every bad, unpleasant and/or dangerous thing has been labeled "scissors" in his mind! ROFL!

Signs: I can eat a little crow on this one. I'm cautious when it comes to teaching boys sign language because I have read that some male children may prefer physical expression and be delayed in speaking. But Aiden seems to very much prefer loud verbal expression so I don't have to worry about it now. Up until last week, I had only taught Aiden one sign which we use for both the word "hungry" and "more food". After going over to Danielle's house and hearing how quietly and sweetly her little boy Ethan could sign and ask for a drink, I decided that was one we needed to add to the list. I showed Aiden ONCE and he got it. (BTW, "drink" is one finger to the mouth, although he practically gags himself with his finger when he signs it.)

Now that the screaming has been cut by 25%, I decided to make up a sign for the newest thing he's been fussing for: strawberries. He LOOOOOVES the things! We go through 2 pints a week and a half-tub of Dr. Smith's just trying to keep the resulting diaper rash at bay. Any ways, he picked up our made-up sign for strawberry instantly, too, although he tends to still just point at the fridge and grunt. (Boys....)

So he can now use these three signs that we understand and a fourth he's made up all on his own that we don't have the first clue about. The fourth sign begins with the sign for "hungry" (hand touched to his mouth) but then it progresses up his head! So he'll touch his hand to his mouth, then the corner of his mouth, then his cheek and then his ear and then as high on his head as he can reach in rapid succession, usually while smiling. He tends to break out into laughter when Brian and I look confused and begin to pull out bananas, goldfish crackers and string cheese, trying to figure out what on earth this gesture could mean. We're pretty convinced it's a prank. He just wants to see if we are willing to try and interperet his gibberish. This is probably the sign for his favorite nonsense word "liddle liddle liddle". We're pretty sure it started off as "little" but he's embellished it with this characteristic tongue trick that is hilarious.

Summer: I'm really glad that summer is here and the pools are open. I hate the heat and humidity but the activities with friends are nice. We have started doing the library story time on Wednesday and swimming on Thursdays. He seems to enjoy being out of the house and I enjoy the socializing and long naps he takes afterwards! He still loves the park but between the heat, the massive biting flies that follow you and the coral snake Brian saw last week, I just haven't taken him down there lately. We've been going on walks instead. OH! And since Brian has a new bike and Aunt Jenny gave us the Chariot carrier, he'll probably be getting to go on a lot of bike rides with Dada now, too! I'll post some pics the first time Bri takes him out. ;)