Aiden Keeps Me Busy!

A few of the funny things Aiden has said or done these last few days:

• I offered Aiden a Girl Scout thin mint cookie last week, to which he responded "Tire!" and began nibbling away. I told him it was a cookie and turned back to dishwasher unloading. (The cookie was to distract him from "helping" me. Read: hitting me with spatulas from silverware basket.) He came running into the kitchen a few minutes later, stopped at my feet and shouted "More tire cookie!" I laughed so hard I didn't even bother correcting him!

• Aiden uses the phrase "tell me" interchangeably with "please", as if it means the same thing. I've been working to help him understand that "tell me" means "use words to say what you want". He's also been practicing putting "don't" in front of things. Sunday Brian was holding him when he suddenly said what sounded like "Don't tell on me" (don't tell me). When Brian smiled and asked who he had heard it from, our little comedian didn't miss a beat and replied "From Mama!" LOL!

• My sister has visited with her newborn little boy several times and we've had to teach Aiden not to pat Kyler too hard or throw toys at him. Today he saw a picture of an infant and exclaimed "A baby! DON'T TOUCH IT!"

• The graphics continue to require a lot of evening work but sometimes I get e-mails during the day that need quick attention. I've tried to explain to Aiden that I need to work for a minute and THEN I can get him his third ice pop.... Previously he would melt into a temper tantrum, not realizing lying realatively still on the floor allows me to quickly do whatever is needed online. Now he seems to understand that typing one-handed is difficult and will seize whatever fingers are closest to him in a death-grip and shout something like "NO WORK! More tire cookies!"

• What is it about little boys and the garbage truck? Sometime during the mid-morning on Tuesdays and Fridays Aiden will suddenly go sprinting for the front door and I'll hear the blinds clatter out of the way as he jerks them aside to peer out the window. Then for a few blissful seconds he'll watch as our trash is thrown in and the truck drives away. This is followed by giggles and a funny, bent-knee, bouncy happy dance and then he darts right back to whatever he was previously destroying. Repeat on Friday afternoons for the Recycling pick-up.

• It was inevitable, I had to teach Aiden to avoid dog piles alongside the sidewalk as we walk to the park. (Seriously people, pick up after your pets!) Unfortunately for me Aiden has made it his responsibility to stop, point and shout "dog poop!" at every single pile we pass along the way. There's always at least ten. I swear, if I find out who is letting their dog use the greenbelt, my little poop-spotter and I are going to locate every single pile and take it to them. :)

And the one that takes the cake: Aiden simply cannot understand why a real flower or a broken apple stem cannot be fixed by his magical mother and her extensive stash of craft adhesives. I can see the expectation in his little eyes just before the complete melt-down when I try to explain how ripping the flower head off the stem makes it permanently broken. You can't imagine how much clear tape I have wasted these last few weeks on "fixing" these types of items! Nor can you imagine the laughter I have to stiffle as he happily trots away with a taped-up flower!