Lately if the camera comes out it's during nap time so I can take photos of my projects. Sadly I didn't realize it had been TWO WEEKS since I got some shots of Aiden. I know you all want to see some pictures and hear some funny Aiden stories. The kid is one wild child, isn't he?
Can you just
hear the "ah-ah-ah!" as he jumps on the couch? (Might I add that he doesn't hold still long enough for my little camera to focus and shoot. I have to take him to Kelsey if I want anything not blurred these days. I sooooo need to get a Canon Rebel. That's all there is to it. Otherwise I simply won't have clear pictures of my child. Sad!)
Next: Jumping on the couch actually shown:
In his hand is one of my little metal Eiffel Tower sculptures Sheena brought back from Paris years ago. I have a large & small one and he loves them both. I think he's the only 18 month old that can correctly identify and say 'Eiffel Tower', no matter where he sees it. Mostly at Hobby Lobby....this typically interrups him shouting 'Fwower!' (flower) to shout 'Efffe Towur'. You should see how the older women stare at us. LOL!
Sitting on his octopus chair still talking about the Efffe Towur....
Now he's up on one of the kitchen chairs (this is about 16 seconds after the last photo), pausing to look at me when I ask him if he is supposed to be up there. He was a late climber (thank goodness) but now he climbs on
everything. I don't even try to stop him. I just pluck him off of whatever he's managed to scale and get stuck on when he calls for help. (read: screams incoherently)
This pic I took earlier this morning, when he ran away from me and refused to get dressed. I don't even protest any more. He's gotten into these drinkable yogurts lately and although I put a straw in them, he still manages to dump some of it down his chest. It's easier to leave him undressed for breakfast. And most of the morning. And the afternoon.....heck, I've dramatically cut down on his laundry by only dressing him for half the day!
Aiden Story: Aiden loves being outside in our front yard, where I have lots of lantana and flowering society garlic planted. He always loved poking at the little blooms (and the wasps and bees) so it was natural that "flower" was a word he quickly added to his small vocabulary several months back. Fast forward to now and he's a flower fanatic. He LOVES that he sees them and can identify them everywhere. He's fascinated by how they grow outside but can also be found inside at craft stores, grocery stores and on girl's head bands at church. The floral department at Hobby Lobby is enough to hyperventilate him with repeating 'fwower', as if every tiny bloom must be aknowledged. He's got that big orange silk gerber daisy we bought last week that he plays with - or hits the dog with - every day. (He especially likes to bring me flowers to smell and then have me swoon over my little Romeo and smother him in kisses! LOL!) Well, as you can imagine, a little boy going nuts over flowers is bound to raise some old-fashioned eyebrows. Yesterday at the grocery store, while we were standing in line to check out, he saw a heaping table of fresh cut sunflowers and went nuts. The lady at the register followed his line of sight and commented "I've never seen a
boy like flowers so much", as if she thought I needed some prompting to get his behavior (or preferences?) in check. I laughed and said "He loves them. He has a couple fake ones at home that he always brings me to smell. His wife will be very lucky." She actually smiled back, considering my new point and said "Flowers all the time. That would be nice, wouldn't it!"
I am completely enjoying the moment because I know it will soon be followed by "Kerpow! Kerpow! I shot you! You're
dead!" and other little boy shoutings at strangers in the middle of the grocery store aisle. I'll take the unsure glances from other people now because I know that if I ever discourage his interests in any way, the world will loose a future landscape architect, botanist or biotechnologist. I'd rather see a stranger stare at me now than see my son unhappily pushing paper in the rat race his entire adult life. Let the boy poke at flowers!
Brian & Aiden Story: Aiden is himself 24/7 and at 18 months mother nature has ensured that I will have to pick my battles or constantly live at war. I'm perfectly fine with picking my battles but I find it humorous how the house changes on the weekend when Brian is home. Bri is NOT okay with picking his battles. He thinks I'm lax and that Aiden lacks discipline. Every Saturday and Sunday, at sometime during the day the boys will engage in what I have mentally been calling "Stubborn vs. Mother Nature". Aiden will crawl on top of his little Ikea table, Brian will take him down and tell him 'no'. Aiden instantly climbs back up. Brian sets him back down and says 'no' again. Repeat eight or nine more times. I am trying not to smile (or intervene) but I'm afraid Brian's stubborness has met it's match. Eventually Brian will either give up or decide it's close enough to nap time for Aiden to go to his crib. Every once in a while Brian will see Aiden's mild misbehavior for what it is (a request for attention and an invitation to play) and will end the table conflict with a round of airplane through the house.
Honestly, Aiden climbs up on his table five times a day and then climbs safely back down on his own, after poking at the phone or other harmless items on the counter. It's not a big deal to me. It's not a battle I choose to fight right now. Some day soon he'll be forming sentences more clearly and be past his frustration at not being able to communicate and he will listen better. He'll understand all my words and will begin to trust that I'm saving him from harm and injury, not ruining all his exploration fun. But when I'm busy at the sink or the stove and I request that he entertain himself without me providing an activity, a sibling or a playmate, I think it's fine to do a little table climbing. Because really, breaking the rules is about getting attention. Attention a parent cannot always give immediately or positively. Ignoring the rule breaking and rewarding the appropriate ways of asking for attention
is discipline. So what if the kids table has a few footprints on it along the way. ;)
