Monday, January 24, 2011

So glad that I am still enamored with the "growing" process.

Aaron will be 2 in 3 weeks. I still have no idea when we are actually going to get to celebrate his birthday as a family since every single weekend in February one of the parental units is traveling and on his actual birthday I have the Annual Business meeting at church, which is kind of a required thing for staff to be a part of.

It's so funny though, because even though this kid is really bright (he knows some colors and some of his letters and is SUPER coordinated, giving even this relaxed mom of boys some mini heart attacks with his bravery), I still get worried about his general skills. I could be remembering this wrong, but Nathaniel was saying two word phrases by this point and Aaron is still pretty much just one word at a time (although, he does have plenty of words and never fails to get his point across). Part of it is being the second child, I think. Nathaniel really does most of the talking for Aaron. Plus, he is super content to play by himself, even going so far as to leave the room while Sam was trying to play with him one night. Sam found Aaron sitting in his bedroom reading books by himself. I guess the kid likes his alone time! (Note: I'm not worried about any developmental disabilities because he totally engages with people, looks people in the eyes, isn't afraid of touching others, etc. He has zero flags for autism or anything like that).

With that, I'm totally enjoying this season of new discoveries for Aaron. I love it when he suddenly starts saying a word clearly. Elmo is no longer "Melmo" but is actually "Elmo" (which actually makes me sad!) and Nathaniel is no longer "bubba" but "Naniel!!" (which is pretty good considering most of Nathaniel 4-5 year old friends still call Nathaniel "Mathaniel"). The parent of choice is still Daddy, but I do get the occasional cuddle time where Aaron drops all that he is doing to cuddle up on the couch with me for a few minutes. I cherish those moments because they are fleeting.

Last night we went to Disneyland and Aaron was officially tall enough to ride the Matterhorn. I was slightly nervous for him, not wanting to totally traumatize him, but Sam took him and Nathaniel and I waited on the side. I was greeted exuberantly by Aaron when he got off of the ride. He was giggling and running and pointing to the roller coaster and telling me about the monster. That makes me super happy.

Nathaniel has his moments. Last week was a rough one for the family. It's like he's taking every boundary we have ever set up for him and pushing it. We had a few days where he was lying about nearly everything, so we told him that if he lied again he would have to face the punishment (which is a spoonful of vinegar). Lo and behold, he did it again and fought us like crazy about the punishment. So, he went to bed after knocking the spoon out of my hands and then had the vinegar in the morning. Since he also was not listening, yelling at mom and dad, calling people names, and throwing fits at every turn he lost pretty much all special privileges. No t.v., no Disneyland, no friends over...it was a pretty rough time for him. But, as soon as his attitude improved, the special things came back. After the vinegar incident he was truly repentant and the minute a lie started to come out of his mouth he quickly stopped, apologized and told the truth. He is even saying, "Mom, I'm going to pretend now!" Then begins his stories. His attitude is much better this week, and we've been quick to point it out and praise him for it. Last night after Disneyland we stopped for Jamba Juice as a treat/snack and I asked Nathaniel if it was more fun to listen and have a good attitude or throw a fit. He agreed that listening was better.

That's about it here. Sam's thinking of planning a Superbowl party since his team made it (boo). I think it will be fun and maybe we can celebrate Aaron's birthday a week early since I will actually be home from camp early in the afternoon. Hmmmm....

The pregnancy is still going well. I had some pretty bad aches this past weekend, but I think it was round ligament pains and the general "getting bigger" aches. After a few days of moving around more I feel much better and slept better too.

Oh, and as if life isn't going super fast anyways, Nathaniel's school has a new parent meeting in a few weeks! I can't believe we're prepping for Kindergarten!! (Nathaniel will be attending Bethany Christian Academy in the fall since that is where I also teach so it will be super easy to drop both kids off at the same place I work while keeping the baby with me until he's big enough for daycare/too big to not be a huge distraction while I work).

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