My Aden
is growing by the minute. Solid as a rock, as always. And though he really only eats the equivalent of one meal a day (see below), he has grown horizontally out of the pants he fit in at the start of fall. He's not fat, just big. Well, there is some meat on his belly. And chin. Yep, he's a hoss.
went cold turkey on his thumb. One morning during his post-wake-up snuggle session with Monkey in one arm and the other thumb in his mouth, I said something like, "Buddy, it's about time to give up that thumb. If you don't, it might mess up your teeth and then the dentist will have to do extra work on you." Bam, done. My apparently dentist-phobic son never put the thumb in his mouth again. And it's been months.
has the sweetest puppy love thing going with a girl named Presley at his school. They look for each other at dropoff time, play together during school whenever possible, and always stick close to each other in the pickup line. Any mention of school at home, and Aden talks about Presley. Whenever anyone asks Aden about Presley, he cheeses and sheepishly scrunches up his shoulders. Sweet kiddos.
gets extremely frustrated when he is not able to figure something out. Like, angry growls and hitting himself in the head kind of frustrated. And then when we address the self-control issue, the anger becomes a pout and he vows never to try whatever it was ever again. About six seconds later, something else has caught his attention and he's fine.
learned, completely on his own, how to play a few lines of "10,000 Reasons" on the piano. Seems he might play by ear like his big brother and father before him, as whenever Trey practices piano now, Aden listens carefully and later tries to recreate the tunes that Trey played. Aden has also been able to figure out "Mary had a Little Lamb" and a few lines of "Jingle Bells". Pretty good for a four-year-old!
is learning to read. I should patent my formula: Ashley's Magna Doodle School of Reading. Worked wonders for Trey, and now Aden just jumps for joy when he is able to put the letter sounds together and actually read a word that I have written. Of course, English is a ridiculous language, so some of the letter sounds we just haven't mastered yet. Silent e's and y sounding like yuh or long e or long i. Good grief. But Aden is doing very well with reading. My goal is to conquer the "Hot Dog" book over Christmas break.
can't stand to be apart from his Mama. Gives me the gut-wrenching, "I'll miss you, Mama" as I leave for work, then jumps full-speed into my arms when I return. Wants to be wherever I am, doing whatever I am at home. Not only is he my trusted laundry helper, he has taken up kitchen and cleaning work as well. Willingly. He's a good helper, but very hands-on. Gotta watch those hands.
eats nearly nothing. Hasn't eaten a vegetable other than cucumbers or tomatoes in probably two years. Picks at breakfast, unless it's pumpkin bread. Asks for lunch around 10AM every day, whines over waiting until noon, then devours everything in front of him. Completely ignores dinner, unless it's french fries. Cannot be bribed with snacks to try anything new, or even anything that he liked long ago. Can occasionally be found standing with his front side up against the open fridge, eating cheese cubes.
struggles with eczema and nosebleeds in the dry heat of winter.
has a new bed-pal, a small elephant called Itty. As in Itty-Bitty Elephant.
plays destructively - think bombs and rockets - and tends to break things easily.
has an imaginary friend with no name, simply called "My Bud".
knows more Christmas songs than non-Christmas songs.
responds, "Yep!" when told by anyone how handsome he is.
is a really good driver on the tractor and lawnmower.
charms everyone he meets without really even trying. Heard frequently around church, "Oh I just love Aden".
talks about what he will do "in a hundred and fifty-five years when I'm the grownup".
has his Mama's whole heart. I love you Aden!
went cold turkey on his thumb. One morning during his post-wake-up snuggle session with Monkey in one arm and the other thumb in his mouth, I said something like, "Buddy, it's about time to give up that thumb. If you don't, it might mess up your teeth and then the dentist will have to do extra work on you." Bam, done. My apparently dentist-phobic son never put the thumb in his mouth again. And it's been months.
has the sweetest puppy love thing going with a girl named Presley at his school. They look for each other at dropoff time, play together during school whenever possible, and always stick close to each other in the pickup line. Any mention of school at home, and Aden talks about Presley. Whenever anyone asks Aden about Presley, he cheeses and sheepishly scrunches up his shoulders. Sweet kiddos.
gets extremely frustrated when he is not able to figure something out. Like, angry growls and hitting himself in the head kind of frustrated. And then when we address the self-control issue, the anger becomes a pout and he vows never to try whatever it was ever again. About six seconds later, something else has caught his attention and he's fine.
learned, completely on his own, how to play a few lines of "10,000 Reasons" on the piano. Seems he might play by ear like his big brother and father before him, as whenever Trey practices piano now, Aden listens carefully and later tries to recreate the tunes that Trey played. Aden has also been able to figure out "Mary had a Little Lamb" and a few lines of "Jingle Bells". Pretty good for a four-year-old!
is learning to read. I should patent my formula: Ashley's Magna Doodle School of Reading. Worked wonders for Trey, and now Aden just jumps for joy when he is able to put the letter sounds together and actually read a word that I have written. Of course, English is a ridiculous language, so some of the letter sounds we just haven't mastered yet. Silent e's and y sounding like yuh or long e or long i. Good grief. But Aden is doing very well with reading. My goal is to conquer the "Hot Dog" book over Christmas break.
can't stand to be apart from his Mama. Gives me the gut-wrenching, "I'll miss you, Mama" as I leave for work, then jumps full-speed into my arms when I return. Wants to be wherever I am, doing whatever I am at home. Not only is he my trusted laundry helper, he has taken up kitchen and cleaning work as well. Willingly. He's a good helper, but very hands-on. Gotta watch those hands.
eats nearly nothing. Hasn't eaten a vegetable other than cucumbers or tomatoes in probably two years. Picks at breakfast, unless it's pumpkin bread. Asks for lunch around 10AM every day, whines over waiting until noon, then devours everything in front of him. Completely ignores dinner, unless it's french fries. Cannot be bribed with snacks to try anything new, or even anything that he liked long ago. Can occasionally be found standing with his front side up against the open fridge, eating cheese cubes.
struggles with eczema and nosebleeds in the dry heat of winter.
has a new bed-pal, a small elephant called Itty. As in Itty-Bitty Elephant.
plays destructively - think bombs and rockets - and tends to break things easily.
has an imaginary friend with no name, simply called "My Bud".
knows more Christmas songs than non-Christmas songs.
responds, "Yep!" when told by anyone how handsome he is.
is a really good driver on the tractor and lawnmower.
charms everyone he meets without really even trying. Heard frequently around church, "Oh I just love Aden".
talks about what he will do "in a hundred and fifty-five years when I'm the grownup".
has his Mama's whole heart. I love you Aden!
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