Sing, Sing A Song

Day after day I think about how lucky I am to have an amazing, brilliant, beautiful, healthy child! Very rarely these days I've written about his accomplishments. It's scary to think some of the things I thought I'd "never forget" so easily drift from our minds and become a blurred distant memory. How could that happen? It was such an amazing milestone!!! Well, the sad truth is that it just does. That's why we have journals, baby books, calendars and now Blogs! That way years down the road the little ones we have in our lives can look back and read about their amazing milestones and laugh, cry, roll their eyes and remember. Below are a few of Aiden's that I've noticed lately and don't want to EVER forget!!

Aiden's Favorite Songs (in no particular order):

1. Farmer in the Dell (He knows the ENTIRE thing... Even "The Cheese Stands Alone". Seriously NO help is needed on this bad boy!!)
2. Happy Birthday (preferably... Happy Birthday to Aiden)
3. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (This was the FIRST song he learned and sang perfectly before the age of 2)
4. The Barney Song (Also know As: I love ME, You love ME...)
5. A, B, C's (Yes, he knows this... my favorite part "M, M, M, M, P")
6. Old McDonald (An oldy but a goody... Cows rule the world in this song. The record often gets stuck on "Moo-moo here, Moo-moo here, Moo-moo here..." It's Aiden's favorite part. Then he picks his next favorite... PIG!)
7. Santa Claus is Coming to Town (Okay, okay... the only part he sings is "Better Watch out, Better Watch out, Better Watch out, Better Watch out... Santa Clause Coming to town")
8. The Ants Go Marching (This is MY favorite song because it's the ONLY song that would put him to sleep when he was an infant. I swear I almost lost my voice singing this song many MANY times. It's just amazing to here him go "boom, boom, boom, hurrah! hurrah!". Of course he's been singing that party since he was a year old so I guess it's just the song in general that has a special place in my heart!)
9. Donde Esta Santa Claus (Odd Choice I know! But this song was on a Christmas CD I bought from Bath and Body works and I just thought it was soooo cool that they had a Spanish song on the CD. Especially since Miguel has been trying to teach him some basic Spanish! So, everytime we were in the car I'd always make a point to play this song... low and behold my genius son picked up on it and went around the house singing "Mamasita, donde esta's Santa Claus"... )
10. Bob The Builder (Geez, Louis!!! I almost forgot this one!!!!!!!! I would have been in the dog house years from now for forgetting this! Okay, this is definitely one of Aiden's top 3 favorite songs!!! He has to watch Bob the Builder EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!! Preferably the Treasure Chest CD... yeah, I think I could recite it! If in fact we DONT watch the video until he falls asleep...and yes this means it could play over and over for hours... I end up with a screaming, cranky, leg and arm flailing boy. When he's not watching it he's singing "Can we Fix it? Everyone around has to Yell then "yes we can" and so then he yells "Can we fix it?" and we have to say "yes we can". This could go on for an hour or longer if you let it! Insanity... yet adorably cute so you just want to keep yelling back "yes you can!" to hear him yell nasally "Can we fix it"... which really sounds like "Can we "MIX" it" because he says that word through his nose. haha. I love you A!)

Aiden's Favorite Word:

1. NO (Shocking I know! This is seriously the word of a 2 year old!!! NO JOKE, they love it!)

Aiden's Favorite Phrases (in no particular order):

1. I want you to hold me (this is probably my favorite phrase of ALL... there's nothing better than your little one running over, waking up, randomly saying "Mommy, I want you to hold me!" I absolutely LOVE IT!!!!!! It makes my entire day, week, month, year hearing those words!)
2. I don't like that (Okay Lofty ... that's a bob the builder character... in case we all forget!)
3. Don't do that or Stop it (Coming into his defiant, bossy self... he's his mothers child after all)
4. I'll do it later (This is usually in reference to taking a bath... He'll bust out a I don't want to, I'll do it later!! To damn cute!!)
5. I'm still sleeping (Well, I'm proud to say this is his Mommy talking! Every morning when it's time to get up at 8am he whimpers this little phrase in hopes that mommy will say "okay, you can stay and sleep a bit longer"... but then I remind him that he's a little big boy and put on Clifford.)
6. Mommy lay down (yup... he's a super cuddle bug! He loves his mommy, mimi, daddy, or Bryce to lay down with him and cuddle while he rests his growing body for nap or night- night.)
7. I love you very much (precious)
8. I miss you
9. Cya later Alligator
10. I want to go skating/ I want to go for a ride/ I want to go grocery shopping/ I want to go Bryce house/ I want to go Auntie's house... (Well, there's a whole lot of "I wants" in Aiden's world. Truthfully he can say it all... it's amazing. There's very little that we don't understand but then again I've become an expert at speaking & understanding 2 year old!)

All in all Aiden is growing like a total weed. He loves to play with his Thomas the train set and his Bob the Builder Characters. Around September he started showing a great deal of interest in books and so we started reading every night. Monster Mama was his favorite book EVER and then we lost it!! Maybe I'll find it in the move this weekend and I can rekindle the flame of that book. I had it memorized for pete's sake... Aiden did too! Some of his other favorite books are the Thomas the train collection. That book is great because we can choose which engine we want to read about and it's always something different. Through the Christmas season we read "The Christmas Humbugs" every night and as Christmas neared Aiden began to read the Book to ME! It was fantastic. The last page was always the hardest for him to sit through because there wasn't a lot to look at and there were a lot of words but as soon as I flipped the page he would exclaim "Again!" and we'd start over.
Over the past few months he's grown leaps and bounds. It's shocking really to think of how much has changes and how quickly he's developing.
I remember at his 2 year appointment he got his flue shot. I was prepared to hold and cuddle him when they were finished while he cried and yet to my amazement he sat there on my lap and watched as the nurse put the needle to his arm and then took it out and then looked at me and said "All done?" I nearly cried! I couldn't believe he just sat there like such a big boy and then looked up and asked if the nurse was all done! I hugged him tightly. I think that was a moment for me. A realization that he was growing up and that things started to make sense to him.

Bathtime

I seriously have the cutest son on the planet!! Yesterday morning I woke up to my little peanut playing with my face. Slowly I opened one eye only to see a blur of my 2 year old son as close to my face as he can possibly be and hear him squeal in delight as he's successfully accomplished his goal.... I'm awake! I close the one eye I had opened and smirked a groggy, grinch like smile. It only takes a matter of seconds for Aiden to start playing with my face again and begin chanting "mommy wake up, mommy wake up, mommy wake up". Like a good mommy would I kept my eyes closed and smiled a big pearly white smile knowing this would only add to the excitement for now he's going to try and stick his fingers into my mouth!! A few seconds later I open both of my eyes and see the most precious face in the world smiling at me.
His thick nappy hair is all curled and sticking straight up from sweating in the night and his cheeks are bright red with lines from the pillow embedded on his face. His eyes are bright with excitement and his smile reflects his playful nature. What a good boy I have!! Why do I have to get up right now? I reach over to give him a good morning hug and remind him that I love him so very much but before my arm secures tightly around his little body he looks at me and says "Mommy I want to hold you" (which just happens to be his favorite sentence AND he uses it appropriately) and moves his little arm up and over me too. I love to lay in bed with him in the morning. He's such a cuddle bug... This particular morning (January 3, 2006) I had to dart off to the shower after our morning hug and hold so I asked him if he'd like me to turn the TV on so he can watch Cliffy (Clifford) while I took a shower. Not to my surprise he calmly states "Yes, Clifford please". Proud as a Mommy of a 2 year old genius can be I turn the TV on, tuck him in, put an extra pillow behind his head so he can see the TV comfortably, get him some water to drink and head to the bathroom. 15 minutes later I emerge from the shower to find my little munchin' exactly where I left him only this time hugging his Thomas the Train blanket and laying across the bed. He notices me and begins to smile and gently says "mommy lay down, okay?" I jump right in and we watch the rest of Clifford. As soon as Clifford finishes I begin to get ready and he begins to yell to his Mimi! "Mimi, Mimi... Come lay with me Mimi!". Mimi comes running into the room and gives him a giant hug and takes him immediately to the bathroom for his bath.
As I finish getting ready for work I hear him say matter of factly "Not Now! Not Now! Get away, I don't want bath right now! Not now!" I start laughing hysterically and run into the bathroom to get a glimpse of my 2 year old darting across the bathroom in his diaper telling his Mimi that he doesn't want a bath right now and he'll take one later. I could hardly believe my eyes and ears. Is this normal 2 year old behavior? I don't think so! He's my baby genius!!