Fresh and Clean

I finally made an appointment to get Aiden into the dentist.  I wanted to find a pediatric dentist so they would have more patience with a small child.  I checked with several people and found a name that came up frequently, so we went with her.  I downloaded a book about Sponge Bob going to the dentist.  We read that frequently and every night when we brushed teeth I would poke his teeth and say, "This is what the dentist is going to do.  She wants to count your teeth and see how well you brush!"  I also made a point to tell him he would have to "bite on paper" while the took pictures of his teeth.  I did everything I could think of to prepare him for what it would be like.

The office was AWESOME.  When we first got there, I was thrown off that they didn't have more toys in the waiting room.  Turns out that's so kids don't get mad when they are torn away from really cool toys to go see the dentist.  They did, however, have a TV with Happy Feet playing so I was able to easily fill out the paperwork.

While we were sitting there, several bigger kids went in back.  I made sure to point out the "big kids" who were going back to get their teeth cleaned.  When the hygienist came out to get Aiden, she took a moment to introduce herself to all of us and she explained what they would be doing.  Then she got down on Aiden's level and asked him to come in back with her.  Travis had decided he wanted to go in back with him, so they headed back.  Aiden seemed excited.

After the x-rays, the hygienist came out and told me he did great.  He sat on Travis' lap during the x-rays and didn't fuss at all.  After the x-rays, they let him go play with the toys they had in back for a bit.  That way he didn't get antsy sitting in a chair for a long time.  They did his cleaning and Travis said he did just as good during that.  Then they sent Aiden back to the toys while we talked with the dentist.  She was super nice and I feel SO GREAT about the entire experience that I've been dreading for months.

No cavities!

Brand new Mater toothbrush!

Self-portrait

Tonight I'm taking him to the fire department to sit on the truck as a reward for being such a big kid!!

Marvel

While I know this is iffy for a 2-year-old (rated PG-13), I CANNOT wait to take Aiden to see The Avengers this weekend. Three of his favorite characters in one film.  I've been trying to rent Thor for months now, but it's never available at Redbox.  I had to drive out of my way to find a Redbox that had it yesterday.  At least I found it!  Aiden was nervous for the first 10 minutes, which has me a little worried about seeing the Avengers in a loud theater.  I guess if we have to take breaks, we can.  I'm still excited!

Cookies, Eggs, Candy, Ham...

Sunday was just as hectic, although I did find a total of 45 minutes to sit down.  As soon as I woke up, I started in the kitchen.  I wanted to make decorated cookies from scratch, but the dough is supposed to be refrigerated for at least two hours before using.  So the first thing I did was get that going and get the rolls out to start rising.  Then I baked an apple crisp for that afternoon.  After that was done, Aiden and I used Easter cookie cutters to cut out the dough.  I learned it is very important to follow the recommended 1/8" thickness.  Any thicker than that and the cookie looses it's precut shape.  We had an incident and had to throw away half of them.  Thankfully they were the blob ones.

By the time Aiden went down for his nap, the cookies were cool enough to decorate.  I did all but a few of them, which I left for Aiden to decorate after he woke up.  I got the ham in by 12:30 and worked on tidying up the house a bit and getting table settings out.  Travis spent the morning doing the yard and running to the convenience store.  I think Ariel and Robert showed up around 2:30 and they brought appetizers.  Soon after they arrived, our friend Mike got to our house.  We snacked for a bit and I got the casseroles in the oven.

After Aiden woke, he decorated those cookies and then went outside to play with a Crayola Color Explosion kit Ariel and Robert brought for him. 

When I was done in the kitchen, I came out with the kit for dying eggs.

The guys enjoyed some whiskey.  My dad got Travis on this kick when he was here last month.  Thanks DAD for that expensive venture.

Right before dinner at 5 another friend showed up.  As we were sitting down for the meal, I was worried there wouldn't be enough food.  I feel like there are usually way more platters set out.  I think I made just the right amount though.  There were leftovers, but not so much that I will be throwing anything out at the end of the week.  There was a lot of ham leftover, but I made my dad's ham and bean soup out of that last night.

After dinner we ate a few of the Easter cookies (which I didn't get a picture of), then went back out to the patio for Aiden's Easter egg hunt.  He was so cute.  Every time he saw a new egg he would gasp and say, "Another one!"  Every time.  He even found another one Monday night when I was out watering the plants.



Spiderman eggs, courtesy of Gpa



After the egg hunt, we sat for a bit while Aiden went through his goodies.  Then Travis brought out the Spiderman pinata that Ariel and Robert got him for Christmas this past year.  Aiden has had a good time beating the crap out of that thing over the months, but I was ready for it to go.  It's bigger than Aiden, which means it was a little daunting standing in our living room all this time. 



That pinata was so hardcore that it took 15 good hits from Travis to break open a hole.  We were hoping Aiden would hit the rest out, but the second a toy hit the ground he was focused only on collecting the goodies.  He now has two Easter baskets full of candy and toys.  There is no way he will ever be able to eat all that before it goes bad.  I guess I better help him out with that dilemma.

Aiden spent a good portion of the day high on candy.  Even though we withheld candy after the egg hunt, he still had trouble falling asleep.  Not a surprise since he has trouble on a normal day.  After the sun went down and Aiden was in bed, we enjoyed the apple crisp with vanilla ice cream.  At this point, I had to call the quits on the patio because the mosquitoes were out full blast.  It was just as well because I had a kitchen to clean and was ready to pass out by that point.  Overall, I think it was a good day.  But next year I need to split up the fun over two days!!

Spidey

Last week I was in the kitchen making dinner. Travis wasn't home from work yet and Aiden was playing in the living room. All of a sudden, he comes barreling into the kitchen holding a book, screaming "Pider Man! Pider Man!" I look at the book to see Spiderman on the cover. We have had that book since before Aiden was born and he has never shown any interest in it until now. I have never watched any Spiderman shows or movies with him up to this point, so I am a little unsure how he became so enthralled with him. I do recall Aiden coming up to me with a Spiderman action figure at daycare. Is that all it would take to capture his attention?

The next day I pulled out our Spiderman movie in the evening. Aiden was held in rapture for the entire movie. That is the first time he has ever SAT through an entire film. Aside from that time he barfed all over my car and sat in a vomit-zombie-trance for several hours afterward. He did watch the entire Elmo in Grouchland movie that day.

This past weekend I pulled out Spiderman 2. That one didn't hold Aiden's attention as well. I think there were less scenes with Spiderman in his suit, which happen to be his favorite parts. Maybe we'll try to take him to Spiderman 4 this year? We'll see.

Needless to say, I bought a couple Spiderman gifts for Aiden's birthday.

Aiden Met Blanket

Aiden has been really great lately. He still has his moments, like every toddler, but it doesn't feel like he's constantly upset anymore. He just finished his 7th week at the new daycare and I think he's finally getting the hang of it. Before we moved him, most parents and the teachers at his daycare said it would probably take him a week or two to get used to it. Well, Aiden took 6 weeks. This is the first week he didn't cry every single morning as I left him. It is SUCH a relief! Although, in his defense, I did realize AFTER the fact that Aiden had four teeth come in at the same time, right around the time he was starting at the new daycare.

Yesterday was the Daddy & Me Breakfast at Aiden's daycare, to celebrate Father's Day. Since Travis is only in his third week at the new job, he didn't want to take the time off. He asked if I would sit with Aiden for a few minutes when I dropped him off so he wouldn't be the only kid without a parent. Turned out there were only three other kids with parents, out of the nine present. I stayed for a moment nonetheless.

When I went for the Mommy & Me Breakfast last month, it was during Aiden's first week at the daycare. He didn't really know anybody yet. I was relieved to learn he now has friends. When I pick him up in the afternoon, he's usually too excited to see me to really do anything else. But since I was sitting there for a few minutes, I got to see which kids he talked to. His favorite friend walked in as I was getting ready to leave. Her name is Bella. He screamed her name the moment he saw her and she screamed his name back. It was so cute!

Every morning when I drop Aiden off, I ask him if he's excited to go play with his friends. After I said that today, Aiden says, "Bella?" I said, "Yes! You're going to see Bella!" When we got inside, Bella was not there yet. I guess she doesn't usually come until after 8, which is why I had never seen her before. The teacher explained that she is the most rambunctious of the girls, which is probably why Aiden is drawn to her.

I have been keeping my eyes peeled for any clues that Aiden is ready for potty training. There are pretty much NONE. I've decided to hide his potty for a couple weeks. He pays absolutely no attention to it. When we ask him if he wants to sit on it like Elmo, or like Mommy and Daddy, he flat out refuses. I think he's only actually sat on it three times. I keep several of his toys in his closet and every few weeks, I pull them out and replace them with the least used toys. Whenever I pull out the "new" toys, Aiden has a renewed excitement with them. I'm hoping we'll get that effect with his potty. I was also thinking about letting him decorate it with Buzz Lightyear stickers. Maybe then he'll be more interested?

Travis is really enjoying his new job. He has gone out a couple days on his own. I think he'll probably go out more starting next week, after he's had a chance to finish organizing and stocking his truck with materials. He goes into work a little later than he used to now. It's nice because he helps me out with Aiden a little in the morning. The downfall is that he works later. We're still trying to get used to that. Aiden has gotten so used to Daddy being there in the morning, that when he had to work early one day this week, Aiden asked, "Where's Daddy?" when he woke.

Aiden has really been loving Elmo in Grouchland lately. In the very beginning of the movie, we get introduced to Elmo's best friend Blanket. It's literally his blanket. But they've made the blanket into a puppet so it can hug Elmo back and bop it's head to the music. Well last weekend when I was putting Aiden down for a nap at Auntie Ariel's, we had a funny incident. I had set up Aiden's travel crib in the guest bedroom and we went up to read books before nap time. The guest bed wasn't made, but there was a pile of clean sheets lying on top. I was getting ready to help Aiden up when he stops, points at the sheets and says, "Blanket?" I look to where he's pointing and I see a corner of the sheet flapping in the breeze of the air vent.

Oh man it was so cute. He seemed a little scared at first, but I just patted "Blanket" on the head and said "Hi Blanket!" Then Aiden was scrambling up the bed to see for himself. He kept patting him on the head so hard that the blanket would get smashed and stop flapping in the wind. Eventually I had to mush "Blanket" down so I could get Aiden to pay attention to the books I was reading. SO CUTE.

Earlier this week Aiden got a hold of my cell phone. Since I don't usually let him play with it, I decided to let him have a go. He was sitting on the bed with Travis and I was on the computer nearby. Travis starts chuckling, so I turned around to see what was up. He was tapping on the screen like he was dialing a call, then he put the phone up to his ear. He chatted for a few moments and then he rubs the phone on his shirt. He kept doing it over and over again, even rubbing it on his shirt afterward.

The funny part? I rub my phone on my shirt whenever I get off the phone to get my makeup off the screen (gross, I know)! I cannot believe that Aiden caught on to that! He really amazes me sometimes.

Rough Start

If you do not handle talk of bodily functions well, you should probably skip today's post.

Monday morning was not a good time for Aiden and I. Aiden had diarrhea a couple times on Sunday, which is very unusual for him, but I attributed it to all the juice he drank at the Ramby's on Saturday evening. I rethought that when he began to projectile vomit all over the back seat of my car on the ride onto the island Monday morning.

Aiden started coughing, so I looked in my rear view mirror to check on him. Then the fountain began. I was in the middle lane in halted morning rush hour traffic. The cars couldn't get out of my way fast enough. I pulled over in front of Sonic, which if you don't know the island, is only 2 blocks after the end of I-45. He continued to spew milk during the entire ride from the center lane to the side road, all the while I'm forcefully whispering, "Oh no, oh no, oh no..."

He finally stopped as I was getting out of the car. I immediately jumped in the back seat and assessed the damage. Aiden was covered from chin to knees. His toy train and airplane were lost in the mess. It had sprayed over the edge of his car seat onto the backpack we bring to daycare with his nap time gear and an extra change of clothes (which we needed at the moment). It was dripping down the back of the center console onto my sun screens.

My first thought was how the hell am I going to clean this up? I'm in my car! I didn't even have the diaper bag. I grabbed the blanket we leave in the car and tried to wipe Aiden and the seat straps up the best I could. I took him out of the seat, stripped him of all his clothes and brought him to the trunk of the car to wipe him down with the baby wipes I thankfully keep in the car. After he was as clean as he was going to get at the moment, I pulled the extra set of clothes out of the back pack. I was happy to see they were dry. I don't know why it was so important to me to dress him. I guess just doing the familiar thing. I set him in the passenger seat, desperately hoping he didn't have anything left to cover the front of the car as well.

I tried to wipe up the car seat with the baby wipes, since I had to put Aiden back in the thing to get him home. My attempts were futile. I was barely getting anything off the seat. I finally decided to clean the straps the best I could and then lay another blanket on the seat before setting Aiden back in it.

After he was strapped in, I called the daycare to notify them Aiden would not be in that day. Then I phoned Travis to see if there was any chance he would be able to come home early. I had a HUGE assay to do at work. If I postponed it, I would have to throw away everything I had done already. Not only was that not cost effective, it was a waste of my time. Travis said he would check with his boss to see when he could get off and I started the trek back home.

Travis sent me a text saying he would be off at lunch. I was plenty fine with that because every hour before his normal time off work would be better for me.

About half way home, Aiden started coughing again and saying "ow." I looked fearfully in the rear view mirror to see all color was gone from Aiden's face and lips. Then a little more come up. By this point it was all water, no chunks. Thankfully? I'm not really sure if that is better or worse. All I could do was tell him we would be home soon.

When we got home, I left all the windows rolled down. No sense allowing that smell to concentrate before I had to climb in after it. I gave Aiden a quick bath, then set him in front of the TV with Mr. Lion, his puppy pillow and a blanket. He sat there and watched Elmo in Grouchland one and a half times. He was content to sit and not move for that much time.

I threw out what was left of the milk he had drank that morning. It didn't expire for another week, but there wasn't much left and I wasn't taking any chances.

I went back out to the car to tackle my next task. I pulled the car seat out and set it in the driveway. That way anything that fell off during the cleaning would not land in my car. I took the cover off for the first time ever and threw it in the wash, along with everything else that had been coated. I thought about wiping it down with paper towels and some sort of cleaner, but quickly threw that idea out the window when I thought of the hose. It was the best way to get "things" out of the cracks and crevasses. Next in line for the hose were Aiden's toys and my sun screens.

I need to point out that I am eternally grateful (I have been watching a little too much Toy Story lately) for the car seat protector we have used since Aiden was born. We originally bought it to prevent his car seat from leaving permanent dents in the leather. But now I know it has another purpose: vomit catcher. I didn't have to clean any vomit off the seats of my car, except for the few blotches that had fallen off Aiden when I pulled him out.

I can only imagine what my face looked like through all of this. I'm sure it was the same face I wore the entire ride back from Galveston with partially digested milk coating my back seat.

I cleaned the house while Aiden relaxed. After 30 minutes, he started saying he was hungry. I was really nervous about giving him anything. I gave him 2 ounces of water and one animal cracker. When that stayed down for 15 minutes, I offered him some more. Another 30 minutes after he had finished his snack, he started complaining about being hungry again. I made him some cinnamon toast, which he happily scarfed down and asked for more. I took my time making him a second slice, trying to give his stomach a chance to come to terms with all this food. He ate that entire slice as well, but was sated.

Until an hour later when he started saying, "Eat? Eat? Eat?" Most of what comes out of his mouth is in question form. I was trying to decide what would be easiest on his stomach. No dairy. Nothing remotely spicy. No acidic tomato based anything. Chicken noodle soup it is! Although I drained most of the broth out and it became chicken and noodles with a side of saltines. I gave him some Pedialyte to drink. He scarfed all that down as well.

I was a nervous wreck by this point. I kept thinking I was giving him too much food. But he was hungry. And nothing had come back up yet.

I put Aiden down for his nap at noon, following the same guidelines I used on Sunday. He fell asleep within 15 minutes. Travis arrived shortly thereafter for the swap. He used his "free time" during Aiden's nap to mow the front lawn, since it's been weeks since we've attended the grass. I went to work for five hours, making it home in time to finish dinner with Travis around 6:45 pm. Travis reported that Aiden hadn't gotten sick once under his watch.

It was a long day. Aiden went back to daycare on Tuesday with no illness to report. Phew.

Toddler Upgrade

Our friends Chris and Alexa have a son named Blair who is 15 months older than Aiden. He recently moved from sleeping in a crib to a twin bed. He totally skipped the toddler bed. Chris and Alexa bought a toddler bed with all the intentions of having him move to that first. But, as it turns out, Blair would have nothing to do with it. He went straight to the adult-sized bed. So funny!

That meant, they suddenly had an extra bed in the house. Guess who got it. Aiden!! We decided to just go for the gusto and set the bed up as soon as we got it home Sunday morning. While Aiden was eating his lunch in the dining room with me, Travis upgraded his room from a nursery to a toddler room.

Blair was even willing to give up his Cars bedding that fits the bed. Thanks Blair! Aiden LOVES his little bed. He can climb in and out ALL BY HIMSELF!!

We sat him in his bed and told him it was time to settle down. We read a couple books, then asked him to lay down. He nuzzled in all comfy-cozy as we closed the door. That's where the fun ended.

He laid in bed for about 15 seconds before hopping out of bed and running to test the door. He can't open the doors in our house yet, so he was unable to escape. We heard him run back to the bed and climb in. We waited in anticipation of what he would do. After another 10 seconds, he scrambled out of bed and ran back to the door again. This time he knocked. He waited a moment, with no response, then began to play with his books. We decided to give him some time to try to work it out on his own. Unfortunately that didn't happen. We had to go in numerous times to tuck him back in bed. He pulled out a bunch of books and all the blankets from his dresser (that was a first). It was a mess.

Then we tried sitting in there with him. Travis laid in the bed with him and he seemed to relax.

After about five minutes, he was done with that. Travis and I were desperate because we really wanted him to get some rest before we went to Ariel and Robert's to watch the Super Bowl. We broke down and got out the travel crib. Aiden curled up in the that crib and fell right to sleep. Sadly, we had to wake him up two hours later so we could get on the road. He usually sleeps three hours, so that was a bit short.

In the end it, sort of worked out. We put Aiden to bed over at Ariel and Robert's so we could watch the end of the game. That meant that by the time he got home and back in that toddler bed for the night, he was out for the count. We switched his pillow case back to his old one, so he would have some reminder of his old bed. We got ready for bed, then checked on him one more time before we laid down for the night. Aiden was passed out, still in the bed.

When I got up this morning, Aiden hadn't moved. The only difference is Mr. Lion was on the floor. I was interested to see what Aiden would do when he woke up in a bed he could get out of on his own free will. Sadly, we never go to see that. He was so tired, I had to pick him up to wake him up this morning.

I'm a little nervous about how he will do tonight, since he will getting into bed before he is exhausted. The only redeeming point is it will be dark when he goes to bed. That will make it difficult for him to play with his toys and destroy his room once we close the door behind us. If he doesn't freak out about it, I might turn of his night light during this transition.

I can recall many of a night when Ariel and I would get up and play in our room after we were supposed to be in bed. Good times for us - not so much for our parents.

I was talking to a mom the other day about the crib to toddler bed transition and she said her son did really well with it because he LOVED his sheets. He didn't want to leave them. The Cars bedding doesn't have much appeal to Aiden at this point since he has never seen the movie. The question at this point, is do I buy the movie Cars or do I buy Yo Gabba Gabba sheets?

Aiden at 18 Months

Aiden has picked up a few funny mannerisms lately.

Whenever Travis flips to the sports channel and there is a football game playing, Aiden immediately starts clapping his hands and screams "Go, go, go, go, go!" at the TV screen.

I try to count stuff out as often as possible for Aiden. Like the three steps on the back porch, for example. I count out each step, with a little emphasis on the "three!" for the last step. Aiden started saying "two" with me, but never 'one' or 'three'. Just within the past week, he has started trying to count to three before throwing a ball, or shutting a cabinet, or throwing Mr. Lion back into bed. But instead of counting 'one, two, three' he says "two, two, two, two..." It took me almost a full day to realize that he won't actually release whatever he is throwing without me screaming "three!"

Aiden had his 18-month appointment over the winter holiday break. He did pretty well. My mom came along and tried to help distract him while we waited for the doctor to come in. He's right below the 50% percentile on his weight and height, so all is well there. He got one vaccination in his thigh. Every moment he got for the following couple of days, he would point where the bandaid had been and say, "Ow." Too cute.

For his first birthday, my family got him a bunch of Buzz Lightyear gear. It hasn't been until recently that he has really shown an interest in Buzz himself. It might be because he is getting older and has more patience for full length movies. He still won't sit through the entire thing, but he will take 10 minute breaks from his playing here and there to watch the action parts. Now every time we see Buzz (Blockbuster, billboards, grocery store) he screams, "Buzz!" At first it was "Buh", but now it's more like "Buh-sch".

His other favorite character is "Melmo!" Elmo was a big hit this year at Christmas. He got everything that is possibly related to Elmo. Now, when he wakes up in the morning and sees the Elmo stuff in his room (books, dolls, etc.) he says, "Melmo." First word of the day folks!

Over the holiday break, I worked with him on naming the other Sesame Street characters and he's picked up a few. Big Bird and Cookie are the most clear, but he's attempting Oscar and Grover as well.

We had a great two weeks at home together, despite the last couple days being a little trying for Mommy. He went to daycare one day each week, in hopes that he wouldn't completely lose a knack for getting along with his peers and teachers. Each day they said he did great, which made me feel much more confident about bringing him back this week.

Yesterday morning when I dropped Aiden off for school, he showed some serious interest in the Wiggles video that was playing on the TV. They really creep me out, so I was hoping to avoid them as a favorite show for Aiden. Too late I guess. I know it's the music that draws him. He likes all shows with music. I didn't think it possible, but it turns out the Wiggles can get creepier. Check out this clip from the video that was playing at the daycare that day:

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I REFUSE to buy this for Aiden. No matter how much he likes it. I need to go donate some Yo Gabba Gabba DVD's to his class...

Best. Show. Ever.

Yo Gabba Gabba Intro from Nicolette Ward on Vimeo.

Yo

Aiden has a favorite show. This is the first time that I have seen him ever sit down when a show starts.

If you aren't already privy to the world of Nick Jr, it's called Yo Gabba Gabba. The first time I ever saw a clip of this, I couldn't believe it was a real show. After watching it through, start to finish, I actually like it. It's a little trippy, but the colors are vibrant and the "host" is hilariously entertaining. I usually find myself singing along to the various jingles (which happens easier the longer I'm a parent to a toddler). It can be repetitive at times, especially when they are trying to get a lesson across, as in the clip above. BUT! That is excellent for a toddler. Repetition is the only way for him to learn at this point.

I don't know if it's because he has been sick with pink eye and his teeth have been bothering him off and on for weeks or if he is genuinely interested in the show. Honestly, I think he just likes the show. Aiden LOVES music and this show is full of it. If the tickets weren't so dang expensive and currently only available in the middle of a week day, I would take Aiden to the live show.

For the time being, I enjoy that if Aiden is being really cranky and nothing seems to make it better, we can just turn this show on (thank you DVR!) and let him dance his irritations away!