Fall Festival

Fall has finally arrived in MN and with it came leaves on the ground, cooler temps, and of course, Fall Festival at my school. On Friday night, Kyle and I packed up Aidan and headed to West Saint Paul, where I teach. We ate pizza, Aidan got his face painted, and he took his turn at the Sucker Pull. (he didn't win anything) If you can't tell in the picture below, Aidan had hockey sticks and a hockey puck on his face. Can you guess who picked that??? That's right, Kyle.

Saturday brought more fall fun. Kyle's college buddies were in town for the Vikings game on Sunday, so all of them came over for lunch and college football on Saturday afternoon. Lunch quickly turned into 6 hours of football and card playing. I think they all had a great time, and Aidan was so exhausted that he even took a 3 hour nap on Sunday morning.

Aidan being a good student

Face painted with hockey sticks and puck

Masterpiece

Aidan's 1st masterpiece which, of course, is prominently displayed on the fridge.

Funny side note: Aidan made this beautiful artwork at the YMCA while Kyle was working out. When Kyle went to pick Aidan up, the child care worker gave him Aidan's artwork. Kyle's comment was "It's a good thing he's athletic." To which, I'm sure, the child care worker looked horrified. What kind of parent says that?!?!? Obviously Kyle was kidding, and he told the worker that. Kyle and I have since had the discussion about when it's appropriate to use his dry sense of humor and when it's not. (i.e.-it's not okay to make fun of your child with people you don't know) ; )

Summer Photo Montage

Grandma Michele got some great photos of Aidan this summer. Here are a few of the best.

The last one of Aidan in his toy box is courtesy of Daddy. Kyle said he climbed in there all on his own and played for almost 45 minutes!

How did Aidan celebrate Mommy's b-day? He had a Corona.
(it's not open)

Everybody loves the zoo! Especially when it's lunch time!

Watching the Bird Show at the zoo

Not just playing with the toys, playing IN the toys.
(notice this is the infamous striped shirt, plaid shorts day)

76 Trombones

If you've ever seen The Music Man, you'll know the next line of the song is "led the big parade..." Aidan enjoyed not one, but two parades last weekend! Last Saturday, I walked Aidan up about two blocks from our house and we watched the Fire Truck Parade. It was about 30 minutes worth of nothing but fire trucks. Aidan loved watching them roll by; he did not love them blaring their sirens right in front of us. He only got scared and cried once and I made sure if there was a big fire truck coming I would cover his ears. Those were always the loudest.

On Sunday, Grandma Michele took him up to the same spot and they enjoyed the community parade while I picked Kyle up from the airport. The parade on Sunday was more of a "real" parade, with bands, floats, and people tossing out candy. Aidan even got some beads...I forgot to ask Grandma if he had to flash someone for those. ; ) She said he was absolutely entranced the whole time.

Watching the parade go by

What's next?

I got some beads!

And a toothbrush!!

I kid you not, this little boy LOVES to brush his teeth. He would carry around his toothbrush all day if I let him. Unfortunately he also loves to scrub other things with his toothbrush (toilet, Roxie, his feet, the floor, his toys) which is why I shut the bathroom door and give him about a minute to brush his teeth. Then we say "bye, bye toothbrush, we'll see you later."

Learning More

Each week brings new knowledge for Aidan, but I haven't really updated the blog with any of it, so here goes:

• Animal Sounds-Aidan knows the sounds for sheep, horse, cow, monkey, puppy, kitty, duck, and kind of pig (he says Eee Eee, which is not really what a pig says, but that what he always does for pig)
• Running-He runs everywhere! Not just toddling---sprinting.
• YMCA-While he has always enjoyed going to the Y to play, the past 2 weeks he has found an even greater love for it. So much so that he runs away from us to keep playing when we go to pick him up. He thinks it's hilarious to come toward us and then sprint away into another room.
• Spoon/Fork-We give him a utensil at each meal. More and more, he is using one or the other to eat with, the fork being easier for him to use since he can stab food. He doesn't quite have the hang of scooping food with a spoon and getting it to his mouth without losing it.
• Daddy Daddy-Kyle is not just Dada or Daddy. He is Daddy Daddy, and that's what Aidan calls Kyle every time he is talking about him. I'm just Mommy or Mama.
  
• Update on bottle-Aidan never had a problem giving up his nightly bottle. Not once did he cry or ask for it. One day they were just gone and he was fine with it. Thank you Lord for making that easy!!!
• Books-Aidan LOVES books. His favorite right now is Tractor, Tractor. Poor Kyle reads it over and over during the day. Kyle had actually hidden it in the couch, but Aidan still found it the other night. Kyle said, and I quote, "Oh god, no! Okay, just one more time. But that's it!" Well, Daddy read it one more time, and then Mommy read it several more.
• Ripping paper-See above for Aidan's love of books, now notice how this could be a huge problem. I thought board books were supposed to be indestructible. Not so. Aidan somehow rips the page off of the "board", or bends the page in half. I always put a few books in bed with him for naps. I've learned my lesson with library books after several have been damaged. Now I only put in books that we own. We also rarely get to read a book with "lift the flaps" because Aidan immediately latches on to the flap and rips it off.
  

Life As We Know It

Life has changed dramatically in the past few weeks. I'm getting up at 5:45am (yuck), Aidan and Kyle get to sleep in, Aidan is pushing back afternoon nap until very late in the day, and we've had a few major meltdowns while I cook dinner because I'm not giving Aidan my full attention. I think that's been the hardest part for me. It's so hard to hear him crying hysterically just because I can't hold him. When I'm doing something safe I try to pull the chair up to the counter so he can watch, but when I'm cooking at the stove I just can't have him up there. Playing with pots and pans is no longer cutting it. He wants to watch the action.

School is going okay. We've had a few major incidents already. I went home Thursday and told Kyle I remembered why I wanted to take all of last year off. :) The whining is going to take some getting used to. It's like nails on a chalkboard for me, and apparently elementary students with EBD whine. A lot.

On Saturday Kyle is flying to Chicago for a friend's wedding while Aidan and I spend the weekend at home. No big plans for us, but I'm sure we'll find something fun to do. Maybe a trip to the zoo since we haven't been in awhile.

My favorite quote from the week came from my cousin's blog: She's teaching English in China and it was "Teacher Appreciation Day". The students made her a big sign that said "how much they never liked her". Hahaha!

China Adventure

If you're into reading travel blogs, my cousin, Elyse, and her boyfriend, Pete, have ventured to China to teach English for a year. Elyse and I are the same age, so it makes me slightly jealous that she's doing such cool stuff! (j/k, I'm not jealous, just really proud of Elyse and Pete for being so brave) I've added their blog to my "Favorite Blogs" list on the right of this page. From what I've heard so far, it's a LOT different than teaching in the United States. I wish them luck!

Killing Time

As I write this, it is Meet and Greet Night at my new elementary school. The halls are alive with running children and excited parents (mostly excited because their children will be back in school). I've been standing in the hall for an hour now, smiling at parents and kids, just hoping and waiting that someone will come see me. No such luck. I figured if I sat down and occupied myself maybe someone would pop in. Nothing so far. Teaching EBD can be a lonely job on nights like this.

Aidan and Kyle are busy occupying themselves at home tonight. Kyle decided that venturing to the State Fair with Aidan might not be the best idea this year, so Grandma Michele went by herself. Bless her heart, she brought us back Sweet Martha cookies. Kyle made me bring them to school today so he wouldn't eat them all. : ) My willpower has not failed me thus far. I only had some after lunch. I need to find something else to do for the next 35 minutes, otherwise I may just eat the rest of those cookies!

New Germs

Along with new supplies, new kids, a new school, and new challenges, I've also received some new germs. I woke up with a sore throat on Monday night, and Tuesday I had a runny nose and was sneezing. That sure didn't take long. The kids aren't even back yet and I've already picked up germs. Luckily nothing serious, just annoying.

Kyle and Aidan are doing fine. I e-mailed Carrie on Monday to see how she was faring at her first day back at work since having Baby Kyla. She told me she had only called the sitter 3 times that day. : ) I haven't called Kyle once, knowing that he never answers his cell phone, if he even has it with him. Turns out I actually had his cell phone with me at school because he had left it in the car. Oops. Even if I had wanted to get a hold of him, I couldn't have.