earthsedge

If I had to pick one word to describe Aidan these days: busy. He’s always on the move; walking/running/falling/climbing/eating/drinking-or some combination of all these verbs. He usually has at least one toy, blanket, or sippy cup in tow with him as he bumbles around the house. He loves to explore, take baths, throw things down the stairs (and then follow them), dance, play with cars, trucks, or trains, and open/close doors.  His favorite, however, is definitely going “vroom” (any outing in the car).

He’s speaking so much more than I imagined he would at this age and has an uncanny way of communicating through his tone of voice, even if he doesn’t have the right words. The other day I was putting on my makeup and he tottered into the bathroom and pointed to something on the counter. He babbled something in an inquisitive tone that made me wonder if he had just asked, “What’s that?” So I told him, “That’s my deodorant”. He then preceded to babble something else that sounded like, “I want to see.” So I picked him up to let him take a closer look. “Ooooh!” he said. But it was the look of satisfaction that really touched me! He was pleased that he had made himself understood. When he’s not having to depend on intonation to get his meaning across, Aidan is using real words. Some of his favorites are: abple (Apple), trat (train), truck, car, vroom! (what he says everytime he sees his Grandpa), cracker, Gordon, (his favorite Thomas the Train character), hi, grapa & mah-maw (grandpa & grandma), foof (flower), thoos (auntie Sus or shoes), mema/eeda (emma and edith, his cousins), and the ever constant “oooh!.”  This is one of our favorites; he has about 15 different meanings and sounds for “oh”, ranging from extreme excitement to a statement of disappointment. It’s not uncommon for him to wander over to the refrigerator and say “aiya” (his word for water or milk) while trying to open it, or to the pantry and say “cracker”. He loves to share, but hasn’t quite gotten the concept of letting someone keep what he gives them! Just yesterday he put his pacifier in Chris’ mouth, smiled, and then yanked it out and put it back into his own mouth!

Aidan also loves to be around people. He squeals with excitement when he sees his cousins or other kids his age. If he finds himself at home with no visitors he goes to the door and bangs on it while shouting, “Out!” If he’s lucky enough to go on an outing, he expects every stranger to talk to him. He watches people approach him while on a walk and if they keep on going without greeting him, he usually turns to follow them, all while saying “hi! hi!” with his lower jaw thrust downward and a funny added syllable to the word. He’s a charming little boy! Here’s some recent pics:

Climbing on a chair (right after I took this he fell over backwards, then climbed right back on):

In mid “ohh”:

In his favorite (ok, maybe it’s ours) hat:

Playing with Thomas trains at Art Mart:

Grandma gave Aidan a Thomas toothbrush that plays music. He loves to dance while brushing his teeth: