Educational and Slightly Terrifying

Sean is working the night shift all week which means that I have been searching for ways to get Aiden out of the house and ensure that Sean has a chance to sleep without the incessant noise of a three year old and his excitable puppy.

Laura called me up yesterday and suggested taking him to a local Children's Museum. I hadn't heard of this particular place before so we loaded Aiden into the car and drove over to check it out. Much of the museum was dedicated to local wildlife, which Aiden loved. There were tanks with turtles and fish and even a gigantic bullfrog or two.



There was an area sponsored by a news channel where you could give the weather in front of a green screen and it would play back your performance with graphics. Laura was our demonstrator while Aiden and I watched on the tv.




As with several other museums we've been to, this one had areas sponsored by GE. Specifically a demo of how wind turbines work.
Yes, the whole museum was very educational and hands on and we made one last stop in the animal room. There were tanks of iguanas, frogs, snakes and even cockroaches but none of this bothered Aiden. What bothered him was the faux bear skin draped over a log in the corner, casually arranged as part of the 'wildlife' scenery of the room. He took one look at it and hollered "MONKEY!! WITH CLAWS!" and screamed in terror until we rushed him out of there.

No matter how many times we explained that it wasn't real and it wasn't even a monkey, he STILL spent the rest of the afternoon recounting his horrifying brush with a frightening clawed monkey.

Oh well. At least he'll remember it, right?

Two Steps Foward, One Leap Back

It is officially spring as of yesterday. And today? We woke up to snow. Soaking wet flakes coating the skylight in our bedroom, clinging to the driveway and the grass that had just reappeared after months under some of the biggest snow drifts in memory. Just last week Aiden and I were out traipsing through the mud brought on by the mild spring weather and now we are holed up inside, me shaking my fist at this precipitation that won't quit.


Spring in the Northeast is incredibly frustrating in the way that it is a constant stop and a start. Thirty and snowing. Sixty and sunny. Forty and raining. Seventy and mild. All the way to June when one day it's eighty and summer.

Like life in general, it's full of ups and downs. There's not a thing we can do about it other than smile and keep going.


I'm just glad I have two such wonderful guys in my life to make it easier. In Aiden's words, when life hands you a snowy spring: "Well, maybe we go ski then mommy".

A St. Patty's Day Walk In the Park

The weather was gorgeous today so Aiden and I packed a picnic lunch and headed over to the park to spend the day outside. Tons of children were out running around, along with geese, ducks and a pasture full of cows. Laura came with us and we took a walk around the park to see what we could see...

We Did Nothing and It Was Everything We Thought It Could Be.

Sean is on his last day of his four day weekend. We've had such a great time just hanging out, visiting family and friends, and we even managed to squeeze in a night out for Sean and I. I haven't really had much to post for the last week because we were either counting down until Sean's big weekend or we were actually enjoying it.

On Friday the weather was on and off rainy, but the temperature was somewhere around 54 degrees. When the rain finally stopped we all went for a walk and even took Bo, who usually only gets to explore the backyard. Sean and I took Aiden to storytime in the morning and then we spent the day relaxing. Aiden and I also decided to make a loaf of banana bread. We mixed up the batter and put the pan in the oven. As soon as I shut the oven door Aiden looked at me and said "Okay, press 'play'!".



Saturday and Sunday were spent visiting friends and family and ensuring we also spent adequate time just lolling around in our pajamas. I've found that the more time spent in pajamas = the better you feel when the weekend is over.

Today I've been busy working on some homemade chicken soup while Aiden and Sean work on an enormous lego project together. The two of them have had there heads together over the coffee table and a huge pile of Lego pieces for the better part of the morning. They took one break so that Aiden could have a peanut butter sandwich and Sean could check the stock market. This is Sean's favorite thing to do when he's home on a week day. Aiden climbs into his lap and they read reports and watch the Ameritrade command center. One day I couldn't find Aiden anywhere and I finally caught him sitting in the computer chair in the office, pushing the mouse around. I asked him what he was doing and he said "Checking the market".


So, to recap: our weekend = friends, family, chicken soup, pajamas and Legos. Lots of Legos.

The Lair

The Independent Streak

For the past couple of weeks Aiden has been really....challenging. That's the PG version of what I'd like to say to describe his behavior. Two was full of tantrums and whatnot but three? Three is a whole different ballgame. It used to be he'd roll on the floor and yell for a minute or two when he didn't get his way. Now if he doesn't get his way he makes eye contact and smiles while sweeping all of his toys and markers off the table and onto the floor. That kind of behavior.

Sean had missed a lot of this because he was working the night shift. I had time to adjust and start coming up with more creative consequences for bad behavior but Seany was totally blindsided, and honestly, I think he was a little offended. Sean is used to being the fun one who comes home to a very eager little boy and suddenly Aiden didn't want anything to do with either one of us.

His new phrases are: "Mine!" and "I do it!" and "Leave me alone!". Oh, and the really painful one: "Daddy, go to work".

"Mine!"

"YOU DO IT!!!"

"No, wait. I DO IT!"

But then? Then Aiden got sick. He's picked up a hacking cough and runny nose and suddenly he likes us again. He's spent the last couple of days climbing into my lap and resting while we read books. Now, I'm not exactly glad he's not feeling well, but I sure am glad he's remembered that I'm actually a pretty nice person. I'm also remembering that, despite the independent streak, he's a pretty nice person too.

Peace at last.