Ooops

AJ is quite cute when he makes his very excited observations. One of m favorites is still "Awww Man". He has a new one and not only is the tone and inflection he says it with cute, so is the way he actually pronounces it. Instead of saying "Ooops" it comes out with the S misplaced - more like "Ooospie". No matter how many times he says it, it still makes us chuckle.

Merry Christmas!

We had a nice Christmas and hope everyone else did too. AJ was thrilled with all the good stuff Santa brought him - trains, cars, buzz lightyear, DVDs, books and more. He was excited when he woke up to see the mountain under the tree and even more tickled when he came downstairs and realized they were all "surprises" (his word for gifts).

After the first round of gifts AJ played and played. He went from toy to toy and played with them all for a bit. It took a lot of wrangling to get him to take a nap and since we went down late he was still napping when the Sarikas clan arrived. He woke soon though and was excited to show Aunt Bridget all his new stuff. We ate - some of us more than others - and then opened more "surprises". The excitement started all over again. It was a challenge all day to get AJ to stop playing to do anything - eat, sleep, get changed.

The best part may have been his reaction this morning. Even though we cleaned up some last night, the living room floor was still covered in the safari road track, hot wheels race ramp and of course the Thomas train table. AJ dashed out of his bedroom first thing, looked down at the living room from the upstairs landing and let out a loud squeal of glee when he realized it was not a dream and all those toys were really here in his house. He bounded downstairs and the playing marathon began again. It has been great fun to watch - and a bit exhausting.

Rain Rain Go Away

I won't complain about the rain - I know some of you reading this got the same storm in snow and ice. I'll take the rain over ice any day.

That said, AJ and I trudged through the rain to school this morning. When we pulled up AJ saw that someone had left a very large green and yellow golf umbrella open and out on the covered walkway to dry. AJ declared "Oh look at the big umbrella'.

The best part is how he says umbrella - somehow it gets a W in it - and you can tell he is so proud of saying a big, long word. Very cute

One Second

We had one of those moments tonight where I had to cover my mouth and fight hard not to laugh at AJ so I could scold him for what he did.

Pete got home late and I let AJ stay up a bit longer so he could have a cookie with Daddy and play a bit. When we went upstairs for a bath he still wanted to play and was tough to wrangle into the tub. I got him stripped down and he ran back into his room to play with his train. I was sitting on the bathroom floor and asked AJ to come back into the bathroom. Pete walked into he bedroom and asked AJ to listen to Mommy and get in the tub. AJ replies, without a moment of hesitation with "One second Daddy, I'm playing with my train".

Both parental units had to fight not to bust out laughing at the matter of fact way it come out of a naked two year old. Once I knew I could talk without laughing, I did follow up with reminding AJ that he needs to listen to Mommy. Stop smirking out there - you would have lost it too!!!

Snickeroodles

(No I didn't leave a "D" out of the title - that is how AJ says it)
AJ and I made a big batch of snickerdoodle cookies last night. We got through about two dozen, my rolling them into balls and him rolling the balls in the sugar and cinnamon - before his attention span was zapped.

Once the cookies were out of the oven though, he was happy to return attention to them. I brought him two for dessert after he ate two bowls of pasta for dinner. A few minutes later he requested another one. Then we went to play a while. I dashed off to the bathroom and as I came back into the family room I noticed that some furniture was rearranged in the kitchen. AJ had pushed one of the bar stools around the kitchen island and over to the counter where the tupperware full of cookies was. He said " I need a cookie mommy".

I'll give him credit for using his problem solving skills!

Moving to the Big Boy Bed

Yes, I've dragged my feet on this one for about as long as possible. AJ still sleeps in his crib and plays in there happily most mornings while I get ready for work. I like this routine and hate to throw a wrench in it.

AJ has been bounding out of the crib at Grandma Karen's for a while now - it doesn't drop down as low as ours at home. I think it is a matter of days before he leaps out of the crib at home. The last couple of mornings I have gone in to get him and his crib is filled with all the blankets, animals and even the storage bin from the shelf that is just within reach of his crib.

Last night when I checked on him before I went to bed I took the bin and the extra stuff out of the crib and set it on the floor. You see, I was being smart and not putting it back on the shelf where he would just pull it down again. Somehow he got it all, even the little storage bin, back into his crib this morning. I refuse to believe he climbed out of the crib and then got back in (the getting back in the crib is the hard part to believe) but I'm not sure how the little monkey managed to pull this off.

I think it is time that I will have to let go of my security blanket - the crib - and try to tackle this next milestone bravely.

Decorating Weekend

AJ and I spent some time this weekend decorating things - like Christmas cookies and the tree.

Friday night after dinner we took our places at the table and began decorating sugar cookies. I would ice them and AJ generously applied sprinkles and candy on each snowman. He really liked putting M&Ms on the snowmen and lined them up down the cookie a bit like a row of buttons. I would have have put 2, possibly 3 on each snowman - AJ put 5 or 6. After a couple of cookies were decorated AJ needed a break and decided it was time to eat one of his creations.

After his break, AJ jumped right back in and started decorating again. I kept reminding him not to eat the snowman cookies. So, a couple of cookies later when I realized I had lots iced but only a few had been "dressed" by AJ I saw what the hold up was. AJ was in fact listening and did not eat the cookie. He even proudly stated "I'm not eating the cookie mommy". He had found the loophole in my request though and after he had carefully placed candy on the cookies he was licking his fingers and wiping all the icing from the few spots on the snowman that weren't covered in M&Ms. Well, everyone knows that once a cookie has been licked and poked at, you have to eat it - even AJ knew that.

In case you wonder, he decorated 8 snowmen cookies and ate 2 of them.

Favorite Foods

Yesterday AJ's class discussed their favorite foods. As evidence that group think occurs even as early as 2 years old, once the second kid declared their favorite food was pizza, each kid after made the same declaration of love for pizza. Even AJ. Those who know AJ know he isn't really a pizza fan.

This morning I asked AJ what his favorite food was and he said "pasta". That sounds much more accurate! I would have believed cookies, chocolate or chicken nuggets too.

Visit with Santa

Santa made his annual stop at the Broadlands this weekend and AJ went to put in his requests. Though the line was a bit long, AJ was excited when he got to the front and went right up to Santa. When Santa reached down for AJ, he climbed right up in Santa's lap like he knew the drill.

Santa asked AJ what he wanted for Christmas and he replied "trains". Then we took a couple pictures, Santa gave AJ a little treat and told him to be a good boy next year too. I was so glad we didn't have a screamer :-)

While this years picture doesn't show a grinning AJ, he doesn't look terrified like last year!

Memories of Thanksgiving

When I picked AJ up his teacher asked if he had been eating candy corn recently. I let her know that we had used candy corn to decorate turkey cookies over the Thanksgiving break. Well, apparently the teacher was talking to each of the kids about turkey and the usual thanksgiving foods (this is the month of learning about foods after all) and she asked AJ if he ate turkey for Thanksgiving. AJ replied "No, I ate candy corn!".

For the record, he did too eat turkey - and noodles, and stuffing, and green beans!- but I thought it was funny what he remembered.

There is the Moon

Nothing tickles me like hearing about what AJ learns at school. A recent week's theme was the Sun, Stars and Moon. Last night we were driving home from school and saw the tiniest sliver of moon. Since it gets dark so early this time of year, the moon was very bright. AJ pointed up and said "There is the moon Mommy". I acknowledged his declaration as I turned the car at an intersection. As we headed another direction AJ piped up "There is another moon Mommy". He hasn't yet grasped that it was the same moon he was seeing but boy was he excited it was there.

Breakfast with Mickey Mouse

While eatting breakfast AJ decided to put on his Mickey Mouse ears.

They go nicely with his car PJs, huh?

Turkey Weekend

We had a great time over Thanksgiving weekend and ate ourselves silly. Aunt Megan and Gramma arrived Wednesday in time to make turkey cookies with AJ. He really liked the candy corn and I think as much went in his tummy as on the cookies.

The next morning Aunt Sydney flew in from NYC and then Aunt Bridget, Uncle Jim and Abigail came from MD to help us eat turkey. AJ really enjoyed having such a large fan club and he was an absolute ham all day long. Pete and AJ had a "man-morning" Friday while the girls shopped and then dropped Sydney back at the airport.

We are still looking at a fridge full of leftovers and a good selection of pies and cheesecake. If you are hungry, you know where to find us. :-)

Unsolicited Affection

We had a very sweet moment in the midst of morning getting ready chaos. AJ hopped up from getting his shoes on, turned to look at me and said loudly "Wub u". I looked at him puzzled and he said it again "Wub u mommy". Pete was standing behind us in the kitchen and said "he said, I love you mommy". I gushed of course, this is the first time AJ has ever said that without prompting. Heck, he doesn't say it much even when he is prompted.

He followed the touching declaration with a big hug and I hear Pete in the kitchen again "Oh great AJ, now you are going to make mommy cry." For the record I did not tear up but I had a big smile that lasted a long time.

Roooaaarrrrr

October at AJ's school was farm month. Each day the class did something that related to barns, farms, animals and such. AJ really enjoyed it and especially enjoyed singing farm songs in his music class. Each month they send home a CD with the songs and stories they used in class and we play it in the car most days. There is one song that includes lots of animal sounds and a chance for the kids to repeat them and identify the animal. AJ rides in the car and happily moos, chirps, and roars.

Last night AJ got in the car and asked for a drink of milk. I gave him water since that was all I had and he seemed fine. We turned on the CD and five minutes later the animal sound song came on. He was happily participating (so was Mommy) and when it came time to roar like a lion he said " ROOOOAARRRR I want some milk" - all in the best lion roar voice a 2 year can make!

It was pretty funny. He later recreated it for Daddy and we all got another good laugh.

A Victory for Mommy (& Toyota!)

Last week while traveling 40 mph down Ashburn Village Road, AJ opened the car door. That was one way for him to get my attention! That was all it took for me to get in the habit of hitting the lock button when we are all loaded in the car. Less than 48 hours later, AJ learned how to unlock the door. I discovered this after I heard him rattling the knob and I hit the lock button to ensure it was in fact locked. Well, that pinched his finger and he yelled the rest of the way home. I was probably not as sympathetic as he would have liked and we clearly still didn't have a solution.

Aunt Megan reminded me that I should have the child lock feature on my new fangled, well-equipped Toyota. She was right and last night I located it with a flash light and it is now engaged. A victory for Mommy - sort of.

Not one to be easily outsmarted, AJ discovered this morning that Mommy had done something to disable the door lock from the inside. So he moved to the next set of buttons. Again, at 40 mph and 31 degrees out AJ rolled down his window! Yay for Toyota - now I know why I have a driver side button that can lock down all the other window buttons and have put it into use too. So, it took a child door lock and a window lock but I think I have regained control in the car.

What on Earth did people do before the cars had all this extra safety/kid stuff? Back then you also didn't have car seats with 5 point harnesses and super safety built in. That explains something about a lot of people I know - they must have opened the car door at 40 mph, rolled out and hit their head :-)

Broken 'Puter

Our computer at home died over the past weekend so it will be a while while we sort out the repair vs. replace issues. Until then, don't expect many pics on the blog. I'll just try to use vivid story telling instead :-)

Playhouse Disney Live

So we had floor seats for the Playhouse Disney LIVE Tour last Sunday. Ohhhh - show me the pictures you say. Well, here you go but prepare to be disappointed. While AJ was rendered near speechless the first half of the show, he did bounce, jump and dance a bit the second half. Most of what we saw of AJ's excitement was the back of his head. Poor Pete - his lap was the dance floor for AJ and AJ has yet to learn to step strategically :-)

One Fierce Hide N Seeker

AJ will play hide and seek with anyone. A good rousing game and hide and seek, complete with a big "boo" when discovered has become a daily ritual. On the way into school this morning AJ even played with the center director from under his rain jacket hood.

One recent evening AJ played with the throw blanket from the couch. You'll have to believe me when I say the photos don't come close to portraying all the fun he has.

In Case You Wondered...

AJ is still obsessed with his trains and train table and spends as much times as he can playing with them. I'm glad I hit a home run on this one but the original plan to move the table to the basement playroom has been derailed (ha ha). For at least a little while longer it will stay in the living room and on the main level where I can hear/see him.

Mommy & Daddy are slightly less obsessed with the constant begging to "Fix it" when the track is knocked over by a rogue runaway train operation :-) I remind myself it is nice to be needed and AJ is sure to always say "Thank you" - a habit I am quite proud of.

Cottontails Soccer

AJ and his buddy from across the backyard (aka the other AJ) are signed up for indoor soccer camp this winter. Sounds like a good way to wear them out when we aren't getting as much outside play time, right?! For some reason the idea of a dozen 2.5-3 year olds running around chasing a ball makes me laugh. They call them the "Cottontails". You can be sure I will take and post pictures here after our first class or two in December.

New Train Table

For those who haven't heard, a couple weeks back I got up at 6:00 am on a Saturday and went to a big annual consignment sale with Kimmie. I was happy to get some fantastic deals on clothes and a coat for AJ but the big find was a wooden train table. It was plain and didn't have any track pieces with it but I scooped it up for $20 - retail for these tables is $150 at Costco/Sam's Club!

At Aunt Sydney's suggestion, I painted to top with green chalkboard paint to clean it up and so it has a life as a craft table too. I am pretty proud of my handi work and AJ has enjoyed driving his cars on it the past week or two.

So, I took it up a notch and we jumped into the great world of trains! I scored a big set of wooden track on eBay and it arrived a few days ago. AJ was beyond words with excitement and spent nearly 2 hours playing with his new track and trains. It took some sweet talking to get him to go up for his bath. After he got out of the tub he ran out of his room, bare naked, and onto the landing where he pointed down where the train table is and declared "my train mommy". I let him know it would be there tomorrow :-)

Halloween in the Neighborhood

AJ got to wear his Buzz Lightyear costume in the neighborhood for trick or treating. He was so excited he was giggling while getting dressed. AJ took Daddy and Grandpa Larry around the block to collect candy. I stayed back to greet at our house but I hear he was quiet - taking in all the strange stuff and strange people.

While I did like the race driver suit, he was darned adorable as Buzz. So much so the high school girls who came to our door at the end of the night and saw him handing out candy in his PJs remembered him as Buzz and all went on about how cute he was.

Halloween at School

AJ got decked out as a race car driver for the Halloween parade at school. Mommy came to watch his class march around the school - they were all very cute.

Come back later to see AJ's second costume for trick or treating at home tonight :-)

Vampire Pumpkin

Instead of carving our pumpkins this year, we decorated with a Potato Head kit to make our pumpkins look like a vampire. This is a good alternative for a two year old who already has trouble getting told he can't play with knives in the kitchen. AJ helped bring the pumpkins in off the front stoop and then proudly posed with his finished product.

Hide & Seek

AJ loves playing hide and seek and peek-a-boo. Lately, he and Daddy dash off upstairs when it is bath time and hide from Mommy. I usually walk into AJ's dark bedroom and ask loudly "Where is AJ?" Without fail our little man announces "I don't know Mommy" from his hiding place in the closet. When I open the closet door he squeals "Here I am!".

Not so stealthy. :-)

Pumpkins + Ponies + Hay = Fall Fun!

It seems like just about every weekend for the past month AJ has visited some sort of Fall Festival. We have been lucky enough to have visitors for some of the fun - Auny Sydney, Cousin Abigail, Great Aunt Bridget & Great Uncle Jim, our neighborhood buddies Vicki and AJ.

So, here is a recap and some photos of his 5 pumpkins, 3 hay rides, 2 pony rides, 2 pumpkin patches, 1 corn maze, 1 cow train and a dozen or so moon bounces. ( we didn't event try to count the ice cream, funnel cakes, candy.....)

Mmmm, chocolate cupcakes for breakfast!

A pony ride in Gaithersburg

That was one big balloon! Uncle Jim had to keep AJ from floating away.

Climbing up and through the hay bales

AJ and his buddy AJ rode the cow train (pulled by a tractor) for 3 rides.

AJ loved petting the ponies and even nuzzled this one nose to nose.

French Fries

Sunday morning AJ joined me for some quick errands. Our first stop was the drive thru window at Walgreens to drop our prescription off. As we pulled away from the window I heard AJ say "french fries?" in a questioning voice. I chuckled and told him no, Walgreens had mommy's medicine, but no french fries. So we went off to run our other errands and returned to Walgreens about 40 minutes later to pick up our prescription. This time as we pulled away, the voice from the back was less questioning and more informative "Mommy, McDonalds has french fries".

Two things I am amazed at here. 1) AJ has been to a McD's drive thru half a dozen times in his life. I'm not even sure how he knew the name of the place. 2) There is a McD's two door down from Walgreens and he knew that too!

Oh, yes I did get him a small french fry :-)

Happy Birthday Grrrrrandpa!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Steve! Sending lots of hugs your way today!

Those Are Mine!

Since the weather started to change last week and get cooler, AJ has been battling a running nose. I chase after him with tissue trying to get him to "blow" a lot right now. Over the weekend I had to pin him down once to get some of the snot that was stuck to his nose and he yelled out in protest "Hey, those are my buggers". I just about fell over laughing.

Boys & Cartoons

AJ and Daddy have been enjoying each others company even more than usual since we got back from our trip.

They got up together one recent morning and cuddled in their jammies while watching cartoons. I came downstairs and what I saw was so cute, I snapped a picture so everyone else could see too.

Pumpkinville

The weather has been great the past week - 70s for a high and a nice, chilly 50 in the morning so you need a jacket. Just like Fall should be. We put the top down on the convertible last Sunday and drove just South of Leesburg to a place called Pumpkinville. They have a petting zoo and farm stand year round but they pull out all the stops for Halloween.

During the hayride we rode past the petting zoo. AJ didn't like the smell.

Pete and AJ had so much fun going down the hay slide that the did it three times! You would be amazed at the speed you can get going down that thing.

AJ discovered that the moon bounce works best when you get someone else to do the jumping.

On the way out we all got to pick a small pumpkin to bring home. AJ was very proud of his selection and held it up for all to see. He quickly snagged one of our other pumpkins and announced "I have two pumpkins". The whole ride home he held two pumpkins in his lap.

I Didn't Know They Were Lost

One night I ran upstairs to change after work and I tried to get AJ to join me upstairs but he wasn't interested so I was rushing when I heard an odd noise. It was a rustling, like a wrapper being crinkled. I peeked out from our bedroom to look down the stairs and saw AJ at the bottom of the stairs very proudly holding up a package of chocolate chip cookies. He hollered out "I found the cookies". I laughed. Then he declared "I'm going to eat the cookie". Before I could say much he added "Please".

He said the magic word - how could I not let him have a cookie?!

Little Drummer Boy

Gramma gave AJ a drum set while we were in IL and he LOVES it. He jumps around while he plays/bangs on it and you can't help but laugh at the energy he puts into it.
Sometimes he even sings along.

Here's some video of AJ jammin while we were still at Gramma's.

When we got home, Pete grabbed the cow bell and they played a loud duet.

The Trip Back to Virginia

We capped off our week with a spaghetti dinner at Grandpa's, a trip to Dairy Queen and then us girls went to the Notre Dame vs Purdue game with Dad. Despite the fact that the wrong team won, we had a good time tailgating and I can now say I have seen touchdown Jesus in person.

It was a full, fun week. AJ was incredible through all the travel and so much fun. Just before the trip he started talking up a storm and I swear he hasn't stopped since except to sleep! The world according to AJ is VERY entertaining (more on that later!).

All the travel and socializing did catch up to him and he finally gave in to a nap on the plane ride home. I enjoyed the 30 minutes of peace :-)

Tales of Travel - Illinois

After a fun 2 days at Great Grandma's in Indiana we packed up the van again and headed North. Just for the record, AJ loves the van and got quite excited to ride in it. So much so that he didn't nap or sleep much on any trip. Even AJ needed a Starbucks run to keep going.

After we recovered from all the the riding (thanks Aunt Megan for driving us) we went with Gramma Lynn and Aunt Sydney to the zoo. AJ wasn't as into things as I expected but he did have fun checking out the elephants and riding the merry-go-round.

Tales of Travel - Indiana

Well, it was a long week of traveling - 4 hours in airports, 5 hours on planes and 20+ hours in the car. AJ had a great time being the star attraction, I enjoyed watching it all.

We started our trip at Dulles airport where AJ marveled at a near antique - the pay phone.

After the uneventful flight we landed and were greeted by Aunt Sydney and Gramma Lynn. After a breif nap in the big boy bed, we met up with Aunt Megan and loaded up the van for the trip. On the way out of town we stopped to see Grandpa and climb on a truck or two.

We drove nearly 7 hours and arrived at Great Grandma's in the wee hours of the night/morning after a stop at Steak and Shake and lots of goofiness in the car. We had a fabulous time hanging out with Great Grandma - we swam, rode the rocking horse, climbed trees and cuddled.

Midwest Bound on Monday

AJ and Mommy are heading to IL & IN to do a tour of the Grandparents, Aunties and see AJ's Great Grandma Faye. We'll be back in 6 days and will be sure to share news of our travels and adventures. We *might* even make a post or two from the road so stay tuned.

Daddy & Naps

One of this month's themes in AJ's classroom is Family. They have photos up around the room of the kids' families and talk about who is in the pictures most days. One day this past week they took turns talking about their family. Now, as bright and brilliant as they all are, they are all 2 so articulating took a little prompting. Some kids talked about siblings or pets. AJ shared that no, his Daddy does not go fishing. His teachers also report he was quick to share that his Daddy does take naps. :-)

Ice Cream Cures All

This morning we took AJ for allergy testing - yes the kind where they do all the scratches and pricks. He cried just as they did it then was a real trooper while we waited for the reactions. He even stopped fussing to watch the blood fill the vial at the lab during his blood draw. He really impressed his mommy - perhaps he'll be a doctor!

Good news is that he didn't react to much so our fears of allergies might be for nothing. We'll know more after the blood work is back and we follow up in October. On a side note, AJ weighed in at 31 lbs - thats just over a lb weight gain since his late July weigh in.

After a morning like that, anyone would need a treat so when I picked up AJ from daycare a bit early tonight, we ran a quick errand then headed to the Dairy Queen across the parking lot. To say he enjoyed his oreo blizzard would be an understatement.

You really didn't think I was going to let you get your spoon in here to share, did you Mommy?

Knuckle deep and digging in

Stiring up Trouble in the Kitchen

AJ likes to hop up on the stool at the kitchen island and "help" while I make dinner. Recently he climbed up and grabbed a few of the mixing spoons, spatulas and a whisk from the utensil holder. He waved, banged and whisked the air in the kitchen until lasagna was ready and he could move over to the table and dig in to dinner.

Here You Go Mommy

AJ went through a period several weeks ago where he would get to the door at daycare and start resisting going in. He might fuss, cry, grab my legs. He got over it quickly and like many things, it was probably hardest on Mommy :-)

Just to prove how far he has come, this morning he not only entered pleasantly, he reached out to open both doors for me and said "here you go mommy" looking back to make sure I was right behind him. Such a polite little man.

Movin with Movers

Disney has a new show for the preschool set called Imagination Movers. It happens to be AJ's favorite, we have been listening to their songs since before the show came about. These 4 guys from New Orleans do a pretty cute show and their theme song is very catchy complete with actions and dancing. It is really fun to see AJ get into it - yelling "jump up, get down, stand up, turn around" while he does the actions along with them.

P.S. Gramma - you might want to Tivo a Mover episode or two for the upcoming visit so you can witness this dance phenom in person :-) (Disney channel at 10:00 am)

Mommy's Little Man

It was an AJ and Mommy night while Daddy got stuck late at work. The weather was PERFECT and we went for a walk and played in back with the neighbors. Then we had the neighbors in and AJ was great about sharing his toys - something that can be tough for him sometimes. We had a good dinner and picked up toys together before we got a cookie treat. At AJ's request we put in the Jungle Book DVD, a new one for him, and watched for a bit before bedtime. He even came over to where I was on the couch and climbed up and cuddled in next to me. He doesn't sit still very much these days but when he does, he sure likes to cuddle and it was the absolute best part of my day. We giggled together over the snake in the movie. It was a really wonderful night to be AJ's Mommy.

Get Back Here Now!

Last night after work/school AJ took off through the yard and around back through the neighbors yard heading for the next street over. Not only is he fast, I was still wearing a skirt and heels so chasing him through the grass was especially challenging. I took off after him hollering "AJ come back here right now. Stop AJ" and he never even looked back. I did finally catch him.

Later in the evening Pete came home and said "I'm heading upstairs to change clothes". He started up and AJ chased after him yelling in his very best angry growl voice "Daddy, you come back here now!"

So, additional confirmation that AJ's ears work fine and he understands when I am chasing him. He just chooses to ignore his mommy. It might be easier to be annoyed if he wasn't so darn cute.

This is How I Roll

AJ stole Daddy's hat and was stylin.

Tell me that face doesn't say trouble!