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!

Back to School

Despite being out of our regular routine while on vacation and coming back to his first full day in his new classroom, AJ had a good day today. He is now officially in the 2 year old room - such a big boy! He spent the first day there playing with playdoh, singing songs, talking about body parts and wiggling their arms and legs. And a two hour nap of course. Oh to be 2 again :-)

Beach Trip Recap

We spent a fun week in Charleston S.C. - the weather was clear and hot and AJ loves the water.

We broke the drive down into two parts and when we stopped the first night in Selma NC AJ slept in the big boy bed all by himself. We tucked him in, he rolled over and went right to sleep. In the morning I woke up to our little man sitting up in his bed and looking over at me grinning. Very cute.

We got to the beach house that afternoon and AJ was a bit conflicted - he seemed happy to see the beach and took off running down the boardwalk to the beach where he rolled in the sand still wearing his clothes.

Once we got back in the house though AJ took my hand and announced that he wanted to go home. He even walked me over to the door to illustrate his point. By the next day and our trip to the beach, the homesickness had passed. We hit the beach or the pool just about every day.

AJ loves the water and enjoyed being able to float around the pool on his own when he wears his water wings. l./It was really hot and humid so we didn't do as much outside downtown exploring as we typically do. We did spend a few hours at the S.C. aquarium and AJ enjoyed seeing all the fish, turtles and birds. He put his nose against the glass of some pretty neat tanks :-) He even got to reach in the shallow tanks and touch the outside of a crab and a turtle - cool!