Thanks to the Grandparents?

Around his birthday, Aid picked out this big encyclopedia type book about dinosaurs from the used book shop. It is really too much to read, but has the names pointed out. This really didn't mean too much to him at the time. He just liked looking at all the dinosaurs.

Yesterday, we went to Toys R Us to use what was left of a birthday gift certificate from Bob's parents. He picked out a bin of dinosaurs complete with rocks and trees and a plastic play mat. He was super excited to line up everything on his mat and play.

Upon returning from this venture we pulled up to see a Grandma Box! Inside? A dinosaur movie!

Needless to say Aid is in heaven. He now makes us find the named dinosaur in his book so that he can match it to his dinosaur figure. All this while the dinosaur movie is playing. I came down this morning to Aid yelling at the tv, "You are a triceratops!"

Blessing? Curse? You be the judge.

My Arm is Your Arm

My arm belongs to Aid. From the very first day, Aid was a cuddler. He snuggled right in and never left. To this day, he will climb into our bud, pull the blankets all around him and ask, "Mom can I have your arm?" Then he basically curls himself around it. There are times where I find myself irritated and snapping, "Aid give me my arm, I need it."

But it's his. My right arm will forever belong to Aid.

Pictures Don't Lie

Bob has a theory that pictures are lies. He says this when he is being dramatic and pessimistic. But after I took the boys raspberry picking with my mommy group I realized that he could be a little right. Although whether the pictures capture the actual moment in all it's glory or slightly misrepresent....they are memories I want to hold onto.

But look:


Looks like Aid is picking raspberries! In truth, he would not come over to the raspberry picking and was yelling at me. And these are the only 5 raspberries he picked.


And here is is feeding his beloved animals.


When in truth, the stupid goat would not come down from the perch despite repeated urges with food. Aid started to get upset because really this is all he wanted to do. Only when we threatened to leave did the diva goat come down.


Seemingly adorable little baby cow. But I actually felt sorry for the little thing. She would not eat any of the offered corn and seemed scared and was huddled in the corner of her pen.


And little Grant looks adorable and all ready to join the fun. But I had to leave him sitting by himself while I hurriedly tried to pick my raspberries.


He did like the raspberries though. I think it may have been too early for them and he got a rash all over...no raspberries for Grant for a little while longer...


And right before we were gonna leave I spotted the haystacks and thought it would make an adorable picture. Which it did. But Grant was screaming moments before this picture was taken and neither would look at me until my friend Sara threw hay in the air behind me.

And then when it came time to go I realized that someone had stolen a pint of my picked raspberries and skimmed off the top of the other two. I don't know who steals some one's picked raspberries and can feel good but so be it.

So true....these pictures don't necessarily represent exactly what happened. But they are good enough.

School

I realized something today. Aid has grown up a little bit. He is suddenly being less of a toddler and more of a kid. He is suddenly so eager to learn. Going to school (ECFE) has motivated Aid. We even talked about perhaps going to the potty. It is unclear when he will tell me he's ready. But we are now talking about it.

The topic of the parenting room was "observing" your child. And it forced me to take a step back and just watch Aid, or reflect on things that I have already observed. For example, it has in the past been frustrating when Aid did not instantly jump into an activity. Today I watched him not participate in the singing of the song (Wheels on the Bus) in the circle. He sat right outside the circle. But he was watching and engaged. And damn if he wasn't singing the entire song all day long!

He's a thoughtful kid. But when he is finally confident enough to take a step, it's a big one. He has so much fun at school. I peered into the window to find him talking to his teachers about the animals. Imagine that.



He packed his bag....full of animals.




It is going to be so much fun watching this kid grow up.

The Golden Rule

Dear Aid and Grant,

For no reason at all, every once in awhile send your mama a bouquet of flowers. She loves flowers. Your dad does not get them as often as he should. You are welcome to get them for the other girls in your life. I won't be jealous. Unless you don't get any for me.

Love,
Mom

Who Says?

Who says that with second babies you don't take as many pictures? I have made it my mission to make sure that Grant's photo album is just as complete and full as Aid's is. Of coarse Aid now yells, "No mommy! No more pictures!" Some day they will be happy that I was so proud of them and wanted to capture as much of their childhood as I could. But then Bob tells me they won't. They are boys. They won't look at their baby pictures, they will only call on Sundays, and they won't want to talk to me about girls.

Killjoy.

One of Those Moments

We met up with some friends at a playground this evening. There were other children that were there. One kid came up to Aid and asked what his name was. Aid answered boldly, "I Aiden is Bures and this (he points to me) is my mommmy!"

It was all I could do to not cry. I am regularly proud of Aid and who he is. He is a free spirit. He is sweet,kind, funny and headstrong. I am proud to call him my son. Tonight there was a moment where I realized he was proud to have me as his mommy too.

A Taste of What's To Come

We started our "school" today. ECFE. It's kind of similar to Head Start for you Portlanders but set up for any and all. I decided that it was time for Aid to start to get used to separating from me more regularly and get used to a classroom setting so that he is ready for preschool next year.

We signed him up last week and met his teacher. And honestly, we (and I emphasize we to clarify that i was not being overprotective crazy mom) didn't get the best first impression. She seemed annoyed by my kid and that's not a good way to start. But I went and decided I would see how it all played out.

Today was our first day. I got everything ready the night before so we wouldn't be late. We were still late. Only by 2 minutes. Others were still shuffling in too so i was pretty pleased with myself.

To say Aid was over the moon is putting it mildly. He introduced himself to the teacher. He sang the songs. He sat quietly in the circle the entire time. (And they made them sit for far longer then I would have for a bunch of toddlers.) Quite a few of them were running around and I am proud to say mine was not one of them. Sure he snuck out of the class (twice) without the teacher noticing right away. But overall he did fantastic. He was nervous, but excited. And it was so much fun to watch. I consistently underestimate Aid. I was a bursting with pride mama today.

Now Grant?? Grant was not down with it and will have hard Mondays for quite some time...poor little dude. And I can't say I loved it myself. But right now this is good for Aid so me and Grant will just have to roll.

Oregon Trip 2009

Ok. I am so sorry these have taken so long to post. And if you are on facebook it's probable you have already seen them. In that case I apologize for the overkill. Oregon was awesome. We were there for a very long time and saw lots of friends, stayed at a resort and had fun with the kids, and for the most part nothing dramatic happened. It was a good vacation. Vacationing with kids is so very different. I was exhausted by the time we got home. Grant really pushed me past my limit. But we got two teeth out of the deal and a ton of great pictures and memories.


Boys will be boys.


Grant's first airplane cookie. I didn't realize they were handing those back out (in a recession?!) and they are still as cardboardy as ever. But he loved it.


My parents have recently put a trampoline in their backyard. To say Aid loved it would be an understatement.


What you can't tell from this picture is that Aid was desperately trying to feed his food to the lone few ducks but once he pulled that bag out they swarmed him. Such a softie this one...


My little (big) man.


The smile on his face pretty much sums up how much fun he had.


Grant grew up a little bit. It was his first bath where he did not have to be in the hammock thing. No water in the ears and he loves it even more, if that's possible. He also cut two teeth. I don't say that lightly. He (I) did not sleep longer then 2 hours at a time for the entire two weeks.


We saw some old and dear friends. This is the team we used to work with at Christie School. Where me and Bob met. To see these people again was extremely good.


I know that there is an ongoing debate over who Grant looks more like. It's a fun one to have. But after spending two weeks with my family, for me, it's undesputable. He's a McLaughlin.


Aid gave Grant his first Oreo.


Sweetness.


Our time at the resort started with a great rock climb.


The kid prefers cambleback bottles to bottles or sippy cups. Ok. I can roll. Especially if he looks this cute.




Both boys like to hike.


And potentially the best part of the trip? The over domesticated deer. Aid was in heaven.....to open the door to this??




Aid and his cousin Cooper in the bikes aka: death trap.


On the way home.....

There are a million more pictures (including amazing beach ones that I will add when I can figure out how to) but here is a sprinkle of them. Good times were had by all. Thanks mom and dad for making this trip such a good one for all of us.

Computer Down

I am sorry I have not been very regular with the blogs and non existent with pictures. we have been in summer vacation mode and very very busy! And to top it off, the new computer does not seem to be working (though I think Grant may have altered the power cord from ripping it out of the wall one too many times.) And we left the camera charger cord in Portland so I do not have access to the pictures even when I get to use our super old computer that for all intense purposes should be dead but is hanging on by a limb.

"I'll be back!"

Living with teenagers

Ok, whoever said boys could not be as moody as girls needs to come spend a week at our place. Aid is 3 going on 16. We have heard it all. "Mom go away" "I said no!" "Mom watch out!" (when I am cleaning in front of the tv). He has even starting to try and get out of trouble when he's naughty. I will catch him doing something and he now responds, "Mom, I was just trying to...."

And then there is my darling husband. Today I found myself putting his things into the spare room (also known as his room, or the office, or the guest room...It's a room with an identity crisis), trying not to look at the growing and growing piles, and left a note on the door saying "Clean your room!"

I am getting a small glimpse into my future.

Grant Holds His Own

We took the boys on a walk a couple of days ago. Grant's leg accidentally bumped into Aid's leg. Aid kicked Grant back saying, "No, don't kick Aidee, baby." Before I could even reprimand Aid for kicking his brother, Grant kicked him back! I found myself saying, "Ok, you two....no kicking each other." Grant looked up at and smiled!

And I was secretly proud of him for standing his ground with his big brother.

He's going to be just fine....