January 30 - Growing Boy

I finally remembered to weigh Aidan toinght so I could get his "official" 4 year stats.  He is now 40.5" tall and about 35lbs.  At his 3rd birthday he was 31.5lbs and 37.5" so he's done a good bit of growing this past year.  I could've sworn he'd weigh more though because I swear when I pick him up he feels more like 50lbs!

January 29 - Ski Lesson #3

I had a great time with Aidan at his ski lesson today.  Our warm-up was to run part of the way up the hill running between some gates.  He always complains about walking in his boots, yet he took off in a flash and was one of the first ones to the top.  Not only that, he beat me to the bottom on the way down.  It was also the first day for riding the magic carpet and he did great.  The attendant kept telling him that he remembers him and that he doesn't need any help and would just let him go on his own.  The skiing itself went well.  The first run we were in under the snow guns and we got soaked.  At the bottom, the instructor said for everyone to go inside and dry off.  We started to walk to the chalet and Aidan was getting upset and said he didn't want to go in.  So, I went against the grain and kept him out.  One of the instructors stayed out as well, so we had a private lesson for 2 runs before the rest of the class came back out again.  He skied well, but is still not very interesting in trying to stop, so we need to work on that.  He seems to be enjoying it though and that's the main thing!

January 28 - Ski Waxing

Tonight I got the old waxing iron out and gave Aidan's a skis a good hot wax.  There was really nothing left on the bases, so they really needed it!  It really brought back memories of doing the same with my Dad when I was a kid and he didn't fool around, we did them very regularly.  I'm really starting to appreciate how much effort he put into introducing me to and letting me pursue skiing.  I hope Aidan feels the same about me some day. 

January 27 - So Sweet

Sometimes Aidan just randomly says the sweetest things.  Tonight at dinner he looked at me and said:  "I don't have to look the same as you and you don't have to look the same as me because we're all the same on the inside".  That's my boy!

January 26 - Backwards Underwear

Sometimes you have to let kids learn for themselves, or at least hope they will.  This morning while Aidan was getting dressed and I noticed that he was putting his underweard on backwards, I tell him that assuming he'll turn them around and instead I got:  "Oh Mom, *sigh*, once I get the pants on, nobody will know".  So,I let him go all day like that and hoped he'd see that it was uncomfortable.  I'd say that backfired because when he was getting ready for bed, he put the underwear and both the top and bottom of the PJs on backwards.  Oh well!

January 25 - Why?

Like your average toddler, Aidan is always full of "why" questions.  This mornings was particularly funny when out of the blue he aks:  "Mommy, why is school for 5 days and the weekend is only 2"?  And so it starts... I came up with some half baked answer about school making you smarter to which he responded "But I already know everything".  I decided to to puruse the conversation any further. :-)

January 24 - Dentists

I had an appointment today to get 2 fillings done.  I really hate the dentist and for good reason, those needles are ridiculous!  And the drill, ugh.  And to make it even that much more pleasant, he accidentally drilled my tongue.  It's a tad on the sore side tonight.  Did I mention that I hate the dentist?

January 23 - Computer Time

Aidan has never really shown much interest in electronic games or the computer.  I know he has a little computer time at school, but he's really had none at home.  He found a Thomas computer game that I bought a year ago, that he didn't care for then, and decided he wanted to give it at try.  He's able to navigate it well and he's chosen to play that game the past couple of nights before bed instead of TV or toys.  I guess it's time to set up a little table for him because the coffee table is a bit uncomfortable.

January 22 - Skiing Lesson #2

Aidan and I had our 2nd Mom & Tot ski lesson today and, with the assistance of a hula hoop, he was skiing from almost half way up the hill by himself.  I'd use the same hula hoop to pull him up the hill which meant the lesson was quite the workout for me!  We had a lot of fun and next week, we ride the magic carpet lift for the first time.

January 21 - I'm a Big Boy Now!

Today we passed our last potty training milestone and got rid of Aidan's potty!  He's ready to use the "big toilet" exclusively now.  He thinks he's too big for the potty now that he's 4 years old and I'm really happy to not have a potty to clean out anymore.

We started potty training when he was 2yrs7mos old and he caught on almost immediately to not wetting himself and after 2 weeks, had very rare pee accidents.  Poop was a whole other story though and he had a daily poop accident until almost a full year later when he finally decided to use the potty and within a week or so, we had no more accidents at all.  At that same time, we stopped the diapers at night and he has never wet the bed (knock on wood).  Here we are 6 months after that and the potty is history.  Woohoo!

January 20 - When I Grow Up...

Today Aidan made his first declaration of what he wants to be when he grows up... a scientist that studies sea creatures so he can learn more about angler fish.  This will be the first of many choices, no doubt, but not bad for his first one.

January 19 - American Idol

First week of Idol and I'm already sucked in for the season.  I just wish they didn't have so much of the preliminary shows and just get to the live stuff with the people who actually have a little talent.  But anyway, I'll still watch it all, and likely complain about it along the way! :-)

January 18 - Time for School?

Registration for JK is only a couple of weeks away and I'm a bit stressed out over what program to choose.  On the one hand there is the public school just down the road that is a small town/country school that I wanted for Aidan when we moved.  They score well on the standardized testing and really I have no concerns there other than I may have an issue with before/after care if my work from home situation ever changes.  On the other hand is the french immersion program with the school 20kms away.  I really think the FI program is great and would love for him to go through it, but the school test results are really not great, the school is over-crowded and they will be going through a re-zoning next year.  So lots of uncertainty there.  I'm 90% decided on the local school, but not quite there yet. 

January 17 - Swimming Lessons

Aidan is doing great in his swimming lessons now.  He breezed through Sea Turtles in the Fall and is now trying to make his way through Sea Otters.  That's all well and good, I just wish the registration process wasn't so frustrating.  Registration is going on now for the Winter II session, but I don't find out until Friday what level to register him in, at which time the "prime" after work spots will likely be filled up.  Fortunately, they're pretty good about it and I now have him registered twice and just have to cancel the one he doesn't end up taking.  But seriously, wouldn't it just be a lot easier to delay the registration until AFTER the week everyone is told what level to register in?  There are still 2 weeks until the next session starts, just sayin'...

January 16 - Football

So, I'm just a little over a week into this blogging thing and I already missed day.  My excuse?  I fell asleep in front of the TV at about 9:30 and woke up only long enough to roll into bed.

Yesterday's memory is football.  Aidan's new favourite game is to play football with us.  He's the good guy and Al and I are the bad guys.  He throws the ball and we all run to try to get it first.  Needless to say, there have been a few collisions, but yesterdays was the "best" when Al moved out of the way and Aidan was running full speed and smacked right into the toy shelf.  He shook it off, like any good football player would, and we were right back at it again.

January 15 - Skiing

Today Aidan and I had our first Parent & Tot ski lesson.  He was skiing on his own, and falling on his own too. :-)  He seemed to have fun and after going down the short distance at the bottom of the hill, he announced that he wanted to go to the top... maybe soon.  His last run down he had a wide stance with a downhill tuck - I may have a speed demon on my hands!

January 14 - Happy Birthay, Aidan!

It's hard to believe Aidan is already 4 years old.  I tend to get pretty emotional on his birthday because, at times, I still find it so hard to believe that I actually have him in my life. 

Today we had his birthday party and we had 10 kids here for a Zoo to You show with different animals that the kids could interact with.  Aidan liked the alligator and the snakes the best.  I noticed for the first time at this party how well he interacts with his friends, it's really heart warming to watch.

January 13 - Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday!  I woke up this morning to my "surprise" card from Aidan.  Dr. Seuss, very appropriate.  He informed me that I can read it whenever I want, since it's mine.  :-)  Al was good to me this year as well and got me my much needed replacement croc slippers, an oversized station clock for the great room and a dozen red roses.  I've also been informed tonight that there is a cake, but we had swimming for Aidan tonight, so we didn't get a chance to have it.  Between Aidan's leftover school cake and his cake for his party tomorrow, we may be a bit caked out by the end of the weekend.

I spent a good part of my day prepping for Aidan's party tomorrow.  It's entirely possible that I've gone overboard, but I don't care, it's fun and he deserves it.  I'm hopeful for a fun and successful party tomorrow!

January 12 - Surprise?

When I tucked Aidan in tonight, he pulled a card out from under his covers and says: "Daddy told me to tell you this is a surprise, so you can't show anybody what's inside". I asked him if he wanted me to open it and he said "Not until after I sleep, I'm supposed to give it to you after I sleep". I can't wait to be surprised in the morning! :-)

January 11 - Aidan Quotes

Aidan's best two quotes from today...

While collecting all of his colouring markers:  "I have a lot of markers.  Whoever built my house, built it with a lot of markers".

After being teased he was a baby:  "I'm not a baby!  I'm in Preschool 2 and I'm going to be 4 years old in just 3 more days"!

January 10 - Birthday Cake

Sometimes Aidan can say some really cute stuff and today we had one of those conversations that made me smile.

Me:  How many days until your birthday?
Aidan:  4!
Me:  How many days until Mommy's birthday, it's one less than yours
Aidan:  I'm not excited for your birthday
Me:  I'm not particularly excited about it either
Aidan:  I'm not excited for your birthday because there will be no cake
Me:  No cake??  How come?? No fair!
Aidan:  I can't get you cake by myself, I need help
Me:  You could ask Daddy for help and then it would be a surprise for me
Aidan then runs across the kitchen to Alan
Aidan:  Daddy, Mommy wants a cake but I can't do it by myself
Some whispering...
Aidan:  Mommy, want kind of animal do you want on your cake?
Me:  You don't have to get an animal, just plain would be great
Aidan:  Daddy, Mommy says no animal, just plain
More whispering...

So, I wonder if I'm going to actually get a cake?  I guess we'll find out in 3 days!

January 9 - Paper Ocean

Aidan has been obsessed with ocean animals for a long time.  For Christmas, he got a Crayola Colour Wonder sticker set of all ocean creatures.  He coloured them all and then took a 4' piece of paper from his easel and stuck them all on there so that he could have his very own ocean.  Tonight, he decided to start cutting out sea animals from his colouring book and is now creating what he called his "paper ocean".  The only thing he loves more than sea animals right now are his scissors.  After all, this is the kid, who at one point last year, wanted to dress up as scissors for Halloween.  Anyway, end result is a whole crap load of cut up pieces of paper in the shape of sea animals including a family of snails all lined up in a row that Bounce walked through and displaced... that did not go over very well!  No worries though, they're all nicely lined up in a row again and all is well in the Paper Ocean again.   

January 8 - Hockey Game

Today was a fun family day, we took Aidan to his first hockey game.  He wasn't too sure about what was going on and kept asking if the guys in green (home team Battalion) scored and did a fine job of cheering when they did.  We capped the day off with supper at a Chinese buffet which Aidan didn't want to go to at first and when we announced we were driving there anyway, he let us know:  "When I'm an adult, I'm going to drive so that I can go wherever I want to go and not where you want to go".  I told him that's fine and dandy, as soon as he buys himself a car!

All in all a great day!