Aiden at 5 years

5 years ago today, Jeff and I became parents.  We are so thankful God gave us Aiden.

Aiden . . .

is obsessed with infinity.  He uses it in his vocabulary all the time.  He'll say "Chick-fil-A is my infinity favorite" and "Mom, can God go infinity fast in his car?"

often replaces v with b on some of his words, voice is boice,

is shy and freely admits it.  If I ask him to talk to an unfamiliar adult, he looks at me and says, "but, I'm shy"

has gotten very picky with food.  He wants to know all the ingredients in the dinners I make and will look through his food and ask, "What's that green thing".  Through much encouragement, he will try new things and generally eats what I make.  He is very motivated by dessert with his strong sweet tooth.

has a need for speed.  He always wants to look at speedometers, know how fast vehicles travel, and notices speed limits and asks about them.  He knows how high the speedometer goes in my car, in Jeff's car, in Chief's car, in Marcus's motorcycle and probably many others.

is starting to read and can sound out letters.  He can recognize 2 and 3 letter words like "dog" and "cat".

can complete his counting numbers worksheets quickly and easily.  He can actually add and subtract very well.  He loves numbers and would prefer to do math over reading.

loves his baby brother and gets in his face to love on him/talk to him multiple times a day.

always wants to involve Ty.  Example, if Jeff picks up Aiden playing around with him, he'll ask Ty "Ty come here, you wanna do it?"  or if he sets a timer for me in the kitchen, he'll ask if Ty can do it too (even though it doesn't interest Ty as much).

loves riding his bike, and goes very fast on it.  He gave up his training wheels about 6 months ago.

would eat constantly if I let him.  Usually about 30 minutes after lunch, he'll ask, "Mom, can I have something?"  I have to limit his snacks.

is called "AJ" on the baseball field and recently he told me he prefers it over Aiden.

loves to take showers like a big boy.

is very affectionate with people he loves.  He likes to rub Jeff's head or play with my hair.

loves blueberries, kiwi, Chic-fil-A (nuggets and frys), manderine orangs, peanut butter and most of all hard candy.  He doesn't like cheese (except on pizza), hot dogs, shrimp.  He will eat vegetables, but it usually takes him a long time for just a few bites, but he'll do it because he knows he will get something sweet afterwords.

wears size 5 pants, size 5-6 shirts, and size 1 shoe.

Aiden requested Chick-fil-A for dinner tonight and he'll probably eat 10+ nuggets.  I sang to him numerous times and his class sang to him and by the end of the day he said, "not again".  Aiden is such a unique child and I am so blessed to be his mother.  He is so smart and I know God has great plans for him.

Happy Birthday Aiden!

School Party

 

Today, Ty, Mark and I went to Aiden's school for his party!  We brought chocolate cupcakes to share with his class.  All the kids sang to Aiden and he wore the special birthday glasses and his birthday hat.  Ty loved sitting with his big brother at school.  All the kids ate and then they all wanted to see the baby.  I think Mark was a little overwhelmed by all the little people in his face.  We stayed for story time and Ty sat next to Aiden on the floor.  Ms. Tracy told the kids to tell me thank you and most of them but one little girl said, "Thank you, but I don't really like chocolate, so I just ate the frosting". :-)

 

 

 

 

Party Time

To celebrate the boys' birthdays, we had a family birthday party!  Aiden and Ty were so excited about their party, to see their family, and to finally get a cupcake.  They watched me make them this morning and they asked many times when they would be able to eat one.  Aiden watched the clock all morning and gave me many updates as to when we could expect people to arrive.  Aiden was a little confused because it wasn't his or Ty's actual birthday- I had to explain why the party was today.

The boys had fun seeing their grandparents and their aunts and uncles, but when their cousins walked in the door, they were thrilled.  We all had fun celebrating our 2 wonderful little boys! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave & Busters

Jeff took the day off and we spent the day with our 2 birthday boys.  First we went to I-Hop to eat (the same I-Hop I ate at the day Aiden was born) and the boys enjoyed their chocolate "funny face" pancakes.  An elderly woman who sat at the table beside us approached me to tell me how well behaved she thought the boys were.  As a mother of young children, that encourages me so much and means more than she will ever know.

Next stop, the much anticipated Dave and Busters in Marietta.  We have been talking about this for a while and Aiden asked how many games they had.  He would say, "Mom, do you think they have one thousand games at Dave and Masters?"  So they were pretty excited about it and right when we walked in the excitement escalated!  We walked around to see what games they had and Aiden asked to play each one.  Then, as we started playing the games, they would both ask every time "can we play again?"  The boys loved the simulated roller coaster game where Ty nearly fell off the seat because as he shook, he slid down the seat.  They liked the motorcycle/snowmobile games where they could lean from side to side to steer.  We must have played "Deal or No Deal" at least 5 times, but Aiden's favorite (and Jeff's too) was the air plane ride where Aiden was the pilot.  There were so many buttons to press as he took off and landed the plane.  We played for almost 3 hours and my purse was filled with tickets.  Our prize was a huge kickball and some candy.  Afterwords we took the boys for some frozen yogurt and Aiden said it was the best day of his life. 

 

 

 

 

 

Ty at 3 years

Ty is 3 years old today!

Ty . . .

talks constantly and has the cutest voice.  He has trouble with "k" and "s" sounds.  Socks are "tocks"  He also has a southern twang to his voice.  Here is "Hee-yaa"

loves to try new foods.  If he sees something he doesn't recognize, he'll ask if he can try it and most of the time he'll say, "I like it" (even when he actually doesn't).

is generally a good big brother, but has had a few moments of being too rough with baby Mark.  He has been known to wrestle and put his pacifier in too hard.

loves to push cars/trucks around the house.

loves to throw stuff.  If I ask him to bring me something, he will more than likely throw it at me rather than hand it to me.

loves and admires his big brother and wants to do everything he does including going to school, playing baseball, etc.

is generally a very obediant child.  He will follow instructions the first time they are given.

loves to help.  He likes to do laundry (put clothes and soap in washer), unload dishwasher, vacuum, and cook (stir).

has been hitting Aiden lately when he does something Ty doesn't like.  Aiden will say, "Mom, Ty hit me" and Ty will respond, "Now I'm not!"

is still attached to his blue sports blanket.  He always wants it at night and usually drags it out of bed when he wakes up.

can fully dress and undress himself!  even socks and his velcro tennis shoes.  Occasionally his clothes are on backwards, but they are on.

loves the song, "I like to move it, move it" and gets very excited when he hears it.

loves Team Umizoomi and if asked what show he would like to watch, he will always choose Umizoomi.  It's the only show that will hold his attention all the way through.  He will watch other shows (Dora, Bubble Guppies, Daniel Tiger) randomly, but will get bored half way through.

loves to drive the jeep!

wants to share everything.  He always offers whatever he has to me or Aiden by saying, "you want some?"

loves macaroni, french fries, salad (just the lettuce), and most of all chips.

wears 4T pants, 4T shirts, and size 11 shoe.

requested to have pizza for dinner tonight.  I gave him m-n-m's this morning and sang Happy Birthday to him.  When people said Happy Birthday to him, he said it back to them.

Happy 3rd Birthday Ty-bo! 

Doc Update

Mark went to the doctor for his 4 month check up.  I was surprised at his weight; he feels much heavier and I thought he was bigger than his brothers at this age, but he is actually the smallest. 

Mark's Stats;

Weight: 15lbs 13oz  63%
Height:  26 1/4in   86%
Head Circ: 16 3/4in  53%

Dr. P said Mark looks great and is very healthy.  He suggests to wait a little longer to introduce solid foods.  Mark is able to bear weight, has good head movement, smiles and reaches for objects.  These are things they look for in 4 month olds.

4 months

Mark . . .

has been sleeping great!  All night for a week straight now.  He goes down around 10:00pm and I wake him up (to take Aiden to school) around 7:30.  Occasionally he will wake up for a middle of the night feeding or just for me to put his pacifier in and he'll fall back asleep.

has discovered his passy in his mouth and plays with it with his hands.  He usually pulls it out and then gets upset because he wants it back in.

has an old man hair style.  dark brown around the sides above his ears and the back and bald on top.  He lost most of the hair he was born with (on top) and it appears to be slowly growing back in much lighter.

loves to lay face down on my chest.  He'll often fall asleep that way.

is drooling a lot, but my pediatrician says drooling actually doesn't relate to teething at all.  We're hoping Mark doesn't get any teeth for a while.

likes to put his fist in his mouth and suck on it.

takes baths with his brothers.  They scoot over and he goes in for a quick dip.

is still not rolling over.  He has done it rarely from front to back.  He's never rolled back to front, but he does enjoy tummy time and holds his head up well.

smiles all the time, just when someone looks at him.  He loves when people talk to him.

will coo and make some odd noises at random times when he is happy.  He still likes to kick and punch when he is excited.

is reaching for toys especially when they dangle in front of him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matching Boo-boos

Here is a pic of the boys before church this morning. 

Look closely and you will notice the cut on Ty's forehead and the knot on Aiden's.  Ty ran into a couch about a week ago and got a deep cut.  Aiden got excited and did his "jumping dance" outside while watching Dadda on the grill and hit the iron chair.
These boys get bruises and boo-boos almost on a daily basis, but they are so resilient!  It's a good thing!

Bowling with Cousins

Payton, Kylie and Marley came for a visit and Gram and Chief treated us all to a couple games of bowling!  Aiden wanted to try bowling like a big kid without the "slide".  He was able to do it, but it took the ball a while to reach the pins.  He then encouraged Marley to bowl without the slide.  Payton and Kylie has a competition of their own and bowled their second game without bumpers.  Mark took a good nap with all the noise and then ate his bottle.  The boys loved bowling with their cousins!

 

 

 

 

The many faces of Mark . . .

"I'm happy"

 

"OO!  I'm excited"

 

getting sleepy . . .

 

out!