Layout Troubles...

I'm not the most technologically savvy person out there, but I am having troubles with my Blogger layout and can not for the life of me figure it out. The blog archives and my sidebar pictures have been moved to the bottom of the blog for some reason. I've even deleted everything and started from scratch and it isn't fixing the problem. If anyone can think what I might be doing wrong, please let me know! Otherwise, until further notice, the archived posts are available at the bottom of the page. Thanks!

Amazing Aiden

After playing "restaurant" at a friend's house this afternoon, Aiden wanted to continue the game at home and I snapped these pics of my happy boy being a chef. To be fair, he did complain that it was a "girl's chef outfit--and I am not a girl!" So if anyone sees a boy's chef dress-up set somewhere, let me know, lol.

I'm definitely encouraging his budding chef persona--who wouldn't love a man that can cook? And Bobby Flay isn't rich for nothing, lol.

My little man has been quite the sweetie lately. Since Chuck left, I can tell that he is feeling more protective of me and he's been much more affectionate with me than normal, which has been awesome! I was crying the other day (just missing Chuck) and Aiden asked, "Did Daddy make you cry? Oh that Daddy, what are we going to do with him? Don't worry Mom, I'll set him straight when he visits and make him apologize for making you cry!" Aiden is my little lion cub, very protective of his Mama:) He is so smart and very intuitive. He's gotten very good at listening and following directions and frequently tells me that he is "putting my listening ears on, Mom!" He's been doing great at school, participating in the art projects without too much fuss (he's been anti-art for quite a while now, lol), and not getting any bad behavior reports. He's also been much nicer to his sister lately, sharing his toys and telling her that he loves her:) My sweet boy makes my heart melt sometimes!

Speaking Ava-ese

Before I had children, I often wondered how parents could understand anything a toddler said. But now, I understand. It is a matter of speaking their language, quite literally. And I am proud to announce that I, for one, am fluent in Ava-ese. The rest of the world? Not so much, lol. Even her own brother can't understand most of what she is saying!

This isn't to say that she doesn't TRY to talk a lot, she does. She is just very difficult to understand because her pronunciation is so terrible. I know it will improve greatly this year, but I thought I would give a few examples so you know how impressive it is that I speak Ava-ese! ;)

This morning (Aiden is still sleeping!) Ava and I were watching Blues Clues and Steve was wearing a super cape and a mask. Ava asked, "Where A-ah superigh? Where A-ah sun-sun?" This means, "Where is Ava's supercape? Where are Ava's sunglasses?" After we had found them and put them on, she demanded, "I ant De-stowy! Boss! Wooeee!!" This means, "I want Toy Story! Buzz! Woody!" SShe didn't want to watch the movie though, she just wanted to play with her toys, which took me several more minutes to figure out.

One word that is universal in English and Ava-ese though, is definitely NO, lol. "Ava, it's time to change your diaper." Ava's response of course? "No no no no no no no no no!!!!! NO bipa!" Bipa is diaper, but you probably figured that out for yourself;) Happy weekend! (I promise next week's posts will be more about Aiden!)

Have you seen our pet rat?

I only ask because it clearly escapes from my darling daughter's hair every morning, lol. This is a rat's nest if I've ever seen one! I always thought that Aiden had bad bedhead, but Ava's is infinitely worse. I know now that she'll probably never be able to have long hair, or I would have to spend half the morning working the tangles out of it!

This picture of Aiden just makes me laugh because he has such a funny look on his face:)

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Primping princess

Ava has been so funny this week. I always take a shower after the kids are up and dressed, so they usually just play in their rooms while I shower and get ready. This week, Ava has taken a sudden interest in my routine, and demands that she be included in every step, lol. When she sees me brushing my teeth, she runs into their bathroom and gets her stool and her toothbrush and asks Aiden to put toothpaste on her brush. Then she stands and brushes her teeth for AGES (like 20 minutes this morning!) smiling at herself and exclaiming, "Brush! Brush teeth!" Next she hears me blowdrying my hair and goes to get her play hairdryer. But hers doesn't make noise so then she demands that I actually blowdry her hair (which helps with her static since my blowdryer is an ion dryer, so that's an added benefit, lol). She loves sitting up on the counter while I spray her hair wet and blow it dry. Then she INSISTS on makeup. I give her an old compact and a makeup brush and she sits there dipping the brush into the compact and rubbing it all over her face while I finish up my routine. She always wants "lickstick" too, so she gets some chapstick (which is also helping with her chapped winter lips--more benefits! lol). Finally she pronounces herself, "All done A-ah!" (she can't say Ava so she pronounces her name A-ah) and then insists that I get dressed, "Come on Mommy, dets go. Mommy dressed! Mommy shirt! Mommy tights (she calls all pants tights), mommy dressed!"

It's all very cute but seeing as how this week is the first full week of preschool since early December, I'd better be adding an hour in the morning so we can complete Ava's new beauty routine! Lol.

On the plus side, Aiden has also taken an interest in doing more of his own morning routine himself and is FINALLY (I knew he would do it eventually if I didn't push him into it) dressing himself, brushing his own teeth (with a final check from Mommy, of course), attempting to comb his own hair, and even buckling his own carseat. I've been waiting a long while for him to get into "I'll do it myself" mode so it is nice that it has finally happened:) Let's hope it lasts!

This was a long post--and no new pictures--but I promise I'll take some and post this week:) Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!