Hi All! Yes, it has been entirely too long since we last made a post. Things have been fast and furious around here lately, as most of you already know. We were finally getting somewhat used to being a family of four when life decided to throw some curve balls.
First of all, for those of you who don't know my best friend Anna has been in the hospital since March 4th. She went in for "minor" surgery on her jaw. There were some complications of the surgery that left her in a coma for awhile, and she is still recovering at this moment. Anna is making tremendous improvements, but it will be a long road.
That same day I was rushed to the ER only to discover that I have a bad gallbladder. Never fear, that bad boy is coming out tomorrow (May 15th). I am nervous about that, but am confident that things will go as smoothly as possible.
The next morning Dan was in another car accident, which resulted in the total loss of our second car the Elantra. Fortunately, he was not hurt in this incident. We are now the proud owners of two new cars, and thus two new car payments.
I also went in, unexpectedly, for surgery at the beginning of April. That went well, and I am ecstatic that is now behind me.
Now that all of that is out of the way, on to the stuff you all have been waiting for:
Aiden and Natalie are doing very well. Aiden is now 4 1/2 months, and Natalie is anxiously awaiting her 4th birthday. We registered Natalie for pre-school this year. She will be attending the Magothy Coop Preschool in Pasadena. The coop means that parents help out in the classroom, which makes it really nice and personal. As as teacher and a parent I love this idea. At his last appt (April 25th) Aiden was a whopping 17lbs 14oz (95th percentile) and 27 1/4 in (97th percentile...wonder where he gets that from). He started smiling at the end of February, and laughing soon after in the middle of March. His favorite things to laugh at, besides big sister Natalie (whom he adores and gets very upset if she ignores him) is having his feet touch his cheeks, playing peek-a-boo, and jumping up and down either in a jumperoo or on Mommy or Daddy. Around the second week in April I noticed he picked up the drooling habit and was "biting" me a bit. Well, lo and behold on April 18th his bottom two teeth popped through!!!! I still cannot believe it. Natalie was easily 7 months or so before her teeth started coming in. Aiden has been rolling over since late March/early April, and while he has not quite begun to crawl (yes, I realize it is still very early for this) he does dig his toes in, pop his bottom up in the air, and then slide across the floor on his face. It doesn't seem very comfortable, but he is like a little inchworm. I thought I would have several months left before I had to worry about him being mobile. I've said it before, "What am I going to do with a boy???!!!" We have not settled into a routine yet, but we are working on it. With everything that has been going on, it's been difficult, at best, to get anything really productive done.
Natalie is still enjoying ballet very much, and is looking forward to her recital in June (the 14th at Northeast High). She LOVES Aiden, particularly his head, and has been a great big sister. We have experienced a bit of trouble with adjusting to a baby in the house, but all in all I can't complain too much. We have to occasionally remind her to be gentle, but she just wants Aiden around all of the time. She loves to show him how to do things. Dan or I usually have to hold Aiden just so and say (yes we are fed our lines), "Watch Sissy brush her teeth. Aiden, do you see Natalie eating her vegetables?" Both Dan and I have found that our patience is much thinner than it is. Part of that is just the hustle and bustle of life in general, but we are both convinced that at the age of 3/4 children lose their minds. At first I was concerned. I thought it might just be Natalie. But, I see my friends' children and my niece and nephew exhibiting very similar behaviors, and their respective parents also at their wits end. So, it's just the age. Dan will say it is the "willful disregard" of what we tell Natalie, and the endless questions that do us in. Yes, we get the typical "Why" or "How" questions. Those aren't so bad. It's the, "Daddy, tell me what question I want to ask you; " or "Why do I love to collect caterpillars?" When we can't give her the right answers (and how could we since, well, we're not her), she becomes furious!!! Just recently she has been getting into some heavy conversation though. I think a lot of it has to do with the events that have taken place recently, and just natural curiosity. I mean in one night Dan went from explaining the creation of the Earth (big bang theory) through evolution. A few nights later we discussed God, Jesus, and heaven. Natalie wanted to know where heaven is. I thought Dan did a wonderful job explaining it to Natalie. He told her that we can't see heaven until we die and our soul goes there (we had a long discussion about what a soul is, how it gets to heaven, how it gets out of your body, etc.), and because of that people like to pretend it is up in the sky. So, we're thinking that it is definitely time for pre-school, and we're also talking about taking her to church sometime. We just need to find the right place. Probably a local unitarian church, but we'll see. It never ceases to amaze me how bright Natalie is. Yes, she's my child, and I am going to think that. That's cool, because those of you who are parents get to feel the same about your children. I just am in awe of this little person that is a part of Dan and I...even if I want to strangle her at times. I mean she is a typical toddler/preschooler in every sense of the word...good and bad. But, I am so proud of her thoughtfulness, imagination, and compassion. This morning, in fact, she thanked the Earth (something she has been talking about since Earth day) for "being the best planet." Oh yeah, and she gave her brother oxygen the other day by waving flowers in front of his face. This, the result of our conversation about how plants and trees are necessary because they put oxygen in the air that helps us breathe. She's our little tree hugger!!!
So far this year we have taken a few small trips with family. We went to Longwood Gardens early in the year with Dan's family. Even Aiden enjoyed this trip. We also were lucky enough to go to the Baltimore Zoo in April with our cousins from NC. That was a great time, and Natalie enjoyed playing with her cousins Alex, Chloe, Samantha, and Ginny! Well, that's about enough for now!! I am posting some pics, which I know is what you all really want anyhow. I promise we will get more up a.s.a.p. (hopefully Dan will have time to work on that while I am recouping this weekend), and we will be sure to post more blogs.
Hope you are all well!!!!
