OCD and Randomness

I am waiting on the arrival of a few new pics to put in frames, so in the meantime I put the frames out where they will go. The pic for this white frame will be horizontal, so I keep putting the frame horizontally on the table----that way it matches the other end table that already has a horizontal pic in the white frame. This calms my OCD.

Aaron is very much bothered by the fake people laying on their sides. So every time he comes in the room he flips the frame over. This calms his OCD.

Every time I walk back in I flip the frame over. It has continued this way for about a week and a half. He doesn't ask any questions. He just rights the wrong. And so do I.

Aaron's way:

My way:

Leland and Aaron did not plan their outfits, but it made for a cute photo op.

Aaron always comes home from Susie's with artwork. It is one of the many things we love about "our Susie". He has been using scissors for about a year and he is really becoming more accurate. The other day Susie traced his hands and cut out the two that are on the right side of the paper. Aaron cut out the one on the left all on his own! And he did ALL the taping, of course! :)

He likes to practice his capital and lowercase A. His strokes are getting stronger. He says, "down, down, and across" as he makes his capital A, and "a little circle, and a tail" as he makes his lowercase A.

He can recognize A, B, C, D, E, F, I, J, K, M, O, S, V, and Z out of sequence, as well as numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10 out of sequence. He still says his ABC's and now he can count to 20 with the exception of missing 15 every time. :)

His letters are the very bottom row.

He has a new pool. And swimsuits of course, it's just that the sun hasn't been lasting long enough lately to risk changing into a suit and getting back outside before it goes away.

I need to find out if 3 year old soccer is offered around us. He loves it and he is getting pretty good at aiming his kicks and passes.

Papa Owns the World and Some Extra Pics

Aaron has become an expert precision driver on his big wheel over the past couple of weeks that he has owned it. Although it is low to the ground we want to begin the routine of bike=helmet now.

I may have mentioned before that Aaron's head is.... larger.... than 99.9% of kids his age (I actually have a growth chart----several growth charts to prove that----I'm not exaggerating). So after much searching we found a helmet that fits Aaron properly, is rated well be consumer reports, and is comfortable. It is a Bell Trigger in case anyone else is in the youth bike helmet market. Yes, youth size, not toddler size. Oh boy.

A pretty sunset from our patio the other night.

Aaron affectionately calls the capitol building in Salem, "Papa's Capitol". Since Papa works there, he clearly owns the place. And also the golden man at the top of it, according to Aaron. Whenever we come into Salem over the bridge Aaron spots the golden man and says, "there's my Papa's capitol! And there is his golden man!"

So today Papa took us all the way to the top of his capitol to see his golden man up close. Minnie Mouse came along (of course) and Aaron did a great job going all the way up and all the way down on his own. On the way there he assured Minnie that he would hold Papa's hand in case Papa started to fall. Minnie thought that was smart.

Samurai

Aaron always wants to do anything daddy does. The other day he wanted to wear daddy's workout shorts. They were a bit big, so I clipped them at the back.

Leland decided Aaron looked just a BIT like a Samurai.

The sword completed the look!

Baby Add-o-lyn

On Tuesday Aaron and I got to play with Addilyn (Ben's little sister). We had so much fun!

Aaron put a lot of energy into discussing what Addilyn may or may not like to play with. The criteria were fuzzy and soft. Toys that did not meet the criteria were deemed "not for Add-o-lyn" by Aaron.

He also checked out his old infant seat to make sure Addilyn would like it.

When Addilyn arrived Aaron wasted no time getting her acquainted with his house.

Check out the video. Isn't she such a happy baby?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lTnQ5nS320

Minnie Mouse Herself

About a week and a half ago, Aaron became a victim of gender stereotyping. We were shopping for new, bigger underwear when he spotted a package of adorable pink and purple underwear featuring Minnie Mouse. He wanted THOSE underwear and no other ones. It took some explaining to get him to understand that Minnie and pink and purple weren't the problem, it was the way the underwear were made that wouldn't suit him.

He settled, and I do mean settled, for some "boy" underwear featuring Mickey. I suggested we find a stuffed Minnie in the store to take home along with the disappointing Mickey underwear. "Minnie Mouse Herself?!", he asked. "Yes, buddy, Minnie Mouse Herself", I said. Unfortunately, Minnie was nowhere to be found.

That night I ordered a stuffed Minnie to match his Mickey and Goofy that he already has. Tonight she arrived.

"Minnie Mouse Herself!", he shouted. "Where did you find her?!" I told him I ordered her on the computer and that she came in the mail. "You should order Donald on the computer too!" he said as he pointed to the computer. :)

The car seat in the living room is another story.