Aden had such a great time at his Elmo party! He got to dance, and play with a ball and find Elmo and he saw candy appear out of thin air during teh magic show! Yay Elmo!

Lola and Papa have been in Spain and Aden has missed them a lot. So to celebrate their return, we made a "WELCOME HOME" banner and put it on their door. Aden carefully picked out just the right colors he wanted to use. It was like watching Picasso really.

Aden went around the corner to get a ball the other day and when he was taking too long, I walked around to find him completely dressed and in the pool with a great big grin. So, I stripped him down and let him play. He had a ball. He's such a fish!

Aden has a giant frog next to his bed and we've been finding him sleeping on it lately. I think he gets up as soon as I close his door at night and lays on his froggie friend and falls asleep there. Don't worry, I put him back in bed. But he sure likes this frog!

Aden's teacher told me today that when they have to send Aden to "No No" (their version of time out), it doesn't seem to bother him. But if they put his bear in "No No," it breaks his heart and he does whatever he needs to to fix the situation. So now Bear goes to "No No" instead of Aden and it seems to be working. Way to take one for the team Bear!

I got a call from Aden's school yesterday - he fell at lunch and chipped his tooth on the table. I'm surprised I didn't see this coming. He has no fear, he jumps and runs and slides like a madman. I'm just sad for my poor baby's beautiful smile. He has always had the whitest, most perfect little set of straight teeth. We're watching it for the next few days or so to make sure there's no real injury. Poor Aden!

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I love you!

Aden is almost two. I'd like to say I can hardly believe it, because in a lot of ways that's a true statement. But the fact is that he amazes me so much each day that I sometimes wonder if he's not just a bit older.

He can sing his ABC's, he can count to 20 (even though he often skips 14 - that ones a toughie!), he can sing lots of other songs too, he knows all kinds of shapes, he knows lots of colors (although he often pretends to get them confused, in private moments he proves that he really does know them) and he can name tons of animals and their animal sounds. He can tell you who we're going to see as soon as we get close to their house. He can name all types of different transportation, he can play the harmonica (mommy thinks he plays beautifully) and is just, in general, really REALLY funny. I love his humor. He's all business, but when he gives hugs and kisses they are straight from the heart. He is gentle and kind, but full of life.

On the day he was born I thought I could never love someone more. But every day, he proves me wrong.

Aden "graduated" toddler classes and will be entering the first stage of pre-school this summer. Although he doesn't officially move to the pre-school classes until August, his teachers gave him a framed poem that brought a tear or two to my eyes. It was really sweet, and is now hanging on the office wall right under our college diplomas. (hope you can read it on here, you might have to click the picture to make it larger.)

After a full day in the sun at the water park (and no nap), Aden was ready to go to sleep 2 hours before bedtime. We didn't want him to go to sleep so early though or we might be woken up before dawn the next morning. So here's a little video of us trying to keep Aden awake....