Aaron Lost His First Tooth

It was late Friday night and Alex couldn't wait any longer. "AARON!! JUST LET MOM PULL IT OUT!!" Aaron wasn't sure about it. After he ate a whole apple (to get it more wiggly) he let me pull it out. And he was so excited.

The tooth fairy gives $2 a tooth these days.

Aaron's 2 wheel bike

Aaron asked to ride his two wheel bike, and after 6 months of it sitting untouched in the garage, he rode it like a pro. Back in the spring his training wheels broke and we thought it was a good time to try it without training wheels. He gave it a try, but mostly rode his scooter all summer. Now he rides all the time and even goes for rides with Chris.

Born to be a big brother

Aaron enjoys Jacob so much each day it makes my heart smile. Aaron will pick up Jacaob and take him on little tours of the house. "C'mon Jakee, come check this out." And he will swing him gently or put him in front of a mirror which sends Jacob into fits of laughter because he is thrilled to be hanging in mid air.

This is Jacob's favorite move "the backwards belly slide" where Aaron pulls Jakers by the feet.

Sweet hugs

(Please don't call child services on me but...) Jacob loved being Aaron's wheelbarrow.

Jacob in his church clothes.

Aaron's learning how to ride his bike

A couple days ago Aaron's training wheel fell off mid ride. After he fell (onto grass) he had this perplexed look on his face, like "what am I going to do now?". He looked at me and I said "well it looks like a good time to learn to ride without training wheels, huh?"

Aaron's First Day of Preschool

Aaron is now going to preschool at St. Martha School on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We are familiar with the school and teacher because Alex went there 2 years ago and had a great experience.

Sweet Aaron, the first thing he said to me this morning was "Mom, I don't want to get dropped." Alex then translated and said "He doesn't want to get dropped off at school." We talked about it a bit then he happily ran to get his shoes on and he was thrilled to get his hair combed. He put on his backpack and was ready for his picture on the front step.

As Chris was taking the picture, Aaron looked excited and happy. Then Chris told Aaron "Say 'I'm going to school today!'" and Aaron repeated the words. Then Chris took this next picture. As Aaron said those words he choked up and almost cried. It was almost like he was thinking to himself "what I am I getting in to?"
Aaron is such a good kid. Even though he was nervous, Chris took him to his class and he went happily. I am so excited to pick him up and ask him how everything went.

Could he get any cuter?

Aaron loves baby Jacob more than anything. I am not exaggerating. He is so much more affectionate since Jacob was born and being around the baby makes him so happy.

Alex was playing a game with Chris last night where Alex would think of an object and give Chris one hint as to what it was. Chris would then guess what the object was. Alex's hint one time was "this is my favorite thing" after lots of guesses Chris said "Jacob?" and with a big smile Alex said "yes".

I never get tired of this...

Dads taking naps with sons.

Aaron's 4th Birthday

Aaron turned 4 yesterday and it was the best day ever. Chris took the day off work, rode bikes in the morning, got Alex off to school, took Aaron to the zoo and to see a movie. Chris and Aaron came home to a surprise party. Which Aaron met with mixed emotions. All the kids jumped out and said "surprise" - Aaron said "That was too loud!" and then he cried. Until he saw his presents of course. Then the party was on.

This morning, Aaron was ready to assemble his Lego Buzz before breakfast. They had a great morning.

Aaron, our little man

Aaron dressed up for Easter. (and looks pretty happy about it) I love these shots of him looking at himself in the mirror. His face is priceless. Thank you Grandma!

Letter Sandwiches

...make our day. We have a set of alphabet cookie cutters which have been useful for much more than just cookies. Aaron and Alex are both learning how to read so it was very exciting to eat each letter or take bites of it to make new letters or rearrange the letters or think of new words that start with that letter. So fun.

What did the Pioneers Eat?

Thats the big question at dinner tonight. We decided we had no idea what pioneers at on the trail and we need to do some research. Every time Aaron got a chance to talk he said "HOTDOGS!" Aaron was sure they ate hotdogs. We kept giving him reasons why they didn't have hotdogs on the trail. My third reason why they didn't have them was "They didn't have refridgerators. Where would they put the hot dogs?" and to that he answered "IN A BUN!"

Aaron's Dry All Night!

We have potty training bliss at our house. Aaron started going on the potty yesterday and stayed dry all through the night. He is so sweet. This picture was taken just after he went first thing this morning. When he layed down the couch with his treat, he said to himself "What a great day."

Its been totally different than with Alex. (of course) Aaron will only empty his bladder completely if I am out the bathroom. When its been about 2 hours I ask him "Aaron, do you want a potty treat? You go the bathroom and I'll get the treat. When you are done say 'I did it!' and I'll bring in the potty treat." It seems to work. He is not to the point where he will tell me when he needs to go, but he will hold it until I ask him. I am so excited. 

Easter and Aaron's Birthday

This weekend was our three day celebration extravaganza. It started out with Saturday and Breakfast with the Bunny, which was an event held at Impression 5 our local science museum.  It was great. Easter egg hunts, dying eggs, baby chicks, a guy dressed up in a bunny suit. It was the commercial side of Easter wonderfully done. Aaron and Alex chose one friend to come and they chose Sarah a girl in Alex's church class. The three of them had a blast together. 

Aaron's birthday was Sunday and we had a wonderful day at church. During nursery Aaron came out from under the table and participated in the lesson, which is a big deal for him. Alex got asked to give a talk in primary and he is already planning that out for next Sunday. Then we opened family birthday presents and Aaron slept happy holding his Indiana Jones Action Figure. 

Today we had Aaron's birthday party at a huge indoor playground called Castaway Cafe. It was awesome. The best part of the whole party was when we started singing happy birthday to Aaron and he sweetly smiled to himself. (and then he ducked his head under the table) We love Aaron and love getting to know him better every day. 

Bunny Ears and Lego Ships

The boys think that the kitchen table is the most exciting place to be in the whole house. 

Alex is a master lego builder now. He worked on this ship for a couple days. And he has made a million adjustments to it since I took this picture. He invests so much time into one project that if it falls on the floor and breaks, he can put it back to together exactly as it was. Alex's lego knowledge amazes me. I can take the tiniest little piece and say "Alex, what set did this come in?" and he will tell me the exact set. He has like 15 different sets. 

Aaron and I went to the Library's story time and he made his very first set of bunny ears. After he made them he said he was going to give them to Alex. So as we drove to Alex's school he held them on his lap and became very attached to them because just before Alex got in the car he said "I not going to give this to Alex" Then he wore them for the next couple days. This was a big deal for Aaron because he rarely gets in to crafts. 

Aaron's Prayer

Aaron is starting to say prayers. Its very sweet. He usually says "Thank you for this day. Thank you for Mom, Dad, and Alex. Thank you for the food. Amen" 

Today he was holding Buzz under one arm and holding Woody in the other. He folded Woody's Arms and said "Heavenly Father, thank you for Buzz, and Bullseye, and Zurg, Amen."

It was amazing to see that he was thinking through Woody's perspective and praying appropriately. I love that kid. 

Aaron's Haircut

Before

After