We took him to see Santa this evening.  He was quite excited.  He actually told Santa a little joke and then told him very clearly that he wanted a train set for Christmas.  I have been looking at Thomas sets and I feel broke just looking at them   He was pretty happy to be sitting up on Santa’s lap.

Then after we left Santa Claus he seemed upset and told us “I’m sad.”  It turns out that Aidan thought that he went to Santa, told him what he wanted for Christmas, and then Santa would give it to him.  Poor little guy.  So we re-explained that Santa has to go make the toys and that he delivers them while boys and girls are sleeping on Christmas Eve. 

It is so cute to see him really getting into the Christmas stuff this year.  He LOVES snowmen and everything he thinks of that he might want he says to us, “Maybe I can get that for Christmas.”

I found the picture we had taken two years ago on my hard drive, and thought it would be cute to post today’s picture beside the one from two years ago to see just how much he has grown!  It almost takes our breath away…well…in truth, it does take our breath away.

I love seeing Christmas through the eyes of my son.  It is the best gift I could possibly get this year. 

Other people pretty consistently ask me if he is 4 or 4 1/2.  They are blown away to find out he just turned 3. I figured his growth may slow down some soon, but it doesn’t seem to be letting up. 

Over the past week or so, he is sleeping 11-12 hours a night and taking a 2 to 2 1/2 hour nap.  I have had to go into his room everyday this week to wake him from his nap lest he sleep too long and turn bedtime into an ugly matter.  This is a LOT of sleep for a 3 year old to be getting.  (I’m NOT complaining, mind you.  It is great!)  He has also been eating like crazy.  He has been asking for a LOT more milk.  Like double his normal amount.  Brandon told me that milk was one of his “growth foods” when he was a kid.  Brandon’s mom confirms that. 

So Brandon and I were looking at him a couple of nights ago and both commented that he looked bigger.  We backed him up against his growth chart and sure enough.  He has grown 1/2 inch in less than 2 weeks.  He is about 41 1/2 tall. 

I can’t tell you how amazing it is to watch him grow this much.  Back in the NICU three years ago, the neos were a little concerned with his length.  He was so IUGR and even when he reached his due date was only 19 inches long.  I guess he is making up for lost time. 

His language skills grow every day.  Lately he is really into experimenting with adjectives.  Describing things as large, small, happy, sad, beautiful, cold…etc, etc.  So darn cute.  He tries his hand at huge words and almost always gets them right.  But even the little mess-ups are amazingly cute.  He tried to say “Boa constrictor” when I was reading him the book “Little Gorilla” the other night.  It came out as “Boa consnicknor”.  Too darn cute!

We were visiting our friend Catherine on Wednesday and he loves her dog Bela.  Suddenly he looked at Catherine and said, “Catherine, Bela is a Vizsla.”

Here he is playing with and feeding Bela.  So far 3 years old is absolutely my favorite age.  Aidan is so much fun right now! 

It was a cold, rainy day here in the Seattle area and we opted to do the Halloween Trick or Treat Event at the local mall (Bellevue Square).  We spent some time trick or treating.  Aidan was much more interested in looking at everybody else’s costumes than getting candy.  At the end of the evening, we went up to the children’s play area where he got to wear himself out.

Then we finished up at Red Robin.  He loves french fries and ranch…just like Dad.  At one point we ran out of fries and used his finger as a “Ranch Delivery Device.”  It was too cute.

He had a great time and I love that he is really going to be so much more into the holidays this year now that he is 3.  Every day brings something new and exciting through the eyes of a 3 year old.  I absolutely LOVE my job. 

The generally accepted rule for adjusting a premature child’s age, is that you go by their due date for the first two years.  But many medical professionals I have encountered (Aidan’s pediatrician included) are beginning to believe that you should adjust a preemie’s age for as many years as they were months early.  (So in Aidan’s case, he was 3 months early, allowing for age adjustment until age 3)  Still other experts believe that you do at least that, and if they were hospitalized past their due date you can adjust even beyong that. 

So it is so interesting to me to watch what Aidan has done socially as of late.  He turned 3 years old on August 30 of this year, but his “due date birthday” is coming up on November 23.  I felt like Aidan was caught up to his peers in pretty much every way by his second birthday except for social skills.  Aidan was certainly the right size for his age (err….downright big for his age).  His intellectual skills are above age in many areas.  For example,  he has known his phonics for many, many months and has had a dozen or so sight words.  He was caught up in his physical milestones save for one foot leaving the ground slightly before the other when he jumped.

Aidan spent a good deal of his first year and a half with not a lot of social contact.  We had immature lungs to deal with.  Oxygen, RSV shots, etc, etc.  So I wasn’t surprised that he progressed well socially but just seemed a few months behind.  It is with that knowledge that I decided no preschool this year.

But this kid has had a crazy developmental week!  Some of the highlights.

• Just suddenly “got” the jumping.  Both feet leaving the ground at the same time.  It is all he wants to do.  Things are taking me 3 times as long because he wants to jump everywhere instead of walk.
• I took him to the Pacific Science Center last Friday.  He was so behaved.  Very curious.  Asking me questions.  Exploring levers, wheels, dinosaur bones, etc.  We went into the Tropical Butterfly Room and he was a perfect angel.  There was a gorgeous blue butterfly that had landed on the ground.  I told him he could get close and watch but NO touching.  I stayed close, fully prepared to yank him away when he tried to touch the butterfly.  He sat there squatting and watching that butterfly for seriously 3-4 minutes.
• He went to storytime at the library with me on Tuesday.  I had my doubts about this too.  The librarian who does the toddler/preschooler storytime is wonderful.  She always chooses a theme, sets out books, stuffed animals, pictures, etc.  She always reads 3 books but breaks up the in between time with interactive songs and the like.  Again, Aidan was an angel.  He loved the song where he got to use his hands to quack like a duck, flap his wings like a chicken, roll in the mud like a pig, hop like a bunny, and so on.  Then she did Ring Around The Rosey.  Aidan cheerfully looked at the little girl next to him and said, “Hold my hand?”  We have a huge fan of Ring Around The Rosey now.
• Aidan went to dinner with Brandon and I and 4 of our friends on Friday.  He was the only little one and he was so well behaved.  He picked up on all the adults saying “Cheers” and clinking our wine glasses.  So Monday night, suddenly, Aidan lifts his sippy cup (looking at Brandon and I) and says “Cheers!!!”  Too cute.
• Whenever he wants to try something by himself he says, “Mommy can watch!”  I love it.  A unique, Aidan way of saying “I’ll do it myself.”
• He is hugging his playmates, giving high-5’s, chasing each other, etc.
• And today at lunch as I was offering him a bite of my pizza, he really threw a curveball my way.  We work on using manners a lot, but with kids this age it takes time.  I could tell he didn’t really want a bite of my pizza and I expected the normal routine of shoving my hand away, but instead he said, “No thank you.”   You could have knocked me over with a feather!!!  I was so proud.

So, in a way, I am convinced that there are aspects of a preemie’s development that really do follow his/her adjusted age.  Aidan is coming up on his “adjusted 3rd birthday” next month and his social behaviors are really falling into line with your average 3 year old.

At this moment in time, I am in awe of my child.  He impresses me so much.  He always finds a way to surprise me with something new he is learning.  He has come so very far from such a rough beginning.  There is no other way to say it….He is my hero.

Some Aidan cuteness from the Science Center….

And last night in the tub.

“I wanna go up the esca-elevator!”  Pointing to the escalator at the mall.

“Mommy WATCH! Aidan do it with teacher Dana!”  grabbing my hand and sitting me  down on the sidelines in Little Gym because he wanted to be a big kid and do his warmup without mommy’s help. 

“I love you forever” after reading the book before bed with Daddy.

“Let’s go pay for this” after picking up pretty much anything that catches his eye in any store lately.

“Maybe for Christmas” which is what I have been telling him with pretty much every toy he wants recently.

 Below are a couple of cute shots in the last week or so.  We took him to the Mariners’ last game of the season and he fell asleep on Brandon near the end of the game. 

And here he is out at the driving range with Dad.  Brandon says he is getting pretty good. 

A visit to the zoo with Aidan’s friend Jaymin.  Jaymin is also an almost 28 weeker almost exactly 1 year younger.  They really enjoyed each other as you can see by the game of chase that ensued.

I really want to instill a sense of self confidence in Aidan surrounding this issue, so I don’t want to be too pushy. But I was getting the sense that perhaps Aidan needed a gentle nudge in the right direction.

I felt lost as to what to do. It seems there are a million different methods of potty training with no one method being right for every child. I decided to start with the easiest thing to deal with. Going peepee at home while awake.

I have tried Pull-ups on him a few times and he seems to think they are just a diaper. So, last Monday I went to the store and just bought some “big boy underwear”. I put them on him while he is awake and at home. On the first afternoon (last Monday), he just wet them every time and didn’t even seem distressed. Ugh. Did I really have a child who just doesn’t care if he feels wet?

The next day, I set up more of a schedule…or mommy training as I have heard it called. He goes as soon as he wakes up in the morning or from a nap, before meals, and at set intervals in between. I am surprised to say this has been going pretty well. We have had very few accidents in that 8 days time. Maybe 4 peepee accidents and 2 poop incidents. He is elated to put a Disney Cars sticker on his potty chart every time he goes peepee.

I attempted to have him do a bowel movement on his potty, but he got scared. It seems he is not ready for this step yet. I can’t believe his ability to understand things sometimes. I told him, “Mommy understands you’re scared about pooping in the potty. Just go peepee, Mommy will put on a diaper for you to poop in, and then we can clean you up and put your big boy underwear back on.” He looked relieved and that’s exactly how it went.

Now I am looking for advice. How long might it take Aidan to start coming to me to tell me he needs to go potty instead of me scheduling him more or less? Or is this how it works for a while? Does anybody have any ideas for getting over the poopy fears other than the 3 books we already have? Other general helpful ideas about this….I feel like I am flying blind!

And since I have a hard time posting without including a cute Aidan pic, here are a couple from a couple of Saturdays ago when he heard me blowdrying my hair and came in to try it. He said, “Aidan do it. Mommy watch.” Toooo darn cute!

Aidan has NO fear of dogs whatsoever.  He wants to pet every dog we see.  He loves it when his face gets licked.  Most kids are annoyed or scared by this, but not our boy.  I am trying to instill respect for dogs he doesn’t know, but not fear.  So we are working on him asking the owner of the dog if the dog likes to be petted.

Last Sunday, Catherine and Bela met up with Aidan and I at the park.  Catherine brought Bela’s ball thrower and Aidan was simply giddy. 

I have a feeling that 3 years old is going to be a ton of fun. 

Mommy and Aidan watching the ducks.

Mommy and Aidan getting ready to play fetch with Bela.  “Come on girl!”

“How exactly does this work, Mommy?  Show me.”

This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole summer!  Doesn’t he look like he is having a blast?

We have had a great week here in Seattle as far as the weather goes.  It was in the high 70’s and it was perfect weather for sneaking in a few more glorious days outside at the park.  I went online and found some parks we had not yet been to in the area.  I get bored going to the same ones time after time.

We went to one park on Thursday afternoon and then different ones on Friday morning and then Friday evening when Brandon got home.  Aidan is in his element outside.  He loves to have the freedom to run freely.  He really seems to love the open space.  I have heard that children learn differently just from playing outside and I don’t doubt it a bit.

On Friday morning, we found a park with a sandbox.  Wow, does Aidan love sandboxes!  Here comes the thing I can’t believe I heard at a playground.

Mom to boy about 2 years old who is picking up bark and scooping sand with his hands, “Eww!!!  Don’t do that!  That is dirty!  Come over to the swings.”

Ummm…SERIOUSLY?   I had to exercise a lot of self restraint not to blurt out, “You do know you brought him to a playground, don’t you?”  Yikes.  I feel sorry for a kid who is not allowed to explore and get dirty when he is playing outside.  Isn’t that part of the point?

Here are some cute pictures from our recent outdoor adventures.

A peekaboo through a tunnel on the playground equipment.

A really tall slide he LOVED.

I loved this picture because he was going back and forth on this little “bridge” several times letting both his hands graze the bars and listening to the musical noise he made while going across. I love watching children explore and learn like that.

Showing Dad some of his climbing skills.

Fun in the sandbox.

He gets such grownup looks sometimes when he is thinking. Brandon captured this gem.

We ended the Friday of park outings with a trip to Red Robin. By the end, Aidan was resting on Brandon and telling me “I’m so tired.” I actually managed to tire him out! Pat me on the back!

My brother and sister-in-law threw a wonderful birthday party for Aidan and once he figured out we were singing Happy Birthday to him, he was so delighted!  Check out the excitement on this kid’s face. 

Life is so good it hurts. 

So cute and getting so sure of himself in his body and trying new things. Like climbing up onto things not anchored to the wall…yeah, gotta fix that one.

And this picture is bittersweet. Aidan turns 3 in less than 2 weeks. (He is almost 36 months actual and 33 months if you adjust for his prematurity) But does the picture below look like a 3 year old? DH and I were blown away when I downloaded these from the camera last night. My husband said, “Geez, where did our toddler go? He looks at least 4 in that picture!”

I love you Aidan. You are my daily reminder that life is miraculous and wonderful in ways I could never have imagined before you.