More shots from our photography session this weekend. We brought his Curious George along since that has been his nighttime buddy for well over a year. We thought it would be special to get some shots with Aidan and Curious George together. Enjoy!
Archive for November, 2008
For those of you not extremely familiar with all of the preemie lingo, today is Happy 3rd “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda” Day for our amazing Aidan. Today, November 23, is the day he was due to arrive 3 years ago. Instead, he had already been alive for over 12 weeks. I have our family pictures taken every year right around this time because it is sentimental for me. It is a way of celebrating Aidan’s birthday on the day it should have been.
I will take some time later on today to post some more of the beautiful photographs taken of us at our photo session this weekend, but for now here are a couple of pictures that make my eyes well up with amazement and gratitude. (The first is Aidan on his due date 3 years ago, and the second is Aidan today.)
We love you Aidan. You are truly amazing.
Aidan is already so darn tall! I love it that he is going to be a tall guy. His pediatrician thinks he will most likely be taller than Brandon (who is 6′2″). He figures Aidan may end up somewhere around 6′4″ to 6′6″. Crazy!
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!
Ok, so I am pretty sure I have been a Democrat since I vaguely knew what “defined” Democrats and Republicans. My parents were basically Dems. My Dad being mostly a Dem, though he voted for Reagan both times. And my Mom a Dem, voting for Reagan once I believe. My sis is a Dem and my bro…well, I can’t always figure him out politically. He has voted for Ross Perot, Clinton, Bush 43…he is all over the map.
I grew up in a pretty smallish town in the center of North Dakota named Minot. Population 35,000. North Dakota is a very rural state. Really there are only 4 towns that have more than 30,000 people in them. Lots of farming there and a couple of very prominent Air Force Bases in Minot and Grand Forks. It is barren, mosquito laden in the summer, and ridiculously cold in the winter (like 80 degrees below zero cold for 2 days in my senior year of high school….TOO frickin cold!) I am not really sure why people choose to live there. Sorry to all my buddies still living there!
The state of ND has voted Republican for president every election since I have been alive. So you can imagine that I always felt in the minority to consider myself a Democrat. My family was low-middle to low income and my dad managed to raise 3 kids on a salary that would make your head spin. I have always felt deeply that government really should do what they can to help a family like the one my dad supported to succeed. Not to give us a handout…but to make that kind of life liveable for a hardworking man trying to keep his wife at home and raise 3 kids.
The first presidential election I could vote in was 1992. I still lived in ND…I was in my senior year of college. I knew my vote for President Clinton would be a “waste” because my state would go Republican, but I just didn’t care. I felt so proud to cast that vote. The only voting experience that has surpassed that was yesterday’s. I went to my polling place and it was busy. I knew the vote I was casting would probably help Barack Obama carry a state (Washington) that has gone blue for several elections now.
The enormity of casting a vote for the first black presidential candidate felt amazing. There are very few black people where I grew up, and all of them I knew only because I lived in one of the two military base towns. Otherwise, I can say I would not have known any until at least college and maybe later. I have heard a lot of racist attitudes growing up in a place like that. I was heartened to hear that my 85 year old grandfather cast his vote for Barack Obama yesterday. I was sincerely MOVED. This is a man that has some racism in himself and yet, cast it aside because he honestly felt that Obama was the man for the job.
Brandon and I watched the returns last night with Aidan and our dear friend Catherine. When the clock hit 8pm (PST) we just knew it was coming. Our state of Washington was one of the 3 that were called for Obama at 8pm and pushed him over the 270 electoral votes. We were all in tears. Watching the 200,000 people in Grant Park was inspiring. It was wonderful to me that such a huge moment in the history of our country was witnessed by our 3 year old son. He will not remember it, but I am so happy he was here to witness it all.
Obama’s speech was nothing short of inspirational. Again we were moved to tears. Instead of gloating, Obama reached out. I am very proud to be in a country where anything is possible. What a historic election. For the first time, we can honestly tell all of our children that anything is possible for them. And that is change we can believe in. :-)
Today I cast my first vote for my son’s future. I have voted in every election since I was eligible, but this was the first where I took a whole new set of priorities with me when I darkened in the circles on my ballot. Today was the first time I voted in the interests of a child and not just my interests. It really felt wonderful and patriotic. I can honestly say that the excitement of voting today beat out my excitement of the first presidential election in which I could vote—1992.
We are having a very small election night gathering here this evening and I hope to be going to bed with a feeling of peace in my heart and hope in my mind. Cross your fingers, everybody.
This was really Aidan’s first Halloween that he seemed to fully grasp the idea of trick or treating. The day started off with a Halloween lunch at Brandon’s office. They wanted the families and kids to come in, share lunch, and trick or treat around the office.
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.
