Happy (belated) Birthday Poppi Girl!

Poppi's birthday was on 8/22/09 - she turned 12 years old! We were all out of town and couldn't be there to celebrate with her. So last Monday while I was off with Aiden, we took her to 3 Dog Bakery for some special treats and a little walk on the plaza. Poppi gets pretty tired pretty quickly, so the walk was a short walk. That night she got to enjoy a little baseball cupcake for dogs. Enjoy these pics!

Say Cheese!

Poppi, getting hot already.


Poppi, cooling off in the car!

Happy Birthday Dear Poppi!!


Aiden loves his "Poppi Girl".

Scary Dream

Aiden had a bad dream last week and woke up remembering it. This is a first for him, and here is how it happened. He woke up and came into our room at about 1:45am and said he was scared and had a bad dream. He crawled into our bed and Shannon asked him to come with him back to his room/bed. Well, I knew that wasn't going to happen, so Shannon and Poppi went to Aiden's room to sleep while Aiden made himself comfy in our bed (don't worry anyone, this doesn't happen too often). As he lay there with his eyes closed he told me again that he had a bad dream.

Me: It's okay honey, try to think of some happy things.
Him: Like what?
Me: How about rainbows, flowers, Poppi (keep in mind I'm still pretty much asleep).
Him: But mommy, I can't make the bad dream go away, it's still there.

Now, I know I hate it when I'm having a bad nightmare and then try to close my eyes and go back to sleep, but cant' because the dream starts up again. This was one more of those strange firsts that you don't know how to explain or fix it. So, I just rubbed his back and he eventually fell back to sleep.

The next morning I asked Aiden what his dream was about. He said there was a submarine, and a dragon in the garage who made loud noises, "like this, rrrrrraaaaagggghhhh". Where would this have come from? Well, not sure about the submarine part, but a few weeks prior we had been talking about his new school, Border Star and their mascot is the dragon so I guess that's where the dragon came from? Anyway, enjoy some random pics of Aiden.

Yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Neighborhood Block Party

Lunch this summer on the plaza with Mommy.

First (and second) Day of School

Yesterday Aiden had his first day of school. I didn't think I would need to say that for another two years, but he started at Border Star Montessori in Brookside and they start at the age of three. Even though he has been going to daycare for the last three years, it was still much harder than I thought it would be. I guess all the newness and changes: new school, new schedule, new neighborhood, new friends, new teachers, new food, new schedule, no nap time - just a "rest period", new clothes (now wears uniforms), new before & after school program, new schedule (did I say that already?). When I picked him up yesterday, he was in a pretty crabby mood which could have been from one or all of the above mentioned "new" parts of his day. Today, though, he is much better and happier.

The day started yesterday with me wanting to take the traditional - stand in front of the front door on the first day of school picture - but Aiden had other plans.

"Mommy, you're wasting time!"

Daddy and Aiden walking up the sidewalk to school.

Then we got to school and brought all of the needed school supplies into his classroom and met the teacher again. (even though I think about 15 of the 20 items on the list were never considered a school supply when I was a kid).

School Supplies

School Supplies???!!??

We met the principal in the hallway, she is very nice. She asked us again who we were and said she was surprised I wasn't crying. I wanted to so bad, but no other moms were crying, so I held them in and got all teary eyed when Shannon and I left, then cried when I got home.

We practiced the new after school program yesterday. I arrived at school at around 4:45pm and the teacher/care person (not sure yet what they are called) says to me that Aiden is ready to go home. I thought something may have been wrong and asked why. She then tells me that Aiden just told her, "I'm ready to go home now, I need a bath". He looked so tired when I got him. We went to get his back pack and he was so excited to show me the picture he made for me that day, except there was no picture, it got left in the classroom, which by now is locked. So I got the picture today, and it is wonderful!

Today was his second day and when I asked if we could take a picture today by the school sign, he says "No mommy, not today. I'll take one next week.". We also practiced the before school program today. It's not anything like Calvary (darycare) where they greet you when you arrive and if your child is a little fussy or clingy, they immediately swoop in to rescue you so you can leave for work. So, Aiden of course didn't want to go and told me several times that he wanted to go back to Calvary. And yes, that definitely broke my heart! But a wonderful teacher/care person came to my rescue and took Aiden and began coloring with him. She told me to go ahead and leave. I did, and waited outside and didn't hear any crying, so he must have been fine. The before and after school part is going to be the hardest as we don't know any of the kids or staff yet and neither does Aiden. It will get easier right?!