at the park

There is a great park very close to our house which has playground equipment perfect for Aaron's short little legs and lack of coordination.  Most playgrounds are still a bit intimidating for him, but this one is a lot easier.  And less scary for Mommy.  Important.

While we were frequent visitors this summer, these photos are from this past spring when we first tried the playground out.  Pretty significant posting delay.  My bad.

"Yook, Mommy."

Our little nerd loves the abacus.  And I love his nerdiness.  Beautiful combo.

The slide is also a big hit.  (Since this photo series, Aaron is going down by himself.  Hooray!)

Have I mentioned that I love this guy?

And this guy too.

Swings.

Aaron knows he has the best daddy ever.

I can't convince him this isn't a good idea.  I know it's totally classic kid to climb up the slide backwards.  Problem is, Aaron doesn't have those skills.  He just gets stuck and keeps the other kids from coming down.  Sigh.

Sliding is definitely his favorite.

Until he smacks his head on the side of the slide.

Telling me all about his owie.

So, it was time to go. 

We are really trying to savor these last few months as a family of three.  

amanda & greg

A few weekends ago, we flew to Chicago to help celebrate the wedding of my high school best friend, Amanda and her husband, Greg.

We were a bit apprehensive about Aaron's first airplane trip...and rightly so.  He was NOT a huge fan.  Although, you couldn't tell from this photo.

If you look out the window, though, you will realize that his joy is because we were still on the ground.  He was completely unaware of what was to come.  In fact, it kind of hurts my heart to look at the pure innocence on his sweet little face.  Never again.  He is now a world wearied traveler.

He struggled the most during takeoff and landing, as well as during the flight when there were changes in altitude.  He really does not like the funny feeling that you get in your tummy when ascending or descending, and it was scaring him.  We probably should have seen it coming, since he has a pretty deep seated dislike of elevators as well.

So, we spent the entire plane ride holding hands and watching Elmo on our DVD player.

 

Once we arrived in Chicago, all was well again.  Aaron was a big fan of the hotel.  

He and Tutu spent a good chunk of the weekend here - watching TV and playing on her iPad.  We had plans to see more of Chicago, but unfortunately, it just wasn't really feasible with the schedule.  Poor Aaron struggled a bit with the (slight) time change and busy schedule.  It involved a lot of late nights and ridiculously early morning (only for Aaron).  Thankfully, Aaron is addicted to the iPad and Elmo, so staying in the hotel room wasn't really a hardship for him.
 

Here is our only family photo from the wedding.  Partially because I didn't take nearly enough pictures from the weekend and partially because Aaron spent the ceremony in the hotel room and then fell asleep about six minutes in the reception.  What a party animal.

And finally, the newlyweds.  It was a beautiful wedding and we are so glad we were able to be there.

 

For an encore, we'll rinse and repeat in a few weeks, completely with double the airplane rides, twice as much travel time, more pregnant Mommy and a more significant time change.  Bet you can't wait for that blog post.  Yeah, me neither.  :)

Congrats Amanda and Greg!  

three to one

Not that any of you are languishing in suspense, thanks to the.facebook, but I just realized that I never updated the blog about our 20 week ultrasound.

Aaron is having a baby brudder!

We are so excited about a healthy baby and that Aaron will have a fun little buddy.  I think the amount of money we will save on baby clothes and baby gear is also pretty exciting for some of us (specifically, Isaac).  

Aaron still isn't too clear on what this baby thing entails.  My mom and I bought him a baby doll at Target last week and right now, his favorite part is that the baby burps.  He loves to say "Excuse YOU baby."  Oh well, at the very least, we know his brother will entertain him. This is probably the very beginning of many many years of potty humor in my future, huh?

child of my heart

This is the child of my heart...

 Labeling our cabinet doors at two years old.  I am envisioning a long and happy future together, complete with more labels and organization.  I love him.