March 11

Wednesday:  TODAY is Aidan's 3rd birthday! This is Aidan on the day he was born, very fresh from the womb actually. 

 I spent some time yesterday over at Aunt Candie's Toy Company in Rockford, trying to find just the right presents for this dear laddie. I got an "odd" assortment of little things that I hope he will like.

 I made Aidan a special Matey card ...

 It's kind of a pop-up card ... I know, it's not exactly authentic in the pop-up department, but Aidan will like it--I know this little guy.

 Matey flew over to inspect the presents before I wrapped them up.

Brendan Time:  I picked Brendan up from school at 3:00 and we drove over here for a short time. We played with Matey-Bird because he is so much fun. And Brendan and I read a lot of Jack Hanna's book about animals again today. We have a lot of fun learning about weird animal facts.

 We ate a very nice meal and just hung out for awhile. Isn't Brendan getting so grown-up looking? WELL, NOT grown-up--but certainly not a baby. I love him so much. He is a very precious person.

The Birthday Boy:  We drove back to Brendan's house early tonight so that I could visit with Aidan and give him his presents. This first picture is actually NOT from me--it's from Aidan's "Unca Sane" (this is how Aidan says it). Isn't it a great gift? Aidan was so pleased to show me every little thing about it. This is the nicest little race track I have ever seen! Good job, Shane! 

 Baby Erin was all in the party spirit ...

 I think Aidan liked his "noculars" best. He wasn't completely sure about Maxwell (the monkey puppet), although Brendan LOVED it. I have watched Aidan with MY puppets, and he even has little voices he uses when he has them on his hand--so perhaps he will warm up to Maxwell eventually.

 Here he is with his purple magnifying glass. Brendan let me know a few weeks ago that PURPLE is Aidan's favorite color.

 Here is little sissy trying it out too ...

 Isn't she something? She absolutely kills me.

 Here is Aidan giving me a "Hi Paw", which always, 100% of the time, brings out every single one of my tickle bugs ...

 Here is baby Erin, darling little one, saying "Cheese" for my camera one more time. Oh.my.word.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AIDAN PAUL!