Baby Aidan comes to play!

January 22:  This little cutie came over to my house Monday morning to play. How nice! Aidan is really on the move around here. It took all I had to keep up with him!

 I'm so glad he likes the Beach House. He and I are getting used to doing a one-on-one. That's good. I like one-on-one's with my grandchildren. You can learn so much about a child when you can just focus on THAT child instead of MANY.

 This little tool cart has been around since before my dear Ems was born. I purchased it on her behalf when Diana was carrying her in utero. It is getting a little bit beat up, but still has most of its parts and the wheels still roll and everything. Aidan looks SO TINY standing beside it, doesn't he? He is my shortest grandbaby yet.

 However, even with all of the wonderful toys I have around here, Aidan was far more interested in what was in my cupboards! So ... I washed dishes while he explored.

 Look at his little round head and those cute little boots! Yikes. I could eat this child up. We had a very nice time together.

Kelly sent a bottle with us. Aidan is still nursing and Kelly has found some very authentic bottles (nipple-wise). So I was able to cuddle up with this soft and warm baby while he drank his bottle. I thought perhaps he had fallen asleep--but when the milk was gone, he was UP! That's OK. I enjoyed every minute with you, dear Aidan!

Two pictures I missed posting ...

The Thursday afternoon that Brendan and I went sledding, I took these pictures of Dylan and baby Aidan. I can't believe I forgot to post them. I posted the top one on Facebook and got SO MANY "likes" that I was shocked.

 But look at little Aidan! He had learned to clap his hands that week and was showing me how he does it. When I got my camera out, he smooched up his little face, shrugged his shoulders and clapped his darling dimpled hands. And Dylan! He SO enjoys this tiny boy. I love this pictures of them so much.

I believe Dylan likes being a father. I'm so glad he does. He sure has two beautiful little boys to father!

We have a guest on Saturday ...

January 20:  Christopher called Saturday, early afternoon, and asked if we could invite Tyler to spend some time with us! Yes, certainly, I said. There is only one problem with the kids bringing friends--not enough car space to bring them all together! Thankfully, the boys were transported separately (by Diana) to and from.

We ate a nice hearty meal of meatballs, mashed potatoes, broccoli and pasta, corn ... and everyone seemed pleased! Kaity didn't eat very much, but she rarely does. She was okay though. Except ... Kaity really loves to play with me one-on-one and that was challenging this week.  

 Surprisingly, Emma allowed me to take a few pictures of her! Shock. I put them on FB and got SO MANY comments about how beautiful she is. Well, she is!! I love her so much.

Kaity and I played with the Playdoh for quite a long time. Thankfully, Matthew joined in as well. 

 Kaity is a tiny dictator when it comes to playing. She was giving out design "orders" like crazy. Matthew and I could barely keep up with her requests for "doggies, dog houses, blankets", etc. But it was fun getting the colors out and seeing what we could make.

 Kaity was super pleased.

 Matthew is a very capable 3D artist. Me--not so much. Below is a friendly dragon creature that Matthew made. I like it!

 Tyler and Chris are best friends. Tyler is an interesting person. I'm glad these two enjoy each other so much. I remember what it was like to have a close friend at this age. It's very important and truly special.

These two got on my PhotoBooth program and made hilarious movies for the longest time. I may have to delete a few of the longer ones because of the space it takes up on my computer. 

The "big" kids played APPLES TO APPLES for a little while.

 But Kaity and I just did Playdoh! I'm glad we could carve out some one-on-one!

We go sledding ...

January 18:  Since the weather warmed up into the 30's, AND since a warm-up was predicted for the coming week, Thursday evening was a good time to go sledding. Brendan and I layered up and drove over to the Kroc Center, not far from his house.

 The Center has an official sliding hill, with a nice staircase up and a good safe sledding hill.

 Brendan was ready! He had such a blast.

 It's a pretty fast hill ...

 I loved his crash landing ...

So did Brendan! It cracked him up. He kept saying, "This is WILD, grandma!"

 Look how much he is enjoying himself! We had the entire hill to ourselves!

I was brave enough to down 2x ... but ... butt (actually) having broken my coccyx two different times in my life, I decided two was enough for me.

 Brendan played at the playground for quite awhile. Good thing we were dressed in multiple layers.

I loved doing this with you, Brendan! I will always remember it. 

Aidan is the sweetest baby ...

January 15:  I had some "extra" free time on my day off last Monday and offered to spend some time with this little baby cakes ...

 Aidan is a delightful little person. He gets all smiley and bouncy when I come into his house. Yes!

Dylan and Kelly both had to work, so Aidan and I held down the fort while the folks were away. We played with lots of nice toys ... look at his darling toesies! 

 Aidan is very engaging, VERY social. I love every chunky, dimply inch of him!

 ... especially his scrunchy-face smile! 

Love you, wee baby!

NNYLTIAK?

January 13:  I took the four kiddos to see "Star Wars" today. Good thing I didn't care too much about the storyline. Kaity (naturally) was not terribly interested in the movie, so we were in and out quite a bit. No problem. I fully expected that was how it would go! Thankfully, Emma, Chris and Matt liked the movie! We came "home" at about 4:30, ate our yummy french toast and sausages, and then played for a few hours.

We had a Bible lesson on "LOVE" and read I Corinthians 13 together, talking about WHO GOD IS and how the love chapter defines Him so beautifully. We also spent a lot of time talking about what love really is and how to better love each other. The boys had a particularly awful few hours with their attitudes about each other, so we spent a little time in I Corinthians 3 as well, talking about buildings and what kinds of building we are doing in others' lives. It was a good time, really! Kaity was patient and listened carefully throughout. 

 Kaity's attention span has broadened since attending Readiness K. She enjoys coloring much more now AND she colors for longer periods of time. 

 Kaity was very pleased with her colorful pooch picture ...

 She decided she would write her name on her paper, just like she does at school.

 When I saw the finished result, I commented to Kaity how nicely she had done her letters.

She was pleased to hear that ... I then asked her if I could WATCH her write her name ...

Kaity very carefully and purposefully wrote her name in almost 100% mirror image! 

 I asked her if she wished for me to read what she had written. "Sure, Grandma. It says my name." I told her it didn't say her name! She was a little upset with me! I asked her if she wanted me to read what she had written, and she agreed, so I sounded out "Nnyl-ti-ak" and asked if that was her name?

 "No, grandma!" "That NOT my name," she said with a tiny laugh. So I asked if I could write her name underneath where she had written hers. After I was finished, I told her that it said "Kaitlynn" which sounds a lot different than "Nnyl-ti-ak." She agreed and then asked if she could copy mine.

Kaity did a very nice job, too! I hope you know that I wasn't mocking Kaity; nor was I giving her a hard time or being "mean" about her letters. She has learned a lot in these first few months of school! I just wanted her to be aware of how her name really looks when it is written front-wards. She gave me a big hug after and a big smile too!