Sometimes Mommy and Daddy ask me to do things that I don't want to do. For instance, when I want to play with toys, Mommy and Daddy wil insist that I get dressed or take a bathroom break. Fortunately, I've learned a new tactic to deal with these unpleasant situations. As long as I don't "hear" what they're saying, I clearly don't have to follow their requests. The trick is to selectively "hear" stuff. If they offer something good like "do you want to play with toys with Mommy and Daddy" my hearing is very keen. Offering something bad like "it's time to get dressed" calls for the selective hearing function.
Somehow, Mommy and Daddy don't like this strategy.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Monday, February 21, 2005
Expanding on the restroom art
Today I expanded on the Daddy's restroom sign art (mentioned in the last post). I added lots of doorknobs so people can go in. Then I added a second figure next to the lady in the circle and the man in the circle because I really like the bathrooms that are shared by both sexes. (These usually have URINALS, which I do not get to use in Mommy-only bathrooms.) Finally, I added out of order signs on top of the bathroom symbols. (I was strongly effected by some out of order bathrooms at the park recently.)
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Comments
You will notice I've gone to a new commenting program. The earlier one had many problems and recently decided to stop saving old comments from past posts. That was enough to get me to switch.
Shapes and Their Meanings
The other day, Daddy and I were painting together at my easel. Daddy decided to paint some shapes and asked what shape I'd like to see. I said, "Triangle." So Daddy painted the outline large blue triangle. I immediately connected this with another example of a big blue triangle---the official sign for the Daddy bathroom in stores and restaurants. I asked Daddy to paint the little person who stands in the center of this sign.
Next, I asked for a circle. This, of course, is the symbol for the Mommy bathroom, so I asked Daddy to draw the stick lady who lives in the center of this symbol as well.
Next, I asked for a circle. This, of course, is the symbol for the Mommy bathroom, so I asked Daddy to draw the stick lady who lives in the center of this symbol as well.
Friday, February 18, 2005
Hugs: A Taxonomy
I really like hugs, especially at night. Hugs come in several varieties so I thought I would clue you in about the differences:
1. Straight hug: A straight hug is when Mommy or Daddy picks me up and holds me to his or her chest while standing straight up. I put my arms around their shoulders and rest my head there as well.
2. Sandwich: A sandwich is a straight hug where both parents squish me in the middle so that I am the "cheese" in the hug sandwich. Mommy and Daddy are the bread.
3. Regular hug: This is a hug where both I and the hugger remain seated.
4. Hug guys: This is a Daddy thing where I'm squirming around and the "hug guys" come and scoop me up for a quick hug.
5. Pancake: This is a hug where I'm lying on the floor and (typically) Daddy semi-squishes me.
I like hugs. I'm less of a big fan of kisses however.
1. Straight hug: A straight hug is when Mommy or Daddy picks me up and holds me to his or her chest while standing straight up. I put my arms around their shoulders and rest my head there as well.
2. Sandwich: A sandwich is a straight hug where both parents squish me in the middle so that I am the "cheese" in the hug sandwich. Mommy and Daddy are the bread.
3. Regular hug: This is a hug where both I and the hugger remain seated.
4. Hug guys: This is a Daddy thing where I'm squirming around and the "hug guys" come and scoop me up for a quick hug.
5. Pancake: This is a hug where I'm lying on the floor and (typically) Daddy semi-squishes me.
I like hugs. I'm less of a big fan of kisses however.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Aidan Morgan, Oenophile Part 2
I went to an art class today and produced all manner of master works. Below is a picture I'm quite proud of. I chose the "J" and "m" at random, but Mommy thought that it produced a nice effect of pairing Daddy's initials with the wine corks. 
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Froggytime Theatre
One of my most popular Christmas gifts came from Auntie Max. She gave me a theater with a couple of hand puppets consiting of a king an queen froggy. I have adapted this arrangement into the entertainment extravaganza called "Froggytime Theatre". Here's what I like to do:
I set up the stage and the actors first. The usual acting troupe consists of the two froggies, Piggy, and Kasey the Kinderbot. Next, I set up the audience. Sometimes the audience consists of Thomas the Train and all his friends. Other times, the stuffed animals come to watch the show. When the audience is all seated, the curtain goes up and the show begins. I like to roll up the curtain onto a wooden dowel in a way that I saw was done at a theatre in Chuck E. Cheese. I like to request various performances. There are certain regular parts of the show and then some ad-libbing as well.
One of the regular features is a theatrical rendering of the sone "James Morrison". King Froggy plays the role of James, Queen Froggy is his mother, while Piggy plays the role of King John in the song. King Froggy is a real ham---when Daddy does this song, King Froggy sings with a deep bass voice, tones of vibrato, trilled "r's" and a kind of over the top English accent. Queen Froggy is an alto also with tons of vibrato. Piggy uses his usual singing voice.
Another regular feature is a solo act by Kasey the Kinderbot. Kasey knows how to sing "Hokey Pokey" all by himself. The audience likes to dance as Kasey sings.
Finally, the whole audience, including master of ceremonies Aidan, like to sing a medley of Mozart consisting of "Twinkle, twinkle" and "The ABC Song."
The show closes with an old Bugs Bunny number performed by the entire troupe. They sing:
I set up the stage and the actors first. The usual acting troupe consists of the two froggies, Piggy, and Kasey the Kinderbot. Next, I set up the audience. Sometimes the audience consists of Thomas the Train and all his friends. Other times, the stuffed animals come to watch the show. When the audience is all seated, the curtain goes up and the show begins. I like to roll up the curtain onto a wooden dowel in a way that I saw was done at a theatre in Chuck E. Cheese. I like to request various performances. There are certain regular parts of the show and then some ad-libbing as well.
One of the regular features is a theatrical rendering of the sone "James Morrison". King Froggy plays the role of James, Queen Froggy is his mother, while Piggy plays the role of King John in the song. King Froggy is a real ham---when Daddy does this song, King Froggy sings with a deep bass voice, tones of vibrato, trilled "r's" and a kind of over the top English accent. Queen Froggy is an alto also with tons of vibrato. Piggy uses his usual singing voice.
Another regular feature is a solo act by Kasey the Kinderbot. Kasey knows how to sing "Hokey Pokey" all by himself. The audience likes to dance as Kasey sings.
Finally, the whole audience, including master of ceremonies Aidan, like to sing a medley of Mozart consisting of "Twinkle, twinkle" and "The ABC Song."
The show closes with an old Bugs Bunny number performed by the entire troupe. They sing:
O we're the boys of the chorus
We hope you liked the show
We know you're rooting for us
But now we have to go!
Monday, February 07, 2005
Fore!
One of the best things about our vacation house is that our room literally had a golf course as its back yard. I could see three bunkers from outside the big windows in the room. Naturally, being surrounded by golf, I had to get out and play some myself. Daddy and I putted, hit some shots at the driving range, and, best of all, hit some sand shots out of a bunker. I like blasting the sand in the air as I try to get a ball out of the bunker. Below are three photos of some of my outstanding putting.
A selection of photos of all kinds can be found here.
A selection of photos of all kinds can be found here.
Mommy's Massage
When we were at the vacation house, Daddy and I went out to play golf while Mommy got something called a massage. Daddy told me about this, so I wondered if Mommy was getting a beard too. I asked Daddy and he explained that Mommy was getting a massage and not a beard. Since beards often go with massages, I persisted in wondering if she would get one of these too. I think Mommy would look quite funny with a massage and a beard. Eventually, Daddy figured out that I thought a massage was a moustache, but that these two things are very different. Mommy's massage featured lots of hot and cold rocks on her. She seemed to like being rubbed with rocks quite a bit. I can understand that since I like to play in piles of rocks myself.
Aidan Morgan, Oenophile
Perhaps inspired by their recent viewing of the film Sideways, the family went to a vacation house in wine country for a mini vacation. When we first arrived, we stopped in Trefethen Winery, always a favorite, and sampled many of their wines. Trefethen is an interesting place in that it has a lovely garden area where I can run around. In addition, it's got lots of old pieces of farm equipment. I liked to pretend to be a horsie pulling the many pieces of equipment. I pulled two types of harrows and two types of plows as well. I'm not a very obedient horsie however. Daddy would tell me he wanted to plow his field going one way and I would inevitably go in the other direction. Eventually Daddy caught on and started to tell me to go the opposite way from where he really wanted to go.
I also got to sniff lots of different wines. Of course, my favorite are the "yellow" wines---riesling and chardonnay. I also liked to sniff lots of different types of red wines too. Daddy would ask me what the wines smelled like. He told me there were cards that indicated that they had scents like blackberry, currant, or cassis (whatever that is). When I smelled, I told him what they smelled like to me:
I offered after each sniff. Still, I liked being part of the whole wine tasting process. After our visit, we went on to the vacation house for more adventures, which I'll tell you about in the next installment.
I also got to sniff lots of different wines. Of course, my favorite are the "yellow" wines---riesling and chardonnay. I also liked to sniff lots of different types of red wines too. Daddy would ask me what the wines smelled like. He told me there were cards that indicated that they had scents like blackberry, currant, or cassis (whatever that is). When I smelled, I told him what they smelled like to me:
They smell like wine!
I offered after each sniff. Still, I liked being part of the whole wine tasting process. After our visit, we went on to the vacation house for more adventures, which I'll tell you about in the next installment.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Happy Birthday
One of my favorite pleasantries that work well in any conversation is "happy birthday." For instance,
Aidan: Time to wake up.
Daddy: Good morning.
Aidan: It's morning time. Let's check if the sun is out.
Daddy (opening the shade): It is.
Aidan: How are you doing today?
Daddy: I'm doing well. How are you doing Aidan?
Aidan: Um. Happy Birthday!
This past Saturday Mommy invited many of my friends to Kindergym to celebrate my third birthday. We baked cupcakes together the day before (chocolate ones, of course) so that my friends and I could enjoy that essential birthday ingredient, cake. The theme of my birthday party was Pooh and his friends. Since I'm a bouncy guy, bouncing featured prominently in our "advertisements" for the party. The birthday cupcakes also had the Pooh theme as well. Each was decorated with a candy version of Pooh's face. While I liked the Pooh face, I indicated to Mommy ahead of time that I would not be eating it (although I happily ate the cupcakes) since I don't like to eat my friends. I think, in general, not eating one's friends is a good rule.
We got to Kindergym and set up the party area. Mommy made a big banner saying "Happy Birthday Aidan!" featuring Pooh characters. Daddy blew up a bunch of balloons using a helium balloon machine. Unlike the balloon machines in stores, which are loud, this balloon machine was quiet, so it made me a lot less nervous.
Next, we all went over to the Kindergym for a session of bouncing. It was nice to bounce around with my friends. While they all liked bouncing, doinking, which I find to be really fun, is, apparently, an acquired taste for some of them. For example, there is a little sliding board in the Kindergym. I liked to slide down the slide and "doink" into people at the foot of the slide. I also like to wait at the bottom and be doinked by others coming down. I asked my friend Brandon if he liked to be doinked. He said, politely, "No thank you." He also didn't want to doink me either.
Another highlight for me is spinning. There is a tire swing in the Kindergym. I liked to lie across the big rubbery tire on my tummy while Daddy spun me round and round. This is fun, but leaves me very dizzy. Of course, dizzy is fun too. Lots of my friends like spinning also and, at times, I had to wait my turn to spin on the swing.
After that, we went to the party room and ate sandwiches and cake. We also got to drink lemonade, one of my favorite drinks, from little juice boxes. I had three candles on my cupcake and, after a couple of tries, I blew them all out.
"Happy birthday" everyone said.
I enjoyed my party "lots and lots" and, at the end, I asked Mommy if we could go back to Kindergym the next day to have another birthday party for me.
Aidan: Time to wake up.
Daddy: Good morning.
Aidan: It's morning time. Let's check if the sun is out.
Daddy (opening the shade): It is.
Aidan: How are you doing today?
Daddy: I'm doing well. How are you doing Aidan?
Aidan: Um. Happy Birthday!
This past Saturday Mommy invited many of my friends to Kindergym to celebrate my third birthday. We baked cupcakes together the day before (chocolate ones, of course) so that my friends and I could enjoy that essential birthday ingredient, cake. The theme of my birthday party was Pooh and his friends. Since I'm a bouncy guy, bouncing featured prominently in our "advertisements" for the party. The birthday cupcakes also had the Pooh theme as well. Each was decorated with a candy version of Pooh's face. While I liked the Pooh face, I indicated to Mommy ahead of time that I would not be eating it (although I happily ate the cupcakes) since I don't like to eat my friends. I think, in general, not eating one's friends is a good rule.
We got to Kindergym and set up the party area. Mommy made a big banner saying "Happy Birthday Aidan!" featuring Pooh characters. Daddy blew up a bunch of balloons using a helium balloon machine. Unlike the balloon machines in stores, which are loud, this balloon machine was quiet, so it made me a lot less nervous.
Next, we all went over to the Kindergym for a session of bouncing. It was nice to bounce around with my friends. While they all liked bouncing, doinking, which I find to be really fun, is, apparently, an acquired taste for some of them. For example, there is a little sliding board in the Kindergym. I liked to slide down the slide and "doink" into people at the foot of the slide. I also like to wait at the bottom and be doinked by others coming down. I asked my friend Brandon if he liked to be doinked. He said, politely, "No thank you." He also didn't want to doink me either.
Another highlight for me is spinning. There is a tire swing in the Kindergym. I liked to lie across the big rubbery tire on my tummy while Daddy spun me round and round. This is fun, but leaves me very dizzy. Of course, dizzy is fun too. Lots of my friends like spinning also and, at times, I had to wait my turn to spin on the swing.
After that, we went to the party room and ate sandwiches and cake. We also got to drink lemonade, one of my favorite drinks, from little juice boxes. I had three candles on my cupcake and, after a couple of tries, I blew them all out.
"Happy birthday" everyone said.
I enjoyed my party "lots and lots" and, at the end, I asked Mommy if we could go back to Kindergym the next day to have another birthday party for me.
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