Game Inventor

I like to invent my own games. Here are a couple of recent inventions, both involving dominos.

Your Tail is On Fire

In this game, the "firestarter" stacks dominos in small piles, some of the dominos in the pile are face up while others are face down. Next, the "firecatcher" has to choose a pile of dominos and lift them off the pile one at a time. If the firecatcher draws a domino that is face up, the firestarter yells, "Your tail is on fire. Your tail is on fire."

Crash Dominos

Each side arranges 14 dominos in a line. The sides then take turns choosing a domino to crash into the other side. The crashed domino is then kept by the "crashee" side while the "crasher" gets to keep all the dominos that were pushed out of the line by the crash. The winner (not that we've ever managed to play to the end) is the person with no dominos left.

Weekend Sports Update

As you know, my Daddy likes all sorts of sports. Often, various sports are on TV and sometimes I'll watch. It seems like this weekend was a sports extravaganza. Here are the highlights:

World Cup: We watched the US play Italy. I mostly choose my rooting interest based on the color of the team's uniforms and Italy had nice red outfits compared to the rather boring blue and white donned by the US. Result: I rooted for Italy during the match. Thanks to my help, they managed a 1-1 tie.

US Open: We watched a lot of golf this weekend. As usual, Daddy was rooting for Phil Mickelson. I was rooting for Tiger, but he did so poorly on Thursday and Friday that he didn't make the cut, so he wasn't playing on Saturday or Sunday. Faced with this challenge, I reverted to my second-favorite rooting strategy---root for whoever is in the lead---unless it is Phil Mickelson. Naturally, the golfer who I was rooting for, Geoff Ogilvy, triumphed.

NBA Finals: This time it was the blue team, the Dallas Mavericks, facing the white team, the Miami Heat. I rooted for the blue team. In fact, I invented a cheer:

Let's go blue team.

Clap. Clap. Clap-clap-clap.

Let's go blue team.

And so on.

Unfortunately, the blue team came up short in overtime.

Poker: Finally, I asked to see my favorite "sport" poker during breaks in the other sports. When given the choice, I prefer watching poker to all other sports on TV. I asked Daddy when I would get to learn how to play the "real" game of poker. Thus far, I've only learned how to play one card and two card versions of poker. Daddy said we're making good progress toward poker mastery.

Misssion Accomplished

Our painting mission is finally complete. The painters left yesterday though Mommy, in her careful way, is busy doing little touch-ups to the areas she thought the painters insufficiently covered. The end of the mission marked the return to action of the couch and love seat in the movie room and, in particular, the pillows on these pieces of furniture. One of my favorite games is to gather up the various pillows and mold them into various shapes and then announce that I've created a machine that does whatever I happen to fancy at the moment. All of my machines require money in order to operate. Sometimes, I design pillow architecture--making caves, houses, and various other structures.

Anyway, one of the main things that I learned is that I like sleeping in the same bed as Mommy and Daddy. Because of the displacement of the furniture and the fumes, my bed and various other places I might sleep became impossible, so we all camped out in the master bedroom. At first, I wasn't sure whether I'd like this, but I've now decided that it's great. Now, the question is, do I have to go back to my own bed?

Do You Prefer Abba or Moby?

I've been back in Cali for awhile now, but I've not had any "glittery shows" until tonight. If you'll recall, glittery shows are when we turn the lights in the gueast bedroom down, crank the music up loud, and go dancing with our glittery lights. Tonight's songs featured the usual close, Yellow Submarine, along with an extended selection of Abba songs and a Moby tune repeated twice. From the Abba realm, I love "Take a Chance on Me", but "Waterloo" and "Dancing Queen" are also quality tunes. We heard Moby's electronica take on the James Bond Theme a couple of times. It's the most frenetic song ever. I like to do upside down stretches and other gymnastics as well as dancing to the various songs.

I love glittery shows!

Vehicles

This weekend and early this week we went vehicle shopping. We ended up buying a new Toyota Camry XLE in a nice bright red color. One thing I worry about is that my friends won't recognize me since I won't be in the green car. In fact, I was a little sad and teary when we were leaving the green car to drive away in our new red car.

Now you might think that going to car dealerships wouldn't be that fun, but it actually is. The Toyota dealership has a big popcorn machine, which is great (all the popcorn you can eat--yippee!) They also have a TV with Winnie the Pooh videos and a number of toys. In addition, I like to get into lots of different kinds of vehicles to see what they're like. Sometimes while Mommy was shopping, Daddy and I would get into vehicles and I'd sit at the wheel and take us both for a drive. I like to pretend that the GPS system is giving us directions. I'll say in a high-pitched voice:

In three miles, turn right.

Then I'd pull hard to the right on the steering wheel. The next direction was to go left in one mile, so I'd pull to the left, and so on. I also liked to comment on how hard or soft the seats of the vehicles are. In the first vehicle we went in, a Nissan Altima, I climbed into the back while Mommy and the salesman sat in front and commented loudly,

These seats aren't comfortable at all. And look, I see a hole in the seat!

It was true, there really was a hole in the seat. The salesman did not seem pleased at my commentary. Needless to say, we didn't buy that car. Other cars were much better.





By the way, here's my favorite vehicle---a bright yellow Toyota FJ Cruiser. It's big and yellow and has lots of yellow panels inside as well. Daddy thought it was awful, but I told him I was going to get one when I was old enough to drive.

When it finally came to say goodbye to the car guys, I gave a high five to the salesman and quipped,

Bye. See you next time we need a new car.

Music to the salesman's ears.

Presents from Daddy

I was delighted to see Daddy once again. He was away for the last couple of weeks in England, and we picked him up at the train station on Friday. Naturally, I was interested in whether he got me any presents from there. I also asked him if he has seen Kipper (a cartoon dog from England). Sadly, Daddy hadn't seen Kipper but did have some stuff for me. First, he pulled out a stuffed Paddington Bear. I liked that he wore boots, which are also my favorite form of footwear. He also had a nice hat as well, but somehow I didn't get really excited about him.

What else did you get?

I asked.

When we finally got home from the train station, Daddy wheeled out his second present---a miniature London Underground train in red white and blue. I sort of liked the train but was dismayed that the doors did not open. Apparently, they're not supposed to open on this model although, as I pointed out to Daddy, in a real Metro train the doors do, in fact, open.

What else did you get?

I asked.

For the last gift, Daddy brought out a big handful of English money. I really like money. There was a fat gold one pound coin, some hexagon shaped 20p coins, a large 10p coin, some teeny-tiny 5ps, some pennies, and my favorite coin---a big copper 2p (tuppence) coin. Now this I really enjoyed. I liked the pictures of the queen on the front of each coin as well as the many shapes and sizes. We've been playing lots of coin games these last several days. I invented a game where you have to toss the coins into some paperboard containers that held wine. If you do this successfully you win...what else...but money! I would have hot wheels car races where the winner would get money. We played Deal or No Deal with a prize of money. We played poker for, what else, money. Money is a great present.

Name Trends

The Social Security Administration released their 2005 name popularity data. It looks like the popularity of my name has officially peaked (in 2003) and is now trending downward. "Aidan" ranked 43rd this year. Down three places over last year and four places over its peak. I think of myself as one of a kind, so it's nice to see that the rest of the US is slowly recognizing this fact. Daddy helped me to make this nice graph illustrating the trend.

Secret Mother's Day Gift

I made a Mother's Day gift for Mommy at school earlier in the week. Boy, it's hard keeping it a secret! She knows that some other kids made gifts that are sitting on the drying tables in school. She also knows that my gift is really pretty, involves glue, silk, and some words. But the words are secret, I won't tell her what it says. It's really hard keeping secrets. I begged my teacher to let me take it home today, but she said I need to wait until tomorrow.

Up a Tree

Around Easter, I got to have some pictures taken of me when I was sitting in our apple tree. I liked this idea a lot, so I asked Daddy to take some more pictures in this setting. Here are several in the tree as well as some pictures of me making pictures with chalk. Enjoy them here.

Sticker Poetry

Lately, I've been making scenes with some of my animal stickers. These include stickers of bugs, butterflies, fish, and all sorts of things. I like to tell Mommy about my pictures, and she writes down what I say. Daddy thought my descriptions were sort of like poetry.

Here are a couple of highlights:

Land and water and all different worlds and stuff. There's butterflies in the world and whales and big whales and little dolphins. And there are some bugs, like ladybugs and butterflies and stuff. And there's grass and fish and caterpillars. These stickers are pictures of real things.

and this one:

Fish. There's so many fish I can't even count! These fish are going to swim around the whales and then under and then come back. I can't even count how many fish there are in the whole world!

Finally, a different quote, unrelated to stickers but interesting nonetheless:

Are you as happy as a rockstar singing a happy, happy song?

G. Ometer, Math Detective

This past weekend, we started playing a new game that Daddy and I made up called G. Ometer, Math Detective. In this game, a "victim" makes a shape out of some blocks. Sometimes the shape is a square, sometimes a hexagon and so on. The "victim" then goes on a walk and the "thief" steals some of the blocks, leaving only a partial shape. The job of the math detective is to use the "clues" to figure out how many blocks the thief stole. It's very important that the detective interviews the victim to determine what the shape was initially, so as to know how many blocks there were at the start. Then, the detective examines the remaining evidence and, using the power of math, has to deduce how many items were stolen. Once the detective has figured this out, the victim can call the police lost and found to see if they turned up the right number of blocks. This is a really neat game. It's very cool that you can use the evidence to figure out what the thief took.

The Tale of the Aidan and the Hare

As you know, I love stuffed animal fun stories. Today, I put a big wicker basket that normally holds stuffed animals on my back and became Aidan the Tortoise. With Mommy, I played big turtle (me) and little turtle (a stuffed one)and the "terrible, horrible" crocodile and other predatory animals. Little turtle joined me inside my shell since it was hard for him to pull his whole body inside his own (a mobility problem common in stuffed turtles). Later, Daddy and I played the story of the Aidan and the Hare. Here's how the story went:

Once upon a time in the Hundred Acre Wood, all the animals decided to have a race to sdee who was the fastest. It came down to the Tortoise (Aidan) versus the Hare (green bunny). Green bunny got off to a great start, but got distracted by a lap desk with pictures of dinosaurs on it. Soon the tortoise came into the lead. Quickly, the hare raced ahead, but became distracted by a particularly interesting light switch. Again, the tortoise roared ahead. The hare raced back and was in the lead heading to the finish line, which was located in the office. Unfortunately for the hare, he became distracted by the very interesting door knob. The tortoise plowed on without getting distracted and won the race. Hooray for the tortoise.

I even figured out the lesson here---sometimes if you want to succeed, you have to focus on the task at hand rather than becoming distracted. Interesting how the Daddy stuffed animal stories are often related to things that happen in my life as well as those of the stuffed animals.

Sparkly Show

We've added a new bit to the nighttime routine---dancing. Thanks to Daddy's iPod, we have an amazing collection of dance favorites. Since going to the Wiggles concert, I've discovered that dance concerts are even more exciting when the lights are dimmed and the performers have sparkly lights on them. Every night, we now have a concert in the guest bedroom. To do this, we turn off all the lights, shut the door, and then use my two light wands---one is fiber optic and spins around, the other has colorful strobing lights in a globe. Daddy and I like to dance around. We also have to have an audience for the show. Most of the time the audience consists of the stuffed animals who sit on the bed. Mommy sometimes joins them. For really exicting shows, we pick up a stuffed animal and let him dance on the "stage" with us. The stuffed animals really seem to like this.

We like to dance to mambo music by Tito Puente, fast songs by Paul McCartney, early Beatles stuff, lots of Beach Boys songs---especially the ones about California---and, the final song of every dance party, Yellow Submarine. I also like Lyle Lovett's song "That's Right You're Not from Texas" which is really fast and fun. Mommy is very impressed at all our energy.

More Stuffed Animal Fun

As you know, sutffed animal fun is the name I give to little plays and performances by my stuffed animals. While Daddy's initial version of this game involved creating plays like "The Three Tigers" and "Nordy and the Beanstalk", it has changed over time. One big change is that I'm taking charge of the adventures rather than letting Daddy or Mommy come up with them. The stuffed animals do all sorts of things but usually these involve some traveling. In one story, the stuffed animals (and Aidan) went to a Wiggles concert. Amazingly, Aidan drove the car to the show. When they arrived there, the Wiggles invited them onto the stage to sing and dance with them. The stuffed animals thought this was fantastic.

Other times, the stuffed animal stories are about more prosaic situations. For instance, in one story, Mommy Duck was trying to get Baby Duck ready to go on a trip. Baby duck, however, didn't want to do anything. He refused to take off his jammies, put on his shoes, or anything. Mommy duck kept encouraging baby duck to try. Somehow, this story reminds me of some things that happen in my own life.

Speech Stylin'

I like to add a little bit of panache to my speech when asking for stuff I especially like. I find that one way to do this is to ask for things using my "street stylin'" argot. This mainly consists of omitting the last sounds from the words I'm using (sort of like the French) and running all the words together. For example, I wanted some angel food cake for dessert today. So I asked,

May I please have some ange'foo'cae'?

Notice how I added the please and the nice phrasing to the request while still "stylin'" with the money phrase. Unfortunately, Daddy had no clue what I was saying. Mommy understands my lingo but insisted that I ask in a way that all could understand. I offered them the correct phrase but was definitely perturbed that they didn't like my stylish approach.

I've also added a couple of other "cool" phrases that I picked up from Daddy to my argot including:

That's gotta hurt.

when my Hot Wheels cars or Little People crash or fall off things. Actually, Daddy tells me that he stole this phrase from Bob Costas who used it to describe violent sports collisions. I also like the one-word phrase "useless" to describe things that are of no interest to me. I also like to use the word "goofy" whenever possible. Mommy is less than enamored of these phrases.

Miami 2006

Here are some highlights from my recent trip to Miami. Check them out here.

Orlando 2006

Here are some highlights from our recent trip to Orlando. Check them out here.

Happy Easter

Easter is one of the best holidays. For one thing, it involves lots of...chocolate. But it also involves lots of other good stuff including decorating and eating eggs, searching for eggs in Easter Egg Hunts, and meeting the Easter Bunny. I was very excited, so I got up extra early for Easter--620 in the morning. Daddy persuaded me that Mommy would not enjoy getting up so early so I went back to sleep for a bit.

I quickly went on a "patrol" around the house in search of Easter baskets and found one in the sunken room. It had lots of great stuff in it. Stuffed animals, chocolate, Hot Wheels cars, and some really neat "pills." If you put these pills in water, they dissolve and turn into sponges in interesting shapes like boats and cars.

I got dressed for church and, as a special treat for Mommy, I wore a button shirt and a cute sweater as opposed to my usual preference for "soft" clothes. Everyone thought I was very cute in church, especially the minister. As we were leaving the church, I held out my hand to her to shake and said a merry Happy Easter.

We then did a big photo shoot. You can find the highlights here.

Happy Easter everyone!

Traveling with the Little People

Much like real travel, the Little People face many hassles when they want to go on a trip. This morning, Daddy and I played Little People go to Pennsylvania. The first key difficulty for the Little People is that their family, which consists of Mommy, Daddy, Maggie, Sarah Lynn, the twins---Eddie and Eddie, and a baby, have no car that is big enough to fit them all. As a result, they had to walk to the airport. This made them tired. Then they had to go through the security line. Unlike (or maybe not) real security lines, this security line made the Little People take off nearly all of their clothes. Then there was a big mixup as to whose clothes belonged to whom.

Finally, they made it to the gate. Things were going well until the Little People discovered that the plane only had two seats. The family would have to go on their trip with the plane shuttling back and forth to pick people up. I helped to figure out the flight arrangements. On the first trip, the baby flew on the plane alone with a stranger (Farmer Jed) and then wait in the terminal in Pennsylvania for the others to arrive. Next Maggie and Sarah Lynn (two unescorted minors) got to fly. Next, Mommy and Daddy got to fly together. They commented on how peaceful the flight was without all those kids. Finally, the twins, Eddie and Eddie, got to make the flight. When all arrived at Pennsylvania, there were still no cars big enough to fit, so the family had to walk. Traveling is tough in Little People land.

Gardening

We finally had a break in the endless rains on Saturday. Since it's already April, it was time to get our garden kicked into gear. We went to one of my favorite stores, Yardbirds, and quickly picked up a whole bunch of bags of planting mix and soil amendments. Actually, Daddy picked u these bags. I tried to pick one up and soon decided that trying to haul a bag is about equal to my wieght (40 pounds) was a bit too much to ask even for strong Aidan. After that, we got down to the really fun part--picking out what to plant. This year's selection includes, of course, several different kinds of tomatoes, a whole bunch of lettuce, some celery, and some watermelon.

After we got home, we added all the amendments to the garden and put the potting mix in our big tomato pots. Daddy used a shovel to turn the soil and the amendments together. I used my hands to scoop the stuff out and mix with the garden. It really seemed to improve the consistency of the soil from the clay that it usually is. Next, we planted all the plants. Daddy made small holes where the plants go and I put each plant in very carefully. I love gardening.

The next day, we picked up some seeds to plant as well. These included carrots, pumpkins, broccoli, and, my favorite, sunflowers. I put in the seeds all by myself. I can't wait for them to come up. I think our garden looks really nice. Last night we had some rain so all the plants got a nice drink. I hope they grow big.

Big

I went to the doctor yesterday for my 4-year-old checkup (slightly delayed). While I was initially promised no shots by the nurse, there were shots---3 of them! The doctor said that I had to have these 3 sometime before kindergarten, so he and Mommy decided to get them out of the way now so I don't have to be so anxious about doctor visits in the future. I don't like shots at all. Happily, the doctor tells me that (barring tetanus shots) I won't need another shot until I'm around ten years old. Yippee!

I also had my first hearing and vision tests. I was very good at hearing the beeps and raising my hand. The eye exam was kind of neat because it reminded me of Thomas the Train. My eye chart had various shapes on it of different sizes, including a bunch of "level-crossing shape"(s). Most people would call this a "plus," but I guess they are not as familiar with railroads as I am! The nurse got a huge kick out of my name for that shape.

They also weighed and measured me to see how I'm growing relative to other 4 year old boys. If you'll recall, shortly after I was born, I was in about the 5th percentile for height and weight. Eventually I made it into the 15th and then the 25th percentile. Well, I had a big growth spurt this past year. I'm now in the 75th percentile for height and weight. In other words, I'm big!

On the Road- Deal or No Deal, etc.

Deal or No Deal may be the best game ever. We played it a lot during my trip to Florida. Everyone seems to like this game. When we were in Orlando, Emma played this game where we used the Little People as the "models." She has lots of Little People that are different from the ones I have. I was especially intrigued by some of the Little People from the manger set. One Sonya Lee character, who was dressed as a wise man, had a funny hat. It reminded me of Nainnie "potlid" character, so I referred to her as "Potlid Sonya Lee".

Newborn cousin Evan did not play the game, but I'm sure he will when he gets older. Right now, he sleeps, eats, and sucks his "plug" (pacifier) a lot. People seem to really like to carry him around since he can't move around much by himself yet-- although I did see him roll onto his side by himself. He seems nice. When he gets bigger, maybe he can build couch forts and play with Emma and me.

Daddy and I also played with lots of different kinds of cards and lots of players in Miami. In one game, my cousin Libby (also known as "The Mighty Libby") was the host, I was the banker (borrowing Daddy's cell phone to call the host), while cousin Matthew was the contestant. I love Deal or No Deal.

I also love building sand furniture. Cousin Meryl intiated this on the beach at Key Biscayne, and we soon had a cluster of 6 sand chairs, all complete with sand cup holders and sand iPods! Matthew's remote control boat was also tons of fun to power around the pool.

I was sad to leave all my Florida cousins. I hope I see them again soon!

Is it real or is it glass?

When I was in Miami visiting my Uncle Ted and his family, I got to see one of the neatest gardens ever. They were having an exhibition of work by a glass sculptor named Chihuly at the Fairchild Tropical Garden. Mixed in among the ponds and the gardens were glass balls and plants by the artist. I loved the colors and the patterns. I was very good at figuring out which things were glass and which were real. Here are a couple of pictures.

I'm going to Disney World!

Actually, I went to Disney World last week. It was so much fun. I got to meet lots of great characters including Pooh and Minnie Mouse. While many people seem to prefer Mickey, I actually think Minnie is far more interesting. She always wears more pink things, which is always good since pink is a very nice color. My current two favorite colors are still green and yellow, but pink and purple have been moving up in the ranks lately.


I got to go on some great rides including the teacups and, best of all, the cars. I got to drive the cars while Mommy and Daddy operated the gas pedal. I've never driven before, but I think I did a very good job of keeping the car on the road and turning at the right time. Daddy was very impressed with my turns. I also got to see the new and improved "It's a Small World" ride. This was truly unbelievable. I've never seen so many mechanical guys. Finally, there was a light parade with lots of light up floats. Some of you will recall my early fascination with lights (or "ights" as I liked to call them when I was really little.)

Disney is great. I announced that I wanted to go back maybe next week. Mommy and Daddy seemed a little doubtful about this though.

Daddy Goes to School

Last night was really fun. My school had a "Daddy Goes to School" night. All the Daddies and their kids were in school and we had an abbreviated version of my usual school day. We started with circle time. I quickly picked my favorite spot---right next to the teacher, and settled in. Since there were so many Daddies and kids, i was pretty crowded in the circle, but happily we still had a good spot. I also found a magnet with my name on it and chose my responsibility. I picked the toilets, which seem like one of the most interesting responsibilities since they involve water and machinery (flushing), which is always a good combination.

After going through the calendar to figure out what day it was and the weather report (dark--a new type of weather rarely seen during my daytime classes) we were off to work with materials. First, we worked with graduated cylinders. We took them out and had to figure out which slots each cylender belonged. We also built a kind ofcity of cylinders.

Next, it was off to the scales for the weigh-in challenge. The idea is that they have various weights adding up to 100g and a balance scale. You have to figure out which set of weights leads to balance on the scale. My favorite weights were the whopping 500g ones. I referred to these as the "big dog" weights since they reminded me of my Daddy's driver---the biggest golf club in the bag. We did lots of other fun stuff before driving home. I had a great time. I think Daddy learned some new things too.

Tea Time

I was sad because I missed the Mother's Tea at my school. This took place while my leg was hurt, so I couldn't go. Mommy and I decided to have a tea at our house last night instead. Mommy helped make the tea (gingerbread tea, which smells great but doesn't taste nearly as good). I put out a tray with the desserts to go with the tea. I decided that each person would get to shamrock cookies. In addition, I decided that the green shamrocks needed some additional color for their "leaves" so I added a bunch of raw carrots. I gave Mommy and Daddy their cookies and carrots while Mommy brought out the tea after dinner. As a good host, I waited for Mommy and Daddy to finish before eating my own dessert. Everyone was very happy with my great manners and pretty arrangement for the tea.

Aidan's Top Five Games

I thought I would report to you my top 5 games played recently. They are:

1. Dragon Tales Puzzle Game
2. Don't Break the Ice
3. Crazyball (not a board game, more like catch with lots of craziness)
4. Tackling (despite my earlier injury, I still like doing this)
5. Competitive Mardi Gras dancing

Deal or No Deal

Last night, I got to see the show "Deal or No Deal" for the second time. I really like the lights, the music, and the shiny silver suitcases with the numbers on them. I even think Howie Mandel is okay too. Anyway, this morning I suggested to Daddy that we play Deal or No Deal---the home version (I pick up on things fast!)

We set up 13 "models" to hold the suitcases. Our models were various Little People. The suitcases consisted of playing cards turned face down. Each card represented a cent amount from 1 cent (Ace) through 13 cents (King). I was the contestant while Daddy played the Howie Mandel role. Since the models don't do much on the real show, the Little People worked perfectly for that part.

So far, I haven't been too lucky with the game. In the first game, I ended up choosing a suitcase worth 5 cents, but making a deal for 4 cents after opening nearly all of the suitcases. In the second game, I picked a really good suitcase (worth ten cents), but got nervous about the range of money and ended up taking the banker's deal for 6 cents after opening up 4 suitcases. Deal or No Deal is lots of fun, and it's interesting to figure out what decision to make.

Fun and Games

This was a great weekend for games. We played some of the standard ones, but we also played some that Daddy made up. Here are the latest of these:

The Mystery Letter Game

In this game, the contestant introduces himself and describes where he lives and his job. I like to invent lots of funny names and jobs for contestants. Here's one:

Name: Bayden
Location: Inside a cave
Job: Winemaker

In some cases, the contestants pass out samples to the judges and the studio audience. For instance, Bayden passed out the delectable combination of cotton candy and chardonnay to the folks in the studio.

Then it's time for the game to begin. Using my magnetic sketchpad, the contestant has to get five mystery letters before he gets three strikes. The host of the show (Bob) says the name of the mystery letter in a kind of stage whisper:

The mystery letter is "S"

Then it's the contestant's job to write the mystery letter on the magnetic sketch pad. The judges rule as to whether a letter looks sufficiently like the standard version of the letter to count as a correct answer or a strike instead.

At the end of the game, the contestant either wins lovely parting gifts (in the event of three strikes) or a "fabulous prize". The parting gifts are pretty funny. They consist of the home version of mystery letter, a case of Turtle Wax with clearcote shine, and a year's supply of Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat. The fabulous prize (also described by "Johnny" who seems to help the host Bob) consists of various denominations of money. I like the quarter the best.

G-Force Stadium Ultimate Rally

While the Mystery Letter game has an educational component, the G-Force Stadium Ultimate Rally has absolutely none. This game consists of running Hot Wheels cars down a long ramp, through a loop, over a jump, and then down the hall. The difficulty for the cars is to stay on their wheels coming off of the jump. The winner is the car that goes the furthest down the hall (that's the rally aspect of the game.) Amazingly, the fire engine was one of the start performers at this game. Another star, and a car who has the best name, is the Little Red Roadster. At the end of each rally, I award trophies to the top 3 cars. There's also a penalty system, any car that cannot consistently complete the course gets kicked out of the next rally in favor of a new car.

Daddy and I had many rallies among the cars. Including lots of sports "commentary". So much so that Mommy headed to the other room so as not to have to listen to us.

A New Cousin

My cousin Emma is now a big sister! Her brother, Evan Hugh Morgan, was born on March 8. My Nainnie (grandmother) was visiting and got to see him already. They tell me he is a pretty big guy-- 22 inches long and 7 lbs, 15 oz. That's over 3 pounds more than I was when I was born and about a pound or so more than Emma, I think! Aunt Julie and Uncle Dave are very happy. Mommy, Daddy and I are going to fly to Orlando to visit them in a couple weeks. I am very excited about visiting Emma!

We will also visit my older cousins in Miami-- Matthew, Libby and Meryl. I remember when Uncle Ted and Aunt Holly visited us about 2 years ago. We went on the Tilden Park train together. Fun! It will be fun to see my cousins. I last saw them when I was a much smaller guy-- a couple months after I turned one I think!

Little People Mardi Gras

Two days ago, the Little People celebrated Mardi Gras. They formed a big snaky line and paraded through the streets to the song "Iko Iko". I also learned that beads are a big thing at Mardi Gras, so I got out all my beads and crazy hats and wore them as I danced around with them. Mardi Gras seems like a very fun party. To celebrate, the adult Little People had wine (Chardonnay of course) while the boy and girl Little People had juice. Daddy told me that Mardi Gras is a big celebration in New Orleans and, as you know, I like all things to do with that city. I asked Mommy and Daddy if we could go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans next year. They seemed to think that I would enjoy Mardi Gras more if I were a little older though.

The Super Bowl of Letters

I have a number of foam letters in my bathtub. Yesterday, I invented a really exciting new game to play with these---the Super Bowl of Letters. The way the game works, there are 6 letters playing. They randomly match up with one another to form "words". The letters that form real words get points while those that don't get no points. Once I put the words up on the board, I have to sound them out to figure out if the letters have formed a word or not.

In one of the most exciting matches, the letters AEOLR and N competed. They formed words like:

EL, NO, ON, OR, AL, LA, EN, and ARE

Some failures included:

LORAEN, AR, LNR

This was great fun.

I'm never tired (except maybe sometimes)

As you know, I'm never tired. On Saturday, it was pretty hard for me to prove this. It was my first day back to California after a great trip to Pennsylvania. I hadn't seen Daddy in a while, so it was a great day to hang out with him. We figured out all sorts of interesting things to do. First, we needed to go on a mission to the supermarket to get food. We got one of the fun shopping carts with a car on the front of it, but I decided I wanted to walk around rather than ride. We walked all over the store, and I got to demonstrate how strong I was by picking up things. Some heavy things I picked up included: 2 liter bottles of Fresca, a big thing of laundry detergent, 1 gallon of milk, two containers of orange juice, and the piece de resistance, a giant vat of Metamucil. Daddy said we didn't need nor want the giant vat of Metamucil, but I wanted to demonstrate my strength.

Later that afternoon we got to do something we hadn't done since my leg injury---go scooter riding. We rode all the way up a big hill and then down the hill again. I had to rest several times on the way, but I pointed out to Daddy that I still was not tired since the rests were only zero minutes long each.

At dinnner that night, I was having a lot of trouble keeping my eyes open. But, as I told Mommy and Daddy, I was still not tired. I just looked a little tired. Shortly after dinner, I got to play some "stuffed animal fun", heard some stories and songs and then went to sleep. Even then, I still was not tired although I thought I'd humor Mommy and Daddy by immediately falling asleep.

I'm never tired.

Snow on Mount Diablo

Although I'm on the east coast searching for snow, the snow came instead to California. Daddy tells me it's the coldest time on record in the last ten years. Daddy posted some pictures of snow on Mount Diablo.

Find them here.

Hooray for the Steelers

Thanks to vigorous Terrible Towel waving and lots of high fives, Daddy and I managed to will the Steelers to victory in the Super Bowl. I was very interested to see the Super Bowl trophy. I wondered which guys got to keep the trophy and whether the guys used it to play football since the trophy was in the shape of a big football. Daddy informed me that the trophy mostly lives in the Steelers training facility, but that individual players will get to take the trophy home for a couple of days each. He also let me know that playing football with the trophy, which is a big hunk of metal, is not something that people do. Finally, I learned that all the players get big shiny rings for winning the Super Bowl. That seems pretty good, but I bet they'd rather each have a trophy. I'm very interested in trophies lately.

Back on the Links

For the first time in several months, Daddy and I got to go golfing together. We went to San Ramon Royal Vista (aka the Green Golf Ball Golf Course since the range balls have green lettering.) I had a great time. I hit off the driving range. Many of my shots were hit all by myself and went further than ever before. I explained that since I was now 4 years old, I could hit golf balls much further. We also did some chipping and some putting. My putting skills have vastly improved. I sank several 4 and 5 foot putts. The other golfers were impressed at my aggressive technique. Apparently, you don't have to worry about the break in the green when you putt the ball as fast as I do. I got to go to the pro shop too, and the nice gentlemen there let me pick out two golf balls from the golf ball bin. I picked out two Callaway balls (my new favorite---I've abandoned the Nike Swoosh) and we had a great time.

State of the Union: A Review

The State of the Union speech was on at 6pm Pacific time this past week. That time is interesting to me the TV is usually still tuned to PBS following Dragon Tales. When the president came on, I was initially annoyed because it pre-empted the show that follows Dragon Tales.

Why can't Jim Lehrer be on?

I asked. Mommy explained that the president was on tonight. To which I replied:

Is Jim Lehrer the president?

Mommy explained that he wasn't. Based on how boring the speech was to me---it lacked the nice theme music to the Jim Lehrer News Hour for example---I suggested:

I wish Jim Lehrer were president.

Mommy agreed with this assessment.

Cast Away

Today, I got my cast off. I'm finally back to having zero broken legs. Hooray.

I was really scared to go back becuase they have to cut off the cast with an electric saw that makes loud noises. Fortunately, the whole three family went to the doctor. Mommy and Daddy kept me amused by playing with some cars at the doctor's office. Daddy also brought a whole host of fun items including a compass, binoculars, the iPod, and my purple squishy squashy thing. Still, I didn't want to have to deal with the saw.

When the doctor came in, I got very scared and wanted to run away, but Mommy held me tight and they positioned my leg in such a way that I couldn't see the saw cutting through the cast. Daddy and I had practiced stayig as still as a statue while they were cutting so I wouldn't get any cuts. Before I knew it, the cast was completely off. They took a couple of X-rays and pronounced me fully healed. I gave the doctor and the nurses high fives on the way out. It's good to not have a cast any more.

Matt and Patti

Matt and Patti, some of my favorite vistors, came to see us on Sunday. They moved away to NYC for the last year or so, but they were in town for Chinese New Year. I gave them a big greeting and got hugs from them too. We played a number of game including one I made up where I used the pillows from our couch and love seat to make up a version of Candyland. I like seeing them a lot!

My favorite place

I got to share my favorite place with Daddy---Chuck E. Cheese! The whole three family went there yesterday in the late morning. Mommy and I have never been there on a weekend, and we were shocked at how many people were there. We were actually sort of lucky to arrive when we did since, by the time we were leaving in the early afternoon, the line was out the door. Mommy used a terrific coupon to get me lots and lots of tokens. Once we found a table, Daddy and I were off to play games. We played skee ball, a kind of kiddie slot machine, a game where you have to squirt water at a target to make a Barbie or a Ken go down a ramp on a jet ski. I won some of the races (I had Ken) while Daddy won some others (he had Barbie). It was the best time ever.

I won so many tickets that I was able to get two lizards and a bug with my winnings. My lizard collection is getting very big.

The Terrible Towel

On Friday, the two Terrible Towels that Daddy ordered arrived in the mail. I was very excited to receive my Terrible Towel and proceeded to create a football game consisting of Little People Steelers and Little People Colts. The Steelers consisted of Little People who either wore yellow or had yallow hair. The Colts were Little People not meeting these criteria. The huge advantage the Steelers had was that a giant Terrible Towel would sweep down and knock the Colts out of the way, so the Steelers could get into the end zone.

On Sunday, we tried out our Terrible Towels for real by helping the Steelers defeat the Denver Broncos. We twirled the towels over our heads at key points during the game and did lots of high-fiving when the Steelers made good plays. We also got out the Dragon Tales guys and had them play football too to try to help the Steelers. There was lots of joyful jumping up and down when the Steelers won. I can't wait for the Super Bowl---the Terrible Towel will be out once again.

I go for penguins

In school this week, each of us made a penguin. My penguin is rather unique in that I used all of the available eyes to make him. He has big eyes, small eyes, eyes looking up, looking down, looking left, and so on. He also has a large cluster of wings. Mine is definitely the most distinct looking penguin in the classroom. Mommy says my penguin looks Picasso-esque.

Birthday Celebration

Today in school we will celebrate my birthday. I know it's a little late, but Mommy asked for them to wait until my leg was sufficiently better that I could enjoy the festivities. At circle time, we'll all gather around and cross our legs (except me--there's an exception for boys with casts) and pass around pictures of Aidan for each year I've been alive. Mommy spent a long time yesterday finding just the right pictures. Best of all, we'll be enjoying chocolate chip cookies that I picked out myself from Safeway. I like school, especially when there's a celebration!

Friends of Aidan

Since there are a lot of people who visit my weblog from all over the world, I thought it would be neat to create a map with pushpins in the locations of all the people who visit. So far, I have two pushpins (one for me and one for Daddy). Please click the link below to add a pushpin to my map. You can also add photos and other goodies so that it becomes kind of a collective scrapbook.

I've also added a running "photo album" scroll thingy on my website as well. Check it out here.

As I get more pushpins, I'll publish updates from time to time.

I've added a clickable "sticker" below as well as a permanent link on the sidebar.

Go Steelers!

Yesterday, we saw a very exciting football game where the Steelers took on the Colts. When Daddy puts on football, the first order of business is to figure out who to root for. Sometimes I root by the color of the team. For example, the Green Bay Packers, with their green and yellow color scheme, are my favorite team. I always root for them. Failing that, I'll ask Daddy which team is winning and root for that team. (Daddy doesn't like this idea. He thinks I should root for a team regardless of the score.)

Anyway, when I discovered that the Pittsburgh Steelers had yellow as a prominent color and were from one of my favorite states, Pennsylvania, I decided to root for them. I also liked that the fans of the Steelers wave big yellow "terrible towels" to root them on. I'd like a terrible towel of my own. It was a great game with lots of high fives and cheering for the team to do well. What an exciting game.

Daddy says that when I get older, we'll have to "hoist an Iron for Myron" to celebrate Steelers successes.

Old School Hot Wheels

I like the term "old school" and use it in a lot of different contexts. A new context was when we got out the Hot Wheels "G Force" track that Uncle Dave, Aunt Julie, and Cousin Emma got me for Christmas. We got out all the pieces for the track and were getting ready to play when I asked Daddy where the motor was to make the cars go. He told me that this was an "old school" design---we were going to let gravity power the cars. As I soon discovered, gravity is pretty powerful stuff. We set up our ramp, loop, and jump arrangement down the little staircase separating our living room form our foyer. (These are the only steps in the whole house, so I find them fascinating.) Then, we sent the cars on their ride. I'm getting the hang of developing rules for the various games we played. Here are the rules for Hot Wheels. Each car gets at most two tries to complete the course, otherwise it loses. If a car succeeds, it gets to keep going as we change the length of the jumps and so on. The big winner from today's event: the fire engine. In fact, in one version of the course, it managed to complete the loop, make the jump, knock over the finish flag, and then drive all the way into the "movie room." Hooray for the fire engine!

Speaking of old school, many of the "Daddy cars" did well too. The Daddy cars consist of lates 60s and early 70s muscle cars like a 68 Pontiac GTO. I love the GTO.

Solving the World's Transportation Problems

I'm really looking forward to when I grow up and have all my rainbow colored stuff. One of the inventions that I'm most looking forward to is my rainbow car. As you know, it has buttons that let it turn into an airplane, a cloud, and a boat in addition to being a car. I also added a new feature this weekend--a button that let's it turn into a tunnel should one of those be needed.

I want everyone to have rainbow cars as well since they're so useful. Initially, my projection was that it would take 72 rainbow cars for everyone to have one. Daddy, however, informed me that there were a lot more people than 72 in the world. I initially upped the production level to 100 and then to 1000. Finally, Daddy let me know that I would need about 4 billion rainbow cars for everyone to have one. So that's my new production target.

Cassie's Rules

I like to be Cassie from Dragon Tales. Yesterday, we were playing were playing out one of my favorite Little People stories---Animal Farm. As usual, the animals had kicked all of the people out and were being led by Napoleon the Pig. However, all of the animals, and especially the dragons, were sick of Napoleon's rules, so I, Cassie, staged a coup and deposed the pigs from power. Now, it was time for me to make up my own rules. There were a lot of them, but here are some:

1. No animals should drive school buses.
2. No wandering around in the street.
3. No flying airplanes.
4. No crashing airplanes into the animals.
5. No people allowed. (This was one of Napoleon's rules that was retained from the ancien regime.)
6. No eating the other animals. (The lions didn't like this rule.)
7. No standing on the roof of the house (The birds didn't like this rule).
8. No trolleys allowed.
9. No flying helicopters.
10. No reading. (This was another one of Napoleon's rules that was retained from the ancien regime.)

Rainbow Construction Update

As you know, when I grow up, I'm going to have everything painted in the color of rainbows. In addition, I'm going to have lots of interesting rainbow stuff. Here are the current plans:

Shelter: I intend to build a 50 storey rainbow colored house. Since it will have 50 floors, it will need an elevator with lots of buttons. There will also be lots of room in the house for all the animals I intend to have.

Transportation: I'm going to have a rainbow colored car too. But my car is a special car since it also turns into an airplane for when I need to fly somewhere. It will also have a button for it to turn into a cloud with a rainbow in it for times when one needs to get around via cloud.

Everyone is invited to visit my rainbow house and drive in my rainbow car. Also, I'll need lots of help with painting. I've already asked Mommy and Daddy to help me paint my house and car, but Daddy says we'll need lots of guys to paint everything rainbow.

It's Christmas in Dragon Land

Wth the holiday season upon us, "stuffed animal fun" has turned to Christmas. It seems that every day is Christmas in Dragon Land in our stories. Max and Emmy, a little boy and girl who come to Dragon Land, are always surprised to find it's Christmas morning whenever they arive there. The dragons always offer them lotsofinteresting presents. Most of these are contained in a kind of Russian doll arrangement of boxes. Emmy will open her gift, which consists of a box. Inside is...another box. Inside that is another box and so on for 72 boxes. At the end of the opening ritual Emmy will find a toy, which is often a stuffed dragon. The dragons are also very helpful when it comes to making sure Santa is in a good position to deliver gifts. In one adventure, the dragons helped a lost Rudolph fnd his way back to the north pole just in time for Christmas night.

My hero: Petula Clark

Petula Clark sings one of the best songs ever---Downtown. I like to sing it every time I got to downtown Walnut Creek. I also like to listen to the song at bedtime. Tonight, I got to listen to "computer songs"---Daddy turned on his computer and would play whatever I asked for. Naturally, Downtown was on the list. I love downtown.

Learning the 3 r's

As many of you who I've talked to on the phone know, the letter "r" is quite a troublesome letter for me. I used to pronounce "r" in more or less that same fashion as "w" or sometimes "l". However, my "r" is evolving. Lately, I've taken to sort of swallowing my "r"s instead of turning them into another letter. Daddy says that my pronunciation is coming to approximate that of Katherine Hepburn in her many movie roles (although my voice is quite a bit higher than hers---at least in her later years). The other person that Daddy thought of (and he figured Auntie Max would also notice this) is FDR. He's trying to teach me to say:

We have nothing to fe-ah, but fe-ah itself.

So far, i'm not too interested in saying this.

Romans v Barbarians

Yesterday, Daddy and I were watching football on TV when we noticed an ad for Capital One credit cards featuring out of work barbarians. I asked Daddy about the barbarians and noted that, at times, my table manners are likened to those of a barbarian. After some discussion of barbarians and what they liked to do, we invented a new game with Little People and blocks. First, we use the blocks to build a Roman city, which is inhabited by the Little People "Romans" and their livestock. At the front of the city is a Little People castle facade featuring a trebuchet for stopping attackers.

Next, Daddy rounded up a whole bunch of Little People "barbarians". These consist mainly of boy Little People wearing various hats (barbarians always wear hats). The barbarians also have an attack rhino in the lead. Finally, the barbarians slowly march toward the town with the intent of storming it. I, as one of the Romans, man the trebuchet and try to bowl down the barbarians to repel the attack. This is lots of fun. Some of the attacks succeed and some fail, but it's really exciting as the barbarians draw near. When they get really close they shout "ladders" and start scaling the wall. The attack rhino will often punch a gap in the wall through which the other barbarians can enter the town. Daddy said his barbarians were people called the Visigoths, who he said were particularly tough barbarians.

Grr-grr-grr go the barbarians.

Compasses

Today, Daddy and I played a new game with Thomas and his friends---navigation. First, Daddy showed me how to make something called a compass using a magnet, a sewing needle, and a small piece of cork. It was very surprising how the needle kept pointing in the same direction. Next, Daddy got out his real compass, and we used it to figure out the navigation of the Thomas guys. First, Bulstrode the barge mounted the compass in the bow of the barge and managed to navigate in all sorts of directions. My favorite direction is west. Next, we got out the engines and tried to determine the headings of the various tracks that are laid out. The engine would drive a little way then stop. We would then take a compass reading and the navigator (me) would tell the engine what its heading was. While initially, we confined ourselves to north, south, east, or west, after a time we adopted more sophisticated directionsw such as northwest and southwest. Daddy even suggested that there were directions like south by southwest that further distnguished our headings. I like compasses a lot.

Cruisin'

I've discovered that my old skill at "cruising"---standing up and moving while holding onto something for balance---is especially useful with a broken leg. Yesterday's achievement: washing my hands all by myself. To accomplish this, I found my stepstool in the bathroom, moved it in front of the sink, crawled up it and then, using the sink for balance, managed to hoist myself up. From there things were easy. I was able to reach across to turn on the faucet, release some apple soap from the dispenser and wash my hands. Best of all, I managed this all by myself. Mommy was a bit concerned about the risks of falling in this process, but was impressed at the initiative and resourcefulness of my approach.

Cranky and the Foundry

I'm really moving about much better these days. This greater mobility, combined with a Thomas arrangement by Daddy and I in the shape of an "L" around the edges of the room, has led to renewed excitement for the adventures of Thomas and his friends. Over the weekend, we thought of a new adventure---the tale of Cranky and the Foundry.

One day, Thomas and his friends were going over the very long bridge through the Misty Mountains. Being a very windy and blustery day, the bridge swayed in the wind and some of the trains, including Toby, derailed and fell into the canyon below. Toby couldn't get out, so Sir Topham Hatt called on his trusty crane Cranky to pull him out. Cranky did so, but then he refused to put Toby back down onto the ground. Sir Topham Hatt grew annoyed at Cranky's stubbornness and insisted that he put Toby down.

No. No. No. I won't do it.

said Cranky. Finally, an exasperated Sir Topham indicated that he'd haul Cranky off to the foundry t be melted down for scrap if he didn't change his mind. Of course, Cranky wouldn't budge, so my big dump truck came and hauled Cranky off to the giant kiln at the foundry. (The kiln is a wicker garbage can.) There Cranky was melted down and Sir Topham ordered a new Cranky. The problem, as you can already guess, is that the new Cranky was as stubborn as the old Cranky. Well, it didn't take very long before he found himself at the foundry, only to be replaced by a Cranky that was even worse. And so on. And so on.

The Mystery of "Ya"

You may recall that some weeks ago, I had taken to saying "ya" rather than "you". Mommy and Daddy were both mystified as to where I had picked up this mannerism. We've now uncovered the secret---the Weezy character in Dragon Tales uses this expression in her speech in the show. Since Dragon Tales is currently my all-time favorite thing, I like to imitate the characters whenever possible and that includes using "ya". Weezy also uses the expression

Loooooove it!

a lot. Both Mommy and I like to use this too.

Small Milestones

With my broken leg, sometimes it's the small milestones that count. I recently figured out how to get in and out of my bed and up and down from the couch all by myself. Mommy showed me how to swing my hurt leg up on the bed or couch first. Next, I push off with my arms and the good leg and kind of climb up to the place I want to go to. I showed Daddy how I could do this all by myself---no Daddy transport services needed!

Thomas Goes to DC

We tried a new Thomas adventure this weekend---Thomas goes to Washington DC. For this adventure, we pulled out Daddy's lovely big, giant atlas and decided to run the trains across the pages of it to get from California to Washington, DC. Initially, just Thomas was going to make the trip, but he found that climbing up the Sierra was very hard work. By the time he got to Donner Pass, he called for Gordon and the others to help. They all pushed down to Lake Tahoe where they enjoyed dipping their funnels into the water. Next, it was off across Nevada. It was very dry and very hilly in Nevada. But these hills weren't so high as the Sierra. Then it came time to climb the foothills of the Wasatch range and head into Utah. Gordon thought the Great Salt Lake was the ocean, but Thomas pointed out to him that it was only a lake. Then it was on to Colorado. The Rockies are very high in Colorado. Somehow, we got a bit north of where we were planning to go and had to pass through a gap in the Laramie Range through Cheyenne, Wyoming. It was very neat to be in the snow-covered mountains. We had to get out our plows. Beyond this, it was a lot less hilly. We crossed the Platte River and headed into Nebraska. At first, Gordon liked all the farms but by the time we came into Iowa, he was pretty sick of them.

When are these farms going to end?

Asked Gordon. Thomas told him we would have to wait until we were almost through Illinois. Somehow, we ended up taking a rest in Chicago. Everyone liked all the big buildings and, especially, the El train. As you know, I've ridden a version of the El in the Smithsonian, so I told all the trains about this adventure. Next, we cut across southern Michigan to Ohio and then on to Pennsylvania. Since we were nearby, Thomas suggested that we visit Grammy and Nainnie in Wilkes-Barre. It took a little time for us to find this on the map---plus we had to cross the Allegheny mountains---but we made it. We found a nice warm engine shed and settled there for the night.

After that, we turned south to Philadelphia, were we saw the University of Pennsylvania, where Mommy, Daddy, and my grandfather, who is in heaven, went to school. After that, it was on to Baltimore and finally Washington, DC.

Hooray, we made it. All the trains wanted to stay in DC for a long time---72 days in fact. We saw all the tall buildings and Thomas helped pull the barge on the Chesapeake & Ohio canal since the mules were tired.

It was a great adventure.

We also made a trip from California to Albuquerque. It was sort of a race. Gordon started off from Los Angeles and took the southerly route along the Rio Grande while Thomas took the northern route from San Francisco. We saw lots of neat things there. Mommy said that Daddy was "Mr. Geography" in offering us detailed descriptions of all the things was saw along the way. Gordon's favorite with the Saguaro National Forest---an entire forest consisting only of big cactus. Both Thomas and Gordon pulled into Albuquerque at the same time. It was a tie.

Driving trains on maps is almost as much fun as riding on the wooden tracks.

Medical Update

This photo is me on Daddy's birthday. See my big, green cast and the cake I made for Daddy (with Mommy's help)? The "3" is for "thirty" and then I stuck in eight other candles to make "38."

In medical news, I saw the doctor yesterday. He wanted to take more X-rays to see how things were going. Initially, I thought this was a terrible idea since the last time I had X-rays (when I first hurt myself), they were no fun at all. I was very upset at the prospect. Happily, these X-rays did not hurt a bit.

The doctor asked me how I was doing, to which I replied

I hurt my tibia.

He was very impressed with my precise description of the problem.

After looking at the X-rays, the doctor said everything is progressing as it should and he wants to see me again in six more weeks. This was not what I wanted to hear since it now looks like I'll have the cast for eight weeks. Even more annoying, the doctor suggested that, at that time, he's likely to fit me with a "boot cast" for another four weeks after that.

On the plus side, I've discovered that I can move around a bit by myself by scooting on my behind along the floor. I can't go long distances this way, but it's a lot better than being stuck on the couch and always needing Mommy or Daddy transport services.

The Trouble with G

Last night, I discovered how tenacious the letter G is. I was playing with my letter puzzle and decided to stick my thumb into the center part of the wooden letter G puzzle piece. Somehow, I got my thumb stuck inside the G. When Daddy came home from work, I inquired:

Hi Daddy. Do you know how to get my finger out of the letter G?

Of course, Daddy, not having seen the G, had no idea what I was talking about. We tried soaking my finger in ice to try to loosen the G from its grip, but to no avail. We also contemplated breaking the letter G in half, but this seemed like a painful proposition and was shelved. Finally, we used some lubricant to make both my finger and the letter G very slippery. After that, Mommy was able to slip the G off. Daddy suggested that if I were going to stick my fingers in letters in the future, I should stick to the letter L and T.

Just Guys

Yesterday was a "Mom's night out" so it was just guys at home last night. Daddy suggested that we do a "sports night" at home during Monday Night Football. First, I was very interested in the game. Daddy turned on the home theater to give a better feeling for being a part of the crowd. Also, the Green Bay Packers were playing. They have bright yellow helmets trimmed with green and they were wearing their green jerseys. I immediately decided that they're my favorite team. We also had hot dogs and popcorn and other goodies like that. I had to signal to Daddy that I wanted something by calling out,

Hey, hot dog guy, over here!

I also managed to get the lemonade guy to come to our part of the stands. It was lots of fun.

Improvements

Last night, my hurt leg ended up coming off of its usual position atop its pillow. Now, in past days, this would have been a disaster and I would have awoken immediately. Last night, I didn't even notice---I slept straight through it. I hadn't even noticed when I woke up until Daddy pointed it out to me. My answer to him was straightforward,

My leg doesn't hurt any more.

I have been moving around much better the past several days(turning on my side, scooting a little on my bottom, etc.), and I think I'm really turning the corner. It will be good to be dancing around again someday. Interestingly, in my dreams recently, my leg is not hurt.

Sunsets

I'm getting a bit braver about going out in my stroller with Daddy. I'm worred that if I go out too long, my leg will start to hurt, so I limit rides to our backyard. Fortunately, there's lots to see and do there. One evening, we went out at dusk and saw a really good sunset, which is pictured above. Since Daddy has trouble seeeing all the colors, I told him what they all were. Here are some pictures he took. Interestingly, some of the pictures were taken from atop my play structure, which offers a nice vantage point. You can see them here.

Placed on Injured Reserve

A very unhappy thing happened to me about a week ago. In the course of playing football with Daddy, I suffered a broken leg. The doctors say I suffered a spiral fracture of the mid-to-distal shaft of the right tibia. Happily, it was a non-displaced fracture, so didn't have to have any surgery to fix it. I'm now wearing a big green cast all the way up to my thigh. My toes peek out of the cast however.

While it was very painful at the time, I'm starting to feel a lot better. Yesterday was a milestone---for the first time in a week, I got down on the floor to play with the Little People.

So what do you do when you have a hurt leg? One thing that I really like that Daddy figured out was to have "Tigertime Theater" productions of many fairy tale stories. He started out with a version of The Three Bears performed by three stuffed tigers and a curious giraffe. Daddy did lots of goofy voices and we both overacted a lot, so it was really fun. One thing I like to do is to start with the story the regular way and then change around what happens during the story. For instance, in one version of the story, the curious giraffe, caught sleeping in the baby tiger's bed, is too slow to awaken and escape and ends up getting eaten by the tigers, who think that giraffe goes very well with porridge.

We also played a version of Jack and the Beanstalk. My favorite part is the bit where the boy (Jack) goes off to sell the cow at the market but ends up trading it for magic beans. In my version, I like to be the boy, and we sell Nordy for magic beans. In one iteration, we instead cooked all the magic beans and ate them for dinner thus ending the story. I have to confess that I'm a little scared of the giant in this story (especially when he's played by an enormous stuffed bunny of mine who wears a pair of my old blue socks that I've outgrown.)

Anyway, I love these animal plays. They're especially good for guys with hurt legs.

Happy Halloween from the Green Dragon!

Dragon Tales, Dragon Tales. Now it's time for Dragon Tales! I am being a friendly, flying dragon for Halloween like my friends from Dragon Tales. I am a green dragon like Zackie. I wish I were purple like Weezie. (Zackie and Weezie are brother and sister and they are two heads on the same body.) Since I am green I think that I will be Weezie dressed as Zackie! Here are some photos from trick-or-treating at Lafayette Square last Tuesday and from our family visit to Joan's Pumpkin Farm yesterday. Tonight I wear my costume again and do lots of trick-or-treating! Yea!

The Autumn Leaves

We are learning about the autumn in my school these days. At "circle time" last week, we talked about all the signs of fall---the leaves turning colors on the trees, the days getting a bit colder, and so on. One of my teachers asked why the leaves fall off the trees. After getting a few answers, I raised my hand to offer my take. She finally called on me.

"Why do the leaves fall off the trees Aidan?" she asked.

Gravity!

I announced proudly.

The other kids looked quite puzzled, but the teacher agreed this was a good answer. Daddy was especially proud to hear of my terrific scientific answer.

In other news, since Daddy has had a cold lately, we've been sorting out the germ theory of disease. Viruses and bacteria are quite interesting. Sometimes I like to pretend to be a germ myself.

Aidan the Polar Bear

When I woke up this morning, I was wearing my polar bear jammies. (I was wearing them when I went to be too.) I decided to start the morning by being a polar bear. First, I lay on the floor sleepily, as polar bears often do. Then I marched on all fours to my bedroom where I hugged the Mommy polar bear (played, as fate would have it, by my real Mommy). She stroked my soft fur and told me I was a cute polar bear. Next, I was hungry, so I crawled on the floor to the pretend stream that runs through my room and snatched up a fish that I caught in my mouth.

"I eated him!" I cried out with delight.

"Is he dead? Is he in heaven now?" I asked.

I find the circle of life an endlessly fascinating topic. Next, I went seal hunting. Well, you can probably guess how that turned out. I like being a polar bear.

When I grow up, I want to be...

When I grow up, I want to be a garbageman.

I like reading a book called "Learn the Names of 100 Trucks." It's filled with lots of different kinds of trucks, logging trucks, construction trucks, semis, street sweepers, and so on. My favorite is the pink garbage truck. Whenever I come to that page, I tell Daddy, "When I grow up, I want to be a garbageman." I go on to tell him that I like the idea of getting to load all the interesting colored garbage cans and riding in a big pink truck. Daddy offers some alternatives: Pointing at a semi, he asks, "Wouldn't you rather be a long-haul trucker. After all, it's a great life. You get to live in your truck and eat all your meals at special restaurants called truck stops."

"No. I want to be a garbageman!" I say. (FYI- The garbage trucks where I live are especially cool since they have special mechanical arms that lift the garbage cans up and dump the trash into the truck. These are even nicer than the one in the book except that they are not pink.) When I am a garbageman, I want a rainbow-colored truck!

I also want to be a balloon salesman, operate a huge pile driver (also in my 100 Trucks book), and be a "rocket man" (astronaut) so I can go to the moon where I can jump really high owing to the lack of gravity. Preferably, I'll do all of these jobs everyday-- garbageman in the morning, balloonman in the afternoon, pile driver in the evening, and spaceman at night. Mommy says that I'm going to be very busy and asks me when I'm going to sleep. I always say that I'm never tired anyway-- who needs sleep?

The Trouble with Balloons

A new game, which I like a lot is, "Don't Let the Balloon Touch the Ground". In this game, you have to hit a balloon to keep it up in the air. It's lots of fun and I'm very good at it. I can keep a balloon up in the air more or less indefinitely although sometimes I like to intentionally let the balloon touch the ground.

The trouble with balloons comes from playing with Daddy. He seems to have bad luck when it comes to balloons. We played this game outside during the weekend and the balloon hit a sharp blade of grass and popped. We played inside yesterday and the balloon hit our textured ceiling inside the house and popped. It makes me very sad when balloons pop and I demand an immediate replacement for the fallen balloon. Last night, we were going to eat dinner when the balloon popped, so no replacement was forthcoming. This made me VERY ANGRY. I cried and complained bitterly about this unfortunate turn of events. The trouble with balloons is that they pop.

Animal Farm

Last night, Daddy and I had a fun adventure with the Little People. We gout out the farm, the house, and all the animals. Daddy said one of the pigs was named Napoleon and the other was named Snowball. They had the idea that the humans were taking away all the produce---the crops, the eggs, the milk---of the animals. It was time for the animals to not be exploited. So the animals rose up and booted the humans out. The humans, in this case, consisted of Uncle Noah, Missus Noah, and Dude Eddie. After that, the animals moved into the house and kept all the crops for themselves. Daddy said that our version of animal farm was a bit sunnier than the Orwell story of the same name. I love Animal Farm.

Marble soda...and all things Japanese

Yesterday night was a lot of fun. The whole three family went downtown for dinner and visiting shops. My first stop was the Apple Store, which is really fun. Initially all the little back balls that you sit on were occupied with other children, so I had to listen to music on iPods instead. A little later, a spot opened up and I got to play on the computers. I played a Nemo game and a preschool game that I really like.

After that, Daddy gave me several choices for where to go to dinner. I picked---what else---the sushi place. The sushi place features a really fun drink, marble soda (shown in the picture), as well as lots of other good stuff. You can read about marble soda here. I had miso soup, ikura (sushi rolls made with salmon roe), gyoza (pot stickers), tobago (an egg sushi), and lots of other good stuff.

We finished off the evening with a trip to Barnes and Noble where we played with Thomas. Along the way, we sang the Petula Clark song "Downtown" as well walked along the sidewalks under the lights.

Downtown!
Things'll be great when you're
Downtown!
Don't wait a minute more
Downtown!
Everything's waiting for you.

Golf, what else

Yesterday, Daddy and I went to the "green golf ball golf course" to play some golf. We did some chipping and some putting (I sank several three-footers). Then we went to the driving range. I love all the parts of the driving range---the machine that picks up the balls, the little baskets that carry the balls, and, of course, the balls themselves. The green golf ball golf course derives its name from the fact that all of its driving range golf balls have green lettering on them.

While usually I hit about a dozen golf balls and then let Daddy hit the rest, today I was really in the mood to hit. I whacked the whole basket full of them. What a lot of people don't know is that golf balls have their own distinct personalities. Here's how you do it. First, you find a golf ball that wants to be hit (or "putted" as I like to say). To figure this out, you listen for the golf ball saying "me, me, me" in response to the question "Do you want to be putted?". Then the golf ball boings over to the tee. Often the golf ball will say things on its way like "Grrr. I'm a grumpy golf ball." or "Yay, I'm a happy golf ball." or "I'm a little bit scared to be 'hitted.'" Then you put the ball on the tee. Then you put your hands on the club while Daddy puts his on too. Then, you have to make the all-important triangle wth your arms. Then you wind up and let the golf ball fly. I managed to hit a couple of golf balls the longest distance ever---around 40 yards---with this method.

One thing about golf balls, some are cleaner than others. There was one that was particularly dirty. I announced loudly, "This golf ball is ridiculously dirty!" This caused the woman in the driving range stall next to mine to double over in laughter. Generally, the other golfers seemed to enjoy my antics.

Golf is great!

I Knew You Were Coming So I Baked a Cake

Daddy and I celebrated Mommy's almost 37th birthday (she'll be 37 tomorrow) by making her a cake and dinner. She asked for something called a black forest cake, so, on Saturday morning, Daddy and I went off on a mission to get the ingredients. Daddy seemed to think he would find "black forest cake" cake mix, but no such thing exists. Daddy was stuck, so he quickly found a cookbook display and tried to figure out what the heck is in black forest cake. He discovered a long list of ingredients, few of which we had. We came home with baking chocolate, cocoa, whipping cream, cherries, and several other items.

Amazingly, Daddy's "solution" was to bake a cake "from scratch". This was fine with me since it entailed many more "boy jobs" than the usual cake-making with mixes. We spent all day Saturday afternoon and evening making the cake. The longest part was making the whipped cream icing, which took an eternity. Daddy and I alternated in using the mixer as our arms got tired. We frosted the cake today and had it this evening. I love cake. It was a great birthday celebration for Mommy.

By the way, Daddy and I also threw together a dinner of grilled salmon marinaded in oregano and dill, baked potatoes with sour cream and chives (from the garden) as well as salad with fresh tomoatoes from our garden. Mommy was pretty impressed with how much her two boys care about her.

After dinner and cake, I helped Mommy to open up her birthday gifts. It was the best almost birthday ever!

Thomas and the Fragile Flower School

One of my favorite Thomas adventures to play-act is "Thomas and the School Trip." For this adventure, Sir Topham Hatt tells Thomas to deliver the school children to some destination and Thomas goes there. Lately though, I've liked a variant of this adventure that Daddy came up with even better---Thomas and the Fragile Flower School. In this version, Sir Topham Hatt once again directs Thomas to take the schoolchildren to some destination; however, he cautions Thomas that the children are all "fragile flowers" and he must be very careful. Thomas then sets off on his journey and inevitably crashes in some horrible fashion. I then announce, "The fragile flower children are all broken. What are we going to do about that?"

Remarkably, the solution to this dilemma is to go back to the station, collect a new batch of coaches with a new class of fragile flower children and go off to crash again.

In addition to being fragile flowers, the Fragile Flower school kids all have funny names. Daddy says their names are all palindromes---names that are the same spelled backwards as frontwards. They include: Bob, Anna, Eve, Aviva, Nan, Ava, Elle, and Emme.

National Zoo/DC Part II

Here are the rest of my photos from DC. There are lots and lots, including more from the zoo (including naked mole rats!) and photos from museums and several boat rides. I love Washington DC!

Green and Yellow: Aftermath

I've heard your feedback loud and clear. Green and yellow is now out as a blog format. We're back to the old format.

Scooter

Today Daddy and I went for a scooter ride together. Daddy got out his Razor scooter, and he helped me build my Rallye scooter. We went to the park across the street and rode around. Mommy made sure I wore my helmet while riding my scooter. Scooter riding is fun...especially the downhill parts. The uphill bits are less fun. Here are some pictures of our adventures together.

See ya!

Lately, I've taken to saying "ya" instead of "you." Neither Mommy nor Daddy can figure out where I picked this up since neither of them talk that way. I told them that "ya" was a word I made up all by myself. Despite this considerable exercise in creativity on my part, neither of them seem to like using "ya" for "you."

Green and Yellow

Since green and yellow are my favorite colors, Daddy thought it might be fun for me to have a weblog look that is more in tune with my favorite colors. Please "vote" in the comments section for whether you like this version of the weblog or the earlier version.

Here's a New Orleans Tune

Since hearing about the flood in New Orleans, I've been quite interested in learning more about the place. One way I do this is to listen to lots of New Orleans music. Daddy has been singing me a couple of New Orleans songs I really like. They're especially good to sing along to or dance to. They are: "Iko Iko," which is a traditional Mardi Gras song, "Down at the Twist and Shout," which is a song about the zydeco group Beausoleil, and, of course, "Dixie." I asked Daddy what a "dixie" was and he told me it was a ten dollar bill in New Orleans. The "dixie" refers to "dix", the French word for ten.

Daddy has also exposed me to a Paul Simon song which refers to Clifton Chenier, the "King of the Bayou", but I don't like it very much.

National Zoo Part I

Here are some photos from one of the two days that Mommy and I visited the National Zoo while we were in Washington DC. We had to ride a bus and two Metro trains to get there. The travel is as good as the zoo itself! I got Mommy some free newspapers at the bus stop too! My absolute favorite zoo animals were the naked mole rats, but you will have to wait to see them a bit longer since they are not in this batch. You will see lovely animals like pandas, otters, giraffes and elephants though-- even an elephant shrew with a long, twitchy nose! (The pandas on the video screen are the Mommy Panda and the new panda cub, who was about 6 weeks old when we took the pictures. (You can read more about him, see the panda cam, and even vote for his name on the zoo web site.) The mommy and cub are being kept away from the public until the baby is older. The one eating bamboo in the color photos is the daddy.)

Sunflowers

Daddy and I did some photography experiments tonight. Using his tripod and something called a "macro setting", we took some more ultra closeup pictures of my sunflower. I took many of these photos myself. We also made something called a still life. In our still lifes, we used some of my pretend fruit, a real lemon, a real carrot, a wine glass, and my big plastic duck. We put these on our patio table. We even took a shot of our still life from underneath the table. I like our pictures. You can see them here.

Doing Laundry

While Mommy has a hurt toe, Daddy and I have been helping her out by doing the laundry. One of the highlights of laundry is sock matching, which I am an expert in. The other highlight is getting into the laundry basket with the dirty clothes. Here are some pictures that Daddy and Mommy think are exceptionally cute of my doing laundry.

In the Jungle

As you know, it's a great tradition to sing Wimoweh (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) before going to bed. As part of that tradition, I get to choose the animal in each verse that sleeps tonight. While selections vary in the first two verses---everything from dragons to zebras to otters---I'm very consistent in my selection for the last verse. For that verse, I choose the unlikeliests of bedfellows, the tiger and the polar bear, while they never meet in the wild, the often meet in my world.

A Really Useful Boy

Much like Thomas the Tank Engine, I aspire to be Really Useful too. This weekend I've been a really useful boy. Yesterday, I helped Daddy make an apple pie. I gathered the apples from our tree as Daddy tossed them down to me from his ladder. I measured out the mixture of sugar, cinnamon, flour, salt, and nutmeg to coat the apples with, I cut all the apples (using the apple cutting machine), and I put the pie in the oven to bake. Mommy said it was the best pie we've yet made together.

Today, I decided that the patio windows needed cleaning, so I took out my trusty squirt bottle, rag, and, best of all, my trusty squeegee! I love squeegeeing. Here are some pictures of me at work. I've also included some pictures of a sunflower and carrot I grew as well as some pictures taken at dinner. Of course, I played a key role in helping to cook.

Moonscapes

On Wednesday, Mommy went out with some of her other Mommy friends for the evening. This meant it was "guy night" here at home. After Daddy made dinner, we went for a walk. I noticed how nice the moon looked. I also noticed that the moon seemed to be following us. Everywhere we walked, there was the moon right over our shoulders. Daddy suggested we get out the camera and tripod and take a picture of the moon. I took some pictures and Daddy took some. Here are our "moonscapes."

When I Grow Up I Wanna Live in DC

I decided to open the front door by myself and go out there to watch for Daddy a few minutes ago. Mommy spoiled my plan and said that 3 is too young to open the front door and go out by myself. I told her that when I grow up, I'll be able to do that. I also told her, "You know, when I grow-up, I can go to Washington D.C. and Daddy will get me a job there, and I can go on THE METRO, you know! And you know, other people will keep me company on the metro..." (I remind Mom and Dad regularly that my airline of choice for my future trips to DC is JetBlue due to the individual TV screens on the back of the seats.)

It's Time to Match the Stars...

Lately, one of my favorite games is "Match Game". This involves turning over a bunch of pairs of Thomas the Tank Engine cards and then taking turns trying to find matches. When I play this game with Daddy, however, before the start of each episode there is an intro to the show.

Daddy: It's time to...
Aidan: Match the Stars!!!
Daddy: With Aidan Morgan, Piggy, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, Richard Dawson, and Fannie Flagg...
Daddy: And your host...
Aidan: Gene Rayburn!
Daddy: Hi Stars!
Aidan: Hi Gene!

We then sing the Match Game theme song and we're ready to play. For a blast from the past, check out the theme music here.

Mining

Today I went to the Black Diamond mine. This was a coal and sand mine located in Antioch, CA during the 19th and first bit of the 20th century. I really liked seeing the railroad tracks leading into the mine. I also has a lot of fun climbing up and down a giant sandpile. Here are some pictures of my adventures. You will note several pictures of mountains. When Mommy asked me what the mountains reminded me of, I said they reminded me of the humps of camels. They are definitely "humpy", have the righ color scheme, and, with their tall, dry grasses, look sort of like the fur of a camel. At the end of the batch of pictures, you'll find a couple more engine shots from the Smithsonian, as well as a shot of a sunset walk I took with Daddy along Livorna Road. I've decided we live in a very pretty place in the shadow of "Mountain Diablo."

September playdates

Here are some photos from some recent playdates with friends at my house.

P.S. If you look back at my Sept. 1 blog, you can now see my drawing of a daisy and some grass.

First Week at Garden School

Today was my first day going to preschool without Mommy. I liked it. My preschool is Garden Montessori School, and my teachers are Troy and Carolyn (both are ladies). There is a tank of fish and two birdies (which Mommy tells me are finches).

Yesterday, Mommy and I visited my preschool for a while and found lots of interesting things to do. The first thing I chose was an activity with white plastic hard boiled eggs floating in purple water in the Practical Life area. I used tongs to pick them up out of the water, put them in a colander, and then put them in pretty egg cups with my tongs. Afterward, I used yellow playdough in a little bundt cake mold to make a cake and then slice it. Next, I used some neat purple "slime" stuff and made shapes with it and even cut it with scissors. Finally, I took a tray of colorful styrofoam nuggets and painted water on them. It turns out that they stick together when you do this! I made a flower shape. As we were leaving, I noticed that another boy had stung a necklace with Cheerios and was eating them off of it. I told Mommy that I wanted to do a necklace next time and repeat some of the other stuff I did. Troy told me that the next day Mommy would drop me off at school for a short time and that Troy would walk me into the school. I told her, "I prefer both {mommy AND me}." I also told her and Mommy that I wanted to play school at home to get used to the idea. (We did this, pretending to drive to school in my imaginary rainbow car.)

As Mommy was driving me to school this morning, I told her that I was "the Little Engine that Could," and went to school in that frame of mind. Teacher Troy walked me up the steps, I waved goodbye to Mommy and I disappeared inside in a flash. I was all smiles when Mommy picked me up a half hour later. My teacher told Mommy that I didn't understand why it was so short today since I had lots of things in mind to do. I told Mommy that I didn't get to do the necklace or the colorful styrofoam things, but I did do a tower. (Mommy guesses this was the "pink tower" from the Sensorial area.) I also mentioned a circle with a goodbye song and that there is a Jack in his class who isn't a big man! (unlike Uncle Jack)

This week is a phase in week, where I go every day for a short amount of time (Weds- 1/2 hour, Thurs-45 min, Fri-1 hr, Mon and Tues-1 1/2 hrs. Finally a week from tomorrow I go my full 2 1/2 hrs. I'll be going to school 3 days a week once the getting used to school week is done: Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

My Car

I've been thinking about what kind of car I'd like to have when I grow up. My current optimal specification is as follows: I'd like a rainbow colored car with white wheels. On the front it will have two windows, but on the sides of the car, it will have lots of small airplane type windows. My car will also have wings on the side so it looks like an airplane and the wheels will fold up inside. The steering wheel will also be a rainbow.

Pictures from DC

I've decided that, as there have been more pictures taken of me than days I've been alive, it's time to rebel. My usal strategy is to make a series of faces---many of which feature my tongue prominently exposed---whenever someone wants to take a picture of me. But Daddy won't be easily deterred from picture taking. Here is an album with a bunch of shots Daddy took while we were in the Smithsonian in DC. You will notice that I'm mostly absent from these shots. Despite this, somehow Daddy managed to find some fairly interesting things to shoot. Here's the link

Figure and ground

I've been experimenting with the idea of figure and ground in some of my more recent artwork. I wanted to draw a picture of a bunch of daisies to send to my friend Sophie. Since daisies have white petals, white paper won't work to give the right effect. Instead, I asked for some black construction paper and then colored it white and yellow to indicate the color of the daisies. This drawing worked out so well, I made a couple of others to give to other friends.