Faults and Fixes

One of my favorite Christmas presents was not actually given to me, but rather given to Daddy. It's a book by David Leadbetter called 80 Faults and Fixes. It's about all the different things that can go wrong in hitting a golf ball and tips on how to fix those things. What I like about it are the pictures, which feature golfers in brightly colored clothing being advised by a seemingly all-knowing coach.

One page that is particularly interesting is where a golfer is trying to hit a short shot onto the green. Instead, he hits a line drive that breaks a nearby window. The picture shows the window breaking and the "coach" character looking distressed. On the next page, the "coach" shows the golfer how to hit a nice rainbow shot. I wonder what happens to to the golf ball that went through the window. Do the people in the house give it back? Does the golf ball end up in their "movie room"? Do they keep the golf ball and play with it themselves?

The page that merits revisiting shows a skeleton wearing golf shoes, a golf hat, and holding a club. The skeleton is stuck inside a deep sand trap, which Daddy calls a bunker. The point of the picture is that this unlucky golfer could never get out of the bunker so he ended up just being bones. On the next page, the apparently reanimated golfer is being shown by the coach character (who is wearing a quite interesting white hat) how to get out of the bunker. When Daddy and I went to the golf course yesterday, I checked out several of the bunkers I came across to see if there are any bones in them. Happily, there weren't. Faults and Fixes is my top read for 2005.

Doctor Visit

Yesterday, I went for my annual checkup. The doctor was very silly. She told me that I had kitty cats in my ears and that I had eaten an elephant and a zebra for lunch. She also pronounced me in tip-top condition. Here are some vital statistics about me: I'm now 36 1/2" tall. That's not very tall relative to other boys my age (25th percentile), but it does shoot me over the three foot barrier. I weigh 32 1/2 pounds, which makes me exactly average (50th percentile) among boys my age. Somehow, they stopped measuring my head, which was the one physical characteristic where I was in the upper percentiles. Because of my vegetarian tendencies, they decided to give me a blood test to see if I have enough iron. I was very brave. In fact, when they pricked my finger, I said it tickled. (I also got 2 stickers for being brave.) The report back said that I have plenty of iron. While I don't like going to the doctor due to dislike of shots I did like some of the toys in the "well" waiting area, so I played with those for a bit before and afterward. Happily, I did not need shots this time, and I won't need any more until just before kindergarten. Mommy always worries when she takes me to the doctor since there are lots of sick people there, so we're hoping I don't come down with anything as a result of my "well" visit. Last year, I came down with my second bout of stomach flu not long after my "well" visit.

Plows

After having visited the snow (twice) during my trip back east, I've decided that it is winter in the Island of Sodor (where Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends live). Winter is a tricky time if you're a train becuase snow can easily block the tracks or you can get hit by the random avalanche as well. On Saturday, faced with increasing number of snow related "cathatrophes" on the line, Daddy and I got together to build some plows for my engines so they could mke it through the snow. Daddy found some construction paper in colors to match each engine and then drew a plow pattern for me to cut out. With a little help, I cut out a plow for Thomas and a plow for Percy and Daddy fastened the plows on with scotch tape. Next, I made my own plow design for Henry. It was a bit jagged on the bottom to really push the snow out of the way. We taped that plow on too. Soon, the trains were busy shuttling freight around Brendam Bay. Occasionally they would run into snow drifts, but the plows enabled them to push through.

Hooray for plows.

Glittery Holidays

Glittery Art 
Recently, Mommy and I have been in the holiday spirit by making various Christmas crafts. A couple of days ago, we made construction paper birds and stockings, decorated them with copious amounts of glitter, and hung them on the tree. Yesterday's project was to make a chain out of construction paper. Mommy began this project, but Daddy took over when he got home. Daddy has an odd idea about how to make Christmas chains, he wanted to make Möbius strips for rings. I kind of liked saying "Möbius," and I have to admit they do make nice rings. Mommy thought that this was an odd holiday choice on Daddy's part.


Glittery Bird 

Aidan Not the Engineer

Last night was "guys" night at the house. Mommy went out with a bunch of other Mommies and, amazingly, they decided they wanted to leave their many children at home. So it was just Daddy and I trying to fend for ouurselves. As a special treat, Daddy decided to set up the electric train. Daddy's train is very small and very fussy. We had lots of difficulties getting the tracks together and even more difficulties getting the trains on the track. Eventually, we managed to get everything going and Daddy handed me the controls to run the train. The main thing I was interested in was figuring out how to make the train go fast. I quickly figured this out and ran the train as fast as it would go. Inevitably, some problem would arise and the train would suffer a catastrophe. After driving the train for awhile, Daddy pointed out the I was the engineer of the train. This was unnerving. "Aidan not the engineer," I said---though I liked driving the train regardless.

Another day at the office

Today I got to go to work with Daddy. We drove together in the green car through the "light tunnel" (the Caldecott tunnel for those interested) and spent the day at Daddy's office. Daddy brought a laptop computer for me as well as one for himself. While Daddy did some work, I worked on the Little People game, Reader Rabbit, and Railroad Tycoon. I also got to visit lots of other people around the office, all of whom remarked on how cute I was. I liked working with Daddy.

A Tale of Two Crankys

Cranky the Crane is one of Thomas' friends. He's also a big item on my Christmas list. Since I have to wait all the way until Christmas (and perhaps beyond) to get Cranky from a store, Daddy improvised a "block" version of Cranky. Can you tell which is which?

 

 

What does that mean?

In the past, I've kin of let some phrases that I don't understand go by without comment. I figured I'd figure it out eventually and not to worry. Lately, I've decided to be more proactive in figuring out what certain phrases mean. For instance, every night Mommy and Daddy say they love me very much. They don't really talk about love in many other contexts. Love doesn't seem to be a thing you run across when wandering about--like a tree, a truck, or a bus. It doesn't seem to be an action like running, jumping or hippity-hopping. So last night when Mommy told me she loved me I asked her:

What does that mean?

Mommy had to pause for a little bit to figure out a good answer. (I guess that meant it was a good question.) She told me that love meant the Aidan was a very special person to Mommy and Daddy and we liked him very, very much. ("Like" is a concept I understood a long time ago. Indeed, it's negation is one of my favorite phrases, as in "Aidan no like buttons.")It made me happy to know that Mommy and Daddy loved me.

Up an at 'em Aidan-eer

I've evolved a morning ritual with Daddy. When I'm ready to get up, I call to him, "Daddy, Daaaaddy". He then asks me if it's light outside and we open the shade to check. Next, he greets me with a phrase from one of my favorite books, Chugga chugga choo choo.

Sun's up. Morning's here. Up an at 'em Aidan-eer

I like that greeting a lot. I then need to get all my animals and other stuff out of my bed. I offer a similar greeting as I eject them from my bed: wake up bunny-neer! wake-up bear-neer! wake up pillow-neer! and so on.

After they're all out, it's my turn to get out of bed too. I like to get out of my nighttime diaper and put on fresh clothes to start the day. I ditch the diaper and jammies and Daddy asks me what clothes I want to wear. Usually, I'm initially indecisive. He helpfully offers to put on my Raiders jammies if I have trouble making up my mind. Since I never like to wear Raiders jammies, this is a strong incentive to pick some clothes and underwear out. I put on my clothes and then we're off to the kitchen for breakfast. It's fun to start the day with Daddy.

Turkish Turkey Day

We went to a Thanksgiving party last night hosted by some Turkish people, so it was Turkish turkey day. They had lots of nice cheeses as well as some nice desserts. I especially liked the profiterolles and the persimmon cake. I used Daddy as a napkin after eating part of a profiterolle--he was chocolatey after that. At then end of the party, I gave everyne a high five and said goodbye in my usual cheery way. It was a fun party. Here's a picture of the outfit I wore.

Happy Turkey Day 

Scary Piggy

The last two days, I've not liked having Piggy or Little Piggy too close to me. The reason is that I had a bad dream about Piggy. In the dream, Piggy was moving on his own, and this scared me quite a bit. I told Mommy and Daddy about my dream and even gave Piggy to Daddy as a "gift". Right now, Piggy is living in Mommy and Daddy's bedroom. Bad dreams are scary.

Golf Ball Art

In addition to playing golf, I like to decorate golf balls with markers. Here are pictures of some Aidan original designs. You can click on each image to get a bigger version so you can enjoy all the nuances of my designs.

Golf Ball Art 

Golf Ball Art 

Golf, What Else?

Looking Out Onto the 18th 
Today is the day after Thanksgiving. Daddy is home today, which is a rare thing for him on a weekday. He asked me what I wanted to do today. I told him I wanted to go to the slide park and the golf course. We had a lot of fun in both places. In the slide park, we rode the bouncy motorcycle and ran races. At the golf course, we did a lot of putting and chipping. I'm getting a lot better at putting. The way I like to do it is with my green plastic driver, which I refer to as the "big dog". Mow most other people do not use drivers to putt with, but I like to innovate. I shared a bunch of pictures Daddy took of me at the golf course here. In some of these pictures I'm looking up interestedly. That's becuase there was a crow in the tree above me and I liked talking to it.

September Visit to Wilkes-Barre

In September, Mommy and I spent some time in Wilkes-Barre visiting friends and relatives. Here is a link to some pics-- which vary widely in quality since the camera batteries were so weak that it couldn't handle low light or movement very well. Included are a few shots from a friend's birthday party, a shot on the Clifford ride-on toy that Auntie Max gave me, photos from a visit to Marguerite, shots from a trip to Steamtown in Scranton, pictures from my much-anticipated gingerbread baking session (a la Maisy Mouse) at Nainnie's house, and pics taken while hanging out with Grammy, Uncle Jack, and Frances & Miranda (Jack's girlfriend Alicia's kids).

BTW, Happy Birthday, Uncle Dave!

Eat it all

Part of the experience of eating for me is proclaiming my intentions. Very often, my intention is to "eat it all." Now, this does not mean that I intend to eat all of what's served to me, it means I intend to eat all of a given item. None for anyone else. Not Mommy. Not Daddy. Of course, I never fulfill this goal. Mommy and Daddy have told me that the "eat it all" strategy is not very nice, but somehow I cannot help it. Here's a sample conversation when Daddy made pancakes yesterday.

Me: Want to eat it all.
Daddy: You can eat all of Aidan's pancakes, but I'm making enough for everyone.
Me: Want to eat the pancakes all.
Daddy: Now, we've talked about this. Is it polite or rude to say you're going to eat it all and not let others have any?
Me: Rude.
Daddy: So Aidan doesn't want to be rude.
Me: Eat it all?
Daddy: Come on.
Me: Want to be rude. Want to eat the pancakes all.
Daddy: Sigh.

Hit It Straight Please

On Saturday, Daddy offered me a chance to go wherever I wanted. At first, I thought about going to the "bumpy slide park" or perhaps the zoo. I eventually settled on going to the golf course We packed up Daddy's clubs (I helped to carry them out to the car) and my clubs and headed off to the golf course. There are lots of fun things to do there. We did some putting. We watched some people at the driving range hittting golf balls with their drivers, which Daddy and I like to call "big dogs." We visited the pro shop, which is filled with all sorts of wonderful clubs. My favorite section of the pro shop is the long line of putters. When I saw them, I smiled broadly and said "oooooh. Putters. Aidan likes putters." The pro shop guy was also impressed at my ability to pick out sand wedges and hybrid clubs.


The highlight of the day was eating Teddy Graham crackers and watching people try to hit the ball to an island green. Many of the people hit the ball into the water. Splash the ball would go. I kind of like it when the balls get wet. Some of the people got the ball to the green and then tried to putt it in the hole. I offered some helpful advice:

Hit it straight please!

Several of the golfers both valued this advice and thought it very funny. Golf is a great sport.

The Great Little People Race

Yesterday, I got to play with the Little People with Daddy for a large part of the day. The Little People had many wnderful adventures including trips to the zoo and to the golf course, but the highlight was the Great Little People Race. This was a game that Daddy invented. He said he played a version of this game with Matchbox cars in the dining room of a house where he grew up. For the great race, there are 9 Little People vehicles of various sorts: an ambulance, a fire engine, two tricycles, an airplane, a tow truck, a taxi, and a couple of ordinary cars each piloted by a selected Little Person. For instance, the taxi was piloted by the "Mommy" little person while a chicken rode in the back of the cab. Occasionally, "Mommy" would fly out of the taxi and the chicken would do the driving.


Dude Eddie 

Conveniently, the hallway in my house is in the shape of a big rectangle, so the race involves making one lap around the house. There are many obstacles for the Little People to avoid such as walls, doors, and carpets. Perhaps the toughest obstacles are the "giant foot" and the "giant bumble bee." You see, what I like to do is to get Daddy to push the Little People while I stand in their path and try to block the way. When I'm wearing socks, it's the giant foot that presents problems. When I'm wearing my bumble bee bedroom slippers, it's the giant bumble bee. Of course, even if the Little People manage to avoid these perils, sometimes the "giant hand" scoops them up and moves them to a different position on the track, which can be either a help or a hindrance to them. I'm happy to report that Mommy and the Chicken won the Little People race with "Dude Eddie" following close in second. Dude Eddie is a version of the Little People character Eddie dressed in a flowered lei and toting a camera on returning from vacation who has a kind of surfer patois (at least when Daddy does his voice).

Happy Birthday Daddy

 Yesterday was a special day---Daddy's birthday. I helped Mommy to make a cake, put the icing on it, and decorate it with candy sprinkles. I used every kind of cancy sprinkle we had in the house. After we finished decorating the cake, we had to sit down to dinner. We had lobster tail, which normally I really like. However, today I was too excited about eating cake. I really just wanted get to the cake course. While the icing and candy sprinkles were delicious as always, I discovered that the cake, a carrot cake, was marred by the presence of raisins and walnuts. Still, it was a fun birthday for Daddy.

World Series of Poker

I've mentioned poker on my blog a couple of times. The last time there was a poker night, which was some time ago, I realized how fascinating poker chips are. I like the way they stack. I like the plinking noise as they land on top of each other. I like the numbers on the playing cards. Anyway, recently Daddy was channel surfing and had on the "World Series of Poker" (or WSOP for aficionados like me). I saw how all the players (except two) had big stacks of chips in front of them, and I immediately wanted to play too. Daddy got out the poker set and gave me all the yellow and green chips (the two best colors). Then he dealt a hand of Texas Hold 'Em (the official game of the WSOP). I like the cards---they have nice big numbers on them and it's fun to count the number of clubs, spades, etc. on each. The game evolved to one where Daddy would turn over a card and then I would stack a number of poker chips on top of the card equal to the card's value.

A bit later, I decided that the poker chips were really checkers, so Daddy got out a checker board. It was a big heavy checkerboard that Daddy got from his grandfather (my great-grandfather). He apparently made this board from an old school desk and a car windshield. The glass makes the "checkers" slide along very nicely. Daddy says that card playing is an important skill and that it's a fun and exciting career being a gambler.

Mine eyes

While I mostly favor the use of the third person to describe myself in common speech, lately I've been experimenting with the first person. Rather than saying "Aidan want to play." I occasionally try out "I want to play." I've also discovered the possessive case of the first person as well; however, I like to use this in a manner akin to the King James Bible. Here are some examples:

Do you want to play with mine toys?

Mine eye is hurting. Wash it out with water.

Daddy's white golf balls. Mine yellow golf balls.

I like the formality of the way this sounds. The first person seems like it might be quite useful.