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.