ANNAlytical.com

So lately Aidan has been going through a tough time with getting easily frustrated and throwing a fit. It seems random at times, but it’s like he just wants to convey something to you and he gets so upset that he just doesn’t have a way. Which is good… he got like this a bit when he was trying crawl and then walk. He’s just like, ‘hellloooeeeww… um can we get the show on the road here…’ Now I keep trying to think where he got that from because Nick and I have unending patience….

*crickets*crickets*crickets*

Anyhow, ever the optimist with this stuff (because we won’t be having Mr. Cranky Pants be Aidan’s new name) we keep trying to think of things that he can learn to do that will make him feel like he’s really doing something for himself. I think it’s really helping… so far today he’s been in a great mood.

We have these NickJr (as in Nickelodeon) alphabet books… one little book for each letter. Each book is 5 thick cardboard pages with a picture and a word describing the picture. When you dump them all on the floor (ahh, 26 books on the floor) they actually are like little blocks. Hey, maybe that’s the point? hehe. So I got those out yesterday. Well now today he wants to play with them… and without throwing a fit, he brought them next to me at the computer and played with them on the floor. AWESOME.

Then (as usual) once he sees me on the computer for a bit he wants in on the activity, hehe. So I think… well, ok. I used to open notepad and let him bang on the keyboard… but he’s beyond that now… so what to do? I mean, every time he goes to Grandma Sharon’s he shakes the mouse on the mousepad to “wake up” the computer…. he gets it. So why not. So I open Microsoft Paint.

I remembered some of the paint stuff… like the squiggley line that you draw straight and then pull to bend it. Then I thought, well he learned to say banana this week (soooo cute to hear him say it every time he sees one… he goes mmmm bahnahnna) …anyway, so I used the squiggly bendy tool and yellow paint to draw some bananas. Then I added the brown stem part. As soon as I added the stem part he says, mmm bahnahnna. And I’m thinking, hmmm I’m onto something…. and it’s much more fun than drawing him stuff on his magna doodle thing… this has color, hehe.

So then he’s really noticing the mouse, so I put him on my right knee to try and use the mouse after switching to the paint brush tool and to red paint so he’d really get the connection between the mouse and the screen. Well, he was ahead of me… he grabs the mouse and doesn’t lift it from the tray to play with it like he used to, he grabs it like a pro, index finger on the scroll button, looks at the screen and uses the scroll wheel…. lol. He totally looked like he was trying to read something hahaha.

Then I keep trying to show him how to use the left click so he can use the red paint. He was sort of interested, but he wanted to right click. I was thinking… oh bummer then he won’t get to see himself draw…. oh well… let’s not wake the nearly terrible two beast… let him be, lol. So he right clicks and starts drawing all over like I was showing him before… only it was painting in white over the other stuff we did. huh… then it hit me, oh yah… the background color is the right click; foreground is left click. So he’s just drawing away, then switches to left clicking with the red paint.

Hahahaha… So he had a good time. Now, the hard part… when he’s doing something he wants to do, and he has to stop (it was time for him to have a shower w/daddy) he pitches a fit. This has been the main source of tantrums lately. But, I have been really trying to let him be done on his terms… not as in time frame, but how we stop an activity.

So what I do is say, ok “one more time, then it’s time to say bubbye to the [whateveritis]“. It works pretty well. So I do that with the computer and it really worked. Nick was shocked (man have I been nagging him to remind him to tell Aidan to stop the activity instead of just relocating him or the activity thus bringing the fun temper… ahhh grasshoppah finally gets it, lol)… anyway…

He got down, I told him “time for a shower” and he goes to lay down and starts taking his pants off so he can be ready to get in the shower… right on! Not that he hasn’t done some of this before… it’s the transition time that’s usually rough… moving from one activity to the next makes him irritated. But not today… he did GREAT. WOOHOO!

At night when we get done reading a story before bed (which is usually him with a book on one of our laps and pointing at stuff in the book asking what each thing is a million times, hehehe) we tell him, ok it’s time for night night… put the book in the box (his toy box). He then gets up, puts it away and reaches up for you to be put in his crib.

When he has something that’s trash, we open the trash and tell him, put it in the trash… and he does.

So it’s not about him running the show, it’s about learning to do the things for himself that he should learn… I guess it’s just been sneaking up on us these past few months.

Other little updates…

new words

-banana
-butterfly
-’no’ on crack (this is a demon scream ‘no’… it’s precious…………..)
-Lupe (Pam’s gardner – Pam is our daycare provider – Lupe is so nice and Aidan adores him… won’t leave daycare on Thursday’s if he doesn’t get to say bye to Lupe, lol)
-train (which usually comes with a cute high pitched yet soft ‘choo choo’)
-cookie
-cheese (when I take his picture… funny)
-please (this is kind of week… but he says it when he reaches out for something he wants from you, so it’s kind of cool)
-sit
-shoe
-Lotta (Lola’s best friend on Charlie and Lola… cute cartoon!)

new or improved phrases

-I did it or yayyy I did it
-ok, here we go (when we leave daycare)
-here you go (when he hands you something)

of course, he still loves his old standby words…
uh oh
ball
no no no (with a head shake)

too funny

he rolls his eyes… and not just a normal eye roll… he makes sure to turn his head a little away from you, then looks to the side toward you, and up slightly and holds it there then kind of shakes his head at you lol

he likes to spin around to make himself dizzy… not like ready to puke dizzy, but just enough to fall down and laugh about it… it’s even more funny because he does the eye roll thing where he holds his sideways glance the whole time he’s spinning… lordy

he loves to play the guitar while he’s getting his diaper changed… hahaha I have photos and a video… I’ll see if I can edit them enough to not feel awkward putting them online, since he’s in “all his glory” lol. We’ll see…

Anyway, time for Aidan’s breakfast now.

He eats cheerios with milk… normal cereal and milk, it’s cute.