Cousin Sylvie

Isaac is a pretty independent kid. He's perfectly happy doing his own thing and usually just observes other kids if he pays them any attention at all. Sylvie, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. She loves other kids and is always wanting to play with them. As you can imagine, this causes some friction between the two. Isaac is all about his personal space, while Sylvie likes to give many hugs and kisses. So imagine my surprise when, after a few hours together, she won him over! Initially he would hide from her to preserve his precious personal space (and avoid the kisses), but after a while, her games looked like fun and he joined in. The next thing I knew they were chasing each other all over the house, running and screaming, having the best time. I might have some of it on video, I'll have to check. They were cute as everything and just as I had gotten used to a kid that liked to play with other kids, he shocked me to no end by leaning over and kissing her! Who knew?


Playing the piano together.

And taking a bath together (they are really not going to like these pictures when they're older).

And having a drink (No, there was nothing in the bottle; they were just too cute).

"Hey, wait a second..."

"There's nothing in there!"

What happens when you've had a few too many.

Birthday party with the family

OK, I cannot keep the blog up to date...I'm doing the best I can, but we are somewhat behind. Anyway, back in January we went to see the extended family to celebrate birthdays. We didn't get many pictures of the birthday celebration, but these few where pretty good.


This was Isaac's birthday present from Aunt Janet, Uncle Dan, and cousin Sylvie.



Let's just say "mess" is an understatement!

Notice the pink tint to the brown shirt. Luckily this stuff came out of everything easily (thank goodness, because Oma was not too happy with the mess).

Stairs story

I called Paul and told him an Isaac story, and he said I had to put it on the blog, so here it is...
There is some debate within the Aardema clan as to the best way for a toddler to descend the stairs. We are a fan of the feet first, on the tummy; while they are more for the buns method. Both have their benefits and drawbacks, so the debate goes on. Well, Isaac has been going faster and faster down the stairs and it's making me nervous, so I decided to try the buns method. I showed him how to do it, and he gave it a try. He was plopping on his buns every step and it looked sort of painful as it rattled his head. (He was also grunting as he landed on every step.) When he got about a third the way down the stairs (after a particularly loud grunt), I asked if it hurt. He responded with a vigorous nod, and said "Dess (yes), Mama". He leaned to the side and pointed to his buns and said "Dess hurt". He paused for a minute, then said "I know!" and flipped over and slid the rest of the way down on his stomach. My little problem solver :-).

Random picture. Thank you Arden and Natalie for my birthday present! I love it!

The cousins

Here is the whole crew (at least until May...then we'll have to make a space for the next cousin :-). Aren't they cute? (Sorry to the oldest 2--I won't name names--for calling you cute ;-).