Aiden, The Professor

After Aiden got his glasses today, I was trying to think of other little kids I know with glasses. I recalled that one of the little boys on Jon and Kate Plus 8 had them. Then I remembered that they used to call him Aaden, "The Professor". (Yes, their spelling is a little different.) Now we have a Professor Aiden too.

Aiden did a great job with his glasses today and kept them on the entire time. Mainly because I think he really needed them. Eric and I can't even see anything when we look through them. I was also worried that Reid would be jealous and throw a fit. At the clinic, he did say once, "I want glasses." I explained to him that only Aiden was going to get glasses because they help him to see. He seemed fine with that explanation and hasn't said a word since. He even told Aiden they looked cute when the lady at the clinic first put them on.

Waiting for our turn. I made the boys sit in the stroller because I was fearful of them running all over the clinic and grabbing glasses off the displays. Reid was excited here because he spotted a little basketball in a display for "rec specs".

Holding Mama's hand. I held my dad's hand a lot when I went to visit him in the care facility or hospital. I miss that a lot, so I've liked that the boys have been going through a phase of wanting to hold our hands. Not the best for sleep training, but it won't last forever.

Here they are:

Hmmmm.

I let the boys climb up and down the stairs a few times as a reward for being good in the clinic. I'm glad I did, because his glasses were still sliding down his nose too much, so I was able to grab the lady and she helped us adjust them even more. She said it can take a couple of visits before they fit right, but the clinic isn't very close to us, so I was hoping we could get it right the first time. She also said not to be surprised if it seems like he's looking at us above his glasses too much. A lot of what little kids focus on is on the floor or in front of them, which is where their glasses need to be. Adults towering above are more likely to get the over-the-glasses looks.

Afterwards, a trip to the grocery store. Reid was hanging out of the car-cart like a monkey:

A couple of grandpa-like poses from Aiden:

Back to playing with the trains. I had another meeting this afternoon, so Grandma stayed with the boys until Eric arrived home from his trip. Eric said Aiden immediately took his hand and pulled him into the other room to show off the new train table:

Stealing Mama's yogurt. I was just reminded- when the boys spot the Olympic rings they say, "I see balls!" Sometimes they count them, "One, Two, One, Two. Two!" We're still working on our counting.

Playing baseball with Daddy. Good to have him home after a five-day trip!

End of July... Already?!?

Raise your hand if July flew by? Wowza. It was a good month, though.

Here are a few more Estes Park photos from Jen O:

What finally got the most smiles from the kids in the group photos is when the adults started cheering and clapping. Pretty soon the kids were joining in:

Post Estes Park

Aiden lining up his cars. I'm fearful that 14 years from now, he's going to be really disappointed if he doesn't find his dream car in the driveway. Maybe cousin Jordan will be designing cars for Corvette by then and can help us out.

Showing me their personalized board books that Grandma made for them: 

A tip from Estes Park- give the kids plastic cups to play with in the bath tub. However, after they flooded our bathroom, we switched out the big cups (seen below) for some small stacking cups we got in a Wendy's kids meal. 

The boys and I spotted some hot air balloons when we went out to get the newspaper. Of course, I told them to stay off of the wet, freshly watered lawn. You know where they bee-lined it. 

I'm going to sew a couple of t-shirt quilts using my dad's t-shirts. I'll keep one and I'll give the other one to my brother. I was experimenting with making necklaces out of some of the scraps. A Pinterest idea, of course. I was pleased with a couple of them I made. The boys also thought their creations turned out well:

Noodles and Company with Grandma: 

At Jo-Ann's the boys asked to see Elmo. I finally figured out that they wanted to touch the feather boas, which did look a lot like Muppet fur: 

FaceTime with Daddy. Aiden wanted me to get something, so he kept leaning in close trying to get my attention: 

Leaving the church nursery. They both have cried the past couple of weeks when I drop them off, but when I peek in on them shortly after the service begins, they're always doing just fine. 

Riding the car-cart at the grocery store. They're disappointed when we go to stores that don't have car-carts.

Cheese: 

Sunday, July 22nd- I went to check on the boys before I went to sleep and couldn't find Aiden in his bed. Turned out that he needed a little brotherly comfort and had climbed in with Reid. I hated to disturb them, so I left him there for the night. 

The following can be the pictures I show Reid's prom date, right? 

On Monday, we went to the zoo: 

Can you tell from the rosy cheeks how hot it was? 

Calculator Camp!!! I went to Colorado Springs for three days of calculator workshop again this summer. I had six colleagues join me this time, so we carpooled down each day. It was great and I have a lot of ideas I want to try out this year. 

Running is a favorite activity. Reid is very fast, but just to make sure he beats all of us, he tends to jump the gun. For example, he'll wait to say "Go" until after he's taken a few steps. Aiden managed to beat him one time and Reid started crying. We tried to assure him that he didn't always need to win, but he wasn't buying it. 

On Wednesday afternoon, Eric and I took Aiden to an eye doctor. We've continued to notice that his eyes are crossing. His right eye especially tends to drift in. The doctor did figure out that both of his eyes are having trouble focusing, so Aiden is going to get glasses. His eyes are at "+6", so the doctor is going to start with a "+4" prescription. I just got a call today that the glasses had arrived, so maybe I'll be able to take the boys over tomorrow morning to pick them up. 

We left Reid home with Grandma while we were at the appointment. It think it was the longest the boys have ever been apart from each other and it was really weird not to have Reid with us.

Aiden did a great job and climbed right up in the chair when he was getting measured for his glasses. 

He was out cold within a couple of minutes of leaving the clinic as it was nap time. 

We later went to Wendy's (with Reid and Grandma, too!) and then brought home Dairy Queen for dessert.

Graduating to corn on the cob for the first time. Usually I cut it off of the cob, but when they took a bite from Grandma's corn cob last week, I thought I would let them have their own. They did pretty well. 

Daddy has been letting the boys sit up in the tree. They were excited to show me: 

Still hot here: 

"It's cold!", Reid was reporting to me: 

Watching the Olympics Opening Ceremony and keeping my eyes on the bathing monkeys: 

The boys assume that the bed-jumping scene in the opening ceremony implies that it will be a new event. They'll be ready to represent the good ol' USA in 2028. They also want to know if synchronized whining will be an option.

Reid dancing to the music: 

Aiden was getting tired out: 

Wresting might also be another Olympic option for their future, although I was trying to get them to watch the synchronized diving:

Last night I found Aiden in Reid's bed again. Maybe it's a Sunday night ritual? This time I did move him back to his bed because Reid was sweating with his head on that blanket. First, a few pictures of their cuteness: 

I took the boys to Jocelyn's today so I could meet with a few administrators at school and get a jump start on some of my new duties. On the way to pick them up, I saw this train table in a driveway with a sign selling it for $35! I slammed on the breaks and was lucky to find the owner at home. I've been wanting to get one, but they're well over $100. This one even included the tracks, train cars, trees, people, etc. Heck of a deal.

Of course, Aiden is especially thrilled. In this picture he was running around the table, pumping his arm, and yelling "Choo choo! Choo choo!"