....His Little Heart......

I am enjoying a quiet morning with my delicious cup of coffee and my Bub's still asleep. It is a beautiful morning with a hint of blue sky and fog that is so low on the mountains that I wonder if it might be snowing up there. Most mornings I don't get this luxury of spending quiet moments alone....and so this morning I am truly thankful. I have had the time to "be still and know...." I realize that most of my mornings and days are so crammed with being a mom and working that my body forgets what it is like to just be.

Lately, it has been a bit difficult to be a mom. Not that I don't love everything about being a mom but Aidan has begun to test his limits. Saying "No" is just not good enough anymore. He has come to realize that there has been no consequences, before now, for the things that he would try and do. And the reason for that was he use to listen when we would say "No". That just doesn't seem to work anymore. I have tried numerous ways of disciplining him in ways that he would understand at 13 months. I think this is the difficult part because he is still so little and I wonder how much he is really getting. I know now, he is understanding lots! I was talking with a good friend of mine and telling her my frustrations of how disciplining just doesn't seem to be working (at least in the ways we have tried). She would nod and smile saying "yeah some are just like that....you are going to have to break his heart" She suggested everytime he disobeyed or would deliberately not listen to put him in a timeout in his bed with absolutely nothing and leave him for a minute or so. Well, we have tried it and so far it works like a charm. Everytime he cries as if someone has broken his heart and when I go in to get him and to explain to him why he was put in his bed he seems rather repentive. So far, he has not repeated the actions that sent him to his bed. Yay, for Mom's who have gone before me!

Besides the frustrations of a disobedient strong-willed child Aidan and I are having a great time at home. He allows me to do some work while he is awake and playing contently on his own but when he has had enough and he wants some attention he comes and let's me know. Yesterday, we spent sometime with the camera. He loves being able to see himself on this screen. Most times when I want to get a picture of him without him knowing it is almost near impossible. The child seems to know where I am at all times and if I deviate from that he comes to find me making it difficult to capture some rather funny shots of him. The above shot of him with his sweatshirt was a funny one because I had asked Jamie to go get him ready for bed. I heard lots of laughter and a couple of screams and then a half naked boy was running towards me with his shirt on his head. I guess Jamie had some difficulty getting it off his head....and of course Aidan loves to squirm and get away when we change him these days. He thinks it is a fun game to play. So we had to capture the moment on camera because apparently when I was his age I would go into my parents closet and take underwear and put it on my head....I know...gross...but true. (there you go Mom and Dad, I confessed to it :)

Last night I took this little video of Aidan. I know it is the back of him but like I said if he knows I am doing something with the camera he stops whatever he is doing and then I don't get anything. He just kept walking around the kitchen throwing the ball, clapping and talking. It is truly like he is in his own little world that no one else understands but himself and he loves it.

We have our first swimming lesson today! I am curious as to how it is going to go. He enjoys the water but as of late, he has not wanted to sit and play in the tub. I really hope he doesn't scream in terror but can have fun. I suppose only time will tell.....wish me luck!