Birthday Boy!

Somebody turned 2! We didn't have a party with friends or anything (although several of my piano students wanted us to because they wanted to come play with him!), but we did celebrate at home.

Aidan LOVED blowing out his candles! He actually asked us to re-light them about 4 times.

This is my favorite video - you can see how proficient he is at tearing open the wrapping paper. I also love the excited shriek when he realized it was a stuffed dog. ("Dog! My dog!")

And this one is kind of long, but it's especially for Grandma and Grandpa Steele.

For the sake of posterity, Aidan right at 2 years old:

• has NOT hit the terrible twos yet. He is still fairly compliant and sweet.
• DOES have a sense of humor. Loves to figure out how to tease Mom and Dad, and sometimes pushes the boundaries to see if we think it's funny or not.
• is talking a LOT! Three- and even four-word sentences seemed to come up out of nowhere about a month before he turned 2. He also loves to label things and will point to new things to ask their name all the time.
• is not even close to potty training yet (although he does occasionally ask to wipe himself at diaper changes).
• is still enamored with all dogs. He cannot see one without asking "ped da gog, ped da gog!" (pet the dog).
• loves hiding games, and is finally getting the hang of "shhhh."
• regularly asks to visit the library, the play place, and the fish store.
• Is a decent eater (although veggies are still a struggle). Favorite foods include string cheese, pretzels, and goldfish crackers.
• loves to read. (Hmmm, where did he get that from?!)
• constantly copies both mom (cooking, vacuuming, cleaning) and dad (sanding, mowing, scraping).
• loves playgrounds, climbing, and sliding. He even mastered ladders last week!
• loves to play with balls (putting them in nets, hitting them with a bat, playing catch) - must be a little boy!

Happy birthday to my sweet little boy. I'm so glad to be your mother!

We Love Candy

It's no secret - Mike and I love candy. Well, apparently, EVERYONE does here at the Steele household! Really, please don't judge our parenting based on these videos, because they aren't a typical day. But they sure are funny!

This first video shows Aidan going after his Easter Pez. No time for nice talk, Mom - I want that candy! (Sorry again that 2 of the videos are sideways - I welcome any help on how to rotate videos!)

And these next two are just hilarious, especially considering that I filmed them back to back. For our 5th anniversary, I made a candy bar letter for Mike. (You can see it on the counter in the 2nd video.) Well, poor Aidan saw all that candy out during the day and was just begging. You can hear him asking us to "oat-nuh" (open) the "boo canny" (blue candy - the Almond Joy) and get it "out, out!"

So he finally gets a bite, and you'd think he'd be satisfied, right? Oh, no! He immediately turned around and started asking for the yellow candy!

Well, at least he comes by that sweet tooth honestly, right folks?!

To the Zoo!

We took a family trip to Oxbow, which is this zoo/park place about 15 minutes away. It was pouring rain on the way there, so we were worried, but it slowed to a drizzle and then nothing once we arrived. Thank goodness!

Aidan loved petting the miniature horse.

I had to take a picture of him next to this replica of a bald eagle's nest because I didn't realize just how huge those things are! Whoa!

This bobcat was so funny. You can see Mike's umbrella in the top right corner of the shot. Mike shook it once kind of accidentally, and the cat went CRAZY, so then Mike started shaking it and moving it up and down, and the bobcat went nuts climbing up and down the side of the cage trying to get that umbrella! Even funnier was when the couple next to us decided to try it too - but the bobcat was faster than they were, and he grabbed grandma's umbrella and managed to tear about 5 holes in it before they could grab it back!

Aidan was just fascinated by the coyotes.

It's a great place - we'll have to head back there sometime soon!

Mike the Handy Man

Mike has been working like CRAZY on our deck. The previous owners painted it baby blue... with non-waterproof paint. So after only one winter, half of the paint is peeling off in sheets like a gigantic sunburn. Mike has been superman about going out every night to pressure wash or sand or scrape or strip. (Strip the paint, folks. C'mon.)

Anyway, I have been taking "Before" and "During" shots, and I will give you a whole nice update once we finally have the "After" shots, too, but in the meantime, Aidan sure loves to copy his dad! Here they are sanding...

and hammering!

Also, we had three trees removed from our backyard. It was pouring rain the day they came, so I just got a partial "Before" shot through the window (pardon the glare), but the "After" shot shows how much space it opened up!

And of course, Mike went out to put grass seed on the bare spots...with a little help from Aidan!

I love my two handy men!

Easter

Mike's parents came and stayed with us over Easter weekend. It was their first time to visit our new house, so we enjoyed showing them the town, going out to eat, visiting Trader Joe's, etc.

Aidan sure loves his grandparents! (Although somehow I didn't get any pictures with Grandpa... next visit!)

We also took Aidan to a community Easter egg hunt. Or rather, "hunt." It was geared to very little kids, so (as you can see in the picture), it was just a bunch of eggs inside a square. No searching involved, and over in 2 minutes! Aidan tried for about 20 seconds...
until he saw the Easter bunny. And then? Forget those eggs, Mom - I want to chase the bunny! Literally, he followed the bunny around (stepping past, on, or over the eggs) until we finally got the following shot. Gotta love little kids!

Family Fun Day

WAY back in March, we went to a family fun day thing sponsored by the realty company we used. I know, it's June. But it was a fun event with some great shots, and I figured it was better late than never!

We all enjoyed the food. But especially Mike. Cuz check out his face!

Chilling with Little Man!

Aidan was scared the first time, so I had to go with him. But after that? He couldn't get enough of the slides!

I Looked Out the Window...

And what did I see?

That's right! For a split second, I thought it was snow, but it was really all the gorgeous-smelling blossoms from our tree! Mmmmm.... I love spring!

And, I have been chastised. Mike got after me because it's been a LONG time since I updated my blog. And Sheila mentioned that she hasn't seen a picture of Aidan since Christmas, which is shockingly sad, but true. So, here are a bunch of random pictures that defy categorization. (Don't worry, lots of categorized posts to come, too! I'm trying to clean off my camera so I have memory for pictures on our upcoming vacation!)

Aidan loves to wear jewelry! The first shot shows him showing off the stuff he borrowed from one of my piano student's mom. (There's even a watch on his ankle!) The next picture is him showing off his Silly Bandz.

Aidan loves to climb, and is quite proficient at it. He also enjoys helping me cook.

Dad and Aidan had a picnic during General Conference. This was a great way to keep Aidan entertained while still allowing us to hear the prophets!

Elmo is one of Aidan's favorite toys. Except for possibly the dog he got for his birthday.

This is such an old picture, but I've been meaning to post if for Uncle Spencer forever. With all 3 ducks, he could fit right in your bathroom!

This was my breakfast toast one morning... after Aidan doctored it for me. Yes, that is salt and pepper. Yuck!

And finally, how could you not love this face?!