So. We are now the proud parents of a full-fledged toddler. He now sees walking as the preferred method of locomotion, and for some reason being upright has instilled in him a new sense of independence. He is the master of his own destiny. Gone are the days when he'd crawl around the family room playing with his toys and occassionally the TV remote. He needs to unplug everything in the house. His sense of style is offended by the candles by the fireplace, so they need to be lined up on the carpet. He's also yelling alot. Not unhappily, just sort of a "I am Toddler, Hear Me Roar" kind of thing. Oh, and his favorite word is "TV." We're so proud.

Yeah! Aidan's walking on his own! He walks like Frankenstein and thinks it's a fun game, but not really a way to get around. But he will take up to about 20 steps on his own, provided we're watching and ready to applaud. I was worried we were going to have to send him to kindergarten with his little push toy, which is the only way he'd walk up until now. He's 15 months today. And, to top things off, he saw Santa, sat on his lap and smiled! OK, he cried at first, but then when I crouched down and said, "I'm gonna come give you kisses!" he grinned as you see. He's a sucker for the kisses. Tonight we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory with sister Robin, her DH Steve, and their kids Kyle and Arianna. I thought Aidan was particularly attached to me lately, but imagine my surprise when I look over and he's giving the same, lick-your-chin/kiss he gives to me to Robin! Hmph! He's just such a little lovebug. Greg was describing my blog to them and said I had a "surly, but in a nice way" tone. Surly? Me? I always imagine a short little "Danny DeVito as Louie in Taxi" kinda guy when I hear surly. Sarcastic, maybe. Sardonic, hopefully. But surly? I'm going to have to start growing out my eyebrows nice and bushy so I can fit the part.

New fishies - Thursday and Friday II. I'll get a photo of them soon but their bowl needs tidying up first. So far so good (i.e. still alive). We went to AZ for Thanksgiving with my family. It was surprisingly cold, but my dad had turned the heater on the pool so high that it was like bathwater. Really warm. Aidan loved it. He cracked up when people would blow bubbles in the water, then he'd stick his face in like he was going to try it, too. But he ended up drinking the water, which I don't think tasted very good, given that it's a salt water pool. I also got a pedicure at Elizabeth Arden that still looks good! Too bad it's winter and I can't show it off. Met some on-line friends from my Aug 03 playgroup, and that's always fun. Aidan was sick, and then Greg and I got it too. I think we left it with most of my family, unfortunately. All of us are now on the upswing, fortunately. Photos from Thanksgiving are on my webshots site.