March 2009

--march was pretty full. we had grandma and grandpa visit, then went north and visited grandma and grandpa, and grammy and poppy. billy had his major supply inspection and after passing with flying colors (again), was farewell’d from his shore command (acu2), and is now prepping for his ship tour (uss cook). while we were in yankee-town, i went on a yoga retreat for a few days, and billy and the kids went to the museum of natural history and spent time with grandparents.
--grandma and grandpa enjoyed taking aidan to school and picking him up while they were in town. aidan LOVES school…he asks nearly every day if it’s a school day. he brings home projects he does in school and even sometimes brings home instructions for us to do a project together. (help with homework starts pretty early!) to celebrate dr. seuss’s birthday, we picked out a favorite book and designed a book cover for them to display in the front hall of school. aidan chose the tooth book, and his idea for the cover was “a clown doing juggling balls.” not sure where that came from, but that’s what we made, and aidan said his teacher liked when he talked about his cover.
--aidan has been talking about his dreams lately. he’ll come out of nowhere with these conversations, too, so it’s kinda random, but they’re interesting. “i had dreams about animals and mans. i turned into a butterfly. a man maked me turn.” / “why do i have dreams? (god tells you a story while you sleep.) what does that mean?” / “there were animals and spiders in my room. (did you like your dreams?) yes ma’am, i saw a hippo.”
--billy aced his smc (supply management certification: major supply inspection). each command has one every two years, so since he was at this command for three years, he actually had to go through two of them. last time, he got a 95.5%. his score was the highest on the waterfront that year, and also the highest acu2 had in recorded history. this year he got the same score. he’s somewhat worried about his new ship, which only passed theirs at an 81%, because it means he’ll probably have his work cut out for him, in addition to learning and being in charge of more aspects of the supply department at a command that will be underway at times. i tell him that’s why they selected him to go to that ship…who else could get it done, and have them in “ship-shape”?? :)
--the yoga retreat was interesting. it was at sivananda ahsram in woodbourne, ny, in the catskills mountains. (http://www.sivananda.org/ranch/index.html) it was still a little barren since spring hadn’t really sprung by then, but the views were still awesome. i was supposed to go with leah (billy’s sister) but she had to fly to seattle that week for work, so i had to go by myself. still it was nice. i LOVED the yoga part…we did two hours in the morning and two in the evening. part of it was breathing exercises. and it wasn’t sweaty yoga…more relaxing. and i gained some major flexibility while i was there and even got into poses and headstands i didn’t know i could do…so that was really cool. the food there was good, but it was mostly vegan, though they did have a few “just” vegetarian dishes. now i could never be a vegan, but the veggie meals were creative and surprisingly filling. (we only ate twice a day.) we also meditated and chanted twice a day, once at 6am and once at 8pm. their meditation was something i wasn’t used to. i meditate, and have tried the “real” meditating, but could never get into it. but when i read meditation made easy, i realized i had been meditating for years. i don’t follow the strict protocol of “cross-legged position, eyes closed, no movement, focus on OM, and empty the mind.” i’m all about zoning out with my cup of tea and think or not think. so anyway, this was different…and hard to get into, cause you feel like if you scratch your leg you’re going to disturb someone else. and have you ever noticed how loud swallowing sounds when you’re in a silent room full of other people, or that the urge to move is directly related to the amount of movement you’re supposed to be doing? plus, i’d inevitably get the loud stomach rumble going on. still, it was interesting, a lesson in “control,” and i did get better at it. i was eventually able to sit completely still for thirty minutes (in the dark without falling asleep), though i couldn’t OM that long. the chanting…that was a completely different thing. it wasn’t monotone, which i was grateful for. it was more like singing…singing in a strange language though (sanskrit). the part i didn’t like was that it was a bit too hindu for my taste. invoking deities and the shrine to krishna…not really my thing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishna). plus, the most experience i had in saying those kinds of words came from karate kid, when daniel picks up the floor sanders (“sand da floor”) and bangs them together singing “hare krishna, hare krishna.” the hindu part was about the only aspect of the ashram life i didn’t really like. i even liked the karma yoga…selfless work to “help” out. we had kitchen duty after meals, and i spent hours in the garden with paul, the old guy who’s been there for years and years. overall, it was a cool place, and i enjoyed my time there, and met some cool people. i’d like to do another yoga reatreat one day, though i doubt it’ll be at an ashram…maybe more like an intense yoga spa or something. ;)
--sierra…what to say. besides the vocab advances which will come below, here’s what i wrote down this month about her. we’re definitely in the anal stage…she’s all about the potty. wants to sit, tries to go, has gone a few times, and she even tries when she’s not on the potty…to not-fun results. she de-robes when she’s in the bed, stripping down to nothing and then proceeds to pee and/or poop on her pillow. needless to say, they (and the mattress) are waterproofed and sheets are washed much more often than i’d like to! she tells me when her diaper is dirty and tries to take it off herself, so i really have to pay attention to what she’s saying.
--she’s also a dipper lately. in addition to the normal dipping of fries in ketchup, she dips green beans in salad dressing and even dips salmon in ketchup. i would be grossed out a bit, but whatever helps her eat her non-favorite foods i’m all for!
--latest sayings:
* “ah-da man” = spiderman
* “ess dough” = let’s go
* “yay eat!” = yay eat!
* “ha dirday” = happy birthday
* “bom-pah” = grandpa
* “ram-mah” = grandma
* “yay eat nack” = yay eat snack
* “hey dopp!” = hey stop!
* “dough dabba dabby” = yo gabba gabba (still the only show she’ll sit and watch…though she’ll sit longer for whatever’s on if there is a big bowl of popcorn in her lap!)
* “i faw, mommy” = i fall, mommy
* “yuck” = yuck
* “hi, baby…nummy (slurp)” = hi, baby (feeds with bottle)
* “shear, eat” = please share what you’re eating
* “teak-ah” = tickle
* “ear tum” = hear i come (hide and seek)
* “mear, day-dee/dog” = come here, aidan/dog
* “dip” = dip
* “yook, day-dee” = look, aidan
* “i sit” = i’m sitting
* sings songs (constantly) and on command…she sings all songs to the “twinkle twinkle” tune. most words are the same every time she sings it, though she may start with “row row” (for “row row your boat”), and throw in “haaa dirday” (for “happy birthday to you”) and you can even tell when she’s saying “star” and “how i.”