Aaron has really been missing his friend Jaron Prince this year, so I was so happy when I connected with one of his preschool friend's mom at our last field trip. I initiated exchanging numbers, which is always a funny thing with moms, like "mom-dating" for the sake of our kids! Alli Roberts is really outgoing and nice and has a number of older kids, from her youngest Boston to high school kids. So our life stages don't mesh exactly, except that Aaron and Boston are the best of friends! We have alternated every other week exchanging play dates, and the two of them just disappear without any drama and just entertain each other. Whether Aaron is gone in the afternoon or I'm hosting the play date, it makes those three hours in the day so much easier! And I love seeing Aaron have a good friend again.
Funny moment on their first play date: They were out of my sight and I heard Boston say from upstairs, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours." My mom ears perked up but I waited, sure that what was happening up there wasn't what it sounded like. Sure enough, they were talking about showing each other their Valentine gifts for the class! Lol
Aaron's temperament is pretty chill when he's by himself. If no one is bothering him, he is perfectly happy to get lost in his own imagination, as I've said before. He and Logan are hit and miss with playing together. Mostly they get along, but Logan still likes to tease and Aaron has become more violent in response. I'm trying to calm down on getting him in trouble simply based on witnessing him hitting. It turns out that Logan usually instigates the problem but I miss seeing that. So Aaron will have these freak outs where he's shrieking at the top of his lungs and there's no getting through to him. So I'll have to put him in his room and he'll scream for a minute straight until it goes silent. That's when I know he's approachable and he'll return to being calm and happy, like he just needed to get it out of his system.
Despite some of his explosive reactions when being teased or disciplined, his tender side is coming to the forefront. He can be the sweetest kid ever and truly has a good heart. He wants to be good and do better. If I make rules, he'll be the first to apply them. Like when we've encouraged them to say, "Yes, Mommy. Yes, Daddy" in response to our instructions, or when earning good-behavior tokens. I can usually count on him to be my helper without complaint, like when I ask him to get dressed or help grab something upstairs for Eliana. He also feels very sad when his siblings are in trouble. If Logan didn't earn his sucker because he was being naughty, Aaron will offer his own sucker to him. Or if Aiya is in timeout and losing reading books with us at bedtime, he's tried to go in there and sit with her so she's not upset and alone. He's our best snuggle right now and would do anything for one-on-one time. Sometimes he still sneaks into our bed at night and I secretly love it, like I do with all of the kids--as long as it's not every night. =) I know it won't last forever and I will miss how satisfying it feels that he and his siblings feel safe in bed next to us, and still fit between Dan and me in our king bed. (Although Dan would say differently about them "fitting". Our kids toss and turn so much that it keeps him up at night, even if I feel like I was squeezing myself to the very edge of the bed to make space!)
Aaron is a sprinter. He loves to be timed to race across the room or up the stairs or beat his teammates in his little sports class. He's really quick and I love the pride he takes in zooming past! The sprinter mentality does have its downfalls though, like when he's not in the mood to clean or go on long walks. He gets burned out fast and turns into a sloth when he's not feeling the activity. Cleaning up can be hit or miss that way. He can clean his room lickety-split, or just as likely fall to the floor and moan about how he's too tired to help pick up the loft. "I can't do it by myself!" he'll wail. He can be a little bipolar with his moods, but man... I sure appreciate that tender side!
I still worry about his sensitivity. He really takes a lot of things very personally, so Dan and I have talked about how we need to discipline him differently. Dan's original approach of being rough and tough on the boys seems more damaging than helpful, although with Logan, this approach seems to work. Aaron is a reminder to view each child and our teaching methods differently and uniquely. As sensitive as Aaron is to getting hurt feelings, he is even more sensitive towards hurting someone else. Sometimes he will cry in a way that breaks my heart as he squeezes me tight in apologies for scratching or hitting me. He'll think about this altercation for days and feel residual guilt for his behavior. It's concerning but allows some deeper conversations with him about forgiveness.
He is our intellect. You have to be careful what you say because he will break down your words and argue with you or hold you to it! I'm already convinced he's going to follow Dan into the realm of lawyers. =) It's hard to explain but it's little comments all day long that slip into our conversations. If I continue to say, "Ok, watch one more show..." he'll say, "Mommy, you keep saying show but you mean episode." Or if I ask him too many questions at once, he'll be so irked and pointed out, "Ugh, you keep asking questions but you don't give me a chance to answer." He can be like a grumpy old man sometimes, but he really keeps me on my toes by paying more attention to what I say and how I respond to him.
Aaron, you are a very smart, sweet, sensitive and determined boy. We love you!
Despite some of his explosive reactions when being teased or disciplined, his tender side is coming to the forefront. He can be the sweetest kid ever and truly has a good heart. He wants to be good and do better. If I make rules, he'll be the first to apply them. Like when we've encouraged them to say, "Yes, Mommy. Yes, Daddy" in response to our instructions, or when earning good-behavior tokens. I can usually count on him to be my helper without complaint, like when I ask him to get dressed or help grab something upstairs for Eliana. He also feels very sad when his siblings are in trouble. If Logan didn't earn his sucker because he was being naughty, Aaron will offer his own sucker to him. Or if Aiya is in timeout and losing reading books with us at bedtime, he's tried to go in there and sit with her so she's not upset and alone. He's our best snuggle right now and would do anything for one-on-one time. Sometimes he still sneaks into our bed at night and I secretly love it, like I do with all of the kids--as long as it's not every night. =) I know it won't last forever and I will miss how satisfying it feels that he and his siblings feel safe in bed next to us, and still fit between Dan and me in our king bed. (Although Dan would say differently about them "fitting". Our kids toss and turn so much that it keeps him up at night, even if I feel like I was squeezing myself to the very edge of the bed to make space!)
Aaron is a sprinter. He loves to be timed to race across the room or up the stairs or beat his teammates in his little sports class. He's really quick and I love the pride he takes in zooming past! The sprinter mentality does have its downfalls though, like when he's not in the mood to clean or go on long walks. He gets burned out fast and turns into a sloth when he's not feeling the activity. Cleaning up can be hit or miss that way. He can clean his room lickety-split, or just as likely fall to the floor and moan about how he's too tired to help pick up the loft. "I can't do it by myself!" he'll wail. He can be a little bipolar with his moods, but man... I sure appreciate that tender side!
I still worry about his sensitivity. He really takes a lot of things very personally, so Dan and I have talked about how we need to discipline him differently. Dan's original approach of being rough and tough on the boys seems more damaging than helpful, although with Logan, this approach seems to work. Aaron is a reminder to view each child and our teaching methods differently and uniquely. As sensitive as Aaron is to getting hurt feelings, he is even more sensitive towards hurting someone else. Sometimes he will cry in a way that breaks my heart as he squeezes me tight in apologies for scratching or hitting me. He'll think about this altercation for days and feel residual guilt for his behavior. It's concerning but allows some deeper conversations with him about forgiveness.
He is our intellect. You have to be careful what you say because he will break down your words and argue with you or hold you to it! I'm already convinced he's going to follow Dan into the realm of lawyers. =) It's hard to explain but it's little comments all day long that slip into our conversations. If I continue to say, "Ok, watch one more show..." he'll say, "Mommy, you keep saying show but you mean episode." Or if I ask him too many questions at once, he'll be so irked and pointed out, "Ugh, you keep asking questions but you don't give me a chance to answer." He can be like a grumpy old man sometimes, but he really keeps me on my toes by paying more attention to what I say and how I respond to him.
Aaron, you are a very smart, sweet, sensitive and determined boy. We love you!
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