I live in New Jersey with my husband, Matt, and our two children. I am a soccer mom, lead my daughter’s Girl Scout troop, and work on my personal growth in my spare time. I am also an activist for religious tolerance and marital equality.

I started this blog in May of 2008 with Juniper to reach out to other Wiccan parents, and let them know that they’re not alone. Since then, there’s been a huge boom in the number of pagan mom blogs, and now we *know* we’re not alone:)

If I can help to mainstream our religion while I’m sharing the intimacies of my life and beliefs, and help to make the world a more accepting place for my children, that’s an added bonus:)

Here are my kid’s milestones, from when they were born. I update this as they happen. They start at the most current and work backwards chronologically. If you get a kick out of this kind of thing like I do, feel free to check up on them here!

Aidan

By the time Aidan was three 1/2, he could read, point out the difference between nouns and verbs, adjectives and adverbs, and let us know that he wants to be an astrophysicist when he grows up…and can tell us what an Astrophysicist does. He intellectualized the concept of gravity at age 2, showing me he understood the meaning by pointing up at my breasts in the shower and telling me that gravity made them hang down. At that point he also got a kick out of counting to 10 in 4 different languages (French, Spanish, Japanese, German and English up to about 70) and could sing the alphabet backward, ending it with “Now I know my ZYX’s, my name is Aidan I was born in Texas.”

He’s got a wicked sense of humor, has never thrown a fit in his life (I could always rationalize with him), and is the light of my life. I try to answer his questions as best I can, and I never drill him. In his first year of preschool, (age 3-4), He would parallel play with his peers in school but didn’t really interact with them, and preferred to sit down and talk with the teachers. I couldn’t blame him, it was like he was speaking another language. I saw him go up to a classmate and ask if she liked nocturnal animals, and his question was returned with a blank stare. When his classmate asked him if he liked the color blue, he said “I prefer indigo to sky blue.” More blank stares. I don’t see how he is going to successfully socialize with his peers when they can’t understand a word he says. At this point we are seriously considering Homeschooling.

Gillian

Gillian was born in about 7 hours, with a few good pushes. No great trauma, except that like Aidan she was born blue. There was quite a bit of meconium floating in the amniotic fluid with her, and they put off starting her breathing until they could suction her and make sure there was no fecal matter in her lungs. After suctioning, she was fine, she spent a little while under the heat lamps and she was quite healthy. She was born on October 28, 1999 at 3:05 in the afternoon. She weighed 6lb 5 oz, and was 19 inches long.

I breastfed Gillian for 18 months. She didn’t sleep one night all the way through until after she was weaned. She started pooping on the potty at 12 months, simply because she was always so constipated that it was easier to get her to go on the potty…after she’d been given a glycerin suppository (This was our first symptom of what would be diagnosed as Celiac Disease in April of 2007). By the time she was about 15 months, she’d tell you if she had to go ‘pee-pee’ or ‘poops’, and if you sat her on the potty, she was sure to pee.

Gillian could count to 10 by the time she was 19 months. No one taught her to do this, she just started. She most likely learned it on Sesame Street. She also started playing with puzzles, jigsaw and wooden shape, and picked it up VERY quickly.

Milestones (starting from most recent)

9/20/08 Gillian gets her first kiss on the lips. Details here.

4/08 Our family leaves Cheer Academy before finishing out the season due to a string of scheduling conflicts. The kids feel conflicted – they’re really burned out and haven’t had a very good year at the gym, but feel (especially Aidan) a sense of responsibility to their teams, and don’t want to let their teammates down. Gillian starts soccer, and Aidan starts Kendo within a week.

2/6/08 Aidan used his Great Barbaric Yawp! After his sweet, passive resistance to teasing, Aidan decided (after a counseling session with me), to take his energy and *push* it back at his aggressors, yelling “CUT IT OUT!” after asking nicely for them to stop. I told him it would do three things. First, it would get the attention of an adult, who would intervene, stopping him from being a ‘tattle tale’. Second, it would stop the kid in their tracks in amazement, because they weren’t used to Aidan defending himself. Lastly, he would feel emboldened and strong, therefore creating a positive cycle of personal growth. He came home glowing and excited. It worked!

1/25/08 Gillian attends her first formal dance – the Snowflake Ball, an event sponsored by Girl Scouts. She and her dad dressed up in their finest clothes – Gillian wore a princess dress – and danced and played games.

11/09/07 Watching Jesus Christ Superstar, we discussed many things, including how many religions worship in a church or temple, and how that is sacred to them, and how for Wiccans the earth is the temple, and we need to treat it the way Jesus treated his temple. When the movie was over, Gillian looked at me, and asked; “If Mother Nature created the earth, who created Mother Nature?” What a milestone question! We talked about the concept of infinity, and that time had been forever and would go on forever. We talked about the dinosaurs becoming extinct, and that one day humans would be extinct too. I told her that people lived their whole lives trying to answer that question, and that no one ever could. A beautiful night.

9/25/07 Gillian “Mom, my vagina has a hole in it.” Verbal and illustrative explanations followed.

8/13/07 Aidan gets his back handspring on the mat, without a spot!

8/3/07 Gillian gets her back handspring on the mat, without a spot!

7/30/07 Gillian and Aidan watched musicals this past weekend, Rent, West Side Story, Hair, and Jesus Christ Superstar. Aidan said the flashes of Jesus on the cross freaked him out (he’s hated going into churches his whole life for that reason). I mentioned to them both that their Great-Aunt Marie’s 50th celebration of being a nun was coming up, and that the party would be in a church. Aidan asked “Will there be a Jesus on the cross?” I told him there might be. Gillian asked “Will he be a superstar?”

7/1/07 Talking to Daddy about having Celiac Disease:
Gillian – what happens if my husband eats gluten?
Daddy- just make sure he washes his hands after dinner.
Gillian – what if he tries to kiss me?

7/07 We’ve got a really pretty finch flying around outside (at least we think it’s a finch), with a crest and everything. It looks like it just flew out of a gilded cage. Aidan took one look at it and said, “If that bird was our pet, I’d name it Leonardo DeFinchi.

3/20/07 Aidan gets his roundoff back-handspring on the Matt without a spot!

1/24/07 Aidan is doing a homework assignment, and asks me how to spell Oktoberfest. When I ask him why, he tells me he’s writing down all the Pagan holidays. He’s a bit confused when I tell him that Oktoberfest is a beer festival in Germany.

1/23/07 Aidan gets his back handspring on his own by accident. He’s almost got it, being lightly spotted by the coaches. After 5 standing handsprings, the girls start to chant ‘AiDAN, AiDAN!’ He gets so excited he throws a handspring unaided, and lands on his head. The same night, a teammate also gets her back handspring, but lands with her hands the wrong way and breaks 7 of her fingers. Mitch, his coach, calls me the next day and tells me to expect him to be sore for a few days, the impact is similar to being in a car crash. Aidan complains of neck and shoulder pain. I quietly freak out, but he’s fine after 2 days.

12/06 Gillian’s walking around singing Beatles songs. The bastardizations of the lyrics include “It’s been a hard day’s night, and I’ve been leaping like a frog” and she calls “Lady Madonna” the chicken song, because where they sing “Ba ba ba ba, ba da da ba ba ba”, she thinks they’re clucking. She also sings “Wake me up in time” to Evanescence’s “Wake me up inside” I’ve told her the right words, but her lack of understanding about what it would be like to feel numb is beyond her years. Thank Goddess.

11/31/06 Aidan and Gillian both dress up as Ninjas for Halloween. Gillian is a pink and black ninja?

11/06 Gillian has a big birthday party at our condo’s clubhouse.

11/20/06 Aidan is reading a book for teens on Paganism, called Elements of Witchcraft. He was asking about deities, and I told him we’d look into picking deities after he finished the book. He responded: “You can pick your nose, and you can pick your deities, but you can’t pick your deity’s nose.”

8/26/06 Gillian has been very sick. On Saturday night when Aidan was supposed to have a sleepover and couldn’t, Gillian said, “Poor Aidan. I know he wanted to have a sleep over. Maybe you can go do something special with him tonight Daddy…” She’s on 2 different drugs to try to knock the crap out of her system, and she’s thinking of him.

8/17/06-8/21/06 Our family goes on vacation to Disney in Florida with all of Matt’s relatives. From Matt’s blog:
Thursday, August 24th, 2006 We just got back from Disney in Orlando. It was kids first time there and they had a blast. My 6 yr old rode everything with my son and I except for the Aerosmith coaster because she was about 4 inches too short. We stayed in the Polynesian Resort and it was really great accommodations. We went to a Luau on site as well as a character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch.
Space Mountain – Hasn’t lost a thing in 30 years! I remember it being a really long wait and a really exciting ride. We fast-passed it so it worked out. What an awesome ride. My brother Tom and I went back and did it after the kids went to sleep that night.
Splash Mountain – I was actually nervous for this one. I was in the front with my daughter and the back was empty so when I hit the water, I created a deluge. Gilli and I were soaked, as was Fae and Aidan, and my parents behind them. Note: If you want to get drenched, put the heaviest person in the front!!! Way cool ride.
Tower of Terror – Holy Crap. Of course, not wanting to be in the front, I was in the front. Figures. It goes up to the 13th floor, and does random drops and goes up and back down. Gillian was screaming the whole time. So was I, but that’s besides the point.
Aerosmith Coaster – do it do it do it. What a fantastic ride. 0-60 in 2 SECONDS!!! OH YEAH BABY! Right into a bunch of corkscrew upside down oh my god turns. It’s totally dark for the most part except for signs they light up. Warning – keep your hands in, had a couple of close calls.
Mission Space – probably the one thing that almost made me hurl. Your in a simulator, and you can choose Green or Orange. Of course we chose Orange because it was scarier. I ended up doing both and Green was still pretty intense. If you have motion sickness, don’t even bother. You are strapped in, and they move the console to you so you can reach your controls. The blast off and the slingshot around Mars were unbelieveable. I was really pushed back in my seat. Gillian had trouble breathing at one point, but loved the ride.

6/ 06 Zeusy (one of our cats) was breathing heavily and losing weight to the point where Gillian realized he was having problems getting a breath. We took him to the overnight emergency vet and they pulled about 300mls of fluid out of his lungs and inside his chest. 5 days, 3 vets(one was a cardiac specialist), and 3500$ later, our friend was put to sleep. He was in too much pain, and they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. We were all pretty upset by it all, but by the time Saturday rolled around and he passed away gently, we were glad he wasn’t suffering anymore.

4/06 Aidan has a sleepover party. His friends Alec, Kiran, and Juniper’s son Sandy slept over. Vito came and partied, but didn’t sleep over.

2/16/06-2/21/06 Our family goes on vacation with Juniper’s family. From Matt’s journal:
Friday, Feb 17: Thursday was great. Sat & swam & sat & played bingo with the old people, and sat some more. Possibly the most relaxing day of my life. I went and worked out with Leo in the morning, then came back and got ready for our first excursion. (Today we worked out at 6am, just as the sun was coming up – nice sight). We met the bus out front for a trip to go snorkeling. Leo booked the tour through the hotel, the name of the Boat was Barefoot 4, don’t know the company name. Out on the open water on a catamaran that was huge! Took us to an island to give us a chance to practice in relatively shallow water.
Just as a side note – Where we were is surrounded by the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean, and this girl we were talking to on the way out asked if the different colored water was where they came together. Um, no, the dark parts? that’s reef. Not the sharpest tool in the shed…:)
Gillian wasn’t into it, so she stayed around the boat with Fae. Swam out with the three kids and Leo and Juniper – the water is SUPER salty, so travelers be warned Got some in my mask and it stung like a MOFO! Reef was in about 10-15 feet of water, saw some cool fish – mostly just had fun pointing stuff out with the kids.
Moved after a really tasty lunch to another spot away from the island. Reef was a lot more apparent and in deeper water. LOTS more fish. The kids spent most of the time jumping off the side of the boat – prolly 9? or so into the water. Coral was pretty lively – not sure if I am going to go scuba diving, we’ll see.
Leo and I are going to swim, then ride, then run tomorrow to see what happens when we try to do all three ‘events’.

Summer, ’05 Gillian and Aidan make me enroll them in every cheer camp at Cheer Academy.

Spring, ’05 Aidan is sitting with me with his nose in a book during a meeting for Cheer Academy. Michael, the head coach, taps Aidan and asks him if he’d be interested in joining. Aidan says ‘Not really’. He is invited to sit in on the Youth meeting. 45 minutes later, he wants to join the team.

12/05 The Minis win the National Championship in Atlantic City, at the WSF East Coast Challenge.

Fall, ’05 Gillian joins Cheer Academy All Stars on the Mini team. She begins competing with her team as a flyer, winning almost every competition her team attends.

6/18/05 Matt writes: Saturday was Gillian’s dance recital – one lady commented “Look at that little one in pink, she’s the only one with rhythm. Look at the hips!!!” I started laughing and she smiled saying, “Yours eh?” I nodded and she said, “There’s a convent down the road ya know, you might want to think about it if she’s moving like that at 5!” I responded “Lady, why do you think I have a second degree black belt?”

Summer, ’05 Gillian makes me enroll her in every cheer camp at Cheer Academy, a competitive gym around the corner.

Spring, ‘05 Gillian and I are flipping channels on TV, and come across an in-depth program on competitive cheerleading. She stares at the news show without moving, and then turns to me and says “THAT’S what I want to do.

4/05 Aidan has a laser tag party in Bridgewater.

11/31/04 Gillian has a birthday party at Healthquest. She wears her princess dress again. I don’t have pics of what Aidan wore.

11/31/03 Samhain: Aidan was a knight in ‘chain mail’ and a black outfit. Gillian was a princess with a pink and purple dress, and a tall pointy purple hat with pink tuille.

05/04/02 Aidan was at a friend’s birthday party today, where the entertainment was “The Dinosaur Lady”. About halfway through her presentation, she mentioned that Edmontosaurus was a carnivore, which meant that he ate meat. Aidan very politely raised his hand, and stood up. “Excuse me, but Edmontosaurus was an herbivore, which means he eats vegetables.” She thought about it for a moment, than told him he was right. Only Aidan would know more about dinosaurs at age 5 than a professional….;)

05/01/02After much persistent pleading (on Gillian’s part, that is:)), Gillian and I went to the mall and had her ears pierced! She cried for a few minutes, then spent the rest of the day going up to strangers and showing them her ears, claiming to be a movie star.:) SO cute….

03/24/02 I was putting Aidan to bed tonight, and I’ve been having some problems with anxiety lately. I said “Aidan, I’m sorry that I’m not a good Mommy all of the time”, to which he replied “Mommy, you are ALWAYS a good Mommy. I told him I wanted him to be happy. I asked him what I could do to make him happy. Aidan, at four years old, didn’t ask for a toy or to watch his favorite movie. Aidan said “I just want you to be yourself.” I know thirty-year-olds who aren’t that mature….

03/02 Aidan has understood the concept of the atom for a long time, and understands that all things are made up of atoms. When he asked me “Mommy, is sunlight made of atoms?”, I was very upset because I had hoped that he’d be much older than four when he started asking questions I didn’t know the answer to. We called Grandpa Tom, who told us that sunlight was a product of energy, not matter, and that it was made up of photons. Now we know…

01/10/02 Because I’ve been staying out of the shopping malls because of my lack of self-control when it comes to spending, Gillian was quite overwhelmed with her trip there today. She kept running up to mannequin after mannequin, with her eyes wide, yelling “OOh, Mommy, look, a Princess!”

12/23/01 While at Grammy and Grandpa’s house for Christmas, I was trying to get Aidan to go to bed in a room separate from mine, and lay down and asked him to help me go to sleep. He replied “Sure, Mom, but please tell me when you’re asleep.”

12/01Aidan can tell you about how Pangaea broke apart to become Laurasia and Gonduana. He can also tell you about the history of the dinosaur, including the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods with examples of which dinosaurs developed when within the Mesozoic era.

11/15/01 Aidan takes apart his United States puzzle and reforms the states into a new shape. When asked what he had made, he told us it was Pangaea, and that it was a super continent that existed in the Jurassic period, before the seven continents split apart. He also mentioned that Pangaea split apart in the Cretaceous period.

11/01/01Aidan memorizes all State capitols with the help of his new US puzzle.

10/31/01 Samhain – Aidan was a Dragon, Gillian was a Bunny and a Princess.

10/28/01 Gillian’s second Birthday party at Healthquest in Flemington, NJ.

10/01 We’ve recieved the results of Aidan’s Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale.
Average intelligence is rated at 100.
Above average starts at 110.
Superior intelligence begins at 120.
“Genius”, or gifted, starts at 131.
The scale tops off at 150.
Aidan’s results are as following:
142, with intelligence in the 99.57%.
On the PPVT-III, or the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, he scored a 141. Dr. Louis said that Aidan’s score on this test was unusually high, as the numbers typically are much lower than the IQ score. She said this was one of the highest scores she’d ever seen on this test…and she’s tested close to 1000 kids.
Aidan’s score on the Stanford-Binet, when looked at closely, also showed some anomalies, like he would only verbally repeat 3 numbers forward in sequence, and scored on the level of a 5-year-old, but when asked to turn them around in his head and repeat them backward, he scored on the level of an 8 year old…Dr Louis said that this was due to him not wanting to complete tasks that he didn’t consider challenging.
What a future this boy has in front of him…

09/01 Gillian can count to 20 unaided

08/27/01 Gillian climbs onto our (very tall) bed all by herself

08/22/01 Mom-Mom at Healthquest: “Aidan, I’m sorry. It doesn’t look like there’s anyone in the maze for you to play with.” Aidan: “That’s ok, Mom-Mom, I’ve got my faithful sidekick Gillian.”

08/07/01 While watching a Nova-like program at my parent’s house, my Mother said “Look, Aidan, an Ibis”, to which Aidan replied “Mom-Mom, an Ibis is a flightless bird. That’s an Ibex, which is related to an Elk.” And how did he know this? No one knows.

08/07/01 Aidan, while eating a ‘Bugle’ corn chip: “Want to hear a joke? What did the fella named Gillian play? A bugle and a french horn. Get it? (While blowing through the chip)”

07/12/01 After watching a video on aiplanes. Mom-Mom: “Aidan, what makes an airplane fly?” Aidan: “Aeronautical Engineering.” Mom-Mom: “What is that?” Aidan: “It’s when the wind goes faster over the top of the plane, which is curved, than it does over the underneath of the plane, which is straight, and gets whooshed up into the air by the propellers.”

07/04/01 Mom-Mom: “Aidan, think about what you just said.” Aidan: “Ok, I’ll take it under consideration.”

07/04/01 While our friends are discussing their honeymoon, Aidan interrupts “Rob, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I really want to ask you if you saw the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I’d really love to see that…”

06/20/01 When asked if he wanted fried ice cream at Marita’s Cantina, Aidan replied, “No, I’ll have mine ala mode.”

06/15/01 “Mommy, I know what an expletive is.” (follows with examples)

06/01/01 Aidan: “Mom-Mom, how do you feel about God?”

06/01/01 Aidan: “I can feel this water going down my throat and esophagus.” Mom-Mom: “Yes, then to your stomach, intestines, bladder, ureters, urethra, and out your penis.” Aidan: “Mom-Mom, you missed the kidneys.”

05/01 I stop breastfeeding Gillian

05/15/01 Gillian’s First Haircut

05/20/01 Fae: “What was it like in my uterus, Aidan?” Aidan: “It was warm, comfortable and wet.”

05/12/01 Aidan “Mom-Mom, what if we could make a waterfall go up instead of down?” Mom-Mom: “It would be against gravity, Aidan.” Aidan: “But we can make an Archimedes Water Pump.”

04/07/01 Aidan’s Fourth Birthday party at Discovery House Children’s Museum in NJ

03/23/01 Gillian says “Baby” and “Daddy” (not Dada)

03/19/01 Gillian says “Mommy” (not Mama)

03/13/01 Gillian’s first Bang cut (by me)

10/31/00 Samhain – Aidan was a bat… Gillian was a bunny.

10/28/00 Gillian’s First Birthday Party at home in Bridgewater,NJ with Mother Goose. Everyone came in costume.

10/22/00 Gillian takes 21 steps

10/21/00 Gillian takes 8 steps

10/20/00 Gillian says “rock”

10/19/00 Gillian says “home”

10/14/00 Gillian takes 6 steps

10/00 Due to constant constipation (to be diagnosed in 2007 as Celiac Disease), Gillian starts pooping on the potty. She is partially potty trained as of this point.

09/17/00 Gillian takes 2 steps

09/14/00 Gillian takes her first step!

08/30/00 Gillian climbs 2 stairs

08/10/00 While in Princeton, someone said “Look at that beautiful church, Aidan.” Aidan replied “I am the Church.” That night he also commented on the oldest house in Bridgewater, reportedly haunted. “That’s where the not-people live. They come out at night.”

07/22/00 Gillian crawls forward

07/09/00 Gillian waves

06/30/00 Gillian claps her hands – palms open

06/15/00 Aidan poops on the potty!

06/15/00 Fae “Aidan, before you were born, before you were in my uterus, where did you come from?” Aidan: “Texas.” Fae: I mean even before that, where were you?” Aidan: “Next door.” Fae: “Who were you?” Aidan: “Jonathan.”

06/11/00 Gillian’s first trip to the pool

06/08/00 Gillian says “Mama”

06/08/00 Gillian motions “up” with her hands over her head

06/03/00 Aidan pees on the potty!

05/19/00 Gillian really sits up by herself

05/18/00 Gillian plays Peek-A-Boo

05/11/00 Gramps, with slate board in hand “I’m going to teach you all the vowels, Aidan.” Aidan:”You mean A,E,I,O,U,and sometimes Y?”

05/10/00 After Fae bumps into things while pushing the double-stroller “Mom, will you get me out of this wreckage?”

05/07/00 Gillian says “Dada”

05/04/00 Gillian rolls over

05/01/00 Aidan: “Mommy, will you mangle me an apple with that sharp dangerous thing?”

05/01/00 Aidan: “Gramps, why do you say Waheel?” Gramps: “Because it’s spelled “W-H-E-E-L.” Aidan: “No, it’s not, It’s spelled W-E-E-L.”

05/01/00 After seeing his Allergist. “Can I see the sphigmominometer?” Dr. Schulhafer, after a double-take: “Sure, no problem.” Aidan, pointing at the exam table: “What does this table do” Dr: “You mean this part (pointing to the where the table elongates)? You can open this as you get bigger.” Aidan: “For a panoramic view.”

04/30/00 Gillian swings at the park

04/16/00 Gillian cuts her first tooth (bottom front left)!

04/15/00 When asked who his best friend is, Aidan says “Mom-Mom”

04/15/00 Aidan corrects Grandpa Stan, while listening to classical music: “That’s not Mozart, Grandpa, that’s Beethoven.” Aidan walks around humming Beethoven.

04/15/00 Fae: “Aidan, do you love me?” Aidan: “Yes” Fae: “Why?” Aidan: “I just do.” Fae “What does love feel like?” Aidan: “It has hearts in it.”

04/09/00 Aidan’s third birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese’s in NJ

04/00 As Aidan is crawling behind me on the couch, he asks me why he keeps falling down into the pillows, why he can’t crawl right across. I give him a cursory explanation of gravity and centrifugal force, expecting that he might be able to regurgitate the information, but not intellectualize it. A week later, while he is in the shower with me, he points up and asks me what “the big milky things are” on my chest (I had been breastfeeding Gillian for six months at this time). When I tell him that they are my breasts, he tells me “I know what makes them hang down…gravity.” Aidan is 3 1/2. This story, as I remember it, was disproved timewise by my mother’s notebook of Aidan’s development. See 10/99.

03/14/00 Aidan, after eating a peanut-butter sandwich: “My chesticles are hanging on my stomach, and they hurt me.”

03/13/00 Aidan: “Will you come downstairs with me, Daddy?” Matt: “Why do you need me down there?” Aidan: “For decoration.”

03/13/00 Gillian says “Ma” and means it!

03/12/00 In Border’s Bookstore “This is grand, there must be a billion books, I’m so excited,” as he reads, and reads, and reads….

3/10/00 Aidan: “Gillian doesn’t have a belly button.” Mom-Mom: “Yes she does, Aidan, everyone has a belly button. Aidan: “Well, she doesn’t have a penis, yet, but she’s going to grow one.”

3/10/00 Aidan “There’s something nauseous crawling up my shoe.”

2/26/00In the mall, Aidan to an African-American saleslady: “Why do you put paint on your face?”

2/26/00 In doctor’s office, Aidan says “That boy wasn’t nice, he was rude, Mom-Mom. He pushed me.” Mom-Mom replies “I’m glad you’re not a rude boy, Aidan, and you’ll tell how you feel with your mouth by talking instead of with your hands, by pushing. You can tell him ‘Please don’t push me.’.” Aidan: “Yes, and then I’d push him back.” Matt advised him later, “Slip by the push by going to the side, and saying ‘Keeyah’.” Aidan demonstrates, thinks, and says “And then I’ll push him.”

02/23/00 Gillian really laughs

2/22/00 To Mom-Mom, laying on a physical therapy table with her backside exposed, as physician spreads gel: “Do you have a baby in that uterus, Mom-Mom?

02/13/00 Gillian has two words – “up” and “hi”

1/20/00 Aidan: “If i have five monies, and take away three, I have two left.” Also, on the same day, Mom-Mom asked him to put on his shoes. “Actually, Mom-Mom,” Aidan replied, “they are my boots.”

01/15/00 Aidan and Gillian in bed

10/99 Aidan: “If that pot drops on the floor, that’s gravity pulling it down, Mom-Mom.”

10/19/99 Aidan is watching tv. The reporter says “The world is like a spinning top.” Aidan replies “Actually, it’s a globe.”

10/28/99 Gillian was born!

10/31/99 Samhain – Aidan was a bee…A WONDERFUL costume made by his Grammy. Gillian went out as a newborn baby, as she was 3 days old.

04/09/99 Aidan’s Second Birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese’s in Houston, TX

11/27/98 Aidan says “Mommy, I love you”

11/09/98 Aidan says “Mommy” and “Daddy”

10/31/98 Samhain – Aidan was a clown.

07/02/98 Aidan frowns

07/01/98 Aidan is emphatic

06/26/98 Aidan blows a kiss

05/31/98 Aidan runs across the living room

04/13/98 Aidan walks

04/11/98 Aidan’s First Birthday party at home in Houston, TX, and at A La Pietra, in Martinsville, NJ. We also celebrate my 30th and Grandma Marion’s 80th that night. At one year, Aidan was 29 3/4 inches tall, and weighed 20.2 lbs. He could say bye-bye, ba (bottle), p-uh (up), down, and his first word, b’loon (balloon).

03/98 I stop breastfeeding Aidan

12/18/97 Aidan waves

10/31/97 Samhain – Aidan was a [to be filled in when we figure out how we dressed him].

05/10/97 Aidan’s first laugh

04/11/97 After 52 hours of labour, a broken tailbone, and two blown-out eyes, Aidan is born at Columbia West Houston Medical Center in Houston, TX. He was born at 7:09 AM and weighed 7lbs 4.9 oz. He as 21 3/4 inches long.