Picture Update

November's Picture Update includes images of us carving a pumpkin (Aidan was quite disgusted with the process), posing for Christmas cards (taken at Zilker Park) and Aidan wearing his "knight" outfit.... Enjoy!

Some Days

I apologize for the lack of postings lately, but I've been working on a super-secret project and it's been taking up a lot of my time. And Halo 2 came out recently and that's taking up a lot of my time.

I can't realistically shirk any of my normal responsibilities, and I don't spend as much time with Aidan and Renee as I like, so I try not to sacrifice any time there. So, I end up going to bed later and later. It's really quite amazing that I get any sleep.

Yesterday the three of us went out for dinner so we could spend a little more time together without the added chores (i.e., doing dishes). Aidan has become the typical picky two-year old, so we thought if we went to a restaurant for french fries or pizza, he'd eat something. We asked him which he wanted, and he chose pizza.

Once the pizza arrived, he didn't want it. "It's too yucky for me," he'd say. Or, "It has tomatoes on it. I don't like tomatoes."

The way that Aidan says "like" is absolutely hysterical. I don't know how to spell it phonetically, but somehow he makes it into a two-syllable word. I need to find a way to get that recorded.

Later that night, Renee is trying to put Aidan to sleep. He almost drifts off, but then realizes he hasn't eaten anything and now wants to eat his pizza:

"I like tomatoes," Aidan tells me as I put his pizza in front of him.

"Really?" I reply. "Did you like them earlier today?"

"Nooooo," he says. "I not like them at the restaurant. But I like tomatoes now. Silas not like tomatoes. If I ask Silas [and now Aidan switches to a falsetto voice] 'Do you like tomatoes?" [back to Aidan's regular voice] Silas says, 'I not like tomatoes.'"

"Really," I say, completely flabbergasted and trying hard not to laugh.

"No laugh at me, Daddy," Aidan says, which of course makes me laugh out loud.

"I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you," I reply, knowing that is the lamest excuse in the book.

"I laugh at you," Aidan counters and rolls his head back and makes a wonderful Dr. Evil laugh.

"Ok. I'm sorry. I won't laugh at you. Let's eat your pizza, though. We need to finish it and then go to sleep, okay?"

"After I finish my pizza, I want to eat some yogurt," Aidan says.

"Well, let's finish your pizza first."

"Some days I like yogurt, too. Some days I like tomatoes. I like tomatoes now, Daddy."

"Good," I say with a laugh building up inside.

"And tomorrow I want to ride my horse to school."

"You want to ride your horse to school? We don't have to go to school tomorrow. Tomorrow is Sunday; we don't go to school on Sunday."

"I want to go to school, cuz it's fun. And I want to ride my horse to school like a knight. Silas not like knights. If I ask Silas [switch back to falsetto] 'Do you like knights?' [back to regular voice] Silas say, "I not like knights.'"

"Well, we don't need to ride to school tomorrow, because we don't have to go to school on Sundays. We can go the next day."

"Oh," Aidan says in a sort of resigned manner. That again makes me want to laugh, but I know that I can’t...

"I want to go shopping tomorrow," Aidan says.

"Oh, really? What do you want to get?" I ask.

"I want to go shopping for apples, cuz I like apples."

"Oh. Ok. Does Silas like apples?" I ask, trying to get Aidan to do his whole bit about Silas again.

"Yeah." Aidan replies.

"Oh," I reply in a sort of resigned manner.

"Silas likes knights, too. Some days he likes knights and Silas likes knights now," Aidan says. I'm shocked and trying so hard not to laugh.

"If I ask Silas [switch to falsetto] 'Do you like knights?' [back to regular voice] and Silas says "I like knights now.'"

"Oh," I say, stifling my urge to laugh. "Let's eat up, OK?"

"Ok. I like tomatoes."

A few moments pass as he takes a few bites of the pizza.

"I not like pizza, Daddy. It's too yucky for me."

Low-Fat for the Long Term

According to a story reported by the Associated Press, a new study indicates that those who have lost weight by limiting fat rather than cabohydrates are more likely to keep the weight off.

The study was based upon the National Weight Control Registry, which is a ten-year effort to learn the secrets of those who lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least a year. The registry run by doctors from the University of Colorado, the University of Pittsburgh, and Brown University.

This study followed 2,700 people between 1995 and 2003, their average age was 47, most were women, and they initially lost an average of 72 pounds.

The type of diet — low-fat or low-carb — was irrelevant in how people lost weight initially. However, those who regained the most weight a year later also increased their fat intake, even with reduced carbohydrate levels.

"Only a minority of successful weight losers consume low-carbohydrate diets," [Suzanne Phelan] and the other researchers concluded.

More than half of Americans who have tried a low-carb diet have given up, according to a recent survey by the market research firm InsightExpress. Other published survey information suggests that the number of Americans following such a diet peaked at 9 percent last February and fell to 6 percent by June.

The American Institute for Cancer Research used those trends to issue a statement in September urging dieters to "come back to common sense."

"Eat a balanced diet weighted toward vegetables and fruits, reduce portion sizes and increase physical activity," the institute said.

And the Doctor Said...

I usually take Aidan to school in the morning, and this is generally the assumed routine. However, Aidan has been asking for Renee to take him. This is usually a bad idea, if only because the routine is broken, and — despite Aidan's request — he doesn't do well when a routine is broken.

Thus, Aidan asked for his Mommy to take him to school the other day; we were lukewarm to the idea. However, we did have an easy out: Renee had to go to a doctor's appointment.

So we explained to him that Mommy had to go to the doctor's and he seemed to accept that.

While Aidan and I were in the car on the way to school, he suddenly burst out with: "Mommy has to go to the doctor's. She not go to school."

"That's right, Aidan. I have to bring you to school."

"And Mommy has to talk to the doctor," Aidan continued.

"And what did the doctor say?" I asked, wondering what he thought was going on at the doctor's office.

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed."

Famous Aidan

Some of you may remember that a photographer took some pictures of Aidan and Renee for La Leche League (LLL) back in 2002. Since then, LLL has published several of their photos in various publications (in fact, Aidan and I even made it into a book).

Well, it looks like another picture of Aidan and Renee has made it to the big time: You can now order personal checks and address labels in support of LLL with Aidan and Renee as the background image.

Electioneering

I managed to get out and vote today at lunch time. My polling station is at an elementary school. I signed in with the appropriate people and got in line to wait my turn to vote.

While in line, children and their teachers walked by on their way to and from the cafeteria. During their travels, some kids would make a peace sign with their hands, while another skipped by us adults chanting "vote for Kerry." Another child subtly said "Bush, Bush, Bush."

But perhaps the most poignant political statement that I saw while waiting to vote was made by a third-grade boy and it was most likely completely unintentional: As he walked by, he repeatedly hit himself in the forehead with his lunchbox.

And so it goes as Election 2004 goes into the books. Many pundits are saying that this Presidential race is going to be closer and more crazy than four years ago.

However, if you can't wait to find out who will win, check out the NPR Web site, as they took a "look at some off-beat attempts to predict presidential elections — many of which have surprisingly good track records."

Dragon Party

Home again, home again.

We're finally home and I've uploaded all of our pictures from the trip to Connecticut. There are also some additional family photos taken by Grandma Jackie, which has some very good Aidan-as-dragon pictures, as well as some good wedding images.

Yesterday was our last day in Connecticut and we were able to spend most of the day with my mom. As it was also Halloween, we tried to do some Halloween-like activities in the evening, but I'll get to that in a moment.

Aidan was up very late at the wedding and ultimately didn't get too much sleep. We were hoping that he'd be able to nap on the drive up to my mom's house (about an hour away from Danbury), but he didn't fall asleep until we were about 15 minutes away. We decided to go to a cider mill to stall for time, but that ultimately woke him up after only a very short time. Thus, he didn't get much of a nap.

It turned out to be a beautiful day and Aidan needed to get some exercise after being forced to sit for long periods of time travelling and doing "adult" things. So, we spent most of our time out at a park near my mom's house and got to see Aidan roll down a hill and blow dandelion seeds.

At this point, we had taken so many pictures of the wedding and at the park that we were running out of space on our digital camera and had little (or no) space for the rest of our trip. However, Renee was able to delete a few bad pictures and made room for some Halloween pictures.

Speaking of Halloween, we had decided early on that we were going to attend a function at my mom's church. They were having a a Renaissance-themed Halloween party, and Aidan's dragon costume was perfect for the occassion. Once we told Aidan about the event, he kept wanting to go to the "Dragon Party."

But Aidan was still a little out of sorts from lack of sleep, and in all the excitment of heading out to the Dragon Party, we forgot to take the camera. Figures, right?

The event at the church was very cool. There were lots of knights, princes, kings and princesses, a little magic show, balloons and all sorts of other things.

All-in-all, the trip was incredibly fun, somewhat hectic, and absolutely wonderful. Now for a few nights of going to bed early!