Bike, helmet.......Off

If we have learnt anything about Aiden since he came into existence it's that he likes the least amount of clothes on him. It could be freezing outside but he will fight his darnedest to get away with not wearing a jacket. It's the same thing when the sun is out in full force. He absolutely hates wearing a cap. We have tried many ways of convincing him, but he won't fall for any of the tricks. His preference is to wear the minimum amount of clothing that is necessary to survive. In fact if we let him, he'd be perfectly happy to run around naked all day regardless of the weather outside. About the only time he makes an exception is when he wants to go for a bike ride. We recently got the iBert for him and he absolutely loves it. I think it's because he feels like he's in control since he's in front. He likes checking out all that passes by and will call out the different car types and colors. He also loves to ring his little bell. Initially he tried to resist wearing the helmet or jacket but was easily convinced that it was a case of either or. He understood very quickly that if he wanted to go for a ride, his noggin had to be protected. He will keep asking for more every time I try to pull back into the garage after a ride. And when he knows that the ride's really over for the day, the first thing he'll say even before the bike's been parked is 'Off'. That's to tell us that the helmet and jacket need to come off ASAP. The spring weather is here now and we should have a lot more fun bike rides in store for him. Fortunately there are a lots of beautiful trails all along the San Francisco bay and we can reach some of them without getting into a car.

Fascination with all things water

Most babies have this favorite toy that they cuddle up with when they are ready for bed, usually a stuffed animal. Aiden also has one toy that he absolutely must have along with him when we put him to bed. But contrary to what you might believe, it's not a stuffed animal, rather it's his water bottle. He will absolutely not go to sleep without it. In fact there are nights when he will fall asleep while still holding on very tightly to his beloved water bottle. Not sure how this came about but it could have something to do with the fact that his Dad has a paranoia about running out of drinking water. On any trip, be it road, biking or hiking, I always have to have twice as much water on me as the regular person. I can't for the life of me understand how my wife can drive a car that never has any drinking water in it.

This obsession with water has led him to be fascinated by all things water. In fact his favorite word is 'Ocean'. He somehow manages to direct every conversation to the Ocean. Any body of open water, even if it's a lake or just a pond is deemed an ocean, he will remind you ever day that the water in his bathtub ends up in the ocean, the rain water drains into the ocean etc. All this is because when he had once inquired about a drain along the sidewalk, we had casually mentioned to him that the drains help empty the runoff water into the ocean. Little did we realize that this thought would get stuck in his head. Now anytime he sees a drain, he stops dead in his tracks and proceeds to do a thorough inspection of it. Here he is stealing a ride on a friend's brand new little red bike for the very first time but then along comes a drain.