Upon arising from his slumber, the president and vice president of his fan club The Aidanimaniacs presented him with a gift, a fire engine watch, which he promptly fastened to his arm and proceeded, for the next twenty minutes, to approach various family members and exclaim, "It's twenty-six!" while gesturing emphatically at his new time piece.
Today is also the first day of Rosehill for Caitlin and Isabel. What a trip.
Because it's Aidan's birthday, the school has a celebration where the family creates a time line of sorts chronicling the child's life, decorated with pictures. The parent, Karen, in this case (I was the photographer) comes in and gives a verbal history of the child to the students and staff. The birthday child sits in the center of the circle holding a small globe, and with each year passing in the history, he or she walks around a candle, which symbolizes the sun.
Karen told the class about when Aidan was a baby, how his fuzzy, blond hair grew straight up, earning him the nickname, birdhead. Karen and I used to let him stay up with us quite late because he was such a happy little guy (as opposed to Jacob, who cried nearly non-stop for the first four months of his life). She also spoke of how he has grown to love cars and bike riding, and Ms. Suman, his teacher, added that he is a great colorer and loves working on his number roll (it's a Montessori thing), and that he is very excited both about being a Kindergartner and having his sisters at Rosehill with him.
What you cannot see from in the pictures and video is how surprisingly overwhelming it was for me to see my baby girls and my little man at the same school, in the same class, celebrating his FIFTH birthday. I was a bit farklempt, to say the least.
And, I have to give props to Grandpa Pápi for working with Aidan yesterday on mastering the two-wheeled bicycle. He hasn't quite conquered the little things, like turning or getting started without being pushed, but he has learned to stop, which is essential. I hope your leg feels better after its work out chasing Evel Knievel up and down your street.
It's been a good day. The girls did well at Rosehill on their first day and came home a bit cranky and clingy, but that's to be expected with the big change.
