He's getting so big!!!

I'm gonna get the pooey stuff out of the way before ending on a few positive notes.

This was another hard week for us. We learned that four of Ben's former co-workers and friends all perished in a helicopter crash in Colorado. :( They were performing a training exercise when something undetermined (as of now) went wrong. It pains me so deeply to think about what their wives, children, parents, and loved ones are going through right now. They were an amazing group of well-trained soldiers doing the things they loved and there's just no words that could do them justice. Chief Warrant Officer Terrance Geer, Chief Warrant Officer Robert Johnson, Staff Sgt. Paul Jackson and Staff Sgt. Chad Tucker, may you all rest in peace. <3

I don't really know if there's really a way to transition between these two topics sensibly...so...moving on....

Daily, I'm getting slapped in the face with how big my little guy is becoming. I'm beyond amazed that I will have a two year old next week. TWO! How does the time go so fast??? :( Don't get me wrong, Aiden is SO much fun now. I love watching him and his little imagination go wild, making his toys talk, letting Monkey go potty, feeding his baby [monkey], etc. But it all just seemed to happen overnight!

Over the past month or so we've been slowly introducing the potty. He now asks to go at every diaper change and works so hard to squeeze whatever drops he can out! It's awesome! And even if it's just the smallest bit, he gets so excited. :) Tonight, I opted to let him run "free" for a little bit. And I set his little froggy potty in the living room. TWICE he completely stopped what he was doing to use his potty. How awesome is that?!?!? Go, Aiden, Go!!! (Literally)

I've also decided it's just time to start weaning him of his paci. I tried it at naptime, and while it took a LOT longer than normal for him to go to sleep...he didn't ask for his paci. Bedtime was then a breeze and I am just amazed that he fell asleep so easily without much of a fuss. Either he was really tired from a short nap earlier, or he's just growing up before my eyes. I prefer the short nap theory. :)