New Year, Here we are!

Aethan loves the holidays. This year he's been able to express just how much he loves them, unlike the years previous. This year, he expressed profound interest in Christmas songs and we had the pleasure of hearing a constant hum of jingle bells throughout every day in December. It's so neat, because I remember last year having to help him open presents and convince him that Christmas lights weren't on fire. This year he can tell me even who gave him each gift! Things have changed with him this year. I have been able to have these amazing conversations I thought were only a hope. He's even starting to read and do math. We've added some family members to our household this past year- Magic a few months ago and now our new German Shepherd puppy, Keira. Aethan doesn't know quite what to think about her yet, considering they are about the same size, but my plan is for Keira to be his companion dog and therefor I have worked very hard so far to train her well. She is rather attached to me at this point, but I think that will shift as Aethan grows. Going back to school after 2 weeks off led to some interesting emotional changes in Aethan, but things have evened out. For his birthday on the 7th, I allowed him to stay out of school and took him back to the Space Center. He would go there every day if he could. This time we went to the IMAX theatre, which required 3-D glasses. He giggled the whole time and it was a joyous experience! So here we are 2009. Aethan's 5 years old now and , as usual, ready to go!