Whine

So have you seen that mom? The frazzled mom dragging a whiny toddler around the store--clearly weighing the equally unpleasant choices between dropping all her hastily selected items and making an immediate exit, or ignoring the whinings of her child that have every minute gotten louder and more persistent and embarassing so that she can complete her purchase? Yeah, that's me right now. Well, when I'm out with Ava (Aiden's an angel comparatively right now). It's gotten to the point where I suspect that Ava just whines for the sake of whining. Like it's a habit. When I try to ascertain what it is that will stop the god-forsaken noise ringing in my head, the exchange usually goes like this:
Me: You want wa-wa?
Ava: Yeah. No.
Me: No wa-wa?
Ava: No wa-wa.
Me: Are you hungry?
Ava: Yeah. Noooooooooooo!!!!!!
Me: You want to go nigh-night?
Ava: NOOOOOO!!! No nigh-night!
Me: You want pretzels?
Ava: Yeah. No pretzels!
Me: Shush...
Ava: Stop it!

Yes, this is Ava's current favorite phrase. Accompanied with a smack on the arm nearest her. I am so frustrated with her. At this point, we've decided that when she hits she needs to have a sort of time out, which for her is basically being put down and not paid attention to for a moment. That frustrates her and escalates the whining to a full-out tantrum, but it stops the hitting. Then, she's calmer when we pick her back up to continue the interrogation and we usually can figure out some compromise between us. At any rate, I've figured through this process that she doesn't really know what she wants and is whining for the sake of whining...a form of expression if you will.

Today, at the Mexican restaurant she was doing it again but this time I knew it was because she wanted to pour the sugar into her cup of water and I wouldn't let her. So when I dared to put the sugar out of her reach, she regarded me with a half eye-roll and half closed-lid I know you didn't look--completely silent. It was as threatening a look one could get from a soon-to-be two-year old. My friends saw it and busted out laughing because it was so teenagerish they couldn't believe it. Radley and I asked for the check immediately, but it was too late. The entire restaurant was privy to the drama at our table within seconds and we were instantly the parents of the out-of-control toddler. See ya! Until 2011!!!

Soccer

So we went to Aiden's first soccer game of the season today. Yeah...Aiden and his two friends got the coach a bit frustrated. So it was a cold, rainy day and as usual, Aiden was not that into getting the ball or making a goal. He and two other similarly disinterested friends proceded to chase each other in circles and whatnot...on the field, as the game was being sadly lost while about two dedicated boys tried to regain the ball and make a goal. I was somewhere between mortified and like, "Well, boys will be boys." I do think that Aiden needs to learn the value of working on and for a team. In this aspect, he has not learned enough yet. However, he is having fun...

As I said, it was rainy, and at one point, Aiden ran over to us and requested an umbrella to take with him back to the field...

On another note, since the game was played at our "home" team's town (Frauenberg), we soccer moms were expected to bake goods to sell. I decided I was going to go All-American and give those Germans something new to try. I made rice crispy treats. A truly foreign affair for any other than Americans. Radley overheard some of Aiden's teammates asking him what they were and his explanation centered around the marshmallows, so the boys responded, "Oh...Marshmallows..." In all, I think three people may have been brave enough to pay the 50 euro-cents for one. HA HA! Oh well, more for us, as Radley pointed out!

Bats!

Every spring and summer evening around 9:00, my bats come out. Tonight, I spotted them for the first time and ran to the window all excited to welcome them out of hibernation. It's weird, I know. I almost think of them as my pets. They're so cool and they eat the bugs--especially the mosquitos that eat my Aiden--so they're cool with me. And, it's a sign that spring is definitely here! Tonight, the two (or three or eight--hard to tell when they flit around so fast!) eating their first buggy meal of the year appeared to be fighting and I found myself chastizing them not to argue, as there is surely enough bugs to go around. This might be a sign of craziness? Anyway, I'm sure they'll work it out. And now, I get to watch my nightly display of death-defying jerky flights around the backyard. They come right up to the window, on what appears a repetitious convoluted, diving pattern around the yard. It's really amazing to watch when you realize they can't see jack squat and that they're using sonar to figure that the windows about to smash into their furry faces so they can make a sudden twist and dive for a bug at the same time.

There are two things that concern me a bit. First is, where do they live? Like, where's the bat cave? It certainly must be nearby...And second, I hope they use their sonar for avoiding objects realiably in case I'm out late one night chilling with the friends on the back patio. I'd hate to have one of my furry friends tangled up in my hair. I might not be so enthused about them after that.