Monday, July 4, 2011

4th of July!

Today we celebrated Aaden's first 4th of July!  Aaron was supposed to work from 430am-120pm but I called him around 830am to have him come home because I got a pretty bad beesting and needed to go to Urgent Care.  When Aaron got into town we went to Urgent Care and after we picked Aaden up from my Mom's and went home to get ready.  We went to Aunt Krissie's for a BBQ and to hang out with the family.  Usually we stay there to watch the fireworks every year but I was so tired from the antihistamines and Aaden was tired too and NOT going down for a nap so we decided to pack up and come home.  Aaden and I both took naps and woke up around 7pm.  We went outside and lit some ground bloomers that we had left over from a previous year.  He didn't seem too impressed but he loved the noise I made when I mimiced them.  He would crack up everytime I went "bzzzZZZZZZZZZZ".  We came in and Aaden had some dinner.  When it was darker we went back out front to see if we could watch the firework show that is done at Maze Middle School every year.  We sat there waiting and waiting while watching some illegal fireworks and talking to the neighbors.  After being out there for about 45 minutes we figured that we either missed them or they weren't shot up high enough or that they weren't doing them this year.  We decided to call it a night and came in to get Aaden ready for bed.  Aaron went out front to turn the sprinklers on and I could hear him yelling at me to open the blinds.  When I did, I could see the fireworks that Maze was doing.  Aaron came in Aaden's room, turned the light off, opened the window and we sat there and watched the fireworks right from Aaden's window.  We had a perfect view.  It was so awesome and almost magical.  A moment that I will remember forever.

The beesting - this was taken on Sunday - a day after the sting
 The sting on Monday (4th of July) - yeah, way worse, time to go in.
(these pictures make it look like the sting is on two different arms but one pic was taken in the mirror and the other was not)
Aaron and Aaden on 4th of July
 
 Me and Aaden
 Big boy standing on his own
 Playing with Daddy
 Cute butt
 Kona all drugged up in preparation for fireworks.  The dogs got to be inside tonight
 Clapping at Daddy playing with the kangaroo puppet
 Waiting for fireworks
 And still waiting...
  

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Aaden and Alivia Part II

Now that Aaden and Alivia are older and more mobile, it's even more fun to get them together and watch them play and interact.  Aaden is such a brut next to Alivia.  It's so funny to see the difference between boys and girls at this age - it's amazing how the differences start so young.  Aaden is into everything and grunts and growls where Alivia is so danty and seems much more careful with her movements.  Here are some pics of them from Saturday - we were out at Lainy's house for her son Brayden's birthday party and then we went to my mom's and the kids got to go in the pool! 










So fun.  Crazy to think that a year ago Katie and I were posing for Belly Pics together and now here we are.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Swimming

Now that we are finally having some warmer weather we've been able to take Aaden in the pool a few times.  He loves it!  He is not afraid of the water at all.  He even tries to "swim" - we hold him and he splashes his arms in front of him and we pass him back and forth.  I know it's just him splashing but still, it's a start.  He even started putting his face in the water on his own.  My mom was showing him to blow bubbles in the water by blowing raspberries and he started copying her and he actually did it a few times!  I think we're going to have a natural water baby.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

10 Months!

Aaden turned 10 months old today!  I can't believe it, he's going to be 1 year in just 2 short months!  All of a sudden he seems to be growing up so much!

Aaden is just full of personality.  He's such a ham and is just a goofball, he gets funnier and funnier everyday.  He's all over the place and he crawls so fast.  He still has his funny little crawl where he uses one foot as a propeller.  He pushes off of his left foot, his left knee is never on the floor.  The right knee on all of his pants get real dirty!  He cruises around furniture and can stand on his own for quite a long time.  I keep waiting for him to take a step - he looks interested but I haven't seen him try yet.  I bet he'll be walking by his 1st birthday.
He weighs 23 pounds.  He is eating all kinds of different stuff.  We have yet to find anything that he doesn't like.  We just started putting frozen peaches in the little mesh feeder and he really likes it, I think it feels good on his gums and tastes good.  He has one tooth right now and another one starting to come in so the mesh feeder has been put to good use lately.  He eats pretty much anything we eat as long as it's not a choking hazard and it's fairly healthy.  No honey or cow's milk yet.  He really likes cheese, pasta, beans, green beans, bread, fruits, pretty much anything it seems!  He LOVES bananas and has one every morning.  He has even started to say what sounds like "banana".  It's "nananananana".  He's babbling a lot more and making all kinds of different noises and sounds but nothing that is too definitive of a word except for "mama", "dada", "baba". 
He's totally into mimicing now - he loves to beat "drums" when someone else does and he'll growl back and forth and also blow raspberries back and forth with people.  He is clapping more and waving more.  And he's giving kisses more often when we ask.  It's so sweet and he gets really excited after.  His laugh is just the best thing in the world.  Still really ticklish on his back.
He is loving all of his big boy toys especially his big CAT truck that my Dad got him when I was still pregnant.  He also likes his little Leap Frog Learn and Groove Table.  He likes balls and trucks and books.  But of course, his favorite things are still things that he's not supposed to have - cords, photo albums, picture frames, night lights, the pen holder that's by the desk that Aaron won't keep up out of reach, and his total new love is for toilet paper.  He loves rolling it off, tearing some off and then shoving it in his mouth.  This kid loves paper for some reason?  We're having to do some time outs with him and he's starting to learn the word "NO!" - we try not to use it too much but there are somethings he needs to learn that he can't play with.
He is doing pretty well sleeping and naps are getting better.  We are going to start weaning his daytime bottles to sippy cups.  We tried it once recently and he did pretty good, I was worried that he wouldn't want it but he didn't seem to mind it at all.  We are looking forward to being done with formula in a couple of months and think we'll start slowly weaning towards cow's milk in about a month.
All in all - everything is great.  Aaden is a happy, healthy boy who is just fun to be with.  I look forward to the upcoming stages.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

First Tooth!

After months of blaming fussiness on "teething" and then starting to think that Aaden would never get any teeth, we finally have a tooth!!  We first noticed it trying to bust through on about June 20th.  And finally by June 27th it cut through and we could actually feel it.  It's the bottom left one.  He actually seemed to handle it pretty well - he wasn't as fussy as we would have thought.  We just noticed that he seemed to sleep more - fine by me! 
And now that the first one is through, I've noticed that he is starting to cut the one right next to it too.  So pretty soon he'll have both bottom teeth!  I'll try to get pictures soon :)

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Bumpie GTG!!

I have been an active member of an online forum with a group of moms that have babies that were born around the same time as Aaden.  It has been fun connecting with moms that have babies the same age as mine.  We share ups and downs and milestones and funny stories and get and give advice to each other.  I had the chance to meet some of the moms in person when we arranged a Northern California Get Together (GTG).  Aaden and I went to Walnut Creek and met with 4 other moms and babies at the Cheesecake Factory.  It was a lot of fun!  It was so great to finally meet some of the ladies that I have felt like I've "known" for the last 7 or 8 months.

Here's our group at Cheesecake Factory.  I'm really sad that there is a horrible glare over my face but oh well!  From Left to Right:  Me with Aaden, Elisha with Michal, Ariana with Tanith, Amanda with Hailey, and Monica with Maddie

 Aaden and I weren't ready to go home yet so we took Monica's offer up to go hang out at her place
Here's Maddie and Aaden in the little kiddie pool.  Too bad Maddie has her eyes closed, this would have been a great pic!
 Aaden went to lay down and have a bottle inside but then decided he was missing out on too much fun and wanted to play with Maddie through the slider
 Now they're both inside
 Maddie trying to steal Aaden's pacifier.  I accidentally left one up there and Monica sent me a picture of Maddie playing with it!
 The kiddos having fun

We stayed a lot later than we expected but it was so much fun!  I can't wait for our next GTG!  Thanks Monica, Aaron and Maddie for your hospitality!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo

A long time San Benito County tradition is the Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo.  It's held every year in the 4th week of June.  It is kicked off by the parade downtown on Main St on Thursday and then the rodeo is at Bolado Park and runs from Friday through Sunday.  We try to make it every year and have even participated in some events throughout the years.  I looked forward to sharing this event with Aaden. 

We went to the parade on Thursday with my mom and Aaron even got to go since it's his normal night off.  Aaden just kind of sat there and took it all in.  He does that a lot when he's in large crowds and experiencing something new - he's not happy, not sad, just queitly sitting watching, observing.  I'd love to know what he's thinking at those times. 

On Saturday June 25th Aaden and I went to the rodeo with my Mom and Kenny.  It was my Mom's birthday and it was a fun way to celebrate with her.  We sat with Katie and Alivia in great box seats thanks to the Brigantino Family.  Aaden was so good, he even took a nap on my lap which is soooo rare!  I couldn't believe it.  After the rodeo we mingled with people and let Aaden and Alivia play in the grass and have fun.  My Mom, Kenny, Aaden and I even went to the Tres Pinos Inn for dinner (yum!) after and Aaden did really good there too.  What a fun day!  We missed Aaron though, of course.

Aaron and Aaden as we were leaving for the parade
 Our Little Family ♥
 At the parade - I know we're super cool with our shades
 Me and Aaden (nice dumpster in the background)

 At the rodeo.  Aaden watching the happenings in the arena
 Katie and Livie
 Aaden and Papa.  Emmy (my Mom) in the corner
 Aaden and Mommy
 Another...
 Katie, Alivia, Aaden & Me
 BFFs
 Aaden, Aunt Renee, and Cousin Colton in the John Deere
 Aaden and Papa after a long day

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Father's Day

Today was Aaron's first Father's Day.  Unfortunately he had to work :(  But he didn't have to leave until 10:30am, so we got to hang out in the morning.  I made breakfast and we hung out with Aaden and Aaron got to open his gifts.  I got him the Joy of Cooking cookbook that he had mentioned he wanted.  Aaden got him the picture below.  It was framed and Aaron started crying when he got it.  It was very sweet and I'm glad it touched him so much.
The rest of the day Aaden and I spent time with my Dad and then with Kenny and my Mom later in the evening.  It was a nice day and Aaden even got to go in the pool with my Mom. 

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Meeting Miranda

Our best friends, Sean and Andrea welcomed their second baby girl, Miranda Rae, to their family on June 7, 2011.  Aaden and I took a short trip on June 17th to go see the Cannon's and meet Baby Miranda.  Aaron had to stay home because he had to work.  Aaden did really great in the car and once we got there he had fun playing with older sister, Calleigh.  He didn't seem to notice the new baby until the second day, she's so queit and sleeps so much!  She looks just like Calleigh did when she was a newborn but just has darker hair.  Here are some pics with the Cannons. 

Andrea and her new Lovebug
 Me with Baby M
 Forcing a pic of big ol' Aaden and Miranda
 Aaden and Calleigh

 Us with our Babes
 The Cannon Crew ♥
We only stayed over one night since we wanted to get home and celebrate Father's Day with Aaron.  Congrats to the Cannon's - we love you all!