Aaden's Signature Pose

So, Aaden does this all the time...and I've caught it on camera a few times.  He loves those two fingers on his right hand, apparently!

First Illness =(

We got back from Strawberry on Feb 21st, and Aaden was a little fussy on the way home but nothing too terrible.  Well he woke up that night at 1am with a barking cough.  I knew right away it was croup.  I know that it has a sudden onset, usually in the middle of the night and it has that horrible sound.  Right away I went into the bathroom with him and turned the shower on as hot as it could go.  I took his temperature (no fever) and paged his doctor.  His doctor called back within 5 minutes.  He reassured us that we were doing everything right.  He suggested cool mist and tylenol or motrin to help relieve pain.  He told us if he shows any sign of having trouble breathing then to take him to the ER otherwise, he wanted to see him first thing in the morning.

It took a few hours to get Aaden back to sleep that night.  I would hold him/swing him in the bathroom with the steam and he would fall asleep but as soon as I would put him in his bassinet he would wake up or he would cough and wake himself up.  After a few times of repeating that, I decided to nurse him and he finally went down for a few hours.  We kept the coll mist humidifier on right over his bassinet. 

Aaron took Aaden to the doctor in the morning.  They started him on Zithromax (antibiotic) and Orapred (steroid).  The steroids make Aaden fussy and they increased his appetite.  They also make him wake up in the middle of the night crying =(  He seems to be getting a little better though.

On the 24th we took him back to the doctor for a follow up.  The doctor prescribed some Prilosec for him to help reduce his spitting up because he's afraid he could aspirate.  The Prilosec was $134!  We didn't pick it up.  The next day I called and asked if they could prescribe Zantac.  They did and it was $17, much better!  Unfortunately Aaden doesn't like it all that much.  It tastes like peppermint and it makes him cough and gag everytime we give it to him.  But I think it's helping a little.

On the 28th we took him back again.  He still has some congestion in his chest and the doctor is a little worried about it.  He finished his antibiotics today and is slowly stepping down the steroids.  Since the congestion hasn't cleared up, he prescribed a nebulizer for Aaden with some inhalation steroids.  Another expensive medication - $166!  Man, Big Pharm makes a killing on infants medicines.  After two days of the nebulizer he seems to be doing better and is sounding better too.  Aaden does really good on the nebulizer.  I just hope this clears up otherwise his doctor wants to get a chest xray.

I know he looks extremely pathetic in these pictures but in reality he doesn't seem to mind the nebulizer

Plagiocephaly??

So Aaden likes to sleep with his head turned to the right which has caused his head to become a little misshapen.  We brought it up to his pediatrician and he didn't think it was too severe.  He assured us that it would probably round itself out once he was sitting and crawling and not laying on his back as much.  Whenever I see him sleeping with his head to the right, I turn it to the left to try to "even" it out a little.  The doctor suggested that we take pictures of the top of his head and then take some more a month later to see if there was improvement or worsening...

These first two were taken Jan 22nd and 23rd

The one below was taken Feb 28th

I think I can see some improvement...and now he's sitting a lot more so hopefully it will continue to get better.

Happy Baby

So it seems like all of a sudden in the last week Aaden has just become a super happy baby.  He's so funny.  He's started doing the inhale laugh/excited sound and does it all the time now.  He has found a new super cheesy grin and it's too cute.  And now you can look over at him and find that he's been staring at you smiling, it's hilarious!
Here's a few examples of his new smile...

This bottom one cracks my shit up!

Bath Time

Now that Aaden can sit up in the bath tub, he loves to splash around!  Here are some pictures from a couple weeks ago (we didn't trust him to fully sit on his own during this photo shoot.  But he sits on his own now)

Things I have learned in the last 6 months

Now that my son is 6 months old I would like to share somethings I have learned since becoming a mom...
- You can never have enough bibs or burp rags
- Housework is no longer that important
- Babies require a lot of gear
- There is no other love like a mother's love (and this is true no matter how old you are)
- Sleeper pj's are perfectly acceptable outfits for babies, even in public
- It is possible to work on 3 hours of sleep
- It takes twice as long to get out of the house
-The first 3 months are hard
- You can never take enough pictures...oh and to go along with this, I am not a good photographer at all (but I might be better than my husband ;))
- Babies can bring people closer together :)
- Mommies need a break every once in a while
- You don't care about walking out the door with spit up in your hair or pee on your jeans
- Breastfeeding does get easier.  I wouldn't have believed this myself a few months back...
- Nothing melts your heart more than seeing your baby smile or hearing them laugh.  Well, maybe when they snuggle against you, or when they start reaching out for you, or when they get overly excited to see you, or hearing them coo (ok, maybe there are a lot of things that can melt your heart)
- I think playdates are more for mommies than for babies/kids
- Laundry is never-ending
- Dogs are great to have around for floor clean up
- Your purse gets replaced by a diaper bag
and finally...
- Nothing changes your life more than having a child and nothing could even come close to how amazing it is

6 Months Old!

Aaden turned 6 months old today!  (He was born on August 30th and since February only has 28 days we decided that we would count today as his 6 months...plus, he was born on a Monday and today is a Monday...so there you go)  Here are a few pictures I took of him tonight

At 6 months old...

Some facts about Aaden at 6 months old:
*He weighs 17 lbs and is about 25" long
*Wears size 6-9 month clothing and size 3 diapers
*No teeth yet but we keep expecting them to pop up any day now (although we have been for a few months)
*He can roll tummy to back but hasn't rolled back to tummy yet.
*Not crawling yet
*He can sit very well now and absolutely loves it!
*He's starting to reach out for me when he wants me to pick him up...it's so darn cute!
*He can pick his pacifier up and put it back in his mouth on his own now - and he can get it in the right way (however, we've seen him sucking on it upside-down and it was both funny and sad at the same time)
*He eats every 3 hours or so.  Gets 3 bottles of formula a day and also is nursed or fed pumped breastmilk 3 times a day.  He also eats about 1 meal of solids a day (but I must admit, I'm not super consistent about feeding him solids).  So far he has tried sweet potatoes, squash (not a huge fan), carrots (loves!), oatmeal, and rice cereal.  He also tried a little bit of mashed up banana but I think the texture was too thick for him.  We'll revisit it soon.
*He sleeps about 10 hours a night (9pm-7am) waking up once at 5am to nurse.  He still sleeps in his bassinet in our room.  We were going to try to transition him to his crib around this time but then he got sick so I think we'll wait a while longer.
*He is starting to mimic sounds and tries to mimic mouth movements.  It's too cute to watch him trying to mimic mouth movements, you can just see his little wheels turning.  He concentrates so hard on your mouth when you talk and then a second later he tries to do the same.  It was hilarious watching him do this with my brother the other night.  He loves blowing raspberries and has now perfected it.  He does it for fun when he's happy but also does it when he's sad and crying (ti's kind of funny!).  Sometimes when he's crying he says "mamamamamama" or "bababababa".  I dont' think there is any meaning to them yet, they are just sounds he's learning.
*He goes to daycare 3 days a week and he really likes it.  There are three older boys and one older girl there.  Next week he will start going 4 days a week so Aaron can have a day at home to get some stuff done around the house. 
*Three words to describe Aaden so far...inquisitive, silly/funny, sweet

I am really happy that I've made it to my goal of nursing him for 6 months.  I don't plan on fully stopping any time too soon so I will actually surpass my goal!  I am starting to toy with the idea of making Aaden's baby food...which is crazy, I never thought I would but after reading some things on wholesomebabyfood.com it sounds like something I would be interested in.  We'll see...

Oscar Party

So, Aunt Krissie had an Oscar Party and people dressed up either as someone going to the Oscars or a character from one of the movies nominated.  Aaden and I went as "The Social Network"  We had fun but definitely felt underdressed compared to some of the ladies there!

Me and Aaden posing for some pictures

Aaden on the red carpet (along with Sophie, of course!)

I love these two pictures!  Aaden and Jenny...

...and Aaden with Michael

This was the night before they left for Australia, we were happy that we got to see them!

Month 5-6

1/30/11-2/27/11
Everday is getting a little easier and a little more fun! 

• Aaden has now started rubbing his little feet together for comfort, he does it when he's drinking a bottle or is tired.  Uncle Alec says he does that too.
• He is getting really close to sitting up on his own
• He's becoming more attached to his little blue blankie...once I forgot to send it to daycare with him and Louise said he was really fussy and asked that I remember to bring it. 
• I'm trying to start some sign language with Aaden.  Just a few basic signs like more, all done, good, hungry, bath, thank you, mama, dada, dog, and you're welcome.  Mostly we do the "more" sign when he's eating. 
• First cold on Feb 1st.  Nothing major though

Fisherman's Wharf - Monterey

I played hookie from work today and we went to Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey.  Aaron and I don't have many days off together so I thought it would be fun to take a day off work and go do something.  It was me, Aaron, Aaden, Alec and Nicole.  Alec and Nicole are on break from school.  We are trying to spend as much time with them as possible since they are leaving for South Korea at the end of July and will be gone for 2 years! =(  Anyway, we had a fun day even though it was a bit cold.  We ate at Crabby Jim's (highly recommended!) and then walked on the wharf a bit and had a characature of Aaden done.  Aaden mostly liked looking at the birds on the wharf...I'm sure he can't wait to chase them when he's a little older!  Here are some pictures from our day...

Mommy and Aaden (first time sitting in his stroller like a big boy!)

Aaden with Auntie and Uncle in Auntie's favorite shop

Posing for the characature

Our family

Me and Sister

Griffins (we were joking that they look like a gay couple with an adopted baby!)

Pooped out!

Aaden's First Vacation!

So Aaden's first vacation was to Strawberry!  It was our annual Shelton/Waller/Michaelson/Kramer/Griffin/Fahy/Sparling trip.  There was a ton of snow!  More snow than I've ever seen up there.  We had a lot of fun and I really enjoyed myself this year.  Last year I was pregnant and tired so I looked forward to this year's trip a lot more.  Aaden was a really good boy, he liked playing with Jaya, Chase, and Emery (or watching them play rather).  He loved all the attention he got all weekend and everyone loved playing with him and holding him.  He perfected blowing raspberries this weekend and everyone got a kick out of it.  He was also perfectly content either sitting on the floor playing or in his jumperoo (yes, we brought it up!)  Aaden didn't get to play in the snow like the older kids but he will next year! 

Aaden's Nicknames...

So far, Aaden's nicknames are:
Bubby, Bub, Bubbies (Mommy and Daddy)
Doobers, Doobie (Daddy)
Silly, Sil (Mommy)
Sweets (Mommy)
Lovey (Mommy)
Pooper (Emmy)
Cheiftain (Pappy)
Aadie (Alec and Nicole)
Feller (Grandma)
BooBoo (Grandpa)
Cheiftain, Little Man (Pappy)
Baby Boy (Uncle Brother)

I'm sure there will be many more too!