12 months

I'm finally getting Aiden's 12-month post up.  I've been sick this last week, so it's been on my to-do list all week.

Aiden turned 1 on November 17th.  You can check out his birthday party post here :)  We went in for his 12-month appt. last week and he weighed 20 pounds 10 oz. (25th percentile) and is 29 inches long (50th).  As Dr. Laks got up to leave, Aiden spontaneously started waving "bye bye" (he does it all the time lately) with a very serious look on his face, as if he was shooing her away.  It totally cracked us up. He has learned he does not like the doctor's office.  He had to get 3 vaccines - 1 in each leg and 1 in his arm.  I was feeling so bad because he was sick at the time.

Here is what Aiden's been up to in the last month (and a half since I'm behind):

• Aiden is full on walking.  All he wants to do is walk.  He took the most steps we'd seen on Halloween (you can see the video here). The only time we see him crawl anymore is when we're chasing him and he falls down and knows it'll take too long to get back up :)

• He has 8 teeth (4 on top, 4 on bottom) and a molar coming in.

• He loves to drag anything with straps or handles all around behind him.

• It's hard to keep him seated when I'm pushing him around in a cart during errands.  He's always trying to grab things off the shelves.

It's a little blurry b/c they were moving.  I don't normally let him do this, but we were both watching and moving slow.  I think I'll start putting him in the bigger part of the cart since it's deeper.

• He loves the shower.  We brought him into the shower with us a few times while he was sick to help clear up his congestion and now he always wants to come in.  Just this morning he tried to climb in the shower with me fully clothed!

• He went through a phase where he'd lift the toilet lid and stick his hands in.  And it was usually in our bathroom while I was busy trying to get ready.  We ended up getting a toilet lock.

Caught in the act!

• He laughs when we laugh.  It's so cute.  And he loves to be tickled. He puts himself in positions and just waits for us to tickle him :)

• He is becoming more and more independent.

On this day (it was actually his birthday!) he wandered off and I just found him in his room quietly reading books :)

• He still loves to crawl into small spaces.

• He loves to drink out of a glass and loves it even more if we let him do it himself.  He usually ends up pretty wet!

• This is weird, but Aiden will not let us have blankets.  Like when I cover myself in a blanket he always comes over and rips it off.  It's really annoying when I'm cold.  He usually just throws it on the floor and goes about what he was doing, but if I try to put it back on he immediately comes over and takes it off again..haha.  I'm laughing while typing this because we just don't get it!

• This one seems a little similar to the last one.  We have a 5-disc DVD player, and pretty much any time we're trying to watch a movie Aiden goes up to the player and changes the disc and walks away.  I guess he doesn't like when we watch movies?  Maybe he's just doing these things to get our attention?!

• He still runs over to the dishwasher whenever we open it.  In fact, he has learned to open it himself, so now we'll probably have to just keep it locked whenever we put it up.

• He is now a whole milk drinker!  Yay!

• Our house is just a constant mess.  We swear that Aiden sees us picking things up (cleaning up) and follows behind us and takes them right back out..haha.  We can't keep up with him!

• He is pretty much constantly jibber jabbering.  Sometimes it's like he's having a full conversation with us :)

• He continues to love a good play date.

On this morning, Aiden thought Jackson was so funny throwing the balloons around :)  Many of you already saw this on Facebook.

• And lastly, Trent wants me to add that Aiden is the best 12-month-old there ever was!!

A few final pictures.

Just look at that bed head!

Aiden loves his alphabet magnets from his birthday.

Aiden loves Ritz crackers and on this morning he only wanted Ritz for breakfast.  I had to get this shot with his stack of Ritz standing on the dishwasher..haha.  And he's in his Christmas jammies (thanks to Amanda!).

Our Christmas tree is looking pretty sad b/c Aiden keeps pulling all of the ornaments off.  He can reach ones I never thought he'd be able to and has already broken one, so I've had to move them up higher.

And I just realized that in like 3/4 of these pictures Aiden is in jammies.  I promise I get him dressed!  I guess I must think he's the cutest when he's in them :)

11 months (Really Late)

With all of the craziness of the last month and half or so I never got to do Aiden's 11-month blog post.  So I'm going to do it right now.  So just pretend you don't know any of this (such as the fact that Aiden is a walking pro now!)!

Aiden turned 11 months on October 17th (Trent's 28th birthday!).

Here is what he's been up to in the last month (from middle of September to middle of October):

• He is taking a few more steps now.  He recently discovered though that he can push his new puppy from Grandma and Grandpa Knuckles and take a lot more steps.

I love that he just walks until he crashes into something..haha.  He hasn't quite figured out how to maneuver his puppy ;)

• He loves music and usually starts bobbing when he hears it.

And I definitely know the words to all of those songs ;)  Sorry the lighting's so bad.  We were in Aiden's room right before he went to bed.

• He points at everything!  We made the mistake of trying to teach him "Mama" and "Dada" by pointing to ourselves in pictures, but now anytime we say, "Where's Mama?" or "Where's Dada?" he points to any picture he sees, even if we're not in it.  Whoops!

I love his little finger :)

• He's getting tall and is now as tall as the kitchen trash can - meaning he's gets into it if we don't take it out right away :/

Sorry, that's kind of a gross picture of our trash.

• He loves when Briley comes to play.  On this day I actually let Aiden crawl around on the sidewalk (something Trent probably wouldn't have wanted..ha) and he loved it!  He was trying to keep up with Briley :)

• He found the mop the other day and knew just what to do ;)

And that's all I can remember.  My monthly blog posts are usually a lot more detailed because I do them pretty on time.  Here are a few more cute pictures and videos though from that month.

Hanging out with Daddy.  Notice we were watching a Vice Presidential Debate..ha.

I just thought this was a cute shot :)

This is just a silly video.  For a few months now we've done this karate chopping game with Aiden (we usually use our arms) and I finally got it on video.  This time we're obviously using our feet :)  Do you love our sound effects?

Sorry, bad lighting again.  It was in the evening.

One last video.  I just got this one night because Aiden was being really hyper!

Sorry to back track like that.  We actually went to Aiden's 1-year check-up this morning so hopefully I'll get that post up in the next few days :)

Comparison with My Boys

Aiden at 2 days.

Aiden at 10 months and 3 days :)

Pretty crazy!  And as cute as ever!

P.S. It's just about time for us to get Aiden a new car seat.  If anyone has car seat recommendations send them my way!  I guess for right now kids are supposed to be rear-facing until they're at least 1 so I guess we'll want a car seat that is convertible (it can be either rear or forward facing).

10 months

Aiden turned 10 months on Monday.  I went to get him out of his crib that morning and he had thrown up (first time it's happened).  I felt so bad, but he was his normal happy self :)

Here is what Aiden's been up to in the last month:

• He is standing up on his own more and more and on Sunday he actually took his first step!  It was only 1 step, but we were so excited that we both saw it because Trent was certain he wouldn't be around when it happened.  I never thought I'd be excited for Aiden to start walking, but he's just so cute and timid about it.  I'm sure there will come a day when I wish he weren't walking :)  I'll definitely get video when he starts taking more steps.

• He loves to run, aka crawl as fast as he can, away from us and have us chase him.

I'll have to get a better video :)

• He is getting 2 more teeth (the 2 on either side of his top front teeth).  I feel like all of his teeth are coming in so fast!  Kind of sad because I feel like once they start getting teeth, they're really not babies anymore :(

• He is learning how to play Catch.  He doesn't have much control over where the ball goes, but that makes it all the more cute :)

• He discovered the toilet paper a few weeks ago and has unrolled it a few times. Pretty annoying..haha.  He's also flushed the toilet a few times. He hasn't really done either this week so hopefully it won't become too habitual.

• He didn't used to mind the vacuum, but now it scares him.  He keeps a safe distance and watches my every move.

This time he was whimpering so I put him up on the couch and he didn't budge :)

• He has really started to mimic us.

He often manages to catch the refrigerator door before it closes all the way...

...and usually pulls out the milk :)

Just sorting the laundry ;)

I had just finished making dinner at the stove..haha.

• He consistently sleeps from about 9 at night until about 8 in the morning.

• In the last week he has learned how to wave :)

• Lately he likes to get into small spaces.  Maybe he likes it that we can't fit..haha

• He is still a little daredevil.  Whenever we put him on our bed he insists on getting to the very edge of the bed and grabs for things on my nightstand (specifically his monitor or my Chapstick). Although the space between the bed and my nightstand seems small, it's big to Aiden and he makes us nervous every time does it. 

• He loves to feed himself.  If he sees us eating something though, he wants what we have, even if he's eating the same thing.  For instance, he was eating these Kix from his tray, but when I got myself a bowl of Kix he had to have some of mine..haha.  Maybe he prefers them a little wet :)

• He's kind of obsessed with my hot pink blow dryer ;)  He knows exactly where I keep it and pulls it out all the time.  There have been a few times when I'm not sure where he's gone off to and I'll just find him sitting with my blow dryer (unplugged of course) on the floor. 

I think that about sums it up!  Here are a few more pictures from the last month:

Daddy stuck Aiden in his toy box.  I don't think Aiden was amused..haha.

I thought it was funny that Aiden's diapers were almost as tall as him. Trent thought it was gross..haha.

Trent's makeshift baby-proofing so that Aiden would stop getting the little pebbles out of the fireplace.

My beauty boy ;)

I was cooking dinner the other night and heard some liquid swishing in the hallway.  I peeked around the corner worried Aiden had found some cleaning product, but he had just found Daddy's water bottle in his backpack.  Oh he loves Daddy's water bottle, much more than his sippy cups ;)

Love this picture - all of the colors and that Aiden's kneeling :)

Aiden's new jammies :)

I'll end with this final video - my happy boy :)

9 months

Aiden turned 9 months on Friday.  We took him in for his check-up and his weight and height stats (they'd stayed very consistent) are lower.  He is weighing 19 pounds 10 ounces (down to the 25th percentile) and is 28.25 inches long (down to the 50th percentile).  I guess this is normal now that he is crawling around everywhere and burning off everything he eats more quickly.  He had to get his finger pricked to check for anemia and then 2 shots.

Here is what Aiden has been up to in the last month:

• He has figured out what is in each of the cabinets and gets into them on a daily basis/makes his rounds.

There's usually a pot or two on the kitchen floor.

He found his food stash :)

Found the Ritz.  I love that he's kneeling :)

• He's a big time beggar!  Anytime he sees us eating anything he comes crawling as fast as he can!

• He is getting his top two teeth.  The left one is through his gums already and the right one is following closely.

You can see all of his teeth if you look closely.

• Aiden learned how to clap!  Now I'll see him randomly just start clapping his hands (even when he thinks I'm not looking).  It's way cute!

• He learned how to drink through a straw (I'm sure he would have learned sooner if we had thought to let him try!).

• He's been sticking his tongue out really far lately!

Daddy was trying to get Aiden to do it, but he wasn't catching on :)

• He's been getting some crazy bed head lately since his hair is getting longer!

These are just two examples, but you'll notice it in several of the other pictures in this post as well :)

Notice the "Alfalfa" hair in the back :)

• I meant to write this in his 8-month post, but he is totally addicted to his paci.  There have been several times when I'm feeding him a bottle and I'll look away for a second and he's stopped drinking his bottle and has reached down for his paci and stuck it in!  I'm always surprised that he'll choose his paci over his bottle..ha.  I'm really trying to only give it to him during nap time/bedtime.  It's going to be a pain to take that away from him later on.

• He very often has his ankles crossed.

And he's even started to sit Indian-style :)

• He's started to shake his head back and forth.  I think it's his way of dancing!

Sorry, I couldn't help but shake the camera when I was trying to get Aiden to do it..haha.

• He has stood on his own a few times for a few seconds without realizing I had moved whatever he was holding onto.  It scares him when he realizes he's doing it and he immediately plops down on his bum!

• He stands on his tiptoes to grab things (the keyboard) that he's not supposed to..haha.

• Aiden loves bath time, but lately his favorite part seems to be when we cuddle him up in his towel.  He always kicks his legs in excitement :)

• Before we headed on the cruise we discovered that Aiden's feet are too chubby for shoes (well at least the 2 pairs that we've been holding onto since before he was born)!  My dad always mentions how his feet are like 2 little bricks at the end of his legs..haha.  

They don't look too chubby here, but you'll notice the little "fat pad" just above his toes..haha.

• Aiden is loving books more and more and we've started to read to him every night before we put him down for bed :)

• Finally, in the last month Aiden has been mistaken for a girl at least 3 times.  Most recently was at the doctor's office.  My mom and I were a little surprised when the nurse (we'd never had her before) came in to give Aiden his shots at the end and called him a "she" and proceeded to put girl band-aids on him, when she had just weighed him earlier and he was NAKED!!!  What the?!  She must have been pretty distracted..haha.  The other two times were in the airport when Aiden was in kind of a unisex outfit.  One of the times was while we were going through security and the guy looked down at Aiden in the stroller and waved and said, "Hi Princess!"  I seriously just turn around and laugh every time!  I never correct them because it's a quick encounter and it's not like I'm ever going to see them again.  A lot of my family doesn't understand how people mistake Aiden for a girl.  I can see it.  I mean he has beautiful eyes and long eyelashes.  He really is my beauty boy :)  And let's be honest, I think it's better than a girl being mistaken for a boy!

And because I haven't posted enough pictures of Aiden already (ha!) here are a few more:

Aiden found his suitcase while we were preparing for the cruise :)

Kicked Daddy right off the chair!

He was just being so serious..haha

Oh, just looking out the window :)

Aiden loved having a little friend over - she brought along a tunnel!

Little Aiden sitting by himself on the big couch :)

Aiden got stuck between me and the couch..haha.