15 months

Aiden turned 15 months this last Sunday and we went to his check-up on Wednesday.  He weighed in at 21 pounds 7 ounces (30th percentile) and is 31.25 inches long (I believe that's 50th).  He had to get 3 vaccines again - one in each leg and one in his arm :(

• He has 8 teeth and 4 molars - 12 in total.  That seems like so many!

• Apparently I say "uh-oh" more than I realized because Aiden recently started saying it :)  It's pretty cute and I got it on video yesterday.  Most of the time it sounds more like "uh-whoo" :)

• Aiden was kind of matching Ellen yesterday so I had to get a picture ;)

• These pictures are from a few weeks back (he just happens to be wearing the same thing).  If we're just hanging out around the house, I don't put pants on Aiden because I love seeing his little thighs :)

 

• Aiden's been fighting nap time this week and even gets to the point where he "threatens" to get out - yesterday he proved that he can get one of his legs up over the crib.  I guess it's time to move his mattress down to it's lowest setting.

• Aiden's been doing this for a while, but I literally just saw him do it and realized I've never written about it.  He will often pick up his paci using his mouth instead of his hands.  He'll lean all the way over and suck it in with his mouth.  It is so funny and he knows it is. He'll always look over at us to see if we saw him do it and will kind of laugh.  He does this with food too.  For instance, if I have Craisins in my hand (which he loves!) and offer them to him, he'll bury his mouth in my hand to get them instead of just picking them up and putting them in his mouth..haha.  I'll have to try to get video of these.

• He has picked up some bad habits in the last few weeks.  He has started to pull my hair at times and laughs when he does it and sometimes he'll bite us.  He definitely likes to get a reaction out of us!  We are really trying to teach him not to do these things.  We don't want him to be the little terror when he starts going to nursery at Church..haha.  He will also stuff his mouth completely full of food, but then spit it all out.  I think his mouth gets too full to swallow.  And this last week he also discovered that his finger fits perfectly up his nose - oh no!

I don't want to end on a bad note though.  Aiden really is such a joy and I thank the Lord every night for him and Trent.  Trent and I have been talking a lot lately about how good life is right now.  Trent has a great job, I get to be home with Aiden, we live near both families, we are all healthy, and Aiden sleeps through the night (he has been for a year now, but I am just oh-so-grateful!).  What more could I ask for?!  Obviously that list is not even close to being all-inclusive, but you get the point :)

Scrabble Love

I made a Valentine's decoration last night around 8:30 p.m.  Yes, I do realize yesterday was Valentine's Day..haha.  I had been meaning to make this for a while, but we've been sick around here for the second time in like a month (I don't know how we keep seeming to catch things), so I was finally able to get out this week to get a frame.

I got the idea from a PIN I pinned several months back.  I thought it was a tutorial, but found out it was actually up for sale in the United Kingdom. I thought to myself, well that can't be too hard to make!

Here's how mine turned out :) 

I had to take the picture at a bit of an angle to not get my reflection in it.

It's pretty self-explanatory.  You have to get a frame where the glass is pushed out front of the matting so that the Scrabble pieces will fit under. I got mine from Hobby Lobby with my handy gift card from Amber for Christmas.  I used some leftover magenta cardstock from my WREATH a few years back.  Just cut it to fit the frame.  I traced the little square opening to make sure I was gluing the Scrabble pieces on straight.  Then assemble and wa-la!  So easy!  This literally took me 15 minutes tops!

In other news, we had a low-key Valentine's Day.  I surprised Trent with this new recipe for a Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake from Less-Than-Perfect Life of Bliss when he got home. It was yummy!  I may just make it a little tradition for every Valentine's Day :)  If only I had a cute heart-shaped pie pan like Julie :) 

We ate a quick dinner (thanks to Bertolli!) and hurried off to Aiden's swim lesson.  I got a LivingSocial deal for four swim lessons and this was Aiden's second.  The first time Trent got in with him, but his nose was still really running so I got in last night.  Aiden likes it pretty well except floating on his back..haha.

Sometimes Aiden tries to drink the water :/  He does this in his bath too..haha.

Peeking over at Daddy :)

Oh..we sent a Valentine's shout-out to all of the aunts. I got this picture before we headed off to Aiden's swim lesson.  Notice Aiden's crabby flip flops.  Aiden and I did a little shopping yesterday and picked them up. Aiden doesn't know what to think of something being wedged between his little toes..haha.

We headed home after the lesson and Aunt Jen stopped by with Valentines.  She brought mini m&m's for Aiden since he's "mini."

We got Aiden new jammies yesterday too, as pictured.  I don't know why, but I love two-piece jammies!  I think Aiden looks so darling in them :)

We haven't exchanged gifts yet, so we'll do that tonight and go out and celebrate :)

Where Oh Where

So lately I feel like I am always running around frantically trying to find something that Aiden's misplaced.  This usually happens right as we're trying to rush out the door and I realize I don't know where one of Aiden's shoes are or, more importantly, the keys!

Here is when I found his little shoe in the coffee table.  At this time I was actually just grabbing the remote and was surprised to find his shoe in there :)

Another time I found it in this cabinet.  This is now a go-to place when we're looking for something.

It's funny though because now sometimes we'll be looking for something and we just assume we have to look in all these crazy places, but what we're looking for is sitting in plain sight..haha.  Now we're looking too hard! 

Aiden loves to play with our keys.  Whenever we come home I immediately hang them up on our key hook, but after a while Aiden goes over and starts begging and reaching for them and we always give in and let him have them.  You'd think we'd learn..haha.  Friday we spent like 15 minutes looking for them.  We were super frustrated because we just wanted to get out the door and then Trent looked in my purse and there they were..haha.  I guess Aiden's seen me put them in there when we're out and about :)

Earlier this week I couldn't find the plug for the bathtub.  Aiden has been sick so I had the hot shower going to steam up the bathroom while Aiden and I searched (well, let's be honest, it was just me searching..haha).  By the time I got back to the bathroom (like 15-20 minutes later) the hot water was gone and I still hadn't found the plug!  So irritating!  We waited a while to get some hot water again and  I just ended up using one of Aiden's bath toys - a little ball - to block the drain.  Later that night Trent found the plug in the trash can.  Oh my!  Now we have to worry about Aiden throwing things away!

  

And because I don't have a picture of Aiden yet in this post, here is a picture that many of you have already seen on Facebook, but I love it.

A few weeks ago Trent started filling the tub for Aiden before Church and he quickly turned the corner to grab a towel and, to his surprise, Aiden had climbed in the tub with his jammies still on!  For those of you freaking out because Aiden's in the tub alone, it literally took Trent 2 seconds max to grab the towel - the linen closet is right outside the door.  And we didn't even know Aiden knew how to climb in - now we know!  As I always say, this kid keeps me laughing :)

Chef Aiden

We have a little chef in the making! Lately Aiden's "toy" of choice is a mixing bowl and spoon :)

(I got this video earlier last week before he got his hair cut.)



He also LOVES the Vitamix.  For any of you who saw my Facebook status on the Blendtec vs. Vitamix a few weeks back, obviously we went with the Vitamix ;)  We are sure getting good use out of it!  Trent uses it every night to make smoothies to take to work with him. He always makes them the night before so he doesn't wake us up in the morning. Aiden has come to realize he loves the evenings because he gets a little smoothie for himself :)  And we're happy that we're sneaking his fruits and veggies in ;)

Sharing with Dad.

Aiden loves for us to set him up on the counter by us while we're making our smoothies/milkshakes.  Really he just loves for us to set him up on the counter any time we're preparing food in the kitchen.

Haha..look at him posing with the base of the Vitamix ;)

A few days ago Aiden coaxed us into letting him play with the Vitamix.

Don't know if you could tell, but he was "blending up" his alphabet magnets :)

He even knows to use the tamper to push the food into the blades.

And while we're talking about food, let's talk about Aiden's favorite foods :) When Aiden won't eat anything else, I know I can feed him baked beans, raspberries, Ritz, or a smoothie (as I've mentioned). Unless, of course, he's sick - like right now - then he doesn't want anything :(  

A few weeks ago we were grocery shopping and Aiden was sitting in the cart and saw me put raspberries in.  He kept grabbing them and begging for them and insisted on holding them. Later we were down an aisle and he dropped the raspberries and they spilled out all over the floor. Definitely a little embarrassing for me, but it goes to show he sure loves his raspberries! 

Just a final kitchen photo.

We went to eat at Grandma and Grandpa Knuckles' last Sunday and Trent discovered that Aiden fit perfectly up in their cereal cabinet..haha.

Target Run

We went on a Target run and I was able to get video of Aiden spying the big red balls out front, as promised :) I missed his original little shriek, but you can hear him saying "ba ba" over and over.  I feel like he has more of a reaction when I'm not videotaping - he clams up a little bit when I get the camera out.

Now all of my family wants to take Aiden on their own Target runs ;)

Roller Derby Fun

Last Saturday Trent and I went to a roller derby!  I got us a LivingSocial deal for it a while back.  It was so crazy to watch.  Those were some big girls (most of them) and they would just plow right through each other..haha.  It was definitely entertaining :)

The Pretty H8 Machines vs. The Joon Cleavers

In this picture (below) you can see the 2 girls (1 from each team) with the star on their helmet.  They are called the "jammer" and their goal is to get through/past the opposing team with the help of their own team and lap them to score a point.  Hope that makes sense!

Had to get at least one picture showing we were actually there :)

And here's a short video I got:



We ended up leaving during halftime because it was half an hour and it was late and we wanted to get back to Aiden.  We had fun though and would totally do it again, especially now that I actually know what's going on ;) Look out for one in your area!

Aiden Lately

I thought I'd do a little post on what Aiden's been up to lately.  I decided to stop doing the monthly posts (I did them every month until he turned a year), but I'm hoping to blog more frequently with what he's up to so I can keep the posts a little shorter.  I will definitely continue to do a post with his stats whenever he has a doctor's appt. though.

• Aiden waves at everyone.  It is so adorable.  He pretty much waves at every person when we go grocery shopping and on errands.  It's funny to see how different people react.  Most people love it and wave back and often stop to talk.  There are a few though (usually men) that pretend they don't see him. Oh well!  He also knows to wave when we're saying "bye bye" to someone.

Seriously love that little wave of his :)

• He has started saying ball "ba" and more "mo."  He gets so excited when we see the big red balls outside Target (I don't know if every Target has those) and just keeps saying "ba ba ba ba" over and over as we approach them.  I'm hoping to get a video next time we go.  He also says "ba" for balloon and notices every single one at the grocery store and points them out.  He is so fun to bring out on errands!

• He learned how to climb up on our chair/couch and also how to get down.

• We got this stuffed giraffe from my baby shower before Aiden was even born that has 4 buttons that play different rhythms that are supposed to be soothing.  Aiden has hardly paid any attention to it until just recently when he must have discovered the buttons. Now I go in his room almost every evening (and even at nap time sometimes) and the giraffe is playing.  I think he likes it :)

• He pretty much always runs away from me when I'm trying to change his diaper or get him dressed so I have to chase him down. You can tell he thinks it's a game - little stinker!

• He absolutely loves to be outside and has learned how to climb up the stairs.

This is from Wednesday.

• From the previous video, you can see he also gets super excited when he sees ducks or birds, but especially puppies.  He runs over to the window and just starts yelling gibberish.  Again, I will try to get a video.

• He has started to slam doors shut.

• We had a pine candle that we lit during the Christmas season and Aiden was very fascinated by it and learned how to blow. Now we have a different candle out and he knows just where it is and will start making his little blowing noise and wants us to lift him up so he can see it.  I think he likes to see the flame flicker when he blows.

• I put this on Facebook, but want to make sure I have it here too. Lately Aiden will bring us a book to read, but after about the first page he'll just wander off, so we'll stop reading.  But then he'll come running back over and give the book back and the cycle continues..haha.  So now we'll often be reading in the background and he'll just be doing his own thing.  Maybe it's comforting for him to hear our voices?!

• I also put this on Facebook, but Aiden is starting to be my little helper.  I had him help me bring in the groceries Friday afternoon (I gave him the lightest bag..haha).

I can't believe how big he looks in this picture!  He also looks very proud to me..haha.

• Lastly, I know this post is like video overload, but this is just a video of Aiden talking.  He is pretty much always talking and I wanted to make sure I had his cute voice on video.  It's all gibberish ;) I didn't mean for the video to go so long..haha.  And you can see how messy our house is.  It's not always like this - well really it is most of the time..sigh.  It's really hard to keep up with Aiden!

Quick birthday shout-out to Grandma Tanis!  We got to celebrate tonight with dinner at Carrabba's :)

Aiden was not being very cooperative..haha.