Approaching 9 Months!

How quickly the past month has flown by! Aiden will be 36 weeks old tomorrow and has changed so much in the past month. His little personality is starting to bloom and so is his curiosity! Here are some recent pictures of my little bug:

Going for a ride on Daddy's shoulders. Aiden gets a kick out of the view!

My handsome little boy waking up from a nap. I have come to realize that the better he naps during the day, the longer he sleeps at night! Nap away, Aiden!

Aiden has become so sturdy over the last month. His ability to sit independently has improved so much that we started using highchairs when we go out to eat. It is much easier to keep him entertained when he can sit with us and bang spoons on the table.

Since he can sit so well now, I feel more comfortable giving him some space to play on his own (still within my view, of course). Shout out to my friend Kristie for giving me some great advice when I was pregnant. She told me to make sure Aiden got some alone playtime every day... and boy did that pay off! Aiden can keep himself entertained for at least 20 minutes! Just enough time for Mommy to clean up a little, enjoy a cup of coffee and a magazine, or eat lunch!

Tee-hee-hee. Aiden is definitely a happy and cheerful baby. He is always laughing (he especially finds how Daddy says the word "whoopsie" quite hilarious!). My absolute favorite sound is hearing Aiden laugh, there's no better sound in the world.

And.... he's mobile!! Aiden has officially started army-crawling on his belly. He's pretty quick too!! We have to keep a sharp eye on him, it only takes him a minute or so to get into something. I think we're in trouble now!

Aiden is now enjoying 3 solid meals a day. His favorite foods are carrots, bananas, sweet potato, corn, apples and chicken, and pears. Aiden does NOT enjoy peas, green beans, vegetable beef and mixed veggies.

We took a family trip to Larriland Farm last weekend to pick up pumpkins for Halloween. It was a gorgeous day and Aiden enjoyed his visit!!

My pumpkin in the midst of pumpkins.

Yes... I think Aiden will be upset about this picture when he is older. Come on, we couldn't resist!

Sitting in a calderon....

... surrounded by witches!! Yikes!!!

Hanging out with Daddy by the lake at the Farm.

Aiden has discovered grass!!! And... tried to eat it more that once!

Cheese!! =)

Mommy and Aiden at the pumpkin patch looking for our family of pumpkins!! We picked out 4, one for each member of our family (including Rocky).

It really was a memorable first trip to the farm. It's so fun watching Aiden discover and enjoy the world around him. As he gets older, Vic and I are having fun toting him around to new places. Looking at the world through his eyes makes me see things in a different way.

New Developments:

1. Object permanence- Aiden has realized that each time he drops his toy on the ground, while sitting in his highchair, that the toy is still there... and Mommy and Daddy will pick it up.

2. Passing toys from one hand to the other

3. He's starting to prop himself onto his hands and knees and bounces gently back and forth.. precursor to crawling?

4. His favorite thing to say? "Dadadadadadadadadada"! We don't think that he actually understands that Vic is "Dada", so we're trying to encourage him to associate Vic when he says "Dada". Poor Vic... he's constantly having to respond to Aiden when he calls... and he calls him a lot!

5. No more pacifier! Aiden has self-weaned himself off his Binky. He does have a new lovey though... Vic and I call him "Teddy". Aiden loves curling up and cuddling with his stuffed bear. He falls asleep so nicely when he is able to hold "Teddy".

It's hard for me to believe that I have a 9 month old baby. He's such a little boy now and I love him more and more every day. I can't wait to see what this next month brings! =)

7 Months.. Really!?

Hi Everyone! My apologies for the long lull between posts, but life has been so busy for us lately. Aiden is now well into his 7th month and is developing quite a personality! When Aiden was born, everyone told me to enjoy every moment because it goes by so quickly... no one told me it was going to fly by! I look at him every day in absolute awe on what a big boy he is becoming.

Some updates on Aiden's development:

Aiden has discovered Rocky!! After 5+ months of not really noticing him, Aiden can't get enough of him! He finds the fact that Rocky is actually moving and alive hilarious! Here's a cute picture of Aiden "petting" Rocky... although it's really more like a repetitive pat. Rocky's a good sport about it and tolerates Aiden for a little while, but when Aiden starts reaching for the tail or smacking his head, Rocky runs for a place of refuge. One of the things Aiden loves to do is watch Daddy play fetch with Rocky. I can't wait until he's a little older... I think the two of them will have a good time together.

Woo-hoo! Aiden is sitting independently!! He gets better and more balanced every day!

Oops!! But still has some trouble maintaining his balance with sudden trunk movements. =) He's starting to reach for toys outside his base of support and then return back to the upright position, toy in tow.

At the end of August, I made my annual trip to visit my best friend Ellen in London. I have to admit, it was a big decision for me to go, but I am SO glad that I did. I had a wonderful time! I loved spending some quality time with my BF, eating delicious food, hanging out in a city that I love, and SLEEPING!!! This is a picture of Ellen and I enjoying afternoon tea at the Landmark Hotel. Yummmmm!! I had some guilt leaving Aiden behind, but I realized that it was something that I needed to do. I've been pretty much nonstop since my mom passed away and I needed a break... a break from life. I came home feeling more refreshed than I have since Aiden was born.

I Skyped with Aiden every day (technology is amazing) and I was relieved to find that he still remembered me when I returned. A HUGE shout out to Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Elizabeth and Aunt Julliann for taking my son and my husband in for the week so Mommy could go!

I received so many great gifts at my baby showers and I am so glad that Aiden is getting big enough to finally enjoy them!! When I took this picture a couple of weeks ago, I had to put a pillow on the bottom of the saucer because his feet didn't reach. No problem with that now!

While I was in London, Grandpa bought Aiden a bouncer. When I returned home, one of the first things we did was go out and buy one for our house. AIDEN LOVES IT!! It is so fun to watch him bounce around like Tigger! Amazingly, this bouncer can keep him occupied for a pretty good length of time!

Aiden is so curious now. He's always looking around, following sounds, noises, and people. He's also very busy, always has to has his hands on something. We definitely have to watch him very carefully now, he grabs anything and everything!

Aiden can't walk yet, but Daddy couldn't resist buying him his first pair of shoes. When I was pregnant and we found out we were having a boy, one of the first things Vic said was that the baby's first pair of shoes were going to be Jordans. Well, here they are. Pretty pricey for baby shoes, but they're super cute. We got a large size to make sure he'll be able to fit them when he starts walking.

Speaking of walking, Aiden loves standing! He actually prefers to be in a standing position over any other one. He's a strong little boy. I have read that crawling is a pretty important developmental milestone, one that reinforces coordination and motor control, so I've been trying to get Aiden on all fours to practice and encourage him to try it out.

I have a feeling he may only crawl for a short while.. or skip it all together.

With every passing week, Aiden grows bigger and stronger. I love watching his personality emerge and am starting to see how much of Vic and I are in him.

Eyes: Mommy

Long Toes: Daddy

Eczema (my poor baby): Daddy

Laid back personality: Daddy

Hiccups: Mommy

Ticklish: Mommy

Strength: Daddy

Nosy: Mommy

It is amazing how much I love him. <3

Beach Baby!!

Every July, Vic and I take a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We absolutely love it there and we were so excited to bring Aiden this year! Aiden is now 25 weeks old and a bundle of energy and smiles. Here are some pictures from our trip:

First day at the pool. It was pretty cloudy when we arrived, so we decided to lounge out here instead of lugging all our gear to the beach. Aiden was so excited to be in the water. He was so mesmerized by the ripples in the pool!

Hanging with Daddy on the beach. Aiden loved watching the ocean and took very good naps as he was lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves! Vic and I definitely had "new parent" syndrome when deciding what to bring to the beach. We brought everything!! We figured we'd just see what worked and what didn't. HUGE shout out to my friend Katie for recommending we bring the stroller!! It was all we needed!

Hehe, my chubby monkey... so happy.

Another cute pic of Aiden chilling by the pool. We ended up spending the majority of the time by the pool since we were more comfortable putting him in the pool versus into the ocean. Myrtle Beach had a serious heat wave while we were there!!

Mommy and Aiden at the pool

Sunset picture at Broadway at the Beach. Aiden is passed out from the swimming that he did with Daddy during the day!

Neat picture from our balcony looking down onto the numerous pools at our condo.

Happy baby! Aiden LOVED the water!! He would splash around and practice his swim kicks!

Beachside!

This was our best attempt at a family picture by the water. It was hard to get Aiden to look at the camera, he kept turning his head to watch the ocean!

My little beach bum

It was so funny watching Aiden in the water. He would constantly splash his arms into the pool, sending drops of water everywhere. When he would splash his face... he seemed so confused on where it came from!!

Daddy took us to Ripley's Aquarium for some fish gazing. Aiden really had a great time watching all the fish swim by.

Jellyfish!

Aiden looking at the great big fish tank at the entrance of the aquarium.

We had such a great time at the beach. Aiden is so curious now, it was really fun watching him interact with the things around him and try to figure things out. He was an angel all week.. and I'm not just saying that! Vic and I were able to go out to dinner every night, Aiden in tow, and every night at least one couple would comment to us how lucky we were to have such a wonderful, well- behaved baby! We're definitely looking forward to many more trips to come!

5 Months!!

Happy 5 Months, Aiden!!!

I cannot believe that my little boy is already 5 months old. I thought time flew by fast when he was 1-2 months old... now I feel like it's passing by at warp speed! It is absolutely amazing to watch Aiden grow and reach new milestones!! Lots of updates to give!!

We celebrated Vic's first Father's Day on June 19th. Aiden and Rocky bought Daddy nine holes of golf with Uncle Mark and we spent the evening with Vic's family. All in all a very nice day. I bought Aiden a special Father's Day shirt for him to wear... can you believe I totally forgot to take a picture of Daddy and Aiden together? Sorry, Daddy!!

Here are a few more recent pictures of our happy boy.

Aiden cheesin'

Aiden loves his Baby Einstein bear. He spends lots of time babbling to it!

Sitting up for Mommy!

Now that Aiden is a lot bigger and has much better head and neck control, we decided to start opening more of the toys I received at my baby shower. We started with the Baby Einstein Around the World Entertainer. Poor Aiden, he's not quite long enough to actually propel himself around (his feet still hang), but he loves all the different colors and toys. I wondering if it is a bit overstimulating.... check out the video below. He seems interested... doesn't he?

Just a couple of weeks ago we started Aiden on solids. I was a bit hesitant to begin, especially since many say you shouldn't start until they are 6 months, but the pediatrician seemed to think he's ready and Aiden started staring at us while we eat.. so I figured it didn't hurt to try it out. We started with rice cereal, but had to switch to oatmeal when my poor baby got constipated on it! When we called the pediatrician she said, "oh yes, rice cereal can be binding"... then why the heck start babies on it!?

Here's a cute before picture of Aiden... he's content.. and clean.

Yum yum, Aiden!! Here's a quick clip of his first couple of bites.

Now that we've been feeding him for a couple of weeks now, he seems to be taking to solids much better. We're still only giving him a couple of teaspoons a day since my goal right now is just for him to get used to eating from a spoon. I can't wait to start introducing different flavors and textures!

Aiden has also become much more tactile with his toys. He's starting to grab, mouth, and cling to everything. I love that I can give him a toy and he can entertain himself for a pretty good amount of time. One of my mom's friends gave Aiden this super cute teddy bear that I had been keeping on a shelf in his room. I noticed recently that Aiden would sometimes glance at it... so I gave it to him. Here's what he did.

So cute!! I could lie and say that Aiden is giving the bear a kiss (wouldn't that be so sweet!?), but he's actually gnawing on the poor bear's ear. =)

Another milestone... DRUMROLL PLEASE.....

Hooray, Aiden!! The big roll!!! This is one of his more seasoned ones. It took him awhile to get here. But now that he's rolling more consistently, he's quite the mover!! We really have to keep an eye on him so he doesn't roll off of anything and I'm pretty nervous at night. Aiden learned to roll from back to front first and is still not great at rolling the other way around. So at night, I'm terrified that he'll roll onto his stomach and smother himself! Needless to say, Mommy hasn't been getting much sleep lately.

Aiden is becoming such an active little boy. He's gaining more control over his body and engaging with the environment around him. He is constantly "talking" to those around him and is such a friendly baby. Everything he does involves a giggle and a smile!

All this activity makes Aiden one tired little boy!!!

I couldn't love anything more. <3