Photo Friday

When I was writing my post yesterday I realized how many stories and pictures haven't made it to the blog with the chaos that's been going on the last few months (travel, visitors, changes at work for both Ryan and me, the CND plague, yada, yada). So I am just going to put up some pictures with a quick caption so all is not lost for the summer of 2013. (which, by the way, is crazy that it's almost over! however, I would like to argue that September is not really the end of summer if you live in Texas. the pool will remain open at least through the end of the month....) Anyway, back to the original point of the post....photos!



Watching the planes out the airport window. We really like planes.

Loving some time with cousin Gianna in NY

Happy to hang out with Uncle Lee

Why is it that Aiden only smiles in non-family photos?

I was surprised at how quickly Aiden figured out
how to get into this car by himself.

It was mainly about the process of climbing in and out
of the pink car and less about riding around in it.

I made my first solo flight with Aiden in July and we survived!
Looked a little front and back heavy doing it...but survived.

Strangely, none of the other 6am business passengers wanted to
sit by a 1 year old. Lucky for Aiden me, this meant Aiden got
to enjoy his own seat for part of the flight.

Mowing the yard....

...and the driveway...

...while also trying to figure out how the bubble blower works.

We love our boat...probably more outside of the water than in it.

First visit to the zoo!

Gianna being her adorable self....while Aiden is not so sure about
hanging out with a cheetah.

Gianna was my photographer at the zoo, and she captured some good shots!



Uncle Beard and Aunt Brooke. Yeah, Uncle Beard. Aiden thinks my brother's
beard is hilarious. He loves it but is also afraid of it. And now, when you say
"beard" he rubs his cheeks and chin. :)

Hopefully this video uploads cause I crack up every time I watch it, but I know sometimes blogger has issues. During our trip to the airport in July where Delta was awesome as always and canceled our flight because they wouldn't make curfew at LGA, we discovered the perfect way to tire Aiden out pre-flight. If only we'd made the flight out that evening instead of having to haul our cheerful selves back to the airport during the 5 am hour the next morning. Oh Delta, how I loathe thee. Back to the video.....

Heavy Weight Lifter or Engineer

Pretty sure those are the two career options that Aiden is currently debating. He likes to lift things that are generally too heavy for him, or, even if they aren't too heavy, like his large toy car, he likes to carry them over his head like a heavy weight lifter. He will also place the items in strange  places - like the window sill.



 

The second option seems slightly more lucrative, and, given his small size, to hold a tad more potential. Plus, Ryan comes from a family of engineers so it's possible he got the engineering gene. It's fun to watch Aiden's brain at work. He's recently realized his peg board is a system of levers. Sometimes he'll hammer away at the pegs, but other times he uses the levers to move the pegs up and down. He also has a hippo that shoots plastic balls out all over the place, and he quickly became disinterested in the usual way of playing with it by chasing after the balls and throwing them back in. Instead he wanted to figure out what made it shoot the balls out.....and stop it from doing that.

 



Turns out I only take photos when he's in heavy weight lifter mode....probably because I'm usually cracking up. When he's being all insightful, I'm too busy studying him studying his things to take pictures. :)

 

Carrying his popper.....

 

....and putting it in strange places. (see the video below for when he puts it on the couch)

Power squat....really using those legs. (look at that face!)

So strong!

Proud of himself for getting the heavy box on the table

This block was such an awkward size for him....but awkward doesn't stop Aiden!

Seriously.....way.too.heavy. (check out the quick video clip of him carrying it)
 

 

"Eat Your Vegetables!"

That's what I told Aiden....or not. But he ate them anyway. Very happily.

Sometimes when I'm making dinner, I responsibly sit him on the counter next to me. Last week during prep time he decided to pick up one of the salad ingredients before I had the chance to dice it up. And then he ate devoured it.....

A few days later, I decided to offer up some cucumbers and see what sort of reaction I would get. The first few unsure faces Aiden made were not indicative of how he finished off his veggies....

Fingers crossed for lots more years of eating like this!

One-Five (or 15) Months

Friday was our 15 month check up. The nurse kindly pointed out that Aiden was actually 15 & 3/4 months. Eh, it's true. I try to be good about getting him in as close to the 3rd of every month as possible, but with all the time I'd taken off for sick people and travel the last few months, this one came a little later. Plus, I wanted the horrible, wretched, no-good CND to be gone by his check-up. I'd say we are at a 95% success rate there....

So, it was time for three shots, which little man took like a champ. This was actually the first appointment with shots that I'd been sans Ryan. Aiden fussed while they were happening but was fine as soon as I scooped him up. He even helped pulled the Bugs Bunny and friends band-aids off a few hours later.

Even though Buddha belly might indicate otherwise, Aiden is staying strong in the 10th percentile for weight (22lbs 6oz).....and 25th percentile for height (30 3/4 inches). Poor, little guy. Maybe that's why God gave him all that hair....we can spike it up and add a few inches.

Aiden grows more active by the day, and most days I find him doing something new and hilarious. Like this weekend, during story time. My sister deemed it jungle gym time. I think maybe he's trying to imitate his daddy? Whatever it was, he spent the entire reading of Cat in the Hat in some semblance of this position.

Monday Fun Day

Hope something in your Monday was fun enough it made you smile!

Fifty and Fabulous

Yeah, that's this lady:

Whose birthday we got together to celebrate over July 4th. (Hopefully the word "fabulous" in the title will help her overlook the fact that I just told the entire world her age....however, we spread the word via t-shirts already so I bet she'll still love me.)

The same gals who made these awesome cookies for Aiden's first birthday, made some more delicious cookies for the 50th birthday par-tay. Seriously, if you live in the KC area and ever need cookies for a gathering, let me know. Delicious, adorable, very reasonable priced. Did I mention that they are delicious?

 

Aiden was an All-American Hero in celebration of Independence Day. I'm pretty sure it's the only way I could get the sign off from Dad on Aiden wearing "sparkles". (notice the cape) I was also pretty sure Aiden would enjoy using his super hero flying power a lot more than he actually did.

We love time with the family, but this was especially special since we were celebrating the 4th (my second favorite holiday!), Aunt Karen's 50th, and it was the first time the AZ family got to meet Aiden. So much fun. I think we'll do it again sometime. :)

 

 

 

Sweet sign

We went up to Kansas for 4th of July (pictures and stories to come....) and Mal discovered the most wonderful sign while antiquing. Aiden will always know Auntie M is full of love for him. Makes my heart so happy this boy is loved so much.