Happy Valentine's Day

It’s my birthday today! My favorite gift to myself is pictures of Aden!  He’s been getting better about letting me take his picture but I’ve got to be fast!

I hope everyone has a lovely day!

~Michele

Aden at two years old.

My big boy is two years old now!  Man, oh Man!  The independence is growing by leaps and bounds. 

“No baff, mama! No baff,”  says Aden every night.  He is definitely letting us know about the things he doesn’t like.

When we took this picture, we tried to do a family pose but Aden wouldn’t have it.  He didn’t want to sit in our laps.  He wanted his own chair!  He wanted to sit by himself.  How does a Mom keep up.

~Life as Mom

It was definitely a race to beat the clock.  Not only did I have to get there quickly, feed my son while there, shop for Valentine’s Day cards and check out the children’s clothing specials, but I was supposed to find myself something gorgeous to wear.

I planned way too much to do in an hour and a half.  Note to self:  When going to mall only plan one thing per trip.

On a side note:  I am always UTTERLY frustrated by the lack of choices in boys clothing.  How is it that boys can only have one rack of clothes and girls can have a whole department?  I’ve talked about this before, but it is still forever frustrating.

Maybe the whole mall trip didn’t go the way I planned because I’m just increasingly frustrated about being four years away from the big four zero.  Ugh!  How could I have gotten this old?  How can I be this old and have a child so young?  I have been seriously evaluating my life now that the big one is within sight.  Have I got a lot of work to do! Ugh.

Speaking of shopping for boys, finally someone is getting the fact that women are photographers!!! I absolutely love this line of photography bags!

This is what I want for my birthday! A very special girly camera bag!

@kellymooreclark is giving away a bag! Go enter to win! http://kellymoorebagblog.com/

~Life as Mom

(DISCLOSURE: This is not a paid advertisement.  This is a contest entry for a Kelly Moore Bag.)

Aden seemed to really enjoy his first birthday.  He had a few friends (all girls) come over and really seemed to enjoy the company.  He didn’t get upset about anything.  He ate his cake and enjoyed the icing best.  I’m just glad it washed out of his clothes.  He had an alligator theme party with alligator balloons that were his absolute favorite toy.  He learned the word balloon though it sounds more like “ba-oo.”

Aden is now jabbering away especially since we took the pacifier away.  He has stopped crawling for the most part-preferring to walk everywhere.  He spends his free time playing hard and walking and exploring.  He really enjoys the outdoors.  He frequently grabs my hand and says “go” and walks me to the back door.  When we get outside (which isn’t too often right now because the bugs are so bad), he grabs my hand and walks me around the yard collecting treasures to hold or show me.  As we walk along, he will collect another treasure and decide if the new one is worth letting the old one go or if I should hold the old one.  So far he has collected rocks, sticks and acorns.  He is quite the little naturalist.

Developmentally he is doing well and hitting all his milestones.  The one thing we are concerned with is his little temper tantrums, for lack of a better word.  When he is told no or is upset he starts banging his head on the tile floor or against the wall.  When he is really upset he’ll start pulling his hair out.  After consulting the doctor and being assured that these are temper tantrums and that shows that he is really smart.  I didn’t ask why this proves he is really smart, because I don’t feel that smart, but I’m assuming it is because he has already learned to manipulate us. 

Getting him to go to sleep has been harder.  I can’t just put him in his crib and let him cry himself to sleep.  It just doesn’t happen.  He can go all night.  Mommy and Daddy like to sleep too.  I’m not sure which of us contributed to his stubbornness but it was probably both of us.  I dread when he gets older and we have a battle of the wills!

His favorite toys vary from day to day, but he really likes his balls. He got a couple of them for his birthday.  He plays with everything he has but his favorite activity is exploring.  His favorite foods right now are still the pureed vegetables and his snacks such as his cookies, yogurt melts.  In the big people food he loves chicken and waffles.  He is still the cutest kid around and now we find very smart.  I just hope we as parents can keep up and keep him challenged.

He went to the doctor for his one-year check-up and shots.  All went well and we got him the flu shot (regular) too.  he got to go get an ice cream cone after the doctor visit which he loved and wore all over!  Mommy even got to wear some!

He’ll be starting daycare soon.  I think he’ll really love it and love all the interaction.  It feels like sending him off to school.  I feel more nervous about it and hope I’m able to take him his first day. 

Birthday pictures coming soon.

~Life as Mom

1. Bed time has suddenly become earlier.  Aden must be wearing himself out during the day.

2. He doesn’t like anything taken away from him.  Take away the dangerous fork or that knife that could stab you and let the screaming commence.

3. He is interacting on a level of basic conversational level.  He is acknowledging what you are saying and trying to respond either by making noise or by touching you.

4. Last night I was reading Aden his ABC book and I asked him to point out two different animals for me.  First it was a tiger and then it was a fish and then it was a dog.  He got the tiger right, didn’t know the fish and got the dog right.  You could just see the gears in his head moving as he was trying to figure out what it was I was saying and what it was in front of him that sounded familiar.

We will be in Lake Mary this weekend and wanted to make a quick trip to Orlando on Sunday.  Downtown Disney is great for this purpose because you don’t have to pay an entrance fee therefore if you can’t stay all day you don’t feel as if you have wasted your money.  You get the Disney experience without the Disney price.  Don’t get me wrong you still spend money!  Who can resist all the wonderful Disney things you can buy since it is just a giant outdoor Disney mall.

As I prepare for the weekend I realize that traveling with Aden will be different than in the past.  Even a trip as recently as our beach trip, Aden wasn’t moving around too much.  Now he is a little crawling motor that can’t be turned off.  How does one prepare for that?

I have my travel strategy planned, a couple of outfits per day, lots of diapers and some toys.  I need to add to that his favorite Baby Einstein movies, the portable DVD player, his favorite spoon, stroller, hats, swimsuits, and what else?  I’ve studied these travel tips and this travel blog, DeliciousBaby.

Everything I have read has said to be prepared.  I have to prepare for him actually being awake while we are driving.  Hmmm, what games can you play with a 10-month old that can’t move?  Peek-a-Boo comes to mind.  I think I’ll bring our puppet too, but Aden has been kinda scared of him lately.  Perhaps bubbles?

How do you entertain a crawling baby in a hotel room?  Why play with toys when he can explore the room.  I hope they have their own pack and plays as we don’t intend to bring ours.

We love traveling and hopefully with a little forethought this and future trips with Aden will go smoothly.

~Life as Mom

Aden at 10 months old

Aden,

Almost one year old!  Can temper tantrums come early?
You are doing this thing-when we take something from you or move you when you are not ready and you throw your whole body back as hard as you can while simultaniously whining. You’ve knocked your head a couple of times, but we have been able to catch you most of the time. Note to self, get a baby helmet.

The goose egg that you have on your forehead this week is from exploring the house. While I was in the bedroom you wandered into the dining area and must have pulled yourself up with the dining chairs. That night you hit your eye on the faucet as well. Note to self, get a faucet cover. I hope you learn to not fall on your head soon. Again, the helmet thing.

You are teetering on taking that first step. I have to say that is one milestone that I really hope I’m around for because I’m really looking forward to that one. If you walk first at your grandmother’s or at your sitter’s I’ll be highly upset.

You can say STOP now and hold up your hand in a traffic cop sort of way. You are starting to wave a bit. You really like chocolate fudgecicles. You are starting to hate your baths because you can’t stand up and move around. You do not like being forced to sit down. You love to be chased when you are crawling around the house. You can say dog now and don’t refer to everything as cat. You father loves it when you say Da Da which isn’t very often.

You went to the doctor on Monday because your parents are worried about the rattle in your throat that you’ve had for two weeks. The doctor said to wait it out for another week or so and then she might declare it a sinus infection.

You are getting pickier with your food preferring the step 1 baby foods and snacks. You eagerly eat adult food when given to you. You watch intently when your parents eat, studying everything they put into their mouths.

We see all the light switches turning on. What fun!

Love,
~Mom

Receiving this wonderful gift prompted me to look for matching bowls and plates and I found this wonderful wood toy company online called Heirloom Wooden Toys. They have tons of wonderfully natural wooden toys for all ages.

I especially liked that they had kitchen sets that weren’t too girly.  Even a wooden tea set that could be used for boys.  Recently we were at a friend’s house and they had a little kitchen for their girl and Aden loved playing with all the food and pulling out the drawers.  I am glad I could find a more gender-neutral one.  They also have puppet theaters which I think we are going to have to get for Christmas!  Aden’s birthday is coming up too and I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m going to get him.  I think this will be my new go-to website.

~Life as Mom

You are standing on your own now for seconds at a time.  We just cannot believe it.  It is way too soon.  How is that possible?  It took you two weeks to master crawling and cruising.  I can’t even get out of bed that fast.

Your  independence is showing as well.  Although you are still listening to us, I see the buds of testiness coming.  By the time you are one, the tantrums will be in full bloom.  You are eating more and eating more often.  Feeding yourself has been old hat for you, but throwing the spoon across the room is new.  Your newest favorite toy is the green pool noodle.  I can see the gears in your head saying “I am master of the universe!”  Especially when you hold such a large object above your head with both hands like an accomplished sword master.

Aden at Cummer Museum

The biggest quirk you have right now is that you won’t poopy at home.  You wait until the babysitter picks you up or you are at Grandma’s.  I don’t know if this is because your parents make horrendous faces at you when they have to change you or what, but what a weird quirk to have.  Your parents are going to assume it’s the whole don’t want to crap in your own cave kind of mentality.

You are definitely the cutest thing around and I can’t take enough pictures.  Somehow there is never enough documentation.  Your father and I are not big into videotaping, but it is something we will have to work on.  Our memories are just not large enough to hold all the cool new things you do each and every day.

I love you more than anything.

~Mom