Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! Christmas cards will be late this year, as is everything in our lives. However, here are a few cute pictures of our little girl to make up for it until you get the cute picture card in the mail. She is doing well, except for getting splinters in her fingers at the park today that I had to try to dig out (unsuccessfully) with a needle tonight. I hope they don't get infected. But she's ready for santa to show up! Our love to you all.

15 month stats

Here are Aidan's 15 month stats (from memory):

Height: 31 3/4 inches (85-90%-tile)

Weight: 23.15 pounds (70%-tile)

Head: 18 inches around (48%-tile)

She got a clean bill of health from the doctor, had two shots, and a finger stick blood draw to check her iron levels and make sure she's not anemic any more. She screamed and cried through most of the appointment, which the doctor said was totally developmentally appropriate. He said by 2 years, it usually stops. Hooray! Developmentally, she's way ahead of her expected milestones, particularly in the areas of gross and fine motor skills. He said being so far ahead was the sign of a talented and gifted child. Christianne said, "I bet you tell all the parents that." Dr. Denison said, "No, I don't." However she turns out, she's perfect to us, but it is nice to have the doctor confirm our thoughts that Aidan's awfully smart.

Last night, Aidan asked to be picked up while we were in the kitchen. She pointed to the sweet potato on the counter and said "Uhh...Iwan" (translation: "Hey! I want!" I tried to put her down so I could cook the sweet potato, since eating it raw seems like a bad idea. She wouldn't let me put her down, so I explained to her that I understood that she wanted the sweet potato and that I had to cook it so she could eat it and in order to do that, I had to put her down because I couldn't hold her and cook the potato at the same time. I then asked her if I could put her down so I could cook her potato. She nodded her head and released her legs from the death-grip she had on my hip and I cooked her sweet potato and she ate a ton of it.

Scary, no?

The reasoning trick did not work for enticing her to wear her warmer coat this morning, she insisted on her favorite one, but I'm hopeful I might be able to reason with her again in the near future.

That's it for now. More pictures later!

Aidan's creative side and more

Here are some more pictures of our little girl. She has been exploring her artistic side with fingerpaints and play dough (homemade, no less!) as well as her scientific side at the Museum of Science and Nature. She's also been exploring her wild side by running through the house naked. And her nurturing side by obsessively feeding the outdoor kitties at least 4 times a day. It is very cute: she puts food in their bowl and then crouches down to look for the kitties under the cars. She also needs to go outside for some bubble blowing action on a regular basis. So much so, she can now say "bubbles!" And she's all about climbing into chairs and reading her books. She's babbling up a storm and learning to copy the rhythm of our words if not the actual letter sounds. She has her 18 month check-up in about a week and a half, but when she stood on the scale the other day, she weighed in at 24.8 pounds. Such a big girl!

A few cute pictures

Just a few pictures to share because they are cute.

Isn't this interesting?

Just for fun, I thought I would compare Aidan to Christianne and myself, as we are always saying how similar Christianne and Aidan are. Look at this:



Maybe 7033 didn't disclose everything on his donor application? :-)

look-o-like meter

This was sort of fun. Wasn't the donor a cute little boy?

upset tummy

Aidan had her first bout of a stomach virus last night. Thankfully, the worst was over after about 4-5 hours. Poor little girl up-chucked everything that went into her. Christianne and I changed her bedding 5 or 6 times, changed her jammies several times, and had a midnight chat with the nurse on-call. Not a pleasant evening. She's much better this morning and we are working up to trying some toast and a little banana, now that water is staying down. Overall, she seems pretty much like herself again. Hooray! Currently, she's climbing up in a chair and now running through the den. Off to chase!

Halloween Pictures!

Aidan said that if the ladybug costume didn't work out, she was going as a stunt person from a movie set. I didn't know that ladybugs could play the piano or drive a truck, but look at this! (P.S. We are so lucky she doesn't just bang on the piano; she actually wants to make sounds and listens to what she is doing.)

14 months today

Well, gang, Aidan is just growing and growing and do all sorts of amazing things. She is walking like a pro. And she's starting to climb. It is amazing how strong she is! Soon, nothing in the house will be safe. She also learning to sit on her truck and push herself along with her feet. Before long, she'll be ready for a tricyle! She's working hard on her words. We have "Mama," "Uh-oh!" "hi," "up," "out," "agua," and something that sounds like agua but really means "I want." She occasionally says "Mom" as well. The first two and agua are the only really consistent words. The others come and go. She's having great fun going to the park these days and going down the slide. She just thinks it is a blast.

Today, for Halloween, she dressed up as a ladybug. She was really cute. Thanks to godmother Denise for the cute costume. I'll try to post pictures soon. She's had an ear infection, but the tubes make it quick and easy to treat - thank goodness! Overall, she's doing great and turning into such a little girl!

13 months tomorrow

Hi everyone. Christianne shamed me about not updating Aidan's blog in a LONG time. So, here we go:

It has been a busy time since Aidan's birthday. First, there was the birthday celebration. Then, a week later, there was a week-long trip to Eugene to see family and friends (who are like family). Then back to work with things getting crazy busy for me. In the meantime, Aidan's started walking on her own some (took 11 steps on her own for the first time on Sept. 22nd), but prefers to have a finger to hold on to. Christianne and I spend a lot of time escorting her around the house. She is also learning to climb onto furniture and into and out of the bathtub - the latter not so gracefully, but no permanent injuries. This morning saw the opening and closing of dresser drawers - and the closing of fingers in the drawer. A mommy just can't be every where at once, can she? Aidan's trying to cut another tooth and it is a VERY slow process. On top of that, she has a cold. This week has been the week of bedtime refusal, screaming, crying, and walking across her mattress. I was pleased that it only took me 45 minutes to get her down last night. It was an hour the night before. Christianne's giving it a try tonight. :-) There are not promising sounds coming from the nursery. We are still working on eating with a spoon. She's getting the idea with soft things that stick to the spoon. We have a long way to go to make peas happen. ;-) She has her first skinned knee from falling down while walking. Today, Aidan and I fingerpainted while Christianne was at church. We now have Aidan's first artwork. I'll have to post pictures of that after we get them uploaded. Our little girl is growing up! Here are a bunch of pictures:

Birthday party day:



Two of her favorite toys:


(Some children will do anything to avoid bed, including urping on their brand new clean sheet - blog update was interrupted by sheet, Steve, PJ change.)

Outside at Gomma's house in Eugene


Opening and closing the door with Mama supervising


Two new experiences: eating a peach just picked off the tree and the Oregon Coast


Hanging out with Ted and Penny


That's all for now!

One year and one week later

Aidan had a great one year celebration. Thank you to everyone who made it so special! She smooshed cake and played and generally had a good time. Aidan is busy walking with assistance and attempting to climb on furnature and playing with all her new toys. She's also using the word "Gawk!" to mean "go!" I think. It clearly means something to her. :-) Her obsession with hats continues and she's getting very good at stacking large objects (like rolls of toilet paper). She's loving bath time in the big bathtub and hates bed time. She had a great time playing with Grandma, who was here for a quick birthday visit. Aidan also started wearing shoes. That was an adventure the first time, but she seems to have adjusted.

Today was her one year check-up. I can't believe how big she is! Here are her stats:

Weight 21.7 pounds (70%)
Height 30.5 inches (90%)
Head 18.25 inches (70%)

The doctor said she looks great and is thriving. He also noted that kids who are early in their motor development tend to be a little slower in their language development, which matches what I've seen in Aidan. Some of her classmates have more than "mama" down and Aidan doesn't but she's going gang-busters on her motor development and problem solving. Maybe we'll have an engineer... :-)

Those are the major updates for now. Aidan's sleeping off her shots (4 this morning). She's good to go for another 3 months. I'll post pictures later.

Updates

Sorry it has been so long since I posted. Life has been in full swing with the end of summer approaching and the new year beginning. I've actually had to do a little work at work - the nerve!

Aidan is busy growing and changing. She is now standing unsupported for brief periods of time and even taking a few unsupported steps...if she isn't thinking about it. A friend took a picture of her standing. I'll post it once she emails it to me. Aidan is getting very good at pointing to indicate things she wants. Sometimes I wish she could point just a little more clearly, as we sometimes play 20 questions to figure out what it is she wants, but mostly she's pretty clear.

Today was a big day with Aidan getting her 1 year pictures taken. Unfortunately, she wouldn't nap when she was supposed to and fell asleep right before we arrived at the picture studio. Needless to say, Aidan wasn't totally her happy self. We did get some good pictures, however.

In other news, we are tranisition from bottle sippy cup. Most of the time is going fairly easily. We are down to just 2 bottles a day and we plan to phase those out after our vacation in Oregon. We are also transitioning to cow's milk and hoping Aidan isn't allergic. So far, some snot but not a ton. We are also trying to introduce a spoon. She's not always clear on the concept. We've started brushing teeth and she loves this!

Aidan's latest obsession is hats. She must have all the hats she can see and and put them on her head and we must wear them as well. Very cute!

Here are some pictures....

"Eating" with a spoon:


Her swimming pool:



Ad for Whole Foods:


Hats, hats, hats!

Pictures from San Antonio

Here are a couple of slideshows of pictures from San Antonio.