Tis the Season ....

FOR FOOTBALL! Aiden celebrated with Monty as the Tide crushed Florida to claim the SEC Championship. Now on to the National Championship against Texas in January! ROLL TIDE!

We took Aiden to Chick-Fil-A on Saturday to meet Santa Cow. He may not look happy in the pic, but really he thought Santa Cow was pretty cool. He LOVES stuffed animals, so this was just a big toy to him.

We finally found a sippy cup that Aiden will drink more than one sip out of. Of course, he still won't drink a lot, but at least he likes it. He looks like such a big boy to me in this pic!

Seven Months

Aiden was seven months old on Wednesday. Here's what I want to remember about this month ....

* He is eating three solid meals a day and nursing every four hours. I am still making all his baby food. He loves yogurt (I don't make that!) and fruit. Aiden is really doing well with finger foods. If it is solid, like a Gerber puff, then he will pick it up. If it is a little mushy, like bananas, then he just likes to smash it! We are trying to get him to drink juice from a sippy cup. He gets the concept, but still will only drink a few sips before he wants to play with the cup.

* This month he has really settled into a routine during the day. He wakes up between 8:30 and 9:00 and eats breakfast. Then he plays for a little while and is ready for a nap about 11:00. He'll sleep about an hour and then we play and/or run errands. After that he'll eat lunch then is ready for a nap. His afternoon nap is about 1.5 hours. I put him down for nap in his crib and he goes to sleep pretty quickly without fussing. Usually he'll roll over on his stomach and stretch out to sleep. Bathtime is at 8:00 and he's usually asleep by 9:15. Of course, when we are away from home then all bets are off. He doesn't sleep well in his pack-n-play.

* Still NO TEETH!

* Aiden is trying so hard to crawl. From a sitting position he can get into a semi-crawling position. Then he just flops on his belly and pushes himself backward. This gets him really frustrated because he just moves farther from his toys instead of closer. It's funny to us, but not to him!

* He can grab his toes and put them in his mouth.

* If he is sitting next to something short he can pull himself up and be on his knees. He's not quite able to pull himself all the way to a standing position.

* Overall he is a great baby! He loves to smile and giggle. We've discovered that he is very ticklish on his belly. His favorite toys are books and anything that makes noise. Honestly, if it crinkles or he can bang it, then he loves it.

Stats

Aiden had his 6 month check-up last week. He weighed 19 lbs. 4 oz. (75th percentile) and was 28.5" long (93rd percentile). Everything checked out great. I am thankful for a healthy boy. Monty's sister has been here visiting and we are so glad to get to spend some time with her. We have a busy three days here before we leave for Hot Springs on Wednesday.

Big Boy Carseat

Our little baby has moved up to a "big boy" carseat! We've been researching what carseat to get Aiden. He is about 19 pounds so we knew he didn't have much more time in his "baby" carseat. Last week we found what we were looking for at the Associate Store! The best part was that it was only $50. When we got home and looked it up online, we found that it retailed anywhere from $130-$150! What a deal! We put Aiden in it in the living room and he loved it. He sat and played in to for almost 20 minutes. Monty got it installed in the car the next day, so now Aiden's ridin' around in style!

Half a Year

At 6 months old ....
* He still loves to be outside. I think he'd play out there all day if he could!

* Aiden is a pro at sitting on his own! He has been doing it for about a month now and this has made my life so much easier. I can set him down with his toys and get a few things done while he plays!

* Still no teeth, but is chewing on EVERYTHING!

* He can roll over both ways and is trying to get his knees up to crawl. My luck he'll figure out how to crawl when the Christmas tree gets put up.

* He loves solid foods. So far there has been nothing that he doesn't like or is allergic to, so that is great. His favorites are bananas, sweet potatoes, and peaches.

* We had to take him to the doctor for his first illness last week. Poor guy woke up Monday morning so stuffy and raspy. He wasn't so much having trouble breathing, but his breathing was loud and just not what I would consider normal, even for being sick. I tried to suction out his nose (that was fun!) but couldn't get anything out, so off to the doctor we went. I didn't want it to get any worse. I knew Aiden really didn't feel well when he fell asleep while playing in my lap at the doctor's office. This NEVER happens!! I am not a mom who worries about every little thing, but I was glad we had decided to see the doc. He started Aiden on steroids and decongestant and that did the trick. This week he went for his flu shot and didn't even cry! What a big boy! :)

* Sleeping at night is great again! I decided it was time for Aiden to cry it out when he woke up in the middle of the night. I knew that wanting him to sleep 5-6 hours was not unreasonable since he had been sleeping 7-9 hours at a time when he was 2 and 3 months old. The first night he woke up after 3 hours, cried for 45 minutes and then slept for 8 hours. Now he'll usually sleep 8-9 hours, get up and eat, and then sleep 3 more hours.

* At the end of the month we are off to Hot Springs for Aiden's first Thanksgiving. Should be fun!

Check out more Aiden pics on our Flickr site! He was an elephant for Halloween and was super cute!

Alex and Amber's Wedding

We had a great time at Alex and Amber's wedding! The wedding was beautiful and went perfectly. The happy couple is now honeymooning in Hawaii. Almost all of our extended family was able to come, so we had a great time visiting. Aiden got to meet some new second cousins. He loved Ellie - he was all smiles and just wanted to look at her and touch her! She was a little less enthused at first. :)

Aiden was so tired by the time the wedding came so he wasn't really into smiling anymore. He does look so cute in his dress clothes though! :)

The boys had a great time with Aiden. He loves his uncles and I can only imagine the trouble they'll get him into when he gets older!

Times like these make me appreciate how wonderful my family is! We have a great time when we're together and I am glad that we have remained close even though we live far away from each other.

The Beginning of October

Fall is here! I love this time of year when the weather cools, the leaves change color, and there is college football on tv again. The Hogs have not done as well as I had hoped so far this season, but I was completely impressed with their last win over Auburn. Monty's Crimson Tide are having another great season and if they stay on track, they'll be playing again in the SEC Championship Game!

Aiden is loving solid foods! So far he's eaten green beans, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and pears. He is not a huge fan of the green beans, but loves everything else. I am making his baby food and have enjoyed that task. I love to cook, so this is my way of cooking for my sweet baby! It's really not as time consuming as I expected it would be. I just took one day and made A LOT of food then froze it in ice cube trays. Now I have the cubes stored in the deep freeze in ziploc bags and can just pull out what I need for each day. When I find fresh fruits and veggies on sale I can just cook, puree, and freeze for later! Last week I found kiwis for $0.10 each and avacodo for $0.25 each.

Aiden is able to sit on his own now for pretty good chunks of time and can almost roll over from his back to his stomach. He loves to watch the cats and gets the biggest grin when he catches sight of one. They have been very patient with him and will sit next to him for a short time so he can pet them.

Sleeping has been horrible this month. He still goes to bed at his normal time but is up most nights every 3-4 hours. I am hoping this gets better soon. I was so used to him sleeping at least 6 (but usually 7-8) hours when he went to bed! He typically takes 2 naps a day, but they are only 45 minutes long. Whoever said babies this age need 12-15 hours of sleep each day forgot to tell Aiden! :) I have to say that thankfully his Sunday naps are 1.5-2 hours so we both get a good rest!

This has been a busy month already and we still have half a month to go. The first weekend we went camping with our church in Branson. It was cold at night, but the daytime was great. Aiden did well in the tent and besides being a little congested, had fun! Saturday my friend Tracie and I went shopping and we took the kids along with us. Tracie has a daughter, Addyson, that 16 months old, so she and Aiden entertained each other. He loves to watch other children!

Last weekend we went to a pumpkin patch in Missouri. Aiden loves to be outside so this was perfect for him. We took some pictures of him with the pumpkins. Of course he was more interested in trying to eat the pumpkins and play with the grass. He and Addyson had a fun time playing in the "corn box" - instead of sand there's dry corn kernels. Again, he just wanted to eat the kernels! :)

Next week we are headed to Hot Springs for my brother's wedding. Aiden and I will go down on Wednesday and Monty will come on Friday. The wedding is on Sunday, so we will stay through Monday.

Four Month Update

Aiden had his four month appointment last week. He weighed 17 pounds and 7 ounces (83rd percentile) and was 26.5 inches long (87th percentile). Again he did well will his shots and only cried for a minute.

Here's what esle Aiden's been up to ....

* He has started eating rice cereal and oatmeal and loves it! We also give him baby rice cakes to eat and he gobbles them up like a big boy.

* New discoveries = toes and ears! Aiden loves to reach down and grab his toes and try to bring them to his mouth. So far he has been unsuccessful but he'll do it before too long.

* Still loves to take a bath!

* He can almost roll over from his back to his tummy.

* Loves to be tickled and have us blow on his belly! He is laughing a lot these days!

* Last Sunday was the first time he made it all the way through Bible class without getting upset. Yay!! We're making progress. I have to say that he is getting a lot more laid back about being away from his mama.

Our Big Vacation

We had a wonderful time on out first big family vacation! At 3:30 on Friday we picked Monty up from work and headed out (after a stop at Sonic!). We drove to Conway and ate dinner at Cracker Barrel and then stopped just south of Memphis to spend the night. Aiden was so ready to be out of his car seat. He travels pretty well, but likes to have me in the back seat to entertain him.

Saturday morning we continued to Montgomery where we spent three nights with Monty's family. This was the first time his mom's parents had seen Aiden and they had such a good time with him. He also got to meet his Great Aunt Sandra and Great Aunt Linda. Monty's other set of grandparents were in town from Kentucky and they enjoyed seeing Aiden again.

On Tuesday afternoon we headed to Huntsville to spend three nights with my grandmother. The first night we were there we had dinner with my Uncle Joe, Aunt Beth, cousin Joel, and his wife Ashley. They just had a baby girl a month ago so Aiden got to meet one of his second cousins. We did our best to take pictures of Aiden and Annsley together with my grandmother, but Aiden just wanted to grab Annsley's feet and try to put them in his mouth! We'll all be together next month at my brother's wedding, so we'll try more cousin pictures then.

On Friday morning we left Huntsville and headed to St. Louis. Saturday afternoon, on our quest to see all the major league baseball stadiums, we were able to to see the Braves play the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Braves won 7 to 6! Yeah! So now that's four ball parks down and about 26 to go! Aiden fell asleep before the game started and slept peacefully until about the 2nd inning when the crowd cheered a little too enthusiastically for his liking. He was so scared and stared screaming. He calmed down fairly quickly and was pretty good until the 5th inning. Then he and I got up and walked around. He fell asleep while we were walking so we just stood up and watched the game. No use tempting fate again by sitting back down! We also went to the Arch again and walked around downtown before the game started. A great day, but we were all exhausted!!

Sunday morning we left and were back at home in time for church Sunday night. I love vacations, but I miss going to church in Bentonville while we're gone. It was so great to be back home and get to visit with friends.

*** Monty is working on getting the pics from the trip uploaded to our Flickr site.

Such a Big Boy

It is so amazing how much a baby can learn and change in such a short time. Every day it seems like there is something new that Aiden does or discovers. He is getting a little better about being happy in Bible class. The boy just loves his mama and daddy and doesn't like being away from us. As frustrating as this is at times, at least I know he loves us a lot. :)

His new trick is being able to pull the frog on his play mat to make the music come on.

I am excited that he is getting close to sitting up on his own. With just a little support he can do it!

He loves his new bath seat! Now bath time is even more fun!

Yeah! One of the few times he was actually happy on his tummy. Look at him hold his head up so well!