January

January has been a quiet month and for that I am thankful. The holidays were so busy that it was nice to just spend some time at home not worrying about getting ready for the next big event. Monty's mom and dad came at the beginning of the month to share New Years with us. Aiden had a great time and even crawled for the first time while they were here. What a treat! It snowed the Sunday morning they left - not just a small snow, but a huge, cover everything kind of snow! Driving to church that morning the roads were completely covered and we could see NO asphalt, just WHITE! That snow caused school to be out for a week. For that (and so many other reasons) I am glad that I am not working this year!

Aiden and I went to Hot Springs in the middle of the month to celebrate my great aunt's 80th birthday. Monty had to stay home and work on an install at work :(. But, he did get Associate of the Month for December, so all the hard work he did getting ready for the install paid off!

Aiden is growing and changing every day. He is so fun to play with and is such a happy boy! His favorite toys right now are books, stuffed animals, and balls. He is really into chasing the cats around and they have quickly figured out that they need to stay off the floor as much as possible. Whenever he spots one he lights up and tries to get to it and touch it. It is too funny! Notice the HUGE grin on his face - he has just spotted a cat sitting on a dining room chair.

My favorite time of the day is right after bath time. I read a few stories to him and then rock him for a few minutes before laying him in his bed. It's one of the few times during the day that he is actually still and I just love it. He is growing up, but is still such a baby in so many ways.

He has gotten four teeth this month.

Aiden is pulling up on anything he can and is starting to "cruise" along the furniture. He has already had a couple bruises on his forhead, a knot on the back of his head, a busted top lip, and a busted bottom lip. Oh, the joys of being mobile!

He is crawling EVERYWHERE! He ends up all kinds of fun places. He can crawl up stairs and over small obstacles. He crawled through the bottom shelves at the library last week, from one aisle to the next.
We have entered the world of self-feeding. He really does a good job most of the time. Of course, there is always a mess at the end of each meal!
We ended the month as we began it - covered in snow. This time we got about 8 inches and it was really pretty. Aiden enjoyed playing outside in it. This time he could crawl through it and he thought that was great. There are more snow pics on our Flickr site. School was out for another two days with this storm. I do not envy my teacher friends!