8 months

*Aiden has just started crawling! He's not that fast yet but he will crawl if there's something he wants.

*He's so good during church and is learning to sit on the pew and play quietly. Maybe this will keep up into his toddler years!

*We are slowly beginning the transition from mashed up food to "real" food. I try to give him at least one food that we are eating each meal. He is really good at feeding himself most things.

*My favorite thing these days are the funny faces he makes. He is starting to imitate what we do and it is hilarious! At meal times we can sit and watch him do the funniest things. I think he may be beginning to realize that he can entertain us!

*We are using the word "no" a lot more often, mostly during bath time. He insists on standing in the tub, I insist he sit in the tub. One of many battles that will come! ha

*Aiden's first two little teeth finally broke through! Teething causes him not to sleep well at night, so hopefully we'll be back to normal soon.

SNOW!

Tuesday night it snowed a little so I decided to see what Aiden thought of the cold white stuff on the ground. While he found it interesting at first, he quickly grew tired of being cold and wet. Next winter will be more fun when he can actually walk around in it and play some. I think he looks so grown up. His wardrobe no longer has any "cutsie" outfits - just pants and shirts - such a big boy!

Baby's First Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year! Having kids makes it so much fun. We went to Hot Springs and had Christmas with my parents and brothers. Aiden played with boxes and paper for two hours. Occasionally he played with his new toys (ha!). I think we had more fun watching him than we did opening our own presents.
I was a little sad that we missed the white Christmas at our house, but being with family was worth it. Monty's parents came this week and we are enjoying their company. Next week everything will be back to "normal". I need to get the Christmas decorations down, but it can wait. Right now we are just enjoying all being together!

Getting Mobile

Aiden is trying soooo hard to crawl. He can get on all fours but just can't coordinated enough to really go anywhere. I'm sure he'll be fully mobile soon. I guess we better get the child locks installed!

Last week I sat him in his crib while I was putting his laundry away. I looked over and saw him standing up! Needless to say, it was time to lower the crib mattress. We had been meaning to for a while, but just hadn't gotten it done yet.

He can now go from laying on his belly to sitting up. I can't believe how fast he learning new things!

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.