Christmas Day

Christmas morning finally arrived (at a glorious 9:00!) in our house. Santa had come and left Aiden a talking Elmo. He moves, sings, and tells stories and jokes. He also filled Aiden's stocking with other Sesame Street goodies and lots of fun toys! The Elmo quickly became a favorite!

After we all opened our stockings we ate breakfast (yummy homemade monkey bread) and then opened the rest of our presents.Aiden got some more Elmo's World videos,a talking Thomas the Train phone, an Elmo play-doh set that cuts shapes (it also talks and tells you what each shape is),a magnetic Thomas and Friends book (sooooo great for church),
a large truck that holds all his cars,

and a Woody doll.

We had a great time playing with all our new stuff. We stayed in our pajamas all day! Last year Aiden wasn't quite crawling yet and could just sit and play with toys (well mostly paper and boxes). What a difference a year makes! He was so into Christmas and loved everything. A child after my own heart! And yes, technically, it was a white Christmas (barely!).

Now on to a new year and new adventures!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve this year was wonderful! Monty was off and so we stayed home and made some family memories. After traveling the two previous weekends, it was nice to relax andjust be together as a family of three. No schedules to keep and no places to go - it. was. awesome. We love our extended family and have a great time with them, but there's something to be said for creating our own traditions. So ... first up we made cookies for Santa. Aiden found a great recipe for us! He was ready to cook! Anytime I am in the kitchen he gets his "big chair" and scoots it over to help (or make a mess or play in the sink ....). Mix all the ingredients together .... (If you don't have the petite wooden spoons from Pampered Chef, they are great for little helping hands.)And then comes the good part!He's just got to figure out how everything works ....A few hours (a trip to Walmart and a new shirt) later, and we are ready to cut those cookies. Glad there is room for error because he didn't quite get the whole process of cut one cookie then move your cookie cutter to a new spot before attempting to cut the second cookie.Can you tell who got to shake the sprinkles on the cookies?Being a big boy and helping clean up the MESS!Eating a cookie. Couldn't get him to unglue his eyes from whatever Christmas movie was on TV.Our yummy "dinner". We have fruit, meat, and bread - that's almost all the food groups. ha We snacked in front of the TV and watched a few Christmas movies. Then it was time to set out milk and cookies for Santa and head to bed.Decked out in Christmas pjs ready to dream about what Santa would bring!
I'm pretty sure this is close to what all Christmas Eves will look like for the Blairs. We would welcome any family or friends to join us! Love going and seeing everyone, but there's just something special about crawling in your own bed on Christmas Eve and walking into your own living room on Christmas morning to see what goodies Santa has left.

Christmas #2

The weekend before Christmas we went to spend a few days with Monty's family in Montgomery. We left Friday afternoon at 4 and got to his parents' house at about 2:30 Saturday morning. I am so thankful that Aiden is an awesome traveler. He watched a couple movies once it got dark. At 10 we turned off the DVD player and told him it was time for bed. He went right to sleep and stayed that way until 1 when we stopped for gas outside Birmingham. At that point he didn't want to sleep, but rode quietly until we got to Montgomery. We finally got in bed around 3:30 and then he was up at 8 ready to go!

Saturday night we went to the zoo to see the lights. Aiden loved riding the train through the zoo looking at everything. After that we walked around and saw the light displays.We ended the night in the petting zoo.Sunday we went to Papaw and Memaw's house for lunch. We had a great time visiting and ate a wonderful lunch! Aiden enjoyed opening his presents. He got books, puzzles, and a Thomas train.Sunday night we opened presents with Monty's family. What a fun time we had! Aiden would open one present, play with it for a minute, and then want to open another one. He got some nice Alabama shirts from Aunt Crystal and lots of cool toys from Grandma and Grandpa. The hit toy was the ride on tractor complete with buttons, sounds, and a digging arm. He couldn't even wait until it was out of the box before trying it out!

What a fun time we had! Can't wait to see everybody again in May for Aiden's birthday. We are blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Christmas #1

We split Christmas into three parts this year. Two weekends before Christmas we spent with my family in Hot Springs. It was during this weekend that Aiden acquired a most beloved new playmate. Enter the 62" stuffed dog into our lives. Thank you Uncle Austin! Aiden LOVES him and asks every morning to go,"Hug puppy." I have to say that even though he SHEDS like crazy, he is well behaved, quiet, and hasn't had any accidents in the house. I owe an even bigger thank you to Austin for not getting Aiden a real dog. Just remember Austin, paybacks are huge!Bringing Austin some doggy hair. Yep, he loves that dog!Choo-choos were also a big hit this year!Can you tell that he was the center of attention and our entertainer all weekend?!?Sitting in Pappaw's chair. It vibrates and is way fun!Chillin' with Papa before bedtime.He loves his Elmo chair at Grammy's!We ended a great weekend with a fever on Sunday morning. He has two more eye teeth popping through on the bottom and they are not agreeing with him. Poor baby! That's teeth #9 and #10 in the past four months! And yes, the cats think this dog is wonderful too! (Isn't it just huge?!?)

Oh What Fun

Aiden has quickly become such a fun-loving toddler! I am constantly amazed by what he is learning and doing each day. He is such a fun kid to be around!

* I tried to write down all the words he can say, but quit around 100. This doesn't include all the names he knows. Most words are clear, but there are some that only we understand. For example, he says "noah" for snowman. "Poo-doh" can mean pillow, play-doh, or potato - we just have to look at the context to figure out what he means! lol

* He is LOVING Christmas. The lights, the tree, the ornaments, the presents, the movies, EVERYTHING!! When I get him up in the morning he immediately says, "Push! Push!". He wants to push the button to turn on the tree lights.

* He has done a great job looking at the ornaments and not taking them off the tree. He likes to name them - Woody, Buzz, Santa, "noah", Frosty, star, reindeer, ...... Can't get enough of them!

* He is really into watching TV, but only gets one show in the morning and sometimes one while I cook dinner. Current favorites are Elmo's World, Toy Story, Thomas the Train, and Barney. He is also really into Christmas movies.

* When we go to my parents, he knows that Grammy's computer has video clips of Austin's football games. He'll ask to watch them. The boy loves football (and Austin)! We went to three of Austin's games this season and he intently watched every one.

* He still loves books and will bring them to anyone to read. He is beginning to fill in words while we're reading, especially in his favorite books.

* Still has to have a blankie (or three or four) and Elmo when he goes to sleep.

* He has gotten so good about going to Bible class and Mother's Day Out. Usually no tears! When I pick him up, the first thing he says is, "Play! Play!". I guess he has fun!

* When we ask him what he learned in Bible class he'll usually say, "Noah .... ark .... animals."

* Loves playing with hats, choo-choos, cars, dinosaurs, and Mr. Potato Head.

* He will ask to listen to music. If I ask him what song, he always says, "ABCs."

* He can identify and name most of the "common" animals and can say what sound they make.

* We are trying to teach him to ride his tricycle. His legs are just a tad too short, but he loves to push it around!

We are thoroughly enjoying our little man!