New Words

Aidan is really working hard on his vocabulary these days. He repeats a LOT of words that we say. I guess now we have to be more careful about what we say.

Just now, he dumped out his bowl of goldfish crackers and said "mess!" Then he pointed to the bowl and said "bowl." Then he held up a cracker and said "fishy!" Then, he dropped one on the ground, said "mess, boom-boom fishy." Whenever he falls down or when he drops something, we say, "did you fall down and go boom-boom?" He has picked that up, so he says "boom-boom" all the time.

The other day, I was trying to get Aidan to let me change his poopy diaper (this is always a fight), and I said, "Aidan, let me change your diaper. It's gross!" So he immediately said, "gross!" He ran around saying gross all day. Too cute!

19 Months!

Aidan is 19 months today. He is growing up so fast. Some new developments include some new teeth (he is up to 14, with two more on the way), saying new words every day, and getting more stubborn! When he wants to do something, he wants to do it now and won't take no for an answer. If "no" is the answer, then I can expect a tantrum. At least once a day he throws himself on the floor and whines and cries when he doesn't get what he wants. It's very frustrating, but I just let him go and try to talk him out of it.

We took a trip to Lake Tahoe this past weekend, and it was a very relaxing vacation. Ben's whole family was there, and my dad made the long drive up. The weather was perfect, and Ben and I had a lot of help watching Aidan so we could have our own time. We both got to read, play games, and go to dinner by ourselves! We always miss our little guy when we're away, but it sure is nice to have a break.

On the deck, in Tahoe.

No more pictures, mommy. Put the lid back on!

Aidan has built up quite a car collection. His cars, trains, trucks, and motorcycles are his absolute favorite toys. He spends hours a day playing with his cars, and must take a couple with him everywhere we go. I always keep a handful of cars in my purse, just for that reason.

Here is a photo of most of his collection. He has more, but I couldn't find them at the time!

Aidan words

Aidan had decided that he'd finally like to start talking. In the past few weeks he's added many new words to his vocabulary.

Some of his new words are: kitty, doggy, fishy, bye-bye, more, car, shoes, down, choo-choo, hot, and juice. A lot of times he will repeat a word I say, but it doesn't become a regular part of his vocabulary.

He understands just about everything we say. Just the other day, we were getting ready to go to the park and I asked him to go get a shirt and some shorts out of his drawer in his room. Ben and I were finishing our dinner at the table, and Aidan took off toward his room. He came running back a minute later with a shirt! I put the shirt on him, then told him to go get some pants. He ran back to his room and came back with another shirt. I explained to him that he already had a shirt on and needed some shorts, then pointed to my shorts and to Ben's shorts to show him exactly what he needed to get. He then ran back to his room a third time and came back with shorts. I was so proud of him!

We got Aidan a bunch of new Hot Wheels cars a couple of weeks ago, and they are his absolute favorite things. He has to take them everywhere we go, one in each hand. Ben's mom also got Aidan a bunch of trains and train tracks, and he loves playing with those too. That kid loves anything that has wheels on it.

Aidan knows where his eyes, nose, mouth, ears, head, arms, legs, hands, fingers, feet, toes, and belly are. He can also point out all these features on his stuffed animals. And about 80% of the time he when he plays with his plastic shapes bucket, he can put the right shape into the right hole. We feel like he's so smart!

We took Aidan to his 18 month doctors appointment on Thursday and found out that he is a tall, skinny boy. At his 15 month checkup, he was around 60-75% for both height and weight, based on his age. At this last checkup, he was 95% for height and 10% for weight! He will fit right in with this family.

When we go to the park now, Aidan wants to climb up everything. He can climb up a couple rungs on a ladder, can go up and down the stairs like a pro, and tries to climb on all the other little structures. He's pretty good at it too, though it makes me nervous everytime. He falls down a lot, but is a tough little guy and gets right back up to try again.

He is growing up too fast. If only we could keep him at this age forever...

18 months old. Now with more pointing!!

Look at that!

That's a wheel. A big wheel.

Do you see that?

Really, are you looking? Look at that. Look! Now!

Potty Time Part Two

Aidan went pee pee in the potty!!! Yay!

What a big boy. He was so happy. Now we work on being consistant.

Down in LA

Last weekend we took a trip to the Los Angeles area for my friend Missy's wedding. Aidan did so well. He slept like he was at home in his own bed every night, stayed up late a few of the nights, and was in such a good mood even though he missed many of his naps. I think he really enjoyed being somewhere new, and the perfect weather probably helped too!

Missy got married in Rancho Palos Verdes at the Wayfarer's Chapel. It was absolutely gorgeous! It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's son, which of course made me very proud.

Aidan had fun at the rehearsal running around the grounds, exploring the fountain, and climbing up and down the steps.

We didn't get many pictures of the actual wedding, since Ben and Aidan spent most of it outside, and they had to leave the reception before dinner was even served. Aidan was very, very tired that day, after several days of excitement/lack of naps. But Aidan did enjoy checking out my bouquet. Apparently it's an ideal surface for driving trains on.

We had a blast on this trip, and Aidan even got to spend some time on the beach building sand castles and avoiding the waves. We're ready for our next vacation!

Sprinkler Time

Aidan has recently discovered that he LOVES to run through the sprinkler. And any chance he has to be naked is his favorite time. So when we combined the two, he had a blast!

Showing my old toy, 'Bucky' how to run through the sprinkler.

Action shot!

We were at Grandma and Grandpa Powell's house, and they have this large flower pot that he loved to explore.

Here he is, playing his favorite game - "Where's Aidan?"

There he is!!

Potty Time

Lately, Aidan has been very interested in the toilet, and is starting to understand the whole going-to-the-bathroom process. If we ask him if he needs to go potty, he will pat the front of his diaper and point to the bathroom. We sat him on the toilet a few times, and nothing came out, but he thinks it's fun so who are we to discourage him??

We decided to go buy him his own little potty, and while he enjoys playing with it, he does not want to sit on it.

To him, it's just another toy. Nothing beats the real potty for him, so I guess we'll have to get a baby seat attachment for him to try!

Fire Truck!

Way back on July 10, Aidan and I took a trip to Stockton to a place called Pixie Woods. It is the cutest little "theme" park for kids, with lots of different play areas, rides, and a water fountain area to play in.

I forgot to take my camera, but managed to snap a few shots of Aidan on the real fire truck with my phone.

He didn't want to get out!

Some new photos

Aidan likes to try to get into as much trouble as he can.

Ben got Aidan a train set, and it is his new favorite toy. Ben is building a cool train table to set up the tracks on, so Aidan will be able to play for hours!

Comfy chair? Check. Blankie and Snuggle Bear? Check. Snacks? Check. Capturing this shot on camera? Priceless.

This is what started the choo choo trend. At our local Barnes & Noble, they have a Thomas the Train setup that Aidan LOVES to play with. He will play for at least an hour when we go. I think someday he will be a Mechanical Engineer, since he loves anything with wheels.