Bye May...busy and big 15 mo old

Everyday he learns something new. Everyday his personality grows and everyday we fall more in love with him. 

I'll just let the photos do the talking...

May 16-30:

Wrapping up 14 months: talking up a storm

Mr. Independent! He is really coming into his own and he just keeps surprising us everyday with something new. His back molar came in on the right side and now a top one is coming in too! He has been eating so much more now that he has some big chompers! He is able to tell us what he wants now and he is not shy when it comes to his needs. He knows more than he can say, but he is saying a lot of words now. He doesn't say the words correctly, but he is saying them consistently. Now we have to be careful what we talk about in front of him, because even mentioning going outside or saying "bath" gets him all excited, and he either runs for the front door or bathtub.

He can say:

car, bath, duck, quack, woof, dog, meow meow, go, sit, car, fish, mama, dada, shoes, roar (when we ask him what a lion says--its so cute, my favorite thing he does). He is so social and he gets a kick out of making people smile and laugh, so he of course is always smiling, waving and laughing when he sees someone. 

April 21-22: Auntie Bri came to visit on one of the hottest days in Pacifica, so we hiked to the Linda Mar beach. All Aiden wanted to do was dig in the sand and play with other kids. He also can't get enough of his little flip flops. They are the only shoes he wants to wear! We brought over a pool to my parents house so that Aiden could keep cool. He loved splashing around and getting sprayed with the hose.

April 23-25: The sunny days mean AMAZING sunsets. We made sure to walk down to the beach to watch the sun go down. He loves his evening walks. He is such a water baby, as you can see he is wading in Grandpa's river! Aiden also got to be a baby model for my company's rebrand, so you can see him sporting the new logo. His photo was all over our company Facebook, Twitter, and Newsletter :)

April 28-30: Giants Game for Martin's Bday!
Aiden's first Giants game, he loved it. All the people, all the fried chicken and fries, and oh yea the game too- they won! Erica, Rob and Emily came to visit that Sunday and Aiden couldn't get enough of Emily. He wouldn't even let her eat! He would pull at her shirt or grab her hand because he wanted to play with her...aww cousins :)

May 1-15: While Martin goes to the gym on Saturday mornings, I take Aiden to our neighborhood park. He loves the slide and hiding under the play structure to dig in the sand. Martin and I took him to Lomo Farms in Half Moon Bay and he got to see a bunch of animals (goats, horses, roosters). We thought he would ride the pony, but he got scared. He liked the fountain the best. Now he is interested in the TV and he even snuggled up with me in bed one night, grabbed the remote and handed it to me. I turned on the Disney channel and we watched Bolt until he fell asleep. He also has Martin doing the Mickey Mouse Hot Dog dance every morning! Oh Aiden, we love you so much!

Social and Silly at 14 months

At first it was weird to adjust to the fact that Aiden is his own little person now. He has his own agenda and he knows how to put it in action! The things he can now do on his own, as simple as they are, blow our minds. We constantly say, "Look! Look, what he is doing, its like he's a little person, he is putting shoes on himself!" It happened so fast. He went from being completely unaware of his surroundings to taking charge of them. Its so exciting! I get such a thrill watching him discover new things and seeing him laugh and giggle. Even though he makes huge messes, can get a little loud, makes a quick trip to the store take over an hour, sometimes falls down, tastes something icky, or gets completely dirty...I let him go for it. I let him be him. And it is so much more fun that way-for the both of us. "oooh!" I love it when he says that when he figures something out. "mmmm-num num," when he eats something he likes. "Aaah-ha-ha!" when he wants to get someones attention. When we go out in the stroller, he will point and reach for practically every flower or leaf and will say, "mama! mama!" until I pick it and hand it to him. By the end of his walk, the front of his stroller is filled with flowers and leaves (and so are his hands!). 

He is becoming such a love bug. He gives me the best hugs when he is sleepy--just squeezes my neck and pulls my head into his body and smiles. He has started to give other kids hugs to when he is trying to make friends. He is such a little giant though! I swear he has grown taller and heavier this month. 

He understands far more than he can say at this point and he follows instructions pretty well. "Want to take a bath?" He will run to the bathroom and start pulling at his clothes. One morning, I grabbed a cracker for the dogs out of a drawer and then I threw it out the sliding door so they could have a treat, well, Aiden remembered that. For the last 3 days, he has woken up, ran to the kitchen, "Dog! woof! Dog" and he will open the drawer and wait for me to give him a cracker. Then, he runs to the sliding door, I open it, and he throws the crackers to the dogs.

He even recognizes our house. If I try to pass our house after walking around the neighborhood, he will point and yell, until I turn into our driveway. In the mornings, before I go to work, he hands his Abuelita the remote so he can watch the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He is active, he is social and silly and I love him more and more each day.

Easter- April 8th 

 April 20th:

We Made the Most of March

Bigger, smarter, and sillier! In just one month, Aiden picked up some new words, "fish, woof, and No!" He also says night-nite and runs to the bedroom. He is communicating with us on a whole other level. He plays peek-a-boo when we say, "where's Aiden?" by hiding his eyes behind his fingers, or a curtain, or a toy. Even if he can't say the words to us, he understands what we are saying to him. When we open the animal page of his book and point to the horse and say "caballo," he jumps up and grabs his rocking horse.

He fights sleep like no other, he wants to be up and out and about. The cutest thing that he does when he starts to get sleepy is he will lay his head down and when we say, "awww!" he will laugh, lift his head and then slam it down again. He is such a goofball. I love it when he wakes up, half asleep, smiles with his eyes shut and flings his arm around my neck and pulls me in close to him. Sometimes he giggles in his sleep too. 

I took Aiden to an indoor gym early in the month to play with some kids. He had so much fun running around under the parachute and pushing kids in the little cars. We also made sure to take advantage of the beautiful weather and made our way to the beach. Aiden even helps out with the cleaning now, you can see him vacuuming in his spiderman shirt! 

A day at the beach!

When Aiden isn't outside, we are goofing off inside. He is constantly making up games and will do things that make me laugh over and over again. His dancing skills have gone to a new level, he loves to get down and stomp all around. (he also gives me lots of hugs and kisses!)

Rain! Aiden was stomping around in all the puddles and ran up and down the drain gutter! He loves to grab our hands and drag us around (usually to take him on a walk, or to find his toys). He is confident and social and becoming quite the ladies man. Anytime he sees a little girl, he grabs her hand and begins to lead her around. Adorable.

First time in the snow! We got a cabin in South Shore Tahoe. 

Aiden is too much fun, he fills our life with love and laughter.

Videos:

Wrapping up February

20-29th, yep a leap year!

The day after his party, we took Aiden to Frontierland Park. He loves the sand, running in the field, and throwing tanbark. We can't keep this guy indoors. He is a an adventurer and outdoorsman (got the Rotondo blood running through him!)

On a very hot morning, I took Aiden to the beach near the Pacifica Pier. He loved the sand beneath his feet and the sea breeze in his hair. He couldn't get enough of the sea gulls or the dogs that were constantly passing by us. After he got his beach fix, we headed to San Jose to grab some lunch with Uncle Chris and  Toddy. Aiden had his first soft serve ice cream cone, which he loved! He also enjoyed sharing his toys with Sugar and grabbing some mexican food with Grandpa and Great Grandpa at Adelitas before heading back home!

Family day! We took Aiden to the SF Zoo. I was fascinated with the Gorillas and Aiden, well he just thought everything was a giant dog. The only thing he really seemed to like was a seagull by the fountain and a giant cement hippo. He also loved the store, and of course we were tempted to buy everything he pointed at, but we refrained and only left with a $30 keychain! haha. Yes, we are suckers, for anything with our Angel's face on it, and he was waving in the picture, so how could we resist!

Our little big guy is definitely a handful, but we wouldn't want him any other way. He is smart, hilarious, and handsome! He also took his first bath in the tub without his big ducky and spent 40 minutes just playing in the water, so yes, he is a water baby. He can open doors, turn lights on and off (on and off, and on and off...he loves pulling the chain on the lamp) and he understands most commands in both English and Spanish (even though he will ignore us most of the time!). Almost forgot, his well check! He is 28.5lbs almost 3ft tall and as our Dr. said, "he is very verbal, and very active. He sure knows what he wants. He is doing Great! Keep up the good work!" Oh, we will and we are. We love you Aiden!

First Birthday Party!

On Sunday, February 19th we celebrated Aiden's FIRST Birthday!
Martin and I decided on an All Star theme since Aiden loves all sorts of balls. I made all of the decorations and we even found a giant dog piñata. Aiden loved it! My mom made 4 different pulled pork carnitas and macaroni salad, I baked cornbread muffins and made coleslaw, Martin BBQ tons of chicken, and Toddy made her famous potato salad. Everything was AMAZING! Especially the cake...it was whipped cream with a alternating layers of chocolate and yellow cake separated with raspberry filling! Aiden didn't blow out his candle, but he sure did scare everyone when he reached for the flame.

The weatherman threatened rain all week, but we lucked out with a beautiful day. Aiden was such a ham. He loved being the center of attention when we opened presents. He was smiling at everyone and making faces and sounds. He hit the piñata and loved being pulled around in his wagon or on his trike. Most of all, he loved playing with all the big kids.

Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us, we had a great time!

Pre-party photos: 2/18- Uncle Chris came to help us shop and get stuff ready and Aiden snuggled with him on the couch.

Photos by Joe Blea

First Haircut

Yesterday, we took Aiden for his first haircut. We loved all of his hair but it was covering his ears and he was constantly scratching his ears and pulling his hair. And, he was also growing a tail, and Martin and I just find that to be unacceptable! As cute and as precious as his full head of hair was, it was just getting a little unmanageable.

After it was cut, he transformed into a little boy and it broke our hearts a little. Yes, he looks adorable and extremely handsome, but it is a shock seeing how much his new "do" changed how he looks. It makes him look so much older. I already miss pushing his hair behind his ear and scrunching all his little curls in the back. But at the same time, I can't help but smile when I see my little mans new cut.

Everyone asks..."did he cry?" No, not one bit. He just sat on my lap and took it like a champ.

2-26-12: Before

During:

Before and After:

Do the Aiden

Aiden on his first birthday :)
He cracks me up.
I think he is on to something here...starting a movement.

The crowd needs someone to follow. That's my boy, leading the way.
Now everyone, do the Aiden!

Aiden is One! Happy Birthday

Feb 1-16:

Dear Aiden,

First I have to tell you, you are the most amazing, most beautiful, most interesting and the sweetest and smartest little boy in the WORLD. Yes, the world. I love absolutely everything about you (yes, everything!) My heart grows with you each day, and the bigger you get, the more my heart is filled with pride, joy, and love. You are such a sweet little soul and I am so blessed to have you as MY son. Just writing that you are mine, literally makes my eyes fill with tears (happy tears). A year ago, I was bringing home a fragile, tiny baby boy and I was naive and clueless as to what came along with my sweet baby boy. So many changes! I was so scared and nervous. But like all parents, I am learning as I go and I am very proud of how far we have come. You are one year old today. Already one! And at the same time you are only one. One, and you have changed me and my life forever in ways that I never imagined and ways that I will forever be thankful for. You are no longer a baby, but a little boy. My little toddler. You are truly a miracle and a blessing and I will always pray for God to protect and bless you with a healthy and happy life that is full of love.

Now back to the point of this letter….Happy Birthday!  Your dad had to go to work at 6am so he kissed you and whispered Happy Birthday as he blessed you with the sign of the cross. “Awe, Babe! He opened his eyes.” You melted your dad’s heart and all you had to do was open your eyes while he was kissing you goodbye!

I had to leave for work early, before you woke up (very rare!). You were snuggling with me and I held you close and smothered you in birthday kisses while you slept so peacefully. I hated the thought of having to go to work on your first birthday. I am selfish and want to soak up every single second of your life while I can (it truly does go by so fast!). But I had to leave, and before I left, I snapped a birthday shot of you:

It still amazes me that in just a year you developed into a little person! Here is a list of just some of the things I can't get enough of:

You are your own little man now. You are so independent. 

You love being outside and you bang on the front door and groan until we open it for you.

You dance- you will grab furniture and will rock side to side with a giant smile on your face (especially when “Pumped up Kicks” or “Love Song” comes on).

I love how you wave bye-bye and blow kisses. 

You LOVE dogs. Even small pictures of dogs on product packaging on a shelf in a store (you will find it). You point and chant “dog, dog dog!” with such excitement and enthusiasm. If there are multiple dogs, you will point to each one. You even recognize dogs on tv now. 

I love how you open your mouth wide when you clap your hands.

You are so smart! You recognize objects and you know many of them by name and you love to read your books.

I love your little language and all the little sounds you make. You have a sound for when you want to eat (sounds like hiccups), when you are singing yourself to sleep (sounds like humming). You love it when I hum in harmony with you.

You capture the hearts of strangers. Everybody comments on how big you are, how cute you are, how much hair you have, how smart and how social you are.

I love your silly viejitos faces. 

I can wrestle with you and tickle you on your thighs, on your ribs, and daddy always gets you on your neck—and you laugh so hard and squirm around.

I love how you make up games. You have your own silly sense of humor and it cracks us up. It’s safe to say, we “get” you!

You can kick and you can throw balls and you can figure out how to work any toy.

You are outdoorsy, inquisitive, intelligent, and interesting. Smarter, sillier, and sweeter each day. 

Its obvious I love every part of you.
But, most of all, I love your kisses, laughs, and giggles!!

Here's to many more Happy Birthdays! God bless you my sweet little soul. I love you more than words.

Love,
Mama

Photos from your FIRST BIRTHDAY!

One Year!

A Year in Review:

Look how far you have come and so fast. A blink of an eye and a year has gone by. From Newborn, to infant, to toddler-- here is a month by month view of YOU! (all of your birthdays!)

The 16th of each month starting February 16, 2011- February 16, 2012!

Happy Birthday Aiden!