Our First Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! We had a wonderful holiday and first Christmas. Thank you everyone for everything, we feel truly blessed to have such a loving and generous family to share Christmas with. We spent the abnormally sunny and warm Christmas eve with Abuelita Sonia, Ramon, Emmanuel, Ricky, and Abuelito. We had sopitos, pasole, cake and jello--yes, we were stuffed! Aiden loved his bowl of rice and beans. Aiden also loved the ornaments on the tree and the candles on the reindeer. He amazed us all when he crawled toward the stairs and then crawled straight up them like he had done it a thousand times before. Despite being sick, we all hung in there and enjoyed the night. The next morning, we woke up and opened our gifts before heading to mass in Redwood City. Aiden wasn't too interested in his presents, but he did enjoy the wrapping paper! After a beautiful mass, we got to my parents where breakfast and Uncle Mike, Grandpa, Bri and Chris were waiting for us. We exchanged gifts and later on we were joined by Toddy and Jose, Uncle Danny and his family, Aunt Wendi and her family, and Rod and Kathy. We had prime rib and ham for dinner...delicious! Aiden ate mashed potatoes, yams, carrots, and some ham. He loved it and had so much fun playing with his new toys. He got so many amazing gifts (and so did we!)--thank you everyone, soooo much!

"He Smells Holy!" Aiden's Christening and 6 month well check

8/1-8/8

Baptism (8/7): There were a lot of preparations behind this Blessed day and they all paid off! Tigre and Ruthie got skunked Friday and we thought for sure that we were doomed, but Tio Emmanuel, Daddy, and me cleaned the dogs and the deodorized the house up just in time for Sunday. Aiden looked so adorable in his suit. It was a challenge to find one that fit him, but Ricky found one! He was the biggest baby that was baptized that day out of the 5 boys, but not the oldest. It was a beautiful ceremony and we were excited and honored to have Monsignor Steven Otellini perform the baptism since he was the one who baptized me and Bri, confirmed Martin, and performed our wedding sacrament. The day went smoothly and I think everything went well. We somehow fit over 50 people in our house! Aiden was a bit overwhelmed with all the people and he started to get fussy, but he did great during the ceremony. We hired a taquiero and we had a piñata that Bri destroyed so the kids could get some candy. We didn't have a chance to open the presents at the party (mostly because Aiden wasn't in the mood, and then people started leaving), but we got some great videos and pics of him ripping into his first presents after his Dr. appt on Monday. It was too funny. His Godparents are Brianna and Ricky and we know that they will provide spiritual guidance for Aiden throughout his life. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us!

Aiden, 

May the peace and blessing of almighty God, 
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 
descend upon you and remain always.

6 month checkup (8/8): Aiden weighs in at 25 lbs 9 oz! Dr. Mahoney said he is very healthy and ready for solid foods. He can start with whole grain rice cereal or oatmeal and then move to pureed fruits and veggies. She said to stick with the breastfeeding and to only feed him foods 2-3 times a day and only 1-2 tbsp. There are a lot of foods to avoid: citrus, berries, nuts, milk, eggs, dairy, soy, tomatoes. We gave him some whole grain rice cereal (yes, it was organic!) when we got home, and he didn’t seem too excited about it at first, but he got into the third time around! We have some pics and videos.

His development is a little ahead of schedule. He can sit by himself, make a variety of sounds, respond to his name, interact with others, pass objects back and forth between his hands, roll over, and high five! (we have a video of that too!) This is such an exciting age because he is interacting with us. He seems to wake up smarter each day. If I ask him for besitos, he will grab my face with both hands and will kiss me wherever his mouth lands (usually my entire cheek!). When I get home from work he flaps his arms, smiles, laughs, and squeals. Yes, my heart melts every time he recognizes me. He is doing a little better in his car seat, but he still fusses sometimes. He gets the giggles a lot, grabs everything, laughs all the time, and squeals too. He has even learned how to manipulate us to get his way, he will fake cry and will scream until he gets what he wants then he instantly stops fussing and lets out a little giggle puts a huge smile on his face…what a little monster, hahaha we love him so much!

PS- Daddy smells your head everyday and says, "He still smells Holy!" Cracks me up :)