August--it's a wrap!

8/9-8/31: "Da-da-da-da-da!" That is Aiden's new favorite word (Martin says its his "first word," I'm not convinced ;) haha). He is making more complex sounds now as well as throwing some little tantrums. He literally learns something new everyday. He rolls over flawlessly now, he gets into the crawling position and his two bottom teeth are coming through. He is still singing himself to sleep and loves to talk and be talked to. He needs constant attention and affection and we don't mind indulging him. He gives hugs and kisses and will snuggle with me. I can't even explain the love I have for this big-little guy. We had so much fun with him this past month...its hard to believe it has passed!

The many faces of Aiden (photos will be added as taken)

Click the photos to enlarge. I have been playing with Instagram. Any photo with Aiden will pop up in this post...so keep checking back!

"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 :)

 

Sitting Up solito and Grabbing dedos del pie

July 16- July 31st: Aiden has mastered grabbing his toes and is still perfecting sitting on his own (being built like a linebacker doesn't make it an easy feat!) He has started to make brrshhhhlppss sounds and he loves to laugh. He will stick his hands in my mouth and I will pretend to eat his fingers and he will crack up. He is getting more curious about the things around him and he has discovered his surprisingly strong grasping, slapping, and throwing capabilities. His curiosity also means that he becomes bored faster, so I am constantly coming up with new songs and games to entertain him. Lately, "I'm gonna.....GET You!" combined with me rubbing my head into his belly entertains him and cracks him up. He also fell in love with Raffi, his Giraffe squeaky toy. We have been working hard on getting the house ready for his baptism and it is starting to come together! New pics to come soon. We also took him boating on the 31st and I will post pics as soon as I get them :)

Sitting up alone and grabbing his toes (also sweet morning moments with Daddy):

The many faces of Aiden (7/19)

 Random pics from the last few weeks:

Movie time! Grab your popcorn...

Aiden was hilarious this weekend. He got the giggles on Friday while looking at his Dad.
July 15:

And we took him swimming on Sunday. He was loving it! He didn't cry and he was kicking and splashing around. Too cute!

July 17:

4 months was fun, now its done! Aiden is 5 months today :)

He is getting bigger by the day, I swear, he must be close to 25 pounds now. He still eats every 3 hours and about 5 oz each sitting, which I think is insane, but he is totally happy and healthy. I love our morning routine. He has started to grab at by face (grabbing my nose or lips) when he wants me to wake up. When I open my eyes, I see a big toothless grin—adorable. I reach over and sit him up on my stomach and we “talk” and smile at each other before I change his diaper and start his day. He has been screeching a lot lately—yes, screeching! We went to Georgios in San Jose for Father’s Day and Aiden was belting out some high pitched squeals. I had to take him outside so he could get some air and he calmed down to his regular coos and sighed with relief. He will also pick stuff off the table now and of course, will try to put it in his mouth. If he isn’t trying to pick something up, he is usually smacking whatever it is—be it a toy or a spoon on the table. He started to give me kisses! He grabs both sides of my face (or my hair) and pulls me in, and lays a big slobbery wet one wherever his mouth lands. Martin said he is just trying to eat my face (since his mouth is open), but I insist that they are besos! When he is fussy, all I have to do is lean over him and give him a kiss on his mouth while saying, “MWAAA!” He will instantly start smiling and cooing. It is so exciting to see him play and to watch his little head rotate around while his eyes scan the room. It makes me swell with pride and happiness that he is starting to interact with the world. When we are driving around, Martin and I can’t help but laugh as we hear the rattle of the toy that hangs from his carseat, “He’s playing with it all by himself!” we will both say at the same time…dorky! Yes, we are already such dorky parents—ecstatic (and sometimes paranoid) about every single thing…but that just means we are head over heels in love with our boy.

So much is new, he grows bigger and gets smarter every day. He got the giggles yesterday and just kept cracking up as he stared at his Daddy. He grunts and coos himself to sleep when he isn't nursing to sleep. The last few nights he sleeps not next to me, but on me! He loves his bath before bed and kicks and splashes around and even sticks the washcloth in his mouth. When we walk past the window, he pulls the blinds down to peek outside. He is grabbing everything now. Speaking of outside, he loves the outdoors and he sits in the stroller like a big boy. We even had to buy a new carseat! He is growing out of everything, his clothes, his swing, and his bouncy seat. He is starting to respond to his name and he interacts with everyone. The only bad news so far... we had his consult with the Pediatric Surgeons and found out that he needs to have his hernia repaired as soon as possible. We know God will be watching over our Angel, but we wish he didn't have to go through it.

The past month:

Today

Remember when...

From 4 days to 4 months. Erica and Rob saw Aiden for the first time when he was just 4 days old and for the second time last weekend when he was 4 months. Joe had taken pictures of Aiden the first day they met him and he just gave me copies. He was so little, what a surprise it must have been to see him after 4 months!

4 days old- 2/20/11

photos by Joe Blea

2nd meeting- 4 months old 7/3/11

And...time travel back to the delivery room. I just got these photos from Tio Emmanuel.

Breakin a Sweat!

Yesterday, Aiden began to figure out that there was much more than music, lights, and rattles to this toy and today he perfected his discovery; he learned to jump! He even broke a sweat...way to burn 'em big boy :)

Letter to Aiden: Bye Bye Newborn

A-Ball,

I just disassembled your bassinet. The one we used to lay you in when we first brought you home. It has been sitting in the corner of our room now for four months, even though you haven’t fit in it in over two months. I got a little choked up as I pulled the pieces apart. First, I unscrewed the mobile that you used to stare at with your blurry, newborn, grey eyes and it made me remember how your dad and I would desperately try to keep the mobile running for you. You loved the vibrations, music, and lights. So we had to make sure we had all three running to keep you calm. You only “rested” in the bassinet. We couldn’t keep you in there for long because you wanted to be close to us. I think you only slept in there two nights on your own for maybe three or four hours! I always let you sleep next to me, or on me, but when we first brought you home you were so small that I was afraid that I would somehow hurt you so we would lay you in there and would rock the cradle until you fell asleep. Sometimes, I would wake up in a panic, looking for you, only to find that you were in fact safe and sound asleep next to me. Relief would overcome me and I would rub your sweet little head, which at that time was as big as my hand and I would go back to sleep. But other times, my panic attack would last a bit longer because you weren’t next to me and I would have to peek inside the bassinet to find you swaddled and cozy because your Daddy had put you in there after he spent over an hour in the living room playing Cold Play on the iHome until you fell asleep.

Then, I removed the base. We would push the bassinet right up against the bed so that we could peek in every two seconds--not just because we were paranoid or because you were waking up crying to either eat or to be sung to, but because we literally couldn’t  (and still can’t) take our eyes off of you. You are so perfect, so handsome, so adorable, and so amazing. I remember rocking and shushing you. I remember Daddy swaddling and singing to you. And I remember both of us stubbing our toes on the base of that cradle!

I feel like I have been packing up things you have outgrown as quickly as I have been bringing home new things for you to play with. I have packed up loads of clothes and your infant bathtub too. You are no longer my fragile, little newborn. You are my body building infant! As much as I like to reminisce about you being so small and even though it makes me a little sad that it went by so fast—I have to admit I love and am so excited about you growing up. So big, so strong, so happy. You are so playful and curious and you always have the biggest smile. Every stage of your life so far has been more exciting and rewarding than the last.

As I packed up your bassinet, I said goodbye to you being a newborn. I never imagined a baby was such hard work, everyone said it was, but I didn't fully comprehend until you were in my arms. You slept so much, but you ate so much too--every hour! I had never been so challenged physically, mentally, and emotionally (but I would do it over a million times). Well, my sweet angel, it wasn’t easy but it wasn’t unbearable either. There were so many changes that came along with you—things I couldn’t have possibly prepared for, but we did it, we made it to infancy! 

Love, 

Mama

A month's worth of photos and videos...we've come a long way baby!

Wow, a whole month FLEW by and so much has happened. I am back to work full-time, but I am lucky to have 2 days to work from home so I can still be with my little-big guy. Aiden is 21 pounds and he has a big personality to go along with all those pounds. Lately, he smiles as he squeals at the top of his lungs and talks to himself. Abuelita Sonia thinks he is going to be a singer since he loves the sound of his voice and he has quite a range. It is hilarious. He has been hitting all of the milestones...he can roll over from his back to his stomach and he is putting everything in his mouth. He discovered his thumb, he laughed for the first time (Uncle Mike tickled his feet, and since then I have only gotten him to laugh once!) and he has become sensitive to his environments. He will let everyone know if he doesn't want to be somewhere, and so far his favorite place is home. He is wearing size 4 diapers and 9-12mo clothing! I can't believe how big he is and how fast he is growing.  Before I began to type this I rocked him to sleep and laid him on my chest. His head was resting on my shoulder and his body was like a ton of bricks stretched across my torso with his toes dangling on my thighs. As I rubbed his back, I began to remember how he used to lay on my chest like a little ranita. How I could lay my hand on his back and my fingertips could rub his back while my palm supported his bum. And I have to admit, I got a little sad. I already miss him being little(er)...he is still barely 4 months. Martin and I always give him kisses and he always tells Aiden, "I gotta get all my kisses in now, because pretty soon you won't let me!" So, here's to our little man--we love you so much.

May 12-May 18: This is the week he found his thumb. We bought him a Bumbo seat to help him sit up, but we had to take it right back to the store because his legs were too big! He also figured out how to play with his toys.

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May 19-25: We spent the weekend at my parent's house and Aiden laughed for the first time on the 21st.

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May 26-June 1: Aiden pretending to eat in his high chair (he's so smart, already knows what to do!). He went to his first wedding (congrats to Rodrigo + Janet!) and he wasn't even bothered when the mariachi's played--he slept through it!

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June 2-8: I miss Aiden when I am working! We think he started teething. He hasn't been sleeping well and he has been drooling so much. As you can see in the video, he loves the toys on the bouncer that Hazel gave him (thank you!). He stays awake and plays a lot longer during the day and only takes one hour naps.

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