Afternoon play/swim date

Today Ayden and I spent the afternoon at Christy's house and went swimming in her new pool! Two other friends (and fellow L&D nurses) Victoria and Jamie came over with their kids and we all had a wonderful time! Christy, Jamie, and I were all pregnant together in 2007, so the babies are all close in age- Hannah is 16 months and Tanner is 15 months. Ayden just loves being around other kids and babies, it almost makes me think I am ready to give him a sibling...but not just yet! :)

LOL, I love Tanner in this pic, just kicked back and relaxed!
Ayden and sweet little Hannah
Ayden and Thumper
Ayden showed off his new walking skills today!
Playing together so well

I wonder what they are discussing? :)
Chillin' in the pool with Tanner
Watching the big kids do Cannonballs!
It's impossible to get 3 babies to smile at once! (Not to mention Ayden is getting tired!)
Relaxing on the steps

More Walking!

It has been amazing to watch how quickly Ayden has progressed in the 2 weeks since he took his first wobbly steps! He is now walking more than he crawls and is getting faster and steadier everyday! Here is a video of our sweet little baby turned TODDLER!

Spaghetti!!

Ayden is starting to eat more table food with us (minus the salt, butter, etc). Tonight was his very first time to eat my homemade whole wheat spaghetti, which is one of Chris' favorite meals that I cook (and we all know how much I cook :) ) Anyway, as you can see, Ayden LOVED it too! He has tried the Gerber babyfood variety of spaghetti once before and he gagged on it, so I take it as the greatest compliment that he gobbled mine right up!!

Shaking Head No!

Walking

Here is our best attempt at capturing Ayden walking on video! It is by far not the best example, but it will have to do for now! He is consistently taking more steps more frequently everyday. Yesterday he took 6 steps (which is his current record) but of course we didn't have the camera ready when he decided to take off! It is so exciting watching him!

11 months!

Our brown-eyed little boy is having his 11 month birthday today! I can't believe it's the last month before he reaches the all too grown up age of ONE YEAR! He is as rotten as ever and as sweet as ever all at once! He is standing all the time now and taking a few steps here and there. He is still the speediest crawler I have ever seen! He takes off away from us when he is into something he shouldn't be, and regardless of how baby-proofed we think the house is, he is ALWAYS proving us wrong! He still loves the dogs, but they are about at their wits end with the incessant ear pulling, pinching, and shrill shrieks of excitement he expresses everytime he touches them! He has recently added Jack, Andy, Andybear, duck and bite to his vocabulary, along with his never-ending stream of Ayden-babble. His latest antic is squeezing his eyes very tightly shut and sticking out his lower lip with a very fake whimper when we tell him "no". It is so hard not to bust out laughing! He knows he has us wrapped around his little finger and I have no clue how we will ever convince him otherwise! I am very excited to see him reach the one year milestone and all that comes with it (new foods, forward facing carseat, etc) but how I will always cherish the memories of him as an infant. Here are some pics of the action packed little man!

So silly!
So sweet!
Attacking Andy (and yes, Andy is growling!)

The "Good Baby's" Fit

Ayden has got to be one of the happiest babies I have ever seen. Literally every person that meets him is amazed at his happy,outgoing, and even temperment, and says, "What a good baby!" Which I agree he is a very happy and good boy! That said...he also has a very quick and passionate temper when things are NOT going his way! Tonight he showed his temper when he saw me going outside (to get his pool ready for him) and I sat him down in the floor for a minute...

Yes, he threw himself down on the floor

No idea where he got that temper :)
Now he is kicking his arms and legs, not happy that I am taking a picture I might add!
30 seconds later
He couldn't be happier!
Silly, silly, rotten boy!

So sweet!

My mom shared this precious video with me. For any animal lover, get ready to cry!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U

First steps!

Ayden took his first steps tonight all by himself! He walked about 3 feet from his daddy to me. Yea Ayden!!

New Pictures by Jenny Leigh

Last weekend Jenny took some wonderful pictures of Ayden. There are so many good ones, but here is a preview of my very favorites! Once again, thanks so much Aunt Jenny!!

Our 4th of July weekend

We returned late last night from a very fun and relaxing weekend in Mena. Ayden had a very eventful weekend with lots of 1st's! He rang in the 4th of July with his first dip in a swimming pool and he absolutely loved it! He is definetely a water baby! That night we decided to just relax by the pool and shoot off our own fireworks. Chris and Kyle went all out and got some awesome fireworks, hoping to excite Ayden, but the plan backfired...Ayden HATED the fireworks! The first loud boom sent him into a screaming fit and he returned inside the house with Grandma for the remainder of the show! He also got his first haircut, compliments of Aunt Jenny. He did okay for the first few minutes, then decided he was not liking it and went into a screaming fit! So we learned 2 things about our normally all-smiles little man...he does not like fireworks or haircuts! Ayden also attended his first church service and did very well, he loved the music and even clapped along with the crowd! He even got to play the drums with Uncle Jamie! Ayden spent time with all his adoring grandparents and got even more spoiled if that's even possible! Nick and his new girlfriend Brandy came to Mena too for Nick's 10 year class reunion and we all had a blast hanging out together! Here are some pics from our eventful weekend!

Baby's 1st Fourth!
Rockin' his plaid shorts

Lovin' the pool!
Swimming with Uncle Nick
Nick and Brandy
Nick and Chris (note their color difference, LOL!)
Me and my sweet boys

Ayden's first haircut!
So far, so good...
Now that's enough!
He is letting us have it!
Now, all better! Look how sweet his new big boy hair is!

Little goofball!
Playing with his new beach toys
His first encounter with a step...
Piece of cake!

What a couple of cuties!
Chris, Nick, & Kyle
Ayden's first ride on the Rhino

(What's wrong with this picture?)
disclaimer-mommy held him when the Rhino was moving! :)

Hanging out with Papa and Memaw
Little drummer!