Happy Birthday Arlinda

Happy Birthday Cousin Arlinda!
You are my favorite cousin and I love you sooooooo much! 16 is a big year, and I know it's going to be the best ever for you because you never had me before! But now you do so this year is going to be the funnest, bestest year for you ever!
xoxoxoxo (kiss kiss kiss)

Love,
         Aiden

So happy to see you!

With Arlinda's Papa (Great-Uncle Arjan)

With Great-Grandmother and Great-Uncle

Great-grandma, me, Arlinda, Grandma

Arlinda and Grandma

Mama, me, cousin Arlinda, Papa

Arlinda, me and Mama!

Great-Grandma, me, Mama

Candles!!!!!

 Chocolate bunny!

Found Arlinda's old dolls! 

WAIT! Don't leave me here alone!

She's just staring at me! 

Didn't your momma ever tell you it's not polite to stare??

Ooooh ... ribbons! (?)

Arlinda's passing on her old dolls cause she's too old for them ... 

Playing with Great-uncle Arjan

11 months old

I say this every month its just crazy!

It's very strange though. With Papoosie growing time just seems to be whizzing by light-speed! But then when it comes to LB I wish he would just pop out already ... I'm tired of him beating me up from the inside out, and carrying him around like a big fat pregnant woman! Ahem.

Wowie Zowie! Next month Papoosie is gonna be a whole year old! Who wants to come to his party? I'm only gonna take like 10-15 ppl so if you want in you gotta let me know.

Papoosie continues to grow and develop and every day (yes, even the crazy not so happy ones) is such a wonder to me. He is such a sweet baby and is so loving and adorable!

Here are the news in his 11 months:

-Got his bedtime routine down

-Sleeps in his own crib/room

-Such attitude

-Teaching him signing

-Teething

Yep ... sounds awesome doesn't it! Here's what an average day in the life of Papoosie looks like:

Most days he will wake up anywhere between 7-8, and Grandma brings him to our room. He started really moving and kicking a lot in his sleep and it would hurt my tummy when he kicked so we moved a bed into his room, and now he sleeps in his crib and grandma sleeps in the bed beside it! I am so thankful grandma loves him so much and actually WANTS to (instead of doing it as a favor to us) sleep with Papoosie. I am SO darn lucky!

Anyway, so grandma brings him in the morning, and goes off to work, and Papoosie plays between us until we wake up enough to make him breakfast and start his day. He will eat, get his bottom wash and diaper change, and play for an hour or so. Around 2 hours after he wakes up he takes his morning nap .... anywhere between 30 min and 1 hour.

Then once he wakes up he will have second breakfast (HIIIIIIIIIIII Patty), then since it's been warm these days we take him out. To meet friends, go to the lake, go window shopping, do errands .... we stay out till around 2 or 3 when it's his nap time. We feed him, and by the time we get home he's sleeping! He will sleep for an hour or two, and then after he wakes up and has another meal we have happy play time between mommy, grandma, and daddy in the afternoon.

Around 8:30, 9 I make him dinner, we wash hands, mouth, and bottom, change into pajamas, brush teeth and by 9:30 ish he will sleep. Of course he's not a clock so its just a general flow ...

His favorite playtime activities are standing up (with his head popping out of the playpen/crib) and throwing the ball and having us 'fetch' it for him. He will do this over and over and over again ... sometimes we substitute the balls for blocks, or string/chain and he loves the sound it makes. He also LOVES walking. Like the video in the previous post, we bought him a little harness thingie and when we go to the lake we put it on and he walks along with us ... he's quite a good walker and can go pretty far before tiring!

Other than bye, hajde (come here), pointing, and saying please, I'm also teaching him I'm sorry, thank-you, more, and all-done. He watches baby signing videos as well, but those are the ones that I am teaching him. He's SUPER smart. He also understands DAME (no in Japanese), when I tell him not to touch something or put it in his mouth he retracts his hand or takes the thing out of his mouth. But he's really naughty because he gets a little mad that I told him no and he will kind of make an 'ugh' sound and try to hit my hand, or throw the thing that he was putting in his mouth away. Kind of like throwing a fit that I said no. For now I say 'good baby' in response to his taking his hand back or taking the thing out of his mouth ... but if his reaction gets stronger I'll have to work on that.

A week or so ago he had a couple days where he was teething bad ... those nights he got a break from the crib and came to sleep with us. I could feel the 3rd bottom tooth coming in, but since then it cold feet or something cause I can feel it but it's not showing. Funny.

A few times now he has 'fallen asleep' on his own either in his car seat or in his high chair. These are cases of him in a state of extreme tiredness, but it's PROGRESS I say!

Anyway I don't have his measurements cause I have to go tomorrow so I will leave off for now.

Enjoy some CUTE CUTE CUTE pictures!!!

Counting ...

Saying please ...

My sweet sweet baby!!!

Mommy loves you so so so so so so so much!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Recent pictures and videos

Happy Summer Day!

First of all, the weather has been getting so much warmer so mommy and daddy have been taking me out so much more! I enjoy it very much!
A couple weeks ago I went to the lake with U. Sawyer and A. Elda and mommy and daddy of Suki. Mommy let me try some of her ice ...

I also played a lot on the ground with Suki but mommy didn't get any pictures of it. But it was fun!

Then U. Sawyer took me to see a cat that was lounging in the sun!

A few days ago, a box of new clothes arrived in the mail for me! It's batch 1 of my new summer clothes and had my bathing suit inside! I can't wait to go swimming! But anyway, here is a video of me playing in the box the clothes came in.

Here's one of me climbing ...

And this is the way I entertain myself at bath time! I love bath time and it is still one of my favorite times of the day (well ... when it was cold I only got to take a bath once or twice a week but now that it's getting warmer I hope mom and dad let me have baths more often!)

And recently daddy bought a harness for me so mommy wouldn't have to bend down so much when she takes me for 'walks'. Little Boss really is getting bigger and mommy's back gets owie when she has to carry me too much, or when she has to bend down for too long. And it's supposed to teach me how to walk too!
I enjoy my walking times very very much!

Those are all my most recent videos ... pretty much all taken in March!
I'm going to be 11 months old tomorrow and I'm very excited because that means in just one more month I will be 1 year old!
Mommy says that since LB is coming soon I need to learn to share my space with him. Basically it just means that mommy doesn't want to make another blog for LB. So this place is not just gonna be all about me anymore.
Hahaha ... what am I saying. It's always going to be all about me! But LB will be visiting a whole lot so you'll see a whole lot of him more I guess.

Well, I have lots of pictures to share but for now just enjoy the videos!

Love,
Aiden

10 friggin months old!!!!

kyaaaaaaaaa~~~~

Can't believe it! 10 months old and in 2 months he's gonna be a whole year old!

It makes me so proud and yet so nostalgic at the same time ... lucky for me I'm gonna have another baby so I won't miss his baby stage too much ...

Before I forget here are his measurements:

Weight: 8.3 kg (only small weight gain attributed to his being sick for so long and rejecting food)

Height: 72.5 cm (compared to his usual 0.5 cm growth in the past few months, this month he grew 1.5 cm!)

Head circumference: 42.5 (I think ... I forgot and I can't look at his book cause it's in the car)

He is 'catching up' to the average size so the doctor is quite pleased.

He spent 2 weeks of this past month being sick (poor baby) so he hasn't had a lot of time to learn new things ... but he is just generally growing and getting smarter doing little things here and there to just make us so happy and proud.

He has started 'walking' by holding onto things ... learning to re position himself and shift his weight to get different places.

2 more teeth are starting to come out on the upper side ... they started right around the time he was sick so it was like a double whammy and my poor love had a hard time coping. Also they didn't come out one at a time like they have been so far but came out simultaneously so that seems to be hard for him too.

Grandma has been gone a lot taking care of great-Grandma since great-Grandpa passed away, so it seems Papoosie has forgotten her a little. Also coupled with him being sick and just generally being sticky to mom more ... it makes her sad. He's totally fine if she keeps him while I take a nap, or something ... but if I am in the same room he will try to come to me, and now that he has 'please' mastered we can't really say no if he's asking so nicely.

I've been trying to introduce him to the next stage of eating ... self feeding!!!! I steamed some carrots, we got some non-salted cheese, I tried bananas, etc ... I put them on a plate and try to get him used to feeding himself. I wrote about this before, but even with his toys, he really prefers his forefinger and will only use that one finger to pick up toys, etc. So he does the same thing with these foods ... so obviously he has a hard time picking them up. Then he gets frustrated and just starts playing with the plate which leads to all the food ending up on the floor. hehehehe ... but when he does get some food in his hands it goes properly to his mouth. He also started spitting out foods he doesn't like. Before he used to eat anything (pretty much) ... but now if he doesn't like the taste he will spit it out. He doesn't like bananas anymore ... or if we give him some of our food sometimes such as pasta, he will suck all the meat/sauce and spit out the pasta part. I just hope he doesn't start spitting out his veggies ... up until now he's been so good with the veggies.

Sleeping is still rough ... still wakes up many times throughout the night to be held ... if we don't pick him up he will crawl to where were are and sprawl himself out on top of one of us. I'm trying not to pick him up so we'll see how he does. At least he doesn't drink in the middle of the night. He goes the whole night without drinking and will take his bottle in the very early morning after waking up.

Well I don't know what else ... I've been a lot more tired these days (I started my 3rd trimester YAY!) ... I take naps 1 out of 3 days and for like 2 hours. (TG for Grandma! hehhehe)

Anyways, my baby is just growing and growing (along with Little Boss, of course).

I don't know how it's possible but I love him more and more everyday! How does the heart not burst with all this mushy mushy-ness???

Hehehe ... I will post photos soon ...

Proud of myself

So yesterday I was making Papoosie's fruit puree (the veggie one grandma makes cause I can't stand the smell), and since we didn't have any bananas I asked Como-kun to go pick some up. (The fruit store is right down the road) He came back 10 minutes later with more than just bananas! So we went a little crazy and made a whole week's worth of fruit puree ... avocado, banana, kiwi, pear, pineapple, plum ... we were there for 30 minutes peeling and coring and cutting and wheeeeeeee blending. It turned out quite nice and I enjoyed the leftover avocado and pineapple and plum. No reason why Little Boss shouldn't enjoy some good ol' healthy fruits too.

Papoosie was quite happy and ate it all up. I really like the Avent food containers we have cause they seal nicely and we put them in the fridge or freezer depending on how much we made. Grandma is able to make 4 days or so worth of veggie puree at a time too so it's just awesome.

I'm proud of myself cause Papoosie loves his food so much ... the veggie puree has almost every veggie grandma can get her hands on ... with chicken too (so it STINKS ... but doesn't taste too bad actually ehehehe), and the fruit puree we made is just AWESOME too. He also loves yogurt so he's a regular healthy boy. Gonna try some tuna and sardines this week ... mixed into his puree so he can't taste it too much.

YAY for uber healthful food! I just hope he likes it even when he stops eating it as a puree and more as solids. Hrmmmmmmm

9 months old

I've been meaning to do his 9 month update but between work and baby (and now me and daddy) being sick I just haven't managed.

But he's growing so much!

-Crawling ... he really started a while back, but it's a funny belly scooting type ... funny thing is that he really gets going fast even though he doesn't have the proper form going on. He does get the proper form starting out, but then he gets so excited to move that he lets his legs go and kind of drags himself like army style. He especially loves chasing balls around!

-More than crawling, he LOVES standing up/walking. He will try to pull himself up on anythingso I always gotta make sure he doesn't topple over or pull whatever he's pulling down on himself. Sometimes I just wish he would sit still and play tho ....

-Been trying to teach him to say please for things he wants, cause he's been starting to freak out and cry if he can't get something he wants ... just trying to show him that if he wants something he doesn't have to make a big deal ... so far no luck ... but it seems like it has taught him how to clap. Which leads to ...

-Clapping and dancing. He LOVES music and certain songs Grandma sings to him or videos we show him he will bounce up and down to, or clap to ... its so adorable ... he also sometimes claps for himself ... sometimes ... when he does something good ... like we clap for him after he finishes all his food ... and he claps along with us ... he also does this funny leg tapping thing when we sing for him or listen to music. Just one leg bounces to the music ... its just funny.

-Been trying out some self-feeding ... some cheese, bread, fruit, etc. I'm not brave enough to give him the puree or yogurt that we feed him cause I know he'll make a huge mess and I'm not ready for that yet. He does this quirky thing when he picks up the food from the tray or my hand. He does this with toys too, but he doesn't grab it with his whole hand, or his thumb and forefinger. He does this funny thing with just his forefinger. He rolls it back and forth a little, then brings it into his hand and of course that makes it hard for him to get the piece of food into his mouth .. .but it's just so funny. He does it with toys too ... just rolls them around with his forefinger before picking it up. Weird baby.

-Feeding continues to go well. Now I don't puree his veggies completely and leave some soft lumps in there to get him used to the whole 'chewing' concept so he doesn't choke. He LOOOOOOOOVES food which is awesome cause when we go eat out he will sit (relatively) still in his stroller as long as I am feeding him parts of chicken, some bread, etc. He loves sharing our food with us and seems to know when he is being fed his 'puree' instead of 'big ppl food'.

-Has 3 teeth now! The 2 on the bottom, one on top and his 4th one it juuuust starting to show like it's getting ready to come out.

-Getting so skilled at 'multitasking' ... he does one thing with one hand while doing something else with the other. No specific example comes to mind but when I see it it just amazes me.

-He tries so hard to talk these days. Dada now dominates most of it ... somehow he does seem to understand it relates to daddy somehow cause it comes out a lot when he's tired or fussy and wants to go to dad. Which is a little sad, but he likes daddy more than mommy. It's understandable I guess ... I spend less time with him and since I started getting belly problems I just can't hold him as much as he would like so a lot of time with me is spent playing alongside each other instead of playing dakko games like does with dad. Dad also lets him sleep on his tummy during nap time and I just can't do it anymore. waaaaaaaaaaaa. But he still loves mommy ... I guess it's all about his mood.

He's such a sweet baby and I really feel like he's growing up too fast! Course I want him to start walking soon before Little Boss comes around, but looking at recent pics of him I just don't see a baby anymore ... he's such a grown-up little boy! So smart and sweet and just the best son EVER!!

Some recent pics ... I haven't taken many recently ... gotta take some more ...

Newest toy! I've always wanted one of these 'playbox' thingies with multiple activities ... I was so excited for this!!!

With him moving around so much we bought him a playpen for his 9 month birthday. He fell off the bed again cause he gets over the pillows now so I needed it for when I am alone in the house ... bathroom, laundry ... etc etc ...

My most recent pic of him. I saw this and couldn't get over how 'grown up' he looked! He doesn't look like a little baby anymore!!!

Christmas catchup

Photos from Christmas!

I had such a busy Christmas! Mom was busy working and so was Dad but we still found time to do lots of fun things! 

These aren't really in order and they are all on Facebook but for my rellies and friends who don't have Mom's FB ... enjoy!

This romper and clock toy I got from Godmother and Godfather!!!

Christmas with a girlfriend ... 

Christmas photoshoot with Mom

Visiting Dad at work (TEG)

The Christmas tree at the Center

The Christmas tree at TEG

Playdate with Tsucchi!!!

Presents from Mom and Dad and Grandma and Cousin Arlinda!

 More fun with Tsucchi!!!