"Roll It, Pat It, and Mark it with an A!"

Aidan "made" his first cookies with Nana today. He LOVED it! Looks like Play-Doh is just around the corner...

"Little Ashley"

Aidan LOVES playing with toys at Nana and Papa Lou's house...it's like his very own toy store! My mom always calls Aidan "Little Ashley" because he looks (and acts) a lot like me when I was little. She said today that she loves it because it's like watching me grow up all over again. Here we both are playing on a little horse. Aidan is 19 months old in these pictures and I was celebrating my 1-year old birthday.

Beauty School Drop-Out!

We took Aidan to get his hair cut today. It was his second haircut, but first time at an actual "salon". It felt like we had just walked into a Dr. Seuss book when we walked through the door- so colorful and fun! It started off great as we waited for his turn. He played with all of the toys and wandered around the place checking it out. It all pretty much went downhill fast as soon as he was strapped in the chair and apron placed around his neck. We tried all the distractions...bubbles, lollipops, animal crackers, TV, Mike and Monkey pretending to get their hair cut, noisy toys...nothing worked. Aidan freaked out! We finally had to hold his arms and head to get some sort of finished product. After all of that I definitely think they need an adult beverage stand in children's hair salons!

19 Months Old

A few tid-bits about Aidan at 19 months old:

- He LOVES books! He loves to read them before naptime, bedtime, and well, throughout the day! You can even catch him reading by himself.

- He's a CLIMBER! He is our little monkey remember...Aidan climbs everything!

- He has become a pretty picky eater, but LOVES cheese!

- He still doesn't like sweets...seriously?

- He can count to 5 by himself and 10 alternating numbers with me or Nana

- He loves to call people on the phone- the real telephone and his old cell phone Papa gave him- during his "conversation" you will hear, "Hi, Aidan." "Huh?!?" "Love you!" and "Bye."

- He has had lots of ear infections and will be getting tubes on September 18th

- When he doesn't like something or someone he will say, "No, no, no...not nice!" (like when my parent's dog Sawyer barks a lot.)

- He LOVES to dance! Aidan has some pretty awesome dance moves for a 19-month old! ;)

- He "sings" Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in the cutest voice

- His favorite show is Yo, Gabba Gabba (it's painful to watch over and over again!) He also still loves Sid the Science Kid

- He loves to point out all of the motocycles and cars while we are driving.

- He loves to play basketball in the garage and would live outside if we let him.

- He is fearless...of the pool, ocean, just about everything! We constantly have to keep an eye on him.

- He likes to sit on his little seat on the potty and pretend he is going to the bathroom (toilet paper in hand and all)

- He's left-handed

- He always has his monkey, lovey, and paci nearby- his paci is getting ready to go as he has started to bite them off

- He still calls his sippy cup of milk, "Ba-Ba" (aka bottle of milk)

- He can run really fast!

- He got a lollipop for the first time from the doctor's office this week and now LOVES his "pop-pops"!

- He has tantrums and gets frustrated...phew! Aidan can be very dramatic and stubborn at times

- He loves to snuggle

- Whenvever we pull into the Target parking lot he says, "All done!" Doesn't he know Target is my favorite store and we will be going there at least 4 times a week?

He is LOVED far beyond anything he can comprehend! What an amazing kid I've got...if I do say so myself! I love you Aidan!

Fun in the Sun

Aidan, Nana, and I packed my car to the brim and headed to Ocean Isle for a LONG weekend! Nana and I need a vacation from our vacation...man can Aidan GO! Anthony ("Noo-CH") and Angela ("A-n-g-e-LLLAA") joined us too! Fearless Aidan LOVED the ocean and would have ventured out farther had we let him. He loved digging in the sand, rubbing sand on his legs, licking the salty, ocean water, throwing wet sand, collecting shells on walks, and riding in his wagon (that he fell out of and onto the cement because he stood up-notice the nice scratched face!)

What sweet memories we made as we played and soaked up the beautiful weather. It is so much fun as a parent to see your child experience something new and enjoy every moment of it. It reminds me of all the little, simple things in life that can bring happiness to us. Aidan was a little bit of an almost terrible 2-year old every now and then, but whoever said this parenting thing would be easy right? And...I think he still has an ear infection (in his defense...)

Here are a couple of my FAVORITE pictures from the weekend. Thank you Nana (mom), Uncle Nuch (Anth), and Angela for coming and enjoying this precious time with Aidan...we both LOVE all of you so much!

And just a few more...