Our sweet niece celebrated her first birthday today.
First birthdays are so special. I have always been amazed at the development in the first year but now that I have truly witnessed it first hand with Ayden, I've gained a whole new respect. A baby starts out as this tiny being who sleeps a lot, can only see about a foot in front of them and doesn't even realize that their hands are their own. Then, by their first birthday, they have more than doubled their size, and are a little person full of personality who can walk (or close to it) and even talk a little. It is truly amazing.
Only 4 months until we'll be celebrating for this little man!
Our niece is the only girl out of my parent's 6 grandchildren and is our little princess, hence the theme of the party. It was a beautiful day and my parents' garden is always the most amazing backdrop for any occasion. The Fairy Princess enjoyed opening her gifts (well, at least the first few) and came away with a stroller, purse, baby dolls, plenty of clothes and books. She was so cute pushing her stroller around everywhere after the party.
Ayden enjoyed watching all of the other kids playing. He was the youngest and couldn't take his eyes off of any kid (or dog) who ran by. We think he was taking notes because he was practicing his standing a whole lot when we got home.
"Is this how they were doing it?"
We borrowed a push toy from my parents' house and Ayden is already a fan. We have to be with him when he uses it, though, because it can get away from him and could result in a pretty bad face plant. We think it will really help him strengthen those walking muscles. Ayden was a good sport letting several different people hold him and was giving out smiles left and right. Our little cutie!
We always assume the responsibility of photographer and videographer at family functions and our gift is usually a video/photo mantage of the event. It saves us from spending money on a toy that usually just gets lost in the shuffle and helps everyone have a keepsake to keep the memories alive. I am just hoping my sisters will return the favor for Ayden's birthday so we won't have to worry about it. We did get a few family pictures that I think are pretty frame worthy:
David and I are so tired after a pretty busy weekend. Our only downtime was when we were sleeping so now that Ayden is asleep we are going to veg for a while before going to bed ourselves. We have a big week ahead of us with preparations for another weekend out of town (Jess and Adam's wedding!!) and plenty of household to do's.
Ayden has been sleeping better and has been in a stellar mood the past few days. We are so glad to be out of that little rough patch. He slept the whole way there in the car, took a decent nap on the way back down the mountain and slept a little more on the way home. On the way there I read some of Mocking Jay to David and on the way home we meal planned and made the grocery list. We all enjoyed the quiet, sleepy time.
Ayden in our framed backpack was the talk of the trail.
Everyone we passed said something like, "He's living the high life!" or "I need something like that in my size!" And of course, he was Mr. Social, it was pretty funny. We also passed a few other babies. There was a six month old snoozing away in a soft structured carrier and a FOUR WEEK OLD in a wrap. The mom, obviously only 4 weeks postpartum, was trucking along with her husband and three older children. I suppose if you are on your fourth child, letting your body heal for 6 weeks is a joke... My midwife would have killed me if I had gone for a big hike at only 4 weeks postpartum but, to be honest, I would have been up for it. Not only did I feel great physically by 4 weeks but I also was completely stir crazy by then and a hike would have felt amazing!
We saw a lot of beautiful things out there in nature. There were a lot of neat erosion patterns and rock formations,
the view from the top was beautiful
and there were also the little things like caterpillars and bubbling streams to admire. The air was fresher out there and the sounds of the woods are alway so calming.
When we got back we met up with our friends Whit and Kellen for some delicious dinner at their house and then enjoyed a round of mini golf.
It was past Ayden's bedtime but the black/strobe lights and loud music were giving him way too much to look at and listen to; so he fought falling asleep for a little while but finally gave in. Attempting to golf with Ayden strapped to my front was tricky at first but by the end I had figured out a few adjustments and did *better* than when we started. David and Kellen tied, Whitney came in next with Ayden and me in last place.
I plan to come back to this post and add some pictures from our DSLR but I'm too tired to mess with all of it tonight (We need to move some files over to our external hard drive, then import, etc.). I'll add a link to a future post once I get around to it so you can come back and see some of the beauty through a better lens.
Tomorrow is our niece's birthday party. I can't believe she is one already... She is only 4 months older than Ayden! His first birthday will be here before we know it, especially with the holiday season creeping up on us. This year has really flown by!!
We had a house showing from 2-3 today so I spent the day getting our house back into shape. When we had those two back to back showings, we kept our house in tip top shape for a while; but then we had a lull in showings and went back to our old, lazy habits of letting papers pile up on the kitchen table, clothes pile up on the chair in our room, etc.
I am proud to say that I prioritized, stuck to my plan and managed my time very well. Here is what Ayden was doing while I changed the sheets on our bed:
I set him up to play with some different balls and got to work. Then I heard his little guinea pig squeak laugh so I looked up to find him peering up over the side of the bed, obviously finding it hilarious. SOOO adorable, I just love that kid!
Ayden got in an hour long morning nap in his crib, during which I got ready, we had lunch when he woke up, completed a few finishing touches and were out of the house by 1:50. The best part was that there wasn't any stress at all. Go me!
Trying out the Didymos hip hold while I cleaned
While I was cleaning, I found my old 1" curling iron in a bag under my bed. I had been trying to curl my hair with a bigger one (maybe 2"?) and it would always fall out really quickly and get frizzy. I don't know what magic is in a smaller barrel but I was so happy with how the curls turned out today! I used it curling wand style (aka, didn't use the clamp) and like the more natural look that method gave the loose curls.
I also found an outfit on Pinterest this morning that incorporated pieces that I already had in my wardrobe but had never thought to pair together (only my colors were reversed as you can see above).
Yay for actually using Pinterest! I am really enjoying the extra time Ayden is giving me to get ready because I like being girly.
To kill time during the hour of the showing, we went to Kroger for some bank business and to pick up some household items and dog bones that we can't get during our weekly trips to Whole Foods. We also went to Target to pick up a few things for Ayden. Since he has mastered the straw, I wanted to get some of those BPA free cups with straws/lids for morning smoothies and to keep at grandparents houses and such. I also got some more Boogie Wipes because they have been great while Ayden battles his first runny nose. I don't want him to despise having his nose wiped and the fact that they are moist, pleasantly scented and non-toxic really helps. He is much more patient for my boogie digging and nose wiping when I use Boogie Wipes than he is if I try to use a tissue or wet wash cloth.
Ayden seems to have grown accustomed to people stopping to smile and say hi to him because he smiles and looks expectantly to everyone who passes us. Most of them gave his predicted response and stopped to interact with him. One man surprised Ayden, though, and walked by without so much as a glance. Ayden kept smiling at the man's back as he walked away, because surely he'd come back to say hi. But when he didn't, Ayden's smile fell as he watched the man walk away, probably wondering why it didn't go according to plan. It was super cute! Whenever people do stop to say hi, or even walk by, and are greeted with Ayden's huge open-mouthed smile, they always say, "My! What a happy baby!" or "Is he always this happy?" Those who know Ayden well know that he has intense emotions across the spectrum. If he is happy, he is SOOO happy! But if he is mad, you had better watch out. He is like his daddy in this way and such passion will take him far. Ayden is lucky to have a dad who will know first hand how to teach him to keep his temper in check, and love like there is no tomorrow. I also feel so lucky to now have two men in my life to love me so fiercely. Not a day will pass for the rest of my life that isn't filled with love and that means that I am set because love is all you need.
Mr. Social Wouldn't you stop and say hi too?!?
When we got home from our errands, we played while I did small chores like folding towels while we waited for David to get home. Ayden gets super excited for his homecoming now, which is awesome! The problem is that after David greets us, he likes to change clothes and do a couple of routine, wind down tasks (dump the compost bucket, go through the mail, etc) but once David is home, Ayden is ready to play immediately.
We had dinner and David rode his bike to pick up a RedBox DVD for a little date night while I gave Ayden his bath and got him to sleep. We are going hiking again tomorrow! I can't wait to be out in the fresh air. We are going to take our DSLR so maybe I can get some of those pictures on here for tomorrows post.
Ayden had another great night last night! Lately, once I get my boys tucked into bed, I've been having some much needed "me" time. Since Ayden's not a very consistent napper, I don't have any guaranteed down time during the day. He always takes two naps but they range anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour and a half depending on the day. Sometimes the morning nap is long and the afternoon short or vice versa. My point is that I can't plan to do xyz "during nap time" because your guess is as good as mine about whether I'll even have time to start a task. I am okay with this because Ayden is usually a happy camper so he is obviously getting the rest he needs when he needs it. He was actually a fussier baby back when I was attempting sleep training Baby Whisperer style but I digress. Lately I have been getting up after the boys are asleep to surf Pinterest or paint my nails. It's not much, only 20-30 minutes or so, but it is enough! I by nature am a solitary creature. I have always been more of a people watcher than socialite and I am okay with that. I hadn't realized how much I had been craving predictable alone time until I started making it happen.
My evening workouts (Tuesday/Thursday TurboKick) have been falling through lately for various reasons and I've been missing that time for myself too so I tried a morning class today. Ayden woke up at 7:15 (on his own! I really need to remember to trust in the natural flow of things...) so I decided to go to the 9:30am Hip Hop Hustle class and LOVED it! It was at the same place so the class was still just $5, child care only $2, and Ayden was the only child! He played one on one with a very nice gal named Stacey while I got to enjoy some hip hop, which I haven't done since I was on the pom squad in college. I had a blast and Ayden did great! When class was over, I went in to get him and he crawled over with a big smile on his face and climbed into my lap. All the toys that I brought for him were spread out all over the floor and when I set him down to clean them up, that is when he started crying. It was like he was saying, "Okay mom, it was fun while it lasted but I'm not doing it again!".
Class was over at 10:30 and our weekly story time was at 11 so we went straight to the bookstore. Ayden fell asleep on the way there (when he wakes at 7:30, story time and nap time always collide) and didn't wake up until there were only two songs left. My sister and her kids were there, and I figure he'd wake at some point before it was over, so we just hung around while he snoozed in his carseat.
The rest of the day was spent following my sister around town while she purchased party supplies. Our niece turned one on the 25th and her party is on Sunday. I also went to Kohls because Ayden was in desperate need for some pants that fit and they have a brand called Jumping Beans that fits him perfectly. It is a line of mix and match separated and each piece is only $5.99. Along with my consignment store finds, he should be set Fall wardrobe wise until my sister gets around to lending us our nephews 6-9 month bin. Then we'll have too many clothes!
Ayden fell asleep around 8:00 and we're hoping for another great night! I think for my me time tonight I'm going to watch a few YouTube videos while I make a photo album for Ayden. He has had a Sassy photo album since before he was born. He used to look at the high contrast pictures that are behind the sleeves but now he's more than ready to have some real pictures in it. I printed a family picture from our vacation, pictures of both sets of grandparents and pictures of his aunts, uncles, cousins and our closest friends. All of his most important people all in one place! It's been on my to do list for a while, but projects like that, though easy to complete alone, are darn near impossible to work on with a busy baby crawling about. It'll be so nice to get it done. I can't wait to see him choose it from his book shelf just like all of his other favorite books!
Ayden had the best night of sleep that he's had in a while last night and boy did we welcome it! He only woke two times, both of which were quietly to eat and fall right back to sleep. A-mazing! It is interesting how every single time he goes through some sort of phase I always assume that it's a new " thing." When it finally passes I tell myself, "Next time just remind yourself that it's only a phase..." only to worry all over again the next time. It's just that the phases rarely look the same and if said phase revolves around lack of sleep, exhaustion takes over and makes the big, long term picture kind of fuzzy.
We have somehow shifted to a 9pm-9am night sleep, though which is not ideal. It takes 2 hours out of my day before David gets home which makes it hard to get everything in order so that I'm not "working" when we should be spending time together. Waking at 9am is better for tomorrow's story time, since the 11am story time falls when he'd usually like to nap, so I've decide to let him sleep in tomorrow; but perhaps wake him at 7:30 on Friday in hopes to reset his internal clock.
Dinner worked out perfectly for us tonight! I made a huge batch of home made spaghetti sauce (we like to double the recipe and freeze it to use later) in the crockpot and stuffed peppers and put them in the fridge. When I called David to let him know we were on our way home, all he had to do was heat the oven, ladle some of the sauce over the stuffed peppers and bake them. It worked so well that I think this will be our new Wednesday dinner system.
It was dance night! The evening went well and Ayden was awesome! He crawled around with his cousin and spent some time in the studio frame bouncer:
And took a 45 minute nap in the Ergo. He was a little champ! As far as my flex girls completing my challenge, they all said that they tried but that it was harder than they thought and didn't make it. Not a single one... I'm not surprised but it just reminds me of how disappointed I am that our society sets an expectation of flawlessness yet promotes such unhealthy eating and skewed ideas of how to be healthy. I asked if there would be any interest in my starting a Facebook page where I could post a little something daily, whether it be a clean meal/snack idea or a motivational quote and they were really excited about that idea. They even asked if their friends from school could join too. The desire is there, they just need support to follow through. It seems as though this situation mirrors that of a breastfeeding mother...
Ayden's bath time has become something that I look forward to every night. He stands and holds onto the side of the tub and watches it fill (we have a raised, baby tub inside the actual bath tub). Once he's in he likes to take a wash cloth and suck on it and splash with it. He also loves his tiny rubber duck that his Great Aunt Sharon gave him at one of my baby showers, as well as a Winnie The Pooh water temperature gauge. Pooh is floating on a raft with his own rubber duck and Ayden looks at that tiny little duck like he'd like to take it off and suck on its head like he does his others.
Looks like us in the lazy river on vacation :)
After the bath we turn his soother music on while we give him a lavender lotion massage, put on his night time diaper and I nurse him to sleep. Some days we get the timing just right and it is a seamless routine. Other days he's not tired enough and others he's over tired and cranky. It is still a consistent routine that gives him all the cues so I know as he gets older it work better and better.
He's all snuggled in now and we are hoping for another awesome night!
Pictures are up for our "No Sun Fun Day" from our vacation! Be sure to go back and check them out! Only one more day to edit and all of our vacation posts will be complete with photos.
We have witnessed quite the jump in Ayden's cognitive development recently. It's like things have begun to "click." He is looking for things that we name (now the list is up to Daddy, Mommy, cat/Polly, dog/Maverick, duck, light, music, books, and he can also locate his private parts on command) listening with wonder to sounds outside of the house (eg. trains, vehicles, dogs etc), he's choosing a larger variety of books, babbling in all kinds of syllable combinations and now, he is dancing!
We have exposed him to music since he was in utero and even now we have a song for everything. He did this little dance over the weekend but we weren't sure if that is what he was doing or not because a) there wasn't any music playing and b) we had never seen it before. But since he chose to do it several times today, and only to the music, I think it's safe to say that we have a dancer on our hands. Now I can say, "dance" and he'll do it! I suppose him waving counts as well, but it's still so hit or miss that we may be able to say that dancing is the first actual action that he is doing on command.
He is also starting to immitate sounds that we make (his current favorite is a lip smacking sound that I would love to shape into a kiss) and initiated a game of peek-a-boo over the side of the bed yesterday.
It is as if reaching the 8 month mark opened up a new understanding of the world for him and it is so fun!
As for sleep, last night was much better. Not great, but better! I think he has reached the peak of this Wonder Weeks leap and is back on the downward slope to being more content and sleeping better. He actually went down pretty easily tonight but it's the staying asleep part that is tricky for him.
I will be making some homemade spaghetti sauce tomorrow and it's dance teaching night! I am eager to see if any of my students lived up to my "no processed foods for a week" challenge. Did any of you??
I was feeling extra girly today. I curled my hair, spent a little extra time on my makeup, put on my fake pearl earrings and even busted out my Fall/Winter boots.
Outfit of the day!
Shirt: American Eagle
Skinny Jeans: Target
Boots: ALDO
Baby: Our undying love (hehe)
Putting the extra time into my appearance then made me want to get out of the house. No sense in being all dressed up with no place to go! I finished my usual morning routine,
Picture for David on our walk.
I LOVE how he is looking at me. It totally melted my heart when I saw that!
had lunch after Ayden woke from his morning nap (during which I painted my nails my favorite Fall color, You Don't Know Jacques by OPI) then headed to the mall.
"helping" me push the stroller
We had a store credit at Gymboree, from returns I made when Ayden was a newborn, and a gift card for Bath and Body Works. Here is what I got:
Gymboree
long sleeve airplane onsie: $1.59
long sleeve, collard wrecking ball shirt: $4.79
short sleeve tie tee: $7.99
footed airplane PJs: $4.80
Total with tax: $20.33 (and I still have a little left on my store credit!)
If you have ever shopped full price at Gymboree you know that I got a STEAL!!!
Bath and Body Works
Fall scented soap for our downstairs bathroom: $5.50
Fall scented mini candles: 2 for $5
Total with tax: $20.33
Still have $7.66 left on my gift card (Christmas scented hand soap perhaps?)
Now it was time to treat myself. I have been drawn to the women's fashion category on Pinterest lately and there were a couple of outfits that I wanted to piece together. I had been planning on spending my personal money from this pay period on my haircut that I got on Friday; but it was cheaper than I had planned so I had some money left. Not much, though, so I headed where everyone heads to buy cheap but cute stuff. Forever 21!
belt: $5.80
tights: $9.80
I purchased this skirt on sale at Fossil 2 seasons ago:
I had seen this picture either in the Fossil catalog or online just after purchasing the skirt and wanted to get a belt and tights to wear with it and my cowboy boots during the Fall. I never did it that season, then I was pregnant last year and couldn't wear a high waisted skirt, so I was excited to get to wear it this year! I went with off white tights because they will go with more of my tops. Hopefully they will be as cute as I have been picturing them. Perhaps I'll actually wear the skirt that's been living in my closet with the tags still on...
All I needed to complete these looks were the blazer and the denim shirt. Forever 21 has both but the shirt was $20 and the blazer was $30. I realize that is relatively cheap, as far as clothes are concerned, but still more than my personal money would allow so I was off to The Goodwill to treasure hunt. Here is what I found:
black blazer: The Limited - $5.00
denim button down: LL Bean - $3.00
According to the return policy at The Goodwill, I have 10 days to decide if I can turn these items into what I am looking for. The blazer is in my size but does not have the striped fabric inside the cuff, which is the only reason that I would want to wear the blazer. I'll need to see if that is something my mom can help me with. The denim shirt above is longer and blousier than the shirt from the Pinterest inspired outfit and also doesn't have a collar. It does have some small ruffle detailing down the buttons and around the bottom that doesn't really come through in the picture though. I was thinking that since I'll be pairing it with leggings, it might be nice to have it a bit longer and the fact that it doesn't have a collar won't matter since I'll be wearing a scarf. We shall see...
Whether it is a craft, DIY project or an outfit, it is alway fun to actually do/make/use the things that you pin on Pinterest. Otherwise it is just electronic hoarding, right? With how we are trying to downsize and minimize our lives, it will be a challenge to still be the girly girl that I like to be when I'm not an over-exhausted new mom. I don't want to loose that part of myself because I do enjoy looking nice but I do want to challenge myself to purge some of the old clothes that I don't wear anymore (which I have already started doing since half of my old Fall/Winter clothes are in the Goodwill pile in our garage) and to get creative in finding cheaper versions of the clothes that I find in the mall or outfits that I find on Pinterest. If you had told the highschool me that I'd become a thrift store shopper, I'd have called you crazy! Waste not, want not, purchasing used just makes sense! It also gets your creative juices flowing.
Ayden was a great little shopping buddy, as always. He took a late afternoon nap for about a half hour while we were at The Goodwill and was in an excellent mood until he went to bed. We started his bedtime routine at 7:00 in an effort to get him to bed earlier but he was ready to party for some reason He didn't get to sleep until 9:30 which is the latest he's ever gone to bed on a normal day without vacation or some event to disrupt the usual routine. If it becomes a new "thing" I suppose we'll have to make some nap adjustments. At least he was cute and happy while we were waiting for him to get tired. We want to keep an early bedtime for him, though, because it is nice to have a couple of evening hours together as a couple while Ayden sleeps. Our nights have also gotten rough again which is a bummer. We are going to give it a little time to see if it might be a phase but if it's not, we're going to have to do something to help Ayden improve his ability to stay asleep for longer stretches. Just when you get used to things working one way, it's time to change them again and it sure keeps us on our toes!
Since I got a good dose of civilization today, I plan to stay home tomorrow and knock out some To Do's!
My 10 year reunion went great last night! There weren't a ton of people there but it was fun to catch up with the people who did show up.
Ayden did okay for my mom. He did wake up about an hour after we left, as per usual, and got pretty upset when he saw her instead of us. She said he cried for a while and was looking all around but eventually gave in and went back to sleep. That was the only time he woke up for her so that wasn't too bad. She hung out and watched movies and told us we could have stayed out even later if we had wanted. I pumped as soon as I got home, I don't think the girls could have lasted much longer!
The past couple of nights have been really rough sleep wise. I don't think I've ever been more happy about our choice to bed share. I cannot even imagine actually getting out of bed as many times as Ayden woke up. The thing is, he doesn't fully wake. It seems as though he's having nightmares. Every hour or so he'll start screaming and rolling around. He seems comforted by our touch and will resettle quickly but man it makes for a rough night. He finally settled enough around 6am to get us all about 2 consecutive hours of sleep which made a world of difference. We keep reminding ourselves that according to The Wonder Weeks, one of the side effects of Ayden's current leap can be nightmares so we are keeping our fingers crossed that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We are half way through this "stormy" period... He has also seemed to have a bit of a runny nose the past couple of days. It's clear and not terrible but it could be bothering him at night. David even suggested allergies? I don't suffer from seasonal allergies but David always did so perhaps he takes after him?
After Ayden woke up from his morning nap (about 45 minutes in his crib) we got ready for a family practice hike.
One of the outfits from my consignment haul. He looks like such a big boy!
We plan to go for a bigger hike in a gorge next weekend and David wanted to test out the framed backpack that we have for Ayden.
It went great! Ayden was almost silent for the first half of the hike, just taking it all in. Then he started babbling and enjoyed looking at and touching things as we passed by. He eventually fell asleep but the carrier doesn't really have a great place for him to lay his head so it was bobbling around until he finally gave in and rested his cheek on his hand.
When we got back to the car and David took the pack off, Ayden was still asleep and it looked so funny!
Here are a couple of other pictures from the hike:
HUGE tree
Sneaky David...
The rest of the day was AMAZING for Ayden. That nap wasn't long but he fell asleep peacefully, slept well and woke up extremely content and stayed that way until he went to bed. David had plans to go hunting so it was just Ayden and myself for the evening. He played so well in the kitchen while I cooked dinner:
Ayden actually consumes most of his foods now! Here is the recipe for the cacao nib pork chops with butternut squash and spinach.
Then, in an effort to help Ayden sleep better, I started our evening routine a little earlier. We went for our walk:
Cute hand-me-down jacket from NY cousins! Maybe a bit girly, though?
Then he had a bath and was asleep by 7:30. I think I'll keep trying to move it earlier until he's getting to bed by 7. Right now it is only 9:24 and he's already woken up twice [[sigh]] so we shall see...
Now I'm going to put away laundry and clean up the kitchen from dinner while I wait for David to get home. Fun, fun!
We had our first play date today! It is interesting that it fell on the day of my 10 year reunion because the hostess not only had her baby just a week or two after I had Ayden, but she also graduated with me.
We listened to the rest of the University of KY football game on the way and since it was such a beautiful day we had the windows down and were soaking up the fresh air. Yet another reason why Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons! Summer is too hot and Winter is too cold and you never get a whole lot of fresh air. Ayden must have enjoyed the fresh air too because he peacefully fell asleep just a few minutes after we got him into the car (why can't he do that on a real road trip??).
It was a play date sponsored by Fisher Price so there were lots of fancy toys to play with. Of course Ayden wanted to put everything in his mouth. We tried to keep him from it for a little while but, like the sand on our vacation, there was no stopping him. We stayed for about an hour and a half and he did great! He got fussy for a little while after another, bigger kiddo stood on his foot but cheered up after a while.
We left and went straight to the grocery and the rest of the night will be dinner, getting ready for my reunion and getting Ayden settled with my parents. Last night was rough and despite my efforts to nap with Ayden this morning, I am exhausted. I shall write all about out big date tomorrow!
We are just so proud of our little guy! As usual, we look to a milestone list just as a guideline and he is not only doing everything on the 8 month list:
But he's also doing almost everything on the 9 month list:
(not sure if he understands 30 words and loves peek-a-boo but doesn't play it himself)
And even some from the 10 month list:
Physical: he does everything, intellectual: he does the first two, social: does 1 and 3 (only he waves hello)
Standing, standing, standing. He's one focused little boy!
He may be small for his age but he's not letting that slow him down! Of course we are proud of Ayden's accomplishments and want him to grow and develop but it is a little bitter sweet that he is growing up so fast. I love having a baby and everyday that passes, he gets closer to being a little boy. I try to remind myself that there's no stopping him so dwelling on something so out of my control will only cause unnecessary anxiety but I just can't help it sometimes. Isn't there some way to slow it down a little??
So big already!
Ayden had his first tailgating experience tonight and it was fun! He had another 3 nap kind of day (growth spurt?) and his third nap needed to happen during our car ride. When he finally gave in he got to sleep for about 10 minutes and then we arrived at our destination. Of course he woke up but luckily he perked up for a bit. It was long enough to smile at a few people, be held by his birthday buddy and make a new friend. When he'd had enough socializing and started getting fussy, into the Ergo he went. He did not give in easily but once he finally did he was out!
A new friend!
We finally made it into the game just as they were introducing the homecoming candidates at half time. It was so weird, 10 years later, looking at the student section of the bleachers and of the "kids" on the field. Are we really this old? Day to day, David and I still feel like kids and the fact that we are parents still surprises us sometimes. Only when we are around young folk are we reminded of our age (I'm 28 and David is 30).
It was great to see the people who came, though it was only a handful since the actual reunion isn't until tomorrow night. I do have to say, though, that Facebook has taken all of the thrill and surprise out of the whole 10 year reunion thing. I wasn't surprised by how anyone looked or what they were up to or to whom they were married because all of that shows up in my newsfeed daily. It was still nice to see and talk to everyone in person, and without Facebook, I wouldn't have known about any of the arrangements at all; but at the same time, I think some level of surprise would be fun.
I put the hood up on the Ergo and Ayden ended up sleeping for almost 2 hours but the game got too exciting. He woke up during an exciting touchdown, ate and then watched the game with his daddy while I chatted with old friends.
Sleeping away his first football game!
It was a great night and we are excited for our first official date night tomorrow night! Ayden has been going to bed at around 8 these days and we'll have to leave around 7:30 so I'm not really sure what bedtime will look like. I'm guessing my mom will have to put him to sleep since I'll be all dolled up. We chose her to watch him for this occasion because she has put him to sleep more than anyone besides myself or David while she watches him at the dance studio when I teach. I have a feeling it will be okay, but part of me is still wondering how it will go. Will he be okay when he wakes up and someone else comes to put him back to sleep? What I do know is that it will only be a few hours and no matter how it goes, anyone can make it through a few hours. Who knows, maybe she'll get him down and he'll sleep the whole time...
We didn't hear a peep out of Ayden the whole way home from the game. He fell asleep before we were even out of the parking lot, barely woke up when I changed his diaper and now he's snuggled up next to me, fast asleep for the night, both of my boys are actually, and I am so ready to join them!
