Cincinnati Museum Center & Fun with a Box

Samantha: 44 Months, Week 5
Aedan: Week 42

Taking Samantha to preschool in the morning is sometimes a lot of work.  Getting both kids up and ready and out the door on time, especially when it's so cold outside, takes up a lot of energy.  It's difficult, too, because between 9:00 and 9:30 is usually when Aedan is ready to go down for his morning nap.  Sometimes he has a difficult time making it all the way without falling asleep in the car.  Last Tuesday was one of those days.  Aedan says, "Dropping Samantha off at preschool just wipes me out!"  I love how he fell asleep holding on to both of his toys.

The frustrations of Aedan's cloth diapers continued this week.  He was still wearing disposables in the meantime, and throughout the day on Monday and Tuesday I followed the directions on the Fluff Love website on how to do a mineral strip and bleach soak.  I hoped that this would help get rid of any possible build-up from using Nellie's Laundry Soda to wash my diapers.  Plus, I switched to Nellie's right before Aedan started developing the rash, so I wondered if that had anything to do with it as well.  It took a lot of work and a lot of extra washes to start my diapers over again, but I was hopeful, more like desperate for anything to work so that we could keep using cloth, but avoid this rash.

Unfortunately, on Wednesday, the first bumGenius diaper of the day gave Aedan a rash again.  I know it's just diapers and not that big of a deal, but I was so discouraged.  I was tired of thinking about how to solve our cloth diaper problem and didn't want to keep spending money on various solutions.  I posted my frustration on the Fluff Love website, and they suggested washing them a couple more times to be sure all the minerals that were brought to the surface were totally washed out.  They also suggested using a fleece liner in Aedan's diaper as protection between his skin and the diaper, that maybe the wetness and concentration of urine in that particular area of his diaper is bothering him, and that a fleece liner would wick away the moisture faster.  Another suggestion was to use a powder or cream to keep him dry and to apply it at every diaper change.  The thing I still didn't understand was that he didn't have a rash until I put him in the bumGenius diaper.  The Kawaii diapers we put him in overnight don't seem to bother his skin at all.  You'd think that if it had to do with wetness, then he would have gotten a rash from being in the other diaper all night long.  Who knows, but needless to say, I was frustrated.  Diapering shouldn't be this complicated, especially when it was so easy when we first started.

Well, despite the craziness of dealing with a diaper solution, Samantha, Aedan, and I had a fun morning.  We went to the library for story time with Mr. Chad, had a fun time singing songs, listening to stories, and playing with the puppets and toys they had available.  Samantha was also excited to return her books all by herself.  She packed her books in her Frozen backpack and carried it all by herself to the car and into the library.  She was so proud of herself, felt like a big girl, and got several compliments from library staff about how cool her backpack was.  She was then able to put her new books in her backpack to bring home.  It was neat for her to be able to help out, and it was much easier than stuffing all the books in our already full diaper bag.  I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner!

Here is a cute picture of Aedan from Wednesday night before dinner.  I sure do love this little guy.  :)  What a smile!

Wednesday night after dinner, I left Ben with the kids so that I could go to Mom's Night Out at a local Mexican restaurant to hang out with some Oxford moms.  They get together once a month, and I haven't been able to go for a couple months.  I debated whether or not I really wanted to go because sometimes I feel so awkward getting to know people and having small talk, it is certainly not my forte.  However, I have been feeling lonely and isolated lately, and I decided that staying home from Mom's Night Out would not help me feel more connected or like I have friends.  Ben got both kids in bed and to sleep by 8:00, which I was glad for.  They were definitely tired and needed to get to bed.  I had a really good time out with the other moms that night.  It was a much needed break, and I feel like I am starting to get to know some of the moms better.  I also was able to talk to Emily, the lady I ordered our cloth diapers from, about our rash issues lately.  I even showed her a picture of it, and she gave me her opinion.  She didn't think it looked like a reaction to detergent or an ammonia burn.  Her guess was that maybe it was from where the stitching was rubbing on Aedan's skin and that maybe it started just before six months simply because we changed the snaps on his diapers or it was just fitting him differently and rubbing in a different way.  She also said it could be an irritation from wetness, so she encouraged me to use a cream like CJ's BUTTer to protect his skin from irritation once we got the rash gone using hydro-cortisone cream, which is actually cloth diaper safe, so that's good to know.  I felt greatly encouraged after talking with her that night.  She encouraged me to keep going and not give up on cloth diapers just yet.  So we'll keep trying and hopefully find a solution.

Thursday was a busy day with preschool.  I hadn't made a menu or shopping list the night before since I was out at the Mom's Night Out, which caused me to rush putting one together in the morning in the midst of getting Samantha and Aedan ready.  It was a big day for Samantha as it was her Valentine's Day party at preschool.  She woke up early that day because she was so excited.  We were in charge of bringing the goodie bags, which Samantha helped me put together on Tuesday.  She also picked out princess valentines to pass out to her class.  I wrote her name lightly in pencil on each one, and then she took a pen and traced over each one.  She actually did a really great job writing her name.  They have been working on that at preschool, and I can tell because Samantha has gotten so much better at controlling her hand as she writes the letters.  When we finally got out the door and into the car, Samantha probably asked me four or five times if I remembered the bags with the goodie bags and valentines.  She was super excited about her party, plus, they got an extra half an hour of make up time as well.  When I picked her up at the end of the day, I didn't get too much out of her about what they did at the party, but I did get two highlights: she had a sprinkle doughnut for snack and they had a dance party in the gym.  Plus, she came home with a decorated box full of valentines and candy from her friends.  Sounds like a pretty good party to me!

Here are some pictures from Friday morning once Samantha and Aedan were up for the day.  They are pretty cute!

Thursday night was a bit of a rough night for Aedan.  He did not sleep well, waking up and crying several times throughout the night.  Ben actually put him down for his morning nap on Friday, and that took some work even though Aedan was really tired and rubbing his eyes from having such a rough night.  However, he woke up only half an hour later, which I was not excited about.  He was crabby and needed sleep, and I was looking forward to having some one-on-one time with Samantha while he napped.  Ben and I hoped that maybe he was teething or something which would explain his trouble with sleeping.  Who knows, babies are such a mystery, so many different things could be affecting them and we have no idea.

On Friday afternoon my friend Maggie came over during nap time to hang out and talk for awhile.  It was good to catch up with her over a cup of tea.  However, after about and hour of Samantha being in her room, she started yelling for me and said she had to go potty.  Aedan was still sleeping and was actually taking a good afternoon nap.  I didn't want her to wake him up, so I let her go to the bathroom and then just get up for the afternoon since she wasn't sleeping anyways.  Samantha has been doing this a lot lately, where she will call for Ben or me, saying she has to go potty.  When we go in her room, she will be standing there holding herself like she's about to have an accident.  She always goes potty right before her nap and can go all night without going potty.  We're thinking it's just a ruse to get out of her room sooner because she knows we will always come in if she says she has to go potty.  Anyways, once Samantha was up, it was difficult for Maggie and I to talk anymore, so we were interrupted a little bit.

Even though Aedan took a nap, he still was not in the best of moods when he woke up.  He hadn't been acting much like himself lately so maybe he's teething or going through a developmental phase or something.  Samantha was also crabby because of not napping that afternoon, so our afternoon was not the best with two cranky, sleepy kids.  Needless to say, I was pretty excited when Ben finally came home from campus that evening.  I needed a break from dealing with the kids all by myself, and I needed some adult company.  I was glad it was the weekend and looked forward to being able to relax and hang out with my husband.

Here's a little video of Aedan from Friday evening, rolling around and making his funny throat noise.  I've tried to get it on video before, but never have succeeded.  This video is perfect.  He must like how it feels in his throat when he makes that noise because he does it ALL the time!

Since we had no plans to go anywhere on Friday, Samantha requested to stay in her pajamas all day.  I didn't think it was a big deal, so I let her.  Pajama days are good, especially when it's been so cold out lately.  While Daddy and Aedan were playing on the floor on Friday night, Samantha and I played the game Robot Turtles that she got from Uncle Timmy for Christmas.  He wanted to see a video of her playing the game, so here it is!  She really enjoys this game a lot.:)

On Saturday morning we let Samantha open her Valentine's Day card from Upland Grandpa and Grandma.  Inside it was a neat card that she could color, a balloon, and best of all, a $1 bill.  Samantha loved it all and immediately wanted to color it.  So, she colored while holding the balloon in her mouth.  She also was so excited that she had "cash" as she called it.  She felt rich!

Ben and I were both feeling like getting out of the house and having some family fun on Saturday, so we decided to go to the Cincinnati Museum Center.  What better way to spend Valentine's Day with two young children than going to the children's museum!  We had never been there before and thought it would be fun to try out.  We actually ended up getting a membership because we could get a discount for Ben being a Miami employee, and the membership would pay for itself after only going two times.  It was obviously smaller than the Indianapolis Children's Museum, but it was a lot of fun.  They had a Kid Town, a ball area, and lots of hands-on activities for building and imaginative play.

They even had a younger kid play area for kids four and under.  Daddy took Aedan to the baby area where he could roll around more, and I took Samantha over to this area where she enjoyed riding a car down a little hill over and over again.

Her favorite part was probably the woods area.  They had lots of tunnels and pathways to crawl in and through, and ladders and stairs that led up like you were climbing around in the tops of trees.  In fact, Samantha played here for quite awhile and even came back to it while I went to nurse Aedan in the mother's nursing area.  I nursed him before we left home, and he fell asleep in my arms, but once we got him in the car he didn't fall back asleep again on the drive to Cincinnati.  He was so tired from not really napping at all that morning that I actually had a hard time keeping him awake to nurse that afternoon.  Once he got relaxed and comfortable in my arms, he fell right asleep, nursed for awhile, and then I was able to lay him down, get the Ergo on, and strap him in, all while he kept on sleeping.  Again, he didn't take as long of a nap in the Ergo as he probably should have, but at least it would get him through the rest of the afternoon.

Aedan's favorite place at the museum was probably the sand area, mimicking what it would be like to play on a beach.  At first I was unsure about whether to put him in the sand or not because I was afraid he would just take big handfuls and try to eat them.  However, he didn't really do that at all.  He just enjoyed digging his hands into the sand, wriggling his bare toes around, and feeling the sand run between his fingers.  It was great to watch him play.  He was having such a fun time!  We will definitely have to put our sandbox back together come spring time for now Samantha and Aedan will both enjoy playing in it.

Samantha enjoyed the sand as well, scooping and tossing it into the air, having a grand old time.

We stayed at the museum for quite awhile that afternoon since nap time for Samantha doesn't matter much anymore and Aedan can sleep easily in the Ergo.  Because of that, both kids were so tired out from being at the museum all day that they both fell asleep in the car on the way home.  I figured that Aedan would fall asleep since he hadn't napped much that day, but I didn't think that Samantha would.  She was quietly looking at books, and then all of a sudden I noticed her book fall down to the floor and her eyes droop closed.  Both Ben and I were totally shocked!  But we were so glad that she actually let herself fall asleep.  These little car naps did wonders for making it through the rest of the night at home.

Since Samantha napped in the car, we allowed her to watch a show once we got home because we figured that counted.  Then, we just had leftovers for dinner and a low-key evening after a fun, full day.  Samantha remarked later in the day, "I like that museum that's right next to our house.  It's a lot of fun!"

Here's a great video of Aedan laughing hysterically as Daddy is tickling his tummy after dinner.  Baby giggles are so great!

On Sunday we went to church like usual, after giving Aedan a little bit of a morning nap at home.  We ended up not having small group that afternoon, so we all went back home for lunch and nap time.  Samantha chose not to take a nap, but Aedan was very ready for a nap, and even Mommy and Daddy took a nap, too!  We used to take a nap every Sunday afternoon, and I kind of miss that tradition of rest and relaxation on a Sunday afternoon.

Mondays are usually our days to hang out at home.  We don't have any plans and there isn't much going on around town on Mondays.  It had snowed overnight and was very cold (not as cold as it was going to be later in the week), so we decided to hunker down and stay warm.  While Aedan napped that morning, Samantha and I read a lot of books, colored, and had hot chocolate together.  Then, before lunchtime, I got my Amazon package in the mail with several things I ordered over the weekend.  I thought Aedan might enjoy playing with the box once I got everything out.  He definitely enjoyed it, but so did Samantha!  Here are some great pictures and videos of Samantha and Aedan enjoying the box together.  Who needs toys when you have an empty cardboard box?

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Aedan Trying Meat, Aedan's Hysterical Laugh, and Date Night

Samantha: 44 Months, Week 4

Aedan: Week 41

This past week was a fairly average week.  Ben worked on campus.  Samantha had preschool.  Aedan and I went grocery shopping.  We went to the library.  I cleaned the house on Friday.  Nothing really spectacular happened, whether good or bad, it was just a normal week of doing life together.

The one thing I've had to deal with a lot lately has been Aedan's diapers.  For some reason, ever since a couple weeks before he turned 6 months old, he started getting a rash every time he wore cloth diapers, even though he had already been wearing them for awhile.  We have had the rash on and off for the last several months.  It doesn't seem to bother him it all when I touch it or wipe it during diaper changes, and he doesn't get upset or cry.  But I am concerned about him always having a rash.  It is below the band of the diaper, widespread across that area of his skin.  Whenever the rash flares back up, we will stop using cloth diapers, put him back in disposables, and use some cream and ointment to clear up the rash.  Back at his 6 month appointment, the doctor recommended we use hydro-cortisone cream covered with Vaseline three times a day.  That usually clears it up pretty quick, but most companies say not to use any barrier creams with cloth diapers because it could create a residue and make the diapers less effective.  So, this past week, Aedan was back in disposables again until I could figure out a solution to our problem.  I joined a group on Facebook that has lots of cloth diaper enthusiasts and lots of published information regarding how to care for your diapers.  I posted on that Facebook group, and they directed me to a website where it mentioned that Nellie's Laundry Soda (which is the soap I have been using), it not a recommended brand because it does not clean well enough.  They suggested I do a mineral strip followed by a bleach soak, and then start over with a proper wash routine with a real detergent.  I was unsure what to do because I didn't know if these people could be trusted because they said some things that are pretty contradictory to a lot of information I've heard in the past about cloth diapers.

So, in the meantime, Aedan wore disposables, and we worked on clearing up his rash.  Aedan's second tooth on the top, the left one, finally broke through the gums as well.  As soon as that happened on Wednesday, February 4th, Aedan started sleeping better at night.  For awhile he was waking up around 11:30 each night, and Ben would go in there to rock him back to sleep, then he would wake up again around 2:30 or 3:00 and then again in the morning.  Now that his teeth came through, he was sleeping all the way until around 5:00 a.m. again.  That was nice and a welcome relief, but then since he was wearing disposables and had them on for so long without a diaper change (and because he's a boy and sleeps on his tummy), his diapers were leaking.  He was wet three nights in a row, so much so that I had to change his pajamas and blanket wrap along with his diaper.  I actually ended up going back to his cloth diapers at night because they were much more absorbent.

Here is a video of Aedan playing.  You can see how much he can move his body around to get at different things, without even having to crawl.  He loves all the buttons and knobs that make things spin and music play.

Samantha really enjoys playing with Aedan, more than I ever thought she would before Aedan came along.  Here they are sitting on the floor playing together after getting home from the library on Wednesday.

Speaking of the library, this was the first time we'd been to the library in quite awhile, and both Samantha and Aedan had a good time.  Mr. Chad was there for story time, and he always sings and plays guitar for the kids.  Samantha loves to sing and dance, so that is always a big hit with her.  Aedan also really loves the music.  He gets a little antsy during the books, but sits totally still, staring at Mr. Chad while he sings and plays guitar.  It's great to bring Aedan along to story time and have him more involved.  Samantha loves sitting next to him on the rug, will help him do some of the hand motions to the songs, and is constantly doting on him and checking on him to make sure he is okay.  She is such a sweet big sister.

Our doctor encouraged us to start giving Aedan lunch meat so that way he can get some iron in his diet, especially if he doesn't take to the baby food meat in a jar, which so far he isn't.  When we first gave him lunch meat, he had a hard time picking it up and getting it to his mouth.  He would drop it or play with it instead.  We would try to guide his hand up to his mouth, to help him get the idea of what he was supposed to do, but that would make him frustrated.  However, on Wednesday at lunchtime, I gave him some ham, torn up into small bite size pieces, and Aedan did such a good job eating it.  He was definitely learning how to pick it up and get the meat up to his mouth.  Samantha and I were so proud of him.  We made a big deal out of it and clapped for him every time he successfully got the meat into his mouth.  You could tell how much he liked it by how eager he was to try and eat it.  He is not this eager with Cheerios.  We actually ended up doing Facetime with Daddy so that he could see how well Aedan was eating meat that day.

Bath time is always a fun time in our house, a highlight of the night for both kids.  We bathe Samantha and Aedan at the same time because it seems much simpler that way.  Aedan stays in the baby bathtub while we wash his hair and body, and we let him play with toys in there for awhile.  Then, we usually dump the water out and let him sit in the big tub, play with Samantha, and splash in the water.  Here's a great video of Aedan splashing around in the bathtub.

Babies in hooded towels are always so cute, so I decided to snap a few pictures of Aedan after bath time that night.

There are certain times that I really like living in the country.  Thursday morning was one of those times.  It had snowed over night, dusting the ground in white.  The moon was shining bright in the sky, and it was so beautiful that I just had to take a couple pictures.

Last Thursday Samantha was Star of the Day, which is always a big deal, understandably so.  She was so excited to get to preschool that it was not difficult at all to get her ready in the morning.  She picked out raisins and juice boxes to bring for snack, and she wanted to bring her Anna and Elsa Barbies for the share bag.  Being Star of the Day meant that Samantha wore a special sticker, would be first in line, would be able to sit next to Miss Betsy during circle time, and she got to pass out her snack at snack time.  It is always a special day for Samantha, and she woke up early that morning because she was so excited about being Star of the Day.  I'm so glad that Samantha has had this opportunity to go to preschool at the Tri this year.  It has been a great experience for her.

Samantha is such a big helper to me during the day at home.  While I am getting lunch ready or whatever other things I need to do around the house, she will help keep an eye on Aedan and play with him for me.  Usually, I don't even have to ask her to play with her brother because she loves to do it anyway.  Here is a picture from Thursday afternoon when Samantha was playing in Aedan's room with him before nap time.  She made this giant block tower and then stood Elsa on top of the mountain.  A few seconds later, Aedan knocked the tower over by hitting the bottom of it with his hand.  It's fun to watch these interactions start happening because he is a little monster sometimes, like most little kids are, so he'll knock down her towers, tear apart her train tracks, and take her toys from her.  Samantha doesn't always react in the best way, sometimes getting upset at Aedan, but it's a work in progress, and she's getting better every day in knowing the proper way to react and not letting it bother her as much, but instead, expecting it to happen.

On Friday, we just just hung out at home so that I could clean the house.  Samantha was pretty tired from waking up too early several days in a row and not napping.  So after lunch, we got ready for nap time, and I had to be a little stern to get her to stop being silly, lay still, and try going to sleep.  However, it worked, and she took a nice long nap, over two hours, so clearly her body needed the sleep.

Samantha got to watch a show and have a fruit snack since she napped, while Aedan and I played on the floor together. :)

Everyone is excited when Daddy gets home from work, especially on a Friday.  We look forward to our time together on the weekend.  In fact, Aedan has started flapping his arms and squealing when he sees Daddy walk in the door.  It's pretty cute that he's showing his excitement in that way.  Pretty soon, Aedan will start crawling towards him when he sees him coming in the door.  Samantha already runs at him and gives him a great big hug every day.  What a wonderful way to be greeted by your family!

Aedan thought it was pretty interesting that Daddy was wearing a hat, so Daddy decided to let Aedan give it a try.

That night, we ordered some pizza from Milillo's (our favorite pizza place near us, although it's no match for Mother Bear's) for dinner, and then just spent time relaxing and playing as a family.  We will all go into the play room and play together in the evening.  Aedan loves laying next to Daddy and watching him throw the ball up into the air.

And then he started getting slap-happy.  Daddy was bouncing the ball off the wall, and it would roll lightly across the ground in front of Aedan, making him laugh hysterically.  I just LOVE his laugh in this video.  It is so precious.

Saturday morning, before lunchtime, Grandpa and Grandma came to Oxford to watch Samantha and Aedan for us so that Ben and I could go on a date, as a way to celebrate Valentine's Day.  We definitely wanted time to get away and were really looking forward to this day.  We didn't tell Samantha about it ahead of time because we didn't want her to wake up really early in the morning, but when we told her, she said, "I can't believe it!"  Just look at her face in these pictures.  This is a girl who loves her grandparents!  She was SO excited.  She kept asking every ten minutes or so if they were here yet.

We all had lunch together and then I put Aedan down for his nap before we left for the day.  Ben and I went to the outlet mall in Cincinnati to do some shopping.  (It's just too hard to go shopping with two young kids in tow, and we were both in need of some new shirts and pants.)  We were pretty successful in our shopping endeavors, then we stopped at a Tim Horton's for a coffee break before driving to eat dinner at Chuy's, our favorite Mexican restaurant.  We had to wait quite awhile to be seated, since it was a weekend, but it was wonderful being there with Ben, just the two of us.  We were in no hurry and had no bored children clambering for our attention.  We were able to talk and relax and eat our own dinner without having to take care of our kids.  It was a wonderful date, and I didn't want it to end.  We got back home a little later than we had planned since we had to wait for awhile at the restaurant, but I was still able to put Aedan to bed.  It was funny because I walked in the door, said hi to Aedan, who was starting to get cranky and tired, and then walked straight to the coat closet to hang out my coat and put my shoes away.  However, as I walked past Aedan, he started crying his very upset cry.  As soon as he saw me and I didn't pick him up, that made him really upset.  Grandpa and Grandma were surprised to hear him cry like that because he so rarely cries.  Anyways, as soon as I picked him up, he started to calm down and was very grateful when we got him ready for bed, which is really what he wanted.  

Anyways, thank you Grandpa and Grandma for babysitting for us!  Ben and I had a wonderful day away, and the kids loved time with their grandparents.  It was nice, also, because they stayed over night into Sunday so that they could go to OBF with us, see what our church is like, and then stayed through lunch.  We enjoyed having them visit us in Oxford for a longer period of time.

On Sunday night we went to a children's ministry meeting at church so that Ben and I can begin volunteering.  On our way there, Samantha said, "I can't see that I'm growing.  I can't always hear God in my heart.  But heaven is gonna be great!  It's going to be a big wedding feast."  "I love Jesus, so I get to stay forever."  They just learned about the wedding feast at church that morning, and Samantha really took it all to heart.  I love it.  I love how these truths are so meaningful to her at such a young age.

Aedan is 9 Months Old!

Samantha: 44 Months, Week 3
Aedan: Week 40

Once back from Disney World, we had to get right back into normal life.  Ben's semester started on Monday, and he has class every day of the week this semester.  I was feeling worse and worse, had a bad cough, painful sinuses, and lacked energy, which is rough any time, but especially when you have two kids to chase around.  Samantha and Aedan were both on the mend, which I was grateful for.

We are giving Aedan a lot more finger food, in addition to his fruit and vegetable baby food jars.  This past week we were having potato soup and Upland Grandma's canned green beans for dinner.  We decided to let Aedan try some green beans, and he really liked them.  We sent a picture to Upland Grandpa, saying both our children love Grandma's green beans, so she's going to have to increase her green bean production this year!

We had an appointment on Monday morning that I had to take both Samantha and Aedan to as well.  After the appointment, we went over to a friend's house from OBF who we just recently got to know and realized that both the mom and dad went to Taylor, graduated a couple years before us, and have a little girl that's a bit younger than Samantha, as well as a young baby boy.  We only were able to stay at their house for about an hour or so, but it was fun to get to know another mom from OBF, let our girls play together, and reminisce about our time at Taylor.

Tuesday morning Samantha got to go back to preschool and was so excited to see her teachers and friends again.  Back in January, they missed a day because the heater in the building wasn't working properly, so this week they had an extra half hour of time added on to the end of each preschool day.  Samantha was very excited to have extra time to play, but not picking her up until 12:30 made for a late afternoon of still getting lunch taken care of and both kids down for a nap.  Even though she was still recovering from being under the weather, she was still fighting her nap throughout the beginning of the week.  After no napping for the whole week in Florida, Ben and I thought for sure that napping was going to be over in Samantha's world.

On Wednesday morning we had Aedan's 9 month appointment with Dr. Buerk.  We saw a different doctor last time, but she actually moved to a different practice, so we had to see someone new.  She is an older lady and was nice and friendly, but she didn't exactly have the best bedside manner.  I feel like we brought some questions before her concerning how many times a day I should be nursing and how much baby food we should be giving him each day, and we never really felt like she answered our questions.  Aedan's checkup went well.  He was strong and healthy.  His weight was 23 pounds, 10 ounces.  His height was 30.25 inches, and his head circumference was 18.75.  With his height and weight combination, he was in the 85th percentile.  In fact, the doctor made a funny remark that if he continues to grow as he has in the last few months, they would project him to 6 foot 3 when he grows up.  We also filled out an Ages & Stages Questionnaire regarding Aedan's development that spanned 9 months 0 days through 9 months 30 days, and he came out strongest in fine motor skills and problem solving skills, being weakest in gross motor and personal social skills.  The doctor made a comment that he is probably going to be really smart, and she gave us some ideas of things we can do at home to help develop his gross motor and personal social skills.  Although it's funny because he's probably weaker in those two categories because he has a big sister to watch.  She does all the talking for him and will go and get things for him when he wants them, so he doesn't have as much of a need to do those things on his own.  I know that is very common in second children.  In listening to Aedan's chest, the doctor heard some wheezing and said he has bronchiolitis due to the cold he had.  The congestion moved down to his lungs, causing mucus to from on his bronchioles, which would then result in 4 days of wheezing and 10 or so days of coughing.  She said he was probably on the mend from that and that there was really nothing we had to do nor any medicine we needed to give him.  He got two shots in his thigh, which of course made him cry, but overall, we had a good appointment.

We were all pretty tired on Wednesday after our morning at the doctor.  And luckily, both kids took good naps that afternoon.  There are certain days when you just know that Samantha will nap because of how tired she is.  They both were so cute sleeping that I just had to take a picture of them and send them to Ben at work.  His response was, "Very cute." :)

That night, since we got permission from Aedan's doctor to start giving him meat, we tried some baby food meat out for dinner.  His reaction was so great, I just had to get it on video.  Needless to say from watching the video, he was not a fan at all.  He made horrible faces, refused to open his mouth, tried to spit it out, and then gagged on it as he was swallowing it.  We will continue to try it each day to see if it grows on him.   When Samantha was a baby, she eventually warmed up to the baby food meat and actually really liked it and would devour a whole jar of it each day.  However, it doesn't seem like Aedan will have the same sentiment.

Do you notice his red cheeks in the video above?  Do you know why he has such red cheeks?  Because he got another tooth in!  His top, right, front tooth popped through on Wednesday, the day before he turned 9 months old.  We also can see the top, left, front tooth getting ready to break through the gums as well.  So, knowing that, we might have more of an explanation as to why he's been more fussy, slightly more clingy, and also why he has been waking up more at night for the last several weeks.

Thursday was another extended preschool day.  We had a good morning and got ready on time for once, getting to preschool early, before the doors even opened.  I always attempt to get there before the doors open, but it's hard to get out the door on time sometimes.  Aedan and I had a good morning going shopping.  I put the shopping cart seat cover on the cart and let Aedan sit in the cart, play with toys, and look around the store.  I had tried this in the past, but he was never too big a fan of it.  It seemed like he would always tip over and then get upset when I would have to keep pushing him back upright.  However, he was very happy sitting and looking around the store that day.  He fell asleep in the car on the way home, but I was still able to get him back to sleep in his crib.

Thursday afternoon was rough for the kids with getting back from preschool later again.  Both Samantha and Aedan were cranky and crying after lunch and while getting ready for nap time.  To make matters worse, I was feeling worse and worse instead of better.  Ben came home early from campus so that I could go to the Miami employee health center that afternoon during nap time to make sure I didn't have something more than a cough and cold, or something that I could possibly take medicine for.  The nurse practitioner said my lungs were clear, but since I had been having symptoms for over a week, flew in a plane feeling like that, and was actually feeling worse after flying, she prescribed an antibiotic for me, saying that I should start feeling better in a few days.

The other thing that could have caused his disruption in sleep is learning how to move more.  It used to be that he would just roll over and stay on his belly until he would fuss long enough that one of us would pick him up, roll him over, or move him into a different position.  However, he is now able to move himself around quite well.  He can rotate himself in a complete circle and then roll to get where he want to go.  Now, nothing within reach is safe.  Throughout the next few weeks we will have to baby proof our house a little more, keeping cords and any small toys out of reach.  It's fun to watch him move around more, to watch him explore his world, and to see what he finds interesting to play with.  Our little boy is getting so big, moving from baby to toddler, right before our very eyes.

In this video below, I was attempting to show how he was moving around so much now, but I lost my opportunity and instead just got him when he was starting to get fussy and upset.  I think it's nice sometimes to have videos of what our babies sound like when they cried because sometimes we forget and think, "Surely, our child never cried like that, right?"

And here's another video of Aedan eating baby food meat on Thursday night.  He still was not impressed.  In this video below I was attempting to record the funny noise Aedan makes sometimes, and you can kind of hear it at the beginning of this video clip.  Poor guy, making him eat meat.  You can also tell he wasn't feeling too great, could be a combination of still recovering from his cough/cold, could be some side effects of the shots he had the previous day, but he was just not himself that evening, much fussier than normal.

On Friday some other Oxford moms planned to go swimming at the Miami Rec Center since they were having another free week.  Some moms went swimming earlier in the week on Monday and Wednesday, but we weren't able to go because of our appointments.  Ben, Samantha, Aedan, and I all went swimming on Wednesday night together as a family, but I figured I'd try taking both kids by myself.  We let Aedan take a little bit of a nap that morning before waking him up so that we could go swimming together.  It actually went pretty well.  Samantha had her little floatie on so she could swim off by herself.  Aedan enjoyed being held and splashing in the water.  There were quite a few Oxford moms there as well, so it was fun for me to have the chance to talk to others while swimming.  A good time was had by all, and we got out of the pool a little after 11:30 so that we could get out of our swimsuits and back home for lunch.  They have a family restroom which makes it much easier for us all to get changed together.  It's nice that Miami has these free weeks to make it easy for families to visit without a pass.

Here are some cute pictures from lunch time that afternoon.  They were all so adorable, I just couldn't choose one or two.  We had Annie's mac and cheese (Samantha's favorite), and we even let Aedan try some noodles.  He definitely liked them!  

 I love this picture below.  I feel like it perfectly encapsulates our little man.  He's so happy, so easygoing, loves his food, and when he smiles, his whole face gets involved, his eyes squint, his nose crinkles, and his cheeks turn red.  Plus, I love his crazy hair in these pictures from having just gone swimming that morning.  Oh, what a cutie!

And here's my adorable little girl.  Of course, she had to get in on the funny faces as well!  I had two tired, water logged kiddos, having a goofy, silly lunch together.  These are the days when being a stay at home mom is SO worth it.

Samantha was pretty tired that afternoon from a full morning of swimming and playing.  Both kids were ready for nap time that afternoon.  They had a good nap, giving me some down time, and then when Aedan woke up we picked Daddy up from campus since we dropped him off at work that morning so we could use his parking pass to park close to the Rec Center.

We had a pretty relaxed weekend with no real plans.  It's just nice to have Ben home and to spend time together as a family.  Saturday morning I attempted to get some pictures of Aedan's new teeth coming in on the top.  This is the best I could get.  He wasn't too big of a fan of me sticking my fingers in his mouth.  His smile is going to look so different now with teeth on the top and the bottom. :)

After getting Aedan down for his morning nap, I took Samantha to get her haircut Uptown.  Her last haircut was in August before preschool started, and her hair was starting to get scraggly looking and pretty tangled at the bottom.  We figured it was time for another hair cut.  She was pretty excited about going to the hair salon again and actually had the same stylist she had last time.  Samantha did a pretty good job sitting still even though she was pretty tired.  Here are some pictures of her hair cut experience.

And here's the final result.  The hair stylist, Destiny, used a round brush to dry her hair and curl it under.  Samantha looked adorable and was so proud of her new hair cut.

Saturday night we decided to make the twenty minute trip to the Colerain area to eat dinner at Chipotle (with a gift card from Christmas) and then we went to Once Upon a Child because we needed to get some new 12 month clothes for Aedan.  We were in need of some 12 month footie pajamas, as well as more casual long sleeve shirts and stretchier pants that work well with a padded cloth diaper bottom.  We also let Samantha pick out a new dress.  She found this beautiful Gap dress that looks just lovely on her.  I will have to get a picture of her dressed up in it sometime and put it on the blog.  Both kids were getting a little tired towards the end of our shopping trip, but they did pretty well, especially considering Samantha hadn't napped that day.  I think Aedan actually ended up taking a little nap in the car on the way home.

Sunday was a fairly typical day for our family.  Ben and I take advantage of the weekend to "sleep in," whatever that means.  It usually just means waking up with our kids rather than setting an alarm and getting up before them.  We went to church and then back home for lunch and nap time.  Since it was Super Bowl Sunday, we had plans for a Super Bowl party that evening rather than small group after church.  We told Samantha how important it was for her to take a nap so that way we could stay at the party longer and not have to leave early to get her to bed.  Luckily, she did nap that afternoon, making our night together much better.  This napping process has been so complicated because just when we are about ready to give up naps, she goes back to taking them sporadically.  I'm okay with still trying to encourage naps when she does take them every once in a while when she really needs one or isn't feeling well.

On Monday we didn't have any plans to go anywhere, they are usually our play at home, relaxing days.  Here is Samantha attempting to play peek-a-boo with Aedan after lunch on Monday.  This is her typical daily ritual while I clean up lunch dishes.

And here's my cute little man playing later that afternoon.  In the video you can hear his babbling.  He is saying "Dada" a lot more lately.  He's rolling around everywhere, and he is really enjoying his toys.  He can sit up totally independent now (has been for awhile).  I very rarely worry about him falling backwards and hitting his head.  He can actually manage to fall over more gracefully now, so that way he can lay on his tummy and play.  But he hasn't figured out how to go from being on the floor to sitting up yet.

The kids are always SO excited when Daddy gets home from work each day.  Samantha runs toward him yelling, "Daddy!" and give him a great big hug.  Lately, Aedan has gotten in on the excitement as well, squealing and flapping his arms up and down when he sees Daddy walk in the door.

Even though the following pictures have the sign that says "Today I am 9 Months Old," I actually took these pictures almost a week after he turned 9 months old, but that's okay.  Life just got busy and whenever I'd think of taking his pictures, it would be a time when he wasn't in the greatest of moods.  So, here's our little man.  He's now been out of my tummy longer than he was in, which is always strange to think about.  He's getting so big, growing and developing more and more each day, right before our very eyes.  He is such a happy guy, if he cries you know that something really must have hurt him or upset him.  He brightens our day, and we can't imagine our family without him.

I just love his little smile, how his cheeks squinch up, and you can even see his smile in his eyes.

This little face in the picture below was because I put his sign just out of his reach, and he didn't like that. :)

Ahh...he finally got it and was so satisfied.  He could scratch his nails on it, put it in his mouth to see what it tasted like, pat it, and crinkle it.  Who needs toys when you have paper?

And in this video you can hear what Aedan's cry sounds like when you have taken something away from him that he really, really wants.  I attempted to take the sign away from him since he was starting to eat the paper, giving him the ball to play with instead.  However, that did not make him happy.  He wanted his paper back. :)