it's my party and i'll cry if i want to.

We celebrated Aaron's birthday over Labor Day weekend by having a jungle themed party at our good friends' house. (Thanks again Hayes'!)

Aunt Shelley and Barry even made the long journey from CA for the party.


I'm not going to lie to you, loyal blog readers, I lobbied hard for a cool bouncy house themed party. Alas, both Isaac and Tutu didn't seem to think that bouncy houses were appropriate for a one year old. (I still disagree - what's funnier than a baby who can't walk in a bouncy house??) So, the theme of the party was In the Jungle instead. Very fitting because Aaron's favorite animal is the lion. He's a really good growler.

You know I love a good theme, so we got a jungle safari kiddie pool and I made some jungle cupcakes.
Pretty awesome pool, right? Especially good for a kid who loved every minute of swimming over the summer, right? Except not.



Because it's my party and I'll cry if I want to. (I highly recommend clicking on that picture to make it bigger. It gives you full effect of the drama llama birthday meltdown.)

Now, I should add, I hear you, son. I always ascribed to that philosophy too. Many a birthday party ended in tears in my youth. You come by it honestly. So for that reason, I'll keep the video of the hysterics to myself.

And not to rub it in, but guess who WASN'T crying.
This girl.
I can't say she was having the time of her life, but at least she didn't act like we filled the pool with acid.

Anyway, we moved right along to cake which I knew would cheer Aaron right up. That and a rousing round of Happy Birthday was just what the doctor ordered.


Success!
Like the cake on his actual birthday, he needed a little encouragement at first to get started.


But he quickly caught on. Smart boy.

He could not even be bothered to stop stuffing his face to take a picture with Mommy & Daddy. Priorities.

I love this - it's like he's saying, "Uh, pretty sure that's mine, Daddy."

For those of you that prefer live action...





After we pried his chubby little fingers away from the cake and cleaned him up as best as possible (without dunking him in the pool, which was my original plan), we moved on to presents.

Everyone knows you read the card first.
A lion! ROAR!
Daddy's pretty excited about this one. Trains!
And Mommy was pretty excited about this - a handmade knitted stocking with his name and birthdate. Priceless! (Thanks Lydia!)
And more presents.
Everyone needs some chucks. In several sizes and colors, obv.

Sweet ride.


There were so many presents - Thank you everyone!

The party continued...


Until babies started passing out left and right...

But not this guy!
Because he's ONE. And officially a BIG BOY.
Oh dear.

In one year, this

became this.

And my heart is full.

catching up

Hey, do I know you?

I guess it's been awhile...

Where, oh, where do I even begin?

Events since we (I) last posted:
1. Aaron's Birthday Party (plus 13 & 14 months - whoops)
2. Weekend at the Beach for Rosa and Chad's Wedding
3. The Big Move
4. Pumpkins/Fall/Halloween

Plus many, many random pictures I took between those big events.

But I think each event deserves it's own post.

So, I will do my very best to catch you all up. Consider yourself warned.

fourteen months

(Written in November 2009, but never posted.  I backdated it to make it fit chronologically, for posterity.)

Aaron at 14 months:

Moving:

He is constantly in motion.

As I write this, he is just days away from walking. He's been cruising furniture and people for months now. He crawls like a speed racer. He takes tentative steps alone but still lacks the confidence to keep going.

He likes climbing too. The other day, I caught him climbing up on his music table and attempting an escape from his play area. Sweet.

Talking:

Aaron has been saying some words pretty consistently now for the past month. It's still so cool to hear him try to repeat the sounds that we are making. He still communicates mostly by grunting, but we are getting a few words here and there.

Here are some of his current favorites:
-uh oh
-hi
-meemo (remote)
-mama
-dada
-dadoo (thank you)
-moh (more)
-puh-hin (pumpkin)
-up
-down
-bubba (bubber - his blanky)
-ehmo (elmo)
-tee (tree)
-wow

plus a plethora of animal sounds - lion, cat, dog, rooster, duck, cow, turtle (ref: halloween post)

He is doing a LOT of pointing these days, accompanied by grunts. We are making more an effort to teach him some baby signs (more, please, thank you) to try to combat his demands.

He also has been wandering around a lot lately just saying "hi" over and over again. He says it to kids in the grocery store, toys at Target, us, leaves, anything. He's friendly.

Loves:

-independence
-music
-books
-throwing things
-lions (and all animals)
-Little People
-Mickey Mouse
-playing our piano
-eating

Dislikes:

-diaper changes
-being penned in
-sleeping past 5am
-if you don't share your food with him

jokester

I don't have time today to write up a big birthday party post...sorry about that. Coming soon to a screen near you. Promise.

But, I needed to quickly document this date and event in Aaron's development. Just in case I ever finish that baby book. (Don't worry Mom, I'm just kidding. Of course I'll finish it. Before he graduates high school, okay?)

Drum Roll Please!

Today, Aaron told his first joke.

First of many, I'm sure, given his love of laughter.

Background:
The smoke alarm goes off a lot when I cook. (I like to think that it's not a reflection on my cooking, just a poorly placed, overly sensitive monitor. Seriously, why would you ever put the smoke alarm directly over the stove? Clearly, there is going to be smoke there. But I digress.)

It's one of those newer models, with a blaringly loud beep, plus a woman yelling in the background, FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! Most times when it goes off and Aaron is in his highchair, he starts crying. For one, it's REALLY loud, but also because I have to jump in the air, knock it off the wall and onto the floor in order to stop the incessant beeping. Sometimes I catch it on the way down (mad skills) and sometimes I don't, so it crashes onto the floor. Either way it goes down, it's kind of a big commotion. He's not a fan.

Today:
I'm making lunch for us (frying eggs, stove was on for two minutes and NOTHING WAS BURNING!) and the smoke alarm starts going off. I quickly jump up, knock the smoke alarm to the floor and run to the other room with it to make it stop yelling FIRE! and beeping loudly. I come back into the dining room, expecting to comfort Aaron, but instead he's laughing. Hysterically. So I started laughing with him.

He starts saying "buh, buh" and then laughing really hard again.

So I said, "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, FIRE! FIRE!" and he started belly laughing (see fork dropping video for a visual).

He stopped laughing and then started saying "BUH, BUH, BUH" and then hysterically laughing again.

So that's it. I think that was Aaron's first joke. Either that or his first time making fun of me for making a fool out of myself. I'm okay because any way you slice it, the kid's got a sense of humor.



PS - True story : I tried to get a video of him telling his joke, but I accidentally dropped a fork on the floor during the taping. I said "D'oh" when I dropped it, which made him laugh even more hysterically. So now the only thing he'll say is "d'oh...uh oh" instead of "buh, buh, buh". But the laughing is the same. Sigh.

cake

So, I said I wouldn't be back until next week...but then Aaron had a fantastic time with his birthday cake last night and it was just too cute not to share.

Here's how it went down, as told by Aaron. Or what I imagine Aaron was thinking.

This was when I first put the cake in front of him.

What's that?? Is it for me??

Mom, seriously, this is no time for photos. Is THAT for me?

It is for me, it IS for me.

It's getting closer!! I think they are going to let me eat that!

Side note: We've practiced singing Happy Birthday with Aaron for about three weeks now. He's a big fan. But I think it's gone to a whole new level after last night.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!


Now, I'll take over narration from Aaron, since he became quite preoccupied.

Proceeding with caution.

Tentative first mouthful.

This is his awe face - complete with icing. He makes this face when he is either surprised, like when something falls on the floor out of his sight, or when he is trying to figure out how something works. I think this is a little bit of both here.

Once he registered the deliciousness, he moved to using two hands. He was just licking the icing off the surface though.

There was some mad finger licking going on.

But you don't have to take my word for it. Watch for yourself.

Part One of the video is the first couple of bites that he took, when he still wasn't sure if he was allowed to be doing this. You can see him giving us some furtive glances and then really picking up speed.




Part Two is when he really started getting into it. I'm guessing he enjoyed it from the amount that he ate, but he really was taking it very seriously. I think he was afraid we were going to snatch it away at any minute.

My favorite picture from the night.
He had really warmed up to the cake eating and was having a grand ole time.

But then, Isaac moved the cake plate away.

Have you ever seen a more forlorn baby?

Don't worry, we put some cake on the tray for him.

The following conversation (which was pretty one sided in all reality) was very funny.

Aaron: Hey, Tutu, are you seeing this? It's cake and I LOVE it.

Tutu: That does look yummy. Can I have a bite?

Aaron: Wellllllll ... Nope.
Tutu: Waaaaaaaa.
Aaron: (continues eating, with no remorse)

The aftermath.

Aaron resorted to chewing on the wax candle when there was no more cake left.
He probably should have checked his bib for some leftovers.

Additional side note: Yes, he is always wearing that bib. And the reason is because it is the best bib ever. It's vinyl, so I can just wash it in the sink after meals and it's clean and dry by the next meal. It also has a pocket to catch all of the pieces that don't make it into Aaron's mouth on the first go round. Basically, it's the best bib ever.

And finally, some attempts at a family photo.

But Aaron was a little too hopped up on sugar for it to really work out.

So we got some funny outtakes of us all laughing and trying to avoid the icing covered fingers that were manically flying through the air.

All in all, it was a huge success. HUGE success. I can't wait to see Saturday's cake fest, now that's he's gotten a trial run under his belt.

Oh, and did I mention...

Aaron's ONE!

one year

Happy Birthday Aaron!

I absolutely cannot believe that this sweet, sweet baby is one year old today.

We have been so blessed this past year. Aaron is truly the sweetest, happiest little man. He laughs (as you've seen) with such abandon that it's impossible not to laugh with him. His sense of humor is delightful. He is growing in independence on a daily basis. The amount of joy that he has brought to our lives is immeasurable. I love our happy little family!


Now some business items:

1. The birthday boy had his one year well visit today (sorry about the shots, baby!) He weighed in at 23 lbs and 30.5 inches. That's 54% for his weight, 62% for height and 70% for his head. The doctor said he was very proportional and very healthy. Go Aaron!

2. We are moving! Well, we are pretty sure we are moving...My mom got an offer on her house, which she accepted. The inspection was done last week and we are just waiting on the final proposal from that to finish things up. From the sound of things, it went pretty well, so we are hopeful about our tentative move date - October 9th. I'm not looking forward to packing but I am certainly looking forward to unpacking, especially all of our belongings that have been in storage since May. It will be so nice to be settled into our new place for the holidays. Yay!!!

3. Aaron's birthday party is this weekend, complete with a super awesome Jungle theme. I'll have lots of pics and hopefully will remember to post them next week. Those, plus all the pictures I haven't posted from this summer. My bad. You can look at our Picasa albums though to take a look at what where we've been and the fun we've had. I'll try to get you all caught up next week.

See you then!

Big kisses from the birthday boy xoxoxo

belly laughing

I'm behind on blog posts. Again.

But I'm hoping this gem will make it up to you.

Backstory:
Aaron has a great sense of humor. Each day, something new will strike him as funny and we all enjoy listening to his joy and laughter.
Lately, he finds it particularly hilarious when something falls to the floor. He has spent many an enjoyable afternoon pulling himself up on the couch and knocking his toys to the floor, just to hear them clatter on the ground. Equally enjoyable, although less so for me, is the sound that most utensils, cups and plates make as they fall from his highchair to the floor. Don't drop anything around this kid without expecting to hear peals of laughter.

Now, to the video - At the end of lunch today, I accidentally dropped his fork and predictably, he busted up laughing. As a proud mama, I find him too adorable to keep all to myself. So I ran to get the camera.



I'm only mildly concerned that continually dropping things to get a laugh from him is doing harm in my quest to encourage good table manners. I say only mildly concerned because personally, I prefer good times to good manners. My mom can confirm that for you - after a lifelong battle to instill good manners in me has been deemed a failure, despite her repeated threats of charm school.

But seriously though...I cannot resist this kid. Did you see the part where his eyebrows goes up in the middle? If that's not unrestrained laughter, I don't know what is. I love this kid!!