Aiden is 1 year old!!!

Aiden had his birthday Friday, and poor little guy was not feeling himself at all. He had a bad cold diaper rash, and working on tooth #4. But he appreciated all the love and comforting that Nana gave him while I was at work all day (I'm trying to save up all my vacation time for the upcoming bundle of joy maternity leave). Aiden did seem to be feeling a little bit back to his normal happy self yesterday, even though he's still plagued with all of the forementioned ailments. We had a few close friends and family over for a small celebration for Aiden's birthday yesterday, and he really enjoyed playing with his two friends, their mommies and daddies, and Nana and Granddad Banker, and Grandma and Granpa Eckstein, oh yea and me and Nathen:). It's still hard to believe that he is already a year, the time has definately gone by fast. With this milestone I'm going to start trying taking away his bottle at naptime. I tried that a few months ago and he was not having the sippy cup at nap time so we'll see how it goes, if it goes well in the month or so we'll try eliminating the bedtime bottle. I know in the big picture of life it really doesn't matter if he stops his bottle now or a few months from now so I'm not going to pressure him about it. Don't we all know that life is full of stress and as a parent I think I should do everything possible to prevent stress for our little guy.

Anyways, I don't have Aiden's year measurements yet but will have them tomorrow as he has his year check up along w/ shots. He also has an appointment with the dermatologist again due to his ever present diaper rash...nothing seems to be able to remedy it. Hopefully we'll get some answers tomorrow. One thing I know for sure that we'll both probably be ready for naps tomorrow afternoon after 2 doctors appointments!!!

Here are some photos from Aiden's birthday party yesterday.

Aiden steers his Bob the Builder push toy that Daddy gave him for his birthday. It came with a hard hat as well, which is just adorable, but Aiden is not a big fan of hats.

Here's a picture of Aiden's cake along with some cupcakes, and cake for the grown ups. As well as his Bob the Builder hard hat that came in handy to weight the balloons down.

Aiden shows his buddies Talia and James his excersaucer. And it appears that they are having a great conversation about it. The three of them really got along well, it was fun to watch them play, talk and interact with one another.

It's a hug not a tackle...Aiden gave Talia a long hug and posed with a cute smile for me and Talia's mommy Meltem, but unfortunately my photography skills did not pick up the quality of cuteness that was there. Party hats for all....Aiden and his buddies sported party hats for about 2 minutes before they began pulling them off of each other!

Aiden gets some help opening his gift from Nana and Granddad from his buddy James. It looks like Aiden is very serious...I wonder if he's telling James you can play with this cool toy but it is mine.

Aiden and his friends check out the mega blocks and wagon that Nana and Granddad got for him. Nana and Granddad got an upclose picture of the toddlers approval of the toy.

Last but not least...Aiden enjoys his ymmy birthday cake...he really seemed to like the frosting.

Aiden got a lot of cool toys to include the ones mentioned previously, and a cool animal puzzle that makes animal sounds, a dump truck, and some sandbox toys. He also recieved some great summer clothes, and some cute pants he'll be able to grow into. Thanks to everyone that attended, I think Aiden had a great time and I know Nathen and I did.

Some updates and pictures

Eventhough my last post was about a week ago there has been a lot happening in the Eckstein household that I wanted to share. First, I had a sonogram on Thursday and I am 14 weeks along. Which kind of confused me since my Dr said I was measuring small, but when the sono tech checked my records she had recorded that I was measuring big...my Dr's appt was late Friday afternoon the previous week so figured she made a mistake when she told me but it was written down right--she's human just like all of us. Anyways, the little guy or gal was not cooperating very well (legs were crossed) so the sono tech could not make a determination of the gender, so we'll have to wait about 6 more weeks to find out for sure what we are having. It was still very cool to see the heart beat, all the arms, legs, and belly. I was amazed of how big the baby was the picture did not appear any smaller than when we had Aiden's at 20 weeks. The little guy or gal had the hic ups during the sonogram so that was kind of fun to watch too. I would love to post a picture of the sono but I cannot figure out how to scan it to our computer, so I'll have to wait until Nathen gets home--but I'll post a picture of it the next post..I promise.

Friday Aiden and I traveled out to Nana and Granddad's to see all of his cousins on my side, my sister and neice were in Kansas from San Fransisco. It was so much fun to see them all play together. Aiden and Elizabeth are less than 6 months apart so they seemed to entertain each other well, and of course Aiden would try to keep up with his older cousins Hannah (3) and Susanna (2 in May). Below are some pictures

Here Aiden tries to give Elizabeth some pointers on eating solids..Elizabeth started eating cereal about a week ago.

Aiden enjoys some fresh air with Nana.

Okay so I tried to get a picture of all 3 of them together but I'm too slow or they are too quick to capture it. Either way they all had fun playing in granddad's boat (dont worry it wasnt on the water:)while Elizabeth was napping.

Aiden enjoys his lunch and conversations with Granddad.

Aiden enjoys a piggy back ride from Aunt Sheldi.

Aiden plays with what he thinks is the best toy ever..an empty water jug that Grandad got for him to distract Aiden from taking everything out of their cabinets--it worked very well, I think I'll have to try it:) He also gazes at Granddad adn Elizabeth while they play together.

Finally, Saturday we went to one of our friend's daughter's 1st birthday party. Aiden had a lot of fun wathcing everyone, playing, eating, and hugging anyone and everyone. He uusually only reaches out to hug females but Saturday he found another daddy other than his own that he felt safe and secure enough to hug. Ironically he was Aiden's Uncle John's brother--I wonder if he saw some resemblance or something..Anyways, here are a few pictures from the party.