CREDITS:

Digital scrap items in the header, layouts and sidebar are by Miss Mint at PeppermintCreative.com or Jen Wilson at JenWilsonDesigns.com

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Pictures are Coming, I Promise!

Alright, I really need to schedule a full day off so I can sort through all of Aiden's birthday pictures and get them posted! You'll probably have to wait for layouts because my days don't seem to be getting any longer and the activites keep piling up!

At least the easter pictures are scrapped! These pages use Jen's new Easter kit over her new templates along with Miss Mint's Cutesy Doodle Doo set that I am WILD about!





I also posted my trendy thursday article on Jen's blog so check it out if you're interested in what is hot! Ironically, I had actually intended to continue talking about bracket mats since I had mentioned them the week prior. They really are very, VERY popular right now. Jen surprised us two days ago with the new products and I was shocked to see her fun & funky twist on layout mats right there in the template!

Now I'm off to upload my layouts at the other galleries and to scrap some birthday shots! Watch for the LO's soon! (But no promises. Have you seen how awful I have been about posting on my blog this week? Shame on me!)

Monday, March 24, 2008

This Weekend

Between Aiden's birthday party and Easter, I took 427 photos. I am going to be scrapping for MONTHS!!! I am putting the house back together today (and trying to find room for all the toys & candy) so I haven't been able to sit down and play but here is a picture of Aiden nibbling on the little surfboard cake I made for him:



He has his dad's polite manners! He wouldn't dive in to the cake at all. Probably because it wasn't chocolate. Yesterday was a different story. We let him have a piece of the leftover sheet cake and he was smeared face to foot in chocolate cake and frosting. Figures!

So here is what else is new: Aiden must have decided that one year is a big milestone and he suddenly had some things to do. Before Friday he was still crawling/standling/cruising and occasionally surprising us with new words he had picked up. Now he's making our mouths drop about every four hours!

Right after his birthday we had family over for another birthday party so everyone could see Aiden & Brian and wish them a happy b-day. We had just finished doing gifts when Aiden wanted to get over to the sand & water playtable Bri & I had given him. There were too many people & packages in his way to crawl so he just got up and WALKED over to it! (I had been telling Brian Aiden could walk and was just too cautious to ever let go.) It was pretty cool to have everyone there when Aiden took his first "real" steps and walked right across the living room!

The next morning when he woke up we noticed that instead of everything being da-da, it was ma-ma again. (The da-da thing lasted a full three months. I was wondering when it would wear off!) In fact, everything is not just ma-ma but "n-n-no, ma-ma!" Perhaps I tell him no-no too much?!! LOL! The n-n-no is really cute and he's still surprising us with new words. He said dog on Sunday, which is impressive because I thought for sure he'd say "bad" before he got the dog part after hearing me scold Major so much!

He's also surprised me with how much he understands. As ridiculous as I sound, I have started using Dr. Harvey Karp's toddlerese with him to try and curb his frustrated screaming. You can order the book online to get all the details but basically you break everything down into small, short phrases your toddler understands and you say it with lots of feeling when your child begins to scream to show him you understand how he feels and that you are going to help. "Juice NOW!" is one we use frequently. Aiden screams from his high chair and I say "Juice NOW!" as I get out his sippy cup and follow it with "Aiden wants juice now!" as I mix the juice & water and then repeat "juice, thank you" when I give it to him. Eventually he'll say "juice" instead of incoherent, ear drum-busting screams or so all the newest parenting books tell me. For now, it honestly is working well for us and it's been less than a week in practice. I can stop him mid-yell by naming the correct thing that he wants. Sure, I sound like a stark raving mad neanderthal urgently asking "Juice NOW?" "Go NOW?" "Hungry NOW?" but I would look like an idiot any ways, completely emptying the contents of my diaper bag trying to find something to calm my screaming kiddo in the middle of HEB so what's the difference? ;)

I can't believe how much my precious little boy has grown in a year! I have to admit that even when things get tough and I don't quite know what to do (like with the CONSTANT SCREAMING), I actually enjoy the challenge of digging back through my parenting books and even some of my psychology coursework to find a solution to try. Funny, some things are even coming in handy with Brian! ("Clean house with cookies and video games NOW!") I can't wait to see what the next year holds for us!