Aiden's first time eating food

So, Aiden is now 17 lbs. and 6 1/2 months old....and it's time to start food. My mom was with me when we started this process. I even bought disposable bibs for the inevitable.


All set and ready to go...


After seeing this pictures that mom took, I realized that I smile at Aiden A LOT! He is just too darn cute!


Boy, did he have some funny faces. He TOTALLY gets that from his mother!

In the end, there was more on his face and bib, but he did eat some. This will be a fun journey!

Daddy being cute

Everyone knows Mike is a kind and great man. What most people don't know is that he has a really child-like side to him. On numerous occasions, I will come into the room to find Aiden with socks on his hands and a diaper....or one of my hiking socks on his foot. They are all really cute. Well, a few of them have been captured. Even Aiden is smiling at these...




Mike arranged Aiden's toy, tummy boppy and his duck slippers so that when I woke up and saw them I'd giggle. Well...it worked!


OK, so I come into the TV room to get Aiden for his bath. Usually Mike has undressed him. This time, he was taking his diaper off, all while Aiden had a "new hat" on (his shirt left on his head).

It's things like this that make my smile brighter and my heart happier!

Met Lucy Jorjani the other day...

The other day I had lunch with Monica Noe, Jenn Thompson and Aimee Jorjani. Afterwards, we went and met Aimee's latest addition to the family, Lucy. All I can say is I agree with Aimee's words in the hospital regarding Lucy's hair..."She has Dawn's hair!"

Aimee took a picture of us and it is amazing how she could almost pass as my daughter!

Aiden splashing around...and making me laugh!

Ok, so I thought Aiden might be hungry because it has been his pattern lately to eat around 10:00 am if he has slept through the night. Apprently, I was wrong! He decided he wanted to wear his food. I was laughing out loud. So, instead of a bedtime bath, it had to happen this morning.

Apparently, he thought I needed some more laughter, because as I went to bathe him, he soaked me! I was laughing so hard, I went and grabbed the camera to grab a small video of it. At first he just looks at the camera, but then he takes off! It's a good laugh!

Mommy and Aiden snuggle time

So, A LOT has been happening over the past week. Aiden slept entirely through the night (7:45 - 6:30) in his own crib without waking up! He has repeated it ever since, except waking for a feeding and then right back to sleep. HALLELUJAH!!!

Also, a few days ago, I heard Mike in the other room say that Aiden turned over. He did. He has rolled over from front to back and back to front a number of times. In addition to all of this, he had a really rough day of pain and crying with two bottom front teeth wanting to come in. No teeth yet, but looks painful. A lot of cuddles, kisses, cool compresses and an occasional infant Tylenol.

Anyway, there were a number of cute moments captured and I had to share them. In the first picture, it shows our night-time routine. He gets bathed at 7:15 (and--trust me on this--he knows when it's time!), afterwards gets a massage with Johnson's nighttime lotion, then up to the nursery. I turn on the iPod with the same lullaby CD and begin feeding him. Usually, he is asleep within 10 minutes. He finishes eating, then I give him a pacifier and he sucks it for a few minutes just until he relaxes. Below is a picture of him as he was out cold on my chest.

Today, I went to lunch with my friends Jennifer Thompson, Aimee Jorjani and Monica Noe. I came home and was missing Aiden. He and daddy had fun playing and he was pretty tired. I picked him up, fed him and then he fell right asleep on my chest. This is starting to be more frequent and I LOVE IT!!! He woke up with tons of smiles and giggles.

Mike captured the one above and below and I love them!!! They actually made me cry when I saw them on the camera.

A day at the Cooch's

So, Good Friday I decided to go visit Christy and the family. Christy had left Momma Cooch's camera at the house and I wanted to bring it to them...my way of going to visit! Traffic on 95 was AWFUL!!! Aiden cried so hard, he had me bawling. That was not fun, but once I finally got there, all was well.

We got to see baby Momma and Daddy Cooch, Christy, Victoria, Andre (Victoria's handsome bundle born a day after Aiden), Juliana and Ashlyne. It was a lot of fun. The traffic was so bad that I decided to stay the night and came home Saturday before lunch.


Momma Cooch is holding Aiden and Andre is staring at the camera.


Mommy sneaking a kiss...


Look at how handsome Andre is!!!

Again...such a sweet baby!!!

Juliana and Ashlyne coloring Easter Eggs...

Daddy Cooch holding baby Aiden.

Momma Cooch having a blast with Aiden. He was giggling out loud....SO cute!!

I had Aiden and Ashlyn in my arms. Ashlyne just loves Aiden. Juliana was so precious. She had a cold and said that she didn't want to be near anyone to that they would catch it. What a sweet girl!

There was much more stimulation than Aiden was used to. He was missing his routine and his naps in his swing. Momma Cooch was holding him on her lap and he was falling asleep sitting up. I said we should put him down for a little nap. No lie -- we laid him down and by the time we stood up, he was out!!!

The next morning the gang was enjoying each other...

Christy and the girls visit

Today was such a fun day for me. I am used to hanging around boys and I got to hang with the gals. It was a blast!!!


Julianna during lunch...

Christie lovin' on Aiden while Ashlyn looks on...

Ashlyn is GREAT with babies and had a ball with Aiden. They were sooo cute together!

Aiden's amazing progress

Soooo much has happened in a few days. Two nights ago, Aiden went to sleep at 8:00 and slept peacefully (in his own crib) until 6:30 without any feedings!!!! That night when I was putting him to sleep, I was singing and humming along to the lullabies (since I know them by heart). He started making these noises...then I figured out that he was singing with me! He sang the entire time that I did. How precious!!!

Last night, he went to sleep in his crib at 8:00 and woke up screaming at 1:00 for food, but then continued sleeping peacefully until 6:00! Then, when I was feeding him, he put both hands on the bottle to hold it while eating. That was a first! Usually he is holding the finger of whoever is feeding him (Mike or I). He is growing up SOOO fast and is SOO cute along the way.

On a side note, today, one of my most precious and dearest friends (Christie Lassiter) is coming up with her girls. I could not be happier. It is their spring break and I am SOO excited to see them. We are going to have Panera bagels and maybe go to the park behind the house. I love Christie like she were my own sister....maybe even closer. We even tend to look alike. Her own grandma used to get us confused when we were in high school.

Anyway, that's all for now. Off to start the day!

Cherry Blossoms

Ok, so you tend to think that if the Cherry Blossoms and sun are out that it must be super nice and warm. YEAH RIGHT! We froze our little butts off! The wind kept an almost constant flow of flower petals and sand that seemed to head directly towards my lip gloss. I probably looked hilarious. Never mind the fact that Mike told me to dress warm because it was cold and windy (he would know...he is working downtown today). But NOOOO....I have to dress super cute for the pictures (that I never got in because of frost bite - OK a slight exaggeration).

Also to add to this, Hilary and I are super ambitious new moms, as she put it. Did we really think our less than 6 months old would automatically be developed enough for a good photo shoot. I think we were shooting too high, but had fun anyway.

Anywho....here are the pics that did turn out.


Aiden and his cute little outfit on the way to Hilary's house

Little handsome, as tired as he can be...

Aww....what a little cutie...

Hilary and Harper. Harper was fascinated with her polka dot pants and wouldn't look up. Still fun to capture because it shows where she is developmentally. I think Hilary looks great for just having a baby 5 months ago!!

Even though Harper isn't looking, I still think she looks precious in this one.

Aiden lifting his head

A few weeks ago we went to the University of MD Hospital (Pediatric) for a follow-up. Every baby that is in NICU for a significant amount of time needs to do this to check out their development. They said Aiden is doing exactly what he should be doing for when he was born. He did have a hard time keeping his head up. The past couple of days he has been doing much better!!