It's a bird... it's a plane... it's...

SUPERMAN!

Aidan was the best superman ever!

We had a great time at his Halloween party yesterday; Aidan was happy to run around as Superman and see all his friends. I think they were all thoroughly confused why they all looked so silly!


Superman to the rescue!


Playing with the cute lady bug.


Hanging out with his teachers, plus the Monkey and Hulk.


He practiced flying with daddy!


And thought it was so much fun.


Not sure what to think of all the kids at the sing-a-long.


His bud Evan was a Lion, sans hat :-)


Hanging with the Hulk.


Arms up, ready to fly!

Today we went to Rachel's game and Superman came along. Of course all the fans loved him, and I think he was lucky - Rachel scored an awesome goal and her team won!

Total Cuteness

When I picked Aidan up from school the other day, he ran towards me and gave me a big hug and patted my back! It was the best hug ever! He's just so funny and so cute.

He's really good at peak-a-boo these days, he loves when Isaac helps him sneak out of different places and surprise me! I never know where I'll see him next - along the floor, up at the ceiling, or somewhere in between. He loves it, and I love seeing his little smiling face pop out.



Today he had his 1 year check-up, which unfortunately meant shots and getting blood drawn. But, he was a trooper and after the initial shock it hasn't seemed to bother him.

We played outside for a little while and he got to try out his new coat from his great-grandma, and soon we're heading to his school's Halloween party!

Yay, mom finally let me pick up some firewood!


Of course he found the faucet.


And he loved when the school bus and then the trash truck came by!

Can't wait to see Aidan all dressed up. It's a surprise what he's going to be!

Playing on the Parquet

Today Isaac got to play basketball at the TD Garden, where the Boston Celtics play! We were so excited to see what it was like to be right down there on the floor. We were actually surprised how small it felt, it always seems bigger from the stands. It was definitely a neat experience to be there!











It just wouldn't be a blog posting without lots of AJ photos too, so here you go!


Aidan loved picking up the basketball.


And chasing them.


It was fun to find the big box of basketballs!

We walked around Boston for a little while after the game, and then came home to hang out with Kristen and Lindsey. It was like good ol' times again, we had a blast cooking dinner and playing with Aidan.

This photo literally made me laugh out loud :-)

Lindsey helped Aidan try on my Uggs! He actually managed to take a few steps!


After dinner we made S'mores in the fireplace.

Here's the old photo of us!

Good Times

AJ has had a fun week, laughing and playing and just being his usual happy self. He got a new blue puppy from GB and Ol' Pa that we call "Spot". He's the best kind of pet!





Today we went to the park, and it turned out Aidan's favorite activity was pushing around the play lawn mower! We'll see how he likes it in 10 years! We also had fun on the swing and the slides, but of course that's a little harder to take photos of...





Ok, I hear him stirring now, I've used up my nap time cooking, cleaning, and blogging. Gotta run!

Pig in a Cup, Monkey in a Box

Aidan amused himself and us for ages on Sunday night just by putting a little piglet in a cup and pulling it back out! He giggled and giggled and kept showing us how he could do it, so I couldn't help but take some photos.



He ran around all night super happy, laughing non-stop.



He's even warmed up to the Sock-Monkey-Jack-in-the-Box! The first time it popped out he was totally freaked out, but since then he's learned the song and anticipates the "pop" with excitement. He's still a little nervous, but now it ends with laughing instead of crying.



Tonight Grandpa, Jacob, and Marita stopped by to say hi - Jacob is home on break for a few days, so we were glad we got to see them!

We actually didn't know they were coming until after I'd already started making Shepherd's Pie for the first time ever. So, it worked out well that we had a big dish to serve, and it tasted pretty good! But, all that time in the kitchen reminded me why I don't normally cook...

The Dancy Clan came over after dinner too. It's convenient only being a few miles apart, that's for sure!

Jacob really liked Aidan's new lego animals, they're like the ones he used to have!

Our Big Boy

Aidan is looking so much older these days, and now he's wearing big boy clothes and shoes! After the weather turned so cold this week, I had to go out to get him some more warm clothes, and realized that he was too old for a lot of the cutesy baby things :-( He also got some real walking shoes.

Here's a few photos from the weekend, it's been crazy, like always, and I feel like I'm getting further behind on everything!

Another cute one. I hear he's a poser, but I don't know what people mean??


Walking with Daddy


Smiling at Daddy


Running around in front of the big pile o' wood that Isaac stacked!

On Friday we went to the local farm stand to check out the pumpkins. There weren't many left, but Aidan still had fun walking around and trying to pick some up.


Oh, this one looks good.


Occasionally, Aidan sticks out his chin like this - not sure why!

He's a big boy in a lot of ways, but doesn't want to give up his bottle - it was easier to wean him over to formula at 9 months that it has been so far to get him to use a sippy cup. We've introduced some real milk this week, which he doesn't seem to mind the taste of but had a bit of a reaction too. Not sure yet of the soy milk verdict. We'll see how it goes.

Aidan's First Birthday

Aidan's birthday is actually Columbus Day, so around here we all have the day off! What a perfect day to be born; there's always a long weekend, but it's not a serious holiday that interferes with having a birthday! This year we were lucky that Columbus Day fell on a Monday so it was his actual birthday that we were off work and school.

Bright and early this morning, AJ and I were up, playing with his new toys at his play table.






Daddy came down and built him a tree house!


This afternoon we hiked up Wachusett Mountain with the Dancy Clan, and it turned out to be a great length hike. Hiking short distances is lots of fun!





Aidan was so glad once we finally took the hat off - although he had some serious hat hair!







No more monthly updates, but I've got to include his one year status to put in his baby book. At 1 year, Aidan:
- Walks all over the place; stops, turns, bends down, backs up
- Points at things that he wants
- Can climb onto his table with no help
- Has a big belly laugh
- Has 8 teeth
- Eats lots of cheese!

I'll add more as I remember what I wanted to include, but I'm exhausted and need an early night!

Perfect Day

After all the excitement, all the planning, and all the preparations, Aidan's birthday was just as much fun as we'd hoped. We had a wonderful day with friends and family, and continued partying into the night after AJ finally conked out from the crazy day.

We have so many photos, so the easiest thing is just to add captions to share the day with you.


Aidan helped me tie his big "1" and monkey balloon to the mailbox.


He loved carrying around his little blue balloon. I made the monkey shirt with his name and a big "1" on the back :-)


Playing with daddy before the party started.


We decorated with lots of balloons and monkeys and blue and yellow.


After having a light dinner, we all gathered around Aidan's playroom to watch him open gifts.


He got right into tearing off wrapping paper!


The younger girls,


the older girls,


and the in-between girls.


He loved his new bath toy - now he can run the faucet without wasting water!


Looking at new books with daddy.


After a quick outfit change, we came back to open the big Lego Zoo.


The kids built him a tower to knock down.


Time for a quick Daddy hug.


Rachel built up some of the zoo pieces,


And Carmen and Sohpie built a tower bigger than them!

Finally, it was time to enjoy the monkey cake that we'd been looking at all day. I was happy with how it came out, people couldn't believe I made it :-)


Leigh snapped this cool photo of the cake.


Aidan was a little scared at first!


But he got into it.


We helped him blow out his candle


And he finally got to dig in!


Mmmm... chocolate frosting. He quietly worked at it for a few minutes, and then announced with his cute sign language when he was "All Done!"


Chip made an awesome black forest cake for Marie's birthday too.


We all sang, and Marie managed to blow out all the candles in one go!


Luke and Tobin enjoyed the cake.


Carmen and Sophie played with Jack-in-the-box-Sock-Monkey. It terrifies Aidan!


Pajama time. Such a cute pose.


More giggles with his new toys.


Fun with mommy.


After bed-time, we got some coffee and then built a fire!

Thank you for everyone who came! We had a blast and Aidan got a lot of fun and interesting toys. We were playing with them all morning and I have even more cute photos to post later!

Perfect timing - Aidan is just waking up from his morning nap now! I thought it was much more fun to post pictures than to clean up...