Torture

Pity Party: Table for one. I am being tortured. I've had a headache lurking at the base of my skull all week, making me nauseous at best, and flat on my back with my eyes closed for a few hours at worst. How does Aidan help me out? Well, he doesn't. This week he has progressively woken up earlier and earlier. 6:30am, 6:00am, and this morning, 5:30am. What have I done to deserve this? It's not like life stops when you're not feeling well, so I've tried to get Aidan out and about. We've been to Target and the bookstore, and today we had our ECFE class. Good news is that we talked about social skills in class today and Aidan is doing just fine.

Thanks for joining the party, I'm done whining. :)

County Fair

Aidan and I attended the Scott County Fair on Friday afternoon to watch my cousin in the horse show. I wasn't sure how interested Aidan would be, but he was pretty entranced, at least for as long as his short attention span allowed. I've never been to a horse show before, and WOW, those horses are majestic. They are all pampered and primped and look absolutely gorgeous trotting around the ring. We met up with my aunt, my cousin and her two sons, and watched my cousin, Aaron, in the six-horse hitch competition. Aidan wanted to be right up along the fence, which was not a good idea for him or the horses. He did figure out how to climb in and out of his stroller while we were there, so that kept him entertained for a little bit. After the six-horse hitch competition we got to go back to the horse barn and watch them undo all of the horses' braids and "bling". Chase kept Aidan busy by playing in the dirt with a riding crop. So easily amused.

Aaron and a six-horse hitch

Aaron and his helper(?)

Chase and Hunter watching Aaron enter the ring

2 horse hitch competition

Aidan in the horse barn...amazed by the size of the horses

Catch Up

I've been busy this week trying to keep Aidan occupied and out of the house. If he's inside for more than a half an hour he starts to get whiny and throw tantrums, so we've been out and about most days.

We went to the zoo on Monday. I'm starting to zoom by the exhibits that I know don't interest him and stopping at the ones I know he likes. (prairie dogs, the farm, watching the fish)

Tuesday we went to the YMCA, then played outside most of the afternoon. I wish Aidan would stop eating the sidewalk chalk. It could be so much fun to play with, but he insists on eating big chunks of it. Maybe it's just too soon.

Wednesday mornings are ECFE day. We go play with other kids ages 15-30 months. Aidan always has a great time and loves to play in the little Cozy Coupe cars. They have several different kinds and he just runs from one to the next. For about 20 minutes, the moms sit and discuss a "topic of the week" while the kids play. This week's topic was discipline. It seems that I am the only mom not using time-outs yet, but I honestly cannot fathom getting Aidan to sit in one place for more than one second. Maybe we'll try baby time-outs in the crib if the tantrums continue.

Thursday was a busy day. Jackson came over to play in the morning, then Carrie brought Keifer and Kyla over so we could all go to the Splash Park. Jackson made it easy for me by sleeping most of the time, so I only needed to keep an eye on my busy little guy. I think we were all worn out by the time we got home, and Aidan and I both took a nap!

Jackson, just waking up from his nap

Splash! Keifer loved the water

Aidan and his trusty baseball

Today we're going to the Scott County Fair to watch my cousin in a horse show. It's going to be another steamy afternoon with all the rain we had this morning. Should be fun though.

Big Rigs

What little kid doesn't love giant trucks and machinery? The local libraries have been hosting "Big Rig" days throughout the summer. We missed our library's "Big Rig" day, but luckily Carrie and Keifer invited us to go along when their library had all the big trucks visiting. Aidan and Keifer weren't too sure about the massive machinery, but loved the small four wheeler type vehicles. Keifer's cousin, Abby, came along with and helped corral Aidan and Keifer when they tried to make a run for it.

After seeing all the trucks and playing inside the library for a little bit, we headed back to their house where I finally got my hands on little baby Kyla. What a tiny peanut!!! She's two months old, but since she was born early, she's still just a petite little thing. Aidan didn't mind me holding her since he was eating lunch and then playing with all of Keifer's toys. In fact, I probably could have left and he wouldn't have noticed I was gone. He had a great time.

Water truck that sprayed water every 15 min

Keifer, Aidan, and Abby in the bucket

Keifer thought she wanted to climb into the cab, but changed her mind when she realized how high up it was!Aidan's favorite of the day

Aidan and Abby driving the John Deere tractor/mower
Prepping for his modeling career

Check Up

Aidan met his new doctor yesterday and had his 15 month check-up. All looked good and there were no concerns. He got two shots, the Hib and Prevnar. Aidan woke up today with a low fever and lots of diarrhea. Thankfully both tapered off by noon and Aidan is feeling much better. If it stays nice outside, we're heading to the dog park after Aidan's afternoon nap.

Weight: 22 lbs 11oz---21st %-ile
Height: 33 in.--- 91st %-ile
Head: 19 in.--- 76th %-ile

Attack Of The Goats

Krista, Jackson, Aidan, and I went to the zoo yesterday. Although the day started off rainy, it was actually a good thing because it kept the crowds away. We arrived a little after Noon and did not get rained on. In fact, the sun even came out for a little bit. We saw all the major exhibits, with the aquarium in the Tropics being the boys' favorite. There's something mesmerizing about watching those colorful fish swim back and forth, right in front of you. Aidan's least favorite part of the day was when I was feeding the goats and they were all up in his face. I didn't get a good picture, but here is one of the goats getting a little face time with Aidan. He started to cry after this picture, so I didn't torture him anymore. We left the goat building and went to see the cows and pigs. The only disappointment for me was that the giraffes weren't up at the railing to be fed. The line was too long last time we were there, so I was hoping it would be shorter this time since the crowds were down. No such luck. The giraffes were too busy enjoying munching on trees to be bothered to come over and eat biscuits out of humans' hands.

attack of the goats

Aidan (15 months) Jackson (5 months)

Jackson, just hanging out

In Africa! Looking at the zebras and giraffes

Ba Bol

Aidan is fascinated with balls right now and calls any spherical object a "ba bol" aka: baseball. Not really sure why he chose the word baseball since he only has one, and doesn't even really play with it, but whatever floats his boat I guess.

We spent a fun weekend seeing friends from near and far. Saturday morning, my college friend, Jessica, was in town and she stopped by for a visit. We walked up to the coffee shop and each got cinnamon rolls and iced lattes to satisfy our sweet tooth. It was great chatting and catching up on everything that has been going on in Des Moines since the last time we saw each other. Aidan enjoyed the attention and sharing my cinnamon roll with me. After Jess took off I had an appointment for a facial and pedicure. Oh wow, was that relaxing! I almost fell asleep during the facial.

Sunday brought more sunny skies and moderate temps, so we headed up to Plymouth, MN to go swimming with Krista, Eric, and Jackson. Aidan loves the pool, but he also loves running around. I lounged in the pool and played with him when he wanted to be in the pool, and Kyle stayed out and chased Aidan around the rest of the time. I think I got the better end of the deal on that one!

As if swimming wasn't enough of a treat on a Sunday afternoon, our neighbors up the street called and wondered if Aidan wanted to come play with their son, Lucas, who is just a month older than Aidan. Aidan didn't get up from his nap until 5pm (swimming wears you out!) but as soon as he did wake up, we headed up the street in our handy wagon. Lucas loves to push the wagon around and Aidan just likes exploring a new environment. They don't play "together" yet, but Aidan was more aware that there was another kid his age in the general vicinity. Especially when Lucas was playing with a set of keys. Good thing Lucas is pretty mild-mannered, or there could have been some major meltdowns as Aidan kept trying to take the keys away from him. :) Sharing...such a difficult concept.

I think that wraps-up our weekend. We're planning a trip to the zoo, an ECFE class on Wednesday morning, Aidan's 15 month doctor's appt., and a play date with Carrie and Keifer this week. It's going to be a busy week, so I should get the grocery shopping done today!

Fun In The Sun

We hit up Rockin' Lunch Hour again today. Krista and Jackson joined us and fun was had by all! The lady singing wasn't quite as good as the first time we went, but it's a different group every Thursday, so maybe next week will be better. I remembered to put Aidan in his swimwear this time around. Live and learn.

Krista and Jackson

Charlotte and Aidan a few weeks ago,
the first time we went to Rockin' Lunch Hour

Slow Recovery

Aidan is slowly recovering from whatever crazy virus he contracted last week. He spent portions of Sunday morning screaming and writhing in pain from what I can only guess was a really upset tummy. Intellectually I knew that he probably just had really bad gas pains, but emotionally I felt like he was dying and needed to be rushed to the ER. My rational side won out, but barely. There's nothing worse than being unable to help your hurt, sick child. After the screaming ended, Aidan passed out.

Aidan was in better spirits when he woke up in the late afternoon. We headed over to Grandpa and Grandma Finn's house for a BBQ and we saw the first smiles out of Aidan since Thursday. After a few hours he'd had enough though, and we headed home for a bath and bedtime an hour earlier than normal.

It's now Monday morning at 9:40am and Aidan has been asleep since 6pm last night. I'm glad he's getting the rest he needs, but it still creeps me out that a person can sleep for that long without waking up. I'm hoping today is a little better than yesterday, and that tomorrow is even better still.

Explosions

Happy 4th of July everyone! Aidan treated me to an early show yesterday afternoon by projectile vomiting all over himself, me, the rocking chair, the floor, even things that were behind him. Don't ask me how that happened. At least it was pretty vomit, due to the 3 blueberries he had eaten earlier in the day. Let me back up and start at the beginning...

Aidan woke up with a low-grade fever on Thursday morning and seemed a little out-of-sorts, but not too sick. He ate, drank, and napped normally so I figured it was just his teeth making themselves known. Thursday night he spiked a 103.1 degree fever and had rapid, shallow breathing. Not his teeth. We called the nurse careline and they told us to give him more fever-reducing meds. We did, and the fever went down around 3am. Friday was the same...every time the Tylenol or ibuprofen wore off, his fever would go back up. He ate three blueberries on Friday morning and refused anything to drink. I was getting worried about dehydration so I made him a 2 oz. bottle around 1:30pm and he slowly sipped from it. Then, he projectile vomited everywhere. Bad idea, Mommy. I'd reached my limit of "waiting it out" and decided to visit the doctor for peace of mind. Of course, it was July 3rd, and the doctor's offices were all closed. Urgent Care had a two hour wait, so I ended up just taking him to the ER. Poor Aidan was poked and prodded in every hole on his body. Since he wasn't keeping anything down they gave him a Tylenol suppository, swabbed his nose and throat, and used a catheter to take a urine sample. Oye. The scariest part was that he just laid on my chest for the three hours were there. Dozing on and off, not really with it. The strep, flu, and urine tests all came back negative meaning Aidan has a virus. Not surprising, but I just wanted to make sure. Aidan perked up a little bit after they gave him some anti-nausea medication and we were discharged.

We went home, Aidan drank a little pedialyte, then fell asleep. For 16 hours straight. I'm not going to lie, it was creepy and abnormal. He didn't even wake up the 3 times I went in and gave him Tylenol or ibuprofen. He seems to be feeling a little better today. He's drinking more fluids and has kept a little toast and a few crackers down. I'm hoping the next time he wakes up he's a little perkier. I'm also hoping the only explosions I see today are fireworks in the sky.

15 Months Old

Aidan is now 15 months old, which just sounds light years away from 12 months old. At 12 months I still kind of considered him a baby. No more. He's a walking, running, jabbering machine. I figure that since I took so many pictures last week, I'll just use one of those for his 15 month photo. So, here he is, helping me hang out laundry at Nana and Papa's house last week. (keep in mind that it was already in the mid-90's in the morning...hence the nakedness)