OutNumbered: Kids do the darndest things

So tonight at dinner with my Dad, Aiden finally crashed. He did not want to go to bed last night (on account of daylight savings time) and this morning he didn't want to get up. He is getting quite like his dad when it comes to getting up in the morning...they both believe if you hide under the covers, mom can't see you and you don't have to get up.

I realize this sounds funny, but to me it's a downright miracle. One of my friends has a 4 mo. old baby and she is exhausted! I can't help but ache for her when I see how tired and frustrated she is some mornings (It was about 4 months when I gave up on breastfeeding - so she is about at my breaking point). Even after that though, things stayed hard for awhile. I didn't know about sleep training - I was doing up all nighters with Aiden until he was 9 months old! I would spend an hour rocking him to sleep at 9 o clock at night. Then be up with him twice a night to feed at 4 months and once a night to feed after 6 months. This involved 30 minutes to finish a bottle, anywhere from 10-20 minutes to burp, then an hour to fall back asleep being rocked and another 30 minutes or so of back patting in the crib once he woke up from being laid down.

I did this for 9 months! Granted the first 6 weeks are pure hell that no one can prepare you for and the first 3 months are about as bad but you at least find a groove. But when this didn't end for me after months and months and months....I would be up all night with Aiden asleep in my arms, sometimes crying from sheer exhaustion, sometimes counting the leaves painted on the nursurey wall because I was bored...it sucked.

Aiden put himself to sleep for the first time 9 months old, while on vacation

The miracle? Now, it is impossible to get him up at 6:45 in the morning to get dressed (I can't even tell you how upsetting it is to have to remove his pjs once he is up). During that first 9 months I thought "I will never do this again" and now it's like, "well I survived once, and tons of other people survive everyday...maybe it wouldn't be so bad." That is until Aiden is up an ready to go at 7:00 on Saturday morning...hey I said miracle not "wonderous sign of God that I am meant to get enough sleep."

On top of the joy of getting more sleep when babies get older you get to see all kinds of other miracles. Like learning to talk. I hear about one new word from him every day plus a few garbled words that I've dubbed Aiden language which he can't quite pronounce but very specifically knows what he is talking about. Tonight on the phone, we called Steve to say good night (hate when Daddy isn't there to interrupt story time with his ridiculous antics) and Aiden perfectly annunciated "I love you Daddy," clear as day. That is 5 syllables!!! I know that sounds so silly to be excited about but really, when your kids put together 2 syllables it is a huge milestone. He has done 1-2 words together before but this was just awesome, Steve heard it over the noise in the shop and got so excited. I almost dropped the phone (just like my jaw) and thought, "You are a boy genius!"

He's also getting into all kinds of curious behavoirs, some good, some bad. He likes spending time with the boys (Steve, Nik and Grant) even though I am not always sure he knows what they are doing, he wants to be a part of it. And he is absorbing everything he sees. Last night I was so totally captivated watching him watch Toy Story. Since I have a fully developed adult brain, I never thought Toy Story was too complicated - but he scanned every inch of the TV over and over again to make sure he didn't miss anything and there was a lot going on. A couple months ago, his mode of learning was monkey see-monkey do, these days it's "Aiden will try it his was 3 times then ask Mommy and maybe try his way one more time before doing it her way." This sometimes leads to time outs or tantrums. But sometimes it leads to total independence and creativity and much laughter.

Being Creative....

Being really creative....