Ayden Walter is One!

It was not JUST my denial that led this post to be late:) We have been a busy and sick household lately, but it's time to mark the occasion of Ayden's FIRST BIRTHDAY. 

The birthday mantle. We hung decorations up around the main floor:)

I did not do too much for this momentous event - but it was the perfect amount of work for me at the time:) Mom, Dad, Andrew & Kylie came up for the weekend. We invited some friends out to a restaurant (Buffalo Phil's in the Dells) and had a lunch out. Then we came back to our house to open gifts but unfortunately, Dave was on call and got called in. He missed opening gifts:(

Ayden and Harper

Mr. Collin with his hand on Clara! Waiting for the train to come

We brought some silly things for the kids (Nolan)

Kate and Daddy

Train delivered food and party hats - what more could you want?!

Collin was so excited about the trains, I think he sat for about 3 seconds the whole time we were there

I wasn't sure what I was going to do for a cake. I ended up buying a cake mix and bought some mini-cupcakes. We ended up having the pre-made mini cupcakes:) Here's Ayden's take on the sweets...

He was pretty sober the whole weekend. Everyone said he was so good, but I knew something was a little off. He wasn't his smiley self. But he wasn't upset either. 

Well, he smiled a little here!

and here:) Grandpa always gets a smile!

Godmother Kylie helped Ay open! (and a few others:)

He was pleasantly, calmly happy to open:)

1 year old!

He did want to play with his gifts. Even the clothes!

He lays his head down all the time on the floor or pillows and blankets.
Sweetie pie!

Playing with a balloon

Reading

Sporting some matching birthday PJs from Okinawa 

Awww!

Mom, Kylie and I talked about Beachbody/21 Day Fix/our workouts most of the time:) And we worked out each day together! We have all done great with this program and they are my best challengers I've had! We also had some fun time catching up all together.  A very nice, low-key birthday weekend! 

The boys had their well-check doctor appointment on Tuesday, January 19. I guess if I have to take both boys to the doctor it is nice to get them both seen at the same time! Collin loves the doctor. He pretends to be one and loves having them listen to his heartbeat, get weighed, blood pressure, etc. It's cute. Ayden did great too. However, both boys had ear infections in both ears! What?!? I could sort of tell that Ayden wasn't quite normal and just that morning while trying to get everyone ready (that morning was a disaster - both boys crying while I'm making Kate's lunch and getting her off to school...ugh), Collin was screaming and saying his ears hurt. So, I did think that was coming. But both? 

The kids are always obsessed with this chair...

He didn't seem too sick...yet

Blood draw - boo

So, since they were sick, we didn't do any immunizations. When we are done with this course of anti-biotics, we'll take them back and get those :(  But we did do a blood draw for Ayden that is typically done at age 1. We actually didn't do that with the others, but I agreed this time and they did right then. NOT. FUN. to have them get blood from his arm like that. Poor baby. But it is good we did, turns out he is a bit anemic. So, we are going to start an iron supplement and try and get more leafy, green vegetables and red meat in that one! The others probably need to. And then we will re-check (boo) in about a month to see if it is better. 

Okay, starting to feel awful...

He ran high fevers and just moaned in the carrier :( 

This is a terrible picture. He woke up like this :(  Purulent eye too!
It was awful.

So, they are both on meds right now. Ayden also seems to have gotten a horrible virus on top of it. He ran very high fevers last week, wouldn't eat and wouldn't sleep. It was really rough. I also got the cold:( but it was short-lived for me, thank goodness. Collin powered through like nothing was wrong:) Also, in that time-span, Kate had some odd potty accidents and so I had to run her in to get a urine analysis. It showed blood & protein in the urine but no UTI. We were watching it and pushing fluids. Then on Saturday, Ayden fell and hit his head on our coffee table and cut his eyebrow. I was worried he would need stitches, but Dave had some Dermabond and was able to glue it up! We just went in to re-check Kate today and it was all negative. So....it's been QUITE a week!

Our little bruiser

Here's a real quick run down on Mr. Ayden!

He is 23.7 lbs and is tall (she measured incorrectly and had him in the 15th percentile - we remeasured and he was round 80th percentile:) He is a good eater (normally) and will drink milk out of a cup, sippy or straw. But it doesn't take him long to start just playing with it. He loves to throw things from his high chair onto the floor. It means he's done. Don't pick that stuff back up:) 

He loves breads/pancakes, he has slowed down a bit on the prunes and pureed stuff and doesn't really like the pouches much anymore (oh darn!:) He likes meat and carrots, mashed potatoes....plenty. 

He says "uh-oh" and babbles a LOT! He has this kind of soft-spoken, calm way of babbling nonsense. And a lot of it. It's pretty cute. He can get loud. It will be abrupt and he will love it and then keep yelling. But right now, right after he nurses, he starts just quietly "talking" to me. Love it!

I'm nursing WAY too much right now. We were sort of cutting back but with this sickness - it is the ONLY way he would eat. So, that is going to be fun :) And yes, I am nursing in the night still. Again, when he was so sick and when he needed fluids, I was doing it. As soon as he is healthy again, we will stop nursing in the night and cry it out again. It's a total bummer, but it works. I just need Dave around to remind me. 

He is walking. Fast. And he now can stoop down get a toy and stand right back up. He loves to chase/be chased by the big kids. He is darn happy to go where he wants. Quickly. And can be counted on to grab whatever it is that he shouldn't grab. I don't sit down for more than a minute most days;) Trouble. 

He takes two naps (when not sick) one around 9 a.m. and another around 1 p.m. He'll still fall asleep in the car (prefers Interstate:) but will wake when we stop (when not sick). And yes, on desperate days, I still plan for a road trip to get the boys to get a good nap in. Ugh. Podcasts and audiobooks are amazing. And I'm not sure how much longer we can afford this! Hahaha. He does not have any lovey or thing that he "has" to have. Not yet. He has two loveys and one blanket that are in his crib when he sleeps, but they are not necessary or attached to him yet. 

He is still in 18-24 month clothes. We are LOVING using Collin's clothes. This is brilliant! He fave toys are things he shouldn't have (cords, remotes, paper, etc) things with buttons he can push. He does like books and has a little favorite one now...I can't remember the title, a cheap/non-interesting one we got from the doctor's office. 

He has a great little personality, he has mischievous little smiles and raises his eyebrows - adorable. When he feels good, he is so smiley and happy. He has been super clingy to me lately, and still fusses if he sees me walk by. Drives Dave crazy:) He can be super happy, playing with Dave and then I walk by and he'll fuss and come after me. He really is going to be my clingy child, he prefers to have me right next to him. The others did not! 

Oh goodness, that is all for now. There is so much more to say about this guy, but hopefully I can get that written down later!

LOVE YOU, Ay!!