Catskills

This week the weather was miserable, and Mommy and Daddy were sick. Aidan miraculously managed to stay healthy and happy all week, which was a blessing!

Last Sunday, Daddy and Aidan walked across the George Washington Bridge to New Jersey. They visited a park with a Revolutionary War museum with cannons, and Aidan had fun chasing Daddy's soda can around.

After a miserable middle of the week, things started to improve. On Friday, Aidan visited his friends Grace and Johnny in the park, which was fun. Then, we all packed up and drove up to Shandaken to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa Ruane for the long Memorial Day weekend. Mommy and Daddy loved relaxing in the mountains in perfect (sunny, 70 degree) weather, with free babysitting from the grandparents. Aidan was totally happy hanging out with everyone, playing in the streams, walking around the garden, checking out the orchard, and pushing Mommy and Daddy in the hammock by the stream. He also loved visiting Marguerite and Nadir, watching their chickens, and playing with their sweet dog, Gora.

We wish we could extend this weekend for longer!

First steps!

Aidan took his first steps today!!! Mommy and Daddy are SO excited! At Grandma and Grandpa's house this week he was getting closer and closer to it, but we all promised Daddy not to let go of his hands before Daddy got back home! Yesterday (Saturday), Aidan and Mommy played at the park, and Aidan kept initiating a "stand by myself" game: he would pull himself up (on Mommy, a stroller, or whatever he could), let go, and then stand there by himself with a gigantic grin, just *incredibly* proud of himself! He is so cute! By the end of the day, yesterday, he was even clapping, while standing up, unassisted! Today, Mommy stood Aidan up in front of her and Daddy said, "come here, Aidan!", and Aidan took his first baby steps! Aidan immediately turned around, and took his next steps toward Mommy. It was so wonderful! Aidan had a huge smile on his face and did his little "heh, heh, heh" excited breathing, and could definitely tell he was doing something amazing!

Earlier in the week, Aidan had his first outing to the zoo! Aidan and Mommy were staying with Grandma and Grandpa Ruane while Daddy was at a workshop outside of Atlanta, and Grandma took us exploring. Aidan liked seeing the camels and giraffes, and loved petting a baby goat at their petting zoo!

Celebrations

This week was full of celebrations. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were perfectly beautiful sunshiney days, so Mommy and Aidan celebrated by going to the park with Jack (and his Mommy, Jeanie), and Aidan's new friends (twins) Nate and Dillon (and their Mommy, Jetaun). The babies played with bowls of water and plastic toys on big sheets under a shady tree, shared cheerios, and were all thrilled to be outside (the mommies were too!)!

Tuesday was Daddy's birthday, and we relaxed and had a lazy day. In the morning Daddy went into work late and Mommy made him spicy homefries for breakfast (with Canadian bacon and apple cider), and we almost had to evacuate the house because of the peppery air! Daddy came home early and we all went to the park and played with water and toys in bowls again. We ran into a bunch of Aidan's friends along the way (Johnny, Jake & Yuxin) who were also enjoying the beautiful weather.

Wednesday, Aidan turned 10 months old! He has officially moved onto size 4 diapers, and 18-24month (2T) clothes. What a big boy!

Sunday was Mommy's first Mother's Day! It is amazing that this time one year ago, Aidan was only a twinkle in our eyes and a bump on Mommy's tummy! Mommy and Daddy and Aidan had breakfast together at Angela's Cafe (Mommy had waffles and ice cream). After finishing packing, Mommy and Aidan trained to Grandma and Grandpa Ruane's house, where we will be staying this week while Daddy is at a workshop in Georgia. (There are only a couple of more of these, and we are all looking forward to the end of them!) Mommy and Aidan had a delicious dinner with Grandma and Grandpa and Chris and Jim, and Aidan went to sleep and let Mommy enjoy their company until way after her usual bedtime of 9:00PM! It was a lot of fun.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Ball pits and baseball

On Sunday Daddy introduced Aidan to a completely new bathing experience: the shower! Aidan is now hooked. He now waits impatiently through what used to be his favorite part of the day (the bath), and keeps looking at the shower and saying "da... da... da!" until we turn on the amazing, focused, heated rain. Aidan loves holding onto Mommy or Daddy's fingers and walking through the shower, first forward, and then backward, over and over and over again. Daddy's efforts to regularly dump water over his head must have worked, because the water in his eyes doesn't bother him at all! Aidan loves the shower.

In other news: this week Aidan ate a smorgasbord of foods this week: for the first time he tried chicken taquitos, hummus, smoked mozzarella, couscous, apple pancakes and popcorn! So far, he likes fresh mozzarella but doesn't like string cheese. (!) On the toy front: Daddy bought Aidan his own set of keys (a lifesaver, since he otherwise is crazy for ours!) and a helicopter toy that identifies multi-colored balls. Mommy bought a baby pool and set of balls, and is probably more excited about Aidan's new ball pit than Aidan is!

On Sunday we went to Yankee Stadium and Aidan saw his first baseball game (versus the Mariners)! Aidan was a great sport about the newness, brightness and noise, and Daddy and Mommy loved the chance to see some live baseball at Yankee Stadium before it closes at the end of this year. A lady in the bathroom commented on how cute Aidan was and said that he would always be a Yankees fan - little did she know that he is a predestined member of Red Sox Nation!