"Hey... Wrong Mommy!"
Paige and Lauren enjoying tummy time...
Look, Mom! A cell phone!
Aidan's favorite thing to do these days --- climb the stairs!
A sweet smile from Nina...
This time we got to shop with Aunt Terri and the crazy ladies (Aidan's Grandma and Great Aunt Gail)!
Well, today was my first experience with the very early morning Black Friday crowds. I saw some fantastic sales in the Target ad from yesterday and just had to get those items! (What in the world was I thinking?) So, it's 4am and my alarm clock is going off. I went to bed at 11:30pm. Am I really this insane?, I'm thinking to myself as I stumble out of bed to get dressed and head out the door. (In case you're wondering, Aidan and Daddy were home, sound asleep).
I arrived at Target shortly after they opened (5am). There were no carts left and you could barely move. There was pushing, shoving, and shouting. Thank God there weren't any stampedes! I actually paid for my purchases in the electronics department (after I grabbed the very last box of what I wanted, to the glaring eye of some other customers). I ended up waiting in line for a little over an hour. The lines for the checkouts in the front of the store literally snaked their way back to the electronics department and around the corner. There must have been at least five hundred people waiting in line. Unbelievable.
After I left Target, I figured I would check out Best Buy. They had two things that I wanted to get. Well, they were completely sold out of one thing and the other thing, well, they had it but I wasn't about to wait in a line that snaked it's way around the entire building! It so wasn't worth the $20 I would have saved, considering I can probably get the same item on eBay for right around the same price.
So, I left Best Buy and headed to Kohls. Again, they were completely sold out of the item I wanted (do we see a recurring theme here? LOL) And, once again, the lines snaked around the entire building. I'm sensing a pattern here -- pick ONE store to visit at 5am or whenever they open and don't bother with the other ones!
After leaving Kohls, I decided to make one last stop -- Toys R Us. They were busy, but there was absolutely NO lines for checking out! I was amazed. Of course, they were sold out of what I went in there for, but I did end up getting a couple of things for Aidan (Birthday and Christmas). So, I felt like I got a little bit accomplished.
By the time I got home, it was 9am and Alex and Aidan were eating breakfast. Aidan was laughing and smiling, it was the sweetest thing. And he had good reason to be smiling -- Daddy fed him sweet potatoes (with marshmallows) and pumpkin pie for breakfast! LOL Pretty soon Aidan is going to start asking for Daddy to feed him breakfast!
We did end up meeting Mom, Aunt Carol, and Aunt Dolly at the mall, (and Alex came, too!) but we didn't make it there until 11am. Needless to say, I didn't get much shopping done. I got one person done and that's it. I'm so used to getting at least half of my list covered, but no such luck today...
Oh, well, there's always tomorrow, right? Aidan and I have big plans with Aunt Terri at yet another mall!
At eleven months old, Aidan is a very happy, passionate, active, vocal, curious baby boy. He is constantly on the move, rarely stopping to play with any one item for more than a few seconds. That is, unless it's something he's NOT supposed to be getting into. Then he'll sit there for as long as we'll let him and he'll happily play with whatever the off-limits item happens to be.
Aidan loves to pull himself up on the furniture, whether it's the coffee table, the couch, my legs, or the dog. He cruises like a champ across the furniture, but he still isn't showing much interest in walking on his own. I'm certainly in no rush to get him to do so, anyway! That would be yet another reminder that he's growing up! And, fast, too!
Aidan's favorite activity these days (besides eating) is emptying containers. Whether it's his dump truck full of oversized legos, his block sorter, or the tupperware cupboard, if you let him empty something, he's in his glory. I guess now we just need to teach him how to put back the items he's emptied!
His vocabulary is ever increasing. In addition to his favorite words (Mama, Dada, Papa, and Baba), he's now saying "Hi," "Bye," and "Hello." I've even heard him mutter "Uh-oh" once or twice. And he knows what each word means -- if we ask him where Daddy is, he'll point with his little fist. Same with Mommy and Noah. And if you say "Hi" or "Bye" to him, he'll lift his hand and wave. It's the cutest thing!
He continues to be a joy in our lives. Sometimes I'll just look at him and wonder what life was like without him. And then I'll remember, Oh, yeah. I got sleep. And I got to do housework without a 24 pound growth attached to my hip. And I got to eat a hot meal every night. I was able to sleep in every once in a while... But I never knew how amazing it felt to have your son come at you with a big, sloppy kiss. I never knew what it felt like to have chubby little arms wrap tightly around my neck. I never knew how my heart would swell with pride as I watch my son learn how to wave. How to feed himself. How to talk, to call me Mama. I never knew I could love someone so fully, with my whole entire being. With every fiber in my body. I never knew what it was like to be a mother. And, you know what? Those sleepless nights, those cold dinners, those weight-lifting housework sessions... it's the least I could do when you compare my so-called sacrifices with the unconditional love my son and I share.
He also had fun climbing all over the activity gym.
But he also helps empty the dishwasher!
