The baby of the family...

Oh Aiden.

Our forever baby of the family.

He is definitely becoming more and more indepent, but he is still such a baby. He loves to be held. He tries to tell you what he wants, but most of the time, it just comes out as whining and/or crying. It's exhausting. But of course, we love him and he's just too adorable to be annoyed at for very long. And we're definitely working on the whole whining thing. Because no one likes a whiner! I should know, I was one for a long time, heck, Eric probably thinks I still am sometimes.

Aiden's most favorite thing in the world is outside. From the moment he wakes up, he is pointing toward the front door. Or the back door. Or the garage door. He knows that all three are escape routes to the outside, and he wants nothing more than to be out there, all.the.time. One of his few words in his limited vocabulary is "ousside!" Of course, I still have barely yet to hear him say mama.

Speaking of speaking, his teachers at school tell us all the time all the words he says. However, we aren't so sure. Maybe this is all part of the act of being the baby, but all the things he "supposedly" says at school are just humorous to Eric and I. One day, they wrote that Aiden said "octagon" at circle time. A few days later, "Aiden said "grass" and "outside". OK, so we have heard the "outside" word, but, other than that, he usually just points, grunts, and whines. This past weekend, he did start saying "up" and "down", which is really cute but also exhausting because he's saying it because he wants "up" (picked up, or thrown up in the air), and hardly ever wants "down". He also started saying "no-no!" and shaking his finger. That one is pretty adorable.

He's a big helper when it comes to chores too. He helps empty the dishwasher (he really loves handing you everything!), and loves feeding the dog. Another favorite is helping sister with just about anything. Or at least, he thinks he's helping her. I know I've said it before and I am sure I'll say it again, seeing these two interact just melts my heart. They hug a lot and are playing together more and more these days.

Aiden hasn't been too fond of the water when we've went to the beach or the pool, but this past weekend, all it took was a little dunk under water to get him hooked. He was standing in the shallow end of the pool holding on to Eric, when he slipped and dunked under. For .0002 seconds. Eric pulled him right up and instead of freaking out like we thought he'd do, he smiled and splashed and splashed. He then wanted "up!" and "down!" in the water for the rest of the morning. It was adorable, and we're glad he is adapting to the water like his fish of an older sister.

Each day he is getting more and more fun, developing into his own personality, and we couldn't be happier as we watch him grow and learn.