He's officially a toddler!

On January 8th, our baby boy became a toddler.  We no longer tell his age in months, but in years.  The past year has been full of fun, laughter, tears, doctor appointments, smiles, milestones, frustration, laundry, spit up, and most of all love.  Since Sunday is a school day for us, Aden celebrated his birthday at school with his friends there and then again when we got home.  We decided to have a small birthday for him that included cupcakes and some presents.  We also invited over our friends Patty and Chris Young because it was Patty's birthday too!  Chris and Patty (known to Aden as Noni and Papi) are also his surrogate grandparents here in Saudi.  After four Christmas's in the States, he finally seemed to understand and enjoy opening presents.  It was a nice, laid back birthday for a very special little boy.

Yesterday we went to the doctor and had Aden's 1 year appointment and vaccinations.  Aden is still a healthy boy at 24.7 lbs (75th percentile) and 32 inches (90th percentile).  He has popped a second tooth, but they are taking their sweet time to fully come in.  He continues to improve his walking and has even begun running.  Going for walks is now more fun, but also more exhausting.  He has decided that he is in charge of where we go and it sometimes involves chasing cats.  Getting him back to the house can be quite difficult, but we are glad that he loves the outdoors so much.

Here are some pictures to enjoy!

Tara

 The birthday boy!

 Eating his cake, he didn't get very messy and wouldn't actually eat the cupcake until we had broken it into smaller pieces... funny boy

 Opening a present from Grandma and Grandpa

 Stackable cups!

Aden's friend Mahana was born just three days before him so they celebrated together!

 

He really wanted to touch the candle

A few more pictures from winter break......

 Playing in the snow!

 On the train into Chicago

Aden helping Daddy sweep

Has it really been that long?

So my mom reminded me the other day that we haven't blogged since December 20th.  Has it really been a month!!??  I sincerely apologize to those of you who do read, but I will try to get you caught up.

We spent a great 3 weeks in the States and were able to see a lot of friends and family.  Aden was showered with gifts that now litter our living room floor every day.  We were a bit disappointed at the lack of snow, but from what I hear there is plenty now.  Thank you to all of you who housed, fed, and spent time with us.  We feel very blessed to have friends and family who are willing to help us out while we are back in the States.

We flew back to Saudi on January 3 and Aden did a fantastic job.  We tried out a new (for us) flight straight from Chicago to Abu Dhabi which is about 13 hours long.  I was really nervous that it would be torturous being stuck on a plane for that long, but it really wasn't.  Aden did a great job sleeping and there was an awesome entertainment package.  We'll definitely take that flight again if we can.  Jet lag took a bit to get over, but Aden was sleeping through the night again before the week was out.  Look below for a video of Aden dealing with jet lag.  Poor guy!

I honestly can't believe that we've only been back here for 2 weeks.  We've jumped back into teaching and helping out with the cross country team.  I went to a math curriculum meeting at our district office for three days.  And on Monday we go down to Khobar for Aden's next set of vaccinations.  There is always something going on.

The next big developmental step that Aden has reached lately is that he got his first tooth!  We don't have any pictures because it is still just barely breaking through, but it is there.  Perfect timing since he is only about a week ago from being done nursing.  The funniest part of the story is that another baby here, Shea, got his first tooth this week as well.  But Shea is only 5 1/2 months old!  Aden was a bit of a late bloomer in this area.  It has been so much fun these past few weeks as Aden's personality has really begun shining through.  He is a big goofball.  Seriously, he made me laugh so hard the other night that I started to cry.  He just does the funniest things that make me think "what is going on in that little head?"  We are really looking forward to the next few months as he continues to develop and starts communicating more with us.

Tara

Aden was having a hard time dealing with jet lag one night at dinner.

We found snow up near Superior and Aden loved it!

More pictures and first birthday post to come soon!