What a Year!

WOW. When I think back 365 days, I am simply amazed at how much my life has changed in such a relatively short period of time. This was the year that Mike and I became parents, as well as homeowners! Here is a brief month-by-month synopsis of 2008, the year that was:

JANUARY: Since the holidays were over, I was really starting to get excited about Aiden's arrival; I had my first baby shower at my folks' house, and then even got to "see" Aiden a bit early with a 3-D ultrasound. Mike and I also took our hospital tour and our birthing class--talk about a wake-up call!

FEBRUARY: Two more baby showers--one at work and one at my mother-in-law's--helped stock us up for Aiden's impending arrival. We also picked our pediatrician this month, and I really started getting uncomfortable sleeping at night.




MARCH: Aiden was due on the 23rd--Easter Sunday--but at my check-up in the first week of the month, it was decided that we would induce early since I was low on fluid and the poor guy was running out of room in there. So we scheduled the induction for the next Wednesday--and of course that weekend we got 27 inches of snow! I remember rubbing my tummy, begging him not to make an early appearance, while we were snowed in at Mike's folks' house. Aiden listened a little too well; we went in for our induction at 8:30 AM on Wednesday the twelfth, and the little fart didn't arrive until 6:08 the next morning! I know it sounds cliche, but I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. Mike turned 30 a week later, so he had a child while he was in his twenties by the hair on his chin!

APRIL: To be fair, the thing I remember most about April was the lack of sleep and lamenting at how fast my maternity leave was flying by.





MAY: We lost Mike's Grandma Lynch this month; she had a beautful soul and we miss her dearly. I also switched from being a SAHM to a working mom, which has both its advantages and disadvantages.




JUNE: Mike and I celebrated our 2-year wedding anniversary, and my bestest bud Angie gave birth to Ms. Rachel, Aiden's future bride!!!






JULY: After a very brief search and negotiation, Mike and I became homeowners! We spent most of the month planning our impending move.







AUGUST: After a week of painting, Mike, Aiden and I moved into our first home.






SEPTEMBER: Time for OSU football! For a six-month-old, Aiden sure seemed to enjoy it (or at least the red our Buckeyes wear).






OCTOBER: We lost my Uncle John at the beginning of this month--a sad time for my family, but he's in a much better place than any of us could imagine. On a happier note, Aiden got another cousin--Christopher Patrick was born on the 15th! Also of note: more football, my 29th birthday (which I will henceforth be repeating several times over), and Aiden's first Halloween--Cutest. Puppy. Ever. :)



NOVEMBER: A presidential election with an outcome that didn't have me considering a move to Canada (my bad--NO MORE POLITICS)! Aiden got to experience his first Thanksgiving, though it was Mommy & Daddy that got to enjoy the trimmings!



DECEMBER: A lot of ups and downs this month (you can get the details here), but ending on a high note as Aiden celebrated his first Christmas!

And so here we are, about to say goodbye to a year that brought so much change. 2009 holds the promise for more--stay tuned for that--but we here at the Cotter household are turning our hopeful eyes to the future while not forgetting our past. HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!!

First Chistmas

Aiden's first Christmas was filled with fun, gifts, several outfit changes, Santa Claus himself, and no desire to eat or sleep! I could go into all the wonderful details, but Mommy is a bit tuckered out at this point. Just know that it was a very fun and festive few days, and we are thankful for all the gifts Aiden received. Luckily we made it through alive, and with a lot of photos--enjoy!!!

No More Worries

So I've decided (and some of you folks out there will be very happy to hear this) that I'm not going to worry so much about Aiden's weight. The doctor said he's healthy--that's the most important thing!--and I'm following all of his advice to add some poundage to my munchkin. Hopefully this all works.
Okay, I have to get back to my holiday prep work, but I've gotten a load of good photos of Aiden the past few days and wanted to take a moment to share...

Needing a Change of Luck

So the past two weeks have pretty much been awful. Read on for the craziness:

--Monday 12/8: Emergency doctor's appointment for me. Don't get scared, it turned out not to be serious, but there are some details that NO ONE should share on their blog.
--Tuesday 12/9: Sick day. Just didn't feel right.
--Wednesday 12/10: Hot water tank is leaking. Perfect.
--Thursday 12/11: My half-day work-from-home turns into a 3/4-day work-from-home since the guy they sent to fix the water heater was late. And then he overcharged us; we've now paid more out-of-pocket for problems with our house that our home warranty was supposed to cover than was paid for the actual warranty. Doesn't seem to make sense to me. Luckily we've got some help in fighting this.
--Friday 12/12: Mike has the flu and is MISERABLE. I end up having to take Aiden in to his pediatrician because he has decided he doesn't like eating anymore.
--Saturday 12/13: I go in to work to try to help us make a deadline, but end up having to go home because I, too, now have the flu. We send Aiden over to Mimi's so we don't give him any of our sickies.
--Sunday 12/14: Much-needed day of rest.
--Monday 12/15: I take Aiden in for his nine-month checkup to discover that at 16.5 lbs, he's in the 3rd percentile for weight. Small to say the least. Dr. Brown would like to see him again in 6 weeks as opposed to three months to check that he's gaining weight. I feel like the worst mom in the world.
--Tuesday 12/16: My mom calls me at work to tell me that my uncle has unexpectedly passed away. This was definitely the worst day because he was a perfectly healthy and happy man. Punch to the stomach for me, but I can relate a bit to how my aunt and cousins are feeling as I was THIS CLOSE to losing my dad a few years ago...
--Wednesday 12/17: I don't even remember this day.
--Thursday 12/18 & Friday 12/19: In Ashland for my uncle's calling hours and funeral. He was a man to be admired and will definitely be missed.
--Saturday 12/20: I decide to take Aiden out to run a few errands while Mike is at boxing, and somehow I forget my cell phone. This is perfect, you see, because my rear tire blows out. And I can't call AAA because I don't have my cell phone--I can't even use a pay phone because I don't have any change, so I end up calling my mother-in-law collect who is gracious enough to come sit with me at Target while we wait for the tow truck to arrive.

Right now I would really like to crawl into bed and hide under the covers until January is here because this is getting out of control. Thanks for letting me rant about it a little bit. And I will now leave you with what is perhaps the funniest photo to date of my dear, sweet Aiden...

Nine Months Old

Holy cow. Seriously. Nine freakin' months old. And now, especially with the cooler weather, it feels like just last night I was sleepless because I had a baby that was waking up in the night...wait a minute--that really WAS last night! It seems Aiden has caught just a touch of the flu that is ravaging his daddy right now (we REALLY hope you get well soon, Mike--I miss my husband and he's only on the couch!), evidenced by sleepless nights, dry diapers, and no appetite. It got to the point that I took him to his pediatrician today, who told me that whatever he has isn't all that harsh (Aiden has no fever and is still in his unshakable good mood) and that we should watch him closely over the weekend, and then we'd re-evaluate at his 9-month check-up on Monday. Please note that the aforementioned illness is the direct cause of his rosy cheeks and lack of smiles in the photos!

A few things about Aiden at 9 months:
--He's 16.8 pounds--that's only a one-pound gain in the past three months! Dr. Brown calmed my fears a bit though and assured me that babies generally slow their growth during this period, so I shouldn't be concerned--especially since he's healthy and happy. And long and lean.
--Something Aunt Abby has discovered is that this kid has ticklish knees. It's hilarious! If you lightly touch them, he starts smiling and contorting to get away from you. I think his toes are even worse, though, because when I come at him ready to do "This Little Piggy," I can't even get the first sentence out anymore before he squirms away.
--Aiden is really starting to develop some speech patterns. He says "dadadadadada" when he's pissed off, "mamamamama" when he's whining, and says "Heh!" (I think it's his version of "Hi" or "Hey") to get your attention. Cracks me up every time.
--He is an old pro at clapping now; you just need to say "Pattycake," and out pops that goofy grin while he clasps his hands together.
--One of my favorite developments is that Aiden now "kisses" me. He'll stop what he's doing, smile broadly, and then lean forward and touch his face to mine; he either aims with his forehead, nose, or mouth. Doesn't matter to me--I know what he's trying to do! :)
--He's still fighting me on a couple of things--crawling, drinking from a sippy cup, and drinking anything other than formula. I'm not being pushy, though; he'll get there when he gets there.
--Aiden is now the proud owner of two bottom teeth! Dr. Brown, after his exam today, said the top ones should make an appearance any time now :)

Well, I could go into all the other issues that have plagued the Cotter household this week, but honestly, I'm tired of it and putting it behind me. Just know it has to do with more sickness, a leaking hot water tank, and WAY TOO MUCH TO DO at work. But it will all calm down soon...just in time for Christmas! I do want to thank those of you out there (and you know who you are) for your words of support; I really do appreciate them even if at the time you say them, I try to bite your head off.

Sick Day

Yuck. I'm not such a fan of being sick, and I generally don't get sick that often--at least I didn't before I got pregnant. Now I'm thinking I should go back to my prenatal vitamins. I woke up this morning and started to get ready for work (against my better judgment), and by the time I got out of the shower feeling REALLY achy and just all-around not right, I called it quits and took a sick day. I'm finally feeling good enough to get up off of the couch, and since I'm really tired of listening to soap operas and judge shows while I doze, I thought I'd post a few pics of Aiden from this past weekend. He's such a ham. :)

Movie Time

The past week has been a bit of a whirlwind--it's been busy at work, and, well, it's December. :) Busy or no, I wanted to share a few silly Aiden videos. The first one was Tuesday night when I was trying to dry Aiden off after his bath. He was jabbering away, and said something that sounded like "poo-poo-poo;" when I said it back to him, he pretty much lost it. Daddy got the tail end of the exchange on tape:

Giggle Fit from Kimberly Cotter on Vimeo.

Now if you're not a fan of seeing a baby spit up, you are forewarned NOT to watch the next clip. This was yesterday afternoon while Mike, Aiden and I were just hanging out. I got the camera because Aiden was being especially chatty, and I wanted to document that, but I got a bit more than I bargained for :)

Unexpected Spit-Up from Kimberly Cotter on Vimeo.

My Kid is So Freakin' Cool

For dinner last night, I got out a jar of Aiden's favorite--sweet potatoes. It's a standby--something he always loves. Well, we were not even two spoonfuls in, and suddenly he's all raspberries, spitting them out at me and giving me the what-were-you-thinking? look I'm learning to love so much. So I go back to the cupboard and grab a jar of pears and he Gobbles. It. Down. Seriously--you would have thought it was Thanksgiving again. Since the sweet potatoes were still on the table, I tried them again, and after two spoonfuls, back came the raspberries and the questioning look. I just love that he's learning to communicate. :)
I had this grand idea that I'd get Aiden to switch to a sippy cup with no problem. So much for that. He likes to hold it in his hand well enough, but other than that, he pretty much shuts down when you put it near his mouth. As with most of his milestones, all in good time.
Another thing we're eagerly anticipating is our sweet little guy crawling for the first time. He's SOOOOOOOOOO close; I have the camera on hand at all times now, and because of that, I was able to get this photo after he wedged himself under the couch last night. Such a stinker. :)