Aaron is one

My sweet little Aaron had his first birthday while we were in Utah. We used it as an excuse to have a get together with my family. I'm not really into huge parties for one year-olds, but I'm all for a naked baby chowing down on a cupcake while we snap pictures, lol.

I don't know what it is about Aaron, but he is a special little guy. I know I enjoyed my older kids at this age too, but it feels like I just find extra delight in the things Aaron does each day. He has a million dollar smile that he regularly aims my direction. He's a bit mischievous, really into climbing, very long suffering with his older siblings' excessive gestures of affection, a total cuddle bug, and just generally good natured.

He loves to eat and just in the last couple weeks his upper teeth have finally emerged. He had just his two lower teeth past his first birthday, but we could see probably four or five teeth on the top coming in all together. That was not fun, but they are pretty well all through the gums now, so he's doing even better on chowing down on all the food the rest of us eat.

Aaron is my equalizer. The older two kids absolutely adore him and I can already tell he'll be the kid that sits in the middle between them on a car ride. He might be poking them both while he does it. I wouldn't put it past him, but he does it with such a winning grin that everyone just seems to love him anyway.

Aaron is really content with life. He's been slower to hit all his milestones than either Spencer or Genevieve. I attribute it to that personality trait. He's very happy wherever he is at. So while Spencer walked at 10 months and Genevieve at 11, Aaron is still just cruising around, happy as can be. It could still be a while before he decides walking is how he wants to move. He is such a good climber that it sometimes just makes me scratch my head that he's not walking. He seems so in control of his body movements that I expect him to run off when he climbs up and down on our couches and beds and everything else he can get up on. He regularly climbs Spencer's staircase to his bed. That gives me a total heart attack and it's prompting plans for a new bunk bed, but we can't seem to keep him off.

He's finally regularly sleeping through the night. I've been less concerned by that than with the other two, and with the weird way his teeth came in, he started doing that six or eight months ago and then stutter stopped off and on for months. He woke up every night while we were in Utah, but once we got back to South Carolina and all his familiar surroundings, he's slept through ever since. It's blissful for my nights.

One to two years old is totally my favorite phase for babies/toddler so far, so I'm just reveling in the cuteness. It's a great phase. :) Now here are some photos from our birthday party a few weeks ago.

All the babies love riding around with Grandpa in his wheelchair. Aaron sits more still doing this than anything else.

 He had no problem chomping his cupcake. There weren't even that many crumbs, all things considered.

 He kind of makes here look white, but Gracie and Aaron continue to look uncannily twinnish. Just for kicks we weighed them while I was there and they even weighed the exact same weight. It's a little trippy.

My niece Lily was a big fan of Aaron. She helped him open his presents. The feeling is mutual. 

There and back again

My last post was 50 days ago. How do I even begin to talk about how the last month went? It was amazing. Stressful. Wonderful. Intense. Relaxing. Taxing. And so, so many other things. We had the time of our lives playing with siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. We went to two family reunions, stayed overnight at a dear friend's house I haven't seen in person for 14 years, drove roundabout 5000 miles, swam, hiked, played at playgrounds and splash pads, spent as much time as possible with cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and siblings, and spent no less than $2100 on van repairs. Whew! It was an intense month. I'm so glad I did it. I probably will do a bit shorter trips in the future. Six weeks is a LONG time to be away from home, but if I had never done this I always would have wondered how it went.

The kids adore every single member of the family they spent time with. Genevieve sometimes pretends to be standoffish at first, but there were very few, if any, people she didn't eventually warm up to.

Aaron turned one in Utah. We had a couple little parties for him. He got covered in chocolate frosting and loved it. He ate that cupcake like a boss. There was no food wasted. He just went to town. That kid knows how to eat.

I had a different experience at my family reunions than in the past. Chasing three kids all over, perpetually wondering which one I couldn't see and who was going to have a problem next made for less relaxation than expected, but times change, life moves on, and eventually it won't be like this anymore. It was so good to be with all of my siblings together for the first time in 12 years.

But anyway, enough typing, let's just get to some pictures, because that's all that really matters, right?

We found these stickers all over the van, but it was worth it for a bit of fun on the way out to Utah.

First personal ice cream cones at Little America.

First night sleeping together. I couldn't help but snap a picture while they were peacefully asleep.

Cousin "nap time"

 These two played hard and fought hard. They're already great friends.

Ziegler Family Reunion. My siblings and I haven't been all together at the same time since 2003. It was great to see everyone.

 

She got a bit tired at the reunion and found herself a cozy little spot to nap.

 Trampoline fun.

 These two loved each other two. They're only five weeks apart and look so much alike it's uncanny.

 Uncle Josh was much loved.

 This "sand box" (horseshoe pit) entertained them for hours.

 He was pro at getting in. Not so much at getting out.

 Genevieve gave herself a goose egg and big cut one night falling out of bed and hitting the exercise machine. I contemplated whether I needed to take her to the ER at 11PM, but we settled for a trip to the store for butterfly bandaids while a very nice neighbor sat with the boys, who were asleep. My in-laws were gone, so it was more complicated than normal to run to the store.

 Park time.

 Pure joy at the splash pad.

 Silver Lake. We nearly ran out of gas on this trip and barely made it back out of the canyon to fill up the tank. I was able to immediately pay forward that blessing when I guy came up and asked for help filling a gas can to go take care of his stranded car, literally five minutes after we got out and were filling up our gas tank. It was very surreal and I felt very blessed.

More Uncle Josh love.

 Park City with our favorite new friends Rix and Grace and Uncle Josh!

 Trying out the play food.

 Aunt Tori and cousin Daniel were also instantly loved on as well.

 A quick moment to try for a photo shoot at the American Fork Amphitheatre.

 This girl loves her new life vest.

 And Grandma's necklaces.

 Swim time with the cousins! Turns out three Diono car seats do fit in the row in our van!

 Provo Freedom Parade. The kids were enthralled.

 Swimming at Grandpa Doug's and Grandma Suzanne's.

 Fourth of July Fireworks!

 Hanging out with Grandpa, eating some fruit snacks, waiting for sacrament meeting to start.

 Just playing with a zippered hedgehog while sitting under an umbrella wearing a fire hat. No biggie.

 Temple Square take one. I took the three kids by myself for a speedy trip one morning before heading off somewhere else.

 I worked on this quilt the entire time I was there in the evenings after the kids were asleep or when they were watching movies, etc. My lovely MIL is going to do the quilting for it on her awesome new machine and I'm so excited tos ee how it all turns out in the end. It probably won't be finished for a few months, but I really love how it turned out. It's so colorful, just perfect for Genevieve. It's going to go on her bed.

 Spencer rocking the little climb at the park with Ashman cousins.

The sandbox at Grandma Suzanne's house was a huge hit. 

 Another park trip to an old school park with a tower and awesome swings and generally way cooler than more modern parks.

 We took the train to Temple Square. The kids were in heaven!

Aaron's Birthday.

 My niece helped him open presents.

 My brother the baker got Aaron his first set of rolling pins. So far they're a big hit, emphasis on the hitting. :) I guess Aaron figures it's time to jump into the fray with his older siblings.

On the way home, Aaron, who is now one, apparently thinks he's big enough to stand while he eats. What a little card!