Even though Ayden is nearing the 3-year-old mark, today was technically the first real Easter Egg Hunt he had the pleasure of attending. Our MOMS Club chapter hosted the hunt at Commonwealth Lake Park in the Cedar Hills area. A handful of families attended, dodging dark clouds and raindrops! 
As soon as Ayden gathered what was going on and just how this whole “egg hunt” thing works, he was very excited - especially at the prospect of chocolate inside those eggs! You should have seen the wonder and amazement in his eyes when he figured out that some eggs in this world actually have chocolate inside!?!?! He filled his John Deere bucket to the brim.. and then the heavens opened up on us! Just as quickly as the kids had raced into the field to collect their eggs, the parents scooped up their kids and raced for the cars!!! The hunt was a success and Ayden had a blast! Enjoy the pics!
The only explanation I can offer is that the two-week hospital ordeal managed to throw off our “regular” doctor visit schedule. So here we are, Owen is now beyond the 10 month mark, and I just took him to his 9-month checkup. Oh well. What can you do? Cutting to the chase, here’s how he checked out:
Weight: 21 lbs 8 oz. (50th percentile)
Height: 29 1/2 inches (75th percentile)
Head: 47 1/2 centimeters (90th percentile) - following in his brother’s footsteps!
Owen also had to suffer through two shots, Hepatitis B and Polio. He cried for about 5 seconds and then sucked on his fingers. No prob. Everything else checked out fine and we were told to come back for his one-year checkup (relatively on time if possible!). Ayden thought the whole trip was a blast since it was Owen that got the shots AND Ayden got to choose a toy from the basket for being so good! Reality check next time though!!! 
Ten months and counting! The baby of the family is rounding the last corner to a year old! I don’t think I’ve mentioned that I think Owen’s hospital stay may have set him back developmentally a bit. Right before we headed to the hospital, Owen was SO close to crawling. By the time we were back home and he’d had a week and a half or so to rest and heal, he was basically back to square one on the crawling front. Over the past two weeks in particular, he has really been perfecting his skills… well, in an Owen sort of way. Even though he is physically capable of holding himself up on his hands and knees, he just can’t or won’t figure out the coordination. Instead, he has developed a sort of belly crawl wherein he stretches an arm out in front of him and then drags/pulls his entire body forward. It’s progress. And it gets him to where he wants to go. I told Heather that he resembles a half-squashed bug that only has an appendage or two still functioning, and dragging the rest of it’s body behind. Pretty picture, huh? 
In other accomplishments over the past month, Owen is now feeding himself little stars and dehydrated fruit pieces (and attempting a chewing motion once he manages to get them in his mouth), splashing enthusiastically in the bathtub with Ayden, babbles and gabs constantly as if we should all understand what he’s saying, is actually helpful while being dressed (meaning he’ll push his arms through the sleeves and straighten his legs at the appropriate time for pants! - A HUGE milestone as any parent can attest!), successfully drinks from a bottle by himself, and has passed the 20lb mark (by two or three pounds) and therefore no longer fits in his infant car seat. I’m sure I’ve forgotten something, but I’ll make up for it in future posts this month!
In Ayden news… [Warning: Gratuitous potty humor to follow. ] Ayden has been perfecting his counting skills in recent days. He now takes great pleasure in counting the number of “caca’s” he can put in the potty. Yes, it’s gross. But hey, his counting skills are great!
Check out the latest gallery too!
Friday afternoon we had the opportunity to tour the local Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue facility with our MOMS group. We got the full tour, including trucks, gear, fire pole, sleeping quarters, hang-out room, kitchen, exercise gym and dispatch center. All the kids were thrilled with all the hands-on action and getting to see the trucks up close. It was nice to see our tax dollars put to good work with people willing to do a job I could never do. More power to ‘em! After the tour, we let the kids burn off (pun intended!) the rest of their steam at the playground right next door. There was also a small BMX dirt course between the firehouse and the park… and you betcha, the kids all ended up running up and down the mountains!!! What a dirty mess - but they all had a blast!!!
Saturday we headed to Seaside for the day to visit with Grandma Kelly and Grandpa Guy. We also had a brief visit with Mark (Patrick’s dad) in the parking lot of the local Fred Meyer (only in a small town!). Ayden played hard with his new crane from Grandma and he also enjoyed seeing his cousin Deontay for a bit. It was a full and fun day at the beach! Enjoy the pics of all these adventures in the new gallery. Hope you all had a great weekend too!
Daddy and Ayden awake this morning and get ready to head downstairs for breakfast and playtime. Patrick is putting socks on:
Ayden: Why are you putting on socks, Daddy?
Patrick: Cuz we’re gonna head downstairs, Bud. The floor is really cold so I wanna put my socks on.
Ayden: Ohhhhh, I don’t need socks.
Patrick: Well, you’re a bigger man than I.
Ayden: No, I not a bigger man. I’m a little small man!
~Have a happy Thursday everyone!
Sometimes this kid really cracks me up! Patrick was busy at the kitchen counter preparing Ayden’s english muffin. Ayden comes up beside him:
Ayden: What are you doing to the muffin, Daddy?
Daddy: I’m gonna put some cheese on it, Bud.
Ayden: Ohhhhhhhh, that’s clever!
Patrick and I just looked at each other in disbelief and then started cracking up!!!
Enjoy the family pics in the newly uploaded gallery!
