Dear Aiden,

Today you are one year old. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by and I can't believe how far you have come. Sometimes I look back at your first pictures and think "wow, is that the same little boy?" You had such a rough start in life, but you are the happiest baby now. Thinking of your birth is a little hard for us; it was so scary, so hard and so happy all mixed into one. But, today is definitely something to celebrate. In your first few weeks of life we were told several times that you would probably not make it, several times we prepared for the worst and you pulled through it all - strong and determined to come home to your mom and dad. It was so hard to watch you go through all the difficult things you had to go through, and it is such a pleasure now to watch you explore new things, play, laugh and give us kisses. I know our rough journey was so worth it.

In the last year we have watched you learn to breathe on your own, eat on your own, get bigger, learn to sit, stand, and smile. What an honor it has been to be able to help you the whole way. I can't wait to see what the next year has in store, what you will learn and see how your little personality continues to develop. I can't wait to see you grow up to be the big boy we know you will be!

You are our little miracle baby, in so many ways. You have made us so happy and we love you so much. Happy birthday baby boy!

in the little blue hat on November 23, 2008...

and in the little blue hat one year later.

our first family picture...

and our family picture one year later.

Donate in honor of Aiden's first birthday!

With Aiden's first birthday only weeks away, people have been asking me if there is anything he needs that they can get him. I thought about it and realized that Aiden is a very lucky boy and doesn't really need anything, we are so fortunate that he is here with us, and some families are not as fortunate. What better gift is there to give him then knowing that people donated in his honor to help more babies be born healthy?

Each year almost 1/2 million babies in the United States are born prematurely and struggle to survive. Donations made to the March of Dimes supports research to prevent premature births, educate parents to be and provide services for babies that are not as fortunate as Aiden is. Their history includes:

• Developing the vaccine declared against polio...1955
• Funding the first successful bone marrow transplant to correct a birth defect...1968
• Funding the first in utero treatment for a birth defect...1973
• Calling for the creation of a regional system of neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) to save very sick babies...1976
• Funding research leading to surfactant therapy to treat respiratory distress syndrome (RDS)...1985
• Successfully using gene therapy to treat hemophelia and retinitis pigmentosa in the laboratory...1999
• Ongoing research based upon delivery of a gene that affects the development of a healthy heart...2000
• In 1998, the March of Dimes began its six-year Perinatal Epidemiology Research Initiative, investing more than $5.7 million in research to study how factors such as stress, infection, genetics and environment may trigger preterm labor.
  

For more information on the March of Dimes mission and history visit their website, www.marchof dimes.com.

On the donation page you can choose to donate in honor of Aiden's first birthday and you can have March of Dimes send an acknowledgement to him, you just have to enter in our address (if you don't know it, please email me at hollynicolls@gmail.com and I will give it to you).

I can't image a more lasting gift to give him. When he is 18, he probably won't remember what toys he got on his first birthday, but he will be able to look at the acknowledgment cards and know that his family and friends did a great thing in his honor.

Click here to donate in Aiden's honor

Some Halloween Pics

Aiden's first Halloween was spent at Uncle Chris and Aunt Lisa's house. We had fun and ate Halloween themed foods and candy and checked out all the little trick or treaters when they came to the door. Aiden got to spend time with his cousin Sydney (a butterfly) and friends Eden and Lily (also known as the little mermaid and her sissy).

Aiden was a little penguin for the night, he looked so darn cute!

11 months old/8 months adjusted (a little late)

11 months old/8 months adjusted already! Time flies!

Aiden's closed mouth smile, his daddy does the same thing!

Little Aiden is 11 months old already and just turned 8 months adjusted last week. It is so fun to watch him grow up, even if it is slowly :) Over the last couple months Aiden has really started to notice the world around him, he sees everything and is very curious about it. He wants to touch everything with both hands and then put whatever it is in his mouth. He is particularly fascinated with people and loves grabbing noses and mouths. He has also entered the phase where he loves pulling on hair and jewelry...ouch!

He is really close to sitting up without any help, but still needs a finger to grab onto for balance. He wants so badly to be able to explore, but doesn't have a lot of interest in crawling, the boy just wants to walk! He loves it when we hold onto him and let him walk around the house - he gets so excited and just has this huge smile on his face the whole time. He hasn't had any teeth break through yet, but he is definitely working on it, he chews on everything. I have read that the longer preemies teeth are below the surface the better, medication and breathing tubes can mess with their teeth, so we are happy that they are taking their time!

He is really such a happy baby, he wakes up with a smile on his face every morning - and in the middle of the night. It doesn't take much to make him smile and laugh, but don't let that fool you, the kid has a temper! If you don't give him what he wants quick enough, he just has a little fit! I think he might get that from me ;)

He loves watching baby Einstein DVDs - especially the parts with puppets or animals, and playing with his toys on the floor. His favorite toys are his interlocking rings, Sophie the giraffe, light up gumball machine, big soft blocks and mirror. He also loves, loves, loves playing in his little saucer - he gets to stand up like a big boy and there are so many activities on it. He also loves watching baseball with his dad, especially if there are fireworks when the players hit a home run!

Playtime in the saucer

He loves being sang to, Old McDonald, Wheels on the Bus and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star are his favorites. He also loves being read to, he loves all of his books and likes to kick them when I read to him. He loves it when I read magazines when I hold him, because he just kicks and kicks at them and then laughs.

He hit some big milestones in the preemie world, he is off oxygen during the day, he still has it on at night - although I don't know how much longer that will happen, since he has started pulling off the cannula several times every night. He also is doing so well that the home health nurse no longer sees him. We were sad that she stopped coming, she was one of Aiden's friends, but happy that he has "graduated". We don't get weekly weigh ins anymore, but we think he is around 14 1/2 - 15 lbs.

We still have problems getting him to eat enough formula (not that I blame him - yuck!), but he loves his solid foods! He loves bananas, peaches, oatmeal, yogurt, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and apples. He was OK with avocado, carrots and pears but was not a big fan of green beans or peas. I know, a boy who doesn't like green vegetables - what a shock!!! I still make all of his food for him, which I love doing. I know he is getting all organic, nutritious food with nothing bad for him in it.

Avocados..blah!!!

He is such a good baby and a sweet little boy. He has even learned how to give kisses - mouth wide open on our cheeks :)

An escapee from the zoo

Last night, on Halloween, there was an escapee penguin from the local zoo. I was able to capture it on video walking around...