30 days of Instagram

Who has Instagram on their phone? It's a free app. It has fun photo filters. It has a news feed so you can share your photos with your Instagram buddies if you'd like. I have been having fun with it. For the past 30 days I have been using it as my "picture a day app", in my quest to get 365 photos - one of everyday of the year. I think the only reason why I am succeeding in taking a photo a day is because this little app is easy to use and I always have my phone with me. It also lets me write in a little caption for each photo to capture the day.

If you don't have Instagram, you should get it. If you do have it, you can follow me (hollymn) on my silly little quest or you can just wait for each month's pics to show up on the blog :)

So, it's not super exciting, but here it is, 30 days of my life in Instagram:

 He loves me phone, could watch himself for hours.

 My view from the office today...on my way home from SF to hopefully be able to spend a little time with the hubby since it is our 13th anniversary today :)

 11am nature walk at work. I remember talking walks in this business park with my grandma, grandpa and their dog Sidel when I was little.

 Anniversary roses from Jeremy, so pretty!

 My goal today is to play with Aiden all day. We build this doggy out of blocks and he gave it kisses :)

 On the way back from the park...too hot! He was happy to be in the A/C :)

 Getaway to San Francisco to celebrate our anniversary and hit a giants game!

 Told ya they would win!

No. I will not go to bed.

 It's summer, it's summertime! Playing in the grass and eating ice cream :)

 BLT with sweet potato fries...been craving this big time!

 Been carrying around these two trucks all day. And I do mean all day :)

 Crusin' Placerville on a Friday night with Aiden. 

 Sophie, the other woman in the house.

 Watching daddy mow the lawn, anytime Aiden sees wheels he says "wee"!

 Last softball game of the season...

 Night Night.

 About sums up my day, building towers, watching some gabba and reading with Aiden.

 Still asleep from the anesthesia - had a scope of his tummy done, he looks peaceful :)

 Playing in pasta and wearing hospital winnie the pooh slippers.

 Naptime. Sweet naptime.

My lunchtime visitor today at work!

 I love these plants. I abuse them by not watering for weeks. They seem to love it!

 I like fish. I like fish. Why does Aiden want to eat fishfood?

 Typical. Aiden eating only cookies and Sophie waiting for something to drop.

 Best burger I've ever made. Seriously.

 Playing in the hot summer sun!

Just like daddy.

Today's farmers market goodies! Heirloom tomatoes, squash, carrots, peaches, pears, salad greens, wild blackberries, lemon cucumbers, corn and fresh eggs!

 Life as we know it.

Kitchen Toy Box

Some days Aiden just doesn't want to let me cook, he wants to play. I hate having to put on a TV show for him and leave the room to go cook, so I decided to make him a little "toy" box in the kitchen. It entertains him while I cook and he likes it because it is full of non-toy toys ;)

Inside the box: various bowls, wooden spoon, spatula, whisk, beater, sauce brush, apron and potholder, a dressing shaker, a cookbook with lot of pictures, a can of tuna and little bags of rice and beans. He likes to play with it all on kitchen floor while I cook. One day soon he is going to start cooking with me, as soon as I can trust him to not throw all the ingredients on the floor ;)

Oh yes, Aiden will be one of those guys that cooks for his wife when he grows up. She can thank me later.

Aiden's Room Redo

I decided it was time to redecorate Aiden's room a few weeks ago. His completely unused crib was taking up too much room, the nursery bedding was a little too "baby", and his toys needed to be gone through, organized and parts and pieces thrown out. I wanted to do it on the cheap because I wanted to give him a "toddler" room, not a "big boy" room yet and that means another redo in a couple years.

So, the wall color stayed the same light aqua blue and we headed to Ikea to get some new stuff for him. I decided not to add a bed (since he sleeps with us) and make it more of a playroom. I used a lot of things we already had and decorations from his birthday parties.

Since he loves books so much I made one corner a reading area, using spice racks from Ikea that were $4 each. They are awesome for books, Aiden can see all his options, they are easy to get books in and out of and they hold a good amount. The little chair was from a set that my Grandma Bev had in her house when we were little, I painted it blue last year for his birthday and Modge Podged Aiden's name with scrapbook paper on the back.

We found this little table set at Ikea since my Grandma's table didn't hold up that well - it was in the clearance section because it was a floor model. It had no damage at all and was only $12. Can't beat that! The ABC canvas was a shower gift from Angie, my sisters bestie and the road rug we bought last year for $6. Behind the table is a basket of musical instruments and some blocks - this is his learning, art and music area. By the door is his little kitchen, I bought frames and scrapbook paper to make some artwork for above it, but I am still working on finding the time to do it!

The reading corner is also home to a mattress on the floor with pillows on it to relax, read, and hopefully one day nap on! The pillows were made by me using leftover fabric from his curtains.  He loves the little "tent" over it, it makes it cozy and he loves to lay under it. It was left over from his circus birthday last year (but also from Ikea - I think I paid $20 for it). Next to the reading corner is his changing table/dresser. I finally hung up these 2 adorable pictures that I got off Etsy a year and a half ago. And yes, we are using a dump truck as a wipes holder ;)

Above his little table are the pom poms that decorated his first birthday party - I can't get rid of them. I also hung up this little bug mobile that I bought last year when the theme of his birthday was going to be bugs (and then I changed it to circus), it was begging to be used somehow!

 

A close up of the prints - I love them so much. Every time I change Aiden's diaper he points to them and says "elephant" "balloon" "bunny" and "star". I got them from Trafalgar's Square on Etsy for $12 each and framed them during the penny sale at Aaron brothers. I think everyone with a little one will love the artwork at that shop - so go check it out!

The flag bunting above the book shelves is actually my sisters, she lent it to me for a party and I am holding it hostage because it looks so cute! If she wants it back I will just have to make another one ;) The curtain was made by me (with a lot of help from my mom) using $2.50/yard car fabric on clearance at Ikea and then trimmed with some bright yellow chevron print fabric that I got off Etsy for $8/yd. 

So that's it, my goals were to make it bright, colorful, with decorations at his height, and most of all really be tailored to the things HE loves and enjoys doing - and of course I wanted it to be affordable. I think it turned out pretty darn cute!

Words

These videos are actually from a couple months ago, but I kept forgetting to post them. These were Aiden's first words/sounds :) He is talking up a storm now, but mostly just making the sound of the words, using vowels appropriately but only using consonants in the middle and end of words.

Here is the whole list of words he says spontaneously. He will actually repeat ANYTHING you say. Including some choice words of his Mothers, luckily he doesn't use consonants at the beginning of words yet, so we will just say he said "oh it" the other day while I was putting stuff in the car and almost dropped a plate of cookies for Aiden's cousins party ;)

Man, I should be writing this in his baby book!

Names - Mama, Daddy, Sophie/Sophia, Nana, Papa, Logan, Tanner, Chase, All the Yo Gabba Gabba characters, Elmo
Around the house - Night-Night, Uh Oh, Outside, Inside, TV, House, Window, Light, Lamp, Go, Car, Vroom Vroom, Wee, Swing, Slide, Grass, Tree, Leaf, Flower, Bubble, Cloud, The end, Bed, Ball, Let's go Giants, Hello, Hi, Computer, Picture, All right, Here we go, Square, Triangle, Guitar, Drum, Trumpet
Foods - Eat, Cup, Ice Cream, Cookie, Milk
Body parts - Eye, Ear, Toes, Teeth, Head, Belly
Animals - Bunny, Kitty, Meow, Doggy, Woof Woof, Zebra, Lion, Elephant, Cow, Moo, Horse, Piggy, Sheep, Baa, Birdy, Tweet Tweet, Butterfly, Ladybug, Fish, Turtle, Seahorse, Crab, Whale, Dolphin
Colors - Yellow, Red, Green

He counts from 1-10 and can sing the ABC's but doesn't really fully pronounce each letter - when he sees letters he tries to spell out what it says - but only says A, E, I, E over and over again ;)

He sings constantly, literally he knows every song that he hears, it is actually amazing. One minute he is singing "twinkle twinkle little star" or "Itsy bitsy spider" then he sings something from Yo Gabba Gabba (current fave is "Were going on a boat trip"), then he will switch to Mozart. I really think music helps him learn and keep calm. It really does wonders!

As you can tell, I am super proud of him. Speech was something I was very worried about since the damaged portion from the bleed in Aiden's brain (aka Intraventricular Hemorrhage or IVH) that he was diagnosed with in the NICU was closest to the portion of the brain where speech is typically located. But, just like everything else, with a little help from us and a little time Aiden is accomplishing everything we were told he might not do!

Long weekend in Lake Tahoe

A few weeks ago we spent a nice, long weekend with My parents at Lake Tahoe. We try to go to Lake Tahoe several times a year, this trip I told Jeremy on the way up the mountain that in addition to the usual walks and trips to the beach, great food and great company, we were going to try at least 2 new things that we have never done before up there.

Our first new fun thing to do fun thing to do in Tahoe was hike (the long way) to Vikingsholm Castle in Emerald Bay. It was a nice hike, but I wouldn't say we were really prepared for it. We only had a stroller for Aiden (which would not work at all - this was a real hike) so we carried Aiden the whole hike and my mom had on flip flops. It was about 2 miles each way. It was a beautiful hike, waterfalls along the way, a view of the lake and at the end was a nice beach to relax at and tours of the castle. I would totally do it again, but this time actually be prepared. In our defense, there are two ways to hike to the castle - the shorter version is paved, but we chose the long way ;)

The hike down

The castle in the distance...really I'm not sure it is really big enough to call a castle ;)

Whoa!

Family pic on the bridge over Eagle Falls

We made it to the water!

My mom took a tour of the castle while we played in the water at the beach

Aiden started to just walk right in when he saw these geese!

Aiden's favorite part of the day, seeing the "ducks"!

The next day, my Mom and Dad offered to watch Aiden so Jeremy and I could have a day together. We took off to find a nice beach on the North shore of the lake. We went to Sand Harbor, which is really the best beach we have been to at Lake Tahoe. It was awesome, crowded even for a Monday, but so much fun. There are 3 coves at the beach and a boardwalk that connects them all.  Along the boardwalk there are places to stop and swim and rocks to climb and sit on, jump off of and swim around. Just altogether a really cool place to go.

The main beach area - the first cove, on the left is where the boardwalk starts

My toes, more importantly, totally clear water and nice sand!

Looking back at the main beach area from the boardwalk

More of the main beach area, this is where the Shakespeare festival is held

Walking on the rocks in the lake - I think I am pointing to the one I want to get to ;)

This was so cool, the rocks made a little protected area to swim in

The second little cove, a little smaller and less beach area - but it was the least crowded

Another view of the second cove area

The third little cove area, this was where you could rent kayaks and jet skis

After we spent a couple hours at the beach, we went into Incline Village for a couple drinks and a late lunch on the water...

Jeremy had a burger and I had this awesome scallop spinach salad

As Aiden would say "THE END!"