6 months already?

Welcome Home, Daddy!
Eating Dinner with my Family

Here's Me on my Belly. I can already roll over and turn myself around

I love to play with my toes!

Hey, look how long I am!

Hello, my name is Aiden John Carrithers. I will be six months old on July 2, 2010. I have big blue eyes and the chubbiest legs you have ever seen. I love to laugh and smile and watch my big brothers, Luke and Liam. My hobbies include playing with my hands and feet, swinging outside, going on runs with Mom and Dad, watching Baby Mozart, and chewing on just about anything. I am pretty sure that I will be getting some teeth pretty soon or at least that is what my mom thinks. I love to eat. So far, my favorite foods include yogurt, carrots, and sweet potatoes. I weigh only 6-7 pounds less than my 2.5 year old brother Liam and I am already wearing some of the clothing that Liam wore just last summer! Unfortunately, I have had several ear infections since I was born and probably got a lot of germs from my big brothers, but I am still growing and am still happy most of the time. I already weigh nearly 20 lbs which was more than my brother Liam weighed at his first birthday. I am built a lot like my older brother Luke, but I look a little like everyone and I am a perfect mix of both my mom and my dad. My mom says I am pretty easygoing most of the time unless I get hungry or overly tired and then I can be fussy. Here are a couple recent pictures of me and my brothers. Welcome Home Daddy, we are glad to have you back!

Happy Father's Day

Helping Daddy open his Father's Day gifts
Happy Father's Day!

Trying out the new chair

Nice Nap!

So tired

I am a little late on my Father's Day post, but the days don't seem to be getting any longer around here (and maybe that is a good thing). The boys continue to keep us busy as they change so quickly. John has also been doing some travel for business recently so the boys and I just try to survive while he is gone.

Luke and Liam are at a really funny stage right now. Since getting tubes in their ears, they have become a lot more verbal. They are processing things, putting things together, and talking all the time. Last week, John's car battery died while he was at work. When the boys got up for their naps, I explained that we were going to get Daddy because his car was "broken and needed a new battery." It just so happens that the week before, they helped me put new batteries in some of their toys so they were very familiar with that process and had been talking about batteries. After I explained the car issue, Luke went right to the closet where we keep our batteries and started pulling them out. Both boys stood at the edge of the car holding tools and trying to help Daddy fix the broken car. Luke still talks about how he helped Daddy fix his car just about every day.

Both of the boys take things very literally now. For example, I asked Liam to give Luke his juice and he promptly threw it across the room and nailed Luke on the forehead. Also asked Liam if he wanted "fishies" for lunch the other day and he apparently thought I meant sweedish fish (one of John's favorite candies) so he screamed the rest of the lunch for candy.

Aiden also hit a milestone this week as we tried him in somewhat of a highchair for the first time. He is almost sitting up on his own and did pretty well in the seat. He also had another ear infection last week so it looks like he may not be too far behind his brothers in getting tubes. He is much better now, but had a somewhat rough week. When we went in for his ears, they weighed him and he is 19.6 lbs and not even quite 6 months old. Big kid!

We had a wonderful Father's Day with John and enjoyed some extra time in the new pool, playing outside, and relaxing as much as possible. We love you John and miss you when you are gone, but appreciate all of your hard work. Happy Father's Day to my Dad and John's Dad as well. We wish we were closer so we could see you both more often. Looking forward to seeing you in July!

Pool Fun and AJ

Aunt Sarah and Aiden

Luke and his smile

Silly Luke

Playing with our friends Jack and Charlie

Entirely by coincidence, we have the exact same swimsuits as Jack and Charlie. Luke/Charlie match and Liam/Jack match!?

Aiden is doing well and has been eating some solids for about a month now. He picked it up without a problem. The boys were a little more difficult at times and a little more picky or maybe they just seemed picky because when I was feeding two there was a higher likelihood that one would not like it. Aiden really loves his sweet potatoes and carrots the most. We have had a few fruits and he seems to like those as well. He is not a fan of peas or squash, but that's o.k. because I am really not either and sweet potatoes are a better choice nutritionally anyway!

I don't have a good picture of Aiden this week so I am posting a random one of AJ with my sister from our vacation as well as a few cute ones of Luke from the trip.

We have had some cooler and rainy weather recently so we have not done much swimming, but I am posting a few pictures of some recent swimming we did over the past month. The boys really enjoy the water this year and it wears them out which is really the underlying reason for almost any activity we do.

Enjoy!

Sun...Fun...Sand...Sun...Fun

AJ in the Pool-If this setup looks familiar, check out the picture below
Liam and Luke in June 2008
Liam is doing a little yardwork

Time to rehydrate after all that work

Luke (with Daddy's glasses) doing some mowing

Mommy with Luke and AJ

We got the pools out on Sunday afternoon and the boys had a great time. John and I agreed this was the most relaxing activity we have ever done while the boys were awake. Although I am not sure the boys ever sat still while we were outside, John and I actually sat in chairs and watched them play for at least a few hours. We had a nice lunch outside and enjoyed the sun. So far, this summer has been much warmer than last which makes swimming a little more enjoyable especially for kids!

Happy 5 Month Birthday AJ!!!

Aiden in the bathtub. We have an assembly line at night, but AJ gets his own private bath

First Swim

Happy Baby

It is hard to believe it has been five months already since Aiden was born, but maybe that is because I typically cannot even remember what I did last week much less a month ago! Aiden is growing quickly and is still the easy going sweet baby that he has always been. He has lots of cute expressions and smiles when we talk to him and laughs when the boys play with him. He is nearly sitting up on his own and stands pretty well with assistance. He wakes us nearly every morning with his babbles and cooing. Unfortunately, he does not realize that we can sleep past 6:00 am on weekends so he gets the day started pretty early and often ends up going on runs with Mom. He is still a big guy and is wearing clothes that the boys did not wear until the end of the summer at 7-8 months of age. He definitely favors Luke in many of his physical features. Happy 5 Months Aiden, you are a joy to all of us!

I also wanted to say Happy Birthday to our good friend, Kirsten whom the boys call "Kiki". We are a month older than Kirsten's twin boys, Jack and Charlie, and spend lots of time playing with them. The four boys together is quite the sight! The noise level is deafening and the energy level is exhausting, but we love our "twin friends!"