We had a wonderful time celebrating Aiden's 2nd birthday! Last June I baked a cake to celebrate his 1st birthday, but I remember feeling more sadness than joy as he wasn't home with us. Last winter it seemed like a very real possibility that I would miss his second birthday as well, so I was thankful to have him home with us. Luke's parents came out for a few days to meet Aiden and to spend some time with us. The boys loved all the extra attention they received and Aiden warmed right up to Grandpa Tim. He liked nothing better than to be sitting in his lap.
Jordan was so proud when he thought of this idea of pulling his little wagon with his trike.
Jordan is holding on to a toy ambulance while taking a ride in the swing. He has been talking about this ambulance ever since our last visit to Minnesota last August. I can't believe he remembered it. He asked Grandpa and Grandma to bring it with them when they came to visit. They decided to keep it here, much to Jordan's delight.
The weather has been hot over here, so the boys have spent a lot of time in their suits in the backyard. Jordan loves to run through the sprinkler and play in the little kiddie pool.
Here's a picture of Aiden riding on Luke's back at our neighborhood pool. Both boys love the water although Jordan is a lot braver than Aiden. Aiden can float independently with his puddle jumper on, but he becomes very fearful if we let go of him for a second.
We went to my parent's house to celebrate Aiden's birthday. The highlight of the night was opening presents. Aiden became super excited about every present he opened. Aiden is one of the most sprited children I have ever met. When he is upset, he is really upset. But when he is excited, boy does he show it!
I love this picture because of how interested Jordan is in this present. Aiden was pretty much clueless about the whole concept of presents, but Jordan was asking all day when it would be time for Aiden to open his presents. He figured out pretty quickly that any gift Aiden received would be a new toy brought into the house that Jordan would have a chance to play with too.
Aiden loved his new bulldozer! Jordan was very eager to have a turn with it, but I was very proud of his patience as he waited until Aiden was ready to give Jordan a turn.
Aiden loves trucks just as much as Jordan, so a truck cake was an obvious choice.
Aiden loved the birthday cake! I wish I could have been with him when he ate his first piece of cake on his first birthday, but his was fun to see him enjoy this cake so much.
Aiden continues to adjust to our family and we are growing in our enjoyment of him. He still has some challenging behaviors we are dealing with, but things are improving. The biggest issue continues to be sleep. I thought we had almost mastered that one as Aiden had been pretty much sleeping through the night for about 3-4 weeks straight. But these past few nights he has been up several times and even woke up crying 3 different times during his nap today. It can be very difficult to get him to go to sleep in the first place, so when he wakes up crying it can get pretty frustrating. We are hoping that this is just a short phase and he goes back to his better sleeping habits soon!
