Lauren Comes to Play!

We had a great low-key weekend with Lauren. She'd visited before so we didn't feel too much pressure to go into tourist mode. We wandered around the Bellevue Mall, ate sushi, went to the Redmond Farmers' Market and the pool. On Sunday we ventured downtown to Pike's Market then walked by the gum wall on our way to ride the Great Wheel. On Monday night Lauren made us a delicious fiesta dinner!

The Hampton's Make a Quick Visit

Tracy and Sherri came for a visit this past weekend. We kept ourselves very busy on Saturday.

We started our day at the Redmond Farmers' Market. We wandered around and saw lots of dogs, even some in baby slings, and got asparagus, kettle corn, cheese, cherries, strawberries and peonies.

Sitting and enjoying some of our goodies...

 Then we went to Redmond Town Center where they had the fountains going and Aiden wore himself out for nap time while Sherri and I snuck off to do a little shopping.

 In the afternoon we walked around downtown Kirkland and stopped by the beach to dip our toes. That's about all you want to do in that cold water.

 Tracy was lucky enough to get some snuggle time on Friday afternoon. 

Aiden was a wild man at dinner...

Toddler Giggles and Lots of Other Fun!

It's been a whole month already, so there's lots to see. Let's start off with some giggles because they're the best! 

Day care shenanigans!

Mothers' Day Weekend was low-key. I visited my friend Nina and her mom, we saw some art, and played with Sophie. Aiden didn't want to share Sophie's tennis balls when Nina gave him two so she brought out the whole bin.

Day Care also had a Mothers' Day party on Friday.

We've been enjoying the outdoors every single day, sometimes ALL day. Aiden just can't get enough and Andrew and I certainly don't mind. 

After his morning ninja training Aiden begins work on our new deck plans.

 We've been to so many parks around Redmond and even met a new friend. But after a few minutes of doing all the rocking she promptly informed me "I don't want to do this anymore" and ran away.

Aiden has started to appreciate sunglasses now that there's a need for them.

Snacking outside...

 Stevo and Katie cruised up to Vancouver and then came to Seattle so we had a great weekend in Seattle with them.

 We tried out hiking with Aiden for the first time. I think we did two miles total at Little Si. Aiden wasn't really into riding in the pack which was fine with us just slow, so it took us about 40 minutes to "hike" up. On the way down he snacked and rode along happily. We went with no expectations and have done this hike several time before so all in all we thought it was pretty successful adventure. It's something we had good intentions of doing last summer but with no sleep, hiking just sounded like torture.

Saturday morning breakfast in our pj's... or not.

We've made a few trips to one our favorite indoor play place, Kids' Quest Museum.

Aiden just loves his kitties, sometimes he thinks he's one of them.

All this adventuring really tuckers the little man out.

18 Months!

Aiden is officially a 1 1/2 (as of April 29th)

We've had great weather so we've been able to spend almost everyday outside.

Friend hugs at daycare are the cutest!

We went over to Debbie and Gabe's to enjoy the garden one last time before they moved. We cooked pizza in the oven and made s'mores. Aiden did lots of digging in the garden beds. 

 What comes with 1 1/2 years of life in our house you might be wondering? It has started with a tantrum or two each day. Andrew and I have always really enjoyed Reasons My Son is Crying but we now have an even greater appreciation. Anything can set him off and we never know what it will be. We're reading him the wrong book, we carried him to the wrong room, we brought him in from the rain, we chose the wrong pants, he has to wear pants, we didn't give him the food from our mouths... But, he is also even more loving and fun. He now kisses and hugs us goodnight, hugs his friends and teachers at daycare, brings us books and plops down into our laps to read. He will now come find us, grab our finger, and pull us somewhere he wants to go. He loves "helping" me cook, brushing his teeth and playing outside. He recognizes our family members in his photo album and loves pointing out mama and dada. He has started repeating lots of things we say more clearly including up please, down, more please, all done, night night, thank you (if you ask), stuck, lots of uh oh's, please (in general, when he wants anything). Of course all of this is said in toddler speak, not crystal clear yet.