Heart-Breaker!

Yesterday Alden and I went grocery shopping.  He loves to ride in the cart and see everyone.  The weekly trip to the store is a way for us to get out of the house, but still beat the heat by being inside with the air conditioner.  Alden is really patient with me because I still have to walk up and down each aisle to find the items on my list.  I have yet to figure out the store's layout.  The funniest thing happened yesterday while we were there.  I was buying orange juice and milk and not really paying attention to what was going on around me and I heard a very loud, very excited squeal.  I looked around and saw another shopping cart with a little girl riding in the seat.  She looked to be a few months older than Alden because she had a lot more teeth, but she had found Alden and was squealing and about to climb out of her seat.  Alden was looking over at her and interested, but not really making a sound.  Every time someone walked by and blocked her view of Alden or if her mom started to push her away this little girl would let out a bloody murder scream.  As soon as she would see Alden again, she was back to her giddy squealing.  Her mom and I were laughing really hard.  This went on for several minutes until finally I needed to go down another aisle and her mom had to distract her when a bag of chips so Alden and I could slip away.  My son is seven months old and already having to break hearts.  I'm proud, yet worried for him to be a teenager :)

The pool finally opened yesterday evening for the first time this week.  It's been a long week without it and makes me very nervous for winter in Utah.  What am I going to do to wear this boy out?  The past few weeks we've been working with Alden on crying himself back to sleep and only eating once at night.  He's done so very well, and is really good about just having the one feeding.  He can even usually put himself back to sleep and only a few times have we had a rough night.  I'm very happy and just hope that moving doesn't upset our little routine that we've gotten into.

Here is the little heart-breaker getting ready for the pool last night

So excited to be back in the water

This picture was from a few days ago, we all love it when Dad comes home

Alden getting ready for bed - sleeping in "big boy" pajamas

One of Alden's favorite games is the ride on Patrick's shoulders and sneak around the corners.  I'll be making dinner or doing dishes and Patrick will hide behind a corner and Alden will peer around and find me.  He sits there very quietly until I look around and find him and he lets out a squeal and he and Patrick will disappear to another corner and we repeat this process over and over until I'm finished with the chore I'm doing.  Alden gets a kick out of this and I enjoy hearing his laugh!

Alden got out of the bath a few days ago and his hair was in a little mohawk curl on top of his head.  It dried like that and stayed that way throughout the next day.  You can't really tell from these pictures what his hair looks like, but I thought they were good anyway.

What a stud!

7 months old

Alden is 7 months old today.  We just got back from his doctor's visit and he is fast asleep.  We are way over due for his morning nap, but he was such a good trooper and flirted with all the nurses.  He got his shots and even stopped screaming as soon as they were done.  I can't believe how big he is getting and all the fun things we do together.

At 7 months Alden's measurements are:
Weight: 20 lbs 14 oz
Length: 26 inches
Head Circumference: 44 cm

Alden measures on the upper end of weight and then average for length and head circumference.  He's happy and healthy which makes me so happy.  Alden loves to read books and he babbles on and on telling me stories :)  He can crawl when he really puts his mind to it, but he does the "inch-worm" and is really fast.  I can't take my eyes off of him for a second and his across the room into the next mess.

It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything, but I haven't really been able to think of anything that we've done.  Last weekend we went to see my family and switch our cars so we can use their bigger vehicle for the next few weeks.  We need the bigger car because this Saturday we are going to the airport to pick up Devin, Mercedes, and Lucy.  We are so excited for them to come out and visit.  Alden will get to spend a week and a half playing with his cousin.  He's finally at the age where he's interested in other babies and children.  We're going to have so much fun.

This is one of the last time Alden and Lucy were together before we left Utah

The pool here at our apartment complex has been closed the past several days for cleaning so I've been having to get creative to entertain my very active little boy.  He loves to get going and doing things and has to wear himself out or he can't sleep at night.  He's been taking dips in the bathtub as a substitute for the pool.  Hopefully it will be back up and running very soon.  Other than that, we just play all day around the apartment.  We only have a few weeks left here and are trying to enjoy every minute of it before Patrick has to start school again.  Patrick did just have his final presentation on Monday and did very well.  He's enjoyed his time at work and has received very good reviews.  We're very excited to see where we will end up next year.

I don't have any new pictures, but here is one of my favorites from when Alden was little.  I think he's less than a week old in this picture.  I can't believe how much he's changed! Alden we love you!!