Happy First Birthday Aiden!

Now that the birthday preparation and birthday party (plus the sore knees) have long gone, Mummy can finally take a breather and find the time to write a milestone post for Aiden.

Aiden is no longer a baby! *clap*clap*clap* Blossoming into a toddler is certainly more enjoyable not only for Aiden but the parents as well. Alhamdulillah, Aiden is a very happy baby and laughs heartily at very minimal effort. It is a major turnaround as at 6 months, Aiden was a very 'serious' baby and it took quite a bit of comical tumbles and clowning around to get him to smile, what more laugh.

Character wise, Aiden is definitely an extrovert (double yeay!) although he can be very dominating at times which is very very obvious during his Gymboree classes. He has never been afraid of strangers (which may be a problem in the future!) and now he even greets people he recognises with adorable "aahh!! aahh!!". Sometimes if you're lucky, he even holds his hand out for you to 'shake his hand'! Such an attention seeker! He understands the meaning of kiss, as he leans towards you to kiss your cheek when you say "Kiss?" without you having to offer your cheek, although this is very much dependent on his mood.

He absolutely loves banging on things. He loves banging on the xylophone and banging on the plastic bucket using the sand scoop, both gifts he received from his first birthday party. If you give him the xylophone stick or sand scoop the wrong way up, he knows that he needs to turn it the right way up before banging! In Gymboree, he has a favorite toy, a small drum in which he loves to bang on using either his hands or drumsticks. Once, while all the other babies were quietly playing in the middle of the floor with each other supervised by the teacher, Aiden actually lifted the drum and showed it eagerly to his teacher while saying "Aaahh??" as if saying "See teacher, I can do this". It was so adorable because he did it quite a few times, till the teacher had to say "Yes, Aiden. I can see it" while all the parents around the group of babies "oohhhed" and "aaahhed" at his antics!

He walked his first independent steps on the 18th of April, just one day after his birthday party! Such a pity - if only it was a few days earlier, guests of the party would be able to see him walk up to the stage to cut the cake! At 12.5 months, he is able to confidently halfway through the living hall without us having to coax him to walk. We used to have to force him to stand and then pry our fingers out of his grip, but now - he would just walk anywhere around the living hall if he sees something that catches his eye! He can also bend down and pick things up from the floor without even holding on for support.

At Gymboree, he has now conquered the tunnel challenge. He used to be so afraid of crawling through it, but now he doesn't even think twice. The only thing that he has yet to master is the fear of heights. The way he grips my hand when I place him on the top of the slide, shows how afraid he really feels. And when the set up requires him to walk down the slide, or a downward incline beam, I would have to pull him forward to make him do it but his feet would be firmly rooted to the ground and only his body moves forward (and then backwards !) due to my pull.

Also character wise, besides being an extrovert, Aiden has quite the "temper". And everybody keeps telling me it is because of the Mummy (not the angelic Daddy) *tepuk dahi*. If he wants something, not only would he want it regardless of whether you allow it or not, but he wants it immediately. Just yesterday, he saw my sister's mobile phone on the shelf which also houses my mum's collection of crystals. And he tried to climb on to the shelf! I tried telling him no, but it just made him more aggravated and when my sister tried to carry him, he struggled and screamed. So I took him and sat him down on the floor. He immediately pulled himself up using the sofa and started walking (!) to the crystal shelf again! In the end, my sister gave him the mobile phone. A few minutes after that, he saw my mobile phone on the sofa, so he abandoned the first phone and attempted to climb the sofa. Usually he would succeed (yes, Aiden can climb staircases, safety gates, even the sofa), but this time he didn't even try for long - he simply screamed until I gave in and gave him the phone. Boy oh boy, what am I going to do with your "baran", Aiden?

Despite his baran-ness, Aiden has a sweet side as well. Especially when he wants to sleep. He would rest his head on my tummy, or hide his face under my arm pit. Snuggles up to me with his hand behind my neck and the other hugging my body. Loves playing peek-a-boo and would usually initiate the game (usually when Mummy is trying to concentrate at watching Desperate Housewives). When my focus is on updating my blog, he would come up to me and "demand" for my attention, usually by slamming on the laptop keys until I put it away and play with him. And he'll show his appreciation by handing to me every single block he could get his hands on and claps his hand when I receive it. He loves clapping - he usually claps his hands in glee whenever we clap, or when I sing his Gymboree songs, or even when the audience in the television claps! Once, we were getting ready for bed and he was standing on the pillow, his grip on the bed head, and he heard the 1Malaysia song (by Faizal Tahir) on TV and he actually used both his hands to clap to the song, and then of course tumbled down to the bed.

Aiden prefers the TV over books. *there goes my dream of having a toddler who loves to read* Whenever I try to read with him, he'll simply slam the book shut. But, he can focus for 10 minutes at a time while watching Playhouse Disney. He loves watching advertisements, so my sister and I would always tease him by blocking his view and then laugh hysterically when he tries to crane his neck to look at the TV.

Aiden loves the water. Enjoys taking his bath and loves splashing the water in the bathtub or sink using his feet, usually drenching anyone trying to give him his bath in the process. Loves the swimming pool too! So recently, we went to the beach. It was his first ever trip to the beach and we were so sure that he was going to enjoy himself. Boy, were we soooo wrong! He hated it! He hated the feel of the sand, even lifting his feet up high so that he doesn't set foot on the beach. He was terrified of the sea waves, he would just sit on my lap in the sea, face terrified, begging to be rescued. Aiden is soooo not a beach bum. Not only that, Aiden is terrified of the grass at his feet as well!!! (Who in the world screams at grass???)

Have you ever seen anyone at the beach with socks? Wait for my long overdue blog post about Aiden at the beach!

And of course, the two cute bunny front teeth (it runs in the family!) finally sprouted just a few weeks after he turned one. Making Aiden's mouth filled with a grand total of 7 teeth!

Aiden - you are still, and forever will be the apple of our eyes (despite the numerous hints people have been dropping to Mummy and Daddy about getting a Baby Girl next!)