What Big Boys Do: the 6-month difference

Well, somehow Labor Day passed and now it's mid-September! I may have been neglecting this journal, but I promise you, I haven't been neglecting you, Aidan!

You are so much fun to play with and feed and hang out with. It's so rewarding to bathe you and get peed on and change poopy diapers. It's also nice when your Mommy does those things too. Except you only seem to pee on me. We need to talk about that.

But anyway, man, so much has been happening! We finally got in your 6 month pictures and they are, of course, adorable and, yes, kind of funny too. You're going to kill us for some of these when you get older; but that's one of the perks of being a parent. But they were also really eye-opening to see photographic evidence of what a cute little kid you've grown into. You're not a newborn anymore!

7 days on white:

6 months on white:

7 days (in a basket):

6 months (not in a basket):

A few-week-old feet:

6-month-old Feet (both in Daddy's hands, for your reference):

1-ish-month old Family shot:6-month-old family shot:

I even got in on the photo-taking action too:

8-weeks old in the blue chair:

6-months old in the blue chair:

So, it's now been proven that you're now a big boy. Or at least a bigger boy than you were when you first arrived on the scene.

And what do big boys do?

Well, big boys eat in their high chairs! (Which just so happened to be the same high chairs that their daddy's ate in as boys).

Yeah, you don't look too thrilled to be in the chair. But your attitude toward the chair actually got worse. And so we stopped using it altogether until we figured out that you were probably uncomfortable, so we stuffed the Bumbo chair in that sucker and now you LOVE the high chair! Well, you love eating, anyway! Most days - especially now that you're eating big boy food for breakfast and dinner- you scarf down your food. Except when it's liquified "country dinner." You hated country dinner. Every bite looked like this:But, hey, that's what big boys do: They express their opinions! And, boy are you expressing yourself. You definitely have opinions about things like...

Rice Cereal made with water is 'meh.'

But rice cereal made with breast milk is AWESOME! (that's what you say, we don't eat it).

So, it's a game of hit-or-miss trying to feed you, with all these preferences, but, you're definitely not starving.

Big Boys are crafty too. They figure out quite quickly how the suction-cup toy sticks to the high-chair tray.They also figure out quite quickly that delicious food dropped on the high-chair tray is still delicious if they "finger paint" around in it for a while and then suck on their fingers (mmm carrot tomatoe puree never tasted so 'earned!')

Big boys also get their chompers brushed (and boy do you LOVE eating that flouride-free toothpaste.) ("it says 'nontoxic'...that's a plus!)

Big boys also know how to look cool:They know how to BE cool:

And even how to be cool while sleeping!

See? Big boys even DREAM of crawling...and they practice during the day too:

But, they also know how to just relax with their friends...and kick their feet up and enjoy the ride

6 Months Down!

What a tiring couple of weeks!

We've been super busy around your 6 month birthday, and a little bit stressed. There were high highs and really stressful lows, but you took it all in stride with a smile on your face.

That's why you win the 'happiest baby on the block' award, awarded by me.

First, Mommy and Daddy's Air Conditioner decided to die a horrible lingering death two weekends ago and it was over 100 degrees outside...in the shade...at night. So, we spent the night at Mimi and Pops' house on Saturday. You slept in a new crib (which was actually your Daddy's old crib when he was a baby), you slept in a new place and you did super well!

Then, on Monday, after we thought the AC was fixed, it turned out that it wasn't and we spent the night at your Godparents' house. But we had an extra visitor! You finally got to meet "Uncle Sam"-- he might look familiar because, a) he and Daddy were part of an "awesome" rock band in college,


b) one of Mommy and Daddy's closest friends from college

and c) oh yeah, he married us.
So, you finally got to meet Sam, and you guys sure hit it off! He made you laugh a lot, which is only fitting, since he makes me and your Mom laugh a lot too!




He even got you your first Tufts bling. He had his old Tufts Symphony Orchestra t-shirt (which Mommy designed) turned into a onesie for you!

Also, if you couldn't tell, you really developed a lovely relationship with blue puppy. He has quickly climbed the ranks to #1 favorite toy. You love this thing- chewing on it, tossing it around, laughing the second you see it! The real dogs may be getting jealous.

You also have really been kicking the rolling into high gear. You pretty much roll wherever the heck you want to go nowadays. You're cruising around town like you own the place. Of course, you've been rolling for a long time now, but it really seems like you've got the hang of it being used as a tool for mobility. Now you can chase the dogs for real! Just don't treat them like you treat blue puppy...please!

We also got to take your 6 month pictures. Before the shoot, you were in such a lovey mood, that we had to take advantage:


If you'll recall, here's months 3, 4 and 5:
And for Month 6 there were so many great choices...but the winner, without consulting Mommy was:
But, since they were so cute, and I couldn't resist, here were the runners up:



And since the dogs were already up there, we decided to try our luck and see if we could get a family portrait rocking. And the auto-timer, camera-perched-precariously trick actually worked!


You also really seemed to be figuring out that something's happening to Aunt Michelle's belly..and that your soon-to-be friend Brady is in there!

We also discovered that you LOVE piggy back rides! You had your first piggy back ride on Sunday and you laughed and screamed with delight and tried to eat Daddy's hair! I've been giving you at least one piggy back ride a day and you still love it!

You are also getting better and better at sitting up on your own...kind of. You're almost there!

And since your such a big boy now, and since it's cooler outside, your Mommy has finally come around to my point of view that overalls are really cute! See?



You also had your 6 month Doctor's Appointment and we discovered that you are now 16 pounds 3 ounces and 26 3/4 inches tall!

That means that you are, again, tall and skinny! You're taller than 70% of kids your age...but weigh less than 75% of them. So, the doctor gave us the order to feed you as much food as you want-- up to three meals of solid (well, technically it's still liquid, since it's liquified solids) foods a day! You seemed really excited about that!

Oh yeah, you also got to meet Mommy and Daddy's friend Amanda and see their friend Elsie again!

What a big couple of weeks for our big 6 month old boy!



I'm going to go play with you now because you're getting a little fussy sitting in my lap! Maybe I'll give you a piggy back ride!