Nature Boy

Aidan,

You love to say "ow-side"!

You love to be outside.

You just love outside.

And we love that about you!

Whether you're playing naked (that's you on the left),

or chillin' naked,

or swimming naked,

or playing with the hose, or planting rocks, or chasing the dogs, or helping yourself to the vegetables in the garden,

or running around in the rain like a maniac,

 

you just LOVE to be out with mother nature.

Just yesterday, you and your Mommy were out in the garden. She picked a whole bunch of fresh okra, and you ate it up. But, then again, you also eat mulberries..off the ground. At any rate, your mommy turned her back for a second and you had picked two green tomatoes. She was about to ask you for it, so we could let it ripen on the windowsill, but you took a big bite of it...and spit it out.

You're going to have SO much fun harvesting when more okra and red tomatoes and cucumbers and herbs are ready to go. But until then, you can keep gnawing on the leeks.

On Mother's day, after our big family BBQ, I wanted to take you to the park...we got ready to go, opened the door and it was pouring!

But that didn't stop you...You marched to the end of the porch and tested the rain with your hand. Within a minute, you were out there...playing in the rain. You were yelling "raining!" "wet!" "WET!" When you wandered into Luke's yard, I got volunteered to follow you, and follow I did! You were having a blast stomping in deep puddles and shuffling along little streams. "Raining!" Dorothy, our neighbor, saw you and said "Aidan, you look like a wet rat!" You replied, "rat!" "rat!"

No matter the weather, no matter the day, if there's an outside, that's where you'll want to play. "Park!" "Park! "PARK!" you say!

We love it that you want to be outside: it's so primal, so fun, so...childlike! And at a time when you seem to be growing up before our eyes, it's great that in the great outdoors, your sense of wonder is overwhelmed and you can be mother nature's child. We'll call it the 'wilderness of youth'!

I hope when you're all grown up, you'll still remember what it's like to be a nature boy. Though, you might not want to run around naked. That'll be frowned on.

Head of the Table

You're definitely an old pro at feeding yourself with your hands. I remember how excited we were when you learned how to grab food, and then pinch it more delicately (although you sometimes really just feel like grabbing food anyway and mushing it to smithereens). Lately you've even been chewing food, reaching in your mouth, taking the food out, looking at it and then putting it back in your mouth again.

Well, we're working on another couple fun and potentially equally messy eating milestones.

First off, you're really interested in how cups work and how to drink (or pour) liquid out of them.
It's a fun new toy that can leave you realllllly soaking wet.



Secondly, you've advanced to mostly eating whatever we're eating. This experiment has had varying degrees of success. But last night...oh man...last night you couldn't get enough of the chicken Basil Thai Fried Rice that I made. It had okra, tomatoes, eggplant and thai basil fresh from our garden (and mine had our fresh jalapenos in it, but I spared your Mommy and you that treatment). While cooking I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that you would probably not like it (we had struck out on a rice dish pretty abysmally a few nights before).

But you LOVED it!




You've had some experience feeding yourself yogurt with a spoon, but for the past two nights you've shown some real aptitude and creativity in this department. The second night was a bit cleaner than the first, and you were very vocal about how funny and awesome you thought feeding yourself actually was.





After your yogurt course, while Mommy drew your (much needed) bath, I bribed you into saying one of your new words on camera. With Graham Crackers in hand, you munched on (and said the word ) "Cooook keeehhhhh"s!

New 'Do

You've been such a good eater since day one. But, now that you're mostly feeding yourself, a lot of the food winds up in other places besides your mouth. Like mostly on the floor, the dogs' mouths, your lap and, your new favorite food location, your head! (don't worry, you always make sure that enough food ends up in your mouth; you never leave hungry)

I think it might be a custom from your peoples: if someone gives you a food you like, such as peaches, strawberries, raisins, or blackberries, then to show your appreciation you must wear the food on your head.

One particular evening, you really liked the chicken meat, tuna fish and peaches I fed you for dinner (aka a good representation of all of these foods wound up smushed in your hair).

So, what's a good Dad supposed to do?

After dinner, we retired to the washroom where I tried to clean your hair, but noticed instead that the buffet on your head gave your hair some new tenacity.

So, I styled it!

Rock on, baby!

Taking Bites and Sharing!

Videos and Valentine's

Ever since your Mommy and I got our new phones, it's easier than ever to just take cute little videos of you doing cute little things and share them with the world instantly. But, since I don't know how much youtube you're allowed to see with those Draconian parent-locks all over the internet, I wanted to share these videos with you directly.

Most of them take place in the high chair because, well, you are so fast that it's hard to get a decent video of you when you're not immobilized in some way.

First of all: BLUEBERRIES!



You love this little fruit so much, and you've really gotten quite good at feeding yourself thanks to blueberries.

Just a few short weeks ago, you had to use your whole hand to mush finger food into your mouth hole. This lead to some hilarity when blueberry skins would get precariously perched on your cute face.



But now you've advanced into 'pincer' stage, which means you're grasping food between your thumb and pointer finger. A lot of food still winds up not in your mouth (and subsequently winds up in your hair, on the floor, stuck in the crevices of the high chair and between your eyes), but, you're getting so much better!

And, that pointer finger is getting such a work out. Not too long ago you switched from reaching with all fingers extended toward things you liked, things you were looking at, things you wanted to go-to-there. But you've evolved yet again. Now you're really on point!

Check out this video of you pointing to an old toy Aunt Sham gave you that we recently unearthed and...much to our amazement...you love it! Every time you see it you ask us to play it, or if you're close enough, you play it yourself!



The bright light city really lights up your life! (And is exceptionally helpful when you are pissed at us for changing your diapers!) I know how you feel though (not about the diaper thing, about the being lit up thing), because you really light up our lives!

You make us so happy...even the little things like how you kick your feet when your happily eating...



To your infectious laugh when something tickles you just right...



Or growing up before our very eyes and perferring Mommy's bread to your own (albeit still eating with whole-hand)...



This Valentine's Day I really understand why the mascot is a naked baby. It has nothign to do with Cupid at all. It's because your Mommy and I are so truly, madly, deeply in love with you! Of course, we are super-de-duper in love with eachother too...even when we get yelled at for leaving our socks out. So, on this holiday dedicated to the power of the heart and the crazy little thing called love, your Mom and I are doubly blessed, not only to have found eachother, but to have you in our lives as well.

We love you, and although you will not be eating chocolate or heart-shaped candies, this is a Valentine's day for three (plus two doglets): we love you, and can't get enough of your love (which explains the abundance of videos).

Oh, PS, remember that really embarrassing photo of you from your 6-month photo shoot? Yeah, even though you're almost twice as old and twice as cute, I couldn't resist turning it in to a Valentine. A modest list of your friends and family received this gem in their inboxes today.

All you need is Love (and the occasional white fuzzy blanket)!



We love you, son! Thank you for lighting up our lives everyday!

Month 7 Already? Family, Food, Floors and Fairs

Oh my goodness, you're 7 months old already! Look at that happy boy- that's you! it's not long ago that you were in your Mom's belly, and now you smile, you "talk," you scoot, you roll, you play, you laugh, you're sooooooo close to crawling and you're getting cleverer by the day.

For example, the other day I walked into the bathroom (where mirrors live) to play one of your favorite games, "Who's that Baby?" (This is played by looking into the mirror where you laugh and giggle and smile at your reflection and I say "Who's that Baby?" repeatedly in a silly voice. It's much better than it sounds on paper). Anyway, we walked into the bathroom and the lights were out. We begin to play the game, but instead, you reach for the light switch! I do play the lightswitch game with you a lot (on, off, on, off)-- but that just blew me away that you reached for the switch. Could it have been a fluke? Sure! But, I like to think that you're just super clever and knew that you can't play "Who's that baby" with the lights off!

And you're so clever that you know when Mommy and Daddy are eating...and get kind of cute/upset when the food's not for you. Once at a grocery store, your Mom and I were eating free samples. Every bite we took, you'd open up your mouth to get a bite. But you couldn't eat spicy queso! You were so upset that you cried!

During breakfast one day, you were watching longingly as your mom ate a bagel...
One day, big man, but not yet. At this point you weren't even 7 months old yet! The lead up to your 7-month birthday was filled with family and fun and floors and food...and even a fair.

You celebrated your first Rosh Hashana Dinner with Mimi and Pops, and we invited your Godparents, BJ and Kari too!

You really amazed everyone by eating a whole heck of a lot! And then Mimi and Pops gave you a new toy, a bear name (I'm not kidding), Caleb B Beanster. Well, you LOVED Caleb B Beanster- you grabbed him and started squealing and screeching and laughing! We think that you thought he was a dog!

After dinner, we all played on the floor!

You also got to celebrate your first Break fast for Yom Kippur, though we did it a little differently this year: it was a brunch break fast the next morning (don't worry, nobody fasted an extra 6 hours). Jeremy and Michelle and almost-Brady joined us for that!You really impressed everyone by eating a huge breakfast, including a whole banana!

Then we played on the floor! (noticing a pattern?)

The weekend before your monthi-birthday, your Uncle Taff and Aunt April, along with Addison and Autumn came to Dallas to go to the fair with you (and the rest of us).

But, on our Fair day it rained the whole time! Grey skies and lots of rain mean indoor activities. So everyone went to the mall, where you got to experience the craziness that is a "soft play area" on a rainy day.

Actually, except for a brief forray into a hippo's mouth for a photo op with Addison, you witnessed the craziness from the sidelines. The most action you got was when a little boy sat down next to me and said "Excuse me, may I pet your baby?"

How could I say no?

So some kid pet your back while your cousins played!

Uncle Taff and Aunt April and family were really happy to hang out with you, even if we were at the mall!But, worry not, the next day the clouds cleared up and we got to go to the TEXAS STATE FAIR! This was your second visit, technically. But I'm guessing you don't recall your first visit.

So you got to soak in all the fun in the sun (and the shade...it was cool in your morning and you got to wear your cool hoodie sweatshirt for the first time).

You strolled with your cousins:

Proxy shared a corn dog:

Took in the sights:Saw Big Tex:

Made friends with Autumn:

Got strapped in by Aunt April:

Helped me hold a Turkey Leg (Holly forgive me for posting the mid-bite picture!):

And fell asleep:

You hung out with these nuts...You might have wanted to ride the rides with your cousins, but you're not quite Big Tex enough yet...So we had to watch from the sidelines...but maybe next year you can ride the rides!So, you understandably had nothing to say on that topic.You're still a bit too young to ride the crazy animal train or go in the house of mirrors, but we can't believe you're as old as you are...

Before we knew it you were 7 months old already!

And the fun is just beginning!

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