9 Months Old!

Another big part of our Thanksgiving break was that you turned 9 months old, young man!



And you are growing up in front of our eyes! Gone are the days when you were just a baby; now you're a little person, with little person likes and dislikes and a big person personality stuck inside a little person!
Speaking of "little," you're not so little any more at all. According to the doctor- whom you visited on Thursday- you are now about 28 inches tall, which puts you in the 50th to 70th percentiles of kids your age.

But, on the other side, despite our best efforts to fatten you up, you now weigh 18 pounds, 2 ounces...which puts you smack dab in the 15th-20th percentiles for weight.

Which means you are still tall and skinny for your age.

But the doctor wasn't worried about you being too skinny, despite those numbers.

Your mom asked if we should try to get you to pack on more pounds and she said "No! He looks fat enough to me!"

So, there you have it! You're a growing, tall, skinny, happy 9 month old boy! And you have two very happy 9-months-on-the-job parents and tons of other family to show for it.

You also have 6 sprouting teeth to show for it too...but you seem less happy about that!

It's so odd that you've now officially been here on earth for as long as you were there in your Mom's tummy.

The time we were expecting you seems so distant, so far away. And you've seemingly been here forever. But, the calendar doesn't lie. You were in for 9 months hard time, and you've been out and growing for the same. From here on out, it's all gravy!

What's in Store: Grocery Carts, Country Roads and 4 Month Checkup

Your Mom and I (and the world) have a lot in store for you! And some of the things we have in store for you actually involve the store.

Which store? You may ask.

Well, you've been to lots of stores: Target (at least 2 times a day on weekends as long as your Mom is deciding where we go), Kohl's, even Home Depot. But the one store you haven't been to yet is THE store...the grocery store.

We just didn't know how one person could push you in the stroller and push the grocery cart...or if we put your car seat in the grocery cart then there'd be no room for groceries. But, we finally had a perfect opportunity, and the right tool (thanks to Aunt April) to put YOU in the grocery kart! And though you were a bit wobbly, and it still took two people, you really seemed to like riding around in the grocery store.


What else did we have in store for you? Your first trip to Great Grandma's house. Actually, we wound up going to your Great Aunt Nessa's cabin instead, but you get the idea.

Out in the country, you got to hang out with Great Aunt Nessa:

Grandma:
Your Second Cousin Kaelyn:


(who went to give you a kiss but accidentally head butted you...and then pretty much lost interest in you and gained more interest in your green chair)

And your Great Aunt Chrissy:

And then it was on to nap time...
Apparently napping with grandmas is the thing to do!
And then when you woke up you got to hang out with Great Grandma...


and Great Grandpa and your cousins Devon and Jenny and Great Uncle Phil too. You did great out in the country. I think being loved on by all your relatives suited you just fine...

And you had more in store for you this week as well. You got to spend part of the days with Mimi and Pops and Grandma (that's right, Nita has officially chosen 'Grandma' over 'Nanneh'...for now). And when babysitting, Pops likes to, among other things, go for long Wii walks with you:

but sometimes he gets a little crazy... look out!

And that brings us to yesterday. Your Mom and I knew what was in store for you. And we weren't too happy about it. You, however, were none the wiser about what was coming. We let you have as good of a morning as possible, which included taking goofy pictures with Daddy.

(Don't worry, we're both clothed: one in a diaper, one in shorts. Which is which?)

Oh yeah, quick side bar: you started sucking on your bottom lip this week as well. And as you can see in the picture, it's a trend that's gaining momentum!

Back to reality: At 9:30 a.m., we packed up, put on brave faces and went to see the Doctor for your Four Month check up.

First things first, they weighed and measured you. Your Mom guessed you would be 16 pounds. I thought 16.5. Uncle BJ guessed 4 pounds, but that was an uninformed guess, to say the least.

But in Price is Right rules, he won, because everyone else over guessed!

You weighed in at 14 pounds 6 ounces!

This is by no means giant...in fact as a friend pointed out, her 3 month old son weighed 16 pounds and could theoretically eat you (which I don't think is a good idea). But, it's a great weight to be at! You're at the 50th percentile for weight. And, I dont' recall the exact height, but you're around 25 inches tall...putting you around the 70-75th percentile for height (You were 25 1/4 inches tall!). Tall and skinny! Just like... no one in the family. That's odd. Maybe you'll break the mold!

You were really in love with the butcher paper they put on the exam table and you wouldn't hold still. You wiggled and squirmed and tore and chewed and drooled. You tried to eat the Doctor's hand while she was checking your heart beat...but, in your defense, it WAS within reach! You were having a grand old time at the Doctor's.


A grand old time, that is, until the nurse came in to give you your four month shots! I had to hold you down while the nurse gave you three shots in your leg muscles and you cried and cried and wailed and I even saw you squeeze out a single tear! It was horrible...for us.

When the shots were done and I could pick you up, you immediately stopped crying. Then your Mommy fed you and you seemed to feel better immediately!

Although, the baby acetomenophin we gave you probably helped too.

The rest of the day was a blast, and you and your Mommy even got to take twinsy naps together...with Toby at your side.
But what's in store for you now? You'll like this news, maybe. You've doubled your birthweight (and then some!), so the Doctor said you were ready to start trying solid foods!

Up to this point the only thing you've ever eaten is Breast Milk! But now... now you get veggies and cereal and fruit, oh my!

What will we start with? How will it go? How many bibs will we go through? I guess we'll have to find out...there's a lot in store for all of us!

But, the creatures who stand to gain the most from the new developments are the ones who stand just under 1.5 feet tall... with all the food dropping that's going to start happening soon Toby and Preston will definitely have something to wag about.

Week 13: The Great Nipple in the Sky, Uncle Jerkface and Auntie M's Wedding, Naked Tummy Time and and other tales

Week 13, your first full week of being 3 months old, was full of great fun and adventures:

First of all, on Saturday, you and Mommy and Daddy went to the rehearsal dinner for Uncle Jerkface (he named himself that!) and Auntie M's wedding!

You were a big hit! All of Michelle's sisters loved you and wanted to hold you. And all of Michelle's brothers in law were a little fake-mad at me for letting their wives/fiance's hold you...because then they wanted to have babies just like you! Even Michelle's Dad thanked us publicly for 'spreading the good baby vibes around..." and then he said he hoped that soon Auntie M's sisters would start families of their own! We think it's a great idea!

Uncle Jeremy's family loved you too!

We barely got to hold you the whole night because everyone wanted their turn holding you! And you were such a well-behaved baby boy: You slept for a good long while on me, and Auntie M's sister Nicole and Auntie M! But then Uncle Jeremy woke you up (accidentally) and you were bright eyed and bushy tailed for everyone else to hold you!

Aunt Kari held you!

Auntie M's sister Kristen waited all night to hold you!

See...you were the superstar! (Besides Jeremy and Michelle, of course!)

Even Auntie M's Mommy got to hold you too!

Mommy had some Aidan time too! (And so did I..in fact, you scarfed down a huge bottle of milk in my arms!)

You got Uncle Jeremy back for waking you up by chewing on his arm the whole night. It was a bit hairier than what you're used to, and Uncle Jeremy said his hair was matted down for the rest of the night. Good thing you don't have any teeth, or you might have gotten hair stuck in them.

But this whole arm-chewing business was another new thing for Week 13.


We knew that last week you really fell in love with your own hands and chewed on them all week, even though you hadn't quite figured out that putting your whole hand in your mouth can kind of make you gag a little.

But in week 13, you discovered that you can chew on other people's hands too! In fact, any time you held someone else's hands, you pulled them to your mouth to give them a nice chew!



You spent a good part of yesterday afternoon eating your Mom's hands (and enjoying it !)

All that hand chewing sure can make you tired, though. And you slept a lot this week. I think you brought sleeping to an all knew art form with this move:

Awake in Mommy's arms:

And....two seconds later:

So you may be a narcoleptic baby, but you are such a cute sleeper that we don't mind! (We don't actually think you're narcoleptic...but while you're out, don't blame me for taking incredibly cute pictures of you!)

And when you're sleeping, I'm pretty sure I know what you're dreaming about. We noticed this week that not only do you love to flirt and giggle and smile at the ceiling fans, but you smile and giggle and flirt with the ceiling fixture directly above your crib too! It took us a few days to figure out what the attraction was, but then your Mom figured out what you must see in it...and now we can't help but laugh whenever you make googly eyes up at your light fixture above your crib!

Now, even though week 13 was big for sleep it was also big for exercise too!

You continued to do your baby sit-ups and love them! (excuse how lame my narration is here)

And then your Mommy really pushed for more Tummy Time because when she took you to the Doctors (more on that later), Dr. Accordion complimented how high you could raise your head up...we'd been doing tummy time on a blanket which is slippery...but the Doctor's table had more grip. So we swapped out the blanket for a yoga mat and some receiving blankets and...voila..you're the tummy time head lifting master!

Look how high you're lifting your head up!

There are different types of tummy time.

First up is interrupted tummy time, in which Preston tries to 'help'.

Then there's uninterrupted tummy time, in which Preston has given up and just wants to lay down next to you.

And then, of course, there's NAKED TUMMY TIME! The books (and grandmas) all recommend that you be naked more often, because it's more freeing, and you're more comfortable. So, we got you naked and did some tummy time! You're almost able to roll over on your own!

We couldn't be more proud of you!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you...the reason Preston is now submissive to you is that we think you weigh more than him now! At your doctor's appointment they weighed you and determined that you weigh 12 POUNDS and 13 OUNCES! That's like 12.8 pounds...so in week 13, you're almost 13 pounds! Pretty impressive, buddy boy!

So, you were a party animal, a hands-on baby, a cute sleeper and a naked exerciser this week. That's not too bad for a 13-week old!

And that's all she wrote for this week's story. So, I gracefully say...the end.

A Shirt Thing

We've been having a blast getting to know you better and trying to learn what you want and when you want it. We even tried giving your Nanneh the night off last night, after all, she's not gonna live with us forever, and your Mom and I are going to have to work out a system to feed you and sleep at the same time.

It actually worked pretty well. Your Mom has perfected something that neither Nanneh nor I have managed to do yet: she laid you down in your bassinet and you stayed asleep! That was key to the night working. But, you were still up for food every two hours, so the night was a little rough for all of us.

Also, you and I seem to have a shirt thing going on.

First of all, today is St. Patty's day so, us both being pretty green gung-ho, we both wore green shirts (you wore a whole green outfit). This really isn't a coincidence: I picked out your outfit!

As you can see, you took the news pretty hard that we're not Irish. Once they told me, I didn't react to well either:

But, that's okay. At least we look good in Green!

On to our next shirt adventure! The other day when I was working at home and holding you, I noted that your legs were cold. So, being a super genius, I slipped you into my sweatshirt, and there you stayed, snug as a bug in a rug (I hate that saying, but use it anyway). This is gonna be our new thing: since that day, you've hung out in my sweatshirt another time and even took a nap on my chest in the sweatshirt too!



For the record, that is the same sweatshirt that your mother graced with her lunch on the way back from Maine. Don't worry, we washed it.

But speaking of gracing one with their lunch, that brings us to our last shirt-venture for the day. A few nights ago after your Mom had just fed you a delightful dinner consisting of breast milk with a side of breast milk, you were just chilling on my chest, and I was patting and rubbing your back. Then, without warning, BARFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

I was momentarily taken aback, but kept my cool. I called for your Nanneh to come help.

Just as she arrived: BARFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Double barfsies all over Daddy's shirt! Totally awesome! Seeing as how you were face down on my chest when this happened, you yourself were covered: you had milk in your eyes and hair and face. But you weren't too upset.

Neither was I, to tell you the truth.

Here are the steps to clean up from such a mess:

1) Have Nanneh and Mommy take you and clean you up

2) Take 2 pictures of yourself doing thumbs up with throw up all over yourself (for the record)




3) Take a shower with shirt still on, cleaning you and shirt.

4) Dry off

5) Continue holding Aidan now that he's all cleaned up.


But don't worry, for the massive amount of throw up that you created on my shirt, you haven't lost a single pound.

In fact, your Mommy and Nanneh took you to the Doctor today and she weighed you: You're now up to 8 POUNDS! Dr. Accordino said you're gaining 1 ounce a day! That's something to be proud of...if you're a baby.

But if that were me making that kind of progress, soon enough I wouldn't be able to fit into any of my shirts at all!

Oh, and here's a nice and completely unrelated picture of you and your Mommy hanging around outside! The weather's getting nicer and nicer, so expect more of this!