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

News from the Progeny Poop Chute

Big News delivered to me from your Mom via email today:

"Guess what? We had our first real TURD this morning! It was so small, very easy clean up ;) Also, when I went to change his pjs, I noticed that one of his feet was sobbing wet....he is eating his feet! Very cute :)"

We've been waiting for this moment, son. All those solid foods- which you continue to adore- have finall made a big difference in the diaper department, and not just subtle changes in texture, consistency or color. A turd, a real turd! I can't believe I was at work and missed this monumental moment!

Of course, it's cute that you're now starting to eat your own feet.

And of course, you had your first Rosh Hashana dinner at Mimi and Pops.

Of course, you survived a tornado striking down in Dallas (waaaaaaaay far away from our house, but scary nonetheless).

Of course you're almost crawled last night and of course we got you an awesome walker to play in and busted out the old bouncy exersaucer thing.

Of course you're now really up on your hands and knees instead of your knees and forearms.

And who can forget the great reaction when Mimi and Pops gave you a bear named "Caleb B. Beanster" dressed in jingoistic overalls and you squealed with delight!

And who can forget when

Preston licked your belly and you petted him and grabbed his leg and also squealed with delight.

And who can forget when you were so tired that you were crying as I was feeding you dinner...but only cried between bites?

But the number 1 news of the day has to be number 2 news: My big boy made a turd!

I'm so proud of you!

There are no pictures of said turd.

But, here is a great picture your Mom and you sent me one day when I was at the office (as compared to a very similar picture from when you were super tiny)...look how big you are now!

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!

Long Distance Relationship

I forgot to post this video! Last week on my drive home you and your Mommy talked to me on the phone! Don't worry, I was wearing my hands-free set, to be safe. Well, your Mommy was talking to me...you were trying to eat the phone, which is what it's meant to be anyway.

A lot has happened since this video was taken, I mean a week is a long time in baby-world.

But I figured it's better late than never!

Today you are 6 months old! I can't believe you've only been with us for six months! It seems like a lifetime of learning and experiences have occurred since your birth. But then again, it seems to have gone by so quickly too!

Being 6 months old is definitely something to phone home about...or at least something to lick the phone for!

Laughing, Teething and Everything

These past couple weeks have had a lot of developmental milestones!

You started communicating with us in all new ways including "the whispers." The whispers are super cute and can usually only be heard when changing a diaper, when you're over one of our shoulders and/or when you're super happy. Basically, you're just saying gobbledygook but you're whispering it! I tried to catch a video of this, but you are still a bit camera shy...whenever I start filming you clam up! The whispers are adorable...but would be really creepy if an adult were to do it. But since you're a baby, it's adorable! You whisper to me, to your Mama and to the dogs! I cant even figure out how it would look in type...something like this:

ra ra ra ra ger ga ra gra gaaaa

I'll keep trying to get it on camera, though, since it's so adorable!

But, the other phrase you love to whisper is really easy to type. Recently you pepper your usual dialogues with this gem: "mamamamama..." You don't really know what those words mean yet, but it's super cute to hear you say them!

The best new form of vocal communique that you've recently begun is your squealing/laughing/squeal laugh. I can get you do this quite easily when kissing your belly! You laugh so hard that you almost cry. You grab on to my head and just laugh and grin! I love it! Of course, you've been giggling and laughing for a long time, but this is a new kind of laughter...I want to bottle it and wear it around my neck and keep it with me for any moment that I'm feeling down so I can just pop the cap, hear your laugh and have my mood lifted immediately!

Or these videos will do just fine:

As you can see from these videos, your britches look a little big! That's because you've been growing like a weed and you no longer fit in the "Small" G-diapers. So we had to move you up to medium.

Unfortunately, Mediums look gigantic on you, but a diaper that closes around you is much more functional than one that doesn't!

Speaking of growing, your two bottom teeth are continuing to sprout simultaneously. Last week's efforts to get a picture of them proved difficult since your lips were sealed on that subject.

But this week, after a rousingly successful introduction to bananas, I snapped a picture of the pointy culprits!Yup, those little buggers are the source of pretty much all of your grief in life right now!

Bananas? Yup, I said it! You're officially through the first rotation of veggies that went peas, squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas and now you're on to Bananas! They were a big hit! And, we are super thrilled to be using all the awesome bibs we've gotten as presents, including the totally aweomse one your Aunt Rebekka got you!

Now that you're grown up enough to wear pop-culture referencing Bibs, you're definitely starting to grow up before our very eyes.

You're a lot more aware of your toys and interested in them:

And you're rapidly becoming mobile. You have your legs in the right position and are scrunching up and kicking back with all your might. But you're not quite crawling yet. But you're definitely on Crawl Watch 2010.

You're so close! But to be honest, we're not hoping you just start crawling tomorrow. We've got a house to Aidan-proof!

You have even developped this "backwards crawling" technique, in which you wind up pushing yourself further away from the thing you're trying to access. You do not like this option very much at all...but it's good practice for going forwards!

Even though you're not quite crawling forwards yet, you are still moving forwards by leaps and bounds!

The end!

Carrots!

Carrots were a major success!