What We've Been Up To

Since signing off Facebook on Ash Wednesday we've been up to quite a bit in our little family!  It's funny, I keep thinking of "facebook statuses" to post and then realize I can't post them (which is probably not a bad thing!) but it does mean that family members and others who are closer to us don't know what's going on as much!  It's been wonderful not doing any social networking these days (I realize that it is strange to write about this on a blog...) and I have actually learned a lot about myself through this little Lenten fast.  I realized how much I love signing on and seeing that little red number saying someone commented on something I posted.  I think we all do, but I've started realizing that it's actually kind of nice living life "off line" if you will.  I flew to Denver and back last week and realized based on certain texts and emails I received while gone that very few people knew I was traveling.  That was kind of nice in a way--recapturing some privacy maybe?  But the flip side is that grandparents haven't seen new photos of their adorable grandson in awhile!  (And do you know how much easier it is to write a talk or grade papers when Facebook or Pinterest or Instagram are not options for distraction anymore??  I wrote a talk last week in about 1/2 the time it normally would have taken me!) I have a few minutes today and thought I'd share a bit of what we've been up to this month. (and it's Sunday which means Lenten fasts are to be broken, so Facebook and I have been getting reacquainted today) 

Travel!  I mentioned I was in Denver (well Greeley really) last weekend.  Charles took 20 high school students to winter camp over Presidents Day Weekend and Aidan and I hopped on a plane and headed to visit my grandparents for 5 days.  It was such an amazing trip.  I originally planned it back in December.  Denver is a super easy flight from Burbank (less than 2 hours) and I know my grandparents, who have played such huge roles in my life, are getting a bit older so I wanted them to have some time with my son.  I had asked my dad if he wanted to join us for a few of those days, both to see his parents and to help with Aidan a bit, so he flew in for a couple days too which was great.  I had no idea how special that weekend was going to be, both for my grandparents and for me.  I realized it has been years since I've had that much time with just them.  Usually there are a bunch of other family members around (which is always fun!) but it's been so long since I've sat down with just the two of them.  To have multiple days to drink coffee, eat a ton (Grandma's purpose in life is to fill me with as much food as she can before she sends me home, which I am more than happy to participate in!), and watch them play with Aidan was so so special.  They LOVED having him there and it meant so much to them to have us come to their house, so I'm going to try & plan another few days maybe in June when I can head back there again.

Aidan, his Opa, Oma and Papa

Four Generations--Two Moms and their Two Boys

83 Years old and she can still play trucks with the best of them!

Reading books with Opa

Flying his airplane!  He knows it goes up!

Being in Colorado also meant I got to see other people I adore!  One night we had a cousin dinner at my grandma's house--well it turned into that anyways!  Five of us got together again!

Charles' Hair: Yes this needs it's own category in the update :)  Back in January he made a deal with the junior high students that if they sold out winter camp he would let them dye his hair.  They did and he came home from youth group one night looking like a rainbow snow cone.

Then the high school students wanted to help him get ready for the Valentine's Day banquet so they re-bleached his hair and tried to put a heart into it.

When he came to pick me up from the airport after high school winter camp he is almost bald, which gives me hope that his normal hair color will grow back and will stick around for awhile!

Aidan! Our little dude is learning an incredible amount of new things every single day.  It is amazing to me watching this little person develop.  He is trying SO hard to say some words like "mail," "Truck" "Tractor" "Cracker" and "Doggie"  He is fascinated by anything that moves and makes noise--every time he hears a car start or an airplane overhead it is the highlight of his day.  He loves the garbage truck, dirt, trying to pick up rocks, pushing his Pooh car around our apartment complex, and reading his books.  It is so so cool to see how in love with his books he has become lately and he will sit for quite awhile and let you turn pages with him and he can now find and point to numerous objects in various books.  He LOVES his patchwork quilt that my grandma made him for Christmas and every day when he wakes up from his nap we spent quite a bit of time in his crib pointing out things on the quilt--he can now find the cars, trucks, monkeys, doggies and owls.  He's not really walking yet, he'll take a couple steps every now and then and then sit down but he's getting better and better at standing without holding on to anything.  I can't believe I'm the mommy of a little BOY!!  

Me!:  I've still been loving getting to work at Fuller again and be there one afternoon a week, I realized how much I missed being in a classroom setting!  MOPS is going great, we've had a wonderful group of ladies coming together every other week to connect, learn, craft, play and eat!  I LOVE being part of this group!  I have had the incredible privilege of getting to do a bit of volunteer work at the church lately in some really fun areas for me--I got to help co-lead a discussion on what is Family Ministry with our church elders and with the family ministry team and had the chance to share some of my studies in that area with them which was a great experience.  Yesterday I had the honor of being the speaker for the church's women's tea and got to write the first talk I've gotten to give in several years!  It was SO much fun to get to use the passion I have for teaching and preaching again and I'm hopeful a few more opportunities may arise in the future. 

I think that's it!  Feel free to check back on Wednesday for my monthly "Things I'm Into" post if you're interested :)  

One

Oh little boy, life has completely run away with me and for the past four months I have been meaning to write your monthly updates, but I haven't.  Life with you feels so full and so busy, and I wouldn't change a thing.  One week ago, you turned one.  One year ago I was wondering who you were going to be, who this little person was who kicked me non stop for months and months.  And now I know.  I have a little face and voice and personality and mannerisms that I have come to know and love more than I ever imagined possible.  This first year has been quite the crazy ride, full of ups and downs, joy, laughter, some tears, a lot of middle of the night bonding sessions, many trips, and a whole lot of learning for both of us!

Everyone told me not to blink, that the weeks go by so quickly, and they weren't kidding.  You change and learn something new almost daily, certainly weekly, so that makes it feel even more as if time were racing past.  Somewhere around November, when you were 10 months old, I found myself exclaiming one day "where is the pause button??  I want to keep you just like this for just a little longer!!"  Each stage has brought new delight, new challenges, has endeared you a little more to my heart.  Here is your round up of milestones at your first birthday.

You aren't walking or talking yet, but you love standing and pull yourself up on anything and everything you can reach.  Your balance is improving more and more each day and you'll let go of whatever you're holding onto if you get distracted by something.  Once you realize you're standing alone you immediately sit down, but you're getting more and more steady!  You babble non stop!  If you're awake, you're talking!  Your favorite sound is a repetitive "ma ma ma mama" sound, although you haven't seemed to connect the sound with my name.  You love to clap your hands and wave your arms in a flapping fashion when you hear music or when you get excited.  It's pretty dang precious.  You eat anything and everything we put in front of you--and now that you're one we've introduced peanut butter (which you LOVE and are not allergic to!) and milk (which you don't seem to be such a huge fan of but it's only been two days...)

You are still not sleeping through the night, but you are getting longer and longer with your stretches of sleep.  If I let you cry it out more than I do I'm sure you'd be better at sleeping, but your screaming breaks my heart.  One of these days we'll get back to sleep training you now that all our crazy holiday travel is over!  You love your giraffe lovey that you snuggle with each night, and you love looking at your books (when you decide to sit still for a bit!), splashing in the bath tub, and shoes and socks.  You are obsessed with your shoes and socks.  You bring me pairs of socks when you find them and point to your feet as if you need to be wearing them even if you're already wearing a pair.  My money is on "shoes" being one of your first words.  You also love playing at My Gym, and you will climb anything you find. 

You are no longer afraid to be left in the church nursery--you love having a new room of toys to explore and you've figured out that Mommy will be back.  You've had several baby sitters this past month too and you've done well with them, even letting them put you to bed which is a huge step!

Aidan this year has flown by in so many ways.  Your daddy and I are crazy about you.  I don't think I have ever been so fascinated by anything in my life as I am with watching you learn and grow.  Watching you play with your hands, clapping them, folding them, waving them.  Watching you find your toes and your head and my belly button.  Seeing the delight in your eyes as we walk under a tree that is waving its branches in the wind.  Watching you "dance" to music you hear and with your buddy Ellen on TV each afternoon.  Seeing the wonder in your expression as you pass a puppy dog on the sidewalk.  The list goes on and on.  I'm astounded watching God's perfect little creation discover the world around him.  There are way too many precious moments to record or put into words, from family snuggle times, to reading stories, to traveling, tickling matches, your first Christmas, and your first birthday party.  We can't wait to see how you continue growing and learning, and we have a feeling you are going to keep us on our toes! We love you baby boy!!

The Sleep Saga

I have had several moms ask me this weekend what we were doing for sleep training with Aidan, and since one of the main things that led me try any sleep training at all was reading other friend's stories and seeing what they tried and what their kids "survived," I thought I'd share our story.  So first off, thank you friends who had posted your stories, in the midst of the first day of letting Aidan cry it out a bit I was sitting at the computer watching the clock, re-reading your stories for encouragement!! 

Sleep...that illusive thing that new parents crave and everyone wants to ask you about as if it's a badge of honor that your baby somehow sleeps through the night at 8 weeks verses other babies who still can't do that by age 1.  It's an extremely hotly debated topic online and in sleep books, and every pediatrician you ask has a different view.  No wonder parents are so confused--not only are there so many views, but poor parents have to wade through the information while sleep deprived and groggy! 

It hasn't been a secret, Aidan has been a terrible sleeper from day one.  I think part of that really is due to some early infant health issues that we didn't know about. He came home from the hospital tongue tied, which meant he wasn't able to suck properly so he was literally hungry all the time--but we didn't know this until week 4 of his little life.  We just thought he had colic or tummy troubles.  Once we solved that problem his sleep might have improved a little, but nothing drastic.  Over the spring, his sleep started to get worse again.  By May we were getting up almost every hour, and he was super restless, fussy, and screamed if he had to burp. Eventually we put all the pieces together that he had acid reflux, which of course was causing sleep issues!  Poor baby!  We got him on medication and that definitely helped with the fussing, screaming, burping and spitting up, but it only seemed to moderately help his sleep.  Honestly I think that's because by now he'd had 5 months of waking up almost every hour and was so used to having mom and dad put him back to sleep that he had no idea of how to get himself to sleep.  He is a big sucker...but will not take a pacifier or his thumb, which means he demands Mommy in order to get himself to sleep.  And Mommy gave in.  All night long.  Because that seemed easier than having a middle of the night battle with my 6 month old. 

Over the summer I did what I swore I would never do as a parent and let him start sleeping with me in our bed from whenever he woke up around midnight for the rest of the night.  Which means he could nurse and cat nap all night long and I no longer had to run back and forth to his room all night.  Finally I was feeling a little more rested (even though I was still waking up almost every hour!)  We did this for months.  Oh, and he never napped for longer than 30 minutes at a time.  Ever.  Unless he was really sick.  He was chronically tired, but I had no idea how to help him sleep longer or nap longer.  I read at least 4 sleep books, with very different views on sleep and found myself even more confused.  So I started talking to other moms I trusted to ask what they had done to help their little ones sleep better, and the overwhelming consensus, much to my dismay, was that they had let their babies learn how to cry it out.  I cannot even begin to tell you how much anxiety I had about this concept.  I fought it for months.  Nothing else was working though, I kept thinking he'd get better as he got older, but it had been 9 months and I was never able to leave him for more than about 2 hours because he'd be tired and need to go to sleep but wouldn't do that if I wasn't there.  So in the back of my mind I knew I'd eventually have to let this kid cry a little, the "gentler" methods weren't cutting it and I was exhausted and frustrated all the time. 

My mom was in town this past weekend and she had actually brought it up, saying she'd be there to help and for moral support, but that it might be time...poor Aidan needed more sleep for his little brain to develop (I think babies his age should be getting between 13 and 15 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period.  He was at about 10 of very choppy sleep).  I agreed it was time to do something.  There are a couple things I did in advance that really really helped both Aidan and I out in this process.  The biggest is that I actually seriously prayed about this.  I had so much anxiety, and I prayed for God's peace, for his grace, and for me to know with clarity whether or not this was going to be the right thing for my baby and our family.  I know that may sound silly but I had SO much peace all weekend and so much confidence that this was what Aidan needed, and God's grace was everywhere--from how easily Aidan picked up on putting himself to sleep, to having my mom here for moral support.  Another thing I did before hand is that back in July I started helping him get attached to two little blankie/loveys, knowing that at some point he'd have to learn how to soothe himself and would need something comforting.  Every time I nursed him I would hold them next to him, he'd hold on to them and I would place his head on them when he would fall asleep on my shoulder.  Giraffe and Taggie are now a big part of his putting himself to sleep, so I am really glad I started that attachment a few months in advance. 

We also invested in a video baby monitor when he was born, and while it's been helpful up until now, it has been my life line this weekend.  There is NO way I would have been able to do this without being able to see him on the video screen.  I could watch him and literally see he was okay.  He was actually laying down, or he was sucking on his taggie in between fusses.  There were a few times I was about to go in there based on his length of fussing, but when I looked at the monitor I could see that he was actually laying down, holding his giraffe, looking like he was trying so hard to get to sleep, and I knew that me going in there would have started the whole process all over again which is not what we wanted! 

So, with our video monitor in place and him sufficiently attached to his loveys and me sufficiently tired of our existing sleep routine (or non sleep routine), I was ready.  Our plan was to start at bedtime Thursday night, but Thursday afternoon I knew he was tired but wasn't falling asleep while nursing, so, I nursed him for awhile, gave him kisses, told him that Mommy loved him but that he needed to go night night and put him in his crib with his giraffe and his taggie. I walked out as the reality of what just happened to him hit him and a VERY angry scream ensued.  He was NOT a happy camper.  My plan was to go back in every 10 minutes to try and comfort him.  I know some people say "don't pick them up" but I wasn't going to be militant about any of the "don't ever do this..." rules.  So after 10 minutes I went in, picked him up, gave him a hug and tried to hush him a bit.  I told him it was still time to go to sleep and put him back in his crib.  More yelling.  I am actually convinced me going in there made it worse.  So I wasn't too excited about going back in unless it seemed like I really needed to.  After another 15 minutes or so I could still hear him fussing, but my mom said "no look at the monitor, he's doing okay, he's laying down, he's stopped standing up at the side of the crib, he's trying so hard to get to sleep!"  So I decided not to go back in and give him a few more minutes.  She told to me to go walk and get the mail and if he was still fussing when I got back I could go back in (I am SO glad I didn't do this first time by myself!)  I went to get our mail and when I got back he was softly whimpering but looked SO close to sleep that I chose to leave him be.  It took a total of 30 minutes from putting him down to him being asleep, and he only slept for 40 minutes, but he did it!  I was SO proud of him!!

Thursday night I was nursing him to help him relax when he threw up.  A lot.  All over me, the chair, the floor, himself....it was then bath time and needless to say our sleep training was on hold a bit.  He got sick again later in the night, but by Friday morning seemed better.  For both of his naps and bedtime Friday night I nursed him to help him relax and then put him in his bed still awake, with his loveys.  Every time I got the initial angry stand up and scream routine, but it never took him longer than 15 minutes to fall asleep, and he even broke an hour for some of his naps!  Friday night he slept for a few hours, woke up, ate, and then went back to sleep and slept from 1:30 AM until morning!  Saturday night he slept from 7 PM until 7:30 AM just waking up briefly about 10:15 (I didn't feed him, I just went in to hug him and tell him it was still time to sleep--it took him about 10 minutes or so to put himself back to sleep).  Sunday after church I stayed for a meeting and my mom brought him home to feed him lunch and put him down.  She said she tried rocking him for a minute with his loveys but he's never been one to sit still to rock.  So she put him in his crib, told him it was night night time and within 4 minutes he was sound asleep.  He only slept for 30 minutes but he went to bed without mommy! 

Are we sleeping perfectly?  Of course not.  But compared to where we were a week ago (geting up every hour to hour and a half!) he has grown a TON!  Last night he did an 8 hour stretch until 3 AM and then I fed him and he went back to sleep again til morning.  I'm not being militant about any "system" or theory.  I'm not opposed to feeding him once in the night, he is a SUPER active boy who I know burns a ton of calories, and if it seems like he's hungry I don't mind feeding him once, but then he needs to go back to sleep, in his own crib.  Monday he took a 2 hour nap and then an hour and a 1/2 one, but the last 2 days they have been back to 30-40 minutes.  I've left him in there for about 15 minutes after he wakes up to see what he'll do, and today it looked like he was trying SO hard to go back to sleep, but he kept screaming so I finally went in to find a dirty diaper.  Of course, that would have to derail nap time training!  But I've been so thankful for my friend Jean's philosophy that she shared with me months ago....don't stress.  You can always try again at the next nap.  It's a process, and it's going to take awhile. 

Here are a couple last tips or thoughts if you're reading this and thinking about some type of sleep training that I've had over the last 9 months.

• First, if you at all suspect there might be a legitimate medical reason your baby isn't sleeping well, please take care of that first!  Reflux, teething, tummy trouble, being hungry, etc all impact sleep and  some may need some doctor's help before any type of sleep training will be successful.  
• Second, trust your gut as a mom or dad!  You know your little one way better than any sleep experts, so if a particular method doesn't feel right to you, it's okay to not do it just because you read it in some book!  I was SO against crying it out, I thought I could never do it to my baby, until one day I was more okay with it, but I waited until he was 9 months old and I had tried many other things.  And now I'm actually okay with letting him cry because I know he is so capable of putting himself to sleep and for some miraculous reason it is actually working to help him sleep longer.  A lot longer.  
• There is no one way to help your baby sleep.  This worked for us, but there are so many other methods that do work for other babies, just not for our little guy.  

There you have it...that's been our process and story of sleep for the past year.  Obviously it's going to continue to evolve and change as teething happens and growing happens, but that's to be expected.  I'm just so excited I can sleep for a little while, what a gift!!

Aidan's (and Mommy's!) Favorite Baby Items Part II (6-8 months old)

I had a lot of fun putting together my first list of Aidan's and Mommy's favorite baby items when he was 4 months old, and now that his tastes have, shall we say, matured, I thought I'd come up with another list of our favorite baby items for 6-8 month old babies.  So, without further ado, here's what we are loving in our house these days!

Sophie the Giraffe: It's true, this really is one of the most perfect baby toys that has ever been created.  I was skeptical of all the hype--what in the world could possibly be so great about this silly giraffe that they need to charge $18 for her!?  For the first few months of his life, he could have cared less about this long legged friend.  Then the teething started.  Oh my word, he used Sophie non stop.  She's amazing, her legs are the perfect size for little hands to hold and are the perfect size for reaching the various sore parts of baby's mouth--teething rings didn't hold a candle to our friend Sophie.

Mesh Teething Bag:  Whoever invented this thing was a genius.  Such a simple concept--help babies teethe and introduce certain fruits without any fear of choking.  Fill the bag with whatever you happen to have on hand and let the little one chew away to his heart's desire.  We started with watermelon chunks which were awesome because he was able to get so much juice out of the melon, and it was cold.  We've done plain ice cubes, frozen strawberries, frozen banana pieces, and pieces of peaches.  Definitely a great invention!

Rattle Balls:  I admit, I am super entertained by these!  I bought this set of 5 balls last week and he's had a great time crawling around after them.  They are the perfect size for little hands, although he desperately wants to chew on them and can't get them into his mouth very well (obviously a good thing from my perspective!)  Each ball is different, and I think he's kind of interested both by the fact that it rolls and by what is happening inside.  Bonus, these kept Aidan's daddy's quite entertained on our last airport layover as well!

Taggie Blanket:  We got this from my parents for Christmas before Aidan was even born, and I was a little disappointed when he didn't show any interest in this thing for the longest time--because I think it's super cool!  In the last month or so though this blanket has become fascinating to him.  I now make sure this is in his crib when he goes to sleep and when he wakes up he'll lay there playing with this for quite awhile.  He loves feeling the different tags on the blanket and chewing on them, and I love that it's small enough and easy enough to take with me in the diaper bag when we're out and about.

Top 100 Baby Purees:  This baby cookbook is fantastic!  It walks you through how to start solids, what to start with, and how to prepare just about any vegetable or fruit you'd want to.  Plus it provides 100 "recipes" for great purees for baby--combinations I'd never think of that are truly delicious.  Last night I made him a puree of a cooked sweet potato, peas, and cooked spinach.  It was so yummy I would have served it as a side dish for dinner if I had had more!  Making baby food isn't hard, and it's been fun thinking of new foods to introduce him to--this book has been super helpful in that process.

Beco Baby Carrier:  Oh my word this has been a lifesaver.  This is one of the absolute surefire ways to calm him down if fussing is happening, and it's the only way he'll go to sleep other than nursing.  Aidan LOVES this thing.  I use it in stores, on walks, and all over the apartment complex.  He rides in this every day to go check the mail, and "helps" me do lots of loads of laundry in this (since I have to go to a laundry room I have to take him with me--and need my hands for the laundry obviously!)  He can ride on my front either facing out or facing me (which I only do to him if he's needing to go to sleep), and this carrier also lets you carry baby on your hip or back which I haven't tried yet but my sister has and said it works great.  Definitely a great carrier if you're in the market for one!

Homemade Fun for the Little One!

Have I mentioned before how much I love Pinterest?  Because I really really do.  Ask any stay at home parent and they will say that at some point, the days get long.  We have a basket of toys for Aidan to play with, stuffed animals to wrestle, books to look at, but somehow he still seems to get bored.  I don't really want to go buy a lot of new toys all the time--we don't have space for them, and he'll outgrow them relatively quickly.  Plus, so many toys out there are full of flashing lights and sounds, which aren't always bad, but I want him to get used to playing with things that he can interact with more, that don't just flash at him.  I was reminded this week of a MOPS speaker we had this past year who spoke on the importance of play, and how play is the primary means through which children learn.  She stressed that play does NOT need to involve fancy toys or expensive items, but rather can involve the most average every day house hold items and a little imagination.  She made us practice playing with empty yogurt containers (you can build very cool things with them!), tops of snapple bottles, piles of yarn and fabric scraps (the textures are awesome!), blocks, dice, styrofoam packing peanuts, empty water bottles, etc.  The skies the limit, really!  My little one still puts everything in his mouth, so I needed to come up with some things for him to play with that wouldn't hurt him--obviously he's too young for the pile of buttons or dice!  Thanks to Pinterest and a friend of mine (Pediatric Occupational Therapist Christie, of the fantastic blog MamaOT--check it out if you haven't, she has amazing tips and ideas!) I came up with some fun new things for Aidan that didn't cost much at all, and will help expose him to new textures and senses.  

The first thing I made were some sensory bags.  I got this idea from the blog Growing a Jeweled Rose's post on sensory play ideas for babies which has amazing ideas on it.  I went to the 99 cent store and bought 4 bottles of various substances that are cool textures--two bottles of hair gel, a bottle of blue body wash, and a can of shaving cream.  

I also wandered their toy aisle and the clearance bins that Target has at the front of their stores and came up with objects that would look cool and have different textures--my favorite are the beaded necklaces. 

Grab some ziplock bags--I used the freezer ones because they seem to be a bit thicker.

Prop the bag inside something so it doesn't tip over and spill while you're trying to fill it

Add a bottle of the squishy stuff and whatever objects you want--this one is my favorite, the magnetic numbers floating in blue body wash.  

I double bagged mine so little teeth won't puncture holes in them, and reinforced the top with tape.  From there, just squish and play!  The texture is very fun, and when he's older he can have fun searching for certain numbers or objects as they move around the bag.  The soap worked the best, I do have to say I wouldn't use hair gel again.  It's not as moveable, but the soap is awesome and even creates bubbles as you squish the bags.  Aidan isn't quite sure what to do with the bags yet, but I think he'll eventually have fun with them

I love the feel of the beads--but like I said, I wouldn't put them in hair gel again, I'd do body wash or other soap.  With the shaving cream I didn't put any objects in the bag, just a bag of shaving cream to squish around, I love it--it's very entertaining for me at least!

Another new toy I brought out is one I actually made before he was born and it's been hanging on his wall since then.  He just started noticing it a couple weeks ago, so I took it off the wall and let him explore.  I found this photo display chain at Ikea for $2.00--5 squares of plastic that let you put photos in them (double sided) connected with wire to make a long chain.  I laid it on the floor and he has a great time turning the squares over, chewing on them, and looking at the faces of his family members I've put in them.  Super easy and I love that he's being exposed to the faces of people who love him even if they are far away.

My other toy I created yesterday were a bunch of sensory bottles.  I bought the small water bottles, and went through Michaels and picked out about 5 different things that would be fun in water.  So I found little puffy pom poms that look cool, different beads, googly eyes, and sequins.  I put one of these objects into each bottle and glued the tops shut so he can't eventually figure out how to get them open.  They are very fun--the objects spin and float in the water as you shake or roll the bottles--definitely an easy way to keep him entertained for a bit!

My last invention (not that original I will admit) is to use the same little water bottles and fill 3 of them with colored rice.  I dyed the rice yesterday (just add several drops of food coloring to a plastic bag with about a cup of white rice and mix--then spread on a plate to let it dry a bit before putting it inside the bottles).  These are his favorite toys so far--he definitely likes the way the rice shakes and rattles inside the bottles!

There you have it, super easy ways to entertain a little one using objects you can find right in your own cupboards!

7 Months and Moving Like Crazy!

Clearly life has gotten even busier with you, little one, since this post has taken me awhile to finish!  Or could it be that YOU have gotten even busier and it takes all my energy and attention to keep you from doing something crazy!  I think we're going to have to start calling you Curious George or Little Monkey because you are all over the place and in to everything!!  That's right, this is the month you figured out how to move!  You're not that coordinated at it yet, you kind of push and flop and wiggle your way from point A to point B but you can move fairly quickly and go after whatever it is that has caught your eye.  Which means Mommy and Daddy are in trouble!

Your 7th month has been one of lots of travel--lucky boy!  You spent 3 weeks in July in Minneapolis at your Grandma and Papa's house while Daddy was at summer camps and you had a blast there.  You learned how to sit up and you got your first two teeth (you now have three--two on the bottom and one on the top).  You started pushing yourself around a little bit, but I'm not sure you really realized you were moving.  They had so much fun watching you grow--you have such an incredible smile that you are generally pretty quick to share with people, and your little giggle just melts the heart of anyone who hears it.  

  You also have figured out how much you love food--almost everything we've put in your mouth you have devoured.  (This is you after sharing a smoothie with Grandma....you LOVED it and yelled and yelled at her when the cup was empty--so she had to give you more of hers!)  Just in the last week or so you've gotten pretty good at the concept of chewing a little so we've been letting you practice with puffs that dissolve really easily in your mouth.  You haven't figured out how to grab them with your fingers--well you grab them but they haven't ever ended up in your mouth.  Mommy is constantly finding soggy puffs on the floor, in your clothes, and in the booster seat!  You also like drinking out of a big boy cup--although you haven't figured out how to suck anything out of a sippy cup.  We have to take the lid off to give you drinks which usually makes a royal mess but you are so happy and so proud of yourself for eating and drinking like a big person!

In August we were home for about a week and then flew back to South Carolina to visit your daddy's side of the family.  Everyone was there which was so fun for you--you LOVED playing with your cousins especially!  Jane is not that much older than you, so she was showing you the ropes--she taught you how to pull wipes out of the wipe package, which you thought was a great game.  You also got to spend time with your Auntie Carroll and your grandmama and granddaddy who were so good with you!  You were busy getting your 3rd tooth while we were there so there were lots of times you were just fussy, but no one could blame you, we could tell how much your mouth hurt!

You have embraced life pretty fully, Aidan.  You don't seem too afraid of trying new things--new textures, food, exploring a new environment etc.  You love the water and sand which makes your daddy very happy!  You are starting to get to the stage of being a bit wary of strangers--especially if Mommy leaves.  You usually do pretty well in the church nursery until you really realize I'm gone, then it's a bit sad for you.  You LOVE being outside--we can always count on that to calm you down if you're fussy.  You are turning into a very observant little one--always just watching, sometimes rather seriously, what is going on around you.  You love seeing dogs walk by us on the street, you love watching leaves on the trees wave at you in the wind, you have even locked onto some butterflies and squirrels and are so curious as to what those things are.  It is amazing watching you experience the world around you, many things for the first time, and to realize how much learning and growing there is to do as a baby.

Your smile makes our day little boy, we are so so grateful God has given us the privilege of being your parents.  Even when you frustrate me and fuss at me, you inevitably will give me that smile, and all of a sudden it's all okay.  It melts me every time.  We adore you little one, I hope you never ever forget that.  Happy 7 months sweet boy!

Six Months!

It really is amazing to me how time flies.  It seems like just yesterday that you were born little one, but in other ways it seems like I can't imagine life without you and that you've been part of our family forever!  It's been an incredible 1/2 of year already with you--you amaze me more and more each day with your learning and growing.  Being able to watch the development of a little person this closely has me in awe--there is a LOT of learning to do in this first year!  You have come SO far in only 6 months!   We haven't had your 6 month doctor's appointment yet, but we're guessing you're right around 17 pounds and gaining weight every day as you experience more and more food in your life!  Although you move SO much that you burn a ton of calories--so you're definitely not all that pudgy!

Probably the biggest highlight of your last month was your baptism weekend!  You were baptized on Father's Day at First Presbyterian Church of Granada Hills.  Our pastor and good friend Jim Sillerud had the honor of marking you with the sign and seal of God's covenant while 20 of your family members and a whole community of people watched.  It was a very special moment, hearing the congregation make vows on your behalf to teach you about Jesus and to help us raise you to love God. We love that this is a congregation we get to be part of for awhile, because it's an amazing community of people who have demonstrated that they love you a lot!

After the baptism we had a lunch in your honor (which you partly slept through) where we played a special song for everyone.  Rich Mullins wrote a recorded a song a long time ago called Let Mercy Lead, and it was written for his godson Aidan.  It starts with your name--"Aidan you're young, but Aidan you're growing fast..." and Mommy has loved this song for a long time.  When I realized we were going to name you Aidan I started playing this song for you when you were still in my tummy.  The words of the chorus have become my prayer for you as you grow in this life--so we gave everyone a copy of the lyrics and asked them to join us in praying this for you as you grow.  Here are the words we sang as a blessing over you that day: 

Let mercy lead 

Let love be the strength in your legs 

And in every footprint that you leave 

There'll be a drop of grace 

If we can reach 

Beyond the wisdom of this age 

Into the foolishness of God 

That foolishness will save 

Those who believe 

Although their foolish hearts may break 

They will find peace 

And I'll meet you in that place 

Where mercy leads

It was so fun to have all your family here!  You were the center of attention and people had fun passing you around and helping entertain you.  You got to play with your cousins and be loved on by lots of grandparents--you are such a lucky little boy!  You did great with all the activity and with us messing up your bedtimes and naps, which Mommy was grateful for!  

We have discovered you love the water--you just splash and kick and are so mellow and happy when we put you in water, which we love.  When your cousins were here everyone had a great time swimming together--your cousin Diana was SO good with you and had so much fun helping both you and Miss Brooke swim in our apartment wading pool.  

You have swam at a few parties and bbq's and now that we're at Grandma and Papa's house, they got a wading pool for you for the backyard so you're enjoying getting in that and splashing.  You also had a great time at the lake by their house, trying to eat the sand, watching the little waves, and splashing your toes in the sand and water.  You are adorable and I love watching you experience all these new textures and sensations and activities in life!

You have dove head first into the world of food this month too!  You have loved everything we've given you--which I am so grateful for!  You especially love watermelon, yogurt, apple juice, and carrots but you've tried all kinds of things: carrots, peas, peaches, pears, apples, avocado, sweet potato, even Papa's lemonade and Mommy's dessert the other night--a lemon curd raspberry pie!  (You were a little angry when we stopped letting you lick the spoon on that one!)  We got you a mesh teething bag and can put watermelon or other fruit in there and let you suck on it and chew on it to get the juice without worrying about you choking on something.  We've also put ice cubes in it to help you with your teething which you seem to have fun with.  Yesterday Grandma was feeding you some yogurt and you ended up eating an entire carton of it--you were so mad when she wasn't feeding you fast enough!  

Something else fun with food that you've experienced this past week is playing with it!  Grandma and Papa reminded me how important it is for you to use your hands and get messy to learn about food and feeding yourself--so they've been putting dollops of whatever you're being spoon fed on your high chair tray and letting you make a mess with it--so you've been finger painting with yogurt and avocado this week and trying out your pinching motion with your puffs--trying to get them in your hands and then into your mouth.  It's a messy process but you're having so much fun and Grandma and Papa keep reminding me that messes are okay and that's how you are going to learn!  Thank goodness for grandparents to help Mommy learn some of these things!

Books have started to get fun for you too--you won't sit still through a long book, but you like turning pages, chewing on them, looking at their pictures and having someone point things out to you.  Grandma read you a book about animals the other day and made all the animal sounds and you thought that was the funniest thing!  She swears you were trying to mimic the goat sound!  You like the bright colors of your truck book too!

We went on some fun outings with you too this past month!  Santa Monica with both your Aunts and all your cousins, San Clemente to visit mommy's friends (although you kind of had the flu that day and didn't have too much fun on that trip), the Ronald Reagan Library, and Pasadena for two parties and a dinner out.  You love being carried in my Beco carrier and are happy as a clam to look around and take in your surroundings from that view point.  

On the 4th of July I was letting you taste watermelon for the first time by sucking tiny bits off my finger when I felt a little tooth poking through!  I had no idea you were getting a tooth but that would explain all the restless sleep we'd been experiencing!  You now have TWO teeth that have popped through in the last 10 days--your bottom front teeth, which must have been painful!  But you were a trooper, and now I know better what to look for and when to break out the baby advil and teething tablets.  

Aidan, it has been a huge month for you!  Other highlights include learning how to sit (well starting to learn!), and transitioning from sleeping in your swaddled woombie to sleeping with no swaddle!  You are such a big boy--now you sleep in normal jammies on your tummy and you seem to be more comfortable.  I am SO proud of you and grateful this transition has been made!  You are such a delight to your Mommy and Daddy.  You crack us up, you literally NEVER stop moving and are the busiest baby your grandma has ever seen.  Last night she was giving you a bath and you were all over the place--trying to poke your fingers into the holes where the jets come out, grabbing for the faucet, trying to roll over--you were not content to just sit and splash--you had a new world to experience!  You are SO busy and so curious about everything all the time.  You are free with your smiles and have started giggling so much more--a sound that truly melts my heart.  We love you baby boy!  We are so so proud of you and all that you have learned in the past month!