belly laughing

I'm behind on blog posts. Again.

But I'm hoping this gem will make it up to you.

Backstory:
Aaron has a great sense of humor. Each day, something new will strike him as funny and we all enjoy listening to his joy and laughter.
Lately, he finds it particularly hilarious when something falls to the floor. He has spent many an enjoyable afternoon pulling himself up on the couch and knocking his toys to the floor, just to hear them clatter on the ground. Equally enjoyable, although less so for me, is the sound that most utensils, cups and plates make as they fall from his highchair to the floor. Don't drop anything around this kid without expecting to hear peals of laughter.

Now, to the video - At the end of lunch today, I accidentally dropped his fork and predictably, he busted up laughing. As a proud mama, I find him too adorable to keep all to myself. So I ran to get the camera.



I'm only mildly concerned that continually dropping things to get a laugh from him is doing harm in my quest to encourage good table manners. I say only mildly concerned because personally, I prefer good times to good manners. My mom can confirm that for you - after a lifelong battle to instill good manners in me has been deemed a failure, despite her repeated threats of charm school.

But seriously though...I cannot resist this kid. Did you see the part where his eyebrows goes up in the middle? If that's not unrestrained laughter, I don't know what is. I love this kid!!

ten months and four days

Busy, busy, busy.

That's how things have been and that's what Aaron is all day.

We've been thoroughly enjoying our summer - playing in the baby turtle pool in the backyard, playing in the sunshine, going on long walks (to Starbucks), visiting friends and taking trips to fun places.

In the midst of all of that, Aaron is now an official mover and shaker. He is a professional crawler (forward, backward, sideways, anyway) and is progressing to pulling himself up to standing on anything he can get his grubby little hands on. He's got places to be and people to see.

Here is is being caught red handed in the book basket.

You might be wondering why the book basket is "No Touch".
Here's why:

The kid chews on anything and everything. Like taking-chunks-and-leaving-teeth-prints chewing on things.
You can't convince me that tastes good.

After a few days of chasing Aaron away from everything that is "No Touch", Isaac built a little baby cage on the sun porch. At least there, Aaron has some freedom to move around, albeit a small one. Since we aren't in our own house, it was a little tough to babyproof but we made the best of the situation.
It might not be ideal but baby prison seems like the best solution for my mom's furniture and Aaron's digestive tract.
He's got a pretty sweet set up in there, with his music table and a bunch of toys, plus two padded walls and a padded floor. And a sweet view of the backyard.
But still, it's a baby cage. Sorry bub.
Side note: I did not pose this. It will never be said that this child lacks a flair for the dramatic.
Planning his escape. And standing up (eek!)
Seriously, although it looks like he wants out, he doesn't really mind too much.

He will play there for good long stretches of time, which I am so grateful for! Every day that I put him in there and he doesn't complain feels like a little victory, since it's clear he is rapidly realizing that independence is a very beautiful thing. There have been just a few glimpses into the terrible twos that have left me quaking in my boots. I am very aware that my life is teetering on the brink of insanity. All of you parents can stop laughing at me now.

Some of his other "new tricks" are also evident in this video, which highlights his proficient crawling.



First trick - he is starting to really understand what we say to him. And not only does he understand, but then he responds! Well, most of the time he responds. Sometimes he pretends like he doesn't know we are talking to him. He looks around like, "Who is this Aaron kid?" Or he just ignores me entirely. Like I said, glimpses into the future, right? But, I have to say, it is such an amazing thing to see this development. He is learning and we are interacting and it's the coolest thing ever. At least, that's what I'm telling myself when I'm saying "no touch" for the 54th time by 10am. Again, stop laughing at me. I'm new to this ballgame.

Another new trick is clapping. Ever since he started, he hasn't stopped. We clap when we sit, we clap when we stand (which occasionally causes tumbles), we clap when we eat and we clap when we get dressed. If you need some encouragement, I suggest you come on by. Aaron will give you the hardy round of applause that you deserve.

But that's not all, the clapping is usually accompanied by...

"YAY!!!!!"

Which, I am officially recording as his first word. He uses it in context, which I think makes it count. And I'm the boss of his baby book, so it's a done deal.

What else is Aaron up to?

Well, he has graduated to mostly finger food and table food. I don't think anyone is surprised, but he LOVES garlicky food. Garlic hummus, guacamole, garlic mashed potatoes. Anything garlic and he's THERE. I can't say there are very many things he doesn't like to eat - garlic or no - but I am giving fair warning not to get between this kid and his guacamole.

He loves to eat and we've got the stats to prove it. At his 9 month visit, Aaron was 20 lbs 7 oz and 29.75 inches long. Although we get many comments to the contrary, he's actually only in the 50% for his weight. He is in the 75% for both his height and his head circumference. You can keep your Charlie Brown reference to yourself - trust me, we've heard them all already. Let's hope he grows into that bad boy.

Here is some gratuitous nudity to give you full measure of his adorable chubbiness. This picture was taken four weeks after his doctors appointment, by which he had gained another 2 pounds. Apparently, guacamole and hummus is the diet of champions.

What? You don't bathe in your pool? All the cool kids are doing it.


Speaking of the pool...it's one of our favorite places to be lately. Aaron loves being outside and playing in the water.

Me, I love this face.
Aaron has a firm "No splashing" rule in his pool but the cuteness of the face makes me keep splashing him. It's a vicious, but adorable cycle. He also makes this face when I blow bubbles at him. How can you resist that?

I honestly cannot get enough of that face.


I will leave you with that face for now.
But we'll be back soon to post the pictures of how much he really enjoys the pool when his mean parents aren't splashing him, as well as pictures from our day at the zoo. Gotta go now though, it's pool time!