aaron eats...a lot

Without further ado, this is Aaron eating.

We started with rice cereal, per the doctor's instructions.

Here he is, very excited that he's finally going to get to eat in his big boy highchair. He had been sitting in his highchair while we ate dinner for a few weeks and I'm pretty sure he knew his time was coming.
I guess he was expecting something a little more tasty.

Seriously?
He seemed really confused by why we eat so often if it tastes so bad. And I don't blame him. I tasted it. It tastes like paste. At least I feel pretty confident that my kid won't be the one eating paste in kindergarten.
Oh wait, no, he's having a moment of enjoyment. Maybe the paste is growing on him.
As it turns out...nope. Still icky and a big disappointment.
One last quick photo before this eating session descended into tears.
And here's some video, to see the man in action. My favorite part of this one is when he accidentally gets the cereal in his mouth. Don't be fooled, he's not choking. The shudder-and-gag response is his way of telling us it tastes icky. And yet, he always opens his mouth for more. Go figure.


This next video is when Aaron tells us what he really thinks about rice cereal. Listen carefully.


And finally, some more rice cereal. But it's the perfect segue into the next set of food pictures.



Next? Next?...next was avocados. I read somewhere that avocados are a perfect first baby food. They are soft, have a mellow flavor and full of healthy fats for brain development. So we gave them a shot. Aaron seemed to like them, but we found out later that he has a BIG difference between his liking a food and loving a food.

He looks a little wary here, since he'd had two straight weeks of gagging down rice and oatmeal cereal.

"Uh, Dad, I don't know if you noticed, but that food is GREEN...Mom, are you seeing this?"

I cut him some slack since I think I made the same face when I first tried avocado outside of guacamole. That stuff is kinda slimy.

I think he was looking for some kind of affirmation that he was, indeed, supposed to chew and swallow this stuff.

But, hey, once you get it off your lip and down the hatch, it's not so bad.


In fact, it's quite good!
"Keep it comin!"

Some video of the avocado as well. Again, it looks like he doesn't like it...you know, the gagging and shuddering were our first clues too. But we've found that is how he always responds to a food the first time he tries it. Weird kid.


And, no, he still hasn't tried garlic. I'm not sure how much longer I can hold Isaac off of that one though.

Finally, this is how tired babies eat. Poor guy.




So that's the photojournalistic view of Aaron's first bites of food. Since then he's tried many other foods like sweet potatoes, bananas, peas, carrots, apples, and green beans.

His favorites are sweet potatoes, bananas, carrots and apples. We can tell they are his favorites because as soon as he swallows a bite, he opens his mouth as wide as it will possibly go to get the next bite. He also occasionally will rock with anticipation when he sees these foods coming. Nowadays, he eats an entire banana plus a quarter cup of baby oatmeal for breakfast every morning. Like I said, the kid likes to eat.

There are a few things we've found he doesn't like so much. He hated peas the first time he tried it. We're not talking a few gags or shudders, we're talking full blown crying when I tried to put a bite in his mouth. As it turns out, it was more of a commentary on my cooking skills than the actual peas, because Isaac prepared and served the peas the next day and he gobbled them up. On the third day, it was my peas again and he passed them up. Quite frankly, I think he's a bit young to critique my cooking, but I can't blame the kid. I prefer Isaac's food too.

He liked green beans okay, but he started getting a bit of a rash around his mouth so the green beans have to be postponed for a bit. He has his six month well visit next week so hopefully we'll get cleared to try a few more green veggies since he seems to prefer the orange so far. But up next is squash, which will probably be a big hit.

We will find out how much our champion eater weighs next week at his six month visit. I'm going to open up the betting now. Just for reference, he was 15 lbs 10 oz at 4 months. Good luck! (Oh and the prize is a candy bar. I just remembered that I never gave Trice hers from the 4 month pool. Uh, Trice, it's in the mail.)

My bet is 18 lbs 6 oz....what's yours?

happy 1/2 birthday baby boy!

Today is Aaron's 6 month birthday. I cannot believe my baby is 6 months old! When did this happen?

We got about 10 inches of snow here last night, so Isaac got the day off of work. My aunt Shelley was in town for Trice's baby shower and got snowed in, so we all got to spend the day together. We ate good food, drank hot chocolate and enjoyed the "extra" day.

All in all, it was a great way to spend a half birthday.

I can't really remember what life was like only six months ago...
but I know it wasn't this sweet.

big video post

Here it is! A compilation of videos featuring Aaron's new (although now they are somewhat old) tricks. Most of these videos are from the very beginning of January and as I've been watching them now, I'm amazed at how quickly he's grown and developed. I'm going to have to take some comparison videos over the next few days to show you all how different he is now! Ah, the blogger's work is never done.

This first video is Aaron rolling over. You have to be patient and sit through the whole video, because back in the day (you know, six weeks ago) Aaron was a very slow roller. And a somewhat expressive roller, as you'll see in the video. Or hear rather. He grunted his way over onto his back on those first few tries.


(Please excuse the commentary in the background. Especially the loud laughter...although, if you can decipher through the noise what Isaac said, you might laugh too. Silly Daddy.)

Nowadays, Aaron rolls over like it's the easiest thing in the world! Sometimes he still likes to grunt, but I think that comes more from his sense of drama than from any real work at this point. He still won't roll from his back to his belly. I've seen him roll to his side once or twice when he's reaching for a toy, but I don't think he quite sees the value in it yet.

He likes spending time on his tummy more now and every once in a while I catch him scootching his bottom up, like he's thinking about crawling. I have to resist the temptation to push his bum back down...I'm not ready for a crawling baby!


Here is Aaron in his Bumbo playing. Well, kind of playing. More like chewing on his hands, while toys surround him.


He is getting a lot better at that now - especially picking his toys up. He completely surprised me the other day by just reaching down and picking up his toy on the first try. It used to take quite a few attempts before he had success. Yay Aaron!


He still loves to play in his jungle play mat. I was attempting to get a video of him talking to his animals, but he knew the camera was there, so he was being quiet. Instead, I got a video of his sweet smile. It melts my heart.


Don't worry, the talking videos are coming up in the next post. He talked all the way through his first tries at solid food. These days, it's hard to get him to stop talking. And he sings. It's quite good. If you are into shouting, which I guess I should be.

And finally, sitting up. Aaron was rocking the tripod sitting up around Christmas.

But he still was a not so good sitter upper while we were taking these videos in mid-January.


As you can see, that version of sitting up is kinda lame. But apparently, he was taking notes because now he can sit up unassisted! And for good stretches of time too. He still takes quite a few tumbles, but he loves to sit up and play. The best part is watching the look of surprise on his face when he manages to get from sitting up to lying on his tummy by himself.


I can't believe how fast my baby is growing! He is so interactive and playful these days. I will definitely work on taking more video over the next week so I can show you how much he's changed. Here are some new things about him to tide you over.

-He laughs hysterically when I whistle. Especially if I whistle Row, Row, Row Your Boat or I'm a Little Teapot.

-The song version (complete with dance moves) to I'm a Little Teapot also induces hysterical laughter.

-He talks, almost in conversation, to anyone and everyone. Especially if he is annoyed about something. He likes to voice his opinions. I think he gets that from Isaac.

-He loves to be silly, which is great, because that is a strength of mine.

-He rolls over, sits up and plays with his toys like a champ.

-He can throw his pacifier long distances. Yesterday, he launched it out of his crib and it hit the opposite wall in his room. I think his proficiency was fueled by his intense desire to be done with his naptime.

-And, his biggest accomplishment to date is...
he LOVES to eat. So stay tuned. Video of his eating is soon to follow!

And lastly...just so you know, my baby is turning six months old on Monday. Can you believe it? I cannot.

valentine's day

Please pardon the interruption to the promised posts...

In an effort not to get too behind, (reference: the Christmas post in February) I am going to post quickly about our Valentine's Day.

Isaac planned a great day for us as a family on Valentine's Day. He made me Belgian waffles for breakfast, with strawberries and whipped cream. What a guy! Then he took us to Longwood Gardens to walk around and see the flowers. It was a great idea - Isaac and I enjoyed thinking about spring and Aaron had a blast looking at all of the pretty colors. Of course, he would have enjoyed it more if he could have eaten all of the pretty flowers, but I don't think the Longwood gardeners would have been too happy about that.

Strolling in the atrium.

I couldn't help but think how much my dad would have loved it. This one is for him.

Aaron wasn't too sure at first.

He's pretty expressive. Can you tell what he's thinking? I think he's saying, are you for real?

He eventually came around. (And doesn't he look like such a little boy here? Eek! I chant in his ear while he sleeps, "Stay a baby, stay a baby!")

The fountains were a big hit.

Joyful, joyful, we adore thee.

He really wanted to taste all of the flowers.

He looks a bit sheepish that we caught him in the act.

We almost didn't catch this one in time. Tricksy baby.

The happy family back at home.

We had a great day!
Lots of love to all of our valentines out there.

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christmas and chapel hill

This is a catch up post, so please try to pretend that you aren't reading about Christmas in February. I'm going to make it mostly photojournalistic - 1) because most people would rather see photos of Aaron than read my thoughts and 2) because I can't really remember a whole lot of details by this point.

Aaron's first Christmas was delightful. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in PA with my family, then we traveled down to Chapel Hill, NC to visit Isaac's family for a week. It was a great holiday and we loved spending so much time with our families.

This is Christmas morning at my mom's house. I call this one - Why Am I Up So Early?

Of course, he got more presents than anyone else. As you can see from the photo, he was thrilled.

So thrilled, in fact, he fell asleep amidst all of the wrapping paper. Oh well, there's always next year.

On Christmas Day, Aaron got to hang out with my grandfather, Gpop. He's a pretty cool guy and a really big fan of Aaron. We love him a lot.


Then we traveled to North Carolina where Aaron met a lot of new family, including his great grandmother.

Aaron wore his moose outfit this day especially for Grandma. Grandma and DeeDee are Aaron's moose suppliers, which we love.


Hanging out with the family.
Aaron and DeeDee


Aaron and Uncle Matthew

Aaron and Aunt Sarah

Aaron and Uncle David

Aaron's aunt and uncles all thought he was pretty cool.
The feeling was mutual. Aaron is a lucky guy.
Hanging out with Daddy.


Note: We didn't do such a great job of taking a lot of photos in North Carolina, so many of these pictures are "borrowed" from Grandma, who does a much better job of picture taking. Thanks Grandma!

Next up...video of Aaron's new tricks, plus his first solid foods.

four months...plus some

Eek.  It's been way too long since our last blog post.  Aaron is practically a different kid since I posted last month!  Although, much to our dismay, that seems to be the case from day to day.  He is learning and changing so much these days, it's hard to keep up!

Since our last post, Aaron has been working hard on some new skills - mainly rolling over, sitting up, babbling and drooling.  Lots and lots of drooling.  That's his favorite.

He started rolling from tummy to back right after the holidays but it's not a regular occurance yet.  We've noticed that he's not a terribly picky kid, so he doesn't have a lot of determination to get off of his stomach, unless the mood strikes him.  But when it does, watch out!  He's a rolling fool!  We captured some of his rolling on video, which we'll post in the next few days.  (We gotta keep our avid readers coming back for more!)

Sitting up is more of a work in progress.  Aaron can sit up, tripod style, on his own.  Again, it's whether he chooses to or not.  Sometimes, it seems like it's too much work to sit up unassisted, so he just lays his head down...on his own feet.  He'll stay that way, without complaint, until I move him.  I felt bad at first, but then, one day, I realized that he knows how to lift himself back up, which he does when he wants to.  So basically, he's just kinda lazy and he doesn't always feel the need to hold his own head up.  Hey, whatever floats his boat!  We also have a cute video of his sitting up which we'll post in the big video post to come.  (Also more encouragement to keep your eyes focused on our blog!)

Aaron has also started talking up a storm.  He usually wakes up from his naps ready to tell me all about his dreams.  His babbling doesn't sound like traditional baby cooing.  He prefers to shout or kind of moan.  It's not sad or angry, it's just his preferred mode of communication.  We've noticed some other tendencies towards the dramatic, so I'm guessing this goes along with that as well.  I'll try to catch him chatting on video before the big video post.

And the drooling...it's constant and plentiful.  At his four month well visit (more on that later), the doctor said she saw some bumps that could be possible emerging teeth.  We are blaming that for his copious amounts of drool, but quite frankly, it also has a lot to do with his obsession with his hands.  Aaron's hands are his favorite toy, by far.  He can play for hours with his hands alone.  In fact, I often find him sitting in his bumbo, with all of his toys fallen off the tray, but completely content, because he has his hands to chew on.  And boy, does he chew on them.  He can really chow down.  Truth be told, I'm surprised he still has all 10 fingers.  When he catches a hold of my finger to gnaw on, it kinda of hurts.  The kid has quite a bite.  Don't worry, I'll keep you posted on the finger count after those pesky teeth finally arrive.

Aaron also had his four month well visit this past month.  He clocked in at a whopping 15 lbs 7 oz and 25.5 inches long.  Actually, he's in the 65-70% in both height and weight, so although we think he's a big boy, it seems that there are 30-35% of bigger babies out there.  

Unfortunately, the doctor found that he had an ear infection at his visit, so we had to postpone his vaccines until they rechecked his ears after a round of antibiotics.  Ah, Amoxicillin.  I distinctly remember the lovely pink medicine from my own childhood and Aaron clearly inherited my deep love for it.  By the end of the ten day treatment, he would get happy and excited when we came towards him with the medicine dropper, then he would happily suck down all of the medicine, lick his lips, and pout a little when it was over.  It seems to have primed him for a lifetime of enjoying medicine.  The doctor laughed at his recheck appointment when he eagerly ate his liquid vaccine.  He cried for a few seconds after his shots, but when I pulled out the Tylenol, he was a happy dude again.  Anything that goes in his mouth makes him very happy indeed.  I think this boy will be VERY ready to eat when the time comes.

And come, it shall.  We think tomorrow morning will be the day that Aaron is greatly looking forward to!  Not only was the medicine a clue that Aaron was ready to eat, but he was starting to stare people down if they dared to eat in front of him.  It was actually kind of awkward at the Cheesecake Factory when the nice ladies next to us were being harassed by the intense glare of our little man.  For about five minutes, he watched one of them eat each bite of her dinner - following the fork, plate to mouth, plate to mouth.  She kept smiling and kind of politely laughing, but let's be honest, she was weirded out.  He is now progressing from interest in other's food to being visibly offended that he doesn't have any of his own, so I think it's definitely time.  The doctor gave us the okay at the second appointment to go ahead with the solid foods...so any day now.  I bought the rice cereal and Isaac put together his high chair last night.  Tomorrow morning, I am guessing we will have a very happy man on our hands.

Not like we don't anyway.  Aaron has maintained his sweet disposition and easy going attitude.  We heard many stories from people about babies that were quiet and easy until three months, then BAM.  We were prefacing every comment about his demeanor with a "so far" to hedge our bets.  But it still seems like Aaron is going to be a pretty laid back little guy.  And happy.  Oh so happy.  He loves to smile and laugh.  And we love every second of those smiles and laughs.  It truly is the best sound in the whole word to hear him laugh.  We are hoping he stays so joyful.

To conclude, I'll give you a few photos from the last few weeks.  But I don't want to ruin the surprise for any future posts.  Here's a list of things I'm promising you for the future.  Hold me to it!

1.  A video post with proof of his rolling, sitting, babbling and drooling

2.  Christmas pictures post (complete with details about our visit to Chapel Hill)

3.  Pictures and possibly video from Aaron's first taste of solid food

Gosh, I'm finally done talking and you can see what you actually came here for!  The pictures!

Here he is wearing his Christmas present from Uncle Joshy and Aunt Trice and looking mighty cute, if I do so say so myself.  (That's his dear friend Ellie the Elephant on his chest...he loves to chew on Ellie's ears while riding in the car)

The happy man in motion

Hanging out in his Bumbo

Getting kisses from Mommy

Sleeping on the couch 

...which he's just about done doing now, so I gotta run.  I promise to follow through with the new posts ASAP!