pb : pregnancy break / phoebe browns

Beep.Beep.Beep.
Please pardon the interruption to the Aaron Show.

This post is a quick break from the usual baby-filled entries. But, no fear, we're staying with the baby theme - pregnancy!


No, no, no, it's not me, thank goodness. My brother, Josh, and his wife, Trice, are due to have their first baby in May. They are expecting a girl, named Phoebe Rose. We are all very much looking forward to Phoebe's arrival.

Since I got my new camera, I've been looking for willing subjects to practice on. Trice kindly volunteered for me to take her maternity pictures. We developed a few cute ideas and I think they turned out pretty well. With Trice's permission, here are a few of my favorites.



***Please note: These are pictures of Trice...pregnant. So, if you aren't into bare body parts (obviously nothing obscene, but you know, bare skin) you should probably scroll fast through the top three pictures. Past those, you are in the clear. Just a heads up. :)














All clear!

No bare bellies from here on.




Thanks for being such a great sport, Trice. I had a lot of fun shooting these. I can't wait until Phoebe gets here!


This interruption to Aaron-only-programming is now complete. Tune in next week for more 24/7 baby coverage.

doctor visit update

Aaron had his six month well visit yesterday and he did very well. He weighed in at 17 lbs, 7 oz - which was much lighter than any of us thought he would be! He was almost 27 inches long too. He is in the 43% for weight and 55% for height, so it seems that he's starting to slim out. His head, however, is in the 73%. Can you tell?


He got the okay to move onto stage 2 veggies and fruit, as well as meat. So maybe he'll be packing all that weight back on!

We recently got a new camera, a DSLR, which utilizes all of the lenses that my dad had from his photography days. This camera takes much better pictures than our old digital, which is very exciting. As a result, poor Aaron has been bombarded by picture taking over the past few days. Here are a few favorites:


And, finally (again)...


I debated whether to share this thought or not...

but doesn't this picture remind you of something?

Like...

maybe...

this.



I think it's okay to make that reference since I feel pretty confident that he'll grow out of it. Either way, you have to admit, he's pretty stinkin' cute. And trust me, the ET reference won't be nearly as embarrassing in the future as the pictures that I'll be posting on St. Patrick's Day. Ah, the joys of being the first born.

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.

Updated Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph