But what a month it's been.
A lot has happened.
I'll try my best to get you up to date.
Aaron News:
#1. Aaron started rolling over from his back to his belly. I know, you are probably confused. Yes, he is 8 months old (sorry I missed that post - happy 8 months bud!) and yes, he just learned how to roll from his back to his belly a few weeks ago.
Lots of people have said that it's not unusual that babies are rolling over later because of the Back to Sleep campaign...but I'm just going to call a spade a spade here.
Aaron, in his infinite laziness, didn't see a point in rolling over prior to this point. I knew he was capable of it but he usually lost interest about halfway through the roll.
I personally don't really see anything wrong with that - I have seriously enjoyed these past 8 months with a child who is fully capable of entertaining himself by staying exactly where I put him.
I sense those days are rapidly coming to an end...
Exhibit A.
This is Aaron during naptime. Back in the lovely old good days (a month ago), I would put Aaron in his crib, give him his binky and bubber, turn on the mobile and walk away.
Nine times out of ten, he would be asleep before the first song was over. Occasionally, I'd have to turn the mobile on for another round (by remote! best invention ever!) to get him to sleep, but he'd definitely be out by the time it stopped. That was then.
This is now.
As you can see from Exhibit A., naptime is no longer this peaceful experience. Oh no. Nowadays, I return to his room at a minimum of four times to flip him back off of his belly and onto his back before he can fall asleep.
He gets all kinds of crazy places around his crib - sometimes I find him down by the fish mobile...sometimes I find him up at the top of the crib where a slant of light comes through the window shade.
But, usually by the fourth flip, he has tired himself out enough that he falls asleep. Unless he's really sleepy. Then he just passes out on his tummy. So cute. But rare.
Did I mention that this lovely routine also takes place several times a night? He wakes up, fancies himself a little tummy time and then yells until someone comes to flip him back over and go back to sleep. At 2am, 3am, 4am and 5am. Lovely.
Everyone says he will adjust. I hope so. Do you know anyone who still cries when they find themselves on their stomach in the middle of the night? Please tell me you don't.
But, we think that the reason that this is taking place so frequently is...
#2. Aaron is trying desperately to crawl. He hasn't quite mastered it yet, hence the desperate need to practice at all times of the day. It's actually hilarious to watch. So I videotaped it for you. This video is from last week, so he's actually made a little bit more progress since then.
I can't help but laugh. And then he gets distracted. Whoops.
These days there is less of the swimming on dry land action and more inchworm movement. He plants both feet on the floor and pushes his bum into the air. Unfortunately, he also uses his face as a pedestal, so his cheek gets kind of bruised during the process. But sometimes, he actually moves forward. So we consider that progress. I'll try to video that sometime soon.
#3. Aaron is starting finger foods! Yay!! We started out with diced up banana, which is kind of hard to pick up as I'm sure you can imagine. So we bought puffs, that have fruit and veggie flavors but dissolve in his mouth. He loves them. He's getting much better at picking them up now too. But, like all things, he is hysterical to watch in the process.
Before you see the photo series I created on Aaron's first finger foods, you should know some backstory. Aaron loves his pointer finger. No one really knows why, but he uses it to test out everything. He keeps it at the ready (pointing straight up, like a "I'm #1" sign) and carefully examines everything with it. Isaac calls it his "pointy slicer" because he gets kind of violent about it sometimes. Here is a perfect example of pointy slicer coming out to examine a leaf.
So, now that you know about pointy slicer, be on the lookout. He appears in most photos of Aaron - especially when he's concentrating.
And, for the record, eating finger foods definitely requires concentration.
Meet the puff. Otherwise known as the challenger.
Aaron looks intimidated by the challenger. But looks are deceiving, no?
Time to bust out the pointy slicers.
The pointy slicers circle the puff...trying to find an opening to pounce.
And...they collide as the puff escapes their pointy slicy-ness.
The capture!
!!Hi ho, hi ho, up to the mouth we go!! (that's the standard eating song at our house. what do you sing at your house? what? you don't sing during meals? weirdo.)
Ahhh, the sweet taste of victory!
And that, is how Aaron eats finger foods. We hope you enjoyed it.
Sadly, he learned the pincer grasp a few days afterwards. But the pointy slicers still enjoy chasing puffs around the tray. They just win the battle a lot more often.
#4. Mainly, though, we still spend our time laughing. Aaron is the funniest kid. At least we think so. Isaac and I expend a lot of energy keeping him entertained. His laugh is the best sound I've ever heard. It's the best feeling when you get him going...and we never quite know what will be hilariously funny on any given day. Something that was hysterical yesterday, he is over by today. But we keep on trying. Because when you hear his laugh, it's worth it.
As promised, I tried to capture his laugh on camera. It's a small taste, but nothing like the real thing. Plus, I had to have the camera on underneath the pillow, because whenever he sees it, he clams up. So please excuse the stalker-like video. Please also ignore the weird sound I am making. You see, that day, it was really funny to make that noise. Now, he thinks I'm lame when I do it. But at the time...I was hilarious.
So that's about it in Aaron-land. His next pediatrician appt is June 5th (9 months - holy cow) and we'll get a new number on his height and weight. My guess is 29 inches and 21 lbs 7oz.
Before we go...
Greenslade Family News:
We sold our house! Hooray!! We close on May 29th, at which point we'll move into my mom's house in Wallingford for a (hopefully) short time until her house sells. Then, we'll all (including my mom) move to a new house in Downingtown. We are very excited (about moving...not necessarily about packing). We'll keep you posted on any new developments.
See you at 9 months! Unless, of course, Aaron starts to crawl before then.
And...if you were keeping track, I still owe you outtakes from the Easter Bunny shoot. I'll try to post those sometime in the next week or so. You know, in the free time between moving furniture into our POD and hurriedly tossing our possessions into boxes. I said I'll try.
