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!

the cutest elf

Oh the digital age...

I think if our parents had digital cameras, there would be a lot more incriminating photos, like the ones I'm about to show you.  As it stands, my dad did a pretty good job taking more photos of us than any one family should have.  You can probably guess there were a lot of tears at those infamous Christmas card photo sessions.  I really can't imagine what it would have been like if there had been digital cameras around when we were children.   Or if Dad had one of these new, lightweight video cameras he could cart around, instead of that massive 16lb VCR/video recorder.  No one could ever say that man wasn't dedicated to capturing precious moments.

Well, as it turns out, I've got more than a little bit of my father in me.  (That may have been previously established, but this is just further proof.)  I cannot resist taking pictures of my baby...especially if I can create a theme and dress him up first!  Aaron is going to have these priceless treasures for years to come.  Just think, he can put them right next to the turkey suit shots.  I love it!

And now, for your viewing pleasure : our most recent holiday-themed photo shoot.

The cutest elf I've ever seen would like to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and a joyous New Year to you all!

(ps - you can click on the Picasa link on the right to see the photo shoot in it's entirety)