playing

We've been over to play time at our friend's house before... but this is the first time that I brought the camera along. Last time there were five kids, but today it was just B and A. I had visions of these cute shots of them seated together smiling at their toys, but instead they both wanted to either hug or pretend hug in order to pull each other's hair. B is only just six months with all that beautiful hair! Aiden's head was like a little magnet towards their coffee table, but we had their new baby zone to take care of that. Aiden is three months older, so he gave it a bigger kid test drive. It seemed to be a hit with it's talking foamy floor pad. Aiden (and J) were especially excited by the singing piano too.

school art!

Here's an online gallery of some of my favorite artwork originals by Aiden! They do a lot of exploring (aka learning not to put it in your mouth) with the items beforehand then it's hard to believe that they let them near a glue bottle. They actually get to hold and squeeze it on their own. My favorites are always those that involve his hand prints. Sometimes it's fun to see that he also imprints his whole arm. They also put hand prints all over this new cabinet at school. His teacher said that Aiden was the most cooperative hand stamper. They usually pair the art with the book they are reading that week. The top palm tree was created specifically for the school luau a while back. They also displayed some art at the Papa Gino's pizza night we went to with our friends and my folks a couple weeks back. Tomorrow is heritage potluck night... we'll see what we end up bringing.

getting ready for fall

I protested when I saw school supplies replacing the beach gear at Target. But now that some kids are heading back to school, and our students are back really soon, I have started to look forward to fall in New England. It will be full of stroller rides and we still have some cooler beach visits in the works. We just recieved such a treat from Aiden's Great Great Aunt Lynda to get us ready for some cutie pie sweater days. Oooh, I love sweater weather.

great visits!

Aiden's just loved his three consecutive weekends of visitors! One of my bestest friends visited from her new home in Connecticut as she settles in as a new professor. I'm so glad that she will be close by for some fun visits. Aiden loved exploring new things (like horseshoe crab shells on the beach!) and taking walks around the block with Lara (huge mom and dad relief and good nap inducer for Aiden - Thanks Lara)! She makes big fun expressions and Aiden had big smiles for his silly Lara.

Saturday we took Lara along for our swim class routine (they didn't kick out visitors this time!) and then headed off to the Goddard State Park beach. It was nearly empty and we had plenty of room to set up our new beach cabana and umbrella in the beautiful breezy sunny day. Lara and J were excited that the water was warm, and we couldn't figure out why the water wasn't full of people...turns out there were crabs and they were pinching! So we kept Aiden in the beach cabana where he loved exploring in the sand. The sand even made its way into his diaper somehow... I guess that's a sign of an active baby. Aiden enjoyed eating his yogurt from the cooler and we shared some yummy brie and pineapple. I was in heaven ;)

We then explored Aiden's first Providence Waterfire. We learned how to navigate the crowds with a stroller. There was this grassy area up above the basin (very stroller unfriendly with the craggy path and steps galore). J let Aiden bounce around on his lap as Lara and I walked around the canal to people watch as they started the music (which started out asian inspired and ended up with music that sounded like it was straight out of a cartoon). We pushed back bedtime a bit, but it was worth it. Aiden was happy to jump around and smile at the people and especially the doggies around him.

Sunday started out with birthday brunch! It was such a treat to run into our old neighborhood to have the Paragon brunch that I have day dreams about frequently. Aiden sat in his new red hanging seat (which he likes to bounce in at first just to be sure that it's snug and the table is sturdy - just to make mom a little nervous). He was a pretty good boy about letting us swap turns up at the food bar. He was being a good easy going boy for mom's birthday! We were thinking of heading to the outlets, but since we thought they would be crazy crowded for the tax free holiday, we tried a flea market that turned out to be a big boo. My other birthday wishes were some grilling action for dinner, some homemade ice cream, and some family photos! We have so few photos of all three of us together, and I liked the idea of having some photos taken on my birthday. So Lara's photo skills created some really cute shots... Now I have some new photos to play with in Photoshop ;)

arts and crafts

A huge thank you to my folks for everything as always. It was great to just simply spend time together and watch Aiden learn new tricks. My mom and I plugged in for some craft therapy... thanks to Aiden's good napping. We got the first planning started for a Choo Choo Train Birthday! These fun plates allow you to use these special markers on them... It's like paint a pot at home.

sunny day

Aiden's first visit to a winery ;) He made it on part of the tour, but discovered immediately that his voice would echo in the big room full of tanks. He did his own tasting with Gran's clean cup!? Best part was dancing around in the grass and eating cheerios in the nice weather.

goofball

Aiden being a goofball with blow fish lips on the window.

We finally managed to get Aiden's funny twiddle lip noises on tape. He loves to be a goofball, but acts shy around the camera. (So, I started the video over his shoulder.) Note: This is not altered in any way - It's genuine funny.

crawl n hug

My folks were here visiting during one of those precious weeks where Aiden developed new tricks. His one legged kick start crawl turned into a very traditional (and effective!) crawl virtually because of my sister on the skype calling for him. I pulled the computer across the carpet and he popped up and crawled forward really effectively to try to get his Auntie Lizzie.

Aiden gives real mutual hugs now. He will reach up and when you scoop him up he will squeeze tight. He will spontaneously hug, give big wet kisses, and cuddle close. It doesn't get much better than that.

balls!

A couple weeks ago J and I swore that Aiden said ball. Not just once, but a couple times in a row. But we are prone to crazy parent (maybe me in particular) so I only claim it after he's able to repeat the behavior so that someone else notices (like his teacher). The jist of it is that this kid loooves balls. So, we got him his very own hippo ball pit, even though this is technically a bigger kid toy, we never leave him unattended with it (or unattended at all really). He loves it and I think he was wishing he had more hands to grab them all.

first olympics

Aiden watched about a half hour of his first olympics opening ceremony tonight. Just like during the 4th of July fireworks, he was very interested in seeing the bright, flashy lights. This time he could pull himself up onto the baby gate to get a better look (from both the inside and the outside). LED lights were all over the place in the Beijing ceremony and I'm betting that by the time he reads this blog those will be even more common. Here he is watching with wide eyes:

smiles for doc

Aiden had big smiles to share with his doctor today! We were happy that we hadn't needed to see the doctor for anything between the 6 month appt and today. It was a pretty easy appointment with one shot that he didn't even cry over. The nurse said he had perfect chub to poke ;) Speaking of chub, our healthy boy is 21 lbs. 7 ozs. now which puts him at the 68th percentile. And he's taller than all but 32 of 10,000 babies putting him on the charts with his 99.68 percentile height of 31.5 inches and 90th percentile head circumference of 45cm. No wonder people look at us sorta confused when we say that he's nine months. He was jumping around in his little beebop style and clapping at everything the doctor said. He babbled to answer some of her questions. Overall, it was really an easy appointment.

thingamajigs

My family is visiting and I'm sure we'll have more fun to share soon, but in the mean time here are some new thingamajigs! Thanks for all the new fun stuff Gran and Pop!
Gran and PopPop brought along the splash pool that my mom bought for my shower. It is awesome and the shakey snake is a favorite:

Gran found an awesome rock and roll ride on horse that talks and makes fun noises:

It's Halloween in August! We're afraid that this adorable dinosaur costume will be too little by the time October rolls around with the rate that this kid grows (although you never know he might slow down).

J's thoughtful gift card to my favorite parenting store went towards this new ted and phil metoo travel chair. It weighs about two pounds and it is so compact for travel I can fit it in my bag. Aiden loves being right up at the table to bop everything.

Aiden's puppet collection is slowly growing! He will light up whenever he sees a fun puppet chomping at him. So as he cruises around in his stroller or at the store in his floppy seat, we always bring some munchy puppet over to see him. Some puppets get more of a reaction that others and this chicken puppet from Melissa and Doug got him so worked up he was squawking right back at him. He was even more excited that the chicken legs were there to grab in the car too! Someday he can make up his own pretend with his very own puppet theater.

9 months!

Hey Baby AB,

I should call you that as often as possible, because you'll only be a baby for so much longer. Your dad likes to call you bitty baby buddy, and sometimes when he's holding you as you're getting sleepy he'll mouth the words and show little pinch fingers. It's a non-verbal that probably only I would recognize, but it makes me smile every time.

We'll call this the month of the kitchen! Not only did we get our new cabinets and a new fridge, but we had lotsa action in our new remodel. Your high chair hosted many moments of genius (which we use in the proud parent overused sort of way). You managed to get food into your mouth unassisted even without me cheering for you every time...although you do know how much we like to cheer.

The kitchen ceiling fan sometimes mesmerizes you almost as much as the little pocket fan I bought for the hot car. It blows the cool air conditioning from the front onto your reverse facing car seat that provides just enough relief as the car cools off. I didn't realize at first, but the other reason you are so interested in staring at it is that it lights up with sparkle lights. I won't tell anyone that it was a Hannah Montana fan, but I ripped off the sticker. Oh look, I guess I just told the whole internet.

Usually when you really wake up, I scoop you up, you get a big tummy zurbert as you tug at my crazy hair. My short hair cut provides for many crazy hair moments where you giggle as I shake my hair at you. If the kitties run away as you are trying to get their attention, I can shake my hair to distract you from your upset. This month you've really developed a kitty fascination and you get so excited you create a funny growl rumble noise that is bound to scare them off. This growl also translates to when you want something just out of reach and your crawl transmission is in reverse.

The kitties aren't sure what to think of all your antics. They will perch on top of the chair watching you as you page through your board books and babble away. This book babbling is how you think a book is meant to be played with. Your teacher asked us if we read to you a lot, because you're the only little kid that picks up a book and starts talking to it. It seems like sometimes you are creating your own story.

We've put up the new baby gate that dad affectionately calls your "baby prison". It wraps around the entire front of the couch and it is decorated with all of your hanging toys and some blankets. Since you can scoot (which I just learned is called a military crawl) and roll wherever, it is keeping you and your toys contained. I'm hoping that you see it as such a fun zone that you won't go after the jagged bricks on the fireplace hearth or explore the basement steps. We can also use it for puppet shows and your new favorite is to cruise along the outside edge. It's big enough that we can sit in there with you. Daddy loves playing rings with you and making sure that he keeps them all on hand at all times.

I love seeing your face light up as you reach up to be picked up. We can also tell that you're excited because you rub your tootsies together. You'll kick them against each other when you see bubbles in the bath, which creates splish splashes that make you even more giddy. Your quick little foot rubs prevent you from having any fashion on your feet, but I'm guessing you'll be ready for something warm to cover your feet by the time you need to start wearing shoes for walking. We look forward to another more mobile month and more time to enjoy some summer smiles. In the meantime, you can smack those little shiny teeth bits and that gummy grin to get a smile from us every time.
Loveya, Maaamaaa

first postcard!

Aiden was super excited to receive his very first postcard from the Bahamas! Thanks H and S!

water firsts!

The past few days have been all sorts of water fun!
We visited the Newport Beach that J and I hung out at the summer we met here in RI. It was Aiden's first visit to the beach although he is used to playing in the big sandy area at school. He stomped through the chilly ocean, squinted at the bright sun, and then took a snooze as we walked along the cliff walk.
First Beach Trip:

FirstBeachTrip from LB on Vimeo.
Or visit:http://vimeo.com/1457631
Then his first swim class was this Saturday morning (Daddy jumped in with him because of my hurt foot, so I was all over the camera. Although I was super jealous of the other couples that could swap time back and forth... one of the couples had a almost nine month little boy and I recognized them from our birth class! I have a feeling we'll get a chance to get to know them better). The teacher used songs to "introduce the child to the water through play". There was just all sorts of cuteness and I taped over 2/3 of the class, but here it is cut down to the favorite moments.
Our Little Frog's First Swim class:
FirstSwim from Lauren Brennan on Vimeo.
Or visit:http://vimeo.com/1455435

oops mommy's ouchie

Thursday morning I was taking off from work, and before my family arrived I wanted to make some new batches of foods for Aiden. I was using both of my food processors and I was especially excited by my newer one that makes big batches. I had a huge two ice cube tray batch of apricots ready to pour and I thought that if I removed the blade it would cause the apricot to overflow into the center. So, dummy mommy managed to drop the blade on to her foot! It sliced a less than inch long cut across the side of the ball of my foot. I think that it must have hit it directly because it also bruised a bit right away. Well, I tried not to scream because I didn't want to scare the baby, and J rushed into help me with the baby in his arms. I think Aiden thought we were getting ready to paint with red on the tile. The daycare sheet highlight could say, "Today I explored with red 'paint' after it poured from my mommy's ouchie"

Anyway, I wrapped it and it seemed to stop bleeding. I wasn't going to let it stop me from having fun with our visitors! I dealt with labor pains for three weeks I can deal with a little cut (ha!). By the time we were back from walking around it had bled through my sock. Then the next morning just a little bit of blood. I cleaned it a bunch and kept it in my sock and shoe on the beach - talk about nerdville. It really wasn't bothering me more than feeling kinda bruised and the cut looked healed over. But when we got back from running around Newport, the cut looked really mad with red streaks and kinda puffy. It was definitely worse. We found an urgent care and while J took good care of the baby with the girls, my uncle (thanks!) took me on the quickest, most efficient visit to an urgent care. It was less than 30 minutes with the most time spent on determining for sure that I could take this antibiotic while breastfeeding. Yep, it was infected, which he said would have been hard to avoid with a blade contaminated with apricot. When he said it, he made apricot sound like some sort of elicit drug. The doctor was very professional, but kinda a funny guy. I researched for myself on LactMed at the National Library of Medicine and it looks like the breast milk is safe and my supply should be maintained without too much worry. Oopsie, kinda a pain, but it will all work out...

jammin

Part of the Ohio fan club came for a visit! Aiden wasn't sure what to think at first because he'd just woken up from a little cat nap when they first arrived, and he was playing shy by cuddling in to mommy. But when Daddy and Uncle Bill set up a jam session, he just couldn't stop dancing! We took them on a walk through campus and we're looking forward to some fun in Newport.
Here is the rock out set up by the auto flip (the actual music was better):