birthday train stop two!

I'll post fun photos now, and share stories later... But we had a great time at Aiden's birthday train stop here in MA. It was so much fun to share a big thank you with Aiden's friends and family for everything over the past year. I kept saying that I owe my mom especially for all the great parties she's thrown over the past 30 years! You never realize how much goes into a party until you are planning one for your own kid. I love my mom for passing down every ounce of her creativity. I found so much joy in every little crafty moment and I thank her for showing me that sorta fun! My friend Lara came early and stayed late...without even being asked she helped so much - Thanks Lara for everything!

hairdo

In my family, we call this the Billy Henrich hairdo. I just love his fuzzy hair. This does not go away without some coaxing even when you wet it. And yes, we're breaking out the snowman holiday jammies early. If the stores can, we can too. We're off to get ready for Aiden's (uhhmm, Mommy's) party.

flashback a year ago

I've been feeling really sentimental lately. I've been watching old videos, looking at old photos, and I just can't be stopped! I think back to how cruddy my body felt this time last year, and I think I must be crazy, but I see Aiden's teacher at school (who just found out she's having a little boy!) and I miss being pregnant. Yeah, that crazy thing called estrogen is clearly messing with my head!  When I look at this video I just have to cringe and laugh at the same time - that tender, sore belly isn't something that I miss!  Here's a throwback for ya created almost exactly a year ago:

 

advancing science

The Infant Research Lab here at Brown is studying how babies acquire language. They called to see if we'd be willing to participate in their study since Aiden is approaching the one year mark and they need at least 30 one year olds in each sample. They were going to have him listen to the letter 'P' sounds and they would record his eye movements on a video camera. The only trick he had to perform was to sit nicely in my lap for a couple minutes. He screetched when he was getting bored and he really wanted my headphones, but other than that he did really seem to listen at the moments when they wanted to get his attention. I had music playing on my headphones so I couldn't hear, but he definitely payed really close attention at certain points. The screen would flash with a little yellow dot and then a big checkboard pattern would show up while they played the noises. She said they were trying to test whether they could tell the difference between the different letter noises by how long he paid attention to the screen. Aiden was so excited by some of the noises he would point and bounce in my lap. When we were done he was happy to play at their train table while the researcher debriefed us. They then opened this big cabinet full of new toys and he got to pick one out! He ended up helping science and earning a new toy alligator.... I was pretty close to picking out a new tshirt for him only because it said he had earned his "honorary doctorate" from the infant research lab, but I took a photo of it instead. But unfortunately, J's iphone ate it - So here is Aiden's first official honorary doctorate... We'll have to go back another time for our honorary doctorate tshirt or at least a better photo:

cleaning out

I'm cleaning out some of Aiden's old daycare "Infant Daily Activity Report" sheets, and I couldn't bear to throw them away until I recorded some of the "Highlights of My Day" for posterity:
5/13/08
Aiden held his own bottle today! He also explored with confetti pieces.
5/14/08
Aiden enjoyed singing "twinkle twinkle little star" with his friends.
5/15/08
Aiden explored with pompoms today! He also fell asleep on his own - yay!
5/16/08
Aiden enjoyed making puffy clouds out of cotton balls.
6/2/08
Aiden held his own bottle today!
6/3/08
Aiden enjoyed playing outside in the sand today!
6/30/08
Today Aiden waved at us. We read the Splash book.
7/7/08
Aiden made footprints with paint for our bulletin board!
7/9/08
Aiden explored with water and food coloring! He also explored the new sensory wall today!
7/10/08
Aiden was rolling all over the floor today and he foudn his footprints on the floor that he painted.
7/11/08
Aiden explored with mashed potatoes today!
7/14/08
Aiden went for a walk and then played on the playground with his teachers and friends. He also explored with water in the sensory table.
8/13/08
Today Aiden made cats using stamps and brown paint!
8/14/08
Aiden explored with duct tape balls today.
9/29/08
Aiden explored the wooden boat today! He rocked back and forth in it and sang "row, row, row your boat."
10/1/08
Aiden explored with paint and feathers to make a duck. He also practiced making a "quack" sound.
10/6/08
Today Aiden colored with crayons! He also sang the "itsy bitsy spider" with his friends and teachers!
10/7/08
Aiden explored stacking blocks to make a tower and then knocked the tower down.
10/8/08
Aiden held his own bottle at the table today! He also enjoyed pushing the push n'go around the room!
10/9/08
Aiden has lots of fun today playing with the toy truck! He also enjoyed using the push toy to walk around the room.
10/17/08
Aiden explored the tunnel today! He also did lots of walking!
10/20/08
Aiden made a leaf collage today. He enjoyed looking at himself in the mirror!
10/21/08
Aiden danced along and clapped his hands to "If You're Happy and You Know It!"

Around May he was napping with dad in the morning around 8:30/9am, again at 12ish, and again at 3sh. He would have a 3 oz. bottle around 9:30ish, cereal/veggie or fruit at 11, another bottle at 1ish, and another at 3:30ish - He liked small doses of milk because he was easily distracted by all the fun stuff going on around him. In August, we added another veggie or fruit at 3ish. Most of the summer his naps last about 30 minutes tops... but closer to an hour every once in a while. I remember a time period where he would come home from school on Mondays especially completely exhausted and ready for a looong nap right after he got home.

I always liked checking out his sheet right when I came in to pick him up and getting more details from the teachers. Sometimes I would ask Aiden would show me what he made or what he was excited about. He really babbles at me when he gets excited like that. I know these memories will fade quickly and be replaced by other fun memories, so it's fun to have these little snippets recorded here.

first winter coat

Today turned out to be a beautiful 60 degree day, but this morning it wasn't breaking out of the 30 degree range. So it was time to break out Aiden's new winter coat. When I bought it I remember thinking that it would probably be way too big on him, but somehow he has grown into all those big boy clothes I had a hard time believing would ever fit him. He's not a huge fan of his coat because he can't quite balance out his big puffy arms. He had some moments like the little brother on the Christmas Story movie where he took a tumble and couldn't get back up, but I think he'll get used to it...and by then it will be time to add the snow pants to the mix. teehee.

impromptu

We had some impromtu fun this weekend after I had to work our big open house event on Saturday. The fall colors are in full effect around here, so we went down to the Grist Mill pond (that restaurant that everyone loves right down the way from us) with the camera. My friend and her family were with us so that we could juggle the babies and the camera to get shots of each other's families. It was pretty chilly, but the lighting and leaf colors were out in full effect. Here's one of my favorites of Aiden studying the duckies, but I'll post more later... Can't you tell that we look like we're hungry for a good breakfast out with cinnamon crisp and eggy french toast - yum!? We headed there right afterward.

We then ended up having an impromtu Red Sox party to watch them lose game seven since we are the only suckers that currently have cable TV. J stayed up with the party, but Baby AB and I had to turn in before it ended. What a party, eh? Eighteen more years without a full night's sleep means you don't stay up late unless you absolutely have to, right?

a okay

Aiden's teacher pointed out that he seems to respond by saying O-K when you ask him a question. It is usually in response to do you want more cheerios? Or sometimes even when he's squirming away he'll say ok if you ask him to stay still. We got one of those calls from daycare on Wednesday that doesn't make you feel okay. You'll have to come pick up Aiden and he'll need a doctor's note to come back to school... He had a little viral rash on his leg which checked out okay at the doctor on Thursday morning. It looked like hives, but wasn't going away but instead seemed to be popping up in different spots (even on his face). He was totally okay with it and it didn't seem to bother him.

The teething this week was not okay however and he was up most of the night with the head shaking tooth pain he doesn't think is okay. We try to cuddle him and tell him it will be okay. We give him grape tylenol which he thinks is pretty okay and will usually ask for more. He will usually shake it off and be okay soon after, but then he thinks it is okay to play. Uh, not ok little buddy... sleep was at a premium after our little mini vacation.

We had cool early birthday present waiting for Aiden today, which he thought was pretty okay! It was a handmade, crocheted Tazmanian Devil from his Great Aunt Mary. Here are some snippets of the little devil playin with his new devil - even tried to imitate our Taz noises:

ohio fall visit

Tons of photos from our visit (note: You can click on the link to see the album on flickr - You won't see psychadellic train overalls in those photos on flickr - no idea why they are showing up like that on the slideshow)

Ohio visit videos!

Birthday Invitation Front and Back:

We made good use of our long weekend to take our little squirmy bug on a plane ride for his first Birthday Train stop in Ohio! He slept 3/4 of the time on the first plane ride and played nicely (and quietly) the entire second plane ride... I feel like we were lucky, but he gets an "A" for both trips (even though I thought the he was going to crank the whole ride plane home because he was a major fussy widget in the car seat on the way to the airport). I think plane rides over 90 minutes aren't in our future soon...sorry Arizona folks ;(

The videos are quicker to create than download the hundreds of photos my sister and I took. So here is a video rundown of our fun trip!

We owe a huge thanks for my parents for throwing a great early birthday party for Aiden!

Ohio Party Creative Gran! from LB on Vimeo.
Aiden had a great time with his first cupcake:

Ohio Party Cake Time from LB on Vimeo.
First trip to the apple farm! Even though I got stung by a bee, we also hit the pumpkin patch with all its hokey photo ops...

Ohio Apple Farm from LB on Vimeo.
Playtime in Ohio:

Ohio Playtime from LB on Vimeo.
Aiden's new choo choo from Gran and Pop:

Aiden's New ChooChoo from LB on Vimeo.

happy hb bee!

They finally released the set of photos taken with the happygreenbee outfits a couple weeks ago. I was sorta crazy and didn't realize until my sister pointed it out that he was dressed in my high school colors! So here is a fun photo where he happened to be waving his HB flag. HB-woo-woo...hey Hathaway Brown ladies! You can also check out the rest of the happygreenbee photos here: http://www.pictage.com/541248

certified

I've been thinking about this for a while, but after I sliced my foot with the food processor and heard my friend talk about her little girl swallowing a rock (that story ended ok, but only after weeks of poo inspection and xrays), I decided that I needed to get first aid/cpr certified.  Lucky for me my work offers free Red Cross certification classes.  I took some vacation time for the class, and I'm glad that I did.  I was certified a long time ago, but it's good to have a refresher.  They've also changed some of their recommendations.  Like for a bloody nose, you lean forward and pinch the nostrils (whereas before you leaned back and pinched the top ridge of the nose)...   It's good to feel more prepared.

blog tag

How fun! Other blogger friends of mine are playing a game of top 'eight' tag and we got tagged to fill out some favorite lists as a family...

8 T.V. Shows We Love to Watch:
1. Amazing Race (Lauren and sometimes J)
2. Project Runway (Lauren)
3. Jeopardy (All of us cozy in bed)
4. Top Design (Lauren)
5. Dexter (J)
6. Today Show (Lauren)
7. The Office (J and Lauren)
8. Ellen (Lauren)

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Mixing Table - not really a restaurant?
2. Grist Mill (Lauren and J)
3. Ruby Tuesday Garden Fresh Bar (Lauren)
4. Mills Tavern Fancy Phil Dinners (J)
5. Smoky Bones (Lauren and J)
6. Bob Evans (Lauren)
7. Gracies Fancy Dinners (J)
8. Nordstroms Cafe (Lauren and J)

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:
1. Went to dinner at Chilis for some queso (Family)
2. Worked from home (Lauren)
3. Got the new October calendar at Aiden's school
4. Introduced to veggie beef pilaf (Aiden)
5. Pet the kitty until she drooled (Lauren and J)
6. Cut out some new felting ideas from the Anthropologie catalog (Lauren)
7. Signed up for the Brown craft fair in December (Lauren)
8. Read comments on his bloggingheads tv production (J)

8 Things We Look Forward To:
1. 1st birthday celebrations!
2. Watching Aiden taste his first cake
3. Seeing the happygreenbee photos
4. Hearing back on publications (J)
5. Trip to Ohio
6. The next time J's folks can visit
7. Our accreditation at work complete (Lauren)
8. Whole Milk? (Aiden) aka. Being done pumping at work! (Lauren)

8 Things We Love About Fall:
1. Crunchy leaves~ (Lauren and Aiden even though he doesn't know it yet)
2. Steamy marshmallowy hot chocolate (Lauren and J)
3. Homemade pumpkin muffins (Lauren and J with extra choc chips)
4. Fuzzy warm blankets on the bed (Lauren, not Aiden)
5. Long cozy socks (Lauren, not J or Aiden)
6. Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade (Lauren and Aiden)
7. First snow (Lauren, not J)
8. Fresh veggies (Aiden)

8 Things on Our Wish List:
1. Good health for us and loved ones esp during flu season
2. Toes strong enough to climb the baby gate (Aiden)
3. More family photos (Lauren, not J)
4. A good new teacher at Aiden's school
5. Wallpaper removed, a new bathroom mirror, and livingroom mantle (Our House)
6. No more weeds in the grass
7. An easy weather winter
8. More family time

basket beebopping

Baby AB loves to ride around in his laundry basket. He can't get enough, but our arms and backs can get enough. Here are some video snippets:

pumpkin patch

We visited the pumpkin farm with our friends today in the misty rain. It was fun to have three little happy pumpkins brighten up the day.

crafts!

Today was the Pumpkin Somethin Fair at one of the local schools. The highlight was that two friends and I went in on a craft spot to sell my old stock of knit hats (the leftovers that didn't sell at the last fair I did in 2006), jewelry (under my friend's "Chic Unique" label), and my new favorite craft, ribbon clips. My friend came up with this clip for her little girl who has tons of hair and it has a little foamy pad so it won't slip. I was super excited by her idea to call them Clippopotamus clips and she even created a little hippo wearing bows as the logo. The clips sold well, but the rest of the stuff had a lot of competition. There was tons of cute knit hats for sale and most were really good deals, so even though I was selling hats I had to buy some too. Aiden especially liked the lady that was selling this very european looking silly hat. She used to work at Hasbro toys on the My Little Ponies and had all sorts of fun stories to tell. We also had to get a pumpkin hat with a little curly stem to wear to the pumpkin patch tomorrow!
Here is a little video from the flip:

1st costume

You are all good guessers!  Aiden's first halloween costume is a happy surfer hippo!  He's going to match his Hank the Surfer Hippo friend (see blue hippo to the right - he even giggles when you press his belly...just like Aiden).  After giving it a dry run, I'm going to finish the head so that it is a separate hat instead of attach it to the hood so this poor kid's chubby chin doesn't get smooshed by the snug hood.  I think we are going to be lucky if he's willing to keep the hippo hat on (although I'm going to try pretty hard!), so when he doesn't have it on, he'll just be a cool kid surfer.  The flip program didn't do a great job auto editing these video snippets, but here is a preview of the first part of the head.  I'm going to need to start stitching some hippo stuffed animal friends now that I have an idea of how to do it.  

11 months!

Dear Aiden,

The biggest change this month wasn't how sharp your teeth got or how many more popped out, but how M-O-B-I-L-E you've become. It's amazing really and I'm not sure over the next few months how we're going to keep up. You walk in increments and you usually want to hold one hand as you walk. Your crawl is so lightening speed I can barely keep up with my video camera angles especially when we're trying to talk over the skype video call. You even give a high five to the screen when your grandparents put up their hand on the skype video. We pulled up photos with your hand open and you did the same thing. We're going to be lucky if that laptop screen survives your first year.

You're my little engineer/toy maker that is always flipping over toys to examine them. Now I know why they keep the batteries behind a screw. You find a little screw spot on the padded wall at school and you poke and poke and poke...Until some other kid comes over to explore it and then you start babbling to tell them all about it. I imagine that you're telling them how useless it is because you've been pressing it all day and it hasn't done anything.... yet.
Your teachers help you work on your gross motor skills... which aren't really "gross" except for when your dummy mom decides to hand you a delicate sand dollar your nice great aunt sent you and your arms wave with excitement... then smash... and we're exploring gross sand dollar dust. But seriously, we know that your gross motor skills are improving as you learn to mount your horsey and pat his mane with your hand. You can even get on and off your horsey without help. I think that you're also working on what they call "fine" motor skills (according to your four page long progress report from school!). You love to point at things and if we give you a book and ask you to point at the cat, you'll point right at it...assuming it's the only thing on the page. I joke, but you do like to point and prompt us to tell you what things are. I think you're storing all this info for later (when you will start rattling off the difference between a jaguar and a tiger like your two year old friend), so I try to be as accurate as possible. I better brush up on my baby animal names ;)

We've started letting you play with your spoon since you were so curious to grab at it. You will scoop and sometimes even manage to get the spoon back in your mouth before flopping it around. Your little teeth will munch at that rubbery coating as we spoon the yummies for you. I think it helps soothe that back gummy layer and those side teeth that are creeping out. You have the classic Oviatt gap between the front baby teethers, but if you're lucky like your mom it will close up on it's own. Regardless, it's so cute to sing little songs to you about jack-o-lantern teeth.


Sometimes I arrive to pick you up from school and you have two rings hanging out both sides of your mouth and a ring in each hand as you lunge towards me. You do a good job at helping them fill up that "from the mouth" cleaning bucket each day, but that's because you're a baby that needs to suck, chew, and munch. Unfortunately, this has now translated to biting mommy while nursing. You will giggle as I pry your chin loose gently. Then I will promptly put you down which you seem to understand means to not nibble your mom, but regardless, I think you've started self-weaning a bit because sometimes you are happy to crawl off and play instead of continue to eat.
At the beginning of the month, you were using the car cart at school like a little old lady with a walker. You'd zip over to the toys walking behind it, plop down to play, then bounce back up, and zoom over to the books. Even the other kids, that have sturdier legs than you do, like to do this and sometimes there is more than one kid pushing at a time. You are just fascinated by the other kids and you will even copy their dance moves. They love to dance at school and when you see them beebopping you stare at them fascinated and then you imitate with a smile.

Towards the end of this month, you started expanding on what we joked looked like the yoga
"warrior pose" (standing on one leg while kicking the other out in front of you) You then started positioning that little kick start leg against your piano like you wanted to climb over it. You've even started hooking one of your toes onto the baby pen gate like you're getting ready to climb. It's looking like we're going to have a climber on our hands.

You love to climb up the wall and sometimes you will even give it a good kiss. We even had to temporarily take down the frames on the wall because we were afraid you'd sneak in a good wack and they'd tumble off their nail. Your favorite wall to climb is the big glass sliding door. You get so excited to see the rain hit that glass you will scream, crawl over there, and stand there staring at the drops the splurt onto the window. It makes even the rainiest day fun to play with you.

We've noticed that when you are really tired you are prone to sleep "sitting". Instead of sleep walking, we've noticed you in your bed rolling over, then popping up to sitting while your eyes are still shut. You sorta wave in the breeze, sometimes whimper, and then slump back down with your sweet sleepy head on the bed. It's hard for us to resist tussling your hair or rubbing your back. You daddy loves to tussle your hair and he says that that is what daddy's do when they are happy. I think it's like one big hallmark commerical ad and it just gives me a sweet little lump in my throat when I see you and your dad smiling.All month you've been clicking and smacking your lips usually to mimic your crazy mom and dad. Just the other day you started quacking. You quacked all the way home from school after showing me the yellow duck with feathers you created while singing songs about ducks at school. Your teacher says you were really into it and I could see your little fingernails still had some yellow paint. I can't wait for some more craft time as you get bigger (I'm already cataloging the good ideas so get ready!).
This month will bring some birthday and halloween fun! Save up those smiles to share... and thanks for letting me chase you around with the camera. And big thanks for agreeing to start wearing shoes... occassionally.

Love, Your Photographer, Baby Shoe Loving Mom

autumn waffles

Yeah - who can believe that it is October 1st!? We are already enjoying the shift into autumn.  I started stitching up Aiden's halloween costume today knowing this month will fly by... I'm taking what J called the "boxed brownie" approach to halloween costume-making this year. I'm not cooking it up from scratch, but instead I'm taking a hooded sweatsuit and converting it by adding layers and the all important head.  It will be just as good (or possibly better because it will have taken less time away from playtime/baby chasing games) as "brownies" from scratch but better than the store bought kind.  I had a very distinct idea of what I wanted for a costume and I looked at a bunch of different options, and finally decided that I had to do what I really wanted to do.  Special prize to the first person that posts a comment with the correct guess ;)

I already drank a whole two gallon jug of cider and Aiden had his first nibbles of pumpkin waffles. I found this light waffle recipe that is pretty low in sugar, and cooked up a bunch this weekend to have in the fridge all week - yum yum yum.  They are great reheated...so cook em up, and what you can't eat fresh, reheat all week!

Pumpkin Waffles!
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
splash of vanilla

1. Set up the waffle iron on a countertop or table within easy reach of the cook. Plug in the iron to preheat it. (Remind your child never to touch the surface of the iron; she should touch only the handle and always cook with adult supervision.)

2. In a medium-size mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, melted butter, and pumpkin. Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture and stir just until combined.

3. Coat the preheated waffle iron with cooking spray. Pour the waffle batter onto the center of each section of the iron. (You will need 1/4 to 3/4 cup of batter for each waffle.)

4. Cook the waffles for about 4 to 5 minutes or until they are crispy and light brown. (Read the manufacturer's directions for details about how long you should cook the waffles in your particular waffle iron.) Serve immediately with maple syrup and butter. Serves 4.

messy eater

Here's our little messy eater - gobble gobble.

He can drink from a big boy cup too - slurp slurp.

hippo friends!

Our hippo friend collection has grown, but it's hard to keep track of all of them. Some are in the car, some are hidden under his balls, some are even under the other bath toys in the boon frog... but I did manage to corral a bunch of them and get Baby AB to sit still with some intermittent daddy tickles. I have a feeling that it will be awhile until he will sit nicely perched like the first two six month photos. Most of my new photos have a blur or a flash ;)

drumming with daddy

Here's another retrospective with Aiden drumming with Daddy then and now...

Drumming with Daddy from LB on Vimeo.

poster child

My artsy graphic designer friend that works at a library (some of you AZ folks are day dreaming about how rocking cool that job sounds, eh?) asked if I had any photos of Aiden signing. Well, hmm, not exactly, but I sent along some shots of him playing with his hands. I almost didn't send this one because it has that low fstop blur, but I think she created the most artsy fun poster with it. That's a good eye for design to take a photo of my kid mesmerized by a ceiling fan and turn it into poster that attracts attention. I'm ready to hop on a plane to Chicago to join the class.

boogie then and now

This is our jungle boogie monkey that GranGran and PopPop brought with them from Ohio during their visit last February. We used to play this song on repeat and dance around with my cousins. Now that would be some funny video. But here are Aiden then and now videos...
Here is our giggle monkey just over seven months ago:

He went through a phase were he didn't want to have anything to do with the jungle boogie. But now look at Aiden grooving out - We love the raising the roof hand movements ;) Wow, seven months flies by...

baby mixing

We're still cooking up Aiden's food. He usually eats in increments of number of ice cubes. He has occasionally had a jar of food when we're on the go and it's difficult to carry ice cubes. He really seems to like the meat dinners from earth's best and the green veggie mixes from organic baby. I've tried to keep a good variety around, but it seems like he goes through some of his favorites faster than others. Right now he's loving spinach, squash, cantaloupe, plum, and blueberry. He also has some mama grain, carrot, quinoa, black bean, mango, and prune on the menu. I added a new three tray batch of pear and lentils recently.

His true favorite is banana (fresh mash easy!), but it seems that his least favorite is avocado (too bad because that would also be easy). He's also not too keen on strong flavored fruits which even includes apple (another that would be easy). J laughs that he will eat spinach mixed with prune, but aw applesauce is ick?! He does like his unique mixes. I'm glad that he managed to get dad's veggie lover gene.

He was a great tester for the Mixing Table's new petite baby mixes. This is the place I like to go with my friends to mix up freezer meals. They are now making fresh organic baby foods! They are making finger foods too, which are little balls of dried grains mixed with veggies and fruit. He was very good about helping test out the consistency as he nibbled, gnawed, and crumbled some of them. He wasn't as good about sitting in my lap and wanted to stand on the back of the chair - which then led to him stringing his little chubby thigh through the horizontal slats. Oh, good thing we got the test subject unstuck from the chair. At least if he was stuck there, they'd have plenty of wholesome treats for him.

mom check in

It seems like it's time for a mini mom check in. I write this blog mainly for Aiden and I bet he'd like to know how things are going for his parents every once in a while. School's back in session soon. daa daa da. J's class arranged for 15 students in a tiny seminar room exploded on the first day with over 100 students banging down the doors. We celebrated a major publication accepted and a full completed draft of his book in the same week. It's been nice to have excuses to go out for early dinners to celebrate! Baby AB loves his hanging chair so that he's right up in the action. But we have started the wheels churning on what we would like to do as a couple now that we have a dependable babysitter. It's harder than we would think to come up with something worth leaving Aiden. May sound crazy, but I think we are lucky that we get to eat lunch together on most days so we have our couple time then.

It's been sooo nice to work from home two days a week, and I truly feel that I've been twice as productive. I haven't been visiting Aiden at school yet because I know that they go out on their walks around lunch time and I didn't want to rob him of his favorite carriage rides. Now that I'm into a routine though, I do plan to try to head over during lunch. But I'm still a bit worried that if he eats with me while I visit I won't have enough milk pumped for the next day. Since whole milk is so close on the horizon, I'm really not too worried about my supply anymore. If anything, I'm worried about how uncomfortable weaning may be. I think that being able to visit him for relief when I stop pumping will be nice.

Twice I've spoiled Aiden's milk after leaving my cooler out of the fridge overnight. Thank goodness for my supply of freezer milk, which I filter in to the mix so that it never goes bad. Aiden drinks only milk from me, and that has been a lot of hard work. I believe that he has avoided many school illnesses because of all the antibodies (he was literally the only one to not get sick when school came back in session). I know all the good stuff and for the most part I've enjoyed breast feeding him, but I have to admit that I'm sooo ready to be done pumping at work. The custodian walked in on me again last week and I was ready to throw the pump out the window. I am so hopeful that he will like whole milk, and I'm really hoping that weaning will be smooth.

I have my days when I day dream of being a stay at home mom, but I feel lucky that we have a good balance for our family. But here is what I would do as a stay at home mom:
- Make my own peanut butter granola
- Plan good dinners
- Iron more (with something hot, not a spray)
- Take down the wallpaper in the office
- Embroider cute things for Aiden
- Join the quilt club
- Garden a little bit
- Enjoy leisurely trips to the grocery
- Wear casual scarves in my hair
- Drink more water
- Take and edit more photos
- Nap with the baby
- Make more lists
Now that I read through this I think I can accomplish all of these and work! It might just take me a little longer.

happy first day of fall

Aiden was particularly happy to see me as I walked in to get him from school today. He sat at the table that faces the window and he saw me coming. I couldn't get through the door fast enough and get my shoes off because I could hear him squealing - luckily with joy - as he bounced in his seat. Today was the first day without Miss Kim and it seemed to go smoothly. Everyone had smiles on and the other primary teacher was happy to say that he had a great day and that she was able to take over as his teacher. She didn't say it in a long term, this-is-the-plan sorta way, but I think that is in the works.

He was all gurgles and giggles on the car ride home. When we got home daddy was almost finished mowing the lawn. Oh boy, Aiden was so excited to see his daddy he just couldn't stop beaming. Daddy took him over to one of the trees we planted while I was pregnant (which has nearly doubled already!). He was patting the leaves with super duper excitement. I think he's ready for some colorful leaves pretty soon... Yeah for fall!

family friends

The past two weekends have been spent with other families. We hardly realized how many friends we have with young kids, until we were able to see just about everyone in the past two weeks. It's fun to get to know new people and we've realized that we are really being introduced through our kids. There are families that met through birth classes and school, and my preggers buddies that also work at Brown. It's amazing how easy it is to meet friends through friends that all have at least one similar interest - our kids!

Last weekend my friend was over with her husband (J's concert/music buddy) and two kids. I love to see how her three year old reacts to things because everytime I'm around a kid that age I learn something new. My favorite funny question: "Where are all the cool toys?" And to really make us laugh: I'd just given her a bowl of cheerios and her mom said, what do you say? And she replied, "that's not enough..." This little girl is a particular favorite of mine, and she realyl made me smile when she asked her mom if she could sit in my lap. I replied with oh sure, come on over, while Aiden played nicely on the floor. She hopped in my lap and Aiden just melted into a little ball of jealous sadness. Poor jealous baby got over it pretty quickly though when his piano started a new song and let me continue to hold her. He's continued his streak of whimpering jealousy when J and I happen to be holding other babies, but I think he's getting over it.

We went to a Rock Band 2 party which the boys were particularly excited about. They even had rock tshirts for the little kids. Aiden loved rocking right along with them, and since I was the band babysitter I got to dance (aka run after toddlers) for a couple hours. We then had a day that was more my speed cruising the awesome outlets not too far from here. We had three little ones that napped in different intervals in their strollers. We hopped between all the kiddy stores and had a pretty relaxing time all around.

My friend that made Aiden this adorable quilt invited us to their summer project quilt reveal. Aiden and I cruised there and he was not happy on the car ride. I was afraid that I wasn't goin to get a chance to see the quilts, but lucky for me, once we got in there he was happy as clam to smile at all the nice ladies and giggle with his little two year old friend. His favorite new thing is to put his chin really high in the air and wave with his arm extended way out like he's in a parade. As we left the quilt show, he was waving like that to all the funny ladies! It was such a great sense of community. I just wish I had an extra set of arms and eyes, so I could quilt and play with Aiden. Some day...

keeping it up

Our little toddler is keeping up with the toddling. But he isn't officially a toddler yet, right? He's just a wannabe toddler. I think the reason that he's walking is mainly to keep up with all the big kids at school. I watch them teach each other and he's our little sponge that soaks it all up. He's one of the original bunch that all started just a few months apart. Then there weren't any newbees for a while, so Aiden is the youngest of the bigger kids. Although if you looked at him in the room amongst them, you'd guess he's one of the older ones.

His teacher commented on Monday that he "seemed ready to walk" to gauge my reaction. When I explained how he'd been walking at home all weekend, my teacher smiled and said she was so relieved because he'd been walking back and forth all day and she didn't want me to be sad if those were his first steps. I am relieved that we did actually get to witness his first steps ;)

He is keeping up with the little walking game that he likes to play, and he's getting really good at starting and stopping now. So instead of just making a run for it and hoping that he stays balanced, he can stand up, balance, walk forward, stop, and then start walking again. He can even swipe a toy off the couch or even off the floor in between his toddles.

We finally managed to get some video because he was usually toddling back and forth between us but now we have the standup piano that he just loves (Thanks Lisa!) Here he is taking a few steps forward which sometimes resembles surfing (note the wagging tonque in the first shot - makes me giggle - We shed the big overalls and turned up the light for your viewing pleasure):

earning it

Daddy pointed out that this toy is the first thing that you earned... sorta on your own. You earned it from completing your swim class. You made it possible for us to show up on time each week, you didn't poo in your swim diaper so we didn't have to cut any classes short, and you were excited to kickkickkick and smile at your teacher. This toy came with a very official certificate.

signing more

We've been using baby signs off and on, but it seems like Aiden is really catching on and used the sign for "more" unprompted early today. I grabbed the camera and we managed to get him to use it again so he could get more cereal (which as you will see he just looooves - we're working on that specific sign too). I think that he's really at the prime age for signing. He really gets the hang of it by using it at school with the other kids around.

zebra tent

Here's little baby buddy and the new zebra tent. This tent will have many years of enjoyment at sleep over parties and maybe even on vacation. It was a gift from Great Aunt Hev (Thanks!) to continue a family tradition - She even sent a photo of little Auntie Liz with the Garfield tent in the background and their fun beach tent!
Here's a video of what happens if you put our mobile little guy in a tent:

first steps

They were in between lunges, squats, bobbles, toddles, and falls.
They were not at school, but in front of two happy parents that don't know what they are in for once he can really get around.
They were at 10 months, 1 week, and 3 days.

The first officially witnessed independent steps were away from his hippo towards his big ball pit. I figured balls would be his inspiration. Then he repeated the fun towards daddy with up to seven steps at a time. He would stand up straight against mommy, turn around, balance himself, and then run forward towards daddy with quick steps. Each time his arms were out waving around like little noodles. He really concentrated as he balanced himself and his little tongue stuck out for good measure. After daddy would scoop him into his arms his little legs would kick just to blow off some extra steam. They were ready for more.

my teachers!

She is brave enough to wear dangle earrings and teach you how to pat them nicely. She is smart enough to distract you when it's time to give back your toys at the end of the day. She is nice enough to rub your tummy when you are having trouble getting to sleep.  She always gives mommy a complete rundown of how you were feeling that day. You are excited to see her and you give her some really genuine snuggles. You may not notice when she has to go off to work somewhere else, but I will. She has an offer she can't refuse (working in insurance even though she has a degree and is a certified teacher in early childhood education), and we're happy for her. But I feel a sinking ick when I think of that time before they are able to hire someone new, and a super ick if you do notice that your favorite teacher is missing.

Aiden is really toddling now, and the bumps and bruises are part of the learning. But selfishly, I want her to stay because I trusted that she really cared about Aiden and wouldn't let him get lost in the shuffle. I know the other teachers are great, and thank goodness for his secondary teacher that has bonded with him too. I'm just hoping that they are able to get her to sign on for a longer day. In the meantime, I ride that fine line between worry and relief. I'm relieved that he gets so much good interaction with other kids and we learn how to balance our family life and work life. But I'm worried that Aiden is the type of kid that needs an attachment, someone consistent and not someone that is temporary or just filling in for the day. 

I guess we should focus on the fact that she offered to babysit any time, so J and I have a dependable trusted person to take care of Aiden after hours (which is really valuable!)  I'm sure we'll be able to keep in touch, and now we can get to know her even better because she can share her contact info.  She is even excited to come to Aiden's birthday party ;)

Miss Kim at the Heritage Potluck:

brusha brusha

It may seem crazy, but it is doctor recommended. Since Aiden's teeth are coming in in full force, she suggested that we start gently brushing with just water. I think that it's mostly practice and he actually really seems to like it. At first, he sorta sucked on the water on the brush, but he let me gently brush. He likes to drink water from the cups that we use, which he sometimes has no problem with but other times he dribbles everywhere. He does love pointing and bopping his Thomas tooth brush, and the teeth brushing may only be a side note.

workout

Aiden's teachers mentioned how much he likes pushing the car back and forth at school. I think last night he spent almost a half hour running back and forth razzing at us the whole time. He especially liked chomping up toys into his hippo. I think he got a good workout from all the running back and forth between mom and dad.

happy green bees

Some friends hooked us into doing this photo shoot for Happy Green Bee organic kid clothing. It was held at Whole Foods and it is essentially a brilliant marketing scheme for this company. They go around the country holding these photo shoots and open them to the public (giving you a free photo, organic hat, and story book), then you talk about their company and when they post the photos you're drawn to their website.

They sell their clothing at Whole Foods and if you've been there, you may have noticed it. It is all bright colored bold stripes. I had my eye on their "sweet blueberry and cloudless sky" stripes, but the infant large made Aiden look like a blueberry wrapped sausage. Ok, it really wasn't that bad, but the cardigan was a bit cropped and we'd forgotten his low rise diaper. jk. Our big guy ended up in a toddler small, so we had to jump over to the genderless colors. He ended up in butterscotch and chocolate. To quote my less than enthused husband, "The nice food color names are better than calling them the pee and poo colored stripes."

It was a good learning experience for me to see how they had the shoot arranged. Also, I think Aiden liked sliding around on the slick paper backdrop. He barely stood still and really, really wanted to grab the light cords.

They'll post the photos in a couple weeks. But in the mean time, my friend grabbed a few shots on the flip. You'll see them at the beginning with their calm, immobile seven month old. Here's our squirmy little happy bee:

Photoshoot from LB on Vimeo.
Or visit:http://vimeo.com/1686623

happy grandparents day!

Today is a favorite Hallmark holiday - A day to say thank you to grandparents and let them know how much you love them! We love you for all that you do!

GRANDPARENTS
Few can bring the warmth
We can find in their embrace,
And little more is needed to bring love.
Than the smile on their face.

They've a supply of precious stories,
Yet they've time to wipe a tear,
Or give us reasons to make us laugh,
They grow more precious through the years.

Author Unknown