the prince and the pea

Aiden's been more and more excited to feed himself. He can pluck even the tiniest peas up and pop them in his mouth. He usually wants one for each hand, but it definitely seems that he favors his right pluckers. His high chair isn't looking as much like a big throne now that he sits up and reaches out over his tray. He really seems to like veggies more than fruits lately.

We've tried a bunch of finger foods and his favorite definitely seems to be the cheerios, but peas seem to be a close second. We went to lunch the other day with my friend and she had puffs for her little girl. He didn't seem to keen on them and made a face like it had a strong flavor. I decided to try one to see if strawberry apple puffs were really strong, but that couldn't be farther from reality. They are tasteless blobs that must expand in your tummy.

I think it's sometimes just the texture that throws him off. He will keep eating, but sometimes the first reaction looks like a deal breaker. Here he is not so interested in his peaches, which he did finish after all.

happy birthday daddy!

It's J's birthday today! I put together a website for him (mostly for his professional schtuff) and set up a little special flash treat of baby smiles. I'm still learning, but here it is:

http://jasonfbrennan.com/myfamily/photogallery.swf

tubby time!

Yesterday was the first time we really filled up the bath and pulled out all the bath toys for some true tubby time! Aiden's always loved the bath, even on those cold winter days when it was more of a sponge bath. We usually just pour water over him with a cup and the tub only fills a tiny bit. One parent (usually daddy) is on cup duty monitoring how warm the water is and keeping the water flowing to keep him warm and occupied...while the other parent is scrubbing with the soap, putting on the penguin visor for head rinses, and making sure he's all clean and fresh. It's been a rare occasion when we haven't been able to give him a family scrub, but I do realize this isn't necessarily a two person job.

Bath time is usually pretty quick, but as Aiden gets more active and independent we realized that he'd probably really like to splash around. It's a nice way to cool off on these hot days too. This bath time included bubbles, whistling hippos (thanks J!), and foam letters (thanks B!). We took him out before his toes and fingers became too wrinkly, but I'm betting he'd like to just stay in there all the time.

Here's some tubby time video. The flip auto video on "playdate" features these little cheesy clip art snippets, but I still think it's fun. It pieces together the video in random ways and I think it's fun to see what you get. You'll see the first underwater shots of Aiden's feet with the ultra underwater cover - It leaked, but the camera survived! Tested it without the camera and it remained sealed... who knows - I don't plan to use it immersed again (at least not without backup and not to 30 feet like it says you can!) but it's a good cover for taking the camera to the pool or beach.

yum yums

Aiden's big boy eating now includes cereal os and chicken! He really works to pick up his own os and when he gets them in his hand sometimes he places it on his tongue and gnaws on it like he has a chicken bone in his mouth. Serious gnawing for a little o cereal. We also added in some chicken, sweet tater, and apricot delight which he seemed to like just as much as everything else, although the first sniff wasn't so hot (wish I had a photo of that expression on his face). It's hard to find something he doesn't want to gobble right up.

Still no official teeth for him to chomp with, but those little tooth buds are right there. It feels like teeth are wrapped in a thin layer of cellophane. Yes, he does bite occasionally and trust me they don't have to cut through the gums to feel like razorblades cutting me. I try not to squeak when he does it, or yell nooo, instead I promptly sit him up and say ouch, that hurts mommy. He usually looks at me with puppy dog eyes and I only have a split second to check my wounds before he wants to eat again. If cows can do it, I can too...My new motto as I manage to keep up with all the pumping and nursing. I can see whole milk on the horizon...although it IS a long way away!

Here Aiden is telling us a story about how awesome cereal is:

swim class signup

I signed Aiden up for his first swim class this morning. It starts Aug 2nd, just a day before he turns nine months. It's for munchkins 6-36 months with a parent. I'm hoping they will let us catch a few shots with the new flip camera covered in its new underwater cover (coming soon!). Stay tuned!

collages

TGIF! Click on them to see them larger.

your own food bits

You've been holding your bottle for yourself for a while, but today I tried to see what you would do with some banana chunks if I just put them on your tray. I put down some pretty big chunks and you immediately picked up the slippery bits and put them straight into your munchy mouth. You barely gave me a chance to grab the camera. I just caught the first official self feeding ;) Although you acted liked you do this all the time, you were happy to see us get excited.

8 months, 1 week, 6 days

playing in the new kitchen

It's technically not a new kitchen, but it's completely refaced (they layered the front with a new facade, not just veneer) and completely reorganized!
BEFORE:

AFTER:

artsy shot

Yes, those are elbow patches on Aiden's new wedding jacket (hopefully it will still fit in September for F and M's wedding). He is a baby professor. Can't help myself.

boohoo the weekend is over

Aiden says boohoo the weekend flew by... I swear that Aiden's smile came right back after the photo, but my camera was blocking his view of the kitty cat and he wanted my help chasing after her. This was a nice weekend (and it's not over yet - we still have bath time!)... We got going early and celebrated by eating breakfast out. J just found out he just got a new grant (no strings attached to a nice chunk of change - connected to his book that will go to the editor in the middle of August).

Yesterday we went to our old stomping ground for their Taste of the Square event. We had some treats (yummy meatball sandwiches and popcorn laced in something yum), got to know strangers, cruised into the ModMama shop (I drive past every day and was very curious about, turned out to be an overpriced stroller haven with cute little girl clothes), visited the bookstores (one of which I found out my new boss now owns!) and hit Jerry's Art-a-rama (some awesome deals on drawing stuff). All along the way Aiden was making friends by smiling and clapping at people (even when he was tired). We're enjoying getting out in the nice weather this summer...

blue baa baa

Aiden has been super vocal lately. Our favorite is when he says Aww and Eh at the kitties or at the fireworks. I tivoed the fireworks on TV with the Boston Pops and let's just say Aiden was mesmerized. He doesn't usually pay much attention to the TV. I'm not sure if it was the music or the big booms, but he immediately started clapping and gurgling oohs and aaahs. He has zurbert weeks that leads into new noises that he likes to make for the next week. This week's Dobeedohdohdoh is one of my all time favorites.

In precrawl mode, he does a lot of squirming around and scooting backwards. His newest trick is hiding things by sitting on them. He even did this with a stinky teether biscuit (which he thinks is a toy now) this morning. I'm really betting that his first word is going to be kitty or he's going to really crawl (forward!)toward a cat for the first time. His latest crawing exercise is to push with both feet crossed and belly scoot just enough to grab something. He's usually just yelling for us to lift him up to standing so that he can take off in pursuit of the kitties. He will take deliberate steps, one foot in front of the other while we hold his hands. He wants to do this, until he's all tuckered out, all the way around the circle that is created by our living room, kitchen, and dining room. It's the same circle that I would walk for "exercise" when I was so, so pregnant and the same path that GranGran would hold Aiden over her shoulder to calm him when he fussed and say "if you're talking, we're walking"...

Second to the kitties, his new favorite is the big blue ball. Daddy had this ball on his shopping list for a while because our big exercise ball is just way too big, and we found the perfect blue baaall last weekend. It's already a new fixture in the floortime toys. Here he is giggling at the blue ball:

1st teether biscuit

Aiden's been starting on small bits of "table" food, and he does pretty well. Some of his purees are a little chunky so you can see him munch on them and swallow. Also, he likes to be occupied with something while we eat dinner, so we gave him his first teether biscuit on Thursday. It was an organic deal that doesn't really taste all that great, but he's discovered it makes a great instrument/toy to wack. I think I'm going to make some of my own from my friend's recipe and see if they taste better. Here's the munchkin playing and gnawing:

best places to raise a family

Academia is a fairly stable profession after many years of bouncing around to grad school to post docs to research positions then finally tenure. Once you have tenure there is no guarantee that you won't be able to resist offers from other schools that vie for your attention. This means that we will probably replant again at some point in our lives... who knows when, but I hope that it's before Aiden starts school or is old enough to really care. I also hope that he feels like he has an idea of where his parents work. Some of my favorite memories are visiting my mom's kindergarten classroom as a helper for the day. She would always ask the kids to guess who I was, which I always thought was really fun...and my mom liked it when they guessed that I was her sister (even when I was in 5th grade!)

This article on the best places to raise a family caught my attention. They used factors like the total number of pediatricians, but you only need one right?! But I get the point. I am also very skeptical when I see amount spent per student as a factor, because spending a lot on education doesn't equate to good education. It's more about how engaged the community is in the schools. Here is the
complete article here if you're curious...

new foods

Aiden is still working on his 7-9 month food additions! It's hard for me to even remember everything that he eats now. I try to keep track so that he's not having the same thing too often, so on the calendar I roughly record the different foods in categories, usually by color - greens and oranges mostly.

But here're our favorite combos:

Mama Grain Poi - (formerly known as plumber's putty when I made a bad batch in Ohio) I've really fine tuned it now. You have to puree it just enough, but not too much. I added a whole pear to the recipe to make the texture better. The pear is watery so it breaks down the gritty beans and quinoa. It helps to really steam the heck out of the bananas too because it makes them sweeter. It looks a bit like poi, that hawaiian purple root stuff.

Oreo Pie: No actual oreos or other over processed sugars in this yummy mixture of Mama Grain (see above - the beans make it look like crushed oreo bits) and yobaby organic yogurt (which is a Baby AB faaavorite!)

Pruney Nana: This purple toned concoction is a sweet smelling combo of fresh squashed banana and well hydrated, steamed prunes/plums.

Pearple Broccoflower:It's a bunch of cauliflower, broccoli, pears, and apple all together in a nice light green smooth puree. It's almost fluffy enough that we could call them sweet mashed potatoes.

Baby Dhal - Lentils and carrot with just the right amount of texture so he's learning to swallow more than just a puree.

His simple favorite seems to be banana. His only distaste was avocado and I think we should give it another try with a really ripe one and he wouldn't mind it now. He literally gobbles up just about everything we give him. I made a big batch of new frozen foods this weekend: another batch of mama grain, black beans and quinoa on their own (for mixing later with other veggies), and the new favorite pearple broccoflower. Yeah, I know, sounds creepy, but it actually tastes really good.

I had quinoa with a cranberry vinaigrette at the Whole Foods lunch bar the other day (our new favorite lunch when J picks me up from RISD) It tastes like a cross between rice and couscous - but it's a complete protein. It is almost translucent and looks lighter than it tastes. It has these little squiggles (where the grain expands it looks like) and if you're not creeped out, I would recommend it! We shopped around this weekend for a new fridge to go with our new cabinets and drawers (to be installed the week after next) and ended up with a new GE side by side in stainless steel. Ever since we left our schmancy side by side in Tucson, I've been itching for a new one. I know that my folks will appreciate the ice and water in the door too (Hey mom and dad, I got a great glass of ice water waiting for you in August!) Now our ice cube trays can be exclusively devoted to baby food making ;) and I have plenty of extra room for all my frozen milk.

family fourth

Our family fourth of july and mini birthday celebration at Nana's house... Cousin Kayley is a sweet heart to Aiden and Uncle Matt and Aunt Jess just can't get enough baby time (it's contagious!). Thanks for everything especially the cuddles for Aiden.

Or visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S6nwMXBXpI

And this is the flip camera in the hands of a three year old - Yeah Kayley Girl!:

Or visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjXdADyo8jw

mama can jump!

We took a trip down Route 44 to see what we could see... Ate a late breakfast (my favorite) at Papa's Breakfast Barn in Rehoboth, drove through Taunton, tried to get into the flea market but it was closed, and ended up at the Silver City Galleria.

In an effort to publicly humiliate myself (although I did manage to pull it off even with J and Aiden razzing me), this was just way too much fun! They really call it "That Jumpy Thing":

Or visit:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0OGrn4RA_o - where you can watch it in higher quality too... because you know you want the fine detail ;)

happy fourth of july!

Stars and stripes forever!

Photo by Auntie Liz at the zoo ;)

8 months!

Dear Aiden-bo-baden,

You are still our little Baby AB as you turn eight months old today! There are so many tidbits from your seventh month. We know that you are learning just as your dad and I are learning to understand you and each other better. Some days it seems that our learning curves are in tune. As we hug goodbye in the morning, we noticed that if you weren't distracted by your toys, you were beaming and giggling at us with your clappy hands. I'm glad you know how much we love each other.

One of your new favorite activities this month was watching the rain against our big slider door in the barn room - The big bright lights, the waving trees, and the splurty raindrops. The barn room itself fascinates you and you're always crooking your neck to see the big lights. You are much more aware of your surroundings now, and we like to surround you with new things like the grocery store shelves - yep, that's enrichment alright.

Holding our hands, you lift up to standing, then you will balance as you put one foot in front of another - somedays wanting to walk back and forth across the room. On your own, you can scoot backwards and you are definitely in pre-crawl mode. You lunge forward from sitting and end up on your hands and feet like you're practicing your downward facing dog yoga position. Your preferred method of transportation is the good ol roll. I came into daycare earlier this week and couldn't see you because you'd rolled from your normal play spot, all the way across the room, even scooting under the table where your teacher was talking to another mom.

You have done some wild projects at school this month. Highlights include "exploring with red jello in a ziplock bag," "making stars with glitter and glue," and "playing in the sandbox with my friends". It still amazes me that those brave teachers let you near glitter and the sandbox, but dad joked that he found it hard to believe that they put you in a ziplock to play. trahaha. But some of my favorites came toward the end of the month, "Today Aiden explored warm blue water infused with glitter," and "Today Aiden waved at his friends!"

When we were in Ohio, my parent's nice neighbors let us borrow an exersaucer. This particular one was bright orange and featured an identity crisis of toy peripherals: apples, dogs, and cars!? All in one bouncey bounce? Our friends commented when they saw you in your home version (which fits into the castle theme) that they would like an adult version with docking stations and big kid toys. The other awesome play toy in Ohio was a gigantic beach ball that has somehow survived since your Auntie Liz had a birthday pool party who knows how many years ago. When daddy would roll it toward you as you stood against cousin Julie's knees, you would jump and lean forward as if to say 'bring it'. If daddy didn't roll it again quickly enough you would yelp and giggle with anticipation. It was your first version of dodge ball.

Around the time we got home from Ohio, I trimmed what your Gran kept calling your "horns" which were two long strands of hair on either side of your forehead that Gran kept joking she was going to put into rubber bands like that "little Shyla/Kate/whatever her name is character at your school" if I didn't trim them. I also snipped off some of the length on your thinning baby mullet to even out your neckline. I've been cutting your dad's hair for at least seven years now, so we'll see if I can manage to trim your little fuzz head at least for a while.

You saw your first hippo this month at the zoo and had your first visit to the art museum. We can't wait for many more firsts to celebrate!
Love, Ma

first flip video

Seriously couldn't be easier! It was so simple it was hard at first. I was looking to do things like compress the video but I didn't even have to because it does it automatically! Downloads like a dream. I made this with one of their auto features in three clicks - seriously! Higher quality than my point and shoot camera video function and ten times easier to download than my sony. But don't worry they will still get plenty of use... must diversify.

Or visit:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jplNoFqa3yA
P.S. The nostalgic sepia tone with old camera film lines is for effect. The actual flip video is clean and crisp.

mommy check in

I arrived home after work last night with our little smiley in full smile. It was a smooth pick up at school. I didn't see another mom get an incident report (because another kid wacked her bitty baby leaving a big welt, although the teacher kept saying, "...but it didn't break the skin"...eek. I think that Kyla character is getting bored lately and she is ready for the big kid room next month.) I didn't have to wisk Aiden out of a bouncey saucer as he fussed for attention. I don't have any worry that he isn't getting what he needs at school. He just needs to be safe, and there may be minor incidents with that Kyla character, but they always keep him safe. At school, I feel like some days he gets more and some days less. Yes, I feel guilty when I think he's getting less, but whos to say that he wouldn't get less from me some days if I were staying home with him?! Life is about having on and off days.

It was an 'on' day. J immediately came out to help Aiden and I get out of the car. He started explaining that the cats had done something to the couch. I was literally just emailing with a friend about how we never declawed our cats, and I had visions of a ripped up couch... and then visions of us being indecisive trudging through a furniture store with Aiden ;) I bounced in the door and he said that I should look behind the big cushion... I looked and saw a bag tucked back there. Thinking: I wonder how this bag fell back here and I don't see any damage... then waaaait, why does this bag have a new flip video camera in it?! It was a nice early birthday present surprise from my thoughtful husband! We don't really stick with the actual holiday and it's sometimes such a treat to get a present out of the blue. Case in point yesterday. I can't wait to use it during the fourth of july holiday family visit!

Today is a big day in the financial life of the Brennans. J has a real Assistant Professor gig that officially starts today. I'm super proud of him, and it's hard to imagine that we are really making as much money as we are. I still think sometimes we live like we did when we were making under $50,000 a year [that was a long time ago, J wants to add]. I got the typical raise along with the biggest bonus yet - I get to work from home two days a week starting in August! It will be so nice to have a distraction free work environment for creative projects. Aiden will still be at school like normal, but I think it will give me more flexibility. I can also go over to visit and feed him at lunch time since it's right around the corner from home.

Summer hours rock - getting out of work at 4pm every day. On top of it, I'm taking my RISD class Tuesday/Thursday from 10am-1pm which means that it breaks up the work day well. I have my tired days, but most days are very manageable. I got distracted during my break from class today and this baby link my friend sent me sucked me in - ohdeedoh.com. (etsy highlight is the dribbledana = a bandana drool bib)

They were also highlighting a book on motherhood called "The Second Nine Months"...Being a new mom is just as up and down as being pregnant and just as challenging. I think more challenging really. I then got sucked into all the new mom books on amazon. I wish I had time to actually read them (to go back in time I think I would read them, but with caution, because some seem to have a negative approach that isn't always necessary), but instead my demanding day means I'm only reading the amazon reader excerpts (I love the surpise me function that picks a page at random for you to read!) The jist of the books all say something about you just don't have aaaany idea what you are getting into until you are actually a parent. Oh, that is soo true.

Another book that caught my attention was called "I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids: Reinventing Modern Motherhood" The use this cupcake recipe analogy that I think will hit home for many. Here is your surprise me page! - click to see larger: