First Christmas

We had a nice, a low key Christmas this year. Aaron is too young to care about it and we have enough going on without the extra stress and work of wrapping even more gifts and putting up a tree and then taking it down 3 weeks later. Thom and I bought our own big gift this year (Thom got an internet tablet and I got new bedding for our bed) and then we got each other one gift to open on Christmas. We didn't get Aaron any gifts this year, but we do a gift exchange with my family, so he got something from all his aunts and uncles and we got gifts for all my nieces and nephews. Without a tree, we just put the gifts on the "holiday window seat" to await Christmas.

In lieu of a tree, we put together a basket of lights with some pine branches from the front yard, some pine cones and some pepper berries. We surrounded it with cards and holiday photos from friends and family.

We spent Christmas Eve with my sister Theresa's family and our parents. Theresa hosted a delicious dinner at her house. Aaron did pretty well, but after getting him home and into bed a little later than usual, Thom and I were so tired, we went to bed by 9pm.

Aaron got us up nice and early on Christmas as usual, and after feeding him and grabbing some coffee, we settled down on the couch to open presents. We only had a couple gifts between us, but Thom's sister Janine had sent gifts for us and for Aaron. Aaron seemed to enjoy his first gift:



And that was before he opened it! After opening his gifts, he was happy to play with the paper and ribbons. This is one of the reasons we did not bother buying him toys this year.

Aunt Janine and Uncle Bruce got Aaron a little glass ornament and a new book about a sheep named Russell who helps Santa after his sleigh breaks down. Aaron enjoyed his new book.

See the slideshow at the end of the blog entry for more pictures of Aaron opening his gifts and playing with the wrapping paper and ribbons.

After two naps and a bath, we headed down to my parents' house for Christmas with my family. Aaron did surprisingly well on only a short nap while we were there.

Aaron's cousins Noah and Grayson got electric guitars from Santa. Fortunately they did not bring their amplifier with them to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

We had a good afternoon with my family. Aaron got a savings bond and a "1st Christmas" ornament from Grandma and Grandpa and several new outfits from his aunts and uncles, including a onesie that says "Science is Awesome!"

Today we explored a park near our house that has lots of trees, big rocks and a creek running through it. There were a lot of paths, some paved, some dirt. We found a nice play area at one end of the park and put Aaron in one of those infant swings for the first time. He seemed like he didn't know what to think about it. Then we played on some of the other equipment for toddlers and he really seemed to like a large gear assembly that you could turn and make several gears turn at once. I think we'll be going back to that park many times in the future.

Thom is taking off until Jan. 2, so it is nice having him around. Tomorrow our sitter is coming so I can get some work done and Thom can have some down time. She's working a late shift so we can go out to dinner, too. I'm looking forward to that. We've only gotten out together without Aaron a handful of times in 8 months, but it is something we need to do more often.

Teething spoon

Aaron always likes to see what we are doing and wants to touch whatever we have. When we were cleaning up the kitchen the other night, we gave him a wooden spoon. It is apparently perfect for teething. He slobbered and chewed on it for quite awhile. His frozen teething rings hold much less appeal - he might chew on one for a minute, and even then, only if we hold it for him. We might as well throw them out and buy more wooden spoons.

Bath time

There was a time - a long time - when Aaron wouldn't make it through his entire bath routine without crying. Sometimes he would do well until we took him out of the tub and toweled him off and then he'd cry and scream and wouldn't settle down until he was in his pj's and held by one of us. But recently he has been tolerating his baths much better and even seems to enjoy being dried off in his yellow ducky towel.

Holiday Card Photo Shoot

Last weekend we took some photos of Aaron for our annual holiday cards (I say "holiday" since they cover Christmas and New Year's and they aren't really late if they arrive after Dec. 25, which they sometimes do). Here are some shots that didn't make the cover of our card. (He finally smiles for the camera on occasion!)

The Perfect Playpen

Last night, I was attempting to take sheets out of the washer and put them into the dryer while holding Aaron. In front of the washer, we keep a small, square laundry basket for catching stray socks and other items that invariably fall on out when we are moving clothes from washer to dryer. I looked down at the basket, I looked at Aaron hooked on my left hip and realized it would be a perfect fit. So I set him down in the basket and proceeded to move the sheets.

He found it quite interesting, all those little holes to investigate.

After taking a couple of photos, I thought it would a great place to put him while I made his dinner. So we moved the basket into the dining room where we could see him from the kitchen and gave him a rattle to play with (which he unsuccessfully tried to push through the holes in the basket).

The square basket is the perfect size. Since Aaron still can't quite sit up on his own, the basket helps support him and isn't big enough for him to fall over - at least not more than he can correct for. And any toys we put in the basket with him are always within reach. At least until he dangles them over the side of the basket and lets them fall to the ground.

Late Autumn

It is finally starting to cool off (with a few warm days here and there). Most evenings or mornings when we take Aaron for a walk now, we need to bundle him up. Mom knit him a cap before he was born that was a little too big at first, but fits perfectly now that winter is coming. It keeps his head and his ears warm while we are out. And it is just adorable on him.

It looks in these pictures like Aaron is unhappy with me and much happier with Thom, but I think he is reacting to who is behind the camera. :-) Actually, Thom took another picture of me and Aaron where Aaron is smiling, but I'm blinking, so I picked the one more flattering to myself.

Mom also just knit Aaron a pair of mittens to keep his little hands warm on his walks. We haven't gotten a picture of them, but they do keep his hands warm - when he keeps them on. It is very hard to grab things when you have mittens, and there is always something to grab, even inside the stroller.

As Aaron's first Christmas approaches, we have been thinking about what to do. I feel like most parents would be going all out for the first Christmas, but I think we've decided to be low key this year. He won't care about presents yet - he's happy to play with a cardboard UPS envelope in my office, and with our current lack of sleep, getting a tree and wrapping even more presents seems like too much work for someone who won't appreciate it. I think we'll put up some lights since he likes lights and of course we'll celebrate Christmas with my family.

My family who probably thinks I'm crazy because I asked them not to give him toys made in China since we are worried about lead exposure while he is putting things in his mouth. Instead, we asked for clothes and books since asking for toys not made in China seems like an impossible request. Plus he has so many toys already - mostly hand-me-downs from friends and my sister's kids (and probably laden with lead, but what can you do?) I don't think he'll feel deprived. He'll just enjoy seeing his cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and getting to play with wrapping paper - especially if there is any with writing on it. He loves anything with words on it - paper, sweatshirts, tags on his toys. Given my love for reading, I'm taking his interest in letters as a positive sign.

Oh, and by Christmas, he should be sitting up. He is soooooo close. He can sit up for short periods of time unassisted, but generally still falls over if unsupported.

First Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving at my brother and his wife's house. My parents were there, along with my brother Jeff and his son Alex (home from college), Lia and George, Barb's brother and his family, plus Barb's two kids. It was potluck, although Jim and Barb made a lot of food including the turkey. We had a good time.

Aaron managed to take one short nap while we were over there, thanks to Mom's magical abilities. Despite being short, his timing was perfect - he went down just before dinner and he woke up just after I had finished eating. He had sweet potatoes and a 3 grain cereal mix with homemade applesauce for dessert, fed to him by Auntie Lia. With all the food restrictions prior to 9 and 12 months (no dairy, no eggs, no meat, no wheat), there really wasn't any of the regular food he could eat this year.

He's been taking really short naps the last few days and seems to be teething like crazy, which makes me think the two are related. He moves his pacifier to one side of his mouth and gnaws on it, then moves it to the other side, gnaws some more, than moves it back to the middle and continues to suck on it. We gave him a teething biscuit today, in his highchair with us both keeping an eye on him. The biscuit was a wheat, soy and dairy free teething biscuit that had the consistency of particle board. Even I couldn't bite a piece off of it. I don't think he quite knew what to make of the biscuit. Mostly he sucked on it. Hopefully some teeth come in soon and he gets some relief.

7 Months: Revisited

One more picture from his 7 month birthday.

This was taken after our evening walk. The days have been getting cooler, so he needs a sweatshirt when we go out. By the time we get back from our 20 minute walk, his little hands are freezing.

Work

I just wanted to post an update on how my work is going. I've got two contract jobs at the moment, one with my former company, that will cover my startup expenses and babysitting for the year. By year end, I should be in the black!

I've only been working about 20 hours a week, which is about what I can manage during Aaron's naps and when his sitter Julie is here, not working evenings or weekends when Thom is home. But I'm working on a deal for some funding for my first software product and the time lines I need to agree to for the funding will require me to increase my hours to near full-time. It's only for the next 4-6 months and in anticipation, I've had my niece Larissa (pictured here with Aaron in his carrier) start helping out two days a week after school. She gets dropped off by 3pm and stays through dinnertime with us, after which Thom or I give her a ride home.

It's really been great having Larissa babysit. She is 16 and I used to babysit her when I wasn't much older than she is now. She's great with Aaron and I think it is a good experience for her as well as for Aaron. And I'm really enjoying getting to spend time with her in the evenings and having her join Thom and I for dinner.

With Larissa's help, along with our sitter Julie, and by working some weekends, I should be able to get my product out Q1 of next year. And still have time to do things with Aaron like going to story time at the library (which we've done the last 2 weeks).

I'm really excited about work right now. Things are going well and I may even have some help getting my company off the ground. Just part-time help from some friends who have their own full-time jobs, but who are interested in what I'm doing and want to help me succeed. I think 2008 is going to be a very interesting year.

Baby food update

Since I started him on solid foods, Aaron has tried rice cereal, oatmeal, banana, carrots, peas, winter squash, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes. He eats everything, although I don't think he really liked the winter squash, so I've stopped buying it. The mushed up banana didn't evoke the positive reaction I expected for his first really sweet food, but I've started mixing it in with his oatmeal in the mornings and he seems to like it just fine.

I've made carrots and sweet potatoes from scratch, freezing them in ice cube trays and storing them in bags, and I fed him canned organic pumpkin that I watered down (and froze the left overs in cubes). I tried preparing peas (from frozen organic), but wasn't happy with the texture. I might try that again though, because right now, everything I have in the freezer is orange. I'm afraid he'll have a Vitamin A overdose! My mom is going to help me make some applesauce this week, though, so we'll have a second fruit to add to the menu.

He is such a good eater and I'm hoping that by exposing him to lots of foods now, he will stay a good eater, but I've heard it doesn't always work that way. I'm also hoping that by making as many of his foods myself that he will be less picky later on. My friend Lisa made a lot of her daughter's foods, just using the veggies she was going to eat, but preparing them special for Kimberley. Since home prepared foods tend to be a little more textured than jarred baby foods, she credits this practice with Kimberley's willingness, when they were away from home, to just eat mashed up or cut up food from Lisa's plate when she was a toddler, rather than Lisa having to cart around special baby food for her.

I've found that the carrots I cook and blend myself are more palatable to me than the jarred carrots I've bought (I taste everything I give him). So hopefully Aaron thinks so, too. Jarred baby food just seems to have a weird lack of texture and flavor. And as he grows up, it will be easier to just transition over to feeding him what we eat (minus the added salt) if I'm already preparing his food from scratch. Not that I don't buy jarred baby food - I do keep it for emergencies. But since it's so easy to make it, I don't see the point in using it on a regular basis.

In addition to eating solids for breakfast and dinner, I've also started giving him a sippy cup with water at dinnertime. He can't hold it himself, but he likes to suck some water out, swallowing some and letting the rest dribble down onto his bib. It's good practice for when he is weaned and it seems to be a fun experience for him.

7 Months!

Today is Aaron's 7 month birthday. It's hard to believe how quickly the time has passed. Thom and I read somewhere recently that with children, the hours pass slowly, but the days pass quickly. How can one afternoon drag on for so long when I'm tired, but a whole month passes by in the blink of an eye?

Aaron is developing quite a personality. He is a curious, social little boy with a maturing sense of humor. Except when he is tired, he tends to be in a good mood. He is constantly searching for new things to examine and touch.

He wants to grab everything these days. No longer content to just sit on the swing with me, he wants to grab the chain holding it up and see how he might apply his rattle to the chain. When walking around the house with him, I have to be careful of his grabby little paws that try to pick up anything within his reach. Many times I get up with him from the couch after a feeding only to find he has a throw pillow or the corner of the blanket on the back of the couch in his hand. He grabs things before you even realize they are within reach or that he was even paying attention to them.

He seems even more social these days, too. He loves being out and about and will be content in new surroundings even when tired to the point that at home he'd be having a meltdown. When strangers talk to him, he'll smile and sometimes shyly turn his head to the side in his stroller. He's a real charmer and seems to especially notice the ladies, be they toddler girls or adult women.

He still laughs and giggles at the old standbys - kissing his check, making silly noises. But he also has begun to find himself funny. One evening, he made a loud ear-piercing screech. We laughed at him and he laughed too. Then I was kissing his cheeks and making him giggle, but when I stopped, he paused and then tried to replicate the screeching sound. He didn't quite get it, but he still thought it was a funny sound and laughed at himself. When he laughed at himself, it was a different laugh than the giggle of being kissed by Mommy. This went on for several minutes. We couldn't help but laugh with him.

Here is a slideshow of some photos we took today.

First Halloween

We didn't get Aaron a costume for his first Halloween, but his Auntie Lia gave him this scary onesie which he wore to his 6 month checkup (it was delayed due to the fires last week). We think Aaron looks good in black, but it's not a color baby clothing typically comes in.

At his checkup, Aaron weighed in at 18 lbs 11 oz, so he is definitely slowing down, which is great since he's getting hard to lug around. He measured 27.5 inches, or one inch longer than 2 1/2 months ago, and his head circumference was 46 cm, 2 more than last time. The pediatrician didn't tell me what his percentiles were, but she said she had been worried his head size would be off the charts this time and was glad to see that his growth had slowed down a bit.

Thom had a meeting he couldn't get out of at the same time as Aaron's appointment, so this was the first set of vaccinations I had to handle on my own. Usually, Thom holds Aaron while the nurse administers the shots and I look away. It actually wasn't as bad as I expected. The first vaccination is oral, which he never seems to mind (I'm sure they sweeten it). I had him sitting in my lap for the shots with a pacifier in his mouth. I watched the nurse plunge what must have been at least a 3" needle into his leg (not all the way) and he didn't so much as flinch. But then she did the second shot and he howled and his face turned red as huge tears spilled down his face. She said that was the shot that hurt most babies. We still had two more shots to go on the second leg, but she went quick. As unpleasant as it was, I managed to calm him down within a few minutes and he was smiling by the time we scheduled his next flu shot (they do 2, one month apart at his age).

The one thing that is frustrating about pediatrician appointments, and I've heard other moms tell me it is the same at other offices, is the waiting. I had to check in 15 minutes before his 10am appointment. The nurse didn't call us back until close to 10:15. Toy Story had started on the big flat screen TV they have in the waiting room while we were waiting there. After taking his temperature, weighing and measuring him, the nurse left us to tell his doctor we were ready. Since it was close to feeding time, I fed Aaron while we waited. I could hear his doctor in the hall and then in adjacent rooms. It was after 11am by the time she arrived, so I was really glad I'd fed him. At least she apologized, but Aaron had been getting pretty antsy and tired and we'd had to pace around the small examine room to keep him calm. Having waited so long, I had no qualms about asking her my dozen or so questions I'd saved up for the appointment, all of which she answered and a few more. I'm sure the next mom had to wait even longer than I did...unless she was smart enough not to check in 15 minutes early. By the time we left, it was 11:30am - enough time that Toy Story had finished and was starting over again.

The day after his shots, Aaron threw up after breakfast. I had fed him oatmeal cereal, and winter squash for the first time. Then I nursed him. Then he threw up. It was the first time I've seen him throw up. I guess I can't be 100% sure it wasn't just spit up, but it sounded more like vomiting and there was more of it. I took his temp and it was around 100. I looked over the literature on the vaccines and several of them indicated vomiting and low fever were possible side effects in the days following the shots. Probably not a good day to introduce a new food since I couldn't be sure it wasn't the squash that had upset his tummy (although he has since had it again without similar effect, although we waited a full day to try again).

We had plans to visit my friend Biriz (who had invited me over for coffee) and her 1 year old daughter Alara and since he seemed to be feeling OK, I decided to go anyway. We stopped by my old office first to visit since it was close to Biriz's place and still too early to go over (we had to wait until after Alara's morning nap). I guess it was too much. By the time we got to Biriz's, his temp was over 101, so I stripped him down to his diaper and gave him some Tylonol.

He did OK at first, but he was really tired at that point and I tried to put him down in Alara's crib, but he couldn't sleep. He ended up getting so over-tired, he just couldn't calm down. I got him to quiet down a few times, but then Alara would cry a bit and it upset him so much, he'd start crying inconsolably. I think it was all from the shots. So we came home sooner than I would have liked and he took a nap. Not a long one, but when he woke up, he was feeling much better. And his temp had been down under 99.

We will have to visit Alara and Biriz again when he is feeling better. Biriz had made a wonderful cake with almonds and citrus that she served with coffee and had Aaron been in a better mood, it would have been a very nice afternoon out. Fortunately, Aaron seems mostly back to his normal self.

Taggies

Auntie Janine, Thom's sister, gave Aaron this Taggies blanket which has different tags sewn around the border, varying in color and texture. I had it in Aaron's crib the other day as part of my goal of finding some "cuddle" toys for Aaron to sleep with, but it was at the foot of the crib when I put him down.
When Thom went to get Aaron up after we could hear that he was awake, he found the Taggies blanket on top of Aaron. He must have kicked it up within reach.

C'mon Janine - don't these pictures make you want to see how adorable your nephew is in person? The guest room awaits...

Visit from Grandma Jane

Last Sunday, before we knew about the fires, our friend Linda and her mom Jane came to see Aaron. Jane is from Ohio and was visiting Linda for a week and this was her first time meeting Aaron. Linda and Thom have been friends for so long, she is like family to us. And Jane and her husband Dick (who passed away 2 years ago) have been like adopted in-laws to Thom and I. So Jane has become "Grandma Jane" to Aaron.

When she arrived, Aaron has just gone down for a nap and we let a very impatient :-) Jane peek in on him while he slept. After lunch, Aaron finally woke up, but not in a very good mood, despite taking a fairly long nap. Aaron was pretty fussy, but I don't think Grandma Jane took it personally. Hopefully Aaron will be friendlier with her when she visits town again in January.

Ash from the fire

When we got home, there was a fair amount of ash in the yard, but not too bad. Here are a couple of photos of the front and back before Thom hosed it down.

The Santa Ana winds also tore down a corner of our sun shade. It is secured pretty well with hardware and it actually didn't tear, but the turnbuckle came unscrewed, giving you a good idea how strong and long the winds blew to get it to come undone.

Slowly returning to normal

Last night we opened a good bottle of wine to celebrate our return home. Considering that all of our wine could have gone up in flames, it seemed like a good time to pull out a special bottle.

This morning, I was able to put Aaron in his Jumperoo where he happily jumped until I made him some cereal which he ate in his highchair. Simple things, but after spending 3 nights away from home without his Jumperoo or his highchair, I really appreciated them. While at my parents house, we to hold him most of the time he was awake (or put him on the bed in our room where he could play with his feet) since we had no contraption into which to place him and the floor wasn't safe with a puppy running around and twin 4 year old boys. And although I managed to feed him on my lap or while he was in someone else's lap, it's definitely easier to do in the highchair.

We saw a map today of the homes that burned in our neighborhood and it confirmed what I had guessed - the fires came within .5 miles of our home. We can't see the burned homes from our house since they are over the hill from us, so seeing the map really made it clear how lucky we were. We heard that there were a lot of firefighters in this area protecting our homes and I know there were helicopters doing water drops. Although 20 homes or so burned in our neighborhood, they were mostly homes adjacent to the open space. The firefighters managed to keep the fire from encroaching further in.

When we were under evacuation, I was worried about our home, but also felt strangely detached. I love our home and neighborhood and I'm a sentimental pack rat that has closets filled with "stuff", so I expected to be more concerned about losing it all. But I think having Aaron has changed my perspective. We had packed up photos and some mementos along with our clothes, so we did have some of our irreplaceables with us. But I think the important thing is that I was with Thom and Aaron and my family was all safe. I'm sure I would have been upset if we did lose our house and its contents, but at the time, I had my family and nothing else was important enough to lose sleep over.

Back home!

We found out this morning that the evacuation order had been lifted for our neighborhood, so we headed home a little after noon. It's smoky outside, but inside it is not too bad. Lots of ash outside and small amounts near doors and windows inside. We unpacked the car, called my parents, some neighbors, and now we are about to pop a pizza in the oven for an overdue lunch.

Our home survived!

Thom drove up to our neighborhood a little bit ago and our house is in good shape. There is some ash, but not as bad as he expected and inside the house is not too smoky. He was able to grab a few things from the house before heading back. The evacuation is still in order, but the streets are not all guarded so some people have been able to get in to check on their properties at their own risk. Thom did report that the fires seem to be out in our neighborhood, so hopefully the danger has passed and we can go home tomorrow.

He also drove by my sister's neighborhood and it seems to have survived as well, although he didn't drive by her house itself. He also commented that there were people out playing golf on a nearby golf course. I guess some people are less affected by the fires than others.

Update

Since Monday, we've been watching the news most of the day, reading news online and following local blogs and newsgroups set up just for these fires. The blogs and newsgroups are a good source of information since some neighbors have been able to get into the neighborhood and check the status of the homes there and then report online. No one has reported on our street itself, although streets nearby have been spared which is a good sign. We've also been talking to other people from our neighborhood and calling our answering machine to see if it still picks up.

As of today, as best we can tell, our house is still standing, although other homes in our neighborhood have been lost. Since the fires are still burning and the winds could change direction, we are not out of the woods yet, but remain optimistic. Thom drove up to our neighborhood to see if he can get in to our house. We're not sure he'll be allowed in, but hopefully at least he will have some news of the area when he returns.

We will keep you posted.

Thank you!

We've had so many friends and family call or e-mail to check on us since Monday. We really appreciate it. We've had several offers of places to stay and offers of help. It's a good feeling knowing that we can rely on our friends in times of need. And I'm so glad we live near family during something like this. My parents have been extremely helpful, I can't thank them enough.

Although I think we did pretty good packing for an evacuation, there are a few things we could have used, most of them for Aaron. Luckily, our friends Chris and Jenny live only a mile or so from my parents and also have a baby boy, so they have been a great resource. Monday, Thom went over to get a baby monitor and some bibs (I only had one with me that had already been in the diaper bag). The spare monitor they had was a video monitor and was not wireless. Not only is our room upstairs, it is the furthest one down the hall, so the monitor wouldn't help us if we were downstairs eating dinner. So on Tuesday, they offered us their wireless monitor, willing to do without it for a couple of days to help us out. This was a big help since we'd been making sure one of us (or another family member) was upstairs within earshot of Aaron while he was sleeping.

Also on Tuesday, we took Aaron over to Chris and Jenny's house for a bath. I hadn't packed any necessities for bathing Aaron. In addition to letting us give him a bath, Jenny had baked us some chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin bread (both were excellent!) and ended up packing a bag for us with the wireless baby monitor, the baked goodies, pajamas for me (which I forgot to pack), more burp cloths, some extra clothes for Aaron since Oliver is not yet using his 6-9 month outfits, and a baby towel and washcloths for us to take with us. All of this has made our stay away from home easier and more comfortable.

Evacuation

Today is the third day we've been under evacuation. As far as we can tell - from informal reports from neighbors online and the fact that answering machine is still picking up, our house is still standing.

Sunday afternoon, our friend Linda and her mother Jane were visiting (I will post another blog entry with pictures on that). When we saw them out, we noticed it was smoky and figured there was a fire somewhere. It is prime fire season out here and it's not uncommon to have smoke from distant fires, especially with Santa Ana winds to blow the smoke from the east. We watched the news briefly and saw that the fires were well east of us. Then we headed to a our friends' home for their daughter's birthday party. I didn't think too much about it, but when we got home, it was as bad or worse, meaning that the fire was not under control.

I don't think I realized how bad it was at first. We watched the news a bit before bed, but although I went to bed at the usual time, Thom stayed up late looking for information on the internet and TV. I assumed the fire was far enough east that it wasn't a threat to us and that we'd wake up to the reverse 911 call if we needed to evacuate. But after Thom was in bed about 2 hours, we were both awakened by the strong winds and by Aaron. Thom got up to watch the news. Several new fires had started, one of which was too close for comfort. By the time I finished feeding Aaron, we were ready to start packing a few things up - just in case.

It was 3:30 in the morning and I was half asleep. I packed a bag for Aaron with spare clothes, diapers, burp clothes. Then I pulled out boxes of pictures and mementos to have ready to go. Thom started to gather important papers. After the last fires in this area, I had gone over in my head what I would take with us in the event of an evacuation, so I had a good idea of what to take. I packed a couple of overnight bags for Thom and I, fully assuming we might be gone for a day at the most. As we continued to watch the news, we were pretty sure we'd be leaving soon. I continued to pack up things as I thought of them - quilts of Aaron's that had been hand made, receipts for my home business (for tax purposes), some leftovers from the fridge, more burp cloths, coffee (since I knew my Dad would only have decaf).

Around 4:20am, the phone rang. It was a reverse 911 call from the police telling us to leave. So Thom started packing up the car as I continued to throw random things into bags. We waited until the last minute to call my parents to see if we could come here, then we woke up Aaron and got him ready to go. He seemed to think it was fun to get up early.

With everything packed up, we locked up the house, turned off the gas, and headed towards the freeway to my parents. We noticed a lot of cars going the other direction which was our first clue there might be a problem. Sure enough, the freeway towards my parents house was closed, so we had to go the opposite direction and head around the long way. What would normally be a 30 minute trip ended up being about an hour. Since it was still early for normal rush hour traffic and evacuations in our area were just starting, traffic was thankfully not too bad.

When we arrived, my parents were up and our room was ready for us. We set up the portable crib that we leave here for Aaron, but couldn't get to sleep ourselves. I had gotten about 4 hours and Thom only 2. But we stayed up, made some coffee, and had some oatmeal that Dad fixed for us, while watching the news. Not long after, my sister and her 3 kids arrived. My brother-in-law had left town for work on Sunday, not realizing he'd be leaving her to manage the evacuation of 3 kids, a dog and a cat.

My parents have a 5 bedroom, 2 story house, so there is plenty of room for all of us, but with all the kids and a puppy (the cat is stuck in the garage), it gets chaotic. Plus with the air quality so poor, the kids can't play outdoors for extended periods of time. But so far we are all managing, getting out each day for trips to the grocery store and other minor errands.

I'm going to post a few more entries on what is going on, but figure this one is long enough.

Safe from the fires

I'm typically careful about posting any information that identifies where we live because I worry about internet predators. But I thought distant friends and relatives might be watching the news and worried about us, so I wanted to let you know that we are safe from the fires burning in CA today. Unfortunately, our house is threatened and we don't know what will happen, but we are currently safe with my mom and dad. I will keep you posted.

First Hike

The Saturday before the fires, Thom and I decided to take Aaron on a hike. We used to hike quite a bit to train for hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, but since we did that hike, we stopped going as much. But there was a new trail head near our house, so we decided to check it out.

We have the UV shade on the stroller, which blocks a lot, but not all of the sun. Aaron still fusses when the sun is on his face.

The hike was mostly uphill and about 15-20 minutes into it, Aaron was getting really fussy and I noticed his face was red. With the stroller seat reclined and going uphill, I think the blood was rushing to his head, so we decided to turn back and try another day after we figure out how to get the seat back into an upright position. (When we first put him in the jog stroller, I wanted him in a reclining position. Since then, I've never figured out how to get it back up. It seems obvious, but it just won't latch.)

Baby food

Eating solids is going great. By the second day of eating solids, Aaron had it down. By the 3rd day, he was eating all the cereal I fed him, leaning forward and opening wide for each bite. I have gradually increased the amount I give him from 1/2 TBSP to 2 TBSP, making it thicker each day.

After a week of rice cereal for breakfast and almost another week of rice cereal for breakfast and dinner, I thought it was time to introduce a new food. Having read conflicting theories on whether giving babies fruits before vegetables makes them like veggies more, and having heard personal accounts, I decided to try out veggies before fruits. I went to the store yesterday and decided on sweet peas by Gerber Organics. The selection of organic single vegetables (not mixed with other veggies or with grains or meat) was slim and peas seemed like a good option. Plus, they were sweet peas, so I thought they couldn't be that bad. Eager to see what he thought, I fed him the peas yesterday evening before his cereal.

I tried to warn him that it was something new and not the cereal he had been eating, but of course he didn't understand. So imagine his surprise when I put the spoonful of peas into his mouth! He looked even more bewildered than when I first gave him cereal. He kind of looked like I had betrayed his trust. But then he opened his mouth for another bite, so I gave him more. He still didn't seem to like it, but he was eating it. But after a few bites, I could tell he wasn't happy with it, despite continuing to open his mouth for more, so we switched to cereal. On the last bite of peas, he finally spit it back out. He must have just figured out how to do it, because he then proceeded to spit out his rice cereal for the first few bites before he finally ate it all down. I am going to try peas again this evening. We'll see how it goes.

Due to the lack of variety of single food organic baby food, I'm going to try to make my own. I had hoped to find squash for one of his first foods, but I only found it mixed in with other vegetables. And I didn't see any pumpkin. I'm introducing one food at a time for a week or so until we are sure there is no adverse reaction. Once he's had a food without reaction, we'll start to mix them together, but until then, it will probably be easier to make our own.

Random musings

There are certain things we can do when Aaron is in the right mood that will induce wonderful fits of giggling. Kissing his neck, tickling his ribs, pretending to eat his hands, making funny faces. But we've found that prolonged fits of laughing seem to bring on a case of hiccups in Aaron that can last for 10 minutes or longer. So we try to be careful now if he is giggling close to bedtime, not to overdo it since it is hard to put him to bed if he has the hiccups.

After 6 months, we've finally noticed that Aaron's hair is starting to fall out. There were many predictions that it would fall out, but when we passed the 3-4 month mark with a full head of hair, I thought we were past the danger zone. But slowly I noticed it getting thinner in the back on the sides and now I see the hairs collecting on his changing pad and in his crib. It also seems like it might be thinning out on top. After 6 months, we are really going to miss it if it all falls out.

Now that Aaron's teeth are really poking through his gums, he has taken to sticking his finger in his mouth to play with them. At least that is what it seems like. Sometimes, he sticks a finger in the side of his mouth and fusses, making me think he has more teeth on the way, but other times, he just kind of plays with the front teeth.

Aaron is also really starting to notice things and tries to reach out and grab anything in reach. I was holding him in the kitchen the other day to prepare some cereal for him, and he was reaching out and touching the knives in the knife block. He's going to be trouble, I can tell.

Fall Birthdays

Last weekend we hosted the Fall Birthdays party for my mom, all my siblings and one brother-in-law, all who have birthdays within a 6 week time frame in September and October. I only had a chance to snap a couple of photos early on.

Before everyone arrived, cousin Elizabeth read Aaron the true story of the 3 little pigs (as told from the wolf's perspective). It is a book my mom brought over. Aaron was enthralled with Elizabeth's story telling and sat still longer on my brother's lap listening than when I've tried to read him stories.

We have the Chinese board game Go, which is always sitting out on the living room coffee table. All the kids who visit make up their own games using the black and white stones. Conner and Barb are playing their version in this picture.

Rice Cereal

Just 10 days shy of Aaron's 6 month birthday, we decided to introduce rice cereal. He's been showing more and more interest in what we are eating and drinking and he's not been nursing as well - he'll stop eating to look around, then take a brief drink, then look around some more, so I'll end the feeding only to have him get hungry 2 hours later. So it seemed like the right time to introduce his first food.

I made sure to nurse him first so that he wouldn't be overly hungry, and then I made up a very thin mixture of organic brown rice cereal and breast milk. The spoon I'm feeding him with was mine. In fact it has my name and birth date engraved on the handle. I believe it is from Gerber. (I can't seem to find spoons like this anymore - they all have a rubber coating on the end, which seems unnecessary.)

The pictures were taken towards the end of the feeding. The video is from the very beginning. He seemed to catch on after awhile and I think he may actually have swallowed about the equivalent of 2 spoonfuls.

Rollin', rollin', rollin', keep them babies rollin'

Aaron just started rolling over this week, but has quickly mastered the task. At least to the left. He does not roll to the right. Ever.

I try to keep him on a blanket on the floor when he rolls (to protect the carpet from spit-up, not to protect him from the floor) but this proves to be a challenge since he quickly rolls off the blanket and into nearby furniture. Since he cannot roll to the right, I just turn him 180 degrees when he gets to the edge of the blanket so he can roll back across to where he started.

Yesterday, he wouldn't go to sleep when we put him down for his afternoon nap, so I finally got him up and let him roll around. As soon as I put him down on his back, he starts rolling. And as you'll see in the video below, he is fussy and tired, but he won't stop rolling. It is almost as if he has no choice but to roll if he is put on the ground.

Singing

Before Aaron was born, I only sang in the car or when no one else could hear me. I can't carry a tune in a bucket. I remember babysitting my niece Mattea with Thom and I wouldn't sing to her if he was in earshot because I was so embarrassed by my tone deafness.

I figured I'd feel the same way with Aaron. But it hasn't taken long to get over it. Aaron loves it when I sing. And I don't care who hears me. All that matters is that it makes Aaron happy. I sing him songs I remember from childhood - Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Mary Had a Little Lamb, The Itsy Bitsy Spider (one of his favorites). And I make up songs, some to tunes I make up, some to familiar tunes. Most revolve around the idea of going to sleep. This one is sung to the tune of Clementine:

Little baby, little baby, little baby, little boy
You are tired
So now it's time to
Close your eyes and go to sleep.

Nothing very creative, but he seems to like it.

So I was really impressed when I saw this video of Anita Renfroe singing lyrics she put to the William Tell Overture. I think all moms will relate.

We've got teeth!!

Aaron and I went out to the local farmer's market this afternoon, stopping at the library, too. When we got home, it was only 2 hours since he'd last eaten, but he was trying to nurse on my shoulder. I thought it might be teething and let him bite on my knuckle. He's been teething for weeks, but he seemed more upset than usual. At one point, I got a peek into his mouth and could just barely make out the tops of two bottom teeth emerging from his gums! I almost gave him infant Tylenol for the pain, but since he kept rooting, I fed him instead, which seemed to help. Afterwards, he was in a smiley mood and not long after he went down for a nap (after we called his father to tell him the exciting news).

Two milestones in one day! My baby is all growed up.

At the park

Yesterday I met a group of friends with their new babies at the park. Aaron had a good time and I'm sure is looking forward to the days when he can help Gabe chase squirrels - assuming Gabe is still interested in such things by the time Aaron can run around.

And speaking of running, he has reached a milestone along the way - he rolled over today from back to front. He was on a blanket in our room playing with a cloth book while I folded laundry. One second he was on his back, the next he was 3/4 of the way turned over. I saw him just as he was landing on his stomach. I actually missed seeing how he did it. I clapped and cheered and he smiled a bit. I think he did recognize he had done something new. But he quickly got tired and was ready for a nap. Rolling over really takes it out of you, I guess.

Sling Baby

On Sunday, Aaron woke up early from a nap and I was doing some chores around the house. So I put him in this handy sling my friend Heidi lent me while I finished up. His dad thought he looked like Yoda being carried around my Luke Skywalker, so he took some pictures. Notice how he is grabbing the sling with his left hand. It is important to always have something in the claw.

Aaron Update

Sorry, no new photos this week. Just a quick update.

Aaron is doing well with his sitter Julie. She comes Mondays from 3:30 to 7:00pm and at different times on Wednesdays and Fridays depending on her internship schedule. She plays with him, takes him for walks, sits with him on the swing, and gets him to go to sleep even when he is over tired, which is no easy feat.

Aaron's latest discovery is faces. When we hold him, he often reaches up a hand to explore our faces. He tries to put his fingers in my mouth, but with Thom, he loves to touch his beard.

He is also grabbing at anything else he can. When I bathed him yesterday, he was scratching at the wall, trying to grab the washcloth, the shampoo bottle, the cup I was rinsing him with - anything within reach. Except the waterproof book I tried to distract him with.

Sweater

With the days getting cooler, I finally had a chance to dress Aaron in this beautiful sweater my friend Lisa made for him. The colors are perfect for showing off his big blue eyes! And somehow she sized the sweater so it would fit him perfectly when the weather started to cool off.

Thanks, Lisa!

New highchair

Mom and Dad came to visit this week. When they arrived, Aaron was still sleeping and I asked Dad to help me set up Aaron's Svan highchair that we had bought last weekend, but which I didn't have time to assemble.

Soon after he got started, Aaron woke up and Dad pretty much assembled it on his own. Although Aaron can't sit up on his own yet, he can sit in the highchair pretty well, leaning to one side. Although he won't start on solids for another month, we hope he can sit in the highchair on weekday mornings while we have breakfast. He likes to sit with us at the table, but we've had to hold him on one of our laps and eat one-handed.

While Dad assembled the highchair, Mom played with Aaron. He was in a pretty good mood when he got up from his nap and laughed with Grandma while playing with her hand.

He's wearing a new outfit I got at Kohl's last week. It is size 6/9 months. He just turned 5 months on the 17th. He is growing out of his size 3/6 sleepers and with the weather getting cooler, I had to some warmer outfits in bigger sizes. I like the one piece sleepers that snap all the way down the leg since unlike the zippered sleepers, we can keep his trunk covered during diaper changes.

Jillian's Visit

Our friend Jillian (a former co-worker of Thom's from Order Fusion days) came to visit for a few days last week. We hadn't seen her since our wedding almost 6 years ago. She's been living in Australia for the past 3 years or so and this is the first time she made it out our way when visiting stateside.

She met up with her sister Kristen for the first few days, and then Aaron and I hung out with them last Wednesday, going to a few local attractions, including the 24 hour donut shop in town, which was so popular that Jillian had to go back before the end of her visit. Jillian and Kristen came back to our house for dinner and a movie before heading back to their hotel.

Kristen returned home on Thursday and Jillian came to stay with us through last weekend, our first house guest since having Aaron. Since his room doubles as the guest room, he slept in the play yard in our room while she was here. I was worried he might have trouble sleeping in a new place, but he didn't seem to mind a bit.

The first morning Jillian was here, she made us crepes, which we filled with whipped cream and some peaches I sauted up with brown sugar. Yum! The next morning, she made us some wonderful cinnamon rolls, which she started the night before. We were spoiled while she was here - an excellent cook!

Last Saturday night, we had a dinner party for 10, which Jillian and I planned and prepared - appetizers of caprese (sliced tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella), a variety of pizzas (with homemade crust) and some antipasto, main course of salad, stuffed shells and garlic toast. Many of the ingredients came from a local farmer's market we went to on Friday with Thom, who took the day off. You can rarely get a good tomato from a grocery store out here, so I have been starting to shop at the local farmer's markets which have wonderful produce. A slide show from the dinner party is below.