Game night

Last Sunday, my brother Jim and his wife Barbara came over with 3 of their 4 kids (soon to be 5) for dinner and game night. They arrived while Aaron was eating his dinner and he was quite taken with his Auntie Barb. He kept having to turn around his in high chair after each bite to smile at her. Since he has a picture of Barb and Jim in his bedroom, I figured he would know who they are. He points to the pictures often and I say their names. So when I asked him "Where is Auntie Barb?" while she was standing in front of him, he of course pointed towards his bedroom where the picture is hanging.

When it was time for Aaron to go to bed, Elizabeth and Barb read him a bed time story.


(Aunt Janine and Uncle Bruce - recognize the book he is reading? It is still one of his favorites.)

Not Your Daughter's Jeans

That was the sign I saw on the rack of jeans on Monday. I had gone to the mall to look for some new clothes, and to get out of the house and away from my sweet adorable son that sometimes I just have to get away from. But I did need clothes and the mall is so close, I didn't have to use too much of my $4.09/gallon gasoline to get there.

They say 9 months on, 9 months off, so I tried not to get discouraged when I hadn't lost my pregnancy weight at 4 months, or 6 months, or 8 months. But at 13 months, I've still got 10 extra pounds and I'm getting sick of wearing maternity pants and shorts. There is actually one pair of "fat pants" I bought when I was first pregnant but not pregnant enough for maternity pants and I can fit back into those, and a pair of drawstring shorts. But everything else I've been wearing has belly bands. I just hated the idea of buying bigger pants. I have a drawerful and more in the closet that would fit if I could just lose the last 10 pounds.

But it's taking too long and I thought a few new things might make me feel better since it's depressing wearing the same few pants day after day after day...

The problem is, I hate shopping for clothes. Especially since all the pants these days are designed for women who are size 2. They are cut so low, anyone size 4 or larger looks like they have love handles or a beer gut. Very unattractive. Especially on those of us who actually do have a beer gut. Or a baby gut, at least. Since I need petites, I have limited options on where I can shop. The Banana Republic has a petite section, but everything I tried on made me feel fatter. I looked at a lot of other pants in various stores and was about to go home empty-handed when I saw that Nordstrom's was having a semi-annual sale on women's clothes. On a whim, I decided to check it out. I found the petite section and started perusing the sale racks. Until I saw the sign.

It caught my attention, because even though I don't have a daughter, I knew that it meant these were jeans for someone who wasn't 20 years old and a size 2. I went closer and saw the tag that said Tummy Tuck Jeans with a picture of someone my size in regular jeans (tummy bulging) and the Tummy Tuck Jeans (tummy flattened). They claimed that I would feel one size smaller in these jeans. I was skeptical. But the ever-helpful sales associate, Cookie (I am not making that up) was at my side asking if I wanted to try them on (I already had a room started with a few sale items). The jeans weren't on sale and were in fact the most expensive jeans I've ever seen. I'm sure they aren't the most expensive jeans out there - I just never shop in Nordstrom's. But I had to know if they delivered on their promise. Because one size smaller would be my pre-pregnancy size.

So I tried them on. And they were the most comfortable jeans I'd ever worn. They were snug to zip up, but once they were zipped, they didn't feel tight. And I felt a size smaller. I thought I looked better than I did 2 years ago in my size-smaller Gap jeans. And considering how much trouble I've had finding pants (even before I was pregnant and a size bigger), I decided they were worth every penny. And I comforted myself with the great deals I got on some cute tops to go with my new jeans.

The first day I wore my new jeans, my mom asked if I had lost weight. I am going to live in these jeans. At least on the days I'm not in shorts. And someday, I hope I can buy another pair. In a size smaller.

Check them out. You won't regret it. http://tummytuckjeans.com/index.htm

Baby Baby Baby

On Saturday, our friends Mark and Jill hosted a BBQ - which turned out to be an indoor event due to some crummy weather. But the food was great and Aaron had lots of little friends to play with.


I tried to get Grant (far right), Oliver (bottom), and Aaron (far left - obviously) to turn towards the camera, but gave up. Oliver had just arrived when I took this shot. Aaron is reaching out. Just after this shot, he touched Oliver's hat. Just after that, Oliver started crying. Just after that, Oliver's dad Chris took off the hat. We are finding that Aaron has no sense of personal space and tries to touch and poke other babies, especially in the face.

Later that day, I found Aaron (to the dismay of Jessica's son Gabe) quite happily being held by Jessica. I think she could have taken him home and he wouldn't have minded. Standing opposite this pair was Jessica's husband Mont, holding an upset Gabe who wanted his Mommy.

Come to think of it, another time that day, Jessica was sitting and playing with Mark and Jill's son Grant. She was reading him board books and he seemed enthralled. She doesn't just read books. She talks about the pictures, makes sounds for the animals, I think she even manages to teach the basics of algebra. This is a woman who needs to have more kids. Yes, you. I know you are reading this Jessica (or at least Mont is). I don't know anyone who enjoys interacting with kids as much as Jessica or is such a natural with them. At the very least, start a day care so other kids can benefit!

Pool time

Last Saturday, we went down to meet the new baby Bridget of our friends Sandy and Shannon. She was just 2 weeks old - and I got to hold her!! I know Aaron used to be that tiny, but it is already hard to remember. She slept the entire time we were there.

But - and more importantly for Aaron - Shannon had just bought Bridget's big sister Audrey a new wading pool. (Although Audrey has an in-ground pool in her back yard, she's still too little for it.) And thanks to an extra swim diaper in his size, Aaron was able to join Audrey in trying out her new pool.

It was a big hit - at least for Aaron. The water was a little cold (although the day was quite warm, upper 90s I believe) and Audrey seemed hesitant to get in. Or maybe it was just because Aaron was hogging the pool. He loved it! It was like bathtime (especially when Shannon brought out the rubber ducks) combined with the great outdoors. Two of his favorite things. Not to mention a little girl to retrieve the toys he threw out of the pool.

We are in the process of looking for a pool for our backyard. We are hoping to find an inflatable one that is big enough for Thom and I to sit in with Aaron - or for all the Order Fusion babies to sit in at once. Not a huge above ground pool, but just something a little bigger than the average wading pool. Although the last few days have brought some rain and cold enough weather for a fire in the fireplace, we know the record breaking temperatures of the week before will be back this summer and we anticipate a lot of outdoor water play for Aaron.

Babysitter woes

Our sitter Katrina who has been watching Aaron 2-3 days a week for the past 5-6 weeks just found out from her advisor that she needs to take a full course load over the summer. She had said she might need to take some classes this summer, but hadn't expected this. So after next week, she might not be able to watch Aaron for the rest of the summer. She is so good with him and I am finally comfortable enough leaving her alone with Aaron while I run errands (the fact that it took 4 weeks is more of a reflection on me than on her). Plus she has been pretty reliable, rarely cancelling, and giving as much notice as possible when she does.

And the other sitter I had been planning to use in addition to Katrina starting this summer is turning out to be a little flakey. She was here last week for the second time and was supposed to be here for 4 hours, but she wasn't feeling well. She thought it was allergies, but felt worse and worse, so she left after about 2 hours and was supposed to contact me when she was feeling better. We tentatively talked about her babysitting this Thursday, but I haven't heard from her at all. I think I would have at least e-mailed something by now, even just to say "I'm sorry I didn't feel well last time, but I look forward to babysitting for you again."

The good news is that my niece who had to stop babysitting 2 months ago is going to be out of school after next week and is interested in babysitting over the summer. Hopefully between her and Katrina, I can get enough coverage to work. Otherwise I'll be back to job postings and interviewing. A time consuming and unpleasant task.

Early Start - First Contact

I called the Regional Services/Early Start program yesterday. When I called, someone took some information about Aaron and my concerns and said someone would call back within 3 business days, but said usually they call back the next day. Someone actually called back within hours.

That person took more information from me, and seemed shocked that the insurance wouldn't cover the physical therapy. She is sending a packet of information out to me, including the name of my service coordinator. Then, the service coordinator will call in 2-3 weeks to get us started in the program.

So far, my impression with this program is very positive. I will keep you posted.

Update at 4:20: I got a call from the second woman I talked to at Early Start. We've scheduled Aaron's assessment for June 2nd at 8:30am at the office of our service coordinator (who I still don't know). Information is forthcoming in the mail.

Stats

I forgot to mention Aaron's stats in the checkup post. He weighed in at 22 lbs 5 oz. He was 29.5 inches long and his head was 48 cm.

Sometimes the doctor goes over the growth chart and his percentiles with us, but she didn't. So I looked up on BabyCenter.com's Growth Percentile Calculator and got these results:

Length = between percentile 10 and 25
Weight = between percentile 25 and 50
Head Circumference = between percentile 75 and 90

That certainly explains why it's so hard to get his shirts over his melon. I was a little surprised by the weight percentile though, since he had started out in the upper percentiles for weight. And we have a friend whose baby boy is 4 months older than Aaron and who slowed down in weight gain around 21 lbs, like Aaron did, so I figured that was normal for kids around 1 year when they become more active. But I guess there are a lot of babies much bigger than Aaron at this age. He seems to get plenty to eat and he's happy, so I guess it is a healthy weight for him.

The weird thing is that he fits into 18 month outfits. Maybe clothing manufacturers don't go by the growth charts.

12 month checkup

We had our 12 month checkup today. (Yes, Aaron is 13 months, but his pediatrician, and apparently everyone else in the office, was booked two months solid when I called 2 months ago for the appointment.) The office gave us another book - one on baby's first words. At 9 months, we got a board book of baby faces with different expressions which Aaron loved. I guess they have some kind of book program where you get a new book at certain visits. I think it's great.

Anyway, we talked to his doctor about his developmental delays. She had never heard of the insurance not covering physical therapy. She was concerned about his legs - he wouldn't stand up for her - and definitely thinks we need to have some therapy. I agree. She gave us a number to call for Regional Services. She'd never heard of Early Start, but it turns out Early Start is offered through Regional Services and the number she gave us is the same as Deirdre's sister gave us for Early Start. So that makes it easier since I don't have to choose between programs.

I had hoped to get his MMR vaccine split up into 3 shots. She said they don't do that and she doesn't know of any offices that do. She said we could delay it so that we could call around and find some place that offered it, but she didn't think there was any real benefit to splitting it up. I was concerned because it involves 3 live viruses, which seems like a lot for his immune system to cope with at one time. I had read about it online and a lot of people seem interested in doing this - mostly people who worry about the large number of vaccines at once being linked to autism. I'm not hugely concerned about that, but felt better about spacing them out.

Unfortunately, from what I've read, the manufacturer makes it difficult for doctors' offices to get the separated vaccines. Thom and I talked about it when the pediatrician left the room and decided we would probably end up back there for the combined vaccine, so we might as well do it now.

But we still decided to wait on the chicken pox vaccine. I not sold on that one, although his doctor told us about kids she had seen die from it. She mentioned that she herself had a bad case as a kid and was in the hospital for weeks, so she was biased. My OB had recommended just letting Aaron get chicken pox as a kid which was more likely to impart life long immunity. They've only been doing the chicken pox vaccine for 13 years and recently started giving a booster at age 4 since they found declining immunity among teenagers.


We will probably end up giving him the chicken pox vaccine at a later date, but still feel better about not doing it today. In addition to the MMR, he also got another vaccine. She said the chickenpox vaccine is required for school and that even though kids still can get chicken pox if they have had the vaccine, it is pretty mild - so mild that doctors aren't always sure that it was chickenpox. Which reminds me of the pediatrician of the kid that I got chicken pox from when I was pregnant. He was positive that the boy didn't have chickenpox, but was proven wrong when I got it 14 days after exposure.

Aaron is sleeping now. The shots hurt him, but he quieted down by the time we left the office. I'm glad Thom was able to go with us. We had to wait around a lot and it was during Aaron's nap time, so there was some unhappiness. Overall, though, he did very well. I think we go again at 18 months.

Alex's Lemonade Stand

In 2000, a four-year old girl named Alexandra ("Alex") set up a lemonade stand to help her doctors find a cure for her cancer. She had a childhood cancer called neuroblastoma. She held an annual fund-raising lemonade stand each year until she passed away at the age of 8. Her family and supporters continued the crusade she began by founding Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. You can learn more about her inspirational efforts at the Foundation's website: http://www.alexslemonade.org/lemonade_stand.php

The reason I'm telling you about this is that a very good friend of my sister Lia had a little boy named Lorenzo who lost his battle with neuroblastoma 4 years ago. We had the honor of knowing little Enzo during his courageous battle. Since then, his family has sponsored a lemonade stand in his honor. They held their annual lemonade stand this past weekend. We couldn't make it, but we donated online at this website set up by Lorenzo's aunt: http://www.firstgiving.com/enzoslemonade

Lorenzo was first diagnosed well before his first birthday, and in recent months, when Aaron reached the age at which Enzo was spending his days in the hospital, I had a new empathy for Enzo's parents. We are so fortunate to have a healthy little boy and I hope medical science can find a cure for this agressive childhood cancer. I urge anyone who can to help to donate to this foundation. And in honor of little Enzo, I ask you to donate in his memory through the link above. He passed away 4 years ago on May 21.

Our Little Monkey

For a long time, starting late last fall, Aaron was our little penguin. Whenever he was held by someone, especially if they were walking around, he had his arms out at his sides. It reminded us of how penguins walk with their wings out. That is why we have Sandra Boynton's My Personal Penguin and why we have a penguin book on the coffee table. And why Aaron has several winter outfits with penguins. He was our personal penguin.

But now, he is our little monkey. Not only because he gets into everything, but because he likes to say "Ooo ooo. Aah aah." And now, he even eats bananas like a monkey.

Physical Therapy III

We've started to work more seriously on getting Aaron to stand. We focused on sitting up first, and now that he is getting better at crawling, standing is the next hurdle.

I've tried getting him to stand at the coffee table to reach the remote or books, but usually he would reach the object of his desire and then sit down.

But last week, I asked his sitter Katrina to work with him on standing. She started off with the coffee tables, as I had suggested, but she had the bright idea of moving the remote control out of reach again as soon as he got it, so that he stayed standing for longer stretches.

Then, she tried using the leather ottoman we have in his play area. We had taken the wheels off it to use for this purpose after our visit to physical therapy, but it hadn't really worked because he would sit down as soon as he grabbed whatever was on top.

But Katrina tried anyway and the first time he tried to grab a block, he ended up knocking it off the other side. So we replaced it and instead of grabbing it, he knocked it off again. And laughed. It became a game for him. So she just continued to put items on top while he continued to knock them off and he ended up standing for several minutes before his legs got too tired.

On Friday, we went to our friend Deirdre's house to meet with her sister who works with developmentally delayed kids. I guess I expected her to give us an assessment of him, but it wasn't quite that formal. She did watch him play and felt his legs while he was standing (and confirmed what we suspected - that his left leg is weaker than his right). But mostly she just gave us a lot of information on resources available to us.

It turns out, there is a federally funded program called Early Start that provides help for parents of children age 0-3 who have concerns about their child's development. Someone will come out to your home and assess your child and if they are delayed enough, they will qualify for free treatment. You don't need a doctor to refer you. And at any point, you can turn down the help. It sounds like a great program. I'm so glad to learn about it since now we don't have to worry about what our insurance will cover. And she gave us all kinds of brochures and pamphlets on the program.

Our concerns are about Aaron's gross motor skills, but Early Start can help if you have concerns about other types of developmental skills - social, emotional, communication, cognitive, as well as hearing and vision. You can find out more information about the program here. That is the California website - each state runs their own, I believe.

Our next visit with the pediatrician is on Tuesday. We are going to wait to talk to her before contacting the Early Start program. I want to see if we should see any other specialists to rule out any neurological or physical problems or if there is some way to get our insurance to cover the physical therapy (which Deirdre's sister thought was an appropriate step for Aaron and she thought the insurance should be covering it - even if he doesn't have a diagnosed medical condition).

The other benefit of visiting Deirdre on Friday is that we got to see her koi pond. She has about 60 and they were so beautiful. We got to feed them, too. Aaron seemed to really like the koi. But he was upset that we wouldn't let him eat their food.

Food

All of Aaron's food restrictions were lifted at 12 months, except for nuts, which we are supposed to wait until 2-3 years to introduce. So I've gradually been giving him more and more people food (as opposed to baby food). In fact, Aaron is refusing his baby food more and more often, which is a challenge since I don't yet have a wide range of meals I am prepared to feed him.

One of his favorites is lentils and rice. There is a box mix that we make sometimes, and I froze some leftovers for Aaron which I've giving him for lunch or dinner every few days. I cooked the mix in chicken broth for extra flavor, and I put a little shredded cheese in it before I feed it to him.

For breakfast, I've started to make him McCann's quick cook oats instead of using his oatmeal baby cereal. It has more texture and cooks in the microwave in under 2 minutes. For flavor, I mix in some applesauce or fruit preserves and since we haven't had much success in getting him to drink milk, I mix some milk in with his oatmeal. Today, since it was Saturday and we had more time, I cooked a big batch of oatmeal on the stove. I sauteed up some banana slices in a tablespoon of butter, added a tablespoon of brown sugar, then added the oatmeal which I cooked in water and milk. I added some vanilla and some frozen black raspberries and the three of us had oatmeal for breakfast.

Some days I give him a slice of wheat bread (cut into little squares) with some yogurt or fruit. Yesterday, I gave him one of my whole wheat toaster waffles with a little bit of butter (no syrup). He loves both the bread and the waffles. Oh, and he also loves banana bread when I make that. He can't shove the pieces in his mouth fast enough.

And yesterday, for the first time, I fed him banana straight up. I took the first bite and then offered it to him. He turned his head away a couple of times, then he put his mouth on the banana and turned away. Then he started smiling and putting the banana in his mouth and scrapping a little off with his teeth. But he quickly figured out how to bite chunks of banana off and really seemed to enjoy it. I was worried about giving him too much banana, so I ate some (from the other end - I'm still squeamish about eating food he has had his mouth on, although I know most moms seem to get over this at some point.)

This week, Aaron and I went to Souplantation with my parents, and although I packed him some dinner, he mostly was able to eat things from my plate - some spiral pasta and shredded cheese (which invoked an unpleasant face), some macaroni and cheese, corn bread (which was well received), some hard boiled egg from my salad.

It's nice to be able to start feeding him the same foods I'm eating. And it's encouraging me to eat healthier since he'll eat pretty much anything I'm eating, as long as it is from my plate. If it is on his own plate, it can't possibly be the same thing. In fact, yesterday, he happily ate avocado from a salad I was eating when avocado usually makes him gag.

Mother's Day

We celebrated my second Mother's Day on Sunday. We met my parents, my sister Lia, and my sister Theresa and her family for brunch. It was crazy. Remind me not to go out in public next year.

Now that I've been a mom for a full year, I've been thinking a lot about how it's changed me. Some things I expected, but one thing that surprised me is how much violence on TV hits home in a way it never did before. Obviously if kids are involved, it's hard for me to watch, but we were watching something awhile back where an adult male was getting beat up and I remember thinking - what if that were Aaron? That would be awful. And suddenly it is so clear to me that every man is someone's son.


Being a mom has changed my perspective on a lot of things. Before I had a baby, I used to wonder why women took their kids grocery shopping. I knew I would either go shopping while Thom was home with the baby, or I'd have Thom go shopping, but it made no sense to me to try to shop with kids around. But now I know different! You don't take the baby grocery shopping (or on other errands) because you don't have a choice. You do it because the baby likes to go out. And because sometimes it beats being at home with the baby all day. I actually don't do the grocery shopping by myself with Aaron (Thom goes with us or Thom goes by himself) but I do other errands with Aaron.

I hope all the new moms out there had a great first Mother's Day. And I hope mine will be more relaxing next year.

Progress and delays

When we were heading down to our friends' place for dinner two weeks ago, we found this white crane in our front yard. I see them on the lake a lot, and once in awhile we see them in the yard. This is the closest I've seen. He slowly walked away from me as I advanced with the camera.

Good news! Aaron's two bottom molars have finally broken through. They have taken so darn long, and still aren't fully through, that it seems anti-climatic after so many months of teething. He does seem to be doing a little better, though, so I think the pain may be easing up.

Last week Aaron started creeping. I wouldn't call it crawling yet. He's not up on his knees. And he uses his left forearm and his right hand. It's more of an army crawl. In one of my parenting books, it says they usually start crawling a couple of months after they start creeping. But they usually start creeping months ago. Although he's been kind of doing an army crawl prior to last week, it was short lived. He'd drag himself forward an inch, then roll. But now he goes in a straight path (more or less) all the way to the electrical outlet on the wall where he then proceeds to pull out the plastic plug that is part of our recent attempts at baby proofing. Baby proofing: 0. Baby: 1.

He is also starting to try to pull himself up on the coffee table, but he has trouble supporting his weight and even when I help him to a stand, he doesn't last more than a few seconds at a time. This concerns me the most at this point, since I think he should be taking assisted steps by now. (In fact, as I'm writing this, I got an e-mail from a friend with a baby that is 4 months younger than Aaron who is standing on her own and getting ready to walk.) A friend of ours who recently caught up on the blog was concerned about Aaron not crawling and talked to her sister who works with developmentally delayed children. We are going to meet them on Friday for an informal assessment of Aaron. She supposedly also knows how to jump through the necessary hoops to get Aaron the treatment he needs. Our next appointment with the pediatrician is on Tuesday and I am going to talk to her more about this, too, and see what other kinds of testing we might be able to do as well as how we can get the insurance company to cover therapy.

I've tried not to worry too much about it. I've read over and over again that crawling isn't considered a major milestone and that kids vary widely in when they start crawling. And although I've read that skipping crawling all together can lead to learning problems later in life, Aaron is not skipping crawling, he is just very slow to catch on. I also haven't been overly worried because Aaron is doing great otherwise. If he was delayed in his other motor skills or in his social skills, I'd be really worried. But he's such a happy, social, curious child who is constantly learning new things that I haven't been too worried. Plus he's been making slow but steady progress.

But suddenly, especially after our friend (who raised 6 kids) showed so much concern, I'm very worried. I started researching possible causes online, but that only made it worse. And now I'm wondering if I did something wrong. Maybe we didn't put Aaron on his tummy enough. Maybe I haven't given him enough opportunities to try to pull himself up. It doesn't seem like these things are hard for other babies to learn. Did I screw up somehow? Or is it part of Aaron's personality? He's so self-entertaining, he's content to sit for stretches at a time playing with the same toys rather than moving around and exploring more.

I could drive myself crazy thinking about it too much. I'll just wait and see how things go on Friday and at his checkup on Tuesday. Wish us luck.

Easter pictures

I had forgotten about these adorable pictures my Dad took of Aaron and his cousin Mattea on Easter. My sister Theresa hosted Easter at her house and my niece was as enamored of Aaron as he was of her. Especially when she read him a story on the couch.

Signing

As I mentioned back in March, we are using baby signs with Aaron. It is so much fun to watch him learn a new sign. I'll catch him practicing the signs at random times before he starts to use them in context. His first sign was "more" which he uses regularly during mealtime. He is also starting to use the signs for "eat" and "book", and yesterday just started signing "drink", although incorrectly. The sign for "drink" involves bringing your thumb to your lips, with the rest of your hand closed. Aaron uses his pointer finger and sticks it into his mouth, palm facing upward, and tilts his head back. The important thing is that he is able to communicate with us and I enjoy watching his interpretation of the signs.

He has successfully used the sign for "eat" to let me know he was ready for breakfast. When he first gets up, Thom and I have a cup of coffee while Aaron plays on the floor (we also alternately play on the floor if requested). Then we'll serve breakfast around 7:30 or so. When he gets fussy in the morning, I don't know if he is just teething and therefore irritable, or if he is hungry, so I ask him if he wants to eat, and I do the sign for "eat". Several times now, he has signed "eat" in response to let me know that he did (or maybe he just wanted to show off that he knows the sign, I can't be sure). He doesn't sign eat correctly either - you are supposed to bring all your fingertips and thumb together, and then bring it to your lips. Aaron just uses his index finger, and instead of bringing it to his lips, he puts it into his mouth (but palm down, as opposed to the way he signs "drink").

He has also been signing "book" seemingly randomly, but this morning, he was playing with his blocks and he suddenly looks up, signs "book" and when I say something like "Book? Did you sign book?" he then points over to where we keep his toys and a few books. So I got him a book to play with. I feel like signing helps give us a glimpse into his cute little brain. If he didn't know the sign for book, he may have done nothing, or he may have grunted and pointed over to the toy bin, leaving me to wonder which toy he wanted.

I've also been trying to teach him the sign for "all done" at the end of mealtime. The sign is to hold your hands up with palms facing you, then turn them out. I do the sign repeatedly and say "all done?". Aaron thinks this is funny and reaches out to grab my hands and stick his head between them. Sometimes during the day, I see him doing something with his hands that looks nothing like "all done" but given the way he mis-signs other words, I wonder if he is practicing his version of "all done".

Oh, the reason I thought to write this post today... At lunch, I was feeding Aaron freeze dried banana slices. He kept pointing at the bag and whining when he wanted more, so I thought I'd try out the sign for banana. You hold up your index finger on one hand (your banana) and mime peeling the banana with your other hand. I did this and said "Do you want more banana?" and Aaron thought it was hysterical. He often laughs when I do a sign for the first time, but this was more of a reaction than I've gotten before. He laughed and giggled and when I stopped, he pointed to my hands and said "uh guh" (which to my ears sounded like "again", but I know he wasn't really saying that). So I did it again, and again, and again, and each time was as funny as the last.

Sitting up

Aaron has now mastered the art of sitting up. When he is playing, he will fall over onto his belly, roll or attempt to crawl somewhere and then push himself back into a sitting position in a new location.

His new found skill has also made it hard for him to get to sleep at nap time and bedtime. We'll put him down with a pacifier and leave the room and when he doesn't settle down, we'll go back in to find him sitting up. (Whether he is sitting or not, he will often offer us Puppy when we come in to check on him, as if hoping that the gift will prompt us to pick him up and rescue him from his nap.)

One time in the last week, after feeding him at midnight and putting him back down, I had just gotten back to bed when he started crying. (Normally he will just go right back to sleep.) I went down to find him sitting up. I helped him lie back and he went to sleep. It seems that he is better at sitting up than lying down. I expected this to happen when he learns to pull to a stand since I've read that babies at first don't know how to get back down, but didn't realize we'd have problems when he learned to sit up.

This morning, we put him down for his nap and he sat up. I put him back down, and gave him an extra pacifier (this helps keep him busy while he's getting to sleep). He fussed a bit, but quieted down within 5-10 minutes. When I went in to check on him, this photos shows what I found. He had sat back up and apparently didn't know how to lie down, but fell asleep none-the-less, one pacifier in his mouth, and one nearby.