17 months and counting

This is Aaron with one of my friend Linda's Chin's. I'm not sure which one it is - she has about 5, I think, but I'm sure she will know exactly which one this is despite the fact that they all look alike! (Sorry, Linda!) Although he seemed to like each dog individually, he seemed a little overwhelmed when taken altogether. So this was the best picture I got of him and the dogs. In addition to visiting with the dogs, he spent a fair amount of time in Linda's step-daughter Kayla's room pushing buttons on her radio which was on the floor, not seeming to mind that it was turned off and so the buttons did nothing. And almost as interesting as the radio were the cords on the blinds which hung down just above the radio. Those two things, plus Kayla's cell phone, kept Aaron entertained for most of our visit.

I don't have any pictures from swim class. The fact is, we have stopped going. We went the second week and Aaron was just too tired, he cried and fussed from the start. It wasn't fun for us or for him, so we ended up leaving early. I thought the class would be good since he enjoys being in the pool, but if it isn't fun for him, there is no point in going. Plus, the instructor really underwhelmed us. My sister recommends the Y, so we might try that next year. And hopefully we can find a class that doesn't overlap with nap time.

Aaron is finally weaned. I had hoped to have him completely weaned by 18 months, so I was glad it went so well. I was following the weaning philosophy of "Never offer, never refuse". It just made sense to me. Since he didn't need to nurse anymore, there was no reason to offer if he didn't ask (except when he woke up at 4:30am and it was the easiest way to get him back to sleep). And I didn't want to refuse when he did ask if there wasn't any reason not to. I did refuse if we were out somewhere, except when we were at a friend's daughter's birthday party and he was still getting over his cold and wasn't feeling well. When he started sleeping through the night (it's been a couple of weeks and it is wonderful!), the 4:30am feeding went away. And gradually, he stopped asking in the morning and after his afternoon nap, or before bed (the other common times he wanted to nurse). Sometime in the past week I realized he was done.

Aaron is growing up so gradually, yet so quickly. Someone who hasn't seen him in a couple of weeks will comment on how much he has grown, but even then I may not see it. But sometimes, I'll just see him in a new light. The other day, I was pushing him in his swing. Maybe it was his outfit, but I looked at him and realized, he really isn't my baby anymore. He's a little boy.

Sometimes I try to hold onto him, he'll be playing, and I'll just wrap him in my arms and tell him I love him, knowing that some day, I won't be able to cuddle him anymore. Sometimes he puts up with it, but more often he pushes me away. He has work to do.