10 months today!

So we had Aaron's follow up visit with his pediatrician on Thursday and since he still isn't crawling, she wants to have a PT (physical therapy) exam done. She said they can test his muscle tone in ways she can't and can give us exercises to do with him if needed. She went to great lengths to explain it was very precautionary and she wasn't really worried. She said he is probably just on the outside of the range for crawling.

We aren't really worried. Even before she said all that. We can see that he is progressing steadily, if a bit slowly is some areas. And in fact, in the last couple of days, we've seen him start to propel himself forward a bit on his tummy, pushing with his toes and sometimes rolling to his side and then reaching forward as he turns back to his tummy. It's enough to get to toys just out of reach and I'm sure he will be crawling in no time.

While we were there, I asked his doctor whether we can give Aaron yogurt. She had said no dairy (or chocolate, strawberries, seafood, egg whites or soy) until 12 months. But I know some moms who give their kids yogurt before cows milk (which everyone seems to wait until 12 months for). She said she gave her kids yogurt starting at 9 months. Then she told us about a study she read about recently on kids in Israel where they get peanuts (presumably not in whole format) starting as newborns and Israel has one of the lowest rates of peanut allergies. So she doesn't really know what causes food allergies - maybe postponing introducing foods doesn't really help.

So for lunch on Thursday, instead of fruit, I gave Aaron his first taste of yogurt. It was apricot mango Greek style yogurt from Trader Joes which we had in the fridge. I only gave him a small amount, and the first bite produced a face that made me think it wasn't going to go over well. But he ate the rest of what I offered him with no complaints. That's my boy for you. He eats almost anything, no matter what kind of face he gives you on the first bite.

At the store today, I bought some of the Yo Baby yogurt since it is organic and had a shorter ingredient list than the Greek style yogurt that we eat. I suspect it will also be a little less bitter.

Sleepy

Aaron upon arriving home from dinner at our friends' house.

Bathtime again

Thom got out the camera during bath time last weekend. In the last picture you can see his little Hasidic side-lock.

Gifts from Ohio

Not long ago, we got a giant computer box full of goodies from Aaron's Aunt Sherry and his Grandma Lillie in Ohio. They sent clothes, toys and supplies for Aaron, plus chocolates for Thom and some bath goodies for me (although Aaron hoped the net sponge was for him!). It seemed like we would never empty the box! But once we did, we thought should get a picture of Aaron with the box and all of its contents before putting stuff away.

Thank you Aunt Sherry and Grandma!

Blue Steel

For anyone that has seen Ben Stiller in Zoolander, we call this his "Blue Steel" face.




For reference:

Guitar Hero

Even more than he likes listening to his father play the guitar, Aaron likes to play it himself. Initiallly, he was transfixed by the sounds coming from this oddly shaped object, but before long he rolled himself over and reached up to pluck a string.

That turned out the be just about the most amazing thing ever. Before long he was strumming away and getting annoyed when Dad tried to get in the way, or perhaps more importantly, tried to pry his death-grip from the very thin high-E string. Emergency Room Attendant: "...Ummm, and how did your 9 month old slice off his fingertip, exactly?" No, we really don't want to go through that.




Fortunately, he is slowly figuring out that a gentler touch on the strings actually makes a better sound. Of course, there is an electric guitar in the house as well, so one day we might regret this. Oh well, at least it's not drums...

Oh, and if you are wondering about the Luvs diaper box in the background, you'd be surprised what an excellent toy a diaper box can be. You can put a toy in the box, then look in the box, see your toy, then take your toy out of the box. Then put your toy back in the box. You can slide the box around on the floor. you can stick your finger in the handle holds on the ends of the box. You can point at the baby on the side of the box. You can stand the box on end and play peek-a-boo with mommy. You can watch a rolly dinosaur roll to you across the top of the (inverted) box, then pick it up and throw it back on top of the box for someone to roll it to you again. Then you can put toys that don't roll on top of the box and see if they will roll to you (they don't) and then finally you can put the rolly dinosoaur back on the box and wait for it to roll back to you.

New blog

I know I'm overdue to post some new pictures of Aaron. I have some on the camera and just need to get them off, but didn't find time last weekend. Hopefully this weekend.

In the meantime, I started a new blog to chronicle my adventures with my other baby - my company. If you are interested, you can get there through my profile. Or follow the link below:

http://www.stay-at-home-startup.blogspot.com/