Update without Pictures

Life with Aaron is never dull. Some of the latest things we take delight in:

When Aaron wants you to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", he holds his hands up and says "uh, uh" - mimicking the "up above" part of the song. We do hand motions to this song which he loves and he imitates forming a diamond (in the sky) with his fingers very well. But lately, after I sing the "like a diamond in the sky" line, he then puts both his hands on his head meaning he wants me to sing "Head, shoulders, knees and toes". And 3 lines into that song, he is back to "uh, uh" for "Twinkle, Twinkle".

In his play area, when Thom and/or I are on the floor with him, Aaron will just suddenly stop playing with his toys and come over to one of us, put his head on our chest (sometimes half-way climbing on top of us), then get up and go back to his toys.

When holding Aaron, if I ask for a hug, he will rest his head on my shoulder briefly with his arms around me. Sometimes he will pat me, too.

Some things we don't delight in:
On Saturday, Aaron probably could have used a morning nap, but I had plans to go see my friend Michaela, who I recently found out was moving to Knoxville. He fell asleep in the car about 5 minutes before we got to her house and then woke up when we parked. He did great during our visit (and found their dog who jumped up on us and licked him quite hysterical) and he did great when we all went out to eat lunch. But he fell asleep on the way home and even though he was exhausted, he would not take a nap when we got home. After an hour of waiting for him to fall asleep, it was clear he wasn't going to go to sleep on his own, so I loaded him up in the stroller and walked him around the neighborhood. When he still wasn't asleep, I turned him over to Thom (who had been working in the yard) and he took him for a walk. He never did go to sleep and was a little terror the rest of the night. At dinner, after eating a few bites, he discovered it was the funniest thing in the world to put his finger in his mouth and fling his food back out. We eventually got him to bed, but it wasn't easy and he woke up once before we went to bed and twice more in the middle of the night. Moral of the story - plan everything around the baby's naps, even if someone is moving to Knoxville.

General update:
Our nanny Kim is great. This will be her 4th week with us. She is very good about keeping Aaron entertained and finding new things for him to do. I was comfortable leaving him alone with her the second week and last week, I let her take him to a sing-along in the park - one I've taken him to, but hadn't lately since it was at a day and time when she was watching him. I've never let anyone take him anywhere before and Thom hasn't taken him out on his own, so it was a strange feeling watching her drive away with Aaron in my car. It was the longest I've been alone in the house in over 15 months. They had a great time at the park and she even met up with a woman she knows with a 20 month old son and Aaron and the other baby played together in the sand. She told me before she left to feel free to call and check up on him. I only called once, though, to make sure she'd found the park and that everything was OK.

Aaron is cruising pretty well now. He likes to stand up at the fence between the dining and living rooms and cruise back and forth. He sometimes moves from chair to chair in the dining room, too. and he can also take some steps with someone holding his hands. I saw Kim do it first, and then my friend Heidi, and I finally tried it with him last night. We ordered a walker/push toy which should arrive this week. It is a little Radio Flier cart (not the full wagon) that he can push his toys around in.

One of the things I love about Kim is that she has so much experience with kids. I asked her what kind of toys she thought Aaron would like now (since he seems to be getting bored of his toys) and among other things, she recommended dolls. So I pulled out two dolls from when I was a kid - My Friend Mandy, a blond doll with a soft torso and hard plastic lower legs, arms and head, and a boy Cabbage Patch doll. These dolls are probably 25 years old and my mom had the foresight to save them for me. Which has now saved me from having to buy dolls for my son. And Kim was right on the money. Aaron really enjoys the dolls. He will point out their eyes and nose and enjoys "tickling" their feet while I make different laughs for the boy and the girl.

At Play

We recently visited my friend Biriz and her daughter Alara. Previously when we have visited with them, Alara would run around while Aaron watched in fascination. But now they seem to be at the age where they are interested in playing with each other - at least for short stretches of time. Alara is 6 months older than Aaron, so I think he needed to catch up to her developmentally a bit. My friend Biriz took these wonderful pictures when we saw them playing together. Biriz's photos always come out beautifully. I wish I were as good with a camera.
This second one is my favorite. I love the look on his face.

15 Months

Today was Aaron's 15 month birthday. This past week has included so many firsts. Before I had a baby, I knew about the big "firsts" - first tooth, first step, first word. But now I know there are lots of firsts. In the last week we had the first ride in the forward facing car seat, first time in a pool, first time pulling to a stand on his own, first word.

Yes, today he said his first official word. He has mimicked us and said "dada", but not as a real word (just a long string of "dadadadada". Tonight, when I was holding him before bed, he said "mama" and I kissed him and praised him and he said it several more times. Clearly. "Mama". Not "ma-ma-ma-ma" like he has done. And it was so adorable and sweet and I kissed his cheek and when I'd stop kissing him, he'd say it again so I would keep kissing him. Sometimes he got it wrong and just said "ama", but he did get it right several times and seemed pleased with himself. I hope it happens again.

In the last week, Aaron has also transitioned from 2 naps a day to 1 nap. Starting about 2 weeks ago, he was skipping a nap here and there. On Sunday, he didn't go to sleep for his morning nap until 10am and then wouldn't take his afternoon nap. After he skipped his morning nap on Monday, I decided to just go with it and no longer put him down for his morning nap. He does seem tired in the late morning, but he makes it until 2pm or so, when we've been putting him down for his afternoon nap, And then he seems to sleep for 2-3 hours.

Unfortunately, the last 4-5 nights he has been tough to get to bed. We've pretty much been having to lie on the bed with him before putting him in his crib. Thom, mostly. It's such a bad habit, but he still puts himself to sleep for naps and he has generally been so good about going to sleep on his own, that I hope it is just a phase. I think the problem is compounded by his learning to pull to a stand (which he is doing and then crying), his last molars working their way in as well as his canines still working their way out, and the change in his nap schedule. Hopefully things get back to normal soon.

Water Play

Although we don't have a kiddie pool yet, it occurred to me that Aaron could still enjoy playing in the water. I got out a little tub and some plastic bowls and boats and Kim has taken Aaron out back to play in the water twice this week.

In case you can't tell how much he enjoys the water from these pictures, there is a short video at the end. He loves to splash.

After Kim brought Aaron in from his most recent time in the water, I asked if he had gotten tired of it or if she has just decided it was time to come in. She said "No, he signed 'all done' and pushed everything away." Those signs sure come in handy. She figures he finally got cold. Even though it's been in the 80s, the water was fresh out of the hose, so it was pretty chilly.

Pool

On Sunday, Aaron and I got to go swimming in my friend Heidi's pool, with her 3 daughters. I bought Aaron a floaty-thing at the store on Saturday and was eager to try it out. This picture was taken right after I first put him in. He was still checking things out. But it didn't take long for him to get used to the new experience and start splashing the water.

We had a great time. I haven't been in a pool since before Aaron was born - since before I was pregnant I think. The water was great and we just moved around the pool and watched Heidi's girls play.

Brianna, the oldest daughter, who is 6, had a snorkel and mask on and at first Aaron was unsure about her. She had been entertaining him in the house before we went out, but he didn't recognize her with the mask on and was near tears. Heidi had Brianna take the mask and snorkel off to show Aaron who she was and after that he seemed OK. He was obsessed with watching her, though. And he was very serious about it. He didn't crack a smile for a long time. She kept swimming up and tickling his feet.

Towards the end of our swim, when he was watching Brianna swim around, I asked if he could say "Brianna", wondering if he would at least make a "ba" sound in imitation. Instead, I noticed him doing his sign for banana. Close enough, I guess.

Aaron definitely likes the water. We have an open invitation to go back and I'm sure we'll take Heidi up on it.

Teeth

I went to the dentist on Friday. When he asked me what was new, I said that my 15 month old had 16 teeth already (the 4 canines he was working on have finally broken through, although they still seem to hurt him). So then my dentist asked me how many more Aaron had left to come in. I said I had no idea. I thought he would know. I figured Aaron had at least 4 more molars, maybe 8.

So my dentist told me that Aaron only has 4 more teeth coming - 20 baby teeth in all. I don't know why I didn't know that. But I can now see the light at the end of the teething tunnel.

Last night, Aaron woke up at 12:30. I nursed him and tried to put him back down, but he started crying, so I picked him up again. He was rubbing at his his upper lip. I offered him my finger to bite, but he didn't want that, or his pacifier. So I carried him out into the kitchen, where I sat down and offered him some Joe's O's in the dark. A few weeks back, some Bunny Love cereal in the middle of the night seemed to relieve his teething. After I gave him one, he'd rest his head against my chest and crunch on his cereal. Then he would sit up and I'd give him another. After about 8 or 10, he just sat with his head on my chest and then I was able to put him back to bed.

Cereal in the dark. Works better - and faster - than Tylenol.

Standing

Aaron pulled to a stand on his own 3 times today. The last time was in his play pen and he even managed to side step a little. The first two times were in his play area - once at his cube ottoman to reach his red balloon and once at the fence we now have between the dining room and sunken living room.

At physical therapy on Friday, just during the 30 minutes that Jan was here, he seemed to improve. He pulled himself up with very little help several times. So our main focus now is cruising - getting him to move along furniture and railings once he is on his feet. But the good news is that he seems to be naturally interested in doing this now.

Yesterday we saw our friends Eric and Crystal and their daughter Ruby. She is 10 months and already taking a few steps on her own. It is so strange to see such a little girl already walking. She's just a baby! At 10 months, she is ahead of the curve by a couple of months, so the difference from Aaron is more striking.