Precious Supervises the New Toy

Earlier this week, Aaron loved watching a couple of our teens play basketball (and the crowd)...and he also loved the attention he got from all the girls! When we got home we gave him our Christmas gift-a basketball tub toy and he seemed to instantly know how to shoot hoops! We figured we would space out opening gifts so he could enjoy them more. He loves playing with tissue paper, boxes, and bags but still needs a little help with wrapped gifts. We are looking forward to his first Christmas!

Enjoying the WHOLE Package

One foot infront of the other, repeat

First steps were on December 13th 2009

So Smart

Wanting some of Great Grandpa's Ice Cream

Playing with friends

At the Boston Aquarium

Playing with Granddad's Dogs

Having fun with Uncle Adam

Thanksgiving Photo

What is this? Fish

Learning to Share

We are fortunate that Aaron has been born at a time when there are several other babies nearby who are within a few months to a couple of years as old as he. We're enjoying being at a stage where he can start to interact with them. McKinsey did suffer a slight hair pulling and rough housing by Aaron but overall he did well playing with her. We are working on being gentle with girls as well as kitty!

FINALLY!!!

Matt has been diligently trying to get Aaron to say "Dada" since birth. Precious, of course, won out without even trying. Nonetheless, Matt is thrilled that yesterday morning when he came up the stairs Aaron greeted him with a very cheerful wave, "Hi Dada", and then clapped--couldn't be any clearer!

Pumpkin Patch

Aaron loves the feel of pumpkins and we found out last night that he also loves eating the pumpkin squares that he watched mama bake!

Cake Walk

Aaron did a cake walk by pushing a stool to keep his balance!

Aaron's First Fall Festival

We are fortunate to be in the circle of sharing clothes around here and this included a costume for Aaron! Matt was hoping it would bring candy our way but apparently the adults saw through and we went home empty-handed! We don't have to deal with the question of how to celebrate Halloween....we don't get trick or treaters and Matt is "on duty" at the church! But as Aaron grows we will be sure to explain to him that it is also Reformation Day and Martin Luther's bold action is something to celebrate!

Talking to Mamma

Aaron’s Weather Report

Bottle That Laugh

Our Own Goldilocks

Apparently claiming Aaron’s bouncy seat and car seat weren’t enough….(not to mention the guest room chair, living room couch, and our bed-this in addition to her own special window seat)!

Orchard

We enjoyed taking Aaron to a local orchard recently when the weather FINALLY cooperated the last week of their season. He wasn’t a fan of the goats but was quite taken with the chickens running around (which only strengthened Matt’s argument for us having our own running/pooping around the yard)!

He’s ALL boy!

Lovin’ Daddy

Nine Months

Aaron is proving to be the perfect baby (aside from his lack of interest in eating and sleeping)! He’s cute, funny, smart, sensitive, affectionate, strong, and healthy! One of our prayers while he was in the womb was that he would be an encouragement to others. We can’t believe how many times he already has proven to be just that simply because of how friendly and enjoyable he is in social settings. He makes people smile—including strangers (grocery shopping has become quite the social scene for us!).

Apple Pie

Fall is hands down the best season in New England. It’s beautiful and it’s also the time for enjoying the hard work of the prior months’ gardening. Recently, we sat down and peeled apples that friends brought by from a local orchard. As we were sitting at the table preparing for our first homemade pie, I couldn’t help but think we looked and felt like we had just stepped out of a Hallmark card! I still can’t believe these are the scenes of my life now!

Loving Precious

Aaron loves "kitty" and gets excited whenever he sees her. He even lately gives her hugs!

Saying Hi

Aaron has learned to smile, wave, and sometimes say "Hi" when people enter the room. However, thus far Precious, yes Precious, not mom or dad is the only one spoken to by name "Ki" (tty)!

Look at my Teeth

Loving Cheerios

Helping in the Kitchen

Walking with a little help

Playing Music

Walking with Assistance

A New Perspective

Aaron loved seeing what we see instead of the back of the car! We have a picture of Matt close to this age in a very similar pose!

So Handsome

Waiting for Grandpa

A Day at the Fair

Keeping Aaron Contained

Aaron's Favorite Toy

Testing out the Big Boy Car Seat

Look just one hand

Just like mom, loves pancakes

On the move

Keeping Us on Our Toes

We finished up quite a week with Aaron. In addition to the continued teething, he got his first cold. The week ended with him getting bitten for the first time-by a liitle girl at a church dinner. He's never been intentionally hurt by someone before and it was rather unsettling.

This picture doesn't show all the boo-boos clearly but if you look close you may notice the bruise on the middle of his forehead from when he wiggled too much in the bath tub, the fat lip from when he took off the safety guards on the corner of a small table and then proceeded to fall on it, and the big scrape on the side of his head from when he crawled into the guest room and pulled up on an unsteady table with a water fountain on it. He knows this is a no-no and proceeded to take advantage of an opportunity when my hands were full of trash (because he had just gotten poop on me from wiggling too much). Later on Precious threw up and while I was cleaning that up, Aaron got into another no-no spot (but without injury). When he went down for a nap, I put a small bandaid with ointment on it on his head so that it would stay on and have time to do it's job without him picking at it. Best laid plans....he woke up from his nap, ATE the bandaid and then threw up for the first time. We made our first call to poison control and waited about 24 hours for him to poop it out. Fortunately, he has a good digestion system that didn't seem at all disturbed--we were just glad the bandaid was very easy to spot on exit! Everytime Matt came home that day, he was met with the next drama...and of course, it was the starting night of AWANA. Aaron didn't seem to out of sorts with all the "excitement" of the day. Mama, on the other hand, felt quite initiated into being the mother of an active, adventorous, strong-minded boy. I'm just glad I have fellow moms of boys friends with whom I now also have my own stories to share. These were the kind of days that always scared me that I knew would come...and we survived and even found some of it humorous (afterwards, of course).

Time to Eat

Aaron has been a challenge to feed from day one. He has so many other interests and now that he's very mobile, dexterous, and has teeth he wants to do it all himself. We've gone through different stages of what works for distractions for his hands while we sneak food in his mouth. His latest craze is to dip his finger food or his hand in the dish we're holding, which inevitably ends up all over himself and highchair and floor. It usually takes about an hour to get through a feeding and at that, we're shooting for the minimum of what he really needs. It seems for now he's just going to be a slow, small eater and he gets it honestly! Right now, no one else can feed him but mama...hopefully he'll get over that SOON! Fortunately, he's not picky about what he eats and doesn't react to anything so far. He goes crazy at even the sight of bananas...everything stops until he gets a bite. He's pretty fond of Cheerios and yogurt too. The only things he doesn't like are ham and squash.

Bathtime!

Aaron loves his bath so much that he'll go in the bathroom and peek in the tub during the day-I'm sure he's perplexed about there being no water in there nor his stuff except for when we're bathing him!

First Time to Swing

My Baby Blues!

Picnic

Recently we took the teens to a state park in Camden--one of the best tourist towns to visit along the coast. Aaron thinks he's too big for baby food and bottles...he always wants what we eat--this is his first attempt to bite into an apple!

The Grass IS Greener on the Other Side

First Flight of Steps

Top Teeth Breaking Through!