Aiden’s first tooth is coming in! Bottom front left. Discovered by mom on 12/19/09 whilst knuckle pacifying a nearly napping boy who was having trouble finding his hand. My shock forced me to disturb the peace to confirm, and sure enough…
Okay so this is a really useless picture, but we tried. He’s guarding his precious tooth with his tongue like a goalie tending the net in a tied game rivalry.
Update: Aiden has two teeth now and I got ‘em!
As mentioned earlier, Aiden got started on solid food this past week (November 15th). We started with a little rice cereal mixed with milk between his late afternoon and final feeding, conveniently timed right before his bath. The first time was pretty hilarious, and anyone that’s ever fed this baby will relate as to why. You see, Aiden is what I like to call a ravenous eater. There’s no breaks or burping of any kind once he gets started until he’s finished. Even now, I can barely switch sides when nursing without him getting a little whiny. So it was no surprise to us when we had to break out an extra spoon to keep the food coming.
Come the second day, he was much more relaxed, allowing us to use only one spoon. We continued practicing with the cereal throughout the week but only noticed a slight improvement in his spoon technique day to day. That is until Saturday. Saturday, we introduced him to sweet potatoes, and all of a sudden our little boy became a spoon master, not letting a single drop escape his mouth once it past his lips. He also started opening wide to make sure I knew he was ready for more. Needless to say, I think he liked sweet potatoes.
After his initial feeding of sweet potatoes, I started mixing them in with the cereal. That seems to be going pretty well for now. After the holiday weekend, we’ll start in on a new vegetable. We’ve got squash, green beans, and carrots on the horizon before we start in on fruits. Yay! It’s so awesome seeing him try new foods for the first time.
On a feeding side note, I’ve also recently discovered that the boy is refusing to eat formula (unless mixed in sweet potato/cereal goulash). I tried to give him a bottle the other night while we were out to dinner which he refused. At the time I chalked it up to tiredness, but then today I sent a bottle of formula with him to daycare, and his teacher said he wouldn’t take it. I’m not exactly sure what to do about this as I’m out of my milk stash and can’t pump enough at work. Anyone out there have a similar situation? Suggestions are welcome and appreciated…
Last week after work Aiden, Dan and myself stepped out for a walk on a glorious fall afternoon. Admittedly it was our first walk in a while
since we no longer have to use it as a calming mechanism to make it through the day. We had not even made it out of our cul-de-sac when I look down at my smiling, just happy to be alive baby sitting in his stroller and say to Dan “I’m forgetting”. Dan knew exactly what I was talking about and concurred. After all, what’s three months of what sometimes felt like cruel and unusual punishment compared to the lifetime that’s before us. So while I never thought this day would come, we’re on the brink of joining the ranks of many that propagate lies of omission to parents-to-be because we can only remember the good stuff.
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Last night, Aiden slept from 6:30pm to 5am. This is the first time he’s slept through the night since we stopped putting him to bed right before we go to bed. At 4am I woke up and had to pump. At 4:20am I was back in bed, wide awake, and sorely missing the ten minute rendezvous that I usually have with him in the middle of the night. Figures.
I have yet to catch it on video, but Aiden started rolling from his stomach to his back this week. I didn’t see him do it the first time. He was in his crib on his tummy while I was straightening up his room. When I peeked in to check on him, he was on his back. I scooped him up and made a big scene, showering him with kisses. I don’t think he knew what was going on, but it was so exciting! I’ve seen him do it a couple times since, but it still requires quite a bit of energy on his part.
He also began reaching for his dangling toys (stroller, bouncy chair, and mat) with a purpose this week. I know I talked about him grabbing his octopus in an earlier post, but honestly at the time I was pretty sure it was just an accident. I know that isn’t the case now and I swear it happened over night…like he just woke up one morning and decided to start controlling his arms and hands. Now when he grabs my fingers or touches my hand, my heart just melts because I feel like he’s intentionally initiating contact with me. If I could bottle the feeling up and sell it, I swear the world would be a much happier place.
I just can’t get over how far we’ve come in such a short time. It’s all happening so fast and Dan and I can’t help but feel like time is already getting away from us. I didn’t think I’d be saying this so early, but I’m seriously considering putting a rock on Aiden’s head. It doesn’t help that I start back to work tomorrow =\
…a mere three weeks late. Aiden now weighs in at 11 pounds 13 ounces and is a whopping 2 feet (24 inches) tall. He’s still in the 90th percentile for height but has jumped up to the 50th percentile for weight. He got a couple shots today, and he took them like a champ. I have a feeling that daddy is going to be the one that gives him shot anxiety as he gets older. Dan definitely gets uneasy when the needles appear.
In other news Aiden finally managed to get a hold of Mr. Octopus all by himself. He’s been staring and batting at it for weeks and finally just reached up and grabbed it. I was so proud.
The activity mat that you see him lying on has been the best investment. He loves it.
Here’s a picture of Aiden sleeping in his swing. What’s the big deal you may be asking yourself? Babies sleep in their swings all the time. Well, not our baby! Aiden has hated his swing from day one. (We’re pretty sure it’s because he knows that mommy and daddy get to relax when he’s in it.) We had recently moved the swing to another room just to get it out of the way since we never use it.
As we were about to go out for a walk today, I thought on a whim that I’d give it a try thinking that if he started screaming, we’d just walk. And wouldn’t you know, he not only enjoyed the swing, but he actually fell asleep (which was the original goal of the walk). I was so amazed that I started taking pictures. I emailed this picture to Dan at work because I needed someone to share in my amazement. I even broke out the video camera and got a 30 second clip of him just chilling in the swing.
So did I get anything done while he was napping in his swing? Why of course not. After the photo shoot, I spent the whole time watching him completely dumbfounded. But I’ll be ready next time…IF there is a next time…
Aiden’s first hickey! Self-inflicted. Why would you suck on a pacifier when you have a perfectly good arm?
Yesterday we went to Daddy’s work so he could take some pictures for a poster contest he’s trying to win at work. As we were getting ready to leave, we were able to capture some of Aiden’s first “on purpose” smiles. We think these may make up for the first 7 weeks of screaming…maybe…
And here is the poster that Dan created. I’m not sure how he couldn’t win with that cuteness featured. Don’t let the innocent face fool you, however. If you look closely at mommy, she is trying really hard to keep the screaming at bay.
The Louche Family 
