Much delayed update

Whew!  It has been busy!  I've discovered Pinterest and it is a great way to let other's scour the internet for great ideas and then "pin" them to the virtual board for future use.  A great way to keep track of things you want to do or try!  Anyway, here's where we are at:
Eating some table food (still nothing with milk).
Always interested in whatever everyone else is eating.
Crawling on hands and knees more consistently.
"Cruising" minimally along furniture.
Babbling with multiple syllables ALL THE TIME.
Seems to prefer "momm, momm, momm," especially when he's upset.
Trying to really "figure out" his toys and things.
Pouts and cries when told "no" or otherwise gets in trouble.
Shakes his head when you say no, no, no.
Sleeping 11 hours straight.
Has 7, going on 10, teeth.
Pulls up on furniture.
Follows us around the house (into the kitchen, bathroom - okay, that's about all the bigger our house it but he really does follow us everywhere)
Naps like a champ!
LOVES daycare and smiles and babbles as we walk in each day.
Tried the swing at the park a few times.  He likes it for a little while.
Sucks down juice likes it's going out of style.
Feeds himself finger foods.
Getting more picky about what he wants to eat.
LOVES bath time and splashing everyone and everything within a 6 foot radius.
Starting to learn to wave bye-bye
Is a technology junky, making a bee-line for cell phones, lap tops, and tv receivers
We have successfully eliminated 2 bottles and moved to sippy cups!

That's all I can come up with for now.  We'll give an update again probably in another three months, when we get time!

Now what?

Okay...I think Aaron has tried all of the "1st Foods."  Short of mixing them now...where do I go next?  I can't believe we've made it through the 1st foods already!  I just noticed that next week, Aaron will be 7 month old.  I feel like I just posted about him turning 6 months old.  I don't realize how fast time is going until I realize, usually at work, that it's the end of the month, again!
One thing that is "up and coming," a TOOTH!  Maybe two!  Definitely could tell it was bothering him tonight as he kept rubbing and tugging at his ears and jaw.  Poor kiddo.  Last night he was in bed by 7:30 and slept almost 11 hours without a peep.  Tonight he was in bed by 7:45.  I feel like just the other day, he started rolling over!  Now he's sitting almost independently with a few crashes, chewing his food/puree, cutting a tooth, playing peek-a-boo, hide and seek with daddy, and babbling da-ba-ga-la.  Whew, and all that is within the last month, maybe even two weeks.  Friends say it goes fast...  I had no idea it would go this fast and I would already be forgetting when Aaron first slept through the night.  After thinking, I did remember (thanks Laura).  All we seem to think and talk about is Aaron...when he poo'd, when he ate, when he spit up, when he slept, the time he giggled and giggled and giggled, baths, story time, snuggling.  While it is different from our "old life" we've settled into a groove and I am enjoying every minute.  We will be getting some one on one time for ourselves in July for Ben's birthday.  I'm excited for that but nervous all at once.  New daycare has really helped me relax about who takes care of Aaron, but we are having grandma come up and stay with him for the night.  The following week, aunt Jess and my parents are coming up to watch him while we go to a wedding of a college friend.
Wow...this blog is pretty lame.  Sorry.  I'm too lazy to delete it.  I apologize for the time you may have wasted reading it.

Half Birthday!?

Yes...Aaron celebrated his half birthday last week.  I have managed to keep a child alive and healthy, who knew, for six entire months.  I'm starting to feel like Aaron has been a part of our life for years, though I still remember what it was like to go out to dinner, visit friends, and family without packing an entire extra wardrobe; toys, bibs, burp cloths, clothes, and all.  Speaking of toys, I just HAD to go out and get Aaron a couple of 1/2 birthday presents...of course!  He got a little snail that rolls when he pushes it, plays a couple of songs and has a mirror to look into.  He digs it, but I think he'll like it more in a few weeks when he can push it while sitting.  I also got him a vtech book that has nursery rhymes and three pages.  Grandma and Grandpa "Flash" have one and he loved it when we visited in Nashville.  This thing is a life saver.  I actually only get it out when NOTHING else helps...especially long car trips.  Over the past weekend, we travelled back to NW Iowa to visit family, the long way to avoid the flooded stretch of I-29, unfortunately. The "long way" is only 20 minutes longer than the "short way" but Aaron has decided to sleep less and less on car rides and fuss more and more.  Can't blame the kid...I don't like being cooped up in the car either, not being able to roll around and stretch out and stuff.  I think our plan will be to keep traveling as often as we can afford and desire to keep him used to car trips.  With family more than 2 hours away in either direction, we are going to have to travel if we want to see them.  He just better get used to it...and I guess we might have to get used to fussy car trips.  Here's Aaron getting ready to drive.  Not sure how he'll reach the pedals but he was pretty excited about it.  I went into the convenience store and came back out to him in my seat.  He was smiling and laughing, thought it was a pretty funny joke.  Definitely not expected, and so totally cute!

We had a great trip visiting Papa and Nana in LeMars.  All of Nana's siblings were in town and Aaron got to meet LOTS of new people.  He did pretty well and even gave smiles to new strangers.  It was great seeing everyone and spending some time with family.  While there, Aaron started sitting up on his own.  He is now sitting for nearly a minute by himself consistently!!  He even fusses when he's laying and rolling on the floor because he can't figure out how to sit up on his own.  Grrrrumpy!  Here's a photo of some of our first sitting!  The new toy great aunt Deb bought Aaron was very motivating for him.  Thanks Deb!!

Today was Aaron's 6 month well baby check.  Despite some gas and achy belly, Aaron took the shots like a champ again!  He cried for less than 30 seconds, sucked his pacifier for 2 minutes and was ready to go, smiling at the nurses checking us out.  Such a ladies man!  So here are the stats on our guy!
Height: 28 inches (95%)
Weight: 16lbs 12oz (40%)
Head size: 45cm (75%)
Long and lean.  I don't think I could possibly feed this kiddo more!  He eats constantly, formula and now veggies too!  We have tried peas, green beans, and now squash.  Aaron sucks them down and likes sitting up at the table and eating with us.  He opens his mouth like a baby bird, makes little groaning noises if I'm not moving fast enough and  swallows it all down.  So far, I've made a pea puree and a green bean puree.  A little thicker than the Stage 1 foods you'd buy at the store but it was my first attempt.  Aaron still seemed to handle it okay.  Squash was definitely his favorite.  Peas are probably a close second.  Very fun to see him getting excited and so interested in eating foods with us.
With all the activity and rolling, we've definitely had more spit up.  So ANNOYING...but I guess expected for a spitty baby.  We are looking at stopping Aaron's prilosec.  Not really seeming to make much of a difference at this point and with the addition of more solid foods, we are hoping to keep more food in the belly.  Scary...all of the milestones already achieved and shortly down the road.  More to come!

One in the bed and the little one said...

Roll OVER!  Aaron rolled over almost two weeks ago now, but I haven't gotten around to blogging about it.  Click on the link and watch the video!  Yup, that's right, we actually caught the first one on video!  It was awesome and he acted like he does it all the time and couldn't figure out what we were fussing about.  Silly baby boy!  Since then, lots has happened around the house.  Or at least I feel that way.  Aaron is putting everything straight into his mouth and drooling like a fool.  I bet we go through bibs every couple hours due to drooling and spit up.  He has also started "talking" all the time.  He makes a noise that starts like a really sick car trying to start and if only I had it on video.  I can't even describe the sounds that come out of this kid!  We are also getting close to rolling over back to front but he doesn't really prefer the front so I can't see this being something he does often.  And actually, he has not rolled over again from tummy to back.  He's just happy where he's at and when he's not, he start whining.  Oh well.  It's been fun and exciting to see how he's developing!  I feel like that last month has been a lot of firsts.  Aaron also tried cereal for the first time.  He continues to eat some, less than 1/2 an ounce every other night or so, but I think he'd rather not.  We do have a few photos of that one.  I can't wait to see even more milestones.  Life is crazy, but it's a good crazy.

Aaron, eight weeks

Today, Aaron is eight weeks old!  It has been a trying eight weeks, but I think we are seeing some light down the tunnel.  Not the end but definitely moving towards it.  Here's a recap of the past few weeks:
-Aaron was super gassy/fussy.  We gave up nursing at 5 weeks and switched from milked-based formula to soy-based.
-Aaron continues to be gassy and gets constipated.  Fussiness is extremely challenging.
-We started using gas drops and visited the chiropractor, which made a good difference in disposition.
-Aaron is still constipated.  Started prune juice with 1 bottle each day, plus glycerin suppositories.
-We continue to help stimulate BMs, but they are softer and regular.
-At 7 weeks, he started to smile, swing his hands at his play gym and coo.  Babbling and smiles are the best part of my day!

I'm so glad he's starting to feel better. He is really taking in his environment and looking around at everything.  He dislikes tummy time but is getting stronger every day.  How fun to see the changes he goes through so fast!  I'm sad thinking about going back to work in just 3 short weeks!  Wish me luck!  Until then, I'm heading back to playing with my little one!