A Wicked Weekend

The weather this week has been wonderful - clear and high 60s / low 70s - and just in time! Aidan is moving so fast that we have to get outside so he can have a positive outlet for his energy. Aidan's energy is seemingly boundless: he could cruise and drag Mommy around the house all day - but it makes Mommy exhausted! This week Aidan has also been squeaking and screaching: also known as experimenting with sound, but in a way that quickly means going on walks near buses or other distractions! It's pretty amazing that such a little person can make such big noises!

On Wednesday, Aidan had his first picnic in the park: He played with his friend Grace and her dog, Bella, and then sat in his stroller and ate cheerios while watching buses go by. (What more could a baby ask for?)



On Thursday, his third tooth (top, middle-left) started peeking through. His other top one (middle-right) is on its way, and Mommy can't wait! Teething makes Aidan unhappy and full of stressed energy, which makes life difficult for everyone! Tylenol helps, but hopefully we'll have a break for just a little while soon.

On Saturday, Grandma and Grandpa Ruane babysat for Aidan while Mommy and Daddy went to go see Wicked on Broadway! It was our second Aidan-free date since his birth, and we had a wonderful time. Fortunately, Aidan also had a wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa - they took long walks, watched lots of buses, dogs and people, played in the parks, and Aidan was only upset for a little while. (Yeah! Hopefully this will mean more dates for Mommy and Daddy.)

Milestones

Aidan is developing in leaps and bounds! This week he had fun exploring Grandma and Grandpa Ruane's house with Mommy while Daddy was at a conference in Vienna. Aidan has gotten so good at "cruising" (walking while assisted) that he has started dragging Mommy around the house by her fingers! His favorite place this week was to race around and around the island in Grandma and Grandpa Ruane's kitchen; he liked to pause for a couple of seconds as he rounds the last corner to grin at Grandma, and then lean full-tilt into racing around again!

He is also learning how to manipulate various things in the house. On Monday he figured out how to open and close the kitchen cabinet doors while standing next to them (he can do this either using the handle or the side of the cabinet door). This was exciting, because the cabinet he picked led to Grandma's pots and pans, which were an exciting (if sometimes loud and scary) set of new toys! On Thursday, he learned how to turn on and off a light switch: he stood on the changing table and pushed down with his thumb to turn the switch off; that was easier than pulling up with the side of his pointer finger to turn the light on, but he got that eventually too.

Aidan has also continued to be thrilled about buses. Because of this excitement, he has started to consistently clap with both hands open (before he would usually have one hand closed, and wouldn't clap as frequently - now both hands are open and he claps for joy all the time!). He also definitely understands the word "bus": he no longers says "hoo! hoo!" when he sees buses; instead he says "buh! buh!". The other morning when Mommy told Aidan he could go see buses with Grandma after breakfast, he immediately did the "all done" sign and insisted on not eating any more till he returned from visiting the buses! When he returned, he was still hungry and wanted more breakfast - so Mommy thinks that he stopped eating before he was done, just so he could see the buses! "Bus" (or "buh") seems like a good candidate for Aidan's first word! Grandma was able to distract Aidan for half an hour the last few mornings of the week so Mommy could get a shower, just because of this interest. Yeah for buses!

On Saturday Aidan attended his first one-year birthday party for his friend Dakota. He had fun cruising around Dakota's apartment with his friends and dancing with Mommy. We can't believe that his cohort is already into the first birthday parties!

Daddy came home Sunday evening, and Aidan gave him a full-body jig of excitement. Life is so wonderful when Daddy is home!

Buses

Buses are currently Aidan's absolute favorite thing of all time, coming in just after seeing Daddy when he comes home from work. Cars and trucks are moderately interesting, but buses are the ultimate! For the last couple of weeks, when Aidan sees a bus, he has grunted excitedly ("hoo! hoo!"), waved his arms up and down like he is trying to fly, and put his whole body weight forward to try to get as near to them as possible. On Monday when Mommy took Aidan out in the stroller on Broadway, Aidan responded so energetically to the buses, that people in the street were smiling and commenting, and the New York City bus drivers smiled and waved back! (*That* is rare!) Mommy thinks that this is great: Aidan is already helping to make the world a better place by giving so many people a reason to smile!

This Saturday Daddy flew to Vienna for another conference, and Mommy and Aidan took Amtrak to Grandpa and Grandma Ruane's for the week. Daddy will be back on Saturday, so it's not too long this time. Grandma and Grandpa Ruane are thrilled for the excuse to see Aidan again, Mommy is happy to have them around, and we are all getting pretty good at this. So, we think it's going to be a good week!

9 months & Creeping!

Aidan has been learning lots of new things lately! The most exciting thing this week is that he is already creeping!!! On Thursday he pulled himself up to stand using one of our chair's foot rests, reached across to the coffee table, and used the coffee table to keep his balance as he walked over to the TV! (Check out the amazing video!) Mommy and Daddy can't believe it. It looks like Aidan is going to walk soon!!!

In other exciting news, we think that Aidan is starting to use signs! He is definitely clapping when he he happy or excited, he has a very assertive "all done" sign which he uses to mean "stop" as well, and he uses the "more" sign sometimes when he wants more and sometimes when he wants some bottle at mealtimes. It is amazing!

In terms of eating, Mommy has given up introducing one food at a time to Aidan, and it is now a food free-for-all! Grandma Ruane gave him cheerios for the first time in CA last week, and he **LOVES** them. For a couple of days he wouldn't eat anything unless cheerios were on the side! At this point, he has eaten meats in babyfood (chicken, turkey), veggies (carrots, squash, corn, spinach, peas,) starches (potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, oatmeal, barley), tons of fruits (pears, apples, apricots, bannanas, blueberries, plums, prunes), and various crackers (Zwieback cookies, Mum-mums, cheerios). We have done both baby food and milled regular food, and a little bit of unmilled stuff (cheerios and bananas). Aidan loves feeding himself cheerios and crackers and banana mush, although the bananas get stuck all over him! Eating is a lot of fun. We're going to do more finger food soon!