C'mon Baby

Carrie and Keifer came over to play this morning. "C'mon Baby" C'mon Puppy" Keifer could be heard repeating over and over. She's such a sweetheart. Aidan and Roxie were worn out when the play date was over. Maybe this should be a daily event...

After putting Aidan down for a nap I had a few quick errands to run. On my way to Target I could hear the car making an awful sound and not driving well. I figured it was probably just snow packed in the wheel wells and kicked the tires on the driver's side after I parked. After Target I drove to the YMCA and the sound only got worse. After parking there I did an inspection of all the tires. Bad news. The right front tire was FLAT and no longer on the rim. Yikes. I didn't have much choice but to drive it home. (not far) I took it up to Kyle's parents' house where Mick graciously put the spare tire on for me. He tried inflating it, but being only 2 degrees outside, the air wouldn't go in the tire. Ughh...guess I'll being going up to the tire store on Friday.

Christmas 2008 Slide Show

Christmas 2008

Christmas Pictures

Here are my favorite Christmas pictures that didn't show up so great in the slide show

Aidan with his Christmas bounty

Great-Grandma Albers and Aidan

If only I could get this thing started...

4 generations of Moshers
Great Grandpa and Grandma Mosher are 92 years old...almost 93

Uncle Kyle, Aunt Kali, Aidan, Mommy, and Daddy

Christmas, Albers Style

We made it back from our trip to IL. The 12 hours in the car went spectacularly well. I guess the trick is to have someone in the backseat amusing Aidan. Like always, it was a whirlwind trip of seeing family and friends. Aidan has definitely entered "stranger anxiety" territory, although he doesn't have a severe case of it. Some may call it "Momma's Boy" syndrome, but when you spend almost every waking moment with your mom, I suppose it feels weird not to have her around. Here's a quick recap of Christmas at Nana and Grandpa's house:
Christmas Eve: Drove to IL and went to the 9pm candle light service at church. No crying from Aidan, in fact he was trying to charm the people in the row behind us. Dee, a family friend who is pregnant and due in January, was sitting behind us. She came up after church and said she is requesting a baby just like Aidan. :)

Christmas Day: Up at 7am and ready to open presents. Aidan ate breakfast first and then opened his stocking while we waited for Daddy, Aunt Kali, and Uncle Kyle to wake up. Santa brought him new pacifiers and a sippy cup. I was afraid Aidan would get so many presents that we wouldn't be able to fit them in the car on the way back, but everyone restrained themselves beautifully and he got just the right amount. New additions include clothes, small toys, books, and a walk 'n ride that Aidan is in love with.

My Grandma and her friend Joe joined us for lunch. Aidan was pretty busy crawling around and playing with Uncle Kyle's new snow blower to sit still and take pictures with his great-grandma, but I think we got a few that are decent.

Friday: The day was spent gearing up for Saturday and getting the house ready for the 60 people that would be coming over. My mom is one of seven kids, so there are lots of relatives on her side of the family. We did take a break and went out for a quick lunch, but then it was back to the house for more preparations. We didn't have any plans for Friday night, so Aidan was in bed by 7:30 and I wasn't too far behind. I think I fell asleep on the couch around 8:15pm. It's hard work being a mom!

Saturday: Up early again and we were off and running. There was food to be made and last minute cleaning to do before people started showing up around noon. Once the house was packed with close to 60 people Aidan didn't want to get too far away from me. He was fine playing on the floor, but wasn't too keen on being passed around. No major meltdowns and he even went down for a nap. The Mosher clan (my mom's side) now has one more person; great-grandchild # 15 was born on Saturday. Sarah went into labor at 4:30am Saturday morning so she obviously wasn't at Christmas. Linnea Skye was born around 9pm Saturday night. Welcome to the family!

Saturday night was more visiting. My friend Nikki and her son Eli came over to play for a little bit. Eli is 7 1/2 months older than Aidan, but it seems like light years in terms of development. Eli is running around and saying words. He was so cute to watch, and he wore Roxie out chasing her around. I can't wait until Aidan is able to do that!

After Aidan went to bed Kyle and I snuck out to meet more friends at the bar downtown. Poor Kyle was the only guy, and there was a loud band playing, so he just kind of had to sit there. I thoroughly enjoyed myself though. I hadn't seen my friends since Aidan's shower back in May, so it was great to catch up with them. (even if the music was loud)

Sunday: No rest for the weary. I was hoping Aidan would sleep in a little bit since I had gone to bed later than usual, but he was up at 7am. I started packing up our stuff while Nana and Grandpa got some more play time with Aidan. We packed up the car and were on the road back to MN by about 11:30am. The roads through Iowa were fine...it could have been treacherous after the ice storm the night before, but they were clear and dry and we made it safely back to MN.

I'll post a slide show of our Christmas pictures once I get a chance to download and go through them. As always, we've got a ton of great shots and I have to figure out which ones are the best.

I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you a Happy New Year!

Over The River And Through The Woods

To Grandpa and Nana's house we go. The car is half packed and Aidan is down for his morning nap. It's going to be a tight squeeze with the presents, dog, and all necessary items to keep a baby entertained for 6 hours in a car. I told Kyle I hoped to be out of the Twin Cities by noon and he said he's at his boss' whim (the varsity coach). I replied that I am the boss too and I want to be out of here by noon. :) Wish us luck!

It's A Finn Christmas

We had our first Christmas yesterday with Grandpa and Grandma Finn and Aunt Marsha. Somehow we ended up with close to 100 pictures, which I culled down to 48. The curse of a digital camera. I made them into a slide show since I couldn't pick my favorite photos to post. You'll notice Aidan looks like a little boy instead of a baby. Cute, but also kind of sad that he's not tiny anymore. Some of the photos get cut off in this slide show, so if you really want to see the pictures, you can go to http://family.webshots.com/album/569321417lyudkN to view the pictures with captions so you know what/who you're looking at.



Finn Christmas 2008

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Yesterday, December 20th, Grandpa Albers turned 55. Happy Birthday and we can't wait to see you in a few days!!!

Last night Kyle and I made our annual trek out into the Minnesota winter to listen to Christmas music. In years past we have seen the Trans Siberian Orchestra (fantastic), but this year I wanted to do something different. I saw lots of ads throughout the fall for the MN Orchestra and their Weekender Pops series. Jingle Bell Doc caught my attention. I scoured the calendar for a hockey-free night (exceptionally hard to come by Nov-Feb) and bought tickets. Hockey threatened to disrupt my plans as a varsity coach party and pee-wee parent party were scheduled at the last minute, but Kyle wisely chose to attend the concert with me and then go to the coach party. ;) The music was great. Doc Severinsen (from the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson) conducted and played trumpet solos while the Twin Cities Handbell Choir, Minnesota Chorale, and Ascension Youth Choir added another layer to the performance. If you're ever up in Minnesota I would highly recommend checking out the MN Orchestra. They were outstanding. I couldn't keep the smile off my face. I love Christmas music.

Turn Down The Volume

I added some Christmas music to the blog. If you're reading this at work, turn down the volume. Wouldn't want anyone getting in trouble for not actually working... ;)

Happy Holidays!

Boys vs. Girls

It was actually boys vs. women. The U.S. Women's hockey team, to be exact. Yesterday afternoon Kyle's varsity team played the U.S. Women's hockey team. Since they wouldn't want it misconstrued as a "game", it was played in two 30-minute halves instead of three periods and no score was kept. Aidan and I went for the first half. (right smack in the middle of nap time, but how often do you get to see the women's hockey team?) Most of their players came from Minnesota "The State of Hockey", but there were a few from CT and CA.

Aidan enjoyed the first fifteen minutes. He watched the puck fly back and forth across the ice, his head swiveling from side to side. Then he noticed the cute high school girls in the row behind us...and that was the end of hockey for him. He was way too busy flirting with the girls to watch hockey. Such a ladies man.

It seemed to me the teams were pretty evenly matched while we were there. Each team scored two goals in the first 30 minutes. When Kyle got home he told me the varsity really brought it in the second half. According to him, "the boys were afraid to hit the girls and were making mistakes because of it" in the first half. Apparently that was all cleared up during half-time and the boys came back to beat the women's team. I was rooting for the women, but I guess it never hurts to have your hometown team win.

Work Babies

Here are the kiddos that were born at my work last year. Getting three babies to look at a camera at the same time is nearly impossible.

Addison (1yr) Aidan (8m.) Adalyn (11m.)

Adalyn, Addison, Aidan

Tempered Success

Self-feeding update:

Aidan has decided that bread is now okay. He ate half a piece for lunch(torn up into little pieces) and the rest for dinner. Peach chunks and peas are still a no-go. I'm guessing they're not soft enough because he tries to gum them and then just spits them out.

9 Month Check-Up

Aidan had his 9 month check-up yesterday. He needed dose #2 of the flu shot before Christmas, so we went in two weeks early. It was kind of a good new/bad news session. Good news, Aidan is developmentally right where he should be...sitting, standing, crawling, pulling himself up, babbling mama, baba, and knows how to say "up" and what it means.

Bad news, he's too skinny. Yes, he has always been skinny, but this time around he is too skinny. In September he weighed 15 lbs 4 oz. Now he weighs 16 lbs 11 oz. Not much of a weight gain for almost three months. He is eating the recommended amount of formula, but isn't eating much in the way of finger foods. Basically, he refuses to pick them up, and if I put them in his mouth, he spits them out. I feed him pureed or mashed fruits/veggies at mealtimes, and he eats those along with Gerber Puffs, which he will feed himself.

Finger foods we've tried and have been rejected...bread/toast, peach chunks, kiwi chunks, banana slices, cheese. The doctor wondered if it wasn't a texture aversion and tossed out the idea of going to see a speech therapist that specializes in feeding evaluations. Not going to lie, I was slightly shocked. He said it was totally up to me, but that he would write the referral just in case I decided it was needed.

As a special education teacher I know the importance of early intervention, but I am still struggling with this. Maybe Aidan just hasn't had enough practice. Maybe he's a picky eater. Or maybe taking him to get the evaluation would be a good idea just to see what they have to say. Regardless of my indecision, they called yesterday afternoon and I scheduled an appointment for January 7th. That gives us about three weeks to work with Aidan and see if he starts eating finger foods on his own. If he does, great. Then I can cancel the appointment. If not, I will take him in and see if there is something to be concerned about.

Here are his 9 month stats:

Height: 29 in---84th %
Weight: 16 lbs 11 oz---6th %
Head: 18 in---72nd %

Mr. Mischevious

No puking since Saturday night, so I thought I would try to get a picture for our Christmas letter. Somehow this became a monumentally difficult task. Either Aidan wouldn't look at me, he crawled away, or he was whining. I did get this one though. I think he looks like he's planning something very devious. We'll try another photo session after his afternoon nap in hopes of a better holiday picture.



The other look that has been typical for the past week. It's getting old REALLY fast.

Does It Get More Disgusting???

When you have your first baby you get peed on and accidentally get poop on yourself when changing the baby, and you think, "This is disgusting." Then it happens again and you're like "Well, it's not the first time..." Last night we reached the pinnacle of disgusting thus far when I went in to check on Aidan around 11:30pm. He had just started fussing and I thought if I popped his pacifier back in he would probably go back to sleep. *Remember, I have a cold and can't really smell anything.* I stopped using the night-light when the bulb burnt out several weeks ago, so I was running my hand all over inside his crib feeling around for it. What I found instead was a crib covered in vomit. Not baby spit-up...an adult size pool of vomit. It was d-i-s-g-u-s-t-i-n-g. So I ask you now, does it get more disgusting than this? I sincerely hope not. What other nasty things is my baby going to throw at me? (hopefully not literally...)

To end the saga of last night, I stripped Aidan and handed him off to Kyle who rinsed the visible puke off Aidan's hair and face. I threw everything from the crib into the washer and then gave Aidan a bath. Aidan wouldn't go back to his crib even though his eyes were closed, so he slept with me for the next 2 hours. He woke up a happy baby this morning, but has been cranky on and off. I'm guessing it's just a virus or an extension of our sickness last week. His room reeks of puke even though everything has been washed. He has his (early) 9-month check up tomorrow morning with the doctor. They don't give vaccinations to sick babies so I might have to reschedule.

HO! HO! HO!

Aidan visited Santa today. May I just say, it is ridiculously hard to find a free Santa up here. Apparently Santa got hit by the recession too and needs a little extra cash, because to visit him at the mall is close to $30 if you want pictures. They don't let you take your own pictures. No need to worry though, I found a free Santa that lets you take as many pictures as you want. We went to Gerten's, a landscape/nursery/greenhouse place about 20 minutes from our house. They also offer free sleigh rides pulled by real reindeer...Aidan was still too young to enjoy that, but maybe next year. We only had to wait about 15 minutes in a short line. I think the pictures speak for themselves. ;)



I didn't torture Aidan by making him continue to sit on Santa's lap, just snapped a quick picture and then got him. He stopped crying as soon as I picked him up. No child abuse here.

Feeling Better

I think we are all on our way back to feeling better. The stomach bug morphed into a cold, hitting me harder than Kyle or Aidan. They both seem much better, while my head feels like it's going to explode. I'll take a headache any day over being nauseous though.

Even though we were all under the weather this week, it was still extra-busy. We went to baby story time, had eye doctor appointments, I got my hair cut, Aidan and I went in and had lunch at school, and today we had our early childhood class. Even when Aidan is grumpy and screaming at home, I know if I take him out and he can see other people, he will be happy. Knock on wood, it hasn't failed yet. Sometimes I make up things to buy at the grocery store just because I know Aidan will perk up once we are out and about. Great for a budget? No. But good for my sanity.

We made Christmas ornaments at our early childhood class today. I remember making something similar when I was little. Here is the recipe for all you crafty people that know little ones:

Cinnamon Dough Ornaments
1 c. cinnamon
3/4 c. applesauce
1/4 c. non toxic glue

1. Mix ingredients together
2. Flatten dough on floured surface
3. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters
4. Make a hole at the top with a straw
5. Let ornaments dry 48 hours
6. When dry, paint over with thinned glue---add glitter if desired
7. Put ribbon through hole



*On a much sadder note, I just got off the phone with my friend Nikki. Her father-in-law was killed in a farm accident last night. Please send warm thoughts and prayers their way.*

The Yuckies

We have come down with our first case of the family sickness. Kyle started getting sick Monday night, I got sick Tuesday night, and I know Aidan isn't feeling well because he's eating about half of what he normally does and is even spitting that back up. Yuck. It's nothing major, we're all just feeling really queasy with an achy body. It's never fun being sick. What I find odd is that I can smell Aidan's sickness. Not the spit up or a dirty diaper kind of smell, he just smells hot and sick. (no fever though, I checked) We're supposed to go into my work tomorrow for lunch with the staff. Crossing my fingers that we feel better.

Future NHL MVP

While I was out grocery shopping this afternoon Aidan somehow got his picture taken with Kyle's hockey stick. Kyle says it's a sign. My guess is that Kyle posed him with it. ; )

I'm too happy to be a mean hockey player

On second thought, I do have a little crazy in me...

All Played Out

Aidan has been busy this week meeting and playing with other babies. On Thursday, the three babies that were born at my work last year got together for a play date. Addison will be 1 next week, Adalyn is 10 months old, and Aidan is 8 months old. (notice that they all start with "A") They had a great time playing together. Addison is able to say "tickle, tickle" and she would come up to Aidan and "tickle tickle" his tummy. It was SO cute. As usual, I forgot my camera even though I thought about it not 10 minutes before we left. Stephanie took pictures and said she would e-mail them to me. I'll post them as soon as I get them.

On Friday we started our new session of early childhood classes. This time around I signed up for a class called Kid Sized Adventures. We hit the jackpot and there are 3 babies who were born within 19 days of each other. It was so nice for Aidan to be able to play with babies that were at the same developmental stage as him. This class is for birth to pre-k, so there are also four older kids in class who like to play with the babies. Aidan got several hugs from a little girl named Glory-Ann who fell in love with him. :)

Not much planned for this weekend. I started making my Christmas cookies yesterday. I got as far as making the dough before Aidan woke up and wanted to play. My goal is to bake them today and maybe make some candies too. That may be a tad ambitious, but a girl's gotta have goals, right?

8 Months Old

My little baby isn't little anymore...although I felt that way when he was 3 months old too. I decided I didn't have enough "naked baby" photos of him, so I snapped a few shots during bath time the other night. As you can see, he loves taking a bath. Aidan is constantly on the move and getting into new things every day. He has started looking up when he is crawling around, discovering a whole new world. At bath time this means trying to climb out of the tub or hauling himself up on the faucet into standing position. So far he has left the Christmas tree alone. He tries to follow Roxie around, but she's just too fast for him. I started feeding him Yo-Baby yogurt on Monday and he really seems to like it. Next up is kiwi that was on sale this week. I'm going to cut it into small chunks and have him feed himself.

Yesterday we took a trip to Stillwater, MN to order Kali's bridesmaid dresses. (long story short, we saved ourselves $184 per dress by ordering them up here) Grandma Finn came along and played with Aidan while I got measured and ordered the dresses and then we went out for lunch. Stillwater is known for it's antique stores, being on the St. Croix River, and its quaint downtown area. We did it all yesterday. We had lunch at a restaurant on the river, walked up and down Main Street, had tea in a cozy little tea room, stopped in an antique store, and best of all, a fudge shop. I got an almond turtle that was the size of my fist. I'm not even exaggerating. It was huge. The lady cut it into quarters for me and it was still huge. I had one piece and am going to put the rest in the freezer so I don't scarf it all down at once. During this time Aidan was too busy smiling and charming all the people we saw to stop and take a nap. Thankfully he didn't get cranky and we had a wonderful afternoon.

The Mom Song

My mom sent me a link to this video.
If you:
a)are a mom
or
b) have a mom (which should cover everyone that reads this blog)
I think you will find it amusing.


The Mom Song from Northland Video on Vimeo.

Give Back

It doesn't have to cost anything to give back, or you could call it paying it forward. Every day people are in accidents or get sick and need blood transfusions. Here is a story about my friend Annie, whom I've know since I was four years old, and her husband Brian. http://www.rrvbc.org/brian_peight.php This picture and article will be featured in a 2009 calendar made by the Rock River Valley Blood Center. During the holiday season and the rest of the year, consider donating blood. It can save lives.

***Here is a link to Brian's Caringbridge site that has been updated regularly since the accident***

O Christmas Tree

We went Christmas tree shopping today. In years past this would have involved bundling up, driving 30-35 minutes south of here and cutting down our own tree. This year it consisted of driving 10 minutes and picking out a pre-cut tree. It kind of kills the Christmas buzz, but with a sick baby who still can't nap for more than ten minutes at a time without hacking up a lung, I decided not to push the issue. At least it snowed overnight and was in the 20's so I could get in the holiday spirit. Some of you may be thinking "Really? You're getting a Christmas tree with a mobile baby in the house?" The answer is yes. I will not be putting any breakable ornaments on the tree this year and it has short, soft needles. (maybe a balsam fir???) We'll see how it goes. I decorated the living room today and Aidan is in love with the fiber optic snowman and elf village. Neither seems overly fragile and the cords are out of his far reaching grasp. They kept him occupied for the better part of this afternoon which is more than I could have hoped for.

Shop 'Til You Drop

I did my part on Black Friday and contributed to the economy. After Aidan woke up from his morning nap we ran up to Michaels and spent a whopping $17. :) It's hard to pass up their 25% off entire purchase coupon that only comes on Black Friday. I bought materials to make a crafty Christmas present which will remain a secret since the recipient reads this blog. I also did some online shopping from home, only buying things if 1) they were on sale and 2) I could find some sort of promo code to use to make the purchase even cheaper. I used RetailMeNot.com where you type in the website you want to buy from (ie: leapfrog.com) and it comes up with a bunch of promo codes that you can use on your purchase. I had luck at LL Bean (free shipping) and Leap Frog (on sale and $5 off promo code). Aidan's first Christmas present is going to be the Leap Frog Learn and Groove Musical Table. He can stand at it or the top removes and he can sit and play with it. I'm pretty sure he's going to love it.


Aidan came down with a cold Thanksgiving morning and by Friday he was miserable. Snot running down his face, coughing until he gags...it's not a pretty sight. From noon until 6pm yesterday he only wanted to be held, but still whined the entire time. Last night he woke up at 3am coughing and could only go back to sleep on my chest and since then has only napped for about an hour total today. Kyle has his first varsity hockey game tonight so I will be all alone with a sick, tired baby. Oh the joys of parenthood...

Thanksgiving

We had a truly wonderful Thanksgiving at Aunt Marsha's house. There was an abundance of food and five pies for twelve people. Life is good.

On Wednesday night we went up to the Holiday Lighting. The local elementary and high school kids school sang some Christmas carols, there was free apple cider and cookies, and Aidan said hello to Santa and Mrs. Claus. After the entertainment they flipped the switch and all the holiday lights came on in the city. Very pretty. All in all it lasted about half an hour.

Bundled up to go see the Holiday Lighting
(I bought the snowsuit too big so he can grow into it)

Ugh, I can't believe you want to take more pictures of me, I'm trying to eat.

Okay, I'll smile

Grandma and Aidan at the end of the evening.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Finns

Propping Up "The Girls"

I went bra shopping yesterday for the first time in several years. Pregnancy has a way of changing things, and after reading that 8 out of 10 women wear the wrong size bra, I decided I would go in for a fitting. (free) I bundled Aidan up and we headed out to Macy's. I am proud to say that I am in the minority and have been wearing the correct bra size...they are just so old they aren't doing the job anymore. Macy's had most of their brands buy 2 get 1 free so I now have 3 new bras. At dinner Kyle asked me if he even wanted to know how much new bras cost, and why couldn't I buy them at Target, wouldn't that have been cheaper? Men...

We're gearing up for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I'm making seven layer salad and a pumpkin pie. The salad needs to be made tonight and I'll make the pie tomorrow morning. Kyle has hockey practice at 9:10am tomorrow morning. **crossing my fingers that Aidan cooperates with my pie making tomorrow***

If Aidan is in a fairly good mood this evening I'm going to take him up to the city's Holiday Lighting. Free refreshments, a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus, and the big tree gets lit at 6pm. Sounds like a good time to me.

Issue Updates

At the risk of jinxing my good fortune, Aidan is again taking morning naps and the Huggies Overnights seem to be doing the trick. Yes!

I broke out the video camera several times this weekend to record Aidan's new moves. He is sitting on his own, army crawling, and standing holding onto furniture. All of these milestones occurred in the month of November. Aidan was a busy guy, no wonder he didn't want to sleep.

On The Hunt

Aidan has been sleeping 11-12 hours at night for the last week or so. I love it. However, when he wakes up in the morning he is wet from head to toe, soaked in pee. Not so cute. So I did some research online yesterday and people recommended Huggies Overnights, Pampers Baby Dry, and White Cloud Overnights (only found at Walmart). Being cheap, I decided to go to Walmart to try the White Cloud brand. Our Walmart is ghetto and they didn't have the overnights and only had the Huggies in size 5, so I ended up getting the Pampers Baby Dry. No luck with them. Aidan still woke up wet from head to toe this morning. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. I'm getting sick of washing his bedding every day. :)

During our morning play session today Aidan crawled to the steps downstairs, gave them one look, and started to crawl up them. I kid you not, he figured out how to crawl up the stairs within 10 seconds of seeing them. This kid is going to keep me on my toes.

Computer Generated Aidan

According to RoutanBabymaker 3000 this is what Aidan should have looked like. This picture popped up right as I was answering the phone and I couldn't stop laughing when I tried to say hello to my friend Krista. I'm surprised she didn't ask me if I'd been drinking. While this computer generated baby has some of Aidan's characteristics, my real life baby is WAY cuter.


In other news, Aidan and I went to baby storytime at the library this morning and loved it. It's what I'd imagined our ECFE class was going to be...reading stories, finger plays, singing songs. We will definitely be going back. I think they have them two or three times a month.

Why Sleep When I Can Play?

We've hit a roadblock. Aidan has been refusing to go down for his morning nap. It's not that he doesn't need it, he is TIRED. Rubbing eyes, yawning, cranky...but standing in the crib or crawling around on the floor just provides too much temptation for a busy baby. This morning I tried to let him cry it out. (per Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child) No luck, he was in there for the hour maximum and was still awake. He's so tired in the afternoons now that he'll sleep for over three hours. Everyone at our ECFE group assured me their babies did the same thing and that eventually they go back to napping. One mom said it felt like forever, but was really only about a week of no morning naps. I know it could be worse, he could fight sleep in the morning, afternoon, and night. It's just that I liked our old routine so much. I hope he starts taking his morning nap again.

Mixed Messages

Notice the contradiction? Vikings sweatsuit, Bears socks? Aidan was rooting for his two favorite teams today, only to be disappointed by both of them. (the Bears more so since they were slaughtered by the Packers, plain embarrassing)

New dance move? Nope, just caught in the act of toppling over

You Can't Keep Me Down

That seems to be the message Aidan is sending me. I'll put him down in the middle of the floor with nothing in sight to pull up on and lots of fun toys to play with. Within seconds he will have army crawled his way to a piece of furniture, pulled himself up, and will be standing there looking over his shoulder at me with a grin that says "See that Mommy? You'd better drop what you're doing because I'm going to let go any second and I'm going to fall and crack my head open."

He's even waking me up early in the morning to show me his standing skills. This morning at 5:30am he was howling. (he usually isn't up until 7am at the earliest) I went in to see if he just needed his pacifier put back in, only to find him peering over the crib railing at me. I couldn't help myself, I laughed. Thank goodness I've been putting the side up. I knew he would try standing in his crib one of these days. Today was the day.

I've always chuckled at those parents who've said they need to buy a helmet for their baby. I would think to myself, "babies fall down and get bumps and bruises, that's just what they do." Now I'm thinking Aidan needs a helmet.

OMG!!! I'm standing!! What do I do now?!?!

The mischievous, self-satisfied grin

Stop taking pictures and get me out of this crib

Mr. Handy

I have a nemesis and it's name is the garbage disposal. We go round and round. Sometimes I come out on top, sometimes (every couple of months) it clogs up for no apparent reason and Kyle lectures me about what can and cannot go in the garbage disposal. Score one for you, garbage disposal. On Tuesday night I was making sweet potato fries and peeled two SMALL sweet potatoes in the sink. I'd done the same thing just a couple weeks ago and everything was fine. Well, this time the drain got clogged and I got "the lecture".

Kyle took the pipes apart and started cleaning them out while I gave Aidan a bath. He came in a few minutes later and showed me the elbow joint, which had basically disintegrated in his hands from rust. I would like to think that by clogging the pipes I saved us a flooded cabinet because that pipe was not long for this world. Score one for me (even if the pipes were clogged).

More Needles

Aidan got his first of two flu shots last night. The earliest they could get us in was 5:45pm. Why in the world would they only do shot clinics in the evening??? Lots of babies go to bed between 6 and 7pm. He took it like a champ and only let out a yelp. He looked up at me when it was over, I said "all done" and he didn't even cry. Our nurse must have been a pro. We go back in 30 days for the second dose. No ill side effects so far.

My friend Nikki sent me this picture of Aidan and her son, Eli, playing when we saw them in September. Eli was 13 months old and Aidan was 5 months old. I love the size difference and the fact that they are both making the exact same hand gesture.

Our Other "Baby"

Aidan has his playtime every week with other babies. Kyle and I get to go out with friends every once in a while. What does Roxie, our dog "baby" get? Some walks around the neighborhood. Seems unfair. Until now, that is. I signed up for a puggle play group and we had our first meet-up this morning at the local Petco. Aidan and I loved it. Roxie was scared out of her mind.

We walked into the room and were greeted by a herd of puggles (pug/beagle mix). Roxie started snapping immediately, and as soon as I sat down she jumped up in my lap. She was content to let other dogs sniff her as long as she was in my lap, but she refused to get down and play with the other dogs. Perhaps we should have started socializing her before now. (she's 3 years old)

The meet-up lasted an hour, during which time Roxie either sat in my lap or between my feet. She ventured out once or twice only to scurry back as soon a dog came near her. We will definitely be attending more puggle play dates so Roxie can get some doggie socialization.

Things I Know...

(According to Aidan, age 7 months)

I know...

• how to army crawl wherever I want to go
• that I like books with different textures or flaps I can lift up
• that I like rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, green beans, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, peaches, pears, blueberries, bananas, puffs, wagon wheels, and biter biscuits
  
• that I do NOT like avocados
• how to open the bottom drawer of the new entertainment center
• I like to play with cords, but mommy always takes them away
• how to sit up on my own for as long as I want
• that I can almost pull myself up on low ledges
• how to turn the pages of my board books
• how to feed myself finger foods (I pick them up in my fist and shove them in my mouth)
• that I get very angry (a new emotion) when mommy leaves me in my jumperoo to do housework
• Roxie will run away from me when I touch her, which always makes me giggle
• that a cute smile will get me lots of attention from any person around to see it
  

We Have Some Green

After almost 3 1/2 years, we finally have a (mostly) green backyard. I cannot even recall how many times we have seeded, only to watch the grass grow and then die. Kyle and I are both hoping that the grass comes back in the spring. :) ***Knock on wood*** Roxie hasn't been doing any digging since the grass came in and we haven't let her run around for extended periods of time on the grass. Will it be enough???

BEFORE

AFTER

Here, You try it!

Aidan has figured out not only how to put his pacifier back in his own mouth, but he has realized that mommy has a mouth that it can go in too! He was playing with his pacifier the other day while I was holding him, and all of the sudden he was trying to shove it in my mouth and giggling. So smart!

I bought Aidan some finger foods today and tried them out at lunch time. What a mess! I got the Gerber Graduates cookies and pinwheels. By the time he was halfway through the cookie he was covered in a slimy goo. Then Roxie jumped up an ate the rest of the cookie, taking care of that problem. (arghhh....) So I thought I would try the pinwheel. (basically a half-dollar sized pinwheel shaped rice cripsy) It was slightly less messy but Aidan still only ate half of it. Not sure if he's ready for finger foods, but we'll try them out once a day so he can get the hang of feeding himself.

Aidan is getting the first of his two flu shots next Monday. I'm not really looking forward to it since I know they hurt and make your arm sore for several days.

7 Months Old On Halloween...SCARY!

Peas are good, right? I'll try it.

Hmm, kind of fuzzy

Yuck!

Aidan turned the ripe old age of 7 months yesterday while Grandpa Finn turned the ripe old age of 61. Happy Birthday to both of them. :)

We had a super-busy day that started at the YMCA and ended with a little birthday celebration at Grandpa Finn's house. In between we went to a Halloween party, trick-or-treated at the neighbors, and passed out candy to little princesses and monsters.

Aidan truly enjoyed all of the festivities, probably because everyone paid so much attention to him. He was a cute little guy in his pea pod costume which no one seemed to get was a pea pod. He got called everything from a green bean to the Jolly Green Giant. He wore his costume for 3 hours and never once tried to take it off.

Little Orphan Annie (aka Charlotte)

Aidan getting a little touchy-feely

Happy Halloween from the Finns

How To Carve A Pumpkin When You're A Baby

Step 1: Try to look cute

Step 2: Pick your pumpkin


Step 3: Delegate responsibility to mommy so you can play
Step 4: Inspect progress
Step 5: Enjoy some delicious newspaper
Take a break and watch Grandpa try to figure out what he's doing
Step 6: Evaluate mommy's work
Approval!!!
Step 7: Take picture of completed pumpkins
Step 8: Light candles and enjoy

(Kyle: skull, Aidan: Winnie the Pooh, Courtney: scary(?) face)