Giggle Monster

Aidan was a giggly little boy the other day when he was playing with Roxie. Does a giggling baby ever get old? I think not.

Cirque du So-WOW

Kyle and I saw Cirque du Soleil Saltimbanco last night at the Target Center in Minneapolis. (thank you Mick and Michele, it was a wonderful birthday present!!!) This is the third show I've seen, but it was Kyle's first. As always, I was amazed the entire time and Kyle agreed that it didn't suck. (a ringing endorsement since he was convinced I was taking him to some circus show that he was going to hate) There were so many things to watch that our brains were on sensory overload. Most of their shows aren't done in English, so it takes a minute for your brain to tune out the gibberish they are speaking and focus in on the action.

Here's how the Cirque website describes Saltimbanco: "Saltimbanco -from the Italian "saltare in banco", which literally means "to jump on a bench"-explores the urban experience in all its myriad forms: the people who live there, their idiosyncrasies and likenesses, families and groups, the hustle and bustle of the street and the towering heights of skyscrapers. Between whirlwind and lull, prowess and poetry, Saltimbanco takes spectators on an allegorical and acrobatic journey into the heart of the city."

Our favorite parts were:
-a man doing acrobatic tricks on a bicycle
-a juggler who had up to 7 tiny balls in rotation at once
-people horizontally (stretched out straight like a board) climbing up poles using only their arms***can you even imagine how much upper body strength that requires!?!?! insane!!!***
-2 female trapeze artists that did amazing stunts flying through the air without any safety tethers attached to them. They hung only connected by their feet at one point. How is that even possible?

So, to sum it all up, if you haven't seen a Cirque du Soleil show (or even if you have) and you get the chance to go, DO IT! Here is a clip showcasing the craziness of things you see at a show.
http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/Videos/SimpleVideo.htm?guid=E0E6E1A1F3E64DA98BBA0866EF396DBB

6 Month Check-Up

We visited Dr. Y this morning for Aidan's 6 month well-baby check-up. Everything looked good and the doctor didn't have any concerns. He said we could start feeding Aidan other solids (veggies and fruits) but only once a day for the next month or so just to make sure Aidan is still getting enough milk/formula. Not surprisingly, my baby is still on the tall, skinny side and the doctor doesn't want him to lose any weight. The doctor thought Aidan might be getting his lower front right tooth. I agree after many sleepless nights the past week.

Here are the measurements:

Length: 27 1/2 inches---88th %
Weight: 15 lbs (even)---12th %
Head: 17 1/2 inches---75th %

Growth from 4 month visit: gained 1 lb 13 oz, grew 1 and 3/4 inches, and his head grew an inch.

Good Reads

I've been a book fiend lately. After Aidan goes to bed I tuck myself in and read for about an hour before I fall asleep. As the weather gets cooler and you are spending more time indoors, here are my fave books that I've read in the past month or two.

-Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane ***fantastic psychological thriller, LOVED it***
-The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
-In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner
-#'s 13 and 14 in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich
-Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

I've also read some so-so books that you might like more than I did:
-The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
-Dirty Girls on Top by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

Gangsta' Baby

Grandma Finn bought this cute hat and no matter how we put it on, Aidan kept turning it to the side. Maybe a future rapper?

Cooking Lesson

Kyle volunteered to make dinner on Friday night and off he went to Cub Foods to find something he was capable to cooking. He came home with an amazed look on his face and said "Did you know they have all sorts of frozen dinners in bags?!?" Yes Kyle, I did. He chose TGI Friday's chicken fajitas. (which were very good) In order to make them you need 1 tsp of oil. I've learned my lesson and stay out of the kitchen when Kyle is cooking, otherwise I am constantly looking over his shoulder "trying to help". I was minding my own business on the couch when he told me he needed 1 tsp of oil. "Oil is above the stove", I told him. He found it. Then he asked where the teaspoon was. "Between the fridge and the stove", I said. Kyle walks into the living room with the dry measuring cups. "This?", he asked. I started laughing and said, "No, the teaspoon" to which he replied, "Courtney, just because you say it in a different tone doesn't mean I know what you're talking about." I started laughing so hard I ended up crying. Kyle didn't know what a teaspoon was.

Moral of the story: You learn lots of new things when you make dinner for your wife.

Pics From Zoo

I need to have my camera surgically attached to my body. That way I can't forget it anymore. Seriously, I never remember to take it anywhere with me, even when I think about 5 minutes before we leave. Thankfully Grandma Finn does not have the same problem and she got lots of great shots at the MN Zoo on Thursday. Here are some of my favorites and you can see the rest at http://family.webshots.com/album/567227932JMEQCk?vhost=family

Watching the monkeys

Grandma and Aidan up close with a sea otter

Keeping Aidan amused on the monorail

Giving Grandma some love

Meerkats
(Kyle would like to raise them in our backyard along with some monkeys)

The baby monkey I mentioned in the previous blog

Monkey Love

Grandma Finn treated us to a day at the Minnesota Zoo on Thursday and we just could not get enough of those CUTE CUTE monkeys! They are snow monkeys from Japan and don't mind our chilly MN weather. There was a tiny baby that mostly stayed with it's mom, but did venture out for a little rough housing with an older monkey, and two adolescent(?) monkeys that chased each other all over the enclosure, up and down trees and all around. It was great to watch.

The zoo has a new exhibit, Russia's Grizzly Coast, which has grizzly bears, sea otters, leopards, and wild boar. All of the signs were written in Russian and English. Grandma Finn was especially interested as she was a Russian linguist in the Navy. (and LOVES sea otters)

This zoo didn't make me sick to my stomach. The animals all have huge areas to live in, so much so that you often can't see them because they are somewhere else in their enclosure. :) We had a great time and I think that was the end of Aidan's busy week. We had swimming lessons on Tuesday, Creepers and Crawlers on Wednesday, and the zoo on Thursday. He should be one tired little boy today.

Picnic

Kyle surprised me on Tuesday by taking the afternoon off and said we could do whatever I wanted. Crazy me, I couldn't think of anything off the top of my head, so Kyle threw out some ideas...picnic, walk around the lake, he could watch Aidan if I had errands to run. So I took him up on his offers and said all of the above! :) We had a "lunch for 2" gift certificate to a local coffee shop so we stopped there, got our food to go and had a picnic on the beach. It was a gorgeous day and there were only two other people on the beach. Aidan had fun playing with his toys on the picnic blanket, Kyle and I had real adult conversation, and we all got some fresh air. I think we should do it more often. On the way home we stopped at Target (which is usually like pulling teeth to get Kyle to go with me) and picked up a few odds and ends. Now we both want to live on a lake somewhere with out own private beach. We can dream.

Road Trip

The weekend road trip to IL was fairly eventful in un-fun ways. 1) a semi truck blew out its back tire right in front of us, throwing treads everywhere. Luckily I was a ways back because it was raining. SCARY 2) Aidan cried for an hour and a half (straight) on the way down and an hour on the way back. I can handle the screams for about 20 min. and then I start to get a sick feeling in my stomach. By the time an hour of screaming had passed I wanted to yell "BE QUIET" but I obviously knew that would not help the situation, so I yelled inside my head. We had already stopped and Aidan had eaten and been changed. I knew he just wanted out of his car seat. The only cure for that was getting home. I told Kyle when we arrived that I did not want to make any more road trips by myself. Aidan is a much happier camper when there is someone to amuse him in the backseat.

In other news, my sister found her wedding dress on Saturday and it is GORGEOUS!! She is so beautiful, I can't wait to see her walk down the aisle. I think we found the bridesmaids' dresses too. I was given a reprieve until November for measurements, but then we have to order them. Yuck. To get in the weight loss spirit I went to Body Pump at the YMCA this afternoon. Now I can hardly walk thanks to squats and lunges and I've still got grocery shopping to do today. Oh the joys of losing weight. (hopefully)

Busy, Busy, Busy

I meant to sit down at the computer several times this week and never got a chance to do it. Aidan and I have been busy little bees. On Wednesday morning we had our first day of Creepers and Crawlers. Aidan is again the youngest baby, and there are only three moms/babies signed up right now. All three of them are boys, so I'm interested to see how the older babies interact with each other and Aidan. Will it be rougher play than girl babies? Do all babies play the same? Random questions I have. The next oldest baby is Luke and he is 6 1/2 months, and then there is Riley who is 9 months. Riley is already toddling his way around rooms, and Luke is crawling, so Aidan laid on the floor and watched them cruise around the room. Whenever one of the babies was near Aidan or touching him, Aidan would automatically go for the baby's mouth. That's his thing right now...mouths. He loves to stick his fingers in other people's mouths (and his own) and feel around. Creepers and Crawlers is every Wednesday morning for an hour and a half, and I'm excited to watch the babies play with each other.

Wednesday afternoon Daddy watched Aidan while I tortured myself by going to the mall to find an outfit for my sister's engagement party this weekend. I had a gift card to the Limited, so I felt that I had to find an outfit there. I'm pretty sure I tried on every top in the store and each style of jeans in at least 3 different sizes per style. My dressing room was so overflowing with clothes I could barely move around in it. I finally decided on a pair of jeans (the first ones I tried on, of course) and a short-sleeved sweater. I forgot how insanely expensive clothes shopping is. Usually I go to Target where a top is $25 max. Thank goodness I had the gift card, otherwise Kyle's eyes would have popped out of his head when he saw the credit card bill. :) I really enjoy the thought of shopping, but it's not as easy as it used to be. I wish my "baby belly" would magically disappear without dieting or exercise. That would be fantastic....

Thursday morning I packed myself and Aidan up and we hit the road for Illinois. Six hours in the car is a long time for anyone, and babies are no exception. Aidan slept on and off for the first three hours and was pretty content. We stopped half way and I nursed him in a truck stop parking lot. Classy. Then we continued on our way, and Aidan was so NOT content. He screamed for about an hour and a half until I stopped in Madison. "Why didn't you stop sooner?", you may be asking. Well. I knew he wasn't hungry, and I had just changed his diaper, so the only logical reason for his crying was the fact that he didn't want to be in his carseat anymore. I tried his pacifier, he spit it out. I scrounged up another pacifier, he spit it out. I was out of handy pacifier's at that point, so it was let him scream and hope he fell asleep. No such luck, but after the stop in Madison he didn't cry for the last hour and a half of the trip.

Nana and Grandpa were delighted as always to see Aidan. Nana swears that he has grown since she saw him two weeks ago and I don't doubt it. She was so excited to watch him eat his rice cereal (which he promptly puked out after I finished feeding him) and help with his bath. I wish all of our family lived close enough that they could see Aidan whenever they wanted to.

Little Fishy

We started swimming lessons today and I think Aidan enjoyed himself. There was no crying, which is always a good sign. There weren't any other babies his age, and only 3 people in our group total, but we still had fun. Here's what we worked on today.

Things he can do:
-float on his back
-float on his tummy
-kick
-hold on to the edge of the pool as we walk/float back and forth
-grab toys that are underwater
-kick himself towards a floating toy


Things he cannot do:
-blow bubbles (he kept trying to lick the water, instead inhaling it, which led to coughing spells and me feeling embarrassed for letting my baby choke on water)
-climb out of the pool (duh, I don't know why this is a skill in the 6 month-1 year class)
-jump into the pool

Tomorrow we start the Creepers and Crawlers early childhood class. It's for 5-12 month olds, so hopefully Aidan can find a friend to do baby stuff with.

Rice Cereal...Mmm

Aidan had his first taste of real food this morning. I made up 1 tsp. of rice cereal and he ate all of it. He seemed pretty into the whole eating thing and even tried to feed himself a couple of times. I was pleasantly surprised with how little mess there ended up being. He didn't spit any food out intentionally and only had a couple of really disgusted faces. I am desperately hoping this helps him sleep through the night.

Tired

That is the only title I could think of that describes how I'm feeling right now. Not exhausted, just tired. Aidan must be going through another growth spurt because he was up at 12:30am, 3:30am, and 6:30am. It's days like today that I'm thankful that I get to stay home. On the bright side, I stopped at Starbucks today (because I desperately needed a shot of caffeine) and they have their pumpkin spice lattes back. YAY!! It's my favorite coffee drink and they're only around for 2 months a year.

Back to Aidan's growth spurt, I got some rice cereal today and am going start feeding him tonight. He's showcasing all the signs of being ready: 1) sitting up mostly unassisted 2) very interested in watching us eat 3) and now not sleeping through the night because he's still hungry. I'm sure it won't be an instant cure for sleepless nights, but I'm hoping it's a start. He is slowly weaning himself from nursing. He nurses pretty well in the morning, however by mid-afternoon he refuses to nurse but will slam a 6oz. bottle of formula. There is nothing more frustrating than knowing your baby is hungry, trying to nurse him, and having him arch his back and turn away from you screeching. I've stopped taking it personally and just give him a bottle. My guess is that he'll be on mostly bottles within the next month. I still want to nurse him for his early morning feeding and maybe the mid-morning one too, just to keep his immunity up over the winter months.

Here's the little guy showcasing his Irish pride. It was chilly yesterday morning so we broke out the long sleeves. This outfit came with a cap and booties, so we did the whole shebang and took pictures.

FAQ

Aidan's new exersaucer at Grandma and Grandpa Finn's house

I thought I'd share some of the FAQ's I get about Aidan:

1. How old is he? 5 months as of Aug. 31

2. How much does he weigh? approx 14 lbs 5 oz

3. How long is he? approx 27 inches

4. Does he sleep through the night? Well, sometimes. He usually goes to bed between 8pm and 9pm and sleeps for about 7 hours. He gets up around 4am to eat, and then it's back to sleep until about 8am.

5. What is he doing? LOTS! He is rolling over both ways. His favorite new sounds are the "f" sound and smacking his lips together. He also says "ma", "ba", and "boo" (just sounds, he doesn't know what he's saying yet) He still loves his jumperoo and is sitting better on his own. He sits fine in his chair now, and can sit unassisted on the floor for a few seconds at a time. He would much rather be standing than sitting.

6. Does Roxie like him? Most of the time. She loves to lick his face, and he doesn't mind. Aidan loves it when Roxie walks by him or makes noises. He will burst out laughing at the sight of her. He recognizes her clicking toenails on the hardwood floors and will start looking for her before she's in the room.

7. Is he eating solid foods yet? Nope, but soon. The doctor said closer to 6 months at our last visit, so I'll probably start rice cereal within the next week or two.

Sleep Heaven

We did it. We took the plunge and bought a Tempurpedic mattress. It was delivered yesterday, and after sleeping on it last night, I can say I totally LOVE it. We were both worried because there are bad reviews on it (too hot, too firm, hurts your back, etc) but there are more good reviews than bad, so we decided to try it out. I slept wonderfully. No more squeaking box spring every time you move, no more sagging mattress, I'm so glad we got a Tempurpedic.

In celebration of Labor Day we are going over to Grandpa and Grandma Finn's later on today for a BBQ. While Labor Day usually means that summer has come to a close, I'm not stressed out this year like I usually am. It doesn't feel like summer is ending. (especially since it's supposed to get up to 90 degrees today) While I've been thinking a lot about my kids back at school, I feel confident the new teacher will be fantastic. I went in to school last week to help her put schedules together. She seemed to know exactly what she was doing and had a clear vision of what she was going to do with the classroom. More power to her, it's tough work. I hope to go in for visits every once in awhile, and I've been invited to a new, once-a-month lunch that the speech kids are hosting. That will give me the excuse to visit.