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)