Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal - ECK!

I'm guessing he isn't a fan of cinnamon just yet.......

Inside belly 9 months. Outside belly 9 months!

Look at that face! C'mon, you know you wanna kiss it!!

Well we took Aaron in for his 9 month check up yesterday and the pediatrician says we're doing great! Aaron is 28 inches tall (50th percentile), 24 lbs 13 oz (>90th percentile) and his head is 46 1/2 centimeters (75-90th percentile)! That's my Chubbs!

He got is regular flu shot too. Don't worry - it was the REGULAR flu shot and not the N1H1 Swine Flu shot. That stuff is way too new for me to want to try out on my baby! And the only reason I gave Aaron a flu shot at all was because the pediatrician said she gave it to her baby and I work with older adults who are vulnerable to this type of stuff so who knows what I'm bringing home!

So now that Aaron has reached 9 months we are moving up to the next step in both his formula and jar food and he's gonna be eating food at least 3 times a day now. He sleeps through the night mostly so I'm not worried about that! He's wearing stage 4 diapers and we're starting to get 12-18 month clothing for him! The next thing is the car seat! YES - we STILL have to get that! I know - I know - but we just don't have $250 laying around right now! Ugh!

Aaron still loves his "bouncy" (Johnny Jumper) and he's starting to pull himself up on things. And when I say things I really mean Josh or me because we don't have a coffee table! HA! He's still not crawling but he gets around just fine by scooting and rolling around.

The other day we went to Babies R Us to get his new crib (old one was recalled!) and after we went down to the waterfront and hung out since it was such a nice day. He loves being outside! (New pictures on Flickr)

The new project I have to get on is his baptism. I've kinda let the ball drop on that one but part of it is Josh's fault! He won't pick a Godfather! I think I'm gonna just have to do it for him.

I've got a few new videos of him but I haven't posted them to You Tube yet. I'll let you all know when I do!

He's wonderful and healthy and happy (mostly!) and that's what makes everything worth while.

UPDATE: Grandpa & Grandma Herring bought the car seat for Aaron! Yay!! It should be arriving soon. Thanks G&G Herring!! Love you!

World Traveler. Ok, maybe just interstate for now.

My Chubbs! He rode in a plane for the first time! (Don't you just love this picture?!)

SO, our trip started out flying to Sacramento on Alaska Airlines. It was an early flight and we got there just as the plane was boarding. The woman checking everyone in was so nice and so helpful. She moved us to an empty aisle! Aaron and I sat next to the window and Josh next to the aisle. Aaron was perfect on the flight! He only cranked once or twice and only just a little bit at that, but we were able to distract him immediately. And then with the white noise and the bottle, he fell asleep! It was awesome. I had a harder time since I caught a cold the day before we left so my stupid ears wouldn't clear and were blocked the whole trip! UGH!

The day after we arrived mom, dad and Eva threw a party to welcome Aaron to Sacramento and introduce him to the family and friends there. Unfortunately, I think the traveling hit him that day so he was kinda grumpy and most people didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with him.

The rest of the week Aaron spend with his grandparents (my parents) living the good life while Josh, Eva and I went to LA for the Dave concert at the Greek and to visit family. We all had a really good time.

By the end of the week though Eva, Aaron and dad had all caught my cold and so the plane trip back wasn't as pleasant as the plane trip there. Aaron was grumpy and considering this is his very first cold, I could understand why! Josh had to get up at one point and stand in the back and rock him to sleep. After that though, everything was alright. Poor little guy! Not to mention the woman who was checking people in at the Sac airport wasn't as helpful! She was just kind of like, "Oh nope. Sorry, no empty aisles." There was no searching or offer to move single people around so we could get an aisle to ourselves. I there were, in fact, empty seats on the plane. Lame. (You hear that Sacramento Alaska Airlines people!?!)

Overall though it went well and all my worrying went down the drain. It totally helped that my cousin Michelle let me borrow her car seat, high chair, rocking seat and playpen for Aaron so I didn't have to take anything except his stroller! You rock Michelle!

Aaron is now an official traveler! He even got wings on his way back!!!

Where to next?

Leaving on a jet plane

My stinkin' boy! Isn't he adorable?!

Well, we're getting ready for Aaron's first plane trip! I'm so excited and nervous at the same time! I hope of all hopey-hopes that everything goes well and without incident. And by that I mean both no screaming baby, no poopy diapers on the plane, and not TSA asshats. Just nice, happy baby with pee pee only diapers and really awesome and friendly TSA agents. (That's me, putting that out there in the universe - making it happen! *crossing fingers*).

We're on our way to California. A stop in Sacramento for a few days where Josh and I will leave Aaron behind to enjoy his grandparents and then we'll head down to LA with Eva for a Dave (DMB) concert. :) I figured Aaron's a bit too young for his official first Dave concert.

Today we went to the doctor's office just to ease my mind about the plane trip and a few other small items we wanted to go over the doctor with. Aaron's doing very well - a healthy 24 lbs! :) Clear ears (for the plane!), normal temperature, normal developments -- and we learned we have to up the food. We'd only been feeding him once a day (meaning FOOD and not bottle) but we are going to be changing that to two times a day now and next month - three times a day. SEE - I don't have anyone to tell me these things here in Seattle so thankfully I have a wonderful pediatrician for Aaron.

I will be taking plenty of pictures on my trip and will hopefully post them to FLICKR as soon as I get back.

Wish us luck everyone! A few days and we're on our way!

Mama?

What do you think? Is he saying Mama?

Aaron is one popular dude

Hey there!

Well, Aaron has had a very busy couple of weeks. Many visitors and many new places! A few weekends ago our cousins from Sacramento came up to visit us and Aaron had his first visit to Pike's Place Market! There was LOTS of things to see and do there.

The weekend before last, his auntie Melanie came to visit him and she got to spend all day hanging out with him. We all went to the Ballard Seafood Fest and had fun looking at and smelling all the food. Aaron got himself a new onesie with the Seattle skyline on it!

He also had a visit from his cousin Jodi who came and sat with him for awhile while Josh was at at appointment. Aaron's very first time being "babysat" by a youngin' and by youngin', I mean someone who hasn't been a parent yet. ;)

Then last weekend he has his tia Natalie come visit him. Natalie hadn't seen Aaron since he was born, so this was a wonderful reunion! After Aaron got used to Natalie, he took to her very well and they had their own little connection. Yay for awesome family!

And as some of you might have heard, the last 2 weeks in Seattle was like living in an OVEN. Oh sure, you Californian cousins laugh because you say 90 degrees isn't that hot. Well HELLO folks. Seattle DOES NOT HAVE AC. Seriously. At one point I was calling around to ask restaurants if they had AC and I wasn't the only one! Last Thursday was actually the hottest day in Seattle, ever. 102 degrees.

Aaron had developed a heat rash earlier in the week because of all the heat so we had been keeping him in his diaper only, giving him cool baths and feeding him popsicles. But Thursday we gave in and headed to the mall for some much needed AC. Of course, everyone and their mother was there, literally, so it wasn't as cool as it normally is because of all the bodies! But it was still better than being outside. Aaron's heat rash is all gone now though and he's feeling much better. Well, actually, I'm not sure he ever felt that bad about it. I think I felt worse about the heat rash than he did!

This week his grandpa Howard and tia Eva are visiting so he'll be busy still!

Aaron also got a wonderful gift from some neighbors of his great aunt Kathy and great uncle Henry. They gave him a Johnny Jumper! He LOVES that thing! All you have to do is say "bouncy bouncy bouncy" and he's off! :) I've even got video!

Aaron still isn't crawling but he's rolling around all over the place, even in his sleep! That kind of freaked me out at first, but I think he's old enough I don't have to worry about it much. He can sit on his own and he likes to stretch out his legs a lot and if you hold him very lightly, he can almost stand on his own! He's starting to verbalize much more and we're pretty sure he's on his way to saying "mama". Right now it's more like "ma ma ma ma ma"! LOL.

I've got so many pictures and now even video of Aaron (on You Tube!) that I posted the link to my Flickr account on the blog side bar. I might do the same for You Tube if I get more video. So please enjoy and feel free to comment! I'd love to hear what you all think!

Hugs & Kisses from all 4 of us! (That's Ulrich - being the 4th! Don't forget about the four-legged family!)

7 months! How time flies......

Aaron is 7 months old! Can you believe it? Time goes by so fast.... soon he'll be at the 1 year mark. Can't he stay a precious little baby forever!?

Well, he's doing well.... turning over on his own, scooting around but not yet crawling. He has 1 tooth on the top now for sure, but the other 3 on the top are just poking out. His hair is getting lighter and lighter and is now closer to Josh's color. He's my little golden boy now. And we're still not sure what color his eyes are, though we're betting they'll be hazel.

Last night we took this video of him. I was trying to capture all his "aaww aw aw ah aw"s because I think they're hilarious. We got some of that and some laughs and some whines.... so here it is! Enjoy! ;)