Everyday party...

It sounds absurd, but since the time change occurred, I feel as though each day goes faster. I suppose it is because at 7pm we may still be outside playing where before we were winding down and taking care of our nightly routine. It is great to be able to stay out later and I know that Alan loves it because daylight savings allows for all sorts of activities that he can't do as much in the winter. It is amazing how much one hour difference makes, not to mention what it does to my mind and body - I have to literally drag myself out of bed, even though I am getting the same amount of sleep. It is no wonder they say that DST causes all sorts of health issues. Another reason to move to Hawaii.

New things are happening around here at break-neck speed. I was trying to wait until I had documentation of each thing before posting but I've decided if I wait any longer I will forget some of the little things and that would be unfortunate.

Aaron now dances and claps. I have been dancing with him (goofy mommy-baby dancing) since he was tiny and I try to at least wave my arms in the air when we hear a beat so that he is aware of it. He has always enjoyed singing and dancing but just recently started working in his own moves. He is somewhat limited by the fact that he can't stand, unassisted, for more than about eight seconds, but he finds something to lean on or sits down and throws both hands in the air and starts waving his arms around to the beat. Any beat that is: commercial jingles, music, the elevator music that plays at Wal-Mart, "Old McDonald" coming from his Little People barn, or even Daddy's singing. If he is playing he'll stop, if he is crying or fussing, he'll put that on hold for a few seconds and let the music move him.

Clapping - we try to make a big deal when he does something new or good (like eating all of his food or trying new things) by saying "Yea!" and clapping. Out of the blue one day he smacked his hands together. He tried a few times in a row, missing most of the time and hitting himself in the face, but he was intrigued by how close he was and before the end of the night he was making faint clapping noises and getting really excited about it. So now we can walk up to him and say "Yea!" and he'll clap.

And according to Alan, last night while I was at BSF, he fed himself several times - with a spoon! This may seem odd to some of you, but keep in mind that his overall solid food timeline is not the traditional one, which you are probably used to - so this is a big deal! He has been feeding himself finger foods for a few months now - but all attempts I've made for self feeding with a utensil have failed. He loves to hold my hand as I hold the spoon and feed him, but that is as far as we've made it. And it comes as no surprise to me that the little sandbagger waits until I leave for Bible Study to show Daddy his new skills. Figures.

Like I mentioned before, documentation of all of this has not yet materialized and unless I have the camera on a tripod all day, it is difficult to catch some of these things - but I'll keep working on it. In the meantime these couple of videos will have to do - consider it a teaser, stay tuned for something a little more substantial...

Here are a few recent photographs...

Aaron is now taking his sippy cup drinking very seriously. A little less chucking the cup, a little more drinking.

He enjoys following me all over the house on his trike...

My father gives in to Aaron's obsession with all things electronic and is corrupting him with his blackberry. Aaron knows which way it is supposed to face and holds it so that he can pretend to press buttons, and sometimes does. It is pretty funny. He has been fascinated with cell phones in particular since he was a tiny baby.

I almost forgot - he now uses the "more" sign correctly! I decided to only use a couple of signs, the ones I thought would be most beneficial and perhaps shrink the language (or lack there of) barrier for a while. "More" is one I've been using since he was about four months old and now he signs for more food! Occasionally he'll just do the sign if we say the word, but he seems to get it right most of the time! I'll try to catch that one on video soon. (Here is a cartoon demonstration so you have an idea...)