Play Time!

Splish Splash

Since Aidan has outgrown the sling part of his infant tub, we've been bathing him while he sat in the "bath ring" part of the infant tub. It looks really uncomfortable as he is wedged in there and it's actually quite slippery. We have to put a towel in the tub before filling it with water so Aidan won't slide on the plastic.

We just knew there was a better way to bathe him without having to put him in the really big bathtub. Well, a friend told me about this really cute (and useful!) inflatable tub she purchased at Target. For $9.99, we figured we'd give it a try.

Well, Aidan absolutely LOVES it! It has a slip resistant bottom so we no longer need the towel, which I'm grateful for -- less laundry!! He also LOVES when we squeeze the duck's beak - it quacks away and Aidan thinks it's the funniest thing. I'll have to take a video of it one of these days...

Meet Aidan's Newest Friend, JACK...

The past two days have been tough for our little man. He is teething something awful - those two bottom teeth are ready to erupt at any minute. He's been in pain and, consequently, pretty fussy. Per our pediatrician's recommendation, we've started to gently massage some Jack Daniels onto his gums. It really seems to be helping him with the pain, so we do it once a day, usually right before bedtime. We can't wait 'til his teeth finally pop through so the pain can go away for him! (Well, until the rest of his teeth start to poke through!)

Aidan found a purpose for Junk Mail...

More Adventures in Self-Feeding...

Aidan has been enjoying his Gerber Puffs, but sometimes finds it a little difficult to pick them up as they're about the size of a Cheerio. At his six month pediatric appointment, his doctor told us that he could also have Gerber Wagon Wheels, so we decided to give it a go.

They come in two different flavors - Carrot and Apple. We decided to let him try the Carrot Wagon Wheels, seeing as how he has been eating the Banana flavored Puffs.

At first, he wasn't sure what to do with it...

But, as he does with nearly EVERYTHING, he decided to put it in his mouth to investigate...
He gummed it for quite some time before dropping it back onto his highchair tray. Then he noticed that Noah was right next to him and, sure enough, he tossed it to Noah. No wonder they're the best of friends already!

Our Weekend on the Water

When Aidan was just five days old, he celebrated his first Christmas. One of the gifts he received from his Grandpa May (maybe the most important gift, if you'd ask Grandpa May) was his life jacket. Grandpa (and Grandma, too) are avid boaters. Just last year, they upgraded to a twenty-four foot Sea Ray which they aptly named the "Summer Passion."

Aidan spent this weekend with his Grandma and Grandpa May (as well as Mommy & Daddy) at Alexandria Bay in the Thousand Islands. Grandpa May has been waiting (and waiting and waiting some more) for the day to come when Aidan was ready to take his very first boat ride.

We had a fantastic time - the weather was fantastic and the company was even better. We were able to enjoy a few boat rides... The rocking motion lulled Aidan to sleep on more than one occasion, but after a few quick naps, he woke right back up and enjoyed the scenery. He especially loved watching the wake in the back of the boat... He is so fascinated by water -- maybe he'll be a marine biologist twenty years from now.

Since the day Aidan was born, he has been named the "co-captain" of the Summer Passion. Being the co-captain definitely has it's perks. One of them includes driving the boat! Grandpa let Aidan drive the boat - not once, but twice - over the weekend. Before we know it, Aidan is going to be teaching Mommy and Daddy how to drive the boat!

We stopped at Canoe Point, on Grindstone Island, and took a little dip. The water was very cold but Aidan was a trooper and swam with us.

We enjoyed a nice picnic dinner after our swim and Aidan showed Grandma and Grandpa how proficient he is with his pincer grasp - he ate some Gerber Puffs while we ate dinner. He also melted his Mommy's heart when he picked a flower for me -- little did he know, it tickles when it touches your nose!

We were also lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the Poker Run in action, which was really neat to watch. Aidan quite enjoyed the loud engines as they zipped right by us at a speedy one hundred miles per hour!

We're looking forward to many more weekends out on the water with Grandma and Grandpa =)

Adventures in Self-Feeding

A few days ago, we purchased a pack of Lil' Dippers. Made to fit little hands just perfectly, they are supposed to make it easier for Aidan to learn to feed himself. Before the Lil' Dipper, Aidan would try to pull the infant spoon out of our hands and feed himself. Those infant spoons are too long and thin, which made it easy for gagging, and the handles are either hard metal or hard plastic, not good for a teething baby at all. The Lil' Dipper has a nice rubbery handle that Aidan can chew on in between bites. It is also short with a guard around the "spoon" part to prevent gagging.

So far Aidan has been doing pretty well with it. He hasn't gotten the dipping part down yet, but he does pretty well with the feeding part. I dip it in the food and hand it to Aidan to feed himself. Sometimes he doesn't have perfect aim, which can make the meal a little messy. But, practice makes perfect! And he seems to really enjoy participating in the feeding process.

Here's the story in photos:

And, if you happened to notice that the Lil' Dipper in the very last picture has a different colored handle... Well, that's because Sir Aidan thought it would be fun to throw his Lil' Dipper at Noah!!! Of course, Noah was happy about that as he got to lick the remnants of corn and squash off of the Lil' Dipper. Now that Aidan has gotten into the "throwing food at Noah" stage, Noah is always a constant companion when Aidan is in his highchair!

Day at the Zoo

Aidan and I went to the zoo today, with Grandma May and the kids...