King Sized-Bed

We practice Attachment Parenting and we have a family bed, which we are rapidly out growing (we have a queen-sized bed). Today, we went out and purchased a new king-sized bed. We are very excited! The plan is to place the new, larger sized bed on the floor (no bed frame), so Aidan can get in and out of it as he likes and we'll all have enough room to be comfortable.

Shopping wore us out, and we weren't going to do anything for the New Year, although we had two standing invitations (one of them was to visit with Robin and Allen and the Triplets). However, we also had an invitation to a neighbor's house, Ed and Stacy, which is literally two doors away. Ed invited us a few days ago, but things were never really finalized. But then Ed showed up at our door with Ray (Ed's three-year old son), and Aidan seems to get along famously with him....

Despite our initial tiredness and declining the invitation to the Triplet's house, the three of us did end up going to Ed and Stacy's. They have two young boys, Ray and Liam (20 months). Aidan had a very, very good time playing with the boys and we had a good time socializing with Ed and Stacy.

Locomotion Update

Since Aidan has figured out how to use his legs more, he has also figured out how to use the rest of his body better. Over the last twenty-four hours, he has been learning so much! He's figured out how to put things (such as balls) into other things (such as a box); he can also pull tissues out of a tissue box, he found where we store the CDs, he can reach into the little candy dish (which is currently stocked with almond Hershey Kisses), and he can even turn his daddy's Xbox off in the middle of a game by pressing the proper button...

Almost Walking

Aidan got a Stride-to-Ride walker for Christmas, and he is really cruising around on it! Just a couple of days ago, he didn't know what to think of this contraption.

Colors!

Grandma Deb and Grandpa are visiting us for a long weekend.

While sitting on the living room floor, Grandpa and Aidan played with some of his toys; Grandpa was showing him the difference between a blue ball and a red ball. After a little while, Aidan seemed to grasp the concept. If Grandpa would ask Aidan for the blue ball, that's what Grandpa would get. If he asked for the red ball, Aidan would send it his way.

Other things we discovered: Aidan likes to bop along to the songs that play on some of his toys; Aidan started to point at things....

Cause and Effect

Aidan is beginning to learn about cause and effect. He just learned that if he puts a ball on the track of his new toy, that it will fall through the track, and land right in front of him. Watch the video

(Windows Media Player 7.1 required — download here)

Eight Months Old

Aidan is eight months old.

Today, he was able to negotiate a learning set of stairs at daycare, one of the more difficult baby skills. He managed to get all the way up and halfway down; quite an accomplishment!

Leader of the Pack

Every day at Aidan's daycare, they bring the kids outside to get some fresh air. The usual process would involve putting the babies into their mobile cribs and wheeling them out.

Well, today, Aidan managed to crawl the entire journey from his classroom to the outside area, which involves several turns. He did this all from memory, which really only could have been learned from his crib....

Tickle Attack

Mom and Aidan entertain each other. Watch the video

(Windows Media Player 7.1 required — download here)