Aaron Eleven Months

It sure is hard to believe we will have a toddler in one month! Aaron is growing up so fast. He is such a wonderful blessing and addition to our family. He is growing and changing so fast. More often we see a little boy instead of a baby when we look at Aaron. There is never a dull moment around here, he keeps us on our toes! We have a very active little guy!

It has been a BIG month. We took our first family vacation with Aaron at the end of June. The three of us along with my parents flew to Navarre, Florida for a week. Aaron did wonderfully on the plane. We were quite pleased! Despite rainy weather, rip currents and oily beaches we still had a great week. We made the best of the less that ideal conditions and had lots of fun. We have some great memories from the week!

Milestones/accomplishments lately: Clapping hands, shaking his head no, saying "Mama", "Daddy" and "Adah" (the dog) and trying to say other words. Aaron likes to stand briefly and takes a couple of steps on his own.

Favorite things: Exploring, climbing stairs, his mouse, reading/playing with books, being outside, bath time/ playing in the water, the vacuum, graham crackers, his dog, balls, cell phones and playing the piano/drums.

Swimming in the sea

Here are a few videos of Aaron playing in the water. We stayed in Navarre, Fl right on the Gulf. Aaron loved the ocean and the beach! However, tropical storm Alex caused huge waves and rip currents as well as oil washing ashore. So we took Aaron to Santa Rosa Bay to play in the water. He sure had a good time!

Aaron Nine and Ten Months

Our baby boy is turning into a big boy! In April Aaron was dedicated at our church. It was great to have our son dedicated with friends. We were also blessed to have both sets of grandparents there for the occasion. We have been quite busy these days. In the last two months Aaron has been to Vedauwoo, Wyoming for some hiking, Grand Junction to visit grandparents, Colorado Springs for his Aunt Ingrid's wedding and numerous outings around Fort Collins.

Aaron is becoming a very active little guy. He doesn't stop moving, EVER. He is learning so fast. He seems to learn and accomplish things hourly. Aaron is saying Mama, Dada and Adah (dog). Meal time is a favorite around here. Aaron feeds himself a variety of foods these days. He especially loves cantaloupe, bananas, avocados, blueberries, and graham crackers. He has recently tried coconut yogurt, edamame and eggs. Nights have been rocky, but he now has six teeth to show for it!

Milestones/accomplishments lately: Crawling, pulling up, saying a couple of words, waving, cruising, a step or two on his own, standing (on his own momentarily!) gives hugs and kisses.

Favorite things: exploring, banging things, climbing the stairs, eating, shouting and trying to climb on stuff.

Hiking in Vedauwoo, WY

Aaron with his "Nan" and great grandparents

Playing with Uncle Eric

Playing with "Pops"

Another tooth??

On the move!

Pictures!

These are from a couple of months ago. I can't believe how fast he is growing!

Aaron Eight Months

Wow! I am actually doing Aaron's eight months update on time! I can hardly believe I am typing eight months. Has it really been that long already? Our little guy is growing so fast. He is starting to look more like a little boy each day.

Before Monday it had been a pretty uneventful month (see previous post)! Poor guy has a milk allergy. I wish I didn't have to add an ambulance ride to his list of firsts for the month. Oh well, we are just so thankful that the reaction wasn't worse! It was so sweet and sad to see him smiling at the firemen and paramedics! Even though his eyes were so swollen he cold barely see and he must have been terribly itchy, he was still trying to be his happy little self. He is even smiling in the pictures I took at the hospital. He is such a happy guy. I just love it!

Milestones/accomplishments lately: He is still SO close to crawling. He gets on all fours and kicks off with his toes. Aaron does quite a bit of exploring this way! He is also very close to going from lying down to sitting. Just the other day I noticed him push up on his side and rest on one arm. Our little man is becoming more and more skilled at showing us what he likes and just as important, what he doesn't like. He will push our hands away, shriek and arch his back if something is happening that he doesn't like. I guess it's good that he is learning to communicate! Aaron is babbling a ton and also got the hang of waving recently!

Favorite things: Standing and walking (with our help)! Chasing Adah. She will move and he will scoot after her! Banging on things and making noise. Swinging in the swings at the park. Monkey toys and us making monkey noises. "Playing" the piano. Listening to us tell him what things are. Silly games with his daddy, especially talking mouse games! Exploring by army crawling all over the house!

Here is a video from Easter. Aaron is playing with his friend Autumn (Elliana makes an appearance too)! Autumn is missing one of her socks because Aaron pulled it off of her foot. Enjoy!

Milk Allergy!

We found out on Monday that Aaron has a milk allergy. I gave him some pear yogurt for lunch/snack. I specifically chose pear since he had eaten pears before without a problem. He started to fuss after a couple of bites. I figured he was getting tired, especially when he started rubbing his eyes.

At this point, he only had a couple of reddish splotches on his face. I didn't think much of it since this typically happens when he rubs his eyes. He continued to fuss and cry so I thought I'd nurse him for a few minutes. Aaron nursed for a minute or two and I thought it looked like his face was much more red than before. I picked him up and was quite shocked to see his little face was covered with hives and his eyes were very swollen.

At this point I knew he was having an allergic reaction to the yogurt. I knew there wasn't any time to call his pediatrician. Allergic reactions are very serious and require immediate attention. So I said, "Alright kiddo, we have to go to the hospital." By this time his whole face was swollen, his eyes were nearly swollen shut and he had mucus pouring out of his nose and mouth.

As I put him in the carseat, a terrible thought crossed my mind. What if his reaction continues to worsen? I would be driving and wouldn't be able to see him. What if he stopped breathing? Would I even know? It was then that I knew my only option was to call 911. The swelling was horrible and he was sneezing non-stop. There was so much mucus that I was having a hard time being able to tell if he was breathing ok. I dialed 911 which felt very surreal, but I was so relieved that help was on its way.

As the ambulance and fire truck pulled up to the house, Aaron smiled and squealed. Through his nearly swollen closed eyes he watched the new people come to the door. That was a big relief, I knew he was going to be ok if was trying to smile. The paramedics checked him out and said he was breathing alright. We all agreed that taking him to the hospital would be best, just to make sure the reaction was subsiding.

Shortly after arriving at the hospital John met us. I was very happy to have him there! After being checked out and observed for a little while we were released to go home. The doctor said no more milk of any kind until one year, I said "No problem." So, we will have to wait and see. Hopefully Aaron will outgrow this allergy. We are so thankful that the reaction wasn't worse! Praise God!

Here are some pictures from the hospital. You can see how puffy his face was. When I called 911 he looked about five times worse, much more swollen, with bright red splotches and hives. I still can't believe how quickly it happened!

Poor baby! We are so glad he is better!

Aaron Seven Months

Time continues to fly and I can't believe we already have a seven month old. Aaron is doing great and he is even sleeping a little bit better these days. He is now sleeping in his own room. Aaron loves his solid food and will eat almost anything! He is becoming more wary of people he doesn't know. Often times he will cry if there are too many new face surrounding him.

Milestones/accomplishments lately: He is REALLY close to crawling! He will half commando crawl half real crawl. Being able to move and get to things thrills him to no end. He can also sit unassisted. We give him bits of food and he uses his pincer grasp to pick them up. Aaron reaches for us when he wants to be picked up. He gives us slobbery kisses!

Favorite things: Standing while using our hands for balance. He loves to do this and never gets tired of it. Aaron loves to bang things and makes lots of noise. Other favorites are "playing" the piano, having us sing to him, playing with my hair, and his monkey toys. He loves his dog Adah. Aaron will now scoot to Adah and "pet" her.

We are really starting to see his little personality! He is such a blessing.