Thursday, July 31, 2008

Goodnight, Aaron

A little slice of life from our house tonight...

Monday, July 28, 2008

Baths, Beaches, and Beefing up...

First, Aaron made a trip to Dr. Schenning for his 9 month check-up. He's a healthy boy, for sure. 28 1/2 inches tall (70th percentile), but only 16.5 lbs (3rd percentile). Tall and skinny definitely runs in the family, but Dr. S thinks Aaron needs to pack on a few pounds. And mama hopes that some extra calories might cut down on the frequent night wakings. So now we eat. And eat. And eat. Aaron is enjoying a lot of new foods, too, having mastered the art of the pincer grasp. Finger foods are now his favorite, and if we want to get the spoon even close to his mouth, we have to be sure that his little hands are busy with some kind of distraction. The good news is that he's gained a whole pound in about two weeks.

This past weekend we trekked up to Racine, WI (future home of the VB family!), for some boating and beaching. We had a very busy day, but a lot of fun. Most fun was Aaron's first trip to the beach. We were somewhat worried that he'd just eat sand the whole time, but after one mouthful, he decided sand was not for eating, and found some toys to play with instead. Smart boy!

Finally, we thought you might get a kick out of seeing photos of Aaron's new bath toys. Non-toxic toys have become important at our house, and after some looking, discovered these foam shapes by Boon. They stick to the tile when wet, and Aaron just loves them. Mostly he loves to chew on them. As a bonus, they also stick to Aaron, and it's fun for Mommy and Daddy to see how many shapes they can stick on the baby before he starts swatting them off. :-) These little toys have inspired quite a few photos at bath time...

"Boomerang Head"
"Beam Me Up, Scotty..."

"Flower Power"

Sunday, July 13, 2008

On the way to 50 years...

"I'm feeling a little sentimental," our pastor said this morning. His youngest daughter starts college in the fall; his 25th wedding anniversary comes at the end of this month; our church will celebrate a 20th birthday this year, too. "There's a lot that's got me thinking about a lot," he said. And I can relate.

I stood in the back of a church yesterday, photographing Katie & Branden's wedding, and watched a tear-jerker of a slide show. You know the kind - pictures of chubby babies and awkward teenagers morphing into adult people while a sentimental song plays in the background. Last summer, I hardly paid attention to them. But this year, every baby photo reminds me of the ones I'm currently storing on my hard-drive. And those awkward teens remind me that, God willing, there's a long road ahead in our parenting journey. I cry at every one of them.

And tonight I photographed Don & Maryanne and their family. They are Mike's great aunt & uncle, and they celebrated 50 years of marriage last month. This photo session was our gift to them. 50 years is a long time to be married. We're just into our 5th year of marriage, so we're only 1/10th of the way there. But Don and Maryanne know the work it takes to cross that half-century mark. They're two children have given them four gorgeous grandkids, and I bet if I asked, they'd tell me those grands are the prize for their years of patient endurance and perseverance in marriage.


So here's our little family. A long way from seeing Aaron take a bride. A longer way from a 50th wedding anniversary. It would be too easy to let the coming years speed by - they'll come at us fast, I know. But I'm seeing all that's stretched out in front of us in a new light this weekend, and I can't help but want to slow down a little and take it all in. I can't wait to see what adventures wait for us on our way to 50 years.

Friday, July 4, 2008

He's an All-American Boy

Happy Fourth! We celebrated our freedom at Elgin's annual parade, and Aaron had such fun. Take a look...

I found this little red chair at Target, and couldn't resist. I thought he might be too little for it, but he did quite well. Wanted to be like dad, of course.

Aaron managed his first taste of candy, too. He had been chewing on a wrapped Tootsie Roll (the big square kind), and when we looked down, he had chewed through the wrapper and was gumming it with all his little might. I guess he likes chocolate (wants to be like mom, of course :-)

Our friend Jakey liked the chair, too. Check out the cute little tee his mommy made for him.

And Emma and Ellie were expert candy collectors. We came home with bags of the stuff. It was practically Halloween in July. :-)


God bless America!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Yippee! Aaron's first word has tumbled from his lips!!! What was it, you ask?

Was it "mama," calling out to the woman who has sacrificed countless hours of sleep, nursed this boy around the clock for the past nine months, changed and laundered a lot of icky diapers, and prepared tons of organic homemade baby food?

Nope, not "mama."

Was it "dada," in honor of the man who works tirelessly to earn the $$ for the aforementioned organic homemade baby food, who tickles and plays, gives nightly baths, and wakes an hour early to spend as much quality time with his baby as possible?

Nope, not "dada."

Aaron's first word: "ball." An inanimate object. :-(

Oh, well... maybe he'll play for the Cubs. :-)

For more Tiny Talk Tuesday, check out Rose in the Making.