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"