I just kissed a cheek covered in drool.

It was gross,

but it was totally worth it.

Oh, and he rolled over for the first time today. He was on his back reaching for his Tigger, and before we knew it, he was on his tummy looking stunned. :) He is exactly 20 weeks old today.

Likes & Dislikes

Likes:

At 4.5 months old, Aiden likes Mom and Dad (a lot) and smiles when he sees them. :)

He likes watching Sophie run around.

He likes walking while holding onto people’s fingers. I have decided kids his height are not supposed to like walking because it just about kills the helper’s back to bend so low.

He loves his new Tigger toy. Thanks, Grandma Anderson!

Dislikes:

He is starting to recognize when he does not know the person who is holding him, which is getting a little sad for people at church and my grandma Chase.

He does not like applause. He started screaming during the applause after some friends performed at a two-year old birthday party last weekend.

He hates going to sleep most of the time lately. It’s horrible.

He’s not such a fan of solid foods yet, but he’s getting better little by little.

Trying Banana

Aiden sure stares at our food and makes mouth movements a lot, and he even reaches out sometimes when we're eating. Unfortunately, eating doesn't come as easily as being interested hypothetically in eating. I don't think this went better than rice cereal, but we're trying!

On My Mind

It is late. Really Late. I have not slept well the last few days, so I should be catching sleep now while he’s snoozing in his crib, but I’ve been busy thinking.

-How did I get the big bruise on my leg? Weird.

-What song should I sing in Sacrament Meeting in a month?

-I am starting a six-week self-imposed work-out program tomorrow. I don’t want to. Actually, I will hate jogging and doing sit ups and push ups and yoga and all the things we have planned. Well, more specifically, I will hate getting out of bed to do it, starting, and then de-sweatigrossifying (yes, I just made up that word) myself afterwards. On the other hand, I hate being fat more. I think. Thank you pregnancy.

-Should I call someone about cutting my hair? I hate paying someone to cut my hair when I can do it myself. I use that term lightly, since I would never profess to actually know how to cut hair. This not-knowing is what caused me to cut my hair strangely recently and make me consider calling someone. Or maybe I could just keep wearing ponytails and using bobby pins to hold it back for the next few months. Man, I’m cheap.

-How long does it take to teach a baby to use a spoon? This is a scary prospect to me.

-What pictures should I use for Grandma Chase’s birthday present? I really need to figure that out since her birthday was TODAY, and I visited her empty-handed. Well, she enjoyed holding Aiden and visiting for awhile, but that’s not the same as a real birthday present. She is 84 years old, after all. That’s pretty awesome.

-Why does my rice cereal picture look better in my Windows Live preview window than it does in Internet Explorer? Obviously I did something wrong, but I’m not sure what…

So, am I the only one to stay up thinking past 2 or 3 in the morning a few nights in a row? Anyone else have random stuff on their minds? Let me know what’s keeping your brain busy.

Here’s a panorama I created of the beach where we spent some time at Lake Tahoe these last few days.

Rice cereal

We tried some rice cereal now that Aiden is four months old and we got the okay from his pediatrician. It looks like the spoon thing is going to be even more challenging than just getting him used to trying a new taste. Yikes.

4 Months Old!

Can you believe I'm four months old already? I am working hard to learn all kinds of new things like talking, laughing, and walking, but that balancing thing sure is hard!

I am now officially two feet tall, and I weigh 13 lbs. 12 oz., which is precisely double my birth weight! I also have a small head, but Mom says that's not so bad as long as I'm learning. I can't wait to try rice cereal soon!

Aiden Laughs

We finally got him laughing on video! He laughed about a week ago for the first time, just one good laugh when I was playing Peek-A-Boo with him. Then one other time this week he laughed while my mom and I were making funny noises at him, but tonight he was really laughing a lot at Sophie while Sophie fetched a toy shark over and over (Sophie could play this game for hours). The sound isn't great, but he (of course) stopped laughing and just looked tired right after we filmed this. At least you can get a glimpse! It is heart-warming to hear a little baby laugh!

Playing with Aiden

He was too fast for me in this one, but he's so proud of himself.

Happy Independence Day 2010!

We are so grateful to live in a country with so many freedoms and are grateful to the founding fathers who 234 yeras ago helped to establish the liberties we enjoy. We are proud to be Americans! Thanks to all of the soldiers and veterans who stand up for our country and protect the rights we are fortunate to have.

We had a lovely Fourth of July weekend. Yesterday we went to a barbeque after church, and today was our annual ward pancake breakfast. Isaac worked a long time today, but we're happy to have him home more tomorrow.

One bummer... someone crunched the back of my car a little bit while it was parked (not my fault). It's being taken care of; we have the same insurance, and hopefully it will be all fixed up soon!

Catching the Baby Sounds

I find that whenever Aiden is talking a bunch and I try to catch it on the video camera, he stops to stare at the camera. (sigh) I ended up with a bunch of videos of him making noises for a few seconds and then staring at me the rest of the video, so I spliced a number of the more interesting bits together. Enjoy! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brzLTeQJzOM