the blackburns: Aiden at 9 months

Yesterday, Aiden turned 9 months. To celebrate we decided to take him to Frozen(not really, it just happened to fall on the same day). At first I was a little worried to take him because he's so young, but he did really well. Patrick, of course, loved the movie. He sat there the whole time(the only time he'll sit still), and just wanted to cuddle on our laps. I only had to stand on the side with Aiden, once, because he was gassy and wanted to pass a little something, if you know what I mean. Other than that, he was happy to check out and smile at everyone behind us, eat his food(we took his dinner with us) and cuddle or bounce on everyone's laps. I loved going with all of our family. Definitely on our list to do again sometime...until Aiden starts walking. I'm pretty sure all activities that would force him to be confined to one spot will be out of the question.

Anyway, at 9 months Aiden likes to:

-Play with his brother

-Play with mommy

-Play with his brother

-Play with daddy

He loves Patrick. :) Whatever Patrick plays with, he wants to play with. This kind of puts us in a hard spot. It gives us a good amount of time to teach Patrick to share, but at the same time I feel bad because Patrick really loves certain toys and I feel bad making him give Aiden his toys. If they're playing with cars, for example, usually I end up telling Patrick to pick which cars he wants Aiden to play with. He'll pick his least favorite, Aiden doesn't know the difference, and everyone's happy.

I also love to hear the two of them in the morning. They started sharing the bedroom a little while ago and in the morning, I'll start to hear one waking up, then the other is woken up by the noise and pretty soon they're both laughing and "talking" and making all sorts of messes in the bedroom. I'm looking at the monitor right now(they just woke up) and Aiden is standing in his crib laughing at Patrick, who's making weird sounds with his mouth. Patrick is laughing back and thinking he's pretty funny. I let them do this for a few minutes everyday because I love hearing the two of them together...and I get to sleep in just a little longer. ;)

Aiden doesn't have the stranger danger thing going on yet but he is still a momma's boy. He's completely fine with other people until I walk in the room and then he immediately tries grabbing for me. Little kids know how to help your self-esteem along.

-He's started giving big, wet, slobbery kisses complete with sound effects. Apparently I'm a noisy kisser and he picked up on that...

-He loves to cuddle throughout the day but not at bedtime. Forget wrapping him up in a blanket to help him fall asleep. We might as well be torturing or suffocating him. He prefers to bounce around in the crib while we do our bedtime routine and as soon as we leave he lays down and falls asleep himself.
-Aiden just started handing things over. If we give him cereal to eat, he'll pick up the cheerio, hand it to me and then wants me to hand it back again. At first I thought he was just sharing but if you don't give the item back, he gets a little...upset.
-He still constantly jabbers away. He's copied us when we say dada but he hasn't exactly said it like he's calling Jon. He's getting clearer when he says it, though.

Aiden's laugh is one of my favorite things about him. Really, I'm not that funny, but he thinks I am. He finds joy in everything(except when he's hungry. Don't mess with him when he's hungry) and I love watching his excitement over everything. He just loves life. He loves to laugh.

Food at 9 months:

This requires it's own section. Where do I start with food? Aiden enjoys his food. Milk has become an appetizer or a bedtime snack but that's not what Aiden wants to fill up on. That's nice for me since I lost most of my milk last time I was sick, but holy cow, I can't believe how much this kid eats! You'd think I could pull out one little jar of baby food and be good. Heck no. He wants the whole jar of homemade applesauce with a side of fresh peaches, some oatmeal and then his little jar of green beans...which came after his appetizer of milk. We went out to eat a couple days ago, I didn't have baby food and he was starving, so I bought him a bowl of vegetable soup. My grandpa bought the same thing. Aiden finished his. And it was adult size. And the whole time he made this mmm sound like it was the greatest thing on the planet. He enjoys his food. I haven't found anything he doesn't like; broccoli, peas, beans, peaches, bananas, potatoes, pears, carrots, sweet potatoes, pickles, oranges, peppers, oatmeal, rice, lemons, tomatoes, olives, anything off of our plate, etc. I'm sure as his taste buds develop more he might start to dislike certain foods but right now I can put anything in his mouth and he'll act like it's the best thing he's ever had. If I had to pick a favorite food I would say he favors sweet potatoes? Or fruit...or pickles. It's hard to tell since he makes satisfied noises every time he eats. Right now it's adorable but he might have to tone it down a little when he starts taking girls out.

And for the best part: