Quite The Predicament

Just like with rolling over, sitting up and crawling, Ayden is practicing his standing all day long. Not only does he pull up on everything, he's getting brave and letting go. The longest he's stayed up has been maybe 3 seconds and when he falls he thinks it's funny and tries again. He is fearless, determined, and persistent. Sometimes his efforts get him into predicaments:

I had to turn off the camera and "rescue" him because he wouldn't let go and just sit down. He was determined to stay standing but was just stuck and wasn't happy about it. I was tempted to set myself up for one of those future moments where a teenage Ayden would watch the video and say, "wow, instead of helping me you just sat there and videoed it??"  But I thought better of it and decided to help him out of his predicament.  Silly boy! There hasn't been a single dull moment in the past 7 months, that's for sure...

Milk dribble caught in action :)

 I've said this before but so far this is my favorite age (I think that is always going to be the case). Ayden is starting to "love" us back and it feels so good! He shows us by laying his head on our shoulders, grabbing our cheeks and smooshing his face into ours, giggling while we give him Eskimo kisses, and just being super happy to see us and be with us. He is also starting to crawl to us if he is hurt or upset. It's like he has all of a sudden realized that we can help him feel better just by holding him or even being close by. It is awesome. The beginning of a parenthood journey is kind of one sided. Early on you are repaid by watching your child grow and meet milestones. Even first smiles make you feel warm and fuzzy but the older a child gets the more the relationship becomes two sided and it really is wonderful.

Ayden actually has his first real fever right now, poor baby. All day I've thought he felt warmer than usual and kept taking his temperature only for it to read normal. David even noticed it when he got home but again the thermometer read normal. Ayden and I went with David during his Crossfit workout. We played off to the side while David worked out. Ayden was smiling at and stealing the hearts of everyone who stopped to say hi and was in a super mood. After a while, though, he climbed into my lap and laid his head on my shoulder. This is not like him, he usually plays until he's over tired and gets fussy if we're not careful. I stood up to sway and hum to him and he fell right to sleep and it was only 7:00. When we got home I took his temp and there it was, 100.5*F. He's tucked away in bed and I am on fever watch. I called my midwife and she said that if he is resting to just let him be since that is what he needs the most. We want to avoid medicating him if possible so she advised that if he can't sleep or if the fever gets higher than 102*F to go ahead and give him a small dose. Fevers are no fun but nothing brings out a mama bear than when your baby isn't feeling well. All I want to do is help him feel better. Probably won't be getting much sleep tonight so that I can keep a close eye on my sweetie.

~Sarah