Weeks 29, 30 (Feb 18 - Mar 3)

I have so much to report that I am sure I will leave something out.

As you can see from the first three pictures, Aldo joined me at the office in Sacramento.  We had two weeks where Aldo was in the office for one day each.  He did great, although I found the second week much easier than the first, which is odd because I crammed more into the day in the second week.  Aldo got to meet some of my office buddies, including Cynthia, below.  I am proud to report Kizel's remark of, "It looks like he really wants to tell you something."  One of the stops we made this week was to the AT&T store to purchase a new, iPhone 5.  It takes great photos!

In this photo, Aldo is sitting up in his car seat/stroller so that he can watch the passing cars on Fulton Avenue.  So strong!

 Now this was a wonderful day!  Pictured here with Aldo and I are Laura and AnnMarie.  We had a ski day at the Nordic center, followed by an absolutely wonderful BBQ.  We were all starving!  Laura's big news is that she and hubby Alastair are expecting, and it is a boy due almost exactly on Aldo's First Birthday.  They are destined to be playmates.





Good morning Aldo.....sleepy head.

 They make these baby outfits with tons of room for girth, but not enough room for leg growth.  I released Aldo's feet so that he could sit up.

Here's some fun. Meal time is now a very big deal for Aldo and I.  Cindy Banson, lactation consultant as well as Colleen Willford, nurse practitioner, have explained to me that solids at this age are not about sustenance.  Instead, they are about practicing eating.  Practicing sitting up, taking in food at the lips and getting it to the back of the mouth, using utensils, drinking water, and just having mealtime with family.  So with that in mind, we now have two mealtimes a day together, at 10:30 and 5:30, roughly.  The pictures below show Aldo considering his spoon and then getting excited when he has it right.  And a photo of our first meal together...I had ginger tempeh with asparagus, and Aldo had apples and plums with yogurt.

Oops...out of order.  I have this photo as my iPhone wallpaper.  This was another walk to Skylandia pier.

This past week Grampa John and Grandma Kristine were in town to help take care of the cousins while their Mom had parent/teacher week responsibilities.  So they were able to watch Aldo for me during my two days in Sac for work.  It was their first time being alone with Aldo for so long and they did great.  Here's Grandma Kristine reading Aldo his goodnight story (a new addition to our routine).

There is a happy ending but just look at my new car.  So sad.  I won't go much into the details but know that Aldo slept through everything; the accident and the 45 minutes on the roadside waiting to speak with the CHP.  We (followed by 9 other cars and a semi-truck) hit a large piece of metal debris that had fallen off a vehicle on I-80 in Auburn (no injuries).

I don't think I've ever seen Aldo so giggly as he was this night.  He was laughing and screaming; just really using his vocal cords.  And kicking all around trying to roll off the couch, or so it seemed.  Stosh just rode 78 miles (and 7,000 feet of elevation gain) from Downieville to Tahoe City, so excuse him if he has helmet hair.  His sister, Amanita, is buying my old Subaru so Stosh came to switch out the cars.  Lucky Stosh that he got some laughs too.

Aldo is trying out his GQ face....good job!

The last item to not forget is that Aldo and I are attending a Mommy and Me class with Cindy Banson in Truckee.  We're fortunate that it fits into the routine so that we can get out and play together.  I really enjoy seeing the other babies and their progress and personalities.  Aldo is still not crawling but other babies at 5.5 months are crawling well.  Oh...Aldo has now rolled on to his tummy 3-4 times, usually on my bed.  Then he does some crazy face scooting thing that he thinks is crawling, but I admit it gets him where he wants to be.  I'm not sure how we can get him to strengthen his arms.  I also set up his activity table.  I'll photograph it next week.  It helps him to practice standing, which he loves to do.