The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

Hello, hello!  So I didn’t quite get around to writing this past sunday.  I had visiting teaching and trying to get breadsticks made and then we went to eat dinner with a couple of families in the ward.  We had homemade pizza.  This combined with breadsticks, salad, and lemon bars made for a well rounded and tasty meal.  Saturday was busy as well, although I don’t remember what we did most of the day in the evening we went and saw Prince Caspian with my dad.  It was an excellent movie and I would once again like to encourage everyone to READ THE BOOKS!!!  As you know movies take liberties and don’t always get all of the details of the books, leave some out altogether or rearrange them into a different order.  It had been long enough since I have read the books to be able to enjoy the movie for what it was but I still liked the books better. 

I have also been thinking that this is the coldest (although still pleasant) and rainiest transition into summer that I have seen for a long while and I am somewhat relieved.  I was nervous back in February/March when we were already having 90 degree weather and was preparing myself for a long, HOT summer.  Thank goodness for rain.  But I have one question?  Why all the talk about global warming when we had a colder winter then we had for several years and now we are having a normal rainy, cool spring rather then the HOT HOT ones we have had?  I know, I know global warming diehards would say that the extreme in heat would have an equal an opposite reaction with an extreme in cold, but the last thing I heard on the matter is that it the warming trend has been at a stand still since 1999.  I believe in global climate change but not in the possibility of such extreme that we would have major problems as a result within 20 years because by then it could be getting cold or hot again.  Anyway, let me jump down off my soap box.  🙂

So, Aiden is continually growing.  He was blowing spit bubbles yesterday and has learned to grab things that we hold close where he can reach them.  He has even started to grab at the dangly objects on his swing.  On top of that I have been more diligent about giving him tummy time (to encourage rolling over and crawling) and now he will push up with his arms fully extended for short periods of time.  He is still not quite sitting on his own yet because his tummy muscles are still too weak but it should be any day now.  He has started on baby food now (view video of his first feeding at http://wilhelmsenfamilyadventures.blogspot.com/), mostly rice cereal mixed with a little bit (like a 1/4 tsp.) of fruit or veggie.  He didn’t seem to sure about the applesauce but he seems to enjoy sweet potatoes.  I only feed him baby food once a day and only a little bit because it really isn’t neccessary for his diet yet.  It is more of a curiosity and love of varying flavors for Aiden.  I think it makes him feel grown up.  He also likes crackers and those gerber wagon wheels.  He is really good about gumming them until they are pasty and then swallowing.  I also should mention that his eyes are still blue and seem to be getting more blue every day.  I also can see some itty bitty blond hairs growing in on his head.  Your guess is as good as mine as to what color his hair will end up.  I think it will be a lighter brown or blond.  I guess we shall see.

As for Brandon, he is really enjoying his job.  They already gave him a $1.00 raise because they were so pleased with how he works.  I am just glad that he can finally work somewhere that the they appreciate him for his hard work and abilities.  It also helps that the business is still working through some of the kinks of start up and that in July they will be moving to a larger facility.  So Brandon was able to get in on the ground floor.  I think he also enjoys working with/for someone who is not much older then he is and knows all the ins and outs about starting a business.  It has been a busy summer break so far but I hope to be able to allow Brandon do to some of the things that he has been wanting to do.  He did start working on his HUGE kite the past Saturday and did not get nearly as much done on it as he thought he would.  I knew it was a huge project and would probably take longer then he expected but had no idea how much longer.  He is a creative and curious sort and I love him with all my heart and soul.  😉

As for me well, I just keep busy here at home with Aiden.  He has been keeping more of a predictable routine the past week or two and this has been nice because I can anticipate how long I have to do things and when to try and get them done.  I have been working on turning my extended family back into blogging instead of me stressing out to get a quarterly newsletter designed and printed and there have been a few kinks in the things that I have wanted to do with it.  I also have decided to have one sewing/craft project a week, to read one book, and to scrapbook one page (digitally for the most part).  This combined with occasional relief society activities (about one a week), household chores, and taking care of Aiden pretty much fills up my week.  I do hope to go to some concerts in the park and the Farmer’s Market this summer and I would like to go to the zoo once (I wish it weren’t so expensive) but we will see if we have a lull long enough to do it. 

Lastly, Brandon and I are buying our bow and some arrows tomorrow.  It is pretty exciting for me to be taking up a new hobby.  I also want to learn fencing/swordsmanship.  As you all are well aware I am not very active or athletic and much prefer activities that take mental skill and discipline.  That is why archery and swordsmanship are so enticing to me.  I also want to try polynesian dancing and have for years.  I almost paid the $35 to take it at Kearns High through the Granite District community classes but it is too far to drive 8 times for an hour long class.  I am hoping that they will offer it again in the fall somewhere closer to home.

Well, I better quit this jibber jabbering now so that you can go do something that you need to get done.  🙂  Thanks for reading…

Woah, the year is already almost half over and Aiden (who it seems like was born just yesterday) is almost 4 months old.  Time just speeds on by the older you get. 

So today I was pondering because in relief society my visiting teacher asked if she could hold Aiden and in previous weeks others have asked to hold Aiden as well.  My guess is that they want to give me a break or help me out or something, sometimes I can tell that they just want a little cuddle from him and will return him quickly.  Nevertheless I am always reluctant to give him up because these moments will all pass too quickly and before I know it little Aiden will be independent and only want to cuddle and be held on rare occasion.  I am also very good about turning Aiden over to Brandon when I need a break or a rest so if I have him it is because I would like to.  I just truly enjoy holding Aiden every chance I get.  This then led me to think about my decision to be a stay at home mom.  Yes, I do go stir crazy staying home all the time.  Yes, I get a little bored sometimes.  Yes, it will be hard to have a family of 8 (six kids, mom and dad) on one income.  Yes, there are moments during the day when I am home alone and want to pull my hair out because I have no idea why my child is upset but, I don’t want to miss a single moment in the lives of any of my children.  I will gladly give up that extra nice car, weekly steak dinners, new clothes, jet ski’s, and even yearly trips to Disneyland/world (I am addicted what can I say?  I have been to a Disney Park every year since 2000 and am currently going through withdrawals from lack of being able to afford it this year) so that I can be available for every moment and milestone in my kids lives.  That is what is the most important to me as a mom in these latter days.

Speaking of milestones, we plan to start weening Aiden onto rice cereal during the latter end of this week.  I have been letting him lick various bland foods for weeks now and today I even pulled out a graham cracker and let him lick it and dissolve it in his mouth.  Once it started to get messy I wiped him off and put his binky back in his mouth.  He watched intently as I drank my milk and ate my yogurt.  I also bought him a sippy cup with a silicon lid that acts much the same as a bottle lid.  He seems to be doing pretty well with it. 

As for our week well, I kind of wrote about it already in the previous entry but I will briefly recap.  Brandon’s mom and brother came up thursday for an orthodontist appointment and we picked them up and dropped them off at the airport.  Brandon also had his interview and while he was there the rest of us (and Aiden) went to the park.  We then went to the orthodontist appointment, had a yummy lunch at Arctic Circle, and then came to our apartment.  Brandon flew a kite while we watched a bit and then it was time for the to go. 

Yesterday was our fun day again.  We drove out to Sandy to pick up some food forgetting that the place was closed.  So we went and visited my mom for a bit before going to Sportsman’s Warehouse to look at the bows.  We even got to try out the recurve bow and will probably end up buying one similar to the one we tried out.  While we were there we saw the dehydrator that I was planning to buy with some of our food storage money and so we ended up buying it.  This week I will try drying some apples and making some apple fruit leather.  I am very excited. 

After the trip to Sandy we came home and after Aiden ate we took him outside for a little swim.  When I went outside I saw that most of the little neighborhood boys were out swimming.  I made the mistake of taking rubber ducks out for Aiden and in a flash all the boys wanted to play with them.  One little boy was even squirting people with it.  Aiden was a bit more fussy this time around because the water was not very warm.  I ended up adding 4 gallons of HOT HOT water to the little pool to try and warm it up.  I only succeeded a little bit.  In the evening we rented “Mad Money” from the red box (a funny movie I might add) and ate a dinner of fried ham, scrambled eggs, and hash browns.  So there you go. 

Hey I was looking at our blog and realized that I better send a quick update.  Brandon had a job interview on Wednesday for a temp to hire job with a sign company that I believe is called bargain banners, they told him that they would call him back on Weds. or Thurs. and they called him back later that same day telling him that he had been hired.  (I will have Brandon write about the circumstances surrounding the interview.)  HOORAY!  He started the very next day (a.k.a Thurs.)  He is being paid $10.00 an hour and will be officially hired on in 90 days.  It is a fairly new company so there will be lots of room for advancement and growth.  They do offer benefits but we won’t be able to afford benefits for the whole family on ten dollars an hour (unless the benefits are incredible awesome but somehow I doubt that.)  He didn’t know when he would be up for his first raise, hopefully at 90 days.  So there you go.  I feel pretty good about this job.  I think that at the very least we will be able to meet our needs, Brandon will enjoy his job, and there will be job security (meaning he could work there indefinitely until he graduates or stumbles into a better job).  This will be good for my nerves.  They also told him that in the slow times he could do some designing for them as well (right now they just hire freelance designers).  I am hoping that when they move to their new building and as the business picks up that they will decide to hire a full time graphic designer and that Brandon will be right there to pick up the job.  😉  It will be good experience for his design resume regardless.  So there you go, thank you for all of the prayers in our behalf.

 I know that I just wrote on Sunday but a comment made the other day got me to thinking.  As we who are parents know, having a child changes pretty much every aspect of our lives.  This change can be made much easier by support from others.  My thoughts then turned to the ward that I live in.  The 900 court makes up the entirety of our ward.  This wonderful blessing enables closeness among neighbors and ward members.  Everyone helps each other out and watches out for each other.  I have even had a few fellow ward members offer to babysit if I ever need a break and I know that if I were to ever need a cup of sugar I could borrow some from someone.  Once I got stranded in my car and called someone in the ward to see if they could come and help me out and they were ready and willing.  This ward exemplifies the true meaning of a ward family. 

I want to point out though that next year when we move out (and the Elders Quorum helps like they always do) I can have confidence to know that there will be the same unity of brotherhood in our new ward.  It will be slightly different because of the change in proximity.  Members will live up 5 mins. away in a car rather then just a 5 min. walk across the court but, the support will still be the same.  Members will still be there for each other and I will still find that there are women in Relief Society or girls in Young Womens who would be available and willing to babysit.  It is a nice feeling to know that wherever I go near or far, that if there isn’t blood related family close by, there will always be a ward family who can help our little family when we have rough times.  Family (both our own individual families and our ward families) really is a heavenly principal and a blessing.

Hello, hello!  Let’s see…Brandon didn’t work tuesday through friday this week.  You see for the last couple of weeks at his new job (3-4) he has been keeping in close communication with his supervisor regarding not being able to make the sales quota’s that he was hoping to make, because of this his supervisor had given him the option of transfering over to credit repair where he would make a flat $10.00 an hour and not have to meet quota’s.  So last week Brandon had finally decided to transfer over to that department and this Monday he had a meeting with his supervisor and would have been “let go” but luckily had already started the process of transfering.  Nevertheless he has had the rest of the week off and is still waiting to know if he will definitely be transfering and starting on Tuesday or not.  *Sigh*  We had already been searching for a better job but if this transfer falls through he will be out of a job again.  On the upside because it is summer he is available 8-5 or 9-5 and so it should be easier to find a job.  Please keep us in your prayers and keep your fingers crossed that something will turn up.

Most of this week, aside from searching for jobs, Brandon has been working on his 20 foot Delta kite and he decided to create a para foil kite.  He created the pattern and then bought the fabric and cut it all out.  He is currently working on pinning it and soon he will start to sew it. 

I have been working on sewing projects this last week.  Until this week I haven’t sewn much of anything since Aiden was born.  My upcoming projects include christmas gifts, and 5 dresses to replace a few that I had to loan to my mom because they didn’t fit anymore.  You see the dresses I loaned to my mom were my favorite and would have been excellent for a breast feeding mother.  They tied at the shoulder.  We shall see how long sewing will hold my interest.  I tend to do alot of sewing in a short span of time and then go awhile without sewing.  I also have digital scrapbooking and keeping our blog up to date to keep me busy above and beyond catering to Aiden’s every whim.  😉

Yesterday we took Aiden to get his three month pictures taken.  We had him dressed in his blessing atire and because he was kind of tired he started to fuss after several poses.  Luckily, we still got some cute ones and will have them in two or so weeks.  After pictures we went to visit our friends briefly.  Then we had a quiet evening at home. 

This evening we had my dad over for dinner and tomorrow the ward is having a memorial day breakfast.  After the memorial day breakfast we will be meeting my family at Murray Cemetary for our usual memorial day festivities.  Placing flowers on our relatives headstones and then heading to Murray Park for lunch and visiting.  🙂  After that we will be going to my mom’s for a light dinner and some visiting. 

So there you have it, our activities for the week.  Have a wonderful memorial day! 

Hello again everyone!  Just a couple weeks ago it was snowing and now without so much as a blink of an eye the temperatures are reaching the 90’s, what is up with that?  Can’t we just have several weeks of sunny 60-70 degree weather with a few days of rain sprinkled about here and there?  90 is just too hot for me.  As for our news, it seems to me that we always have our most eventful adventures on the weekend.  I had a few things in my mind to write about yesterday and now I can’t remember.  This past week we celebrated my grandma’s birthday and saw some of the extended family.  I always enjoy getting together with my extended family. 

Yesterday was a pretty full day.  We got some groceries in the morning and then Brandon wanted to go to R.E.I. to buy some webbing for the gigantic Delta kite that he is going to build.  Aiden hadn’t eaten much at his 2nd feeding so I had no idea when he might want to eat again.  Nevertheless we went to R.E.I. and I took Aiden out of his car seat and walked around with him in the camping section pointing out various things to him and telling him what they were.  He seemed pretty curious.  After we paid I ended up feeding Aiden in the car and he still spaz ate.  Well, we went to the bishop’s home for food and swimming after that.  We took Aiden in the pool and he fussed a bit.  I thought he didn’t like the change from air temperature to water temperature but it turned out that he just didn’t like the sun in his eyes.  For him swimming wasn’t super exciting or super horrible.  He just was like well I could take it or leave it.  I even had Brandon dunk Aiden (which he ended up doing four times) and Aiden didn’t mind too much, he only fussed for a short moment and seemed a little surprised when he came up out of the water.  One thing to mention is that there was a little bit of miscommunication regarding the procedure for dunking a baby, you see you are supposed to blow in their face before you dunk them so that they inhale and close their mouth and eyes.  On the first dunk, Brandon neglected to do this.  Luckily by some blessing Aiden did this anyway and wasn’t sputtering too much when he came up. 

In the evening we were going to have some friends over for chicken cordon bleu but they ended up calling because they’d had a long day and wanted to reschedule.  Which is understandable, we’d had a long day too.  We still cooked the chicken cordon blue (see pics.) or should I say BRANDON cooked the cordon bleu.  I probably could have done it but Brandon is much more talented in the fine art of cooking, plus I don’t really like to handle raw meat very much, especially chicken, so he did it.  It was very tasty!  Brandon did an excellent job.  Aside from the cooking we spent a fairly quiet evening at home.

Today we had a dinner group with a couple of families in the ward and so we brought spice cake.  It was really very easy, you just mix up a yellow cake as per the directions and add cloves, sugar, cinnamon, and all spice.  The thing that made it extra delicious is that we made cream cheese frosting.  It turned out delicious as well, Brandon decided to go the extra mile and turn it into a round cake.  so there is tasty frosting goodness between the layers and on top.  The more frosting the better I always say.  🙂  Anyway, it was really nice to spend a little bit of time talking with and getting to know more people in the ward.

Well, I guess that is our excitement for this week.  Although I must mention that we have been reading Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites and I have really been enjoying it.  The author has a fun style of writing and there are some parts that just make me laugh, partly I think because it reminds me of my early teenage years.  It is also helping me to become more familiar with some of the characters from the Book of Mormon that I have read and learned about since I was tiny.  Which reminds me of another thing that is sort of pertinent to nephites.  Brandon and I were talking about survival and what not in the car the other day and the subject of bows and arrows came up.  (Needless to say if we have to hunt, kill, and prepare our own meat I will be one hungry white girl, but that is another topic all together.)  After talking about them for a bit I just felt like that would be a skill that I would actually want to learn.  Even though I won’t ever actually use it for hunting.  I just feel like it would be a way to further connect me with those who came before such as native americans, Nephites, and people who lived in biblical times. 

Lastly I just want to mention that today in relief society I realized just how important prayer is in my life.  We are taught to always have a prayer in our hearts and while I am not sure if I ALWAYS do, prayer is a pretty common occurence in my life.  I pray for the help to find lost items, for our little garden to be strong and produce a good harvest, for strength in my trials, for peace, for help that Aiden might sleep longer, for help that I might fall asleep quickly, for the spirit to be here in my home, and many other things.  The other night little Aiden woke up crying only after an hour of sleep.  I didn’t know if he was hurting or scared.  I just assumed scared because he had awoken pretty suddenly and was crying immediately.  I tried to comfort him in his crib and it became apparent that he needed to be held.  So I picked him up and he was still struggling to calm down.  At that point I said a prayer, I prayed that Aiden would feel safe, secure and loved, that the spirit would be in his room, and that he would be able to fall back to sleep quickly.  This calmed him and he did indeed fall back to sleep quickly.  I guess what I mean to say is that today I realized that even though I feel like I very seldomly get answers to my prayers, just the simple act of saying prayers regularly and turning to prayer whenever I am struggling, Aiden or Brandon are in need, for answers, for guidance, or for anything else that I might be prompted to pray about does at the very least give me peace.  It does help me to know that I am not alone and that Heavenly Father does know my needs and hear my prayers.  So even when I don’t appear to get an answer or don’t get the answer I want, I still know that there is that direct line of communication with him, and that he is watching over us.  I still trust that somehow someway everything will work out and get answered in it’s own due time, even if in certain moments it doesn’t seem like it will.  I don’t know, I hope that I explained myself well enough to get my point accross.  Prayer brings me peace and comfort just through the simple act of doing.  So there you go.  Have a good week everyone!

Before I even start I must admit that I will probably get a little choked up writing about my very first Mother’s Day.  I mean who wouldn’t?  It is a momentous occasion for a new mom.  So, a few weeks ago Brandon bought me my Mother’s Day gift early because it is a useful and practical item which has already come in handy on several occasions.  He bought me a front and back carrier so that when there are times that Aiden just won’t let me put him down (or if I just don’t want to because I want to stay as close to his cuteness as often as possible because I know inevitably there will come a day when he does not want to be held or cuddled all day by mom and dad) then I can put him in it and still get some of the household work done.  Because I received this early I figured that I would either get nothing on Mother’s Day or else something very small, but was looking forward to our free night stay at the Anniversary Inn.  (We love and adore Anniversary Inn.  As such we HIGHLY recommend that any couple save up enough money to spend the night in one of the themed rooms because it is SO MUCH FUN!)  View video of the room at http://wilhelmsenfamilyadventures.blogspot.com/.

Anyway, imagine my delight when on Saturday evening Brandon mentions that he has a quick errand to run for me and my mom and that he couldn’t see how it would be plausible for me to wait to receive the gift resulting from this errand until the morning.  I tried to encourage him to please wait to give it to me (even though I had an inkling of what it might be and knew that it could be difficult to hide from me).  As he left I told him that I would just really like something cheap or free that I could have on the actual day of Mother’s Day, even if it was just a card.  So he left and when he came back he had a bouquet of flowers for me from him (see photo) and a tiny bouquet from Aiden (see photo).   It was very cute he even wrote a little note for me from Aiden, thanking me for being so loving, caring, and for making him the happiest baby ever.  

Yesterday morning when I woke up and we were rushing around the house to get ready for church Brandon gave me a card that was especially for a first time mom.  In it he thanked me for “filling” up his life and for sacrificing as our son’s “milky way”.  With the card he gave me a hostess cherry pie and a Milky Way candy bar.  🙂  After we were ready we walked to church.  I always love sacrament on Mother’s Day because either the primary does the program or they sing a couple of songs.  When the little primary kids sang, “Mother Dear I love you so…” I got choked up.  Being a mom is so great. 

Between church and 3:30 was a bit stressful because we were trying to eat, dip strawberries in chocolate, pack Aiden’s stuff for a sleepover at my mom’s, pack our stuff for our stay at Anniversary Inn and several other things.  But we managed and got out the door fairly close to on time. 

We then went to my mom’s to spend a little bit of Mother’s Day with her and we all just chatted and ate pizza.  Then Brandon and I went to Anniversary Inn.  I told him that I never wanted to be away from my kids on Mother’s Day ever again because I had started to miss Aiden before we had even parted from him.  Nevertheless it was a nice relaxing getaway with a bit of silliness mixed in…

 As you can see we stayed in the Treasure Island suite.  Not only did we spend a plethora of time enjoying the huge tub but we also watched, “Memoirs of a Geisha.”  It was a good movie and an interesting glimpse into a culture very different from our own.  So I can say that all in all it was a very good Mother’s Day.  On a side note, in each room of the Anniversary Inn there is a book that you can write in about your stay at the Inn.  A memoir of sorts for the room I suppose, well, as I was looking through or rooms memoir I noticed an entry signed, “Emrazian.”  I called Brandon over and asked him how likely it was to be a relative of our good friend Dan.  Very likely was his response, he then added, “in fact I do believe that was the day Dan’s brother Aaron got married because I remember putting that date on the pumpkin.”  How crazy is that?  “It’s a small world after all, it’s a small world after all….”  🙂 

So there you have the brief synopsis of my very first and momentous Mother’s Day.  I hope that all of yours were good as well.

Today was a fun and long day.  This morning after Aiden waking up at 5:40 (I had him wait until 6:00 to be fed), we all got up at 8:40 to go over to the student apartment yard sale at which Brandon used some of his money to buy some ski’s (complete with boots and poles) for $10.00.  I used $3.00 to get a seven pack of paper punches.  Sweet! 

After the yard sale I left my two men and went over to the church for the stake relief society enrichment activity at which I went to a class about home decorating and a class about meal planning.  At both classes I got a few new ideas that I hadn’t thought of before which is kind of the point of those classes anyway.

Upon arriving home I fed Aiden and took a nap.  Then I fed him again while Brandon inflated the little pool that we got from mom and dad Wilhelmsen.  After feeding I had Brandon go out and fill the pool up while I put Aiden’s swim diaper on and slathered him in sunscreen.  Below are the resulting photographs of his adventure. To see video please go to our blogger blog at http://wilhelmsenfamilyadventures.blogspot.com/

After swimming I dried Aiden off and put him back into his clothes so that we could go to the student apartments Year End Bash.  There we mostly just wheeled Aiden around while we waited for the food to be ready.  While wheeling him around we took advantage of the photo op below.  🙂  We also watered our little garden while we waited for food.  The peas are growing pretty well although I continue to be slightly concerned about the yellowing and browning of the lower leaves.  We also have a lot of little onion seedlings poking up out of the dirt which is very exciting.  I continue to pray that the little cucumber, cherry tomato and at least one of three jalepeno plants will live.  (We lost our two roma tomato plants and most likely two of three jalepeno’s.)  It is hard to know if the plants are being watered too much or not enough.  It is also hard to know if they are getting too much sun or being bothered by bugs.   Anyway…

Some other things worth mentioning are that we got our economic stimulus check from the IRS.  We put 1/3 of it into savings (which we had completely wiped out during Brandon’s jobless days), paid tithing on it, and then put a little aside for each of us to spend.  So far Aiden has spent the most buying himself a Johnny Jump Up, door stopper, and a high chair, he also plans to replace the broken boom box in his room and perhaps buy a few baby food freezer trays for when I start to make baby food for him.  :þ Also, we think that little Aiden may be getting close to cutting a tooth.  His sleep during the day this week has been a bit random and last night when we were trying to feed him a bottle he was very upset.  He calmed down when we pulled the bottle out and rubbed his gums.  So another thing that I did today was buy some teething tablets to help ease the discomfort.  I plan to use them mostly at night unless he gets really upset during the day. 

The last thing I want to mention is that earlier this week Aiden and I did a small bit of exploring on our walk.  You see there is a little alleyway near the maintenance building and I had always wondered what it led to.  So, we walked down it and near the end where there was a gate in the fence we heard some rushing water.  So we went through the fence and down a little hill to a bridge where there was a torrent of water running underneath it.  We then went up the hill on the other side and found ourselves in sunnyside park.  It was a pretty cool discovery.  So there you have the highlights of our week.  T.T.F.N.

So this afternoon around 2:00 Aiden got really sad/upset. He had awoken from a nap not too much earlier and it wasn’t quite time to be hungry yet. He did smell poopy so I changed him then tried to just calm him down with a low shhh, soothing tones, and rocking/bouncing him. After 20 mins. I decided to just try and feed him and he ate voraciously. So there you go, you never know when your little one is going through a growth spurt and so even though it may not be quite time for them to eat, when all else fails to calm their tears there is a good chance that they could be hungry!

Well, Aiden has been sucking and gnawing on his hands for a few weeks now. He has been drooling a bit as well. More recently (like the last 3-4 days) he has learned how to stick only his little tiny thumb in his mouth and chew on it. It is pretty cute but I keep telling him to enjoy it while it lasts because if he has his mommies skin and eczema dry spots start to become a problem then I will have to keep his hands out of his mouth and possibly even in little mittens…