Bundled Up

We took Aerin out on a rare outing yesterday, just to remind her (and ourselved) that there's a world beyond our house. She was great and didn't even fuss on the car ride home. I put her in her door jumper before we left and let her crawl around her room so that she wouldn't be restless.

I'll try to write more later, but this is a busy week for us.

Playtime Progress

Aerin is very serious about her play. When she decides to put something somewhere, she will fulfill her mission at any cost. She's also very goal-oriented. Since she conquered the stacking rings, she's been working on her Haba train. She wants to be able to put the pegs into the holes and to put the blocks onto the pegs. So far, she can get the yellow peg in and put the blocks on about 1/3 of the time. They are the first toy she goes for during playtime. She's also very creative - she has figured out that if she puts things on the nursing stool (which is at an incline), they'll slide down. Pull-the-flap books are another favorite toy. She can lift the flaps herself and has such a good time. I think it's like peekaboo to her and that's still among her favorite games.

Teething is making Aerin very bite-y. She bit my left na-na yesterday and it was fantastically painful. She took me totally by surprise, too, so I cried out. This startled her into crying, to which I was somewhat less sympathetic than I usually am.

Aerin understands so much now. You can ask her if she's hungry, if she wants O's, if she wants Momma or Daddy, if she wants uppy, if she wants her baba, or if she wants a bite (Gerber apple wheels broken up into tiny pieces) and she'll let you know what she wants. She will also hand you whatever you ask for and give you five. She's also very good about not doing things that I tell her not to. I usually just say no, don't do that in a firm voice and shake my head and that's the end of it. Except she still won't keep her hat or socks on.

Sock Wars

Every night I put socks on Aerin because her feet get cold. Every morning I go into her room to find the socks on the floor. I'm considering taping them on.

Aerin continues to make feeding her a challenge. I did give her a couple of white raisins, which she loved. I can't give her too many, though, because they're not so good for baby digestion. We are making progress with the sippy cup. Today I put 2 ounces of cranapple juice and 6 ounces of water into one and Aerin took a few good sips.

In other micropreemie news, we were very pleased to hear that 16-year-old Hawaiian golfer Tadd Fujikawa made the PGA Tour event cut at the Sony Open on Friday. Like Aerin, he was born 3.5 months early, though he outweighed her by 3 ounces.

More Teeth

Aerin has had some cranky afternoons, which aren't much fun for anyone. She's finally getting more teeth and her mouth feels crummy. Her 2 front top teeth are coming in and she loves biting things in half with them.

Aerin can now identify my nose and mouth. She mostly does so by trying to jab her fingers into them, but she jabs at the correct feature. She loves when I ask her to give something to momma and then thank her. Her fine motor skills are fantastic - yesterday she put a very small wooden peg into its hole. I was shocked.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is Aerin's Daddy's birthday! She is so excited that she is having trouble napping (we're hearing lots of "talking" from her room). We're going out to celebrate, something that was out of the question last year.

Aerin has mastered the rings. She can get them on the stick every time and shows no sign of getting bored with them. She's also still into putting things places and has started handing me things. She really likes to be thanked - she laughs every time I say thank you to her.

We've pretty much abandoned the high chair. She is so much happier in her booster seat at the table. We don't even use the booster seat tray anymore. I think she feels more included sitting with us like a big girl. She keeps putting her foot up on the table, though. It's pretty funny, but I'm going to have to discourage it because it won't be funny when she's older. I also worry that she'll tip herself over when she's bigger.

I'm trying to get Aerin to eat more regular food in the hopes of getting some weight on her. She has eaten decent-sized portions of chicken the past few nights (cut into tiny pieces, of course). I didn't expect her to like the chicken when I offered it because I cooked it with pepper and cilantro, but she loved it. I think her palate is broader than a term baby because some of the medicines she takes with gusto are very strong-tasting (and smelling). Of course, Aerin being Aerin, she won't eat white potatos or bananas or rice or avocado, which would help her to gain weight.

Standing Alone

Yesterday morning Aerin stood without support for 5 seconds! I know because I held my breath and counted. I was very excited, but Aerin didn't even notice. She didn't even fall when she was done, she just reached her hand out for support.

Aerin loves to close her door when she plays in her room. I keep it open and gated and she just crawls over and swings it shut. Sometimes she doesn't shut it all the way and tries to open it so that she can try again. This never works because she sits in front of it and blocks it completely. It's so funny to watch.

We recently discovered that Aerin loved edamame (Japanese soybeans). I try to give her a large variety of foods so that she won't have a bland palate when she grows up. She is very game about trying new foods - she'll let you put anything in her mouth. However, if she doesn't like the taste, she'll pull it out of her mouth and throw it on the floor. She's not a spitter at all. She also has a highly-developed gag reflex and will make herself throw up if she decides she doesn't like something after she's swallowed it. I was thrilled that she liked the edamame - it's so good for her. She would have eaten an entire bowl of it, but too much can upset the tummy.

New Year's Day 07

Aerin ate 2.5 black-eyed peas tonight. She ate a half of one by itself and decided that she didn't like it, so I snuck 2 into her green beans. For those of you who don't know (aka Yankees), eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day is a Southern tradition that ensures luck for the coming year.

Andrew taught Aerin to make the kissy noise and it's too adorable.