He’s a Bruiser
So here are Aidan and I - playing on the floor having a fun time. Aidan is laughing and screeching - enjoying being played with… when it happened. I never saw it coming. Aidan thought it was such great fun; he tried it more then once. I, on the other hand, had a slightly different opinion.

As we’re playing on the floor, my face close to his, he suddenly (I’m going with lighting quick as I’m refusing to admin that my reflexes are already starting to slow) reached out with his short, pudgy fingers and took firm hold of my right nostril and tried to detach my nose from my face. Sure, it kind of smarted the first time… It was the third time where I started to get a bit annoyed – and finally smart enough to move out of arms reach.

The kid’s getting stronger. Ouch. On the bright side, I was able to breathe better after that. Maybe I should schedule Aidan in for regular sessions, “Come on son, come over here and give me a good nose rip.. no, don’t mind all the blood, I’m fine, really.”

Aidan also managed to have his first unsupervised experience with the stairs. He slipped past the (and I’m going to step up to the plate and, well dispense the blame) normally eagle eye of my blushing bride…. Ok, no, that’s not true. It was me – my fault, my lack constant of parental supervision which allowed the stealth like Aidan to slip past the check point and move towards the stairs. Now, to Aidan’s credit, he must have made it most of the way down the first flight of stairs as I only heard two thud like sounds. No real damage done (thankfully) only a shocked and surprised Aidan who provided a short pause before starting to wail. After a short bout of tears, all was well again – as he attempted to make another dash for the stairs a short time later. Guess it’s time to put that second baby gate up – although we were really hoping that Aidan was going to pick up on the going down the stairs backwards. He may have picked it up though as he didn’t fall very far… he must be close to a breakthrough, so to speak.

Aidan is also close to another breakthrough – walking! He’s taken his first, unsteady unassisted step. Not really on a regular basis, but it’s a start. He’s quickly mastered the little wheeled walker toy – where he stands up, grabs the handle and starts nearly running down the hallway. The only problem is that he seems to kick one wheel with each step, so he unknowing turns himself away from his straight line generally ending up into a wall, a piece of furniture or visiting guest. Now if only he’d figure out how to redirect himself we’d be in great shape. As it is he’ll walk himself into some object then wait there for assistance – as if AAA is going to send a tow truck to help him out. Once straightened out, he’s off like a shot, making it another 10 feet before running into another obstacle. I’m sure it’s due to my providing the shallow end of the gene pool. Probably should have found a walker toy with a built in airbag.