Cheerios - Not just for old geezers cholesterol reduction any more - Which is good because I was getting tired of buying cheerios just for my own consumption.

In our first experience giving a cheerio to Aidan we experienced the less then desirable phenomenon of instant gag reflex followed immediately by the ever popular stomach content purging. Over the past two days Aidan seems to have developed a liking for the little tike finger food. Here an 'O' there an 'O' everywhere an 'O-O'. Adian is actually doing pretty well trying to feed himself the golden colored baby snack. Every once and a while he will actually get one into his mouth the first time, slobber it up for a while then have it dribble over his lower lip and on to his bib as he tries to put the next one in - looking slightly confused as the new cherrio is stuck to his hand and doesn't make it to his mouth.
But, he's a determined little guy and after a few more attempts in goes the whole grain oat gem of 14 essential vitamins and minerals. Plus, those that don't make it in Aidan's mouth and instead find the floor after a minor free-fall, are an instant snack for the Mocha, the smaller then a breadbox, fluffy haired pooch we're currently dog-sitting for.

So cheers to Cheerios - the tiny bits of wholesome goodness that provides minutes of entertainment and occasional nutritional value when one actually makes its way down Aidan's gullet.

All the news that snot fit for print
Well, this past few days have been a bit trying on Aidan's parents. Aidan came down with another cold which caused him to be cranky, irritable, restless and not able to sleep soundly. All this caused his parents to be cranky, irritable, restless and not able to sleep soundly - plus each of us seem to have now caught the cold that Aidan picked up from somewhere, probably Mocha the dog. Aidan wouldn't sleep, therefore I was up anywhere from 2 to 5 times a night trying to get him to go back to sleep. Didn't do much for my demeanor. I'm sure it's just part of what being a parent is all about and I should get used to it. Fifteen years from now I'm sure I'll get a phone call, "Mr. Stutz, please come down to the police station - we have your son here having been picked up for eating pizza in public, he was driving your car without a license... and he has a cold."

The worst thing about Aidan having a cold is all the dried snot clinging to his upper lip, his nose, his right cheek, his hands.. pretty much everywhere. He looks like he's just returned home from some 'Fear Factor' episode where the contestants were forced to eat some kind of slime covered something that I've never heard of or would want to. And you can't try and wipe his face clean as that only adds to his already bad mood - shaking his head almost violently from side to side as if channeling a bewildered Washington Huskey fan watching the Notre Dame foot ball game.

Furthering Aidan's poor mood this weekend was his latest discovery - climbing up on the oven door and grabbing on to the handle can cause the door to open downwards and 'bonk!' onto his head. Maybe it's time to read him 'Hansel and Gretel'.

Tooth Update: He now has four fully visible bottom teeth, and two visible top, middle teeth. This continual process of emerging teeth has done nothing to reduce the amount of drool expelled from Aidan. Drool everywhere. Drool here, Drool there, Drool on the carpet, Drool on the floor, Drool on every magazine in the house, Drool covering the remote control for the TV - apparently a very desirable teething item, at least according to Adian.

... This just in...
News flash... We interrupt this blogging... I've just been handed a news bulletin...

Baby Aidan is expecting a sibling in May

Yes, it's true. Aidan will be looking for a little brother or sister in May 2005. This of course means that I will never, ever be seeing a little, black Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet in my garage - not that I would have ever seen it there anyway, but at least it provides me yet another excuse for why it's not in the garage.

Rock-a-bye-baby... Boy, who wrote that song - let alone call it a lullaby? Let's see.. a baby is rocking on a tree branch (how the baby was able to crawl up there, with a cradle no less, I've no idea and that part was conveniently left out of the story), the wind comes up, the cradle rocks around until it falls crashing to the ground, '...baby and all' - and the story ends there. This is the 'lullaby' that people have been using to try and put their small child to sleep with? Who's bright idea was that? 'Sit back and relax junior while I attempt to lull you to sleep with a story of someone, much like your self, falling from some undetermined height after being blown off of a tree limb.' - ya, that shouldn't cause any nightmares, phobias or cost me the equivalent of a small island in the Caribbean for therapy in his teenage years.

Sleep Update: I don't remember the last night I was able to sleep through the entire night without our little bundle of joy waking up at some point during the night and needing some kind of attention. This morning, for example, I hear him whining about 3am, I get up and go into his room to find him standing up in his crib. Sure, upon noticing that I've entered the room he gets a big smile on his face... but I'm not falling for that old trick. A good 45 minutes and a half bottle of formula later he's restlessly back to sleep. Yippee.

Would it be considered poor parenting if I tied a bungee cord around Aidan's waist and tied the other end to the bottom of the stair banister? Here we looked so forward to Aidan being able to crawl and now I realize that this was a total mistake. The kid gets into everything! By the time I'm done picking up the paper bags he's strewn about the kitchen, he's move on to getting in to some onions kept in a pantry, has peeled the outside, dry layer off of one and is stuffing it into his mouth. Aaacckk! If he were bungeed he'd only make it so far before being pulled back to his starting position... problem solved. Ok, maybe not. I'm sure that would cause other issues, like an upset baby who was denied mobility. Back to the drawing board and putting on a new pair of tennis shoes so I can keep up with Mr. Mobile.

Just another day in paradise
There really isn't that much to report in the life of Aidan this time around. He has his two front, top teeth starting to come in. I'm sure Aidan is tired of having his over anxious father constantly sticking dirty fingers into his mouth to feel for the sharp edges of new teeth. Although it really does provide fun for then entire family on a slow television night.

Television. Aidan seems to like it, much to the dismay of his parents and even more so to his paternal grandmother. Honest, we try keep him from watching it unless we put in some learning video from Baby Einstein, but he will eventually discover when the TV is on and watch it until he gets bored and moves on to something else. Yes, I know it's a bad sign when your 8 month old son is crawling over to the Television set, standing himself up so that his nose is pressed against the glass, hands pressing flat against the screen on either side of his head- and the TV isn't even turned on. Although, when he does this after one of his Baby Einstein tapes is done, and the screen is full of that electric snow.... I just keep waiting for him to utter, "They're here...."

Aidan did have his first, and successful, visit to his Grandmother Stutz's house while the Mrs and I escaped for a rare movie and dinner outing - certainly much appreciated. She was all prepared for the pitter patter of feet, knees and gnawing teeth when we arrived - even breaking out my old crib/changing table for Master Aidan's comfort. Aidan seemed to have enjoyed himself and Grandmother wasn't panting from chasing him around so all seemed just fine upon our arrival back to pick up Aidan.

Just Like a Turkey
Yes, I faintly remember what a full nights sleep feels like - at least I think I do. It may just be a foggy, morphed memory twisted by the ghost of peaceful slumbers past. Good 'ol Aidan ('Mini-Me' to, well, me) still seems to insist on waking up in the middle of the night. We've determined that it seems to be due to his being hungry. Last night, for example, at 12:30a he once again woke up with his now customary crying wale at which I trudged out from under the warm, comfortable confines of our bed to shuffle down the hard, cold wood floor to his bedroom to find him already standing up in his crib hanging onto the vertical slats for balance - appearing as if he was already preparing himself for jail time. All he needed was a black and white striped sleeper and he would have been perfect to play 'Babyface' Malone in some upcoming mobster movie.

I quickly found my way to the kitchen to find him a bottle of formula, tossed it in the microwave for a few seconds, then made my way back to his room where, after downing the entire bottle, quickly went back to sleep. Total time, 15 minutes. A much preferred experience compared to the previous nights 1+hr experience where Mini-Me didn't seem to have any interest in going back to sleep and we once again, as we did in the very early days of his life, became comfortable on the couch and tuned in to see what fantastic, must have, can't live without items were being offered on late night television.

We're expecting the SoloflexGinsuLettuceChopperMiracleMop to arrive any day now - Only 30 easy payments of $19.95.

I put it on Jr's credit card.

After feeding Aidan his post midnight bottle and watching him slug it down like a future WSU Coug thinking it was the last beer on campus, I inserted the designated crib resident pacifier (you'll have to note my reluctance to call anything a 'binky' found in a previous posting) which Aidan immediately began making use of. He sucked and sucked and sucked... reminded me of this years Mariners... until he drifted off to sleep - at which point - POP! he spit the pacifier out and was sound asleep. Just like one of those thermometers that you find in turkeys these days that pop up when the turkey is done - the pacifier being spat out was Aidan's indication that he was done for the night, just like a turkey.