Time Flies!

So much has happened in the last few weeks. Aydin, your mom and you went down to North Carolina to hibernate the Subaru and ended up staying two weeks. Mom got lots of dental work done (my first root canal, yay!) and you discovered how to switch a toy from one hand to the next. You also found your voice; you cooed and gurgled the whole two weeks we were down South!
The big topic that has been preoccupying your parents lately is your sleep: how much to get at night, when you should go to bed, how to get you to nap during the day, etc. This has been our biggest challenge by far. Your mother and father have been poring over sleep books and settled on following the Ferber method. A lot of people associate the Ferber method with "cry-it-out," but that's not so. It's certainly not how we're handling it. We have discovered that you really like to nurse to sleep, and while it makes Mama sooo happy to lie in bed with you and doze / nurse to your heart's content, I guess it's not so good for you in the long term. You are a real charmer, with your sparkling eyes and soft coo. You love to be around Mama and Baba and would much rather play with us than sleep! So... we are tweaking our sleep associations and bedtime rituals a little bit to help you learn to fall asleep on your own. So far you've been a lightning-fast study. Now, if we can only get you to sleep through the night we'll be set! (You mostly do sleep through the night, my dear. Your father and I agree that you are the most wonderful, most agreeable little peanut ever!)

You're getting sooo much stronger, too. Tummy time is not a loathed activity anymore. You still don't last as long as the pediatrician recommends (1-2 hours a day!), but we're getting there.
Your Baba set up a great little play station for you in the living room that you adore. You get to play with your jukebox and all your fun stuffed animal friends there, and get a little exercise too! He concocted this setup on President's Day weekend, which is also when Cinar-Amca and Aunt Hilary came to visit!


Now, when I hold my fingers out you know that I want to pull you into a seated position. You prefer sitting up to lying on your back most of the time. You adore your rubber chew toy, Sofie le Giraffe.


You also love your silver rattle, which is actually a toy your mother and her brother Taylor gnawed on when they were your age! Anything you can grab you try to put in your mouth, even if it won't fit. You're also beginning to be quite curious about what Mama is eating and drinking. I bet you'll be eating solids before too long! We are going to try to teach you to drink from a cup early since you rejected the bottle. It will be good for your daddy to feed you every now and then too!

Here are some pictures from January 2008: