A day in the sun

Saturday, the Lovells spent the day in the sun. In the morning and early afternoon was the Collingswood Green Festival, where eco-friendly vendors and composters plied their wares. It was 90 degrees, so global warming felt very real. In the later afternoon, we all went to Breast Fest 2009, which was also outside. Lots of heat and sunshine all around. Aaron spent half the time in his stroller and half the time toddling around (with assistance). He looked so cute in his summer outfit and clearly appreciates the value of good tupperware.

Moving and shaking

It is very hard to get a still picture of Aaron these days. He is so busy moving around, getting into everything. Lately, everything is either a phone or a hat. He picked up a chicken strip last week, held it up to his ear and said, "ayo?" According to my cousin Nura, he says hello with the same inflection I use. Here he is talking into his shoe phone, hoping to be the next Maxwell Smart.



Poor little fellow is still behind on his shots, so he had five immunizations last week at his 15 month checkup: MMR, HiB, prevnar, varicella and Hepatitis B. His legs were covered in bandaids. He was cranky for about two minutes and then became his usual happy self, as evidenced by the following clip, taken just hours after the shots.

Over the weekend, we went to visit Margie & Billeh in Brooklyn. There, we met up with Nura, Mark and cousins Reuben and Alessandra. Poor Reuben couldn't understand why Aaron wouldn't chase him down the hallway. Seeing as Aaron has just started to take a few steps on his own, it wasn't likely to happen, but that is hard to explain to a 2 1/2 year old. I did manage to get one shot of Aaron and Alessandra playing next to each other.

Some new pics

Aaron is very fond of the two dogs who live with us. He is playful with Bouts, but understands that Yaphet, Linda's dog, is old and sick. He is very gentle with him. It's so sweet.

With grandma Linda

Practicing walking! He'll stand for 20-30 seconds by himself, until he realizes that he's not holding on and sits down. He'll be running soon. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to that or not.

To cut...

...or not to cut? That was the question. On wednesday, Aaron had a surgical circumcision under general anesthesia. I struggled with the decision, but ultimately, I think we made the right one. The morning of surgery, he wasn't allowed to eat, which completely baffled him. Before his eyes are even open, he makes the sign for "more food". But wednesday, it was not to be. We were told to be there at 8am and they didn't take him into surgery until 10. He was in the OR for about 45 minutes and then went to recovery. They brought me back right away, because he was having an emergence reaction, which is common in children after general anesthesia. He didn't recognize me for 40 minutes and he screamed and thrashed around. Thankfully, he fell back asleep and was ok after that. As for pain, he required one dose of tylenol, and I think that was overreacting on my part. Aaron has always enjoyed his penis, giggling when he saw it, tugging on it, just checking to make sure it was there. Now, it feels and looks very different, and he's a little freaked out. I'm sure, since he's a boy, he'll learn to love it again soon.

One sad note is that when I found out he was out of the OR and ok, I started to grab my phone to call my dad. It has put me in such a sad mood. This would have been very important to him, although he would have been at a loss to explain why. An observant Jew he was not, but he identified himself as Jewish before any other descriptor.