J. Jason Lazarus Blog

Aidan in Dragon Suit

Gosh.  Has this last couple of months been busy - or should I say that I’ve been keeping myself busy enough to where blogging hasn’t exactly been my idea of a good use of free time.  In fact, the last 2-3 weeks, I’ve been fighting something really nasty - somewhere between the flu, strep and an overall lack of energy.

That being said, while I was downloading my most recent pictures off of our three digital cameras this morning I noticed that I hadn’t done an update on Aidan for any of you good folks out in the cyberether.  In fact, I was shocked to find that a few of my cameras haven’t been updated in the gallery of Aidan pictures in over six months - and I know that there are a select few out there that get through the day with adorably cute pictures of my son.

Aidan at Tanana Valley Fair

It’s been a month since Aidan’s 18 month checkup and he’s been meeting or exceeding each goal developmentally as well as height/weight wise.  Last month he measured up at 29lbs (80th percentile) - which explains all too much why our arms are so tired - it’s surprising we don’t both have amazing pectorial muscles!  He also measured up to 33 inches long (75%!) and he keeps on getting taller and taller each day.  That head of his is still uncontrollably massive at 19.5 inches (95%!!!) which consistantly makes me wonder when it’s going to inflate more, don massive blodd vessels on the side and go completely bald ala Star Trek’s telepathic beings from another world.

Developmentally, he keeps on adding more and more words to his vocabulary.  He’s gotten down “Mama” and “Da” quite profeciently but also signs both “Please” (rubbing his belly) and “Thank You” (which he does by blowing a kiss and saying “Muh!”).  He’s got “Juice”, “Car”, “Train” down, knows where his Nose, Mouth, Belly and Feet are (points at them) - and he’s also got several noises down as well.  This week we’ve gotten him answering questions like “What sound does a Dragon make?” (Rawr!), “What sound does a Vampire make?” (Hiiiissss!) and “What sound does a Train make?” (Choo-Choo!).  Overall, he’s adorable and loves learning more.

Aidan playing with trains

As you can probably guess from the photos, he’s slated to be the most adorable dragon in all of creation this Halloween.  Since we picked up his dragon suit at Old Navy about two weeks ago, he’s already worn it twice and had a blast running around in it acting like a Dragon.  He’s also a rabid Thomas the Tank Engine fan.  As much as I was hoping to completely keep him away from hyper-commericalized characters and let him enjoy more classic toys, this has been my one slip-up in that department.  And given how wholesome Thomas is, the fact that it plays into my own interests to do model railroading later on with him - I see little harm in it.  We have been trying to avoid spoiling him, though.  With little else to splurge on in our lives and no other kids to spoil, it’s hard not to - but we’re maintaining the high ground on this one.  He doesn’t randomly get to point at something in the stores and get it - and he also realizes that fussing won’t get him anything. We have been frequenting the local toy stores rather than the box stores and have gotten him interested in quite a few non-licensed classic toys - from foam swords covered in ornate silk that he uses at SCA events to little wooden people much like Playmobil toys - he loves what both Enchanted Forest and Toy Quest has to offer.

Aidan eating mom's cake in Anchorage

We’ve got him into quite a routine now and he’s pretty aimiable about all parts of the day - to waking up on time each morning to going to bed by 9-9:30 each night - he’s got a pattern that he follows with little fuss at all.  In fact, really the only time that he fusses is when he’s either sick or recovering from being sick.  Right now he’s got Croup Cough which sent us to the emergency room at Fairbanks Memorial at 3am on last Friday morning - but now he’s doing much better and has almost fully recovered.

Don’t know what else to say - hopefully I’ll get back into the habit of blogging once a week here soon.  We’ll see, enjoy all the new photos in the gallery - going all the way back to March of this year!