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Aaron's sounds:

• dada (used as a babble word but also associated with calling to Daddy or signifying "down" meaning he doesn't want to be held any more)
• mama (used as a babble word but also associated with calling to Mama)
• nana  (used as a babble word but also associated with saying "no")
• baba (used as a babble word but also associated with when he is ready for a bottle or when we are saying buh-bye. He will say baba in both of these instances, for a bottle it is "ba" and for buh-bye it is "baba")
• yeah! (used when he agrees or wants something)
• eese (means "Cheese")
• guh-n (means "again" associated with re-reading a book)
• tada (how cute is that???)
• And a whole slew of other sounds we have yet to associate with anything in particular

We are working on:

• Up (right now he simply sticks his arms in the air and when you go to help him stand he goes limp signifying he wants to be held...)
• Clap
• Buh-bye
• Nuh-nye
• Down (Solidifying)
• All Done (Solidifying - he's pretty good at yelling ah-da when he is done eating)
• Amen

Aaron's favorites:

• Chocolate - if you say you have chocolate he'll book it over to you. He loves when I break the tip off of a Hershey's kiss or bite a chunk from a chocolate egg (courtesy of GP) and give it to him. He also loves melted chocolate from a newly warm chocolate chip cookie baked by his Aunt Rachel. He ALWAYS says "mmm" after he gets a piece of chocolate anything in his mouth.
  
• Cheese - if Aaron could eat cheese for every meal, he would. I'll ask if he's hungry and he'll get excited, but if I ask if he wants cheese he'll yell "eese!" and race for the high chair.
  
• Books - Aaron will bring you a book if you're in the rocking chair or if he finds one on the ground or he'll run toward you if you have a book. He'll turn the pages for you and after you're done he says "guh-n" signifying "again" ... he would like you to re-read the book. I have most of his books memorized from reading them over and over - perhaps it is time for some new books ;}
  
• Dogs - Aaron loves Ane's dog Koby (or is it Coby... I don't actually know). But this dog is smart, he is fully aware that children are not gentle and he will run from Aaron... and Aaron will chase him around the house. It is adorable. He has also had good luck being baby-sat by people with dogs! Even if the dog is outside, he'll simply go to the window and play with the dog through the glass (he does this with cats too, once I get the pictures from Ane, I'll post them)
  
• Under the desk ... the surround sound ... our power cut off switches ... the outlets ... anything potentially dangerous that is on his level ... *sigh*
  
• Climbing - Aaron has gotten good at moving things around to stand on and then reach things that are further up... *pulls hair out* I need to invest in a gate, though at this rate the gate won't work for long, he'll simply find something to use and launch himself over it! Luckily he has not launched himself into the bath tub but that is simply because I keep the door shut or I catch him first...
• Jumping - he'll jump while dancing, in the jumper, on your lap, or he'll suddenly switch to jumping while running around the house (and yes, he runs - we have to move fast once he decides he wants to "walk" with our help)
• Bath time - heaven forbid one of us get in the tub without him while he is awake...
• Dancing - play some music and he'll start to bounce. He dances longer and bounces bigger if the song has a fun beat or if Eric is on the drums ... he'll squeal and giggle while he does it. (though he'll dance if it doesn't have a fun beat ... he danced to the intermediate hymns during conference...)

Aaron's fun stories:

• The Broccoli Story:
  This story is a bit older - about a week and a half ago, back when Aaron struggled with chewing and swallowing big things - he would simply gnaw on them and suck on them and then spit it back out at me waiting for a new piece of whatever he was eating. He did this most often with toast, sucking out the butter and spitting the bread back out.  Well, one day I was having broccoli for lunch and as we all know, Aaron must try what mama is eating to decide for himself if he wants some or not. So I gave him a piece of broccoli and he miraculously shoved the whole thing in his mouth. Rather than panic and wrench it back out I simply let him gnaw on it. He then proceeded to yell "da" signifying he wanted down though it was muffled and hard to understand with the broccoli in his mouth and he wiggled off my lap. A bit later I went about searching for the broccoli and could not find it... knowing he is very good at hiding his food I figured I would step on it later and that would be that. About 5 minutes after that he crawled back onto my lap, spat the broccoli out at me, grabbed a new one, and crawled away again!
  
  Ugh for 2 reasons... 1. I now had mutilated soggy broccoli on my lap. 2. Who on earth would want to suck on broccoli for 5 minutes?!?!?
  
  
• The Carrot Story:
  Yesterday, Aaron was eating a lunch consisting of his usual baby food plus sliced apples, cheese (of course), pulled pork, crackers, toast, and some cooked carrots I had made. I was working on something in the kitchen I would periodically see him pick up a carrot and I would say eat it and turn away, then he would yell "TADA" and I would turn back to see him with both arms proudly in the air, no carrot in his mouth and one less carrot on his tray... He did this  4 times and I proceeded to cut him another carrot thinking he was so great for finishing the first one.
  
  He then did it 3 more times before I finally saw what he was doing... He would pick up the carrot, wiggle it down his hand, slide it into his sleeve, lift his arms to get it the rest of the way down, and yell "TADA" ... I rolled back his sleeves to produce 7 pieces of carrot all carefully tucked away in his sleeves... *sigh*
  
• The Scrambled Eggs Story:
  Aaron knows what he wants and doesn't want ... if you hold food in his face and he doesn't want it he lets you know - he will pull back and say "na!" Sunday morning we gave him some sausage and  scrambled eggs with tomatoes. He ate the sausage and when I showed him the eggs and asked if he wanted some he pulled back, made a face, and said, "na!" He then continued to say "na" as he dug through the eggs. When he found a tomatoe he switched and said "yeah!" He then proceeded to eat the tomatoe ... what a ham!

In a nutshell my friends, that is my (almost) 9 month old son... I can't wait till he is able to walk on his own. He won't get into more than he already does because he already climbs the book shelves and moves things over to reach stuff on higher shelves... but once he can walk on his own 1. I won't have to lug him around (not that he's heavy ... he has a friend who is almost 10lbs heavier than he is... it's just that I'm a wimp) 2. He will (theoretically) have better balance and not fall over and hit his head on things quite as often.

He's getting better at sleeping though we have yet to have success at getting him to go to bed earlier ... so right now he spends the whole evening with us and sleeps from 11 till 9 or 10 in the morning... I am determined to change this. Yes, it means I'll have to get up earlier, but it also means that Eric and I can watch a movie without Aaron trying to sit on our heads (yes, he tries to sit on our heads when we're on the couch).

Despite the challenges he presents and the changes he has forced in our lives, he is a ball of immense fun. Every morning he wakes up and I go in to get him. He is ecstatic to see me. I change his diaper and then we rock in the rocking chair for a little while. He will then reach and grab a book from the shelf and we read. Then we play on the floor in his room. I love it. I get nothing done till his nap because I devote myself entirely to him in the morning. After his first nap, he likes to play with me but is very happy to play by himself in his room or crawl in circles around the house. I love to follow at a distance and watch (if he sees me he'll reroute to me from where ever he was headed generally speaking... unless I "rawr", then he moves even faster, giggling and waiting for me to catch him). 

I recently put new batteries in a toy dino that he got from my parents at Christmas. It will sing and bounce balls around - he's so good at putting the balls back in but he also has decided to put in other things ... things that rattle and make other noises, then he'll squeal and pull them back out replacing them again with the balls. I am amazed every day at how much faster he is and how much he has learned... 

He is a small package - his cousins tower over him (even the ones younger than him) but I know he'll grow some day, but for now he is so fun to snuggle with (he LOVES to snuggle and give hugs and kisses!) - I need to make sure I take the time now to be with him because one day mama won't be so cool... but right now, I'm his #1 and I love it!