Alright, even I, as lazy as I am, think a month and a half is too long to go without posting an update. The problem now is remembering all the things that have happened in that time.

Aidan is now 9 months old. Its a distinction he will have for only two more weeks. His progress is horrifying. He's crawling with a frightening proficiency and speed. He's no longer easy to track. He's also developed a Houdini-like talent for removing both his socks and pants. With all this movement, you might imagine that changing his diaper has now become an extreme sport. Its a little like trying to remove and replace a bra on a greased pig. All you have to do is add the element of poop and you'll have a pretty clear picture of the experience.

In the last few days Aidan has shown an interest in walking again. He always had been interested in walking until he got good at crawling. Once he realized he could crawl quickly, he lost interest in walking while holding mommy or daddy's hands. Now he's back into it again. He's experimenting with his balance and standing up without holing onto anything. Occasionally when he does this, he attempts a step. It usually ends up in him folding back down to the ground in a crawl.  Its hard to imagine that he won't be walking in the next month.

As for non-Aidan news, there's a bit. First, I took a trip for work to Chicago for two days. While I had been away from Jaime for a trip before, it was the first time I was away from both of them. The sleep was good but I would rather have been with them. The trip went well and Chicago is a fun town. Sadly I was the youngest one in the group and the lightest partier of the group.

 A couple of weeks later, Jaime lost my dog. She was home on a Monday and accidentally left the back door to the garage open when she went to dump some trash. The garage door was open as well and Julie took off. That was at about 10am. I printed lost fliers at work and came home a little early. We had some leads on her from neighbors so we hunted for her in the woods across the street for about three hours to no avail. We gave up for the night and hoped to find he the next day. Luckily, after making calls and faxes to the dog officer and local vets, and posting a bunch of fliers, the guys at the Carquest across the street found her and called the number on her tag! She was only gone for about 24 hours but it was tough. I don't have any idea how any parent goes through losing a child. I was a wreck over a Pug.

Last week we got a call from Pat to tell us dad was in the hospital. Now, I'm going to make a week long story short and just say that dad's alright but he had a minor stroke. What's more is that when they did an MRI on him to confirm the stroke diagnosis, the found it wasn't his first stroke but his third! So, he's met with a nutritionist and he and Pat are buying healthier foods now.

Lastly, the Fat Man Chronicles may be on their way back. I've joined the local gym and have actually started to go. Jaime has been taking spin classes and is at one as I write this. Of course, this all depends on me actually making time to write on the blog!