Happy Aaron! I just love this picture. It gets so close to capturing the look on his face during those bursting-with-joy moments. It doesn't usually take much to insight that look but it sure is warming to our souls.

Aaron got hold of a bowl of wheat flour mixed with cinnamon and ate almost the whole thing plain. I know it's strange but he really loved it and I couldn't think of a good reason to not let him eat it so I just grabbed the camera and let him chow down.

Playing in our large printer box with Julia

Aaron loves to help me make bread. He has always been good with helping to put ingredients in, turning the mixer on, etc, but just recently I realized that he can play with the dough and form it just like I do. So here he is forming a loaf.

Gracefully putting the loaf into its pan

Straightening it out a little bit (gotta make sure there aren't any air bubbles...)

Aaron's very own baby loaf of bread. While I usually reform the other loaves, I leave his baby loaf as is and he enjoys it, lumps and all!

This is Aaron's "say cheese!" smile

And the clean up afterwards

Cruising down the street with his very own batmobile

Aaron and I with children's book author and illustrator Patricia Polacco.

Aaron really enjoyed it.

Our family test of Gray's Papaya, which is supposedly the place that real New Yorkers eat hot dogs. It's incredibly cheap and you get fruit smoothie things with your hot dogs. The hot dogs are, well, hot dogs that taste warm and not dirty.

Rushing off to "play outside" with Julia. Aaron knows exactly how to get to the two parks closest to us and almost always has an idea of which park he wants to go to. This day they are heading down to the sandbox park. (For those Seinfeld fans out there, check out the restaurant sign across the street. Look familiar?)

I ice my knees everyday and Aaron has gotten quite into the idea that ice helps oweys feel better (he says "help mommy owey knees"). Here he is icing, a hurt toe, I believe it was.

One of Aaron's favorite games is playing "ah you" (as in, "where ah you?") where he hides and pops out. He's actually quite good at making himself be unseen, even when you know exactly where he is.

Here I am!

One of Aaron's better hiding places (I really couldn't find him for a minute when he was in this hiding spot. He closed the door and sat there so quietly until emerging triumphant at the perfect moment.)

Watching something on a weekend night with best friend Julia

Watching the ice skaters at the big rink in midtown

A cold January day eating hot soup and bread on the sidewalk of the big public library branch on 42nd Street.

Munching on the bread and warm soup

Aaron and Ben at the train exhibit in Grand Central Station. It was basically a gift shop with a really elaborate mini train system set up. Needless to say, Aaron loved every minute of it. He still looks at these pictures and gets excited.

A group of older kids crowded around Aaron and he proceeded to point out various aspects of the exhibit

A closer look

Emerging from the tunnel underneath the main train exhibit

This cutting board set was a gift from Grandma Marsha. He calls the knife his "baby owey" and loves to sit and cut up the food. He always insists on using the cutting board and sometimes if I am chopping things he will "help" and try to cut real food with his baby owey

This Batman outfit and action figure were a gift from Uncle Matt and Aunt Zeta for Christmas. Aaron loves both, especially the idea of being able to fly (there's a cape that can velcro onto the back of the shirt-- he loves it!) He didn't know who Batman was before this and he still doesn't really know but he is pretty sure that Batman is cool

Investigating, cape and all