Vacation Playdates

Alex's 7 month old second cousin, Nicholas, came to visit him at Mimi's house (pre-haircut). It was great to finally meet him, since he was being born the last time we were down in Texas! We went to visit our good friends Rachel and Zach, and their 18 month old daughter, Zoe. I think the two of them had a good time together. Alex held his own playin' with a big kid!

Alex's First Haircut

Alex had his first haircut on the 5th, courtesy of Aunt Melinda. Mama misses his little "Jew curls", but they've been tucked away in nice little ziplock bag for posterity.

Little Traveler

He did so great on the plane on the way down to TX (guess I didn't need that valium... heh heh)! We're just glad no one was sitting in front of him on this leg of the flight- they would've gotten bonked on the head a few times.

Get Up, Stand Up

He's Standing on his own now. I made him a little "coin bank" out of a plastic container and baby food lids. He loves it. Way to work on the motor skills kid!

He Speaks!

So much has happened since I last posted! Alex has picked up a few new signs- "all done" and "diaper/diaper change", and he points to everything now. He has started dancing, so we listen to all kinds of music all the time. Well, everything but country. It's so funny to watch him. He'll stand and hold on to things and bounce to the music, and when he crawls, he'll stop for a minute and rock back and forth, crawl a little further, and then rock some more.

But the greatest thing is that he said his first word!! Last Thursday (May 17th for those of you keeping track.) he said "mama"! Clear as day- I couldn't believe my ears. Alex can get very frustrated- yes, the tantrums have already started- and he was trying to get my attention, so I told him, "you need to say mama"... so he did! The exact same thing happened this morning, and luckily, Omar was here to hear it. We are so proud!

Enjoy the pics- they are from Mother's Day weekend. I had a great day with my boys; very relaxing. Breakfast in bed courtesy of Alex and Omar, some family time outside in the beautiful weather, and then some nice steaks on the grill after Alex went down for the night. And Daddy helped Alex to sign my first Mother's Day card with red finger paint!

10 Months Old

Terrible to post his 9 month stats on his 10 month birthday, but here they are...

Stats as of 4/17/07
27 1/2 in tall
18 lbs 15 oz

We've been spending a lot of time outside in the nice weather. As you can see, Alex is becoming acquainted with the lawnmower. Omar says that he'll be out mowing the lawn in no time. We've planted a vegetable garden and are enjoying watching everything grow. He loves to play soccer with us, and likes his new golf clubs. He actually hits the ball!

What he can do...
Alex is climbing everything now- the steps (he's made it all the way to the top- gulp!), the dishwasher, the bed...
He stands up on his own without realizing it, but isn't quite ready to really do it for real yet.
He walks all over, as long as he has something to hold on to.
His signing repertoire has grown- his favorite sign is "light". Still signing for "milk", "kitty", and of course, waves "hi/bye".
Alex is using his pointer finger to touch things now. Not quite pointing at things yet, but I'm sure that's not far behind.
I've started giving him Cheerios, but he just tries to stick his finger in the hole.
He gives mom big open mouth kisses (with tongue!?) and a giggle.
Alex loves learning the names of the animals in his room- his favorite is the Zebra. It's hard to get him to settle for a nap when he is going crazy over the animal pictures. Night, night Zebra!
Almost forgot- his favorite song right now is "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". He likes the "Down came the rain" part the best. His favorite song used to be "The Wheels on the Bus"; still a close second though.

B&B @ 1420

It's been awhile...
We've had lots of visitors these past few weeks. Our friend Chris came, and then Christina (hence the fabulous pics! and I promise to post more of 'em), and then the next week, my cousin Chris came for a few with his girlfriend Lisa. There were multiple Ikea trips with both Chris "Chef Mckenzie" and CCD, and a trip to the vineyards with Chris and Lisa. Alex is going to make a fine vintner with all this experience- and a little help from Grandpa and Chef!
A great time was had by all, and we look forward to the next round for Alex's birthday in July!

A Day at the Zoo

Our friends Ryan and Myah came to he zoo with us today. Alex fell asleep, but Myah had a good time- she rode on a pony named "Chocolate" and had her face painted.

Giddyup!

Our good friend Chris sent Alex his first rocking horse. He's a bit unsteady now, but I know he'll be rockin' like crazy soon. Thanks Uncle Chris!

9 Months Old!

What Alex is up to now...

Crawling all over the place and fast! He has the cutest crawling posture- he pushes with his right foot while scooting/dragging the left. He pulls himself up and gets back down confidently. Loves to watch cars more than ever and lets us know, with an excited "uh!", whenever a bus or big truck passes by. Alex calls the cats by patting his thigh, and then proceeds to pester them if they dare come near. He just mastered a sippy cup- Mom and Dad finally figured out which lid he likes best. Oh, and when he wakes up in the morning, he rolls over in bed and tries to climb over us and make his escape!

Favorite things...

being outside

brushing his "teeth"

reading books (texture still rules)

opening and closing anything with a lid

playing with the soap dispenser in the dishwasher (see above)

toys/books with holes he can stick his finger into

...still HATES his diaper changed.

9 month stats to come...

Welcome Spring!

Alex's First Easter

We took the boy down to the shore to spend Easter weekend with our very good friend Jordan and her family. Alex had a great time playing with Maggie, Corrine, and Megan, and is completely enamored with Uncle Joe. We took a blustery walk on the beach, colored eggs, ate lots of great food (Alex loves Aunt Robyn's risotto!), were visited by the Easter bunny who brought Alex lots of wonderful books and goodies(thanks bunnies!), and had an Easter egg hunt. Alex found 18 eggs! So, thanks to all- Robyn, Joe, Jordan, Richelle, Emil, Jared, Corrine, Jack, Rita, Peter, Maggie, and Daisy (whew!)- for yet another wonderful time in Avalon!

BUBBLES!!!