Things have been extremely busy this past month, both with Jason’s business and my own work and preparations for school. Alex hasn’t let us slide when it comes to entertaining him though, and remains front and center in everything we do. By everything I mean washing the dishes, changing the channel on the TV, using the bathroom, doing the laundry, checking the mail, packing boxes, and talking on the telephone. Around our house, if you reach for something and there isn’t a toddler inserting himself between your hand and the object of your desire, it must be naptime! We love his incessant curiosity, and his reasonably good attitude about everything. He’s always interested in doing more, and asks for his favorite activities all the time. Right now those are “want to go to park, swing, slide!”, “I get a bathtub”, and while handing us the TV remote, “I watch KaiLan.”

Just yesterday he figured out how to kick a ball, so he has been practicing that new skill around the house. This weekend we will take him to the park and see if he wants to try kicking it on the grass. It has been very hot here, but we have only been in the pool once so far because it isn’t heated. We will be getting him a floating vest to wear into the water, and are planning a trip to the local waterpark before our big move to Texas. Until then I have set his old baby bathtub on the balcony, and when it gets really hot, I pour some water in there and let him splash around. The other day he put water into the tub himself and climbed in while wearing his PJs. He thought that was hysterical fun.

We went to my friend Matt Nichols’ wedding this past weekend and got to bounce on a trampoline. There is a video of all the fun at http://alex.magiclamp.net/index.php?album=june-2010.

Year 1 Month 10

This has been a pretty uneventful month, Alex is learning and growing every day, and has just recently started singing some of his favorite songs like Itsy Bitsy Spider and some verses of Wheels on the Bus. He's speaking in full sentences, and grew a full inch! He's up to 29 lbs, and is very excited to finally be facing forward in his car seat. He's also working on using utensils to eat, but still has trouble with his aim, and frequently gives up and goes back to using his hands. Drinking from a cup is a favorite sport, whether at the table or anywhere else. He still loves the park, running up and down the hills of grass, and making a race track out of the steps that lead to slide. When we drive past the park, there is always an enthusiastic "SWING!" or "SLIDE!" from the back seat. He is finally getting the hang of rocking chairs and horses (or in our case, a lion).

Bath time is just as fun as ever, he is finally getting used to having water poured over his head, which makes washing his hair a lot easier. He has a new battery powered fountain for bath time, which he has figured out he can use to fill his cups in the bath with. We also read in one of the baby books that we should let him put his potty wherever he wants so that he can get used to it. Apparently the bathtub is where he does his best bonding with it. Its not time to start potty training yet, we're just getting ready for when the time comes. 

The new favorite toy is the easter chicken that does the Chicken Dance. "Again!" is a frequent word we hear. The robotic Donald Duck still gets lots of love, but the chicken gets the squeals of delight. He still plays with most of his toys, from balls to the wooden blocks that go in the appropriately shaped holes (he can get most of them) to stuffed animals. Book time is even more interactive, with Alex frequently finishing the sentences in his favorite books. It is pretty amazing to hear him do it, even if it only one or two words. 

Year 1 Month 8
Year 1 Month 9

 It has been a few weeks since I've been able to update the blog, 
First, Grandma Lynne and Grandpa Gary came to visit us for a long weekend. We had lots of fun, and Alex loved getting to go to the park every day, sometimes even twice in one day! Grandma Lynne took most of the pictures, and even got a great video of Alex talking about his nap and laughing. He got to play hookie from the sitter on Monday and spent the whole day with Grandma, and that wore both of them out. 
Both Grandmas send Easter boxes, and great fun was had opening them, as well as getting to eat some chocolate and bunny peeps. The peeps weren't as popular, and after a bite out of one, it was promptly stuck onto the side of the highchair as he walked past. We went to the local egg hunt and took pictures with the Easter Bunny, who was a fantastic hit, even if the crowds were too big for Alex's liking. 
Over the last few weeks Alex has worked on his sentence structure, and jumped from two word to four word sentences in about a week. He has moved on to parroting everything we say, and today I had the fun experience of not quite holding my tongue enough, and walking out of the post office with a baby happily declaring, "well.... crap!" 
The past week was also a big one, I went on a business trip and had my first overnight away. We all survived, and I even snuck in a night of baby-free shopping that was long overdue. I also decided to accept a position at Texas Woman's University's Graduate program in Counseling Psychology. This will be a big change, with a move to Texas and a switch from full-time work to full-time school. I hope we can find a day care for Alex that he loves as much as his current one, but we already know he will love the water parks that are in each neighborhood because it gets so hot in the summer there.
Year one Month 8 Photos

 Last weekend we all jumped on a plane and flew to Texas to check out a grad school. Alex was a great sport, talking to all the commuters on the BART train to the airport, and snuggling with his Baby Gorilla while we checked in and got to our flight. He was up most of the night before, so we were all tired campers when we got on the plane, and the whole family slept most of the way to Dallas. We had a lot of fun while we were there, eating waffles the shape and size of Texas, and visiting an ice cream shop Jason knew about from his trips to Oklahoma, called Braums. 
I went to the open house at the school, and Alex and Jason perused the local parks, finding them to be acceptable, before we all met up again for dinner and to get ready for the trip home. The school was small, about 12,000 students, but they share resources with University of North Texas, so there is a lot available in terms of infrastructure if students need it. (In Psychology, that might mean access to a MRI lab) The research there is amazing, and students are allowed a great deal of academic freedom. 
The flight home was not as uneventful as the first, and was delayed by an hour. That meant naptime happened right before we got on the plane, and Alex had plenty of energy to burn once we boarded. He was a very good boy though, and watched Ni Hao Kai Lan on Daddy's laptop and played with his toys. He got a set of wings from the stewardess, but was disappointed that there weren't as many people who wanted to be friends as there were on the train. 
In the week since we've been back he's had a huge developmental jump. I'm still not sure if he has learned all these new things this week, or if he's just pronouncing them more clearly so we know what he's saying. He can identify most of the letters in the alphabet, and count to seven! He is also coming up with three to five new nouns a day. His sitter says he is way beyond the other kids in her care, even though they are older than him, but I suspect he is learning from them. He also learned how to make the sit and spin go this week, so we'll have to re-assemble the one we have for him at home soon. 
This next weekend Grandma Lynne is coming to visit, and we're going to have so much fun!
We took the camera to Texas, but it seems like all the pictures are from Daddy's phone. 

 We have had a lot of exciting new words show up around the house in the past few weeks, and quite a few of them are in the form of sentences! Prior to last week, Alex would say, “is ball” sometimes, but not regularly. Then last weekend, I went in to pick him up from his crib one morning, and he proudly poked me in the eye and exclaimed, “its the mama!” He has been chatting up a storm ever since, yelling excitedly about trucks and clocks whenever he sees them. We’ve also gotten our first embarrassing word, which is “frog”. It doesn’t quite sound like frog when he says it, but according to Grandma Nancy, it’s closer to that then the dirty word his Daddy and I thought he was saying. It’s really cute to listen to him read books by himself now, we think he must have memorized all the words to a few of them, because he will just sit and happily point at things and say their names to himself.

Grandma Lynne was supposed to come and visit with us this past weekend, but she and Grandpa Gary got sick, so we had to postpone their visit for a few weeks. It will be a busy time for us, because I have been offered a position in a Master’s program inTexas , and we will all be going there to look at the school and surrounding town. Since we had the extra time this weekend, we had a play date with our friends Lisa and Joe, and their kids Joelle and Charley. We went to SuperFranks, the place where we spend New Year’s Eve, and let the kids run around and have a good time. Alex went down the big blow up slide with Jason, and he had a ton of fun during circle time dancing and singing with the other babies. He had so much fun that he just kept dancing long after the music stopped and the teacher began reading a book with the group.
Photos

 Grandma Nancy came and stayed with us this past week, and Alexander learned all kinds of new things while she was here. They learned how to scoot cars around the living room, and started saying lots of new words. His favorite is "Food", but mine is "Dinosaur". Other than that, we're sticking with wow, whee, bye bye, and dada. Grandma also got him to say Mom but he doesn't say it on his own yet. We had a lot of fun with Grandma, and she was so much help while Jason was in New York on business. We had fun at the park, and went on a nice walk to look at the shops downtown. We also went and got a haircut for Alex, and he showed Grandma how to use her new computer to download hundreds of pictures of himself from her camera. I didn't take quite as many. 
Pictures  
February Pictures

 The past two weekends have been very exciting, we tried out Walnut Creek's main park, Heather Farms. They had lots of toys to play on, plus a rock climbing wall for the kids, and most importantly, a lake with big fountains in it and a gaggle of geese lead by a very bossy duck! Alex rode the swings and was a daredevil on the slides, and ended the day by trying to join the birds in the lake. This past weekend we went to a first birthday party for Thomas, the son of our friends Matt and Lane. He started off shy, but shortly after the birthday boy fell asleep, Alex turned into a huge ham and started tearing around the house with all of Thomas' toys. 
Alex has had a lot to say lately, and it seems to be very important, but we're still totally unable to understand him. He has mastered two words, the first being "No!" He doesn't seem to understand what it means, because he yells it at the top of his lungs, usually as a response to the question "Yes?", and it makes him hysterically happy to say it. He has babbled it before, but now it's a definite word. Tonight he also started using a second word. We opened his Christmas present from Uncle Tyler, and I said "Wow!", and the rest of the evening was filled with constant wow-ing from our little peanut gallery.

 With our trip cancelled, there was lots of time to get things done around the house during the week between Christmas and New Year's. Alexander helped Jason install some new shower heads, we hung some pictures, and spent a ton of time at the park. I made a serious dent in the unpacking of the house, and we went to a special New Year's Eve party just for kids. It was pretty crowded, but Alex had a lot of fun so it was worth it. I'm sad to be going back to work this next week, but we've planned a trip for Grandma Nancy to come and visit at the end of the month, so we've got something to look forward to. 
We've finished out the week with a terrible case of the smiley pox. Fortunately, a bath has reduced the severity of the outbreak since it first appeared. 
December Pictures
January Pictures

 This has been quite a holiday season for us. Alex came down with a cold a few weeks ago, which I promptly got, and once we were almost better, Jason got sick. Then, I got a sins and ear infection. Finally, three days before we were supposed to leave to see Grandma Nancy on Christmas Eve, Alex made his first trip to urgent care to be diagnosed with a double ear infection. We had to cancel our trip because the doctor thought that his eardrums would rupture on the plane, and we were worried that we would be trapped in Dallas-Fort Worth because of the terrible storm passing through the Midwest on Christmas Eve. 
So we had a very quiet last-minute Christmas at home. I got a tiny tree, we wrapped a few presents for the baby, and tried our hand at cooking Christmas dinner. Dinner was pretty good, and we took a nice walk to the park so that Alex could play on the slides and run through the grass. He loved ripping the paper off his presents and was pretty wired up after being stuck in the house. Grandpa Dave made him a train, and Grandma Lynne sent some PJs and books. I also got him some books and a duck for the bathtub that quacks songs when it gets wet. He already figured out how to set it off without water, so it's been quacking constantly all day. Overall it was a nice day, but we still really missed being able to spend the holidays with family. 
December Photos

 It's been a long time since the last update, and in that time we've moved to a new house, and took a trip to Oregon to see Grandma Lynne, Grandpa Gary, Nana Laurie, and all their kitties. Alex also started a new daycare, which he is starting to love. We're getting things unpacked, but the house is still full of boxes, we'll get more pictures of it once it's reasonably presentable. 
For now, here are some pictures from our trip. We drove up overnight on Wednesday and back on Saturday night s that Alex slept through most of the trip. Definitely the way to go, although Jason and I were pretty tired after it was over. 
Year One, Month Three

 It's been a crazy few weeks! First, I got a job offer while we were visiting Grandma, and I had to get ready to start work. Since the job is in a town an hour away, we also had to find a new apartment and sitter. We found a great apartment and what we hope is a great sitter as well. That means we've spent every moment since then packing the house and getting ready to move.
We did take a break for Halloween, and Alex made some rounds in his duck costume. We visited friends during the day, and tried to take him trick or treating at night. Unfortunately he got five feet out the door and fell, hitting his head on the sidewalk. We got him ice packed and calmed down and tried again, but the second time we carried him over to the neighbor's house and set him down on their front path. They already had the door open and were really excited to see him, but he just turned around and headed back to our place. So no candy for him, and now the neighbors think we're crazy. 
I went back to work the next Monday, and I'm not sure Alex even noticed I was gone, but he always gets excited when I come back. We move this weekend, and he'll start with his new sitter on Monday, we've got our fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly!
New Photos

 To Grandma's house we went! 
Alex and I took the train to visit family in Iowa, and had a great time! He made a ton of friends on the train, running up and down the aisles, saying "hi" to anyone who would pay attention to him. By the end of the trip, he was posing with people for pictures and giving people high fives. When we got to Grandma's house on Wednesday, the spoilage began in earnest, and Alex was in baby heaven. Grandpa Vic came over, and he and Alex bonded by blowing slobbery raspberries at each other. On Thursday, we went to Ames to visit Iowa State University and see the Psychology Graduate Program. The ladies in the office there loved Alex, and thought he looked great wearing his little ISU track suit. Friday we went to visit Great Grandma Joyce and her ceiling fan. She made us a tuna casserole, and Alex got to try out a special toy at her house. We also stopped by my Great Aunt and Uncle's house and visited them for a few minutes. Saturday we had lunch with my friend Krista and her family, and then on Sunday, we had lunch with family, and got to meet Abe, Alex's third cousin. He was pretty cute, he definitely gave Alex a run for his money. The train ride back was almost as fun as the ride out, and we got home on Wednesday. Alex was so excited to see Jason, it was almost impossible to keep him in bed on Wednesday night, he just wanted to play. There are a ton of pictures from the trip, from my camera, Grandma Nancy's camera, and my cell phone. 
Photos from our trip

 Tomorrow is the big day when we hop on a train and leave for Iowa! We are taking the California Zephyr from Emoryville, CA to Osceola, IA. The total trip will take 44 hours, but passes through the Rockies and Sierra Nevada mountains, Moffat Tunnel, and a few national parks and preserved spaces . Here is the route guide- http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/routeguidecazephyr.pdf. 
Since we will be on the train, Jason will be loading up the pictures after we leave. I will be documenting our trip along the way and uploading pictures to Facebook from my phone. Those same pictures should be posted up to the picture site next week as part of the regular update as well. See you on the other side! 

 Alex and I have decided to take a trip to Iowa to visit family, so my spare time this past week has been filled with preparations for the trip. We'll be taking the California Zephyr train from Emoryville, CA to Osceola, IA, a total trip of 48 hours. I'm so excited to have the opportunity to show him the mountains and canyons. We did take a break for bubbles, and to try out a new park near the house, but not much else. 
This morning, we cut another tooth, and last night was pretty tough, but the good news is that it's the partner to one of his existing teeth, so the snaggletooth look is going out of style. 
This week's photos

This week has begun a new era of security and insecurity. Alex is torn between not wanting to be held, and not wanting to let go of my pants. It has made it a little hard to walk around, but from what I understand, it's pretty normal and he should get over it by the time he's 12. I have been waiting mostly patiently for him to start saying Mama, and I was almost rewarded on Thursday night, when  heard "MAMAMAMAMAMAMAMA" coming from across the house while Jason was putting him to bed. Unfortunately, after my initial excitement, it seems that he is asking for food, and doesn't associate it with me yet, but at least he's actually making the "M" sound now, so eventually he will get there. He has a great new game of sneaking things out of my purse and scattering them around the living room, so leaving the house has been a fun challenge lately. 
We went to Roaring Camp Railroad today to ride a train into the redwoods. Alex had a great time, but got bored with looking at trees after about 10 minutes. He made friends with everyone on the train though, and ran around like a maniac when we got to the redwood grove at the top of the mountain. He is so adventurous, I suspect it's because he's so excited to be walking that he hasn't bothered to start looking around and seeing if he's running into anything. He didn't make it all the way back down to the station, but he had a great time overall. 
This Week's Pictures

 This week/weekend was a lot of fun, since Grandma Lynne came to visit us. We played all the time, and went shopping. Grandma taught Alex to knock on the door the first day she was here, and he spent the rest of the weekend practicing his new skill. He knocks on lots of things now. Doors, walls, chairs, balls, and us. This morning he impressed me by grabbing my keys and smacking them against the doorknob to tell me he wanted to go out, I was amazed! 
We also got to spend the day with his little friend Joelle, who is exactly 6 months older than Alex to the day, so you can see her in some of this week's pictures. 
This Week's Pictures

 This past week has been a busy one, as I had a full-day interview, and we're getting ready to have a visit from Grandma Lynne this week. Alex got to stay with his Daddy on Thursday, since our normal sitter had classes and couldn't help watch him while I went to my interview. They stayed home and played all day, and both were pretty worn out when I got back. The interview went well, and we'll hear soon if I need to go back for a final round of meetings. 
We also had pictures taken in Alex's Halloween costume, that turned out extra cute. He's going to be a duck this year, in celebration of the only words he says reliably, "Guk" (Duck), and "Gak" (Quack). The rest of his verbal arsenal stands at what we think is Kitty "Gih", and the old standby, "Da". I was beginning to believe that he was referring to everything as Daddy, but then I read something that suggested "da" might actually stand for "that", so we'll see if that makes more sense. 
We bought some new shoes and found out our little guy does not have dainty little feet anymore, and has almost gotten too big for training shoes already. He loves his little frog slippers, and spends any time he's in the stroller popping them up over the snack tray, playing peek-a-boo with the frogs. They are almost completely rejected now though, since Grandma Nancy sent him some cool Buzz Lightyear shoes with blinkers in them. He walked around the house playing with one of the shoes for three days before we could get him to let us put it on his foot. Once we put it on, he was thrilled, and loves the new toys for his feet.
Last but not least, we finally outgrew the jumpy. It was a sad day, because he was playing in it till the end, even though he would bottom it out, and the support poles started leaning in towards the center under his weight. Fortunately, when I took the platform off and set it aside to take apart the legs, he climbed right into it on the floor and kept playing, so the jumpy lives on in spirit, even if it no longer jumps. If only I could get him out of it long enough to give it a good scrubbing, we'd all be happy. 
This week's photos

 This week Jason fixed the camera, so we were able to finish uploading the pictures, and the disco floor comment from last week might make a little more sense. 
We have been having a tough week this week. We have been trying to teach Alex to stop waking up at night to eat, and he is really not taking kindly to us removing his midnight (and 3am) snack. On top of that turmoil, he has cut two more teeth! One came in while Jason was out of town, and now the second has just cut through. We are planning a trip to the dentist to make sure everything is okay, since the fourth tooth he has cut isn't his second incisor, but the tooth next to it. We tried to take pictures of it, because it looks pretty funny, but he wouldn't cooperate. The big accomplishment for this week, is that Alex has learned to climb up on to the couch and recliners by himself. We haven't had any major crashes yet, but we are waiting, because the lesson of not walking off the edge of elevated surfaces is slow in coming.  
Jason and I also celebrated our fifth anniversary yesterday, and got to take a night off to have dinner and see a movie while Alex stayed with a sitter. He had a great time with her, and didn't even care when we left. He thinks that getting to shut the front door is a great treat, so we just stepped out onto the porch, and he shut the door behind us and went on playing. 
More Photos

 I had some technical difficulties trying to post to the blog this week, so we have just a few things to catch up on. Jason was out of town this last week, so I got to try parenting solo-style while he went to New York on business. Alex and I kept very busy, we ran errands and went to Gymboree again and went to a birthday party for one of his friends. He also got in another tooth! We didn't get much sleep with teething and Daddy being gone, but we had a ton of fun during the day, and had some quality bonding time. He's walking all over the place now, but we still have major calamities every now and then. We installed a new safety disco floor to cover some hard time in the house, and have covered the most dangerous corners, so we're avoiding injuries pretty well. He's working on climbing now, so that may not last for long! 
Photos - Page 3

 Alexander has been quire the athlete this week. He went swimming in the big pool twice, once with Melissa and once with Mommy, and we also went to the Gymboree and had a fun class on all their climbing equipment. He had a great time! He climbed on everything, and only had a few incidents while we were there. He was so excited, he would walk around and when he fell, he'd take out the other babies on his way down. Fortunately there were only two walking babies, so no one had far to fall. he also tripped over one of the floor mats and hit his forehead, leaving a big rugburn mark on his forehead. He recovered pretty quickly though, and was on his way back to the slides. 
We also had his one year doctor visit, and he's doing just fine. He has dropped to the 25-50th percentile for weight/height, which is completely normal for babies once they start walking, and he has reached 30" tall! We got the go-ahead to start giving him whole milk, and he loves it. His new favorite snack is a few Teddy Grahams and a glass of cold milk. I don't blame him, I think it's delicious too! 
The video of his birthday cake is up, along with a bunch of other home videos on a site Jason set up for it. There are nine minutes of cake picking, so if you don't have a high speed connection, you may want to wait for it to come out on DVD or view it at a library. According to Jason, the other videos need to be fixed, so their quality is pretty low right now, and we haven't gone through them to give them ratings. We'll get them fixed and marked soon and let everyone know when they are ready. 
This Month's Pictures
Birthday Cake Video

This weekend was Alexander's first birthday, and boy did he live it up in style! He got all kinds of toys, books and clothes, and had a big Pirate Pool Party in the backyard. His Grandma Lynne, Grandpa Gary, and Great-Grandma Laurie came down from Oregon to see him, and to help make sure I didn't lose my mind throwing a party with a one year old. They were such a great help, we couldn't have done it without them! 
Alexander started his day with a book from Grandma Nancy about finding a birthday cake, and then got to play with a gift from Grandpa Dave, a rocking lion. He loves kitties, and the rocking lion is the only cat he's met so far that will let him lavish it with love, so it was a hit from the start. (Bubba also loves the lion, probably because it is running defense for her.) We have some pictures where you can see the lion a little better, but the baby is a blur, so I skipped them. After two nice long naps, his guests arrived at around two, and we all went outside to spend time by the pools. The palm tree pool was a huge hit and had six or seven kids in it at one point. After a bit, the bigger kids moved to the full sized pool and people really started to have some fun. We barbecued burgers and hot dogs, and Grandma Lynne made cake and cupcakes for everyone. She also made a special cake just for Alex. Jason has video of the birthday boy enjoying his cake, and will be putting it on line in the next few days, so we'll share that link once we have it. We have some pictures documenting the event, and you'll see that after a slow start, he made sure that cake didn't live to tell the tale. Alobar the snake also made an appearance, and was well received by the 4-7 year crowd. 
We opened a few presents on his actual birthday, but all the excitement had him too overloaded to open them all. The sugar fairy visited that night, and spent most of the night with him, so we got through some more today, but will probably have to wait till tomorrow to get through the rest, once he gets caught back up with his sleep. For the rest of this week I'll be cleaning the yard, trying to get things back to where they were in the house, and using a toothbrush to remove frosting from the highchair and the baby. 
Birthday Pictures

We have definitely had a busy week around here! I've changed the picture category for this week to Week 51, because we were somehow only at week 46, and since next week is one year exactly, we lost a few weeks somewhere. (Not a hard thing to do with a baby)
This week Alex spent most of his time working on his walking skills, and also practicing some of his new words. None of them are actual words yet, but we've started to figure out that some of his sounds might actually mean something. He has been saying "gih" for a while now, but I didn't realize he truly knew it was attached to the cat until he began pointing at a cat in his "A day on the farm" book and saying it. We've been saying "Kitty" to him, so we think that probably wht he is tryng to say. The funny word he is also trying is either supposed to be "Duck" or "Quack", but he starts squeeling "gak gak gak!" as loud as he can when we show him one of his rubber ducks.
His walking is almost as accomplished as his talking, and so his face is covered in little bumps and bruises. We went to Sears and had his one year portrait taken on Thursday, and fortunately you can't see too many of his dents in them. It is definitely much harder to take his picture though, since he has decided to be shy, and then once he isn't shy, he wanders all over the studio, and won't sit for the picture. During this particular set of photos, he figured out that the number one prop he was supposed to be standing next to was movable, and he started pushing it across the room while the photographer was trying to take his picture. I was amazed how few of the pictures had me in them as I chased him down for every shot!
Finally, today we went to the water park here in Fremont as part of the company picnic for my soon to be former employer. We had a ton of fun, and took a lot of pictures. Alex got to play in the toddler area, and saw his friends Carter, Abby, and Sophia. He also made some new friends with my old co-workers. We took a ton of pictures, and will probably go back there again this summer for some more fun in their fountains.
Week 51 Pictures

 This week has been filled with bumps and bruises, but at the end, we have achieved what some might call walking! Alex has started figuring out that it's easier to sit down when things start going badly, rather than risk landing on his nose, and that has made him much more bold in his attempts. We also went to the playland area at the mall, so he got to see all the other babies and kids walking and running around, which seems to encourage him even more. We went to have lunch with Amber this week, and he got to try some Mexican food, which was a huge hit. He seems to be getting over his stranger anxiety, and has been willing to be held by people other than his Daddy and I, and last night at a dinner party, he wobbled around a group of our friends as we sat talking, leaving a trail of teething slobber on everyone's knees as he went past. Fortunately we have some very understanding friends! He got a chance to play a drum too, and just loved being able to make such a loud noise. We've considered getting him a kid's drum, but we're going to wait until we find out if we'll be living in an apartment first. 
Unfortunately, we don't have much in the way of pictures this week because the camera has been broken. I'll have to take twice as many next week to make up for it. 

 This week Alex has started taking steps, but he isn't doing anything that could accurately be described as walking yet. He does his best work when he's not paying attention, and once he figures out what he is doing and starts trying to control it, he falls down. Today he did a pretty good job of walking between the couch and the coffee table, a total round trip of about 4 steps.
We had another episode of Wild Kingdom in the back yard, with a pocket sized chicken visiting us for a day and a very smart squirrel who helped himself to our birdseed. Alex loved watching the chicken, but was a little too busy playing to pay much attention to the squirrel. 
We went to lunch with my friend Lisa and her daughter Joelle, and Alex got to try his first french fries. He liked the first one, but decided he preferred chicken after that. We tried a lot of new foods this week, yogurt, and even Indian food, but we didn't do a whole lot else, since I've been a bit sick, and not really up to running around town in the heat with a precocious baby on my hands. Hopefully next week we can have a little more fun, and maybe even get some planning done for a first birthday party!
Week 44 Pictures

 We had a great week this week, balancing fun with Mommy's job search, and getting settled into a good schedule. On Tuesday we went to the grassy area across the street to burn off some energy, and Alex found a slug underneath one of the trees. Fortunately he didn't put it in his mouth, but unfortunately he did put it on my hand. I expected to receive gifts of slugs and frogs, I just didn't think it would start this early. We also went to have sushi with my friend Nalani, and Alex tried his first "Krab", as well as eating his weight in pickled cucumber salad. 
Grandma Nancy sent a box of treats, and we had a great time opening them. As evidenced by the pictures, ziplock bags are not exactly babyproof, and cardboard boxes remain the number one baby toy of all time! Coming in a close second is the power button on the TV, so we'll be shopping for a TV guard sometime this weekend. 
Today we went and had his first haircut at a salon in Fremont called "Little Scissors". They had fun chairs with little cars to sit in, and when the kids get old enough, they can sit on a cool motorcycle to have their hair cut. We were like the hairstyle paparazzi during the cut, and were so worried that he would cry, but he had a great time! He loved the buzzy feeling of the clippers, and the only time he was upset was when we all clapped for him at the end, and he couldn't find his hands under the drape to clap with us. 
Week 42 and 43 Pictures

 This has been my first week home with Alex, and we've had a ton of fun. We play as much as we can, and sometimes we go for walks and to the mall. We even went to lunch with my friend Nalani this week and had Dim Sum for the first time. Alex ate almost an entire steamed pork bun by himself! 
We went to the Fremont 4th of July parade to see some balloons and floats, but Alexander chose some pretty unique things to watch instead. The Sikh temple had volunteers walking around wearing bright orange turbans, and he loved watching them walk around in the crowd. He also liked the motorcycle brigades and the balloon arch that marked the beginning of the parade. We thought he would like the giant balloons in the parade, but I think they were too big to register as balloons to him. 
This week will be a busy one for me but hopefully we still have plenty of time for visits with his friends and a walk around the lake!

 Grandma Nancy finished her visit this week, and we miss her already. We spent most of the week alternating between the pool and packing the house, but we also took a nice break to go to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Alex loved reading with his Grandma, and we all managed to memorize most of his books, including the new ones she brought with her, since he had to have each one read to him over and over again. He's really cruising now, he crawls at lightening speed, and is creeping along the edges of the furniture, but no walking yet.
I also got some news this past week, my job has been cut, and I will be taking a stab at being a stay at home Mom until I find a new job. Today was my first day, and it is quite a challenge! I'm looking forward to the opportunity to spend so much time with my little guy,  I just hope I have the stamina! 
Also in this week's batch of pictures are a few from a friend's layoff get together (before we knew mine was coming as well) 
Week 41 Pictures

 Today we celebrated Jason's first Father's Day by letting him sleep in, and having Grandma Nancy make him waffles when he woke up. We all love her waffles, especially Alexander, who enjoys smacking them and tearing them apart as much as he enjoys eating them. This afternoon, we went to the park and had some fun on the swings and the slide just to make sure we had a full day.
Grandma has been having a good time reading with Alex this past week while I've been at work, and she has been packing everything in sight to get ready for our move. She also got him a very cool swimming pool with palm trees and toys. He's been spending all the time in it he can, it's a great break during his busy days of crawling around and looking in all the boxes as we're packing them. We're looking forward to a fun week this coming week before Grandma heads back home, we're planning on seeing a museum, and possibly going to the park again.
Week 40 Photos 

 Grandma Nancy flew in yesterday to spend some time watching Alexander, and to help us pack the house while we get ready to move. She had a great time with him today
while Jason took me to get my birthday present, a nice massage. We've started packing, even though we haven't found our new place yet, hopefully we'll find it in the next week or so. We have two weeks of pictures for your viewing enjoyment this time around, since I wasn't able to post last week. We went to the Berkeley World Music festival and got to do some dancing in the park, and caught the renegade backyard bunny on camera. 
Week 38 and 39 pictures

Busy week for sure. So busy that daddy is taking a whack at writing the blog. The first search is a quest to find a new day care provider for Alexander. We have a lot of requirements, and just as many preferences, but with a list of 15 family day care facilities (ok homes) we should be able to find something. One out of the two we visited this week made us feel really comfortable, the other was a big NO. Alexander finds all of this quite intriguing as he gets to meet lots of new adults and kids in the process. We have one more to visit on Monday, and then we will be making a decision.

The second search is for an apartment. Saturday was two maybe's, and Sunday was two no's. Alexander is having fun riding around on the front of daddy, care of the Baby Bjorn! We are definitely looking in the Sunnyvale or Santa Clara area, to be closer to Jen's work.

Daddy setup a new video site, and will try to publish everything going back to the beginning! But for starters, here is Alexander on his first slide!

Week 37 Pictures

This weekend we have Grandma Lynne staying with us, and Alex has had so much fun with her. On Friday they went and took pictures together, and today we went out shopping. Tomorrow we're going to walk to the park and try the swings, so we'll have lots of pictures to share this week.
We've been waiting all week for the phantom tooth to make it's appearance, and just this evening, Jason thought he saw a sliver of white. I'm surprised there is only one tooth, since he's been teething for so long, but I'm sure the others will follow shortly. We're going to pick up a toothbrush for him some time this weekend, and add tooth brushing to our list of challenging-yet-fun baby activities. 
Alex has started to crawl normally, which isn't nearly as funny to watch as his original crawl, but its far more effective. He's into everything now, and we've stepped up the babyproofing efforts, but we really need to practice more. We've been looking for a new apartment, and it's amazing how much his becoming mobile changed our perspective on what makes a good apartment layout! I'm tempted to set him down in the middle of each apartment we visit, and time him to see how long it takes him to reach something that could get him into trouble. The apartment with the longest lag time will win.
Week 36 Photos
9 Month Photos

The phantom tooth still hasn't shown itself, but it's definitely there! Alex got a good chew on a styrofoam cup today, and there was an indentation from the tooth, so hopefully we'll see it any day now. He is still waving up a storm, and in just the last few days has figured out how to clap. Unfortunately his hands don't make noise when he puts them together, so when he gets really excited, he just starts slapping whoever is holding him to get the desired effect. He also gets confused sometimes, and when we say "Hi" and tell him to wave, he'll clap instead. Very exciting, in the last two days we have seen signs of actual crawling! Mostly there is a strange shuffle with one of his legs tucked under him and the other three limbs working well together, but occasionally we see all four apendages working as a team and he gets to where he wants to go pretty well.
We returned the baby swing to the friend who loaned it to us, because he was starting to pull up on the seat, and it wasn't stable enough to hold him. We have replaced it with a play yard so we can keep him just a little contained now that he's mobile. He loves to pull himself up and to try to cruise around the sides of the yard, but he's not quite adept yet. Daddy took some pictures of one of his attempts, and it's not hard to see where his problem lies.
For Mother's day, Jason took over bath time, so I had to capture it for posterity, and there are also a few photos proving that my home made baby food is much more fun than your average jar of food.
Today it was 90 degrees out so Daddy put some water in the baby pool and we took him out for a swim. He had a fantastic time, but I wish I had put my swim suit on before we got started, because I got soaked. It felt nice in the heat, so it was worth it, but tomorrow I will definitely change first. Next weekend Grandma Lynne is coming to see him, and they are going to have pictures taken together, it should be a lot of fun. Jason and I are even planning a date, I'm so excited!
Week 35 Photos

This week was another eventful week, as Alex has learned how to wave! He loves waving at everyone, and has associated it with the word "Hi" as well. He started on Thursday, and by today he was doing it in response to my saying "hi" to a friend without waving to cue him to do it. I think he's very excited to have this way of affecting people, because everyone he waves to waves back at him, and he's able to make that happen all by himself.
We went to the doctor for his 9 month check up, and he weighed in at a whopping 20lb 15oz, and was 26" long. He's right on track with his development, and insisted on talking loudly as soon as the pediatrician and I started talking to each other, and not to him. He is slipping a bit on his weight chart, but he's still over the 50th percentile, and the doctor isn't worried at all because he's still growing taller. We got the okay to try new foods with milk in them like yogurt and cheese, so that will be fun, but raspberries have been put on hold till after he turns one, just in case his reaction gets worse. He tried watermelon and cherries this week, and liked both of them, and I took a shot at making home made baby food. It was pretty tasty, and wasn't too hard but I'm glad to have jars of food available still.
He's been pulling himself up on anything he can get a hold of, and this morning he proved his determination to be a standing being. I put him in the bathroom and strapped him into his rocking chair so that I could take a bath and he would be safe. I looked away for a second, and when I looked back, he had managed to plant his feet and get a hold of the edge of the tub, and was standing, with the rocking chair hanging off his behind. He's a strong little guy, both with his muscles and his willpower! 
We have a phantom tooth in the works, we can feel it but not see it, so hopefully that comes through soon and we can all get back to sleep!
Week 34 Pictures

This was another great week for trying new things. Alex's legs are finally long enough to touch the floor in his walker, and he's been cruising around the kitchen in it. He hasn't figured out how to put one foot in front of the other yet, so he jumps in the direction he wants to go. It keeps him amused log enough for us to cook dinner, but has added a new challenge to cooking, since he's constantly running into our feet and grabbing our pants while we work in the kitchen.
This week we also tried teething biscuits. I had no idea how messy they could be! Everything he touched has a coating of brown grit on it, so we're now saving them for those times when he really needs something to gnaw on. He's still the toothless wonder, and is managing to eat an amazing amount of food for someone with no teeth. This week he fell asleep eating in his high chair, that's some serious dedication to food!
The baby books say that his eyes have probably reached their final color, and may just get a little darker as he grows up. They change with the color of clothes he wears, but they are usually a nice deep blue.
Week 33 Photos

Early on this week, Alex took his mobility a step further, and managed to crawl forward about a foot. Just far enough to grab the poor cat, who wasn't aware he would eventually become mobile. Bubba wouldn't be in the same room with him until just yesterday, and now, she will only sneak up on him from behind. Fortunately for her we haven't seen a repeat performance, but it looks like crawling is imminent.
I've included the pictures of last week's raspberry attack in this week's batch, but things cleared right up, and he's photogenic all over again.
We've almost taught him to clap. He thinks it's hysterical to watch us do it, and when he gets excited, he swings his arms around and tries to imitate us. His aim isn't good enough to actually bring his hands together yet, but he's getting closer! 
Week 32

This last week was spring break, so Alex got to stay home with his Daddy and a sitter all week. It was a bumper week for new things to try. He figured out how to pull himself up in his crib, so I got to pull out a wrench and do my best handyman impression to lower the mattress. He loves to stand now and bounce up and down, in fact it's hard to keep him happy now if he's not standing. Fortunately, there is one thing that does seem to do the trick, and those are Cheerios.

It's been another week of non-stop eating around here, and on top of the Cheerios, he's also eating two or three jars of food a day, along with anything on our plates that seems suitable. Unfortunately, today we had our first setback, and found that raspberries, while fun to blow, are not the best option to eat. When I picked him up from the sitter this afternoon, he had hives all over his face. It's possible it's from his teething, but just to be on the safe side, we're holding off on trying them again for a while.

This past weekend Grandma Lynne and Grandpa Gary came to visit, and we all had a lot of fun. We went shopping, Grandma stayed with him during the day on Friday, and we all went to dinner with Uncle Steve and Auntie Rita too.

See more pictures here!

This week was a fun one, Alex had a good week at the sitter's, and this weekend, we went to his friend Carter's first birthday party. While we were there, we tried the jumpy house, tasted his first strawberry (yuck!) and played with a balloon. He has spent most of this week trying to pull himself up on things, and working on his crawling. He can't actually get anywhere, but he's very proficient at moving himself around in a small area, and rolling/flinging himself toward things he wants. We will be lowering the crib mattress this week for sure. He was sitting in the crib while I cleaned his nursery this week, and when I turned around, he was on his knees holding the edge of the crib, trying to catch the animals on his mobile with his mouth as they went by. For the safety of the dinosaurs, we need to intervene soon.
Until we get the pictures from this week off my camera, here are some of Jason's Facebook pictures to tide you over.

This week was a pretty fussy one, we suspect it is a combination of impending teeth, hunger, and sleepiness. We've been going through a growth spurt, and suddenly our child has turned into this bottomless pit! We have gone from one jar of food a day to two, sometimes three. On top of that, he's taking bites of anything we happen to be eating that he can handle, and the new favorite, chilled apple slices in his feeder bag. Tomorrow, we've planned to do very little but try to catch up on his sleep to see if it helps make next week a little more pleasant.
Other happenings this week, he's starting to figure out how to pull himself up onto things. Fortunately (for us, not so much for him) he can't stand after he does it, he just pulls himself up and falls over. We've been encouraging him to work on his crawling, and he's getting a little closer. Tonight he scooted about 3.5 feet on his tush to get to a toy he wanted, but we haven't seen any traditional crawling yet.
Today we went to the Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, and Alex got to see the ocean for the first time. He didn't seem to care about it much, I would suspect it was just too much for him to comprehend. He did really enjoy the seagulls and pigeons that tried to join us for lunch, and had a great time watching all the people walking around. He also had a great time with his friend Carter (who is in some of this week's pictures with his mom Nalani), and was really interactive with him during the day. On the way home, we stopped to pick up some dinner, and met a really nice fireman. Alex flirted with him till the fireman came over to play with him, and he just reached out and went right into his arms. Fortunately he was a patient fireman, because it turned out Alex had his eye on the poor man's mustache, and got a hold of it the moment the fireman picked him up.
It was a long day, but very fun, and we are looking forward to our next outing.
Week 30 Photos

This weekend has been amazingly beautiful,and we have been trying to get out into the sunshine when we can. Right now he's down for what we are hoping is a very long nap, and later we'll be going to the store to pick up Grandma Nancy's birthday present.
At the beginning of the week we went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner, and Alex had a great time tasting some of the food they had there. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, the restaurant is a buffet that is mostly a salad bar, and has some soups and breads as well. He ate cucumbers, zuchinni, and peas, and then threw each of them on the floor. There was another baby there that he was fascinated with as well. I think he's about ready to start sitting in the little wooden high chairs, and he was very intrigued with that other baby having her very own seat. We also tried some toddler puffs this week, and it was quite a different response than he had with the vegetables, probably because they dissolve so easily.
Every week he gets closer and closer to crawling, this week he's up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth. Unfortunately he gets so excited, he shoots his tush up in the air and falls over. One evening he was able to army crawl in the direction he wanted to go, and that was pretty exciting for everyone. This week we also had a visit from the neighbor's pet tortoise, but we weren't able to convince him to come out and have his picture taken with the baby.
We had his picture taken at an event we went to this weekend, and it turned out so cute, the photo booth set it out as one of their examples to get other people to have their pictures taken as well, we were really proud. He's the cutest little sprite!
Week 29 Pictures

Both Jason and I are taking our turn's being sick now. Jason has been hit with a bad cold for two weeks now, and I caught mine just this past week. Fortunately Alex is feeling much better and is hardly coughing at all now, so we've been trying to get him back on his schedule.
We went to visit the Pediatrician late last week to make sure there wasn't anything else we could do to make him feel better, and while we were there, they weighed him. He's shrinking, and is down to 17.5 lbs. He doesn't look any smaller to me, and sure doesn't feel any lighter in his car seat when we carry him around! He's still trying out new foods, and based on the Dr's recommendation, we've been giving him bite size pieces of foods to try. That doesn't seem to be going too well, and he has a hard time getting things swallowed, so we'll probably hold off on trying that again for a while. The only sure fire favorite we've found are apple slices, so we're going to have to break out the food net and let him keep munching on those. Other new food this week was Pears, Bananas, and Rasberries, which was thoroughly enjoyed. (By Mommy and Daddy too.)
He hasn't crawled yet, but keeps trying. He'll climb out of my lap like he knows exactly where he's going and how to get there, but gets stuck as soon as he's on his belly. He almost had it the other day, but he picked up both his right arm and right leg, and knocked himself over.  For the time being he rolls and scootches around, all the while whining that he can't get to where he needs to go.
We have some pictures from the last two weeks, with everyone being sick, I missed getting some up from last week.
Week 27 and 28 pictures

This week' installment is a little late, because Alexander has come down with Croup. We've had some really long nights, but his fevers haven't been too bad, and his cough is starting to sound a little more normal as the days go on. This past week we had some fun experiences, even with his cough. He had a bath in the big tub, and absolutely LOVED it. As soon as he sat in the water, he figured out that he could scoot on his butt to move around ad was off like a shot. I think he'll be crawling soon, he really wants to be mobile, and the rolling scootching thing isn't working out so well.
We've also got a new development, he's begun pulling himself up to standing when he gets a hold of your fingers from a sitting position. He can't maintain it, and falls right over, but it's great fun. New foods this week that were good; spinach and potatoes, zucchini, and apples and blueberries. Foods that didn't make the cut; asparagus and broccoli. I suspect the latter two were just not mushy enough for his tastes.

Like everyone else, Alex has decided he could use just a few more hands. I'm not sure if it's universal, but he also seems to think he needs a bigger mouth. He tries to grab every toy within reach and put it in his mouth, which can be disappointing if there are more than two toys, or if one of the toys takes two hands. It's so funny to see him after he's been in his car seat for a while, since he puts whatever toy he has, his blanket, and his burp cloth on his face, because he can't get them all in his mouth at once.
It my just be me imagining things, but I think he's getting to be a little more of a "boy" now. He has been Mr. Destructo for a while now, he'll throw anything he can. and beats himself in the head with anything he can get a grip on, but I think his laugh and some of his noises are changing now too. He used to have a high squeely giggle, and lately it's been more of a belly laugh. He has started saying, /A/ this week, which brings his phonemes to four. He also says /d/, /t/ and /s/.
He's starting to get mobile, and wiggles his way around wherever we put him, it's time to start baby proofing! No crawling yet, but he does a really skilled backwards army creep. If he were in the armed forces, he'd probably be discharged pretty quickly, I think they want you to be able to see where you are going.

This week we went to pick up the prints of the 6 month pictures, and took some more. We're really abusing the free 8x10 card at Sears, but he's so cute, I just can't help it. This time we were going to take Mommy 'n Me pictures, but sleep was really hard to come by this week, and the Mommy part of the equation was really not appealing. We got a few good ones of him though, so it was worth the effort. Alexander has been having some tummy troubles with the introduction of solids, and that has been making him pretty uncomfortable, and not able to sleep well at all. Things are getting better, and last night he slept pretty soundly, so hopefully we've started to figure things out. This week he tried Pears and Mangoes, and really liked it. 
Wednesday was Jason's birthday, and Alex made him a present while he was at Sabrina's during the day. It's very cute, he made a signed footprint in a frame for Daddy to hang in his office. We went for ice cream that night, and finally had Jason's birthday dinner today at lunch.
Today we also returned some of the baby stuff we were loaned by a friend. It's so amazing to me that he's already outgrown so much! Somehow the house isn't much more empty without it, I think we've been over run.
A quick grad school update, I received a rejection notice from Ohio State, but haven't heard from either of my other schools yet. I'm hoping that means I haven't simply been rejected. Final acceptance decisions are due to the schools on April 15th, so I'm expecting to hear something in the next few weeks.
Week 26 Pictures

Alex has a new favorite toy, a tie-dye purple stuffed star. He chewed on it so much this week that by Wednesday evening when I went to pick him up from the sitter, he had dyed his mouth and some of his face blue. Part of the amusement from the star is that we shake it for him and then bonk him on the forehead with it while chanting, "Wocka wocka wocka wocka ... bing!" I'm starting to think this kid is crazy! This week he also met the most patient dog of all time. The first thing he did when we knelt down to meet the dog, was to pull his hand out of his mouth and stick it into the dog's mouth. Then he grabbed a handful of fur. I'm not a germ-o-phobe, but we RAN for the bathroom to wash his hand before he could get it back into his mouth.
We've been trying new foods this week; Winter Squash, which was a big hit, Pears that were so-so, and Cantaloupe was completely rejected. Tomorrow we're going to the baby store to get sippy cup spouts and handles for his bottles. It's an exiting change, but one that makes me think he's getting big too fast. He finally decided it's worth his while to roll over, and he's doing it pretty frequently. He's sitting pretty well too, but hasn't made any more efforts to crawl.

This week we discovered that our baby as eaten a black hole. No matter how much milk we give him, he's still hungry. We're stepping up the solid foods to see if they will help keep him full longer. He has started his six-month growth spurt, so it could just be temporary. Then again, my friends who have raised boys tell me it lasts until they are about 19. At his pediatrician visit last week, there was some confusion about his weight, but he is still right on track with his growth.
Alex did roll over a few times today. Apparently he needs a really good reason to do it, but when he wants to he just does it. Then this evening, when we were doing tummy time, he started pushing up with his legs and sticking his butt in the air so he appears bound and determined to learn how to crawl. I suppose there's no stopping progress!
Week 25

Today Alexander is 6 months old! We went to a friend's 1st birthday party today and played in the jumpy house, and also had some pictures taken to commemorate the occasion. Just to be sure we had good ammunition to show his future dates, we had half of them taken bare on a big furry rug. He did a great job, and giggled all the way till the end of the session, but also tried to eat all the props the photographer brought out.
This week we also got a new foam play mat, which has been quite a hit. The foam shapes come out of the mat, and are great chew toys. The foam gives him traction, and just this evening, he pushed himself up on his knees and wiggled backwards. He's really active, and it looks like crawling is in our near future!
6 Month Photos
Weeks 22-24

Alex is back up to full speed this week, his cold has passed, and he's drooling up a storm waiting for his teeth to come in. We went for his first ride on the BART train this weekend, and took a nice long walk around Berkeley. He had a great time, and fell asleep on the train on the way home. Then today we went to a birthday party for Ivy, the youngest of his adoring fans at his sitter's house. She was turning three today, and had one of the messiest parties I think I have ever seen. It was a lot of fun though.
Other important happenings this week, he jumped in the jumpy so much it died. Then he continued to jump in it till it came back to life. I suspect it was only playing possum to try to put an end to the constant abuse. I think if we just left him to his own devices, he would jump until he passed out from exhaustion.
We also tried peas this week. Sweet potatoes are still the far and away winner, with carrots coming in a distant second. Every time I put the peas in his mouth, he looked at me like I was crazy. He kept eating them, and only made a few faces, but there was no sign of the joy he gets from potatoes.
My favorite new thing this week is the way he has started greeting me when I come home from work. I've always gotten a big smile from him when he sees me, but this week he didn't just smile, he started taking my face in his hands and trying to give me kisses. His kisses mostly consist of his trying to latch onto my chin or cheeks, but it's the thought that counts.

This week, Alexander came down with his first cold. He had a minor fever in the beginning, but since then, it's just been coughing and a runny nose, standard cold stuff. Unfortunately, it's disturbing his sleep, but as he's slowly getting better, he's getting back on track with his sleep as well.
This week he has been working on his sitting skills, and he's doing a pretty good job. He's also doing a great job with tummy time, and there are suspicions that he will skip rolling over, and go straight to crawling. He's pushing himself up on his knees and scooting a little on his belly, but he's only rolled over one other time, and seems to have zero interest in trying to do it again. I'm being a very un-supportive Mom in terms of helping him learn to crawl. I will help him sit up all he wants, but if he's going to be mobile this early, he's on his own!
We have also been trying new foods this week, Sweet potatoes are still the number one favorite, but carrots have been found to be acceptable. Next week we'll try peas. Mostly because everything we've tried so far stains terribly. It won't be as much of a problem when he feels better, but for now, putting orange veggies in a sneezing baby has been a little messy.

We have been missing a lot of sleep this week, as Alexander has started teething. It's been tough, but we're learning how to keep him soothed. Hopefully it doesn't last too long, there's no sign of any actual teeth yet.
We did have some fun with food, and apparently sweet potatoes are a big hit. He's also starting to be able to sit on his own, but he frequently gets excited about this new skill, and knocks himself over with his happy wiggling. He's definitely grown, we had to move his jumpy table up to the next setting this morning, and it's about time to start moving him up to the next size in his clothes.
I'll post more once we've gotten some sleep, and I can think of what else we've done.
Week 21

I'm not sure what happened to last week's post, but you can be assured it was quite possibly the finest blog post ever written on the topic of taking a baby to a New Year's party and being home by 10pm.
This week we had a visit at the pediatrician, and Alexander weighed in at 18.2 lbs. I had felt pretty lazy on my way into the office, because I put his car seat on the stroller and wheeled him in, rather than carrying him, but after hearing his weight, all my guilt vanished. Everything else was fine, and the doctor said he's right where he should be in terms of development.
This week hasn't had much in the way of excitement, the return to the sitters didn't go very well after two weeks at home with family, but by the end of the week he was back in the swing of things. Today we're going to make a drive into San Jose to visit Thomas Christopher, a new little friend who made his way into the world on Monday night. I remember when our friend Lisa brought her six month old to meet Alex when he was just one month old, and the age difference was so striking. I can't wait to see what it's like to be on the other end!

This was a really exciting week around here. Grandma Lynne, Grandpa Gary, and Great-Grandma Laurie have been in town, and spending time visiting with Alexander. Christmas was a lot of fun, he got a lot of new toys, most of which crinkle or sing, along with several new books, lots of clothes, a high chair, and a jumperoo. Then, just to make the week extra special, the day after Christmas, he rolled over by himself for the first time. Unfortunately, both Jason and I missed it.
Jason had just walked upstairs to get a coupon off the printer, and I was playing with the baby on the floor when he kicked me in the nose really hard. It brought tears to my eyes and I sat up to wipe them away. When I looked back down, he was a foot further away and on his tummy! We've been watching him closely since then, but he hasn't done it again.
Week 19

This past week has been a little hectic while we finished our Christmas shopping and got ready for company. Bubba has decided all the presents under the tree, and the tree itself have all been brought in just for her. She's established a little "cat cave" that she hangs out in among the presents.

Alex came shopping with me on my day off last Friday, and did very well. He's quite the charmer, and will smile and bubble at anyone who talks to him. Daddy joined us and we went to a Christmas open house with my friend Matt, who is also expecting a baby. Once again, Alexander was the life of the party, but Daddy and Mommy were so tired, we didn't stay long.

Grandma Lynne, Grandpa Gary, and Great Grandma Laurie are arriving today, so things will be really busy up through Christmas, and we will be spending some time at Auntie Rita's and Uncle Steve's house for the big day. Grandma Lynne will be staying with the baby a few days while she's here, so she'll get lots of good baby time in. I'm sure we'll have lots of pictures to put up after the holiday, so stay tuned!

Oh, I completely forgot to mention, my graduate school applications all went in on time, after just a little bit of nervousness waiting for one of my recommendations. Now we just wait and cross our fingers, hoping something good happens!

This has been a big week for Alexander. When he went to the pediatrician this week, they suggested that he was probably ready to start eating rice cereal. We gave that a try on Thursday, and found it didn't go well with his new favorite pastime of blowing raspberries. We tried again this morning and it worked out much better, most of the cereal ended up in him, rather than on me.

We also had his first "haircut" this week. This loosely translates to; the first time he managed to get something stuck in his hair that just wouldn't wash out. I'm still not sure what it was, but luckily, the areas I had to snip off don't look to bad. I suspect it was probably a result of the sitter's kids giving him kisses all day, along with the arrival of their Christmas tree. Our tree is up now too and he loves looking at it when the lights are on.

This afternoon we all went to the diaper service store to have his picture taken with Santa. They offered the pictures for free to their customers, so we thought we'd give it a try. He did really well, and some of the pictures turned out very cute. He smiled every time the photographer put down his camera though, so they didn't catch his smile in many of them. At least he didn't cry!

Week 17

This was an important week around here, because Alexander learned how to do the Chicken Dance. He seems to prefer it when we do the dance for him, but he laughs hysterically when we help him do it as well. He is actually giggling at quite a few things these days, it's adorable. He's becoming a work hard, play hard kind of kid. We put him in his walker for the first time, and within minutes, he was industriously handling everything on the activity table, and taking care of business. He looked so serious! If his feet reached the floor, we might have taken him seriously as well.

He slept through the night two nights in a row earlier this week, and we were thrilled, but unfortunately he followed it up with two nights of staying awake through the night, just to even things out. We are hoping he's just getting the hang of sleeping, and we'll have some nice nights ahead of us. (Or at least an occasional chance to get caught up with our sleep)

This weekend we are visiting a few friends and will try to put up the Christmas tree. It seems like an ambitious plan, but I'm feeling optimistic!
Week 16

This week we had a sitter come to the house to stay with Alexander, since Sabrina was lucky enough to be in Hawaii for the week. They had fun together but he still missed his visits with his new friends. He got a new toy this week, so keep an eye out for "Red Hippo" in all our pictures, since he seems to be permanently attached to the baby.

We went to visit Jason's Uncle Steve and Auntie Rita for Thanksgiving, and had a nice time. Jason took a lot of pictures, the baby got a lot of snuggles, and it was fun to get out and see some family. Now we get to get ready for Christmas, the party invitations have already started rolling in!

We've enjoyed the rest of the long weekend, I've been finishing my applications to grad school, and Jason has been catching up on his work, but it's back to the grind starting tomorrow.

Week 15 Pictures

This week was Alexander's first week at the sitters, and it went pretty well. Sabrina has four girls, Zoe age 13, Sierra and Hana the 5 year old twins, and Ivy who is two. The younger girls just love having him at the house, and he loves them right back. In the morning when I drop him off, they all gather around him and pat his head and give him kisses. Apparently he's had a little difficulty with his afternoon naps because the twins are home from school at that time, and try to "help" him sleep. He's so excited in the mornings to go there, and he's all smiles as soon as I put the carrier down and the girls come to meet him. After the first day he couldn't care less that I was leaving him, but at least he's still happy to see me when I come back.

We went and had the family Christmas pictures taken tonight, and he did a great job, they all turned out so cute! We bought enough that they gave us the CD of pictures, so Jason can post a few for everyone to see. He'll also be making a post this week, since he got to stay with the baby for the first time this week, and they had quite a bit of fun.

This week went by in a blur. I'm back to work full time now, and Grandma Nancy has stayed with Alexander to get him used to me being gone all day. (Or, more accurately, to get me used to leaving him!) We've gotten into a bit of a routine waking up in the morning, and going to bed at sort of a decent hour.

He has been laughing a bit this week, but mostly for his Grandma, Daddy and I are patient though, we'll hear plenty of it soon I'm sure. This next week he will go to stay with his sitter, Sabrina, during the day. She has promised to take pictures, so the background will change, but the cuteness level should stay the same. Most of the pictures we took this week are on Grandma's camera, but we did get a few.

Week 14 Pictures

This week I went back to work, and Grandma Nancy stayed with Alexander. It was pretty hard to leave him, but all the Mommies at work have been really supportive and made me feel much better. In the beginning, it didn't seem like he missed me when I got home, but by the end of the week, he'd be all smiles when I came back. That's a nice feeling after a long day at work.

He and Grandma have been singing "The Wheels on the Bus" together, and when she reads him "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?", He reads along with her. We did a lot of Christmas shopping this week, with the hope that he doesn't remember what Grandma bought him. He's been really observing everything around him, and loves to stare at the baby in the mirror for as long as we will let him.

We went to pick up the pictures from the photo studio, they turned out really cute, but when we tried to sit and have more pictures taken in his Halloween costume, things didn't turn out quite as well. Apparently wearing the cow costume and the cow hat while out in public is just a little too much to ask.

Jason added a section of lost pictures from my camera to the photo gallery this week, they go all the way back to two weeks, and have a visit to the Pediatrician in there as well as some pictures of Alexander's first day at work as a Lobby Ambassador at my office.

The Lost Pictures

Week 13 Pictures

This week was a busy one for us as I get ready to go back to work. Alexander went up to the campus with me to visit with some of my professors and talk about reference letters for grad school. He was quite a hit, since most of the professors got to watch my tummy grow for the past three quarters, and were excited to meet him. Also, he had his last visit to Baby-n-me group today and we had a costume party. The group was small, but terribly cute, and Alexander partied himself out shortly after we got everyone dressed in their costumes. In the pictures, the angel is two weeks old, and the Penguin and Dinosaur are six months old, all boys.

We also went to my office to tie up some loose ends and say hi to my co-workers and take pictures with them. Grandma Nancy is coming on Sunday, and we're pretty excited. Hopefully she takes lots of pictures while I'm at work so I won't miss much. Jason says Alexander has started giggling, but I haven't really heard it yet, I really don't want to miss a moment!

Week 12 Pictures

This week Alexander was quite the social butterfly. We had visitors come to the house on Monday, Sarah and her daughter Aradia, and the four of us took a walk to the park. Aradia is six months old, so they didn't have a whole lot to talk about, but the two kids did have fun staring at each other. On Tuesday, we went to the mall with my friend Nalani and her son Carter, and then Wednesday it was a visit to the Baby-n-Me group for even more baby social time. I really need to take pictures of him with his friends, but he's such a handful, I never remember! We're trying to get as much fun in as we can before I head back to work. Next week is my last week off, and I'm not looking forward to going back and leaving all the cuteness behind.  

Grandma Nancy is coming to watch the baby for the first two weeks I go back, hopefully she's ready for the rambunctious little boy he's grown into. He loves to squeal and makes noise all the time, Sometimes I think he's going to break a window with his pitch and volume. He has figured out how to hold onto his blankets and bibs, and waves them around whenever he can. He has also started grabbing hair, but fortunately his grip isn't so great yet, so no one is going bald.

This past weekend we had planned to make a trip to the beach, but the weather turned too cold, so we postponed it for this coming weekend. It will be our longest trip out of the house, and that's pretty exciting.

What we did manage to do this week was to take some pictures at a photo studio, and they came out very cute! We don't get them back until later in the month, but we will definitely share them when we do. We also went out to eat burritos as a family, and made it all the way through dinner without anyone crying. We're so glad we're not limited to drive-thru restaurants anymore!

Alexander did have a moment as a fashion disaster, you can see from his pictures he wasn't too pleased. We also had some fun with tummy time, and he learned to suck his thumb. Fortunately, he hasn't been very consistent in being able to find it again, so we're not looking at a habitual thumb sucker yet.

Week 10 Pictures

This week was a lot of fun, Alexander's Grandpa Dave came to visit for a few days, and they spent some quality time together. Grandpa taught him about football, and they planned their first golf game for as soon as Alexander can stand up and learns how to hold things.

Grandpa did point out that according to the pictures in this blog, it looks like we have a perfectly behaved and always happy baby, so this week we thought we'd include a few pictures of what Alexander looks like when we're too busy calming him to think to run for the camera.

Week 9 Pictures

This week was a slow week around the house. We had a few visitors, Arlynne came to visit, and Marcie came by with her son, that was exciting. We went back to the Baby-n-me group on Thursday and met a few new babies. They were all too old to play with, and Alexander is torn between whether the picture wall or the actual babies are more fascinating to stare at while we are there, he really enjoys it. I just love getting out of the house. It's getting a little rainy here, soon we won't be able to go for our daily strolls around the neighborhood and we'll need to find other activities. 

The biggest news to happen this week is that he has outgrown his infant size diapers, and will get to start regular diapers with next week's delivery. Just when Jason and I were getting the hang of putting the diapers on, they will change size. We got a few samples of the new diapers from the diaper service, and they seem huge compared to the ones he has been wearing. It's true what they say, they really do grow so fast!

Grandpa Dave will be visiting next week, so we're looking forward to that and will have lots of pictures to post.

PS- Grandma Nancy thought we should clarify that the picture posted last week was Alexander practicing his Pirate face. He can't talk yet, so he had to find a new way to celebrate "International Talk Like A Pirate Day" on September 19.

We went to the Pediatrician today to get some vaccinations for Alexander. He was up at 6am, so by the time we got there and got checked in around 10:30, he was ready for a nap and slept through most of it. He took the shot like a pro, he cried, but calmed right down when Jason picked him up. He slept till early afternoon, and doesn't seem to be fussy or reacting much to the vaccines at all.

He weighed in at 11lb 3oz and is apparently big enough now to be weighed with is clothes on. Before he had to be weighed in just his diaper, so it wasn't his favorite part of the office visit, the scale is pretty cold. He is in the 60th percentile of weight for his age, so he's right on track. He is getting big enough to be growing out of his newborn clothes, and even some of his three month ones too. I was surprised to pull out a brand new outfit to put on him today, and found out it was already a little tight!

We went to a "Baby-n-Me" group yesterday and he really seemed to enjoy being around all the other babies, and the older babies were really excited about him too. We'll probably try to go back for the next few weeks until I go back to work, just so we can have a chance to get out of the house and to have a destination where no one cares if you need a diaper change or a snack. The group also walks together at our local park, I'd like to try it, but it's significantly farther than the walks we've been taking around the neighborhood, so we may need to work up to that.

Week 7 Pictures are here!

We had a fun week this week, now that everyone is feeling better. We went out to the bank and got Alexander his first bank account, he decided halfway through that he wasn't happy with the process, but we told him that until the election is over, it's the best APR he can expect. We also went over to the latch clinic to get weighed and visit with the nurses, and he is up to 10lb, 4oz.

He's still full of smiles, and is starting to giggle just a little, it's adorable!
Week 6 Pictures are here!

We started out this week on a yucky note, when Jason got the stomach flu. We continued on a worse note when I got it too a few days later. So overall, this has been one of those parenting experiences we were hoping to get to wait a while to have, but we managed. Alexander has basically been on a growth spurt the whole week, so it's good we haven't been active.

He's sharing more smiles with us, and Jason has put some new pictures up. Some are from my camera and are older than this past week.

Week 5 Pictures Are Here

We went to the pediatrician today to have Alexander's one month checkup. He passed with flying colors and the doctor thinks he is very socially advanced for his age. He has been smiling a lot in the past week, and I was sure it was just gas, but had been hoping a few of them were real smiles, and it turns out they probably were! He is tracking well with his eyes, and has started "talking" all the time. Unfortunately he's the only one who knows what he's saying, but it seems to be important. The doctor told us to expect more social smiles this next week, and more chatter in response to our talking with him.

He's 9.5 pounds now, and continues to eat constantly. His schedule during the night is getting a little better and more consistent, but he still tries to sleep too much during the day so he can stay up all night playing with us. He really likes taking baths, but hates having his hair washed, and is becoming very tolerant of his diaper changes. We have him mostly wearing cloth diapers, so patience is an important virtue when we are trying to get a new diaper folded and put back on him.

The most convenient development is that he snores like a hibernating bear, so I get to skip the new Mommy task of checking to see if he's breathing during the night. For the moment, it's obvious he is breathing from almost anywhere in the room!

 

My Mommy and Daddy are too sleep deprived to blog right now, so I thought I would let you know what is happening.

I almost have everyone trained to answer my every whimper. Mommy, also known as the Lunch Lady, can already tell my hungry cry. I am developing love-handles, so she must be doing a good job. Grandma Nancy is visiting from Iowa, and her job is to help me burp (She doesn't even care when I spit up on her!) and rock me when I get tired. She has lumps in all the right places so I can snuggle right down. Daddy has the job of changing my pants. We see a lot of each other because I can't stand wet pants. I have a cry just for Daddy to come quickly. Daddy and I also like to bounce on a great big ball.

Most of my day is spent sleeping so I can stay up most of the night playing with Mommy and Daddy. I have started my exercise program with Grandma though. My job is to do tummy time on the floor where I try to lift my head. Next Grandma helps me roll over and I kick and stretch. It feels so good. Great-Grandma Laurie gave me this real soft quilt that feels so good during my exercises.

Grandma Nancy flies out on 8/28. I'll miss my early morning nap on her shoulder while Mommy and Daddy sleep, but I know she will miss me more. Then it will be time for my Grandma Lynne to come back and visit again, and my Grandpa Dave to meet me. Life with the Robinson family has really changed since I got here.

Love to everyone,
Alexander Ian Robinson
age- 2 weeks 4 days

 

Alexander Ian Robinson made his way into the world on the very lucky day of 8-8-08.

8 Lbs. 7 Oz., 21" long
Born at 8:49 PM

After 22.5 hours of labor, Alexander made his appearance. Grandma Lynne and Great-Grandma Laurie arrived shortly after from Oregon to meet him, and Grandma Nancy arrived from Iowa on Sunday, right around the time we all came home from the hospital.

The first few days were a little rough, but we're starting to get a pattern going, and it's helping considerably. He's settling down to being an adorable little guy, he's alert and curious. We've posted some pictures under the "Baby Pictures" link, and will add more as we have time. (Which has become as precious as sleep around the house!)

Thank you for all your well wishes and gifts, they are all appreciated!

We visited the Doctor again on Friday, and there was no new news. Things are progressing normally, and as much as Grandma Nancy would like our little guy to stay put until 8/11, progress is progress, and there aren't any signs of him taking longer to finish cooking than he should.

Jason and I went to my company picnic on Saturday. It was at our local amusement park, and we didn't get to ride a whole lot of rides, but it was still fun. We did a lot of walking, took a spin on the ferris wheel, and got to visit with some people from my office that I haven't seen since I've been off work. We also made progress on the nursery. I put together the dresser and my new rocking chair,  and now we're just waiting for Jason to get the wall border up so we can finish assembling the crib and get the furniture in place. Hopefully that happens soon, it will be nice to have things organized and somewhat ready to go.

I had a shower at work on July 11, and another at the house on July 12, and really do feel showered in gifts! I'm still in awe at the generosity of friends and family, and can't believe just how excited so many people are to meet our little guy. We've got the nursery painted and are getting ready to start putting furniture together so that we can begin putting everything away. I'm taking pictures, and we'll get them up when there are enough to make them interesting to look at. The pictures of the baby shower at the house are up now, you can see them by clicking the "baby shower" link at the top of the page. For the first time, I think I look bigger than I feel! Up till now, I've always felt like the pictures didn't do my bump justice, but now that I'm used to it, the pictures make it look gigantic.

We had a visit with the Dr last week, she checked where things are and noted we've made some progress toward delivery, but didn't think we should expect anything to happen this week. We've got another appointment on Thursday, but she did say she wasn't going to check again till we show up in the hospital unless we ask her to. I'm off work now, and am trying to use the time to get everything in place, we've got our visit with the Pediatrician tomorrow morning, and the hospital tour tomorrow night, making us as ready as we can be. We met with our Doula last week as well, she left us a ton of books to read and a video to watch, somehow I'm thinking if we're going to get through all of them, the baby will have to come late. For now, we just wait and see how things go!

We had another good doctor visit this afternoon and everything seems just fine. We've got 2 and 1/2 weeks before our next appointment, after that we go to one week appointments till he gets here. I've had a few random contractions here and there, and the Dr said that was perfectly normal for as far along as we are, just to make sure they stop after a minute and don't continue on. We started our childbirth classes, they are a little disturbing with the level of reality we get to see, but it's nice to spend some time with other couples who are going through the same things we are.

Graduation was tons of fun, I'm really starting to feel the toll of being this pregnant though, I was exhausted for almost a week! Jason took pictures and put them on-line, you can see them here. It was really hot, so whenever we were sitting down facing away from the crowd, we all unzipped our gowns and tried to catch a breeze to cool off. Jason's Mom and her husband Gary, my friends Amber and Arlynne, and one of my coworkers came to watch the ceremony and the Thinds joined us for dinner later that evening.

I had a few Dr visits yesterday. Since the baby was measuring big at our last visit, the Obstetrician wanted me to have a few extra tests, and to visit a specialist to make sure everything was okay. All the tests turned out perfectly normal, and the only thing the specialist had to say was that my feet are huge. (I agree!)  Then when we visited the Obstetrician again yesterday, he was measuring small. Apparently when babies turn into position, like Ninja has been doing every few days or so, they can stick their little behinds out and make themselves appear larger. Now that he's back to laying sideways, he's right where he should be.

We decided that my last day at work will be July 18th, giving me three weeks at home before my final due date. I'm afraid I will go stir crazy, but we've got so much to do before the baby gets here, I'll definitely appreciate having the time. The Doctor is also still not convinced I'll make it all the way to 40 weeks, so she wants us to be conservative. I think I'll just be happy to have the extra time to try to sleep, and maybe get some of my graduate school applications written.

We got really lucky, because of some of my connections at work, I've been given an opportunity to be an Obstetric model for a company that makes 3D/4D ultrasound machines. We hadn't intended to get a 3D ultrasound because they can cost around $200, and there's really no medical reason to, but as a model, I'll not only receive the ultrasound for free, but they will also pay me for my time! The pictures I've seen of other people's are amazingly clear, and very neat, I'm really excited to get a sneak peek at what our little guy is going to look like.

Tomorrow is my birthday, and we're looking forward to seeing Jason's Mom and Gary for a visit. They drove down for my graduation ceremony on Sunday, and then Sunday night we're going to dinner with a few friends to celebrate. We'll be sure to post pictures once we have them.

We went in for our latest check up yesterday, and things seem to be progressing pretty normally.

We found out I'm measuring a week ahead, but the baby's activity levels look good, and we're starting our two week appointments as we get closer to the end. The doctor says we can expect his arrival any time between 36 and 40 weeks, so that's kind of exciting, and at the same time, completely terrifying! We've scheduled our classes for childcare and birthing, and will do our hospital tour as well by the end of June.

We've started interviewing daycares, that's proving to be an interesting process. The first woman promised to play gospel music for the kids, and seemed pretty competent, while the next place offered a bilingual environment, but it turned out that neither of the languages they offered was English. We're still looking, and also trying to get an appointment with the pediatrician to make sure we know who and where they are before we need them.

We've also started planning the nursery, and that's been kind of exciting. A few of Jason's friends are going to come over with a power sprayer to help him get the painting taken care of, and the landlord has also offered to come and help put the crib together when we're ready for that. Things are moving along, and should be reasonably ready when the time comes!

The family took a little field trip today up to my university. I got a notice in the mail that I am graduating cum laude and that there was a special convocation to give all the honors students a medal to wear at commencement. I was surprised to see there was another girl there who was more pregnant than I am, and happy to see there were many others who were wearing flip flops. We've been in the middle of a heat wave for the past three days, and my feet are so swollen, I can't get any of my dress shoes on. Jason was kind enough to cut my feet out of the pictures, so there wouldn't be any evidence, but I got a terrible sunburn on my feet, so I think I will be in flip flops for the next few days at least! 

I was so emotional, I cried all the way across the stage, and couldn't manage to stop even after I got back to my seat. (Note to remember tissues for graduation!) I can't wait to see how the pictures from the "Official" photographer turn out with me crying in every one. Fortunately, I have Jason, so we walked around the campus afterward and took a few nice pictures to make sure we had some. Every time I think my belly has reached it's maximum size, we take another picture, and I'm just amazed at how big I'm getting. More than a few people at work are starting to tell me they don't think I'll make it all the way to August, but I'm crossing my fingers! I'm also crossing them to hope I'm not making a nine pound baby, but the Doctor says we're measuring normal so far, I just seem to be carrying him straight out in front of me. 

In other news, it looks like we are closing in on a name. In the lead we have Alexander George Robinson, followed closely by Christopher James Robinson. I'm still fond of Ninja, and have had several people suggest that Ninja Turtle Robinson should be a keeper on the list. There are about 20 "runner-up" names still to be rejected, but for now, the competition is getting pretty narrow.

We had another appointment on Wednesday, and everything is still just fine. Little Ninja's heart rate is at 153, we passed the Glucose Tolerance test, and my Iron levels are good, but I've apparently managed to begin accumulating my own reservoir. My blood pressure is still good, but my shoe size has shot up, and I am ready for any drought that may come to California this summer.  

We've signed up for the baby care classes, we'll get to go through those at the end of June, and take our hospital tour in July. It's scary and exciting at the same time to realize it's coming so soon! We've started looking at Pediatricians, and will be looking at Day care centers in the next few weeks as well. The name list is growing, and there are a few front runners, I'll post them once we get it narrowed down to about 5. Right now it's at about 20, and is a little unwieldy to be posting.

Here is a picture from week 24. 

It looks smaller in pictures than it feels on my body, but there is a definite baby bump in the making! These pictures are from 19 weeks, and then with Bubba at week 22. (This weekend) My friends have all taken a minute to give me a belly rub, and the baby has responded in all cases by kicking them furiously from inside me. Jason is the only one who has gotten to feel his kicks so far other than me, but if you sit really quietly and put your hand in just the right spot, the really strong kicks can be felt from the outside. He's definitely more of a kickboxer than a ninja at this point.

 

We went in for our big ultrasound on Wednesday, it was so much fun! The baby was really quick, and spent most of the time squished up in a corner hiding. We found out that democracy is alive and well in Earlham, and the Prices have won the election, we're having a boy! We also found out he's about 6 inches long, and weighs 12 ounces, has all his parts in their correct locations, and has all his toes.

We've got the fun job of picking a name ahead, and choosing out all the cute little things that come right before the baby does. I'm really starting to show now, people in the store ask when I'm due, and I've grown right out of my fat clothes, and into maternity pants. Jason took some pictures we'll get them up as soon as I pick one I think makes me look pregnant, and not just fat!

The pregnancy hormones have definitely kicked in and stolen my brain! We went for a checkup last week and everything is good, unfortunately I don't remember anything she told us in terms of the baby's heartbeat. Jason swears the Doctor told me, but I just don't remember it. I've felt the baby move just a few times, it's pretty sporadic, but still neat. It almost makes up for outgrowing all my pants in just one week! (Good thing I've got some maternity pants waiting in the wings)

The next appointment is on March 19, it's a big one, we're going to go for the 20 week ultrasound to check for both birth defects and find out the baby's gender. Our initial genetic marker testing came back negative so we're not worried, just excited!

 

We had another Dr visit last week where the Obstetrician used a doppler monitor to let us listen to the baby's heartbeat. It was very cool, she measured it at about 160 beats per minute which is a normal speed for something the size of a jumbo shrimp.

My morning sickness is waning now, but it keeps rearing it's ugly head occasionally to remind me of all the quality time we've spent together over the past few months. It's sporadic enough now that I've started gaining weight again, and having spent so much time on a diet, it's really hard to get used to being happy about putting on a pound! Jason has been an amazing help, he cooks most of the time and manages to accommodate many of my cravings, but now that I'm starting to get really hungry, they are getting pretty specific. No pickles and ice cream yet, but only Golden Delicious apples will do, I can't stand the red ones, and red grapes are far preferable to green ones. This baby really seems to be a fruit snob!

We haven't been working too hard on our names list, we've got an appointment coming in the beginning of March that will tell us the sex of the baby, and naming season will officially open shortly after that. As it stands, most of our favorite names could be for boys, with Ninja, Astro, and Danger Will (Robinson) being the frontrunners so far.

We had our second doctor's visit today, and everything went great! We saw the heartbeat, which was really neat, and then for a moment, the baby started moving! It looked like a little dancing gingerbread cookie with little stubby arms and legs and a big head, it was so very cute, even the nurse was gushing. Of course, we had to live up to the nickname, and when the picture came out, it looked more like a peanut.

Our official due date is set at August 9, but that may change depending on how things develop. I'm still pretty tired and have been challenged with finding things to eat that the baby agrees with, but things are settling down, which will make returning to school next week much easier.

We had our first appointment with the Doctor on December 14, it was so exciting! She gave me an ultrasound and confirmed for us that (for now) there's just one baby. We didn't get to see a heartbeat, but they estimated we were only at 5 weeks, so that's normal. We got a packet of information to read that is about an inch thick, I had no idea there were so many things to make decisions about before the baby comes! Pediatricians, cord blood registry, birth plans, it's all a little overwhelming.

So far I'm pretty tired, and have had quite a bit of morning sickness, but we're still excited! Neither Jason nor I have our hopes set on a girl or a boy, we're both just hoping for healthy right now. We have decided we will find out what the sex is once it's possible to see, which is usually after about 18 weeks. Almost everyone who has guessed so far believes it's a boy, so we'll have to see how psychic our friends and family really are.

Next appointment is Friday, and we're hoping we might get to see a heartbeat!

We went to Mendocino and Fort Brag in November for a wonderful long weekend. Mendocino is right on the northern California coast and with miles of cliffs and beaches its a popular tourist destination, but luckily, we went on an off weekend. We stayed at a Bed-and-Breakfast called the Howard Creek Ranch which was cute and quaint, and had the best breakfast ever.

We went horse back riding in the woods and valleys near Mendocino, and it was Jason's first time, and he didn't fall off! Of course, there are pictures...