VISIT WITH AUNT AND UNCLE

We just had a wonderful visit with Chris's brother, Brian and his wife, Claire. Alexander had a blast hanging with his aunt and uncle and they seemed to be pretty crazy about him as well. We hung out around the house on Saturday watching football and eating (we ate a lot over the weekend!!) and then on Sunday we went up to Meers, OK. We did some hiking and had the best burgers around. We had a wonderful weekend with them!!

So I mentioned in the last post that Alexander has rolled over a couple times. Well, he has now rolled over 5 times, 4 times last week! We can't believe it. He doesn't do it all them time, but 5 times seems like more than just a fluke. He is also super alert now and wants to stay awake all the time during the day. This is presenting a problem, because he needs to sleep more during the day because he is getting so tired and I need him to nap a couple of times during the day so that I can get a few things accomplished. We had gotten into somewhat of a routine before this last weekend, but now I'm struggling to get him back into it. He has started fighting napping in his crib during the day. And he can't sleep on me all of the time, so he ends up just exhausted by the end of the day. He's actually down right now, I'm just not sure for how long. If anyone has any ideas on this, please let me know.

AWAKE TIME

Check out that neck control! He held this for almost a minute!!

The most recent development for Alexander seems to be the amount of time spent awake. He's staying awake for longer periods during the day and is content to sometimes just lie on his back on the floor and look around. I play with him some, but he really enjoys just taking in the sights. We still do some tummy time every day and he's making progress there too. In fact, yesterday he rolled over again! The first time was when he was 3 weeks old and then he did it again yesterday. He was on his belly and pushed himself up on his arms and just flipped over! Chris and I couldn't believe it. He hasn't done it today, but he was kind of close. It's just amazing to see these little advances everyday. He's changing so much!!! He's also becoming more expressive with his mouth. We've had some gorgeous smiles!

This weekend Chris went cross country to Fort Worth (Yeah, I know, real far.) and Alexander and I met him down there on Saturday and spent the night with him in the hotel downtown Fort Worth. We had a great time, and Alexander did great on the car ride down there and back. And he slept really well in the hotel. We brought our pack n play to the hotel and he actually slept for 6 hours! Of course I couldn't really take advantage of the sleep because I was too worried that something was wrong. I kept getting up to check on him!! We also figured out that we can no longer just throw a single bag together for an overnight trip anymore. We had 3 bags, the stroller, the pack n play and the car seat! We looked like we were moving in for a week instead of less than 24 hours!!!

VISIT WITH COUSIN MOLLY

This morning my big brother, his wife and their 14 month old daughter Molly left to go back to California and I miss them all already. The house is now strangely quiet when just a few hours ago it was full of laughter and squeals!! It was a wonderful visit and I am so happy that they were all able to come see us. Seeing Molly and Alexander together was super cute. Within the first 10 minutes of them being in the house, Molly was hugging Alexander. She was quite enamored by him, but at first he did not know what to think of her. She was louder and rougher than he was used to. But by the second day, he was much calmer around her. It was also so great to see Bill and Krista with Alexander. I can't wait until Christmas when we're all together again. I've posted a bunch of pics on Flicker and here are a couple to enjoy.

1 MONTH ALREADY

I cannot believe that my baby boy is already 1 month old! In fact, tomorrow he'll be 5 weeks! Sorry I haven't posted in a while, it's just kind of hard to find time. My child likes to be held ALOT! I'm trying to make sure though, that he gets at least one nap per day in his crib. This is not always easy, but he's down right now. So that's good. Overall, I feel like my child is amazing. But last week he started screaming and crying uncontrollably. This is taking some real patience to deal with and I'm also trying Mylicon. Several people recommended this and I took him to the doctor yesterday and she said it was fine to try. Today has been a bit better, I think. Please wish us luck. It's very hard to see him cry like this, it feels like he is in pain. He also has a bad rash all over his face, neck, head, chest, and back. The doctor thinks that this is infant acne and that it's irritated by the heat. She suggested just bathing him daily. But the big news has to be his weight. His birth weight was 7lbs 10 oz, and now not 5 weeks later, he weighs 10lbs 2oz! I can't believe it. I knew he was getting bigger and heavier, but it's hard to believe he's already over 10lbs!!!!

The last 2 weeks we had visits from both sets of grandparents. They were all truly wonderful while they were here. Of course they were great with Alexander, but they also worked like slaves while they were here. They washed windows, cleaned floors, mowed the lawn, cleaned out my car, and prepared dinner every night! It was wonderful. Now that they are gone, hardly any of this is getting accomplished. In fact last night I didn't get to eat dinner until 9pm after Alexander went to bed. Chris happens to be working late this week, so we were able to eat together right after he got home. That part was nice, but I was starving!!

Tomorrow my brother, sister-in-law, and my niece Molly are coming to visit. I cannot wait to introduce Alexander to more family, especially his cousin. I'm sure that they'll be best friends before long! And then Labor Day weekend, Chris's brother Brian and his wife Claire are coming to visit. We are so lucky and blessed to have such wonderfully family. We are so happy that everyone is coming to visit!!!!

2 WEEK CHECK UP

Today Chris and I took Alexander for his 2 week check up with his pediatrician. Our little boy is now up to 8lbs 5oz! We can't believe it! The doctor was very pleased to see how much weight he has gained and so were we. I knew that breast feeding was going well, but this is proof that it's a success. Yay!!! The rest of the appointment went well, Alexander is doing great. He did have to have some blood drawn for some tests and this was terrible for me (although he did not seem to enjoy it either). I had a really hard time with it. We both cried a little bit, but then he fell right back to sleep afterwards so apparently it didn't bother him too much. The next appointment at 2 months he'll have to have some shots, and I am not looking forward to it at all. But I know it's necessary. It's just tough to watch your child be in pain.