SWIMMING FUN

This has been the first week since we started swimming that Chris has not had to work nights. He was able to go to with us and watch his little fish in action. Here are a few pics of Alexander and I in the pool.

Here are also a few cute pics of him in his pajamas the other morning.

9 MONTHS

Today, Alexander is 9 months old. I cannot believe it! Time is just flying by!! I haven't had a chance to blog recently so here is a quick update:

Teeth - 6

His 6th tooth just popped through earlier this week. It's hard to believe that at the beginning of March he didn't have any teeth at all and now he has 6! It has completely changed the way he looks, making him look older. They are really cute, though!

Mobility

He is still not crawling, but he does roll everywhere. And he has gotten really good at changing the direction he wants to go by just pushing himself around. It's quite funny to watch and he's very quick.

Food

He's eating more and more solid food. Recently he's been eating chicken meals which he seems to really like and also some bread. I've been toasting up wheat bread and then cutting it into little bread sticks that he can feed himself. Yesterday, he was eating his third bread stick and the fourth was on a plate on a place mat on the table. He was in his highchair and I was in the kitchen getting my dinner ready. I heard a noise and looked over to find him holding the plate! He had scooted the place mat over and then took the plate off of that to get to the bread stick! I couldn't believe it. I guess I'll have to make sure I put his highchair a little further away from the table from now on!

Swimming

We're still doing swimming lessons and having a blast. He loves being in the pool and seeing all of the other kiddos. And I enjoy being with him and meeting the other moms.

Sleeping

We've transitioned from 3 naps a day to 2 naps a day. He's been taking a shorter nap in the morning and then a longer nap in the afternoon. I really like this schedule and he seems pretty happy on it. He still goes to bed in the evening by 8pm and I get him up at 7am. Some mornings he's awake and waiting for me, other mornings I have to wake him up. But this seems to work really well for us right now.

Fun Stuff

I took him to the park the other day to see if he could swing in the baby swings. He could and did. At first he seemed to like it, but then he wanted out. We'll try again soon because he loves to be outside and right now the weather is great. I planted a bunch of flowers in our flowerbed last week and I brought him outside with me. He sat in his stroller and supervised the operation. He would just sit and laugh and smile. He is truly such a happy baby!

Mom and Dad Stuff

Tomorrow, Chris is volunteering at a 5K race for charity so Alexander and I are going to run in it. This should be a fun morning. Next Sunday I am running a half marathon in Oklahoma City. We're going to go up Saturday and spend the night in a hotel and Chris and Alexander will cheer me on. I've been training for the last couple of months and I'm really excited. This will be my first half marathon.

Chris has been flying a ton. In the last 30 days he has flown 36 times! He's been flying evenings, though. So he has been missing putting Alexander to bed, but gets to spend the mornings with him. He's been getting home about 8:30 - 9pm, so we still get some good quality time at night, which is important.

Alexander is starting to wake up from a nap, so that's all for now.

ALEXANDER'S BAPTISM

This past weekend, family and friends joined us for Alexander's baptism. The ceremony was very lovely, followed by a great party at our house. Alexander was very well behaved, even while the deacon was pouring the holy water over his head. He kind of looked at us like he was a little concerned, but never cried. It was a wonderful morning and a wonderful afternoon for a party. We had great food and company to help us celebrate the occasion. The rest of the weekend with the family was great as well. A fantastic time to catch up and for family to spend time with Alexander. He (and his parents) are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. On Tuesday evening after everyone had left, I was feeding Alexander dinner and he was looking around. I think he was confused as to why it was so quiet!

On Monday, we took Alexander's Uncle Brian and Aunt Claire (aka The Godfather and the Fairy Godmother) up to the Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma to do some hiking. They are called mountains, but honestly, after living in Idaho they look like hills. We also went to Meers for burgers. They serve grass fed, long-horn beef burgers and they are the BEST!!!! It is this little hole in the wall restaurant, but we love it! The day was beautiful and Alexander loved being out hiking around the park. And I know that Chris really enjoyed carrying him around in the baby carrier. They were quite the pair.

RECENT PICS

The family out at the jet for a friend's fini flight.

Keeping Alexander's ears protected from the jet noise.

Waiting for the jets to land.

Playing with his new favorite toys: a wooden spoon and a tupperware bowl.

He loves to help with the laundry

He loves his elephant.

So Happy!!!!

HIGHLIGHTS

It has been so long since I last posted so I'm going to give you the highlights of the last few weeks:

Swimming

Alexander and I have been doing Mommy and Me Swimming twice a week at one of the local indoor pools. At first he was a little timid, but now really seems to enjoy it. It gives his kicking a bit of a purpose! And except for a slight diaper incident, it's been a lot of fun. We're signed up for the month of March then we'll see if we want to do it in April. I was a little concerned that the chlorine would affect his eczema, but it doesn't appear to be having any impact.

Eczema

Since my last post, his face has gotten worse and then better again. We went to the doc two weeks ago and he put Alexander on more antibiotic (the spots were oozing again) and switched to a different ointment. Well, the ointment didn't help at all so we switched back to the cream and now it's doing a bit better. I'm trying not to get excited because I know as soon as I do it will get worse again. I have a feeling we may just have to battle this until he grows out of it. We go back to the Derm on Thursday, so we'll see what he has to say.

Mobility

He's still rolling around like crazy which keeps me on my toes. I am very thankful for my 'open floor plan' house. He has been attempting to pull himself up the last 2 days on our coffee table. No luck yet, but I'm sure he will soon succeed.

Teeth

He is working on 3 teeth at once, his bottom two and his top left. They have all broken through the gum and are coming in nicely. He looks so cute! But he is not feeling well. I thought it was tooth related, but now I'm not so sure. Since yesterday afternoon he has had a very runny nose and is sneezing all the time, very stuffed up and very whiny. His snot is no longer clear, but he hasn't been running a fever. Plus today he napped 3 times for a total of more than 4 hours! This is rare! If he naps 3 times they are usually no more than about 40 minutes each. So, I definitely do not think he is feeling well. I'm hoping tomorrow is better!

Socializing

This past weekend Chris went out of town cross country to New Orleans and then to Fort Worth, so Xan and I were on our own. We went to a friend's house on Saturday for an early St Patty's Day Feast. It was delicious! But Xan was so funny! We were all sitting outside eating (yes, it was that nice here this weekend!) and he was sitting in their daughter's high chair at the end of the table. For most of the meal all eyes were on him. He was making all sorts of funny noises and cracking everyone up! My son, the ham!!!

Diapers

We are loving the new cloth diapers! I ordered more and we're using them all of the time now. I really don't feel like they are much more work and I am so happy about not throwing out all of those disposables all the time! I would highly recommend them to anyone.

Food

We've gotten on a pretty good schedule recently. He eats three solid food meals a day and still nurses 4 times a day. Recent foods are avocados (he likes), squash (likes), applesauce (likes), lentils (didn't like at first, but I feel like he came around to them eventually), white rice with peaches (used to like them, but now I'm not so sure), chickpeas (really liked them tonight), red peppers (did NOT like them). I've been making all of his food and that has been going well. It is so easy and cheap! We have a well stocked freezer full of different pureed veggies!