What a big boy!

This morning at 4:30am I woke to Xander crying, I discovered him in his bed completely unwrapped and face down! Really shocked me, this is a first for sure. The bed was soaked but not from a leaky diaper, I realized he had been licking the bed while face down and had covered a pretty large area, his sleeve was also wet. So I changed him, re-wrapped him and put him back to bed. I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised, he's been rolling over alot more lately while playing on the floor on his baby gym. He LOVES his baby gym. It lays on the floor and has toys that dangle above his head and move and play music. He rolls all around, it's really cute to watch and kinda amazing how strong he's getting. He can lay on the floor for a good 30-45minutes, by far his favorite thing to do!

Another big step happened last week, Xander held his own bottle, he even put it in his mouth by himself! I usually keep his arms out of the way while eating because he has a tendency to push the bottle out of his mouth without meaning to, but when Grandma Nancy fed him the other day (day before Christmas eve) he grabbed on and did it all by himself! Of course I took tons of pictures!

He is growing so so fast, I moved the straps on his car seat to the lowest point yesterday. He is getting SO long! He barely fits in the 6 month clothes and the 9 months won't last long. Looks like mommy and daddy will be investing in a new car seat ASAP! I am suprised at how fast he's outgrown it. I'm looking forward to no longer lugging around the baby seat, but nervous as well (although I have very strong arms now after carrying it everyday). But when Xander is cranky in public I can put him in it and drape a blanket over and he'll go to sleep no matter where we are, not sure what I'm gonna do now. I guess we might have to actually use the stroller! ha ha

Other news... the solids are going ok. Although I don't think I'll have him up to the 2-3 ounces per day by spoon of cereal his doc said he should be up to by next month. We are taking it slow and staying consistent. Lately I've backed off the fruits and veggies and just stuck to mixing a few peaches in the cereal to make it sweeter and encourage him to eat, hasn't been really working so far, but I think it will take time. I did get a new food processor for Christmas so as soon as he's ready I'm ready and excited to start making him food.

Xander's 1st Christmas!!!

What an amazing Holiday! We had a truly blessed Christmas this year. Xander gots lots of great clothes and toys and so so much more, he is one spoiled little boy and he doesn't even know it yet! It was a long couple of days for all three of us. Starting the day before Christmas Xander and I went to Grandma Nancy's for the day to bake cookies and fudge and other goodies for Christmas while daddy worked. Then Christmas eve was another busy day. Daddy worked half the day and then we wrapped presents and went to Chris' Aunt's for our first Christmas celebration. We had a wonderful dinner and then went to Xander's Great Grandma's to open presents. Xander "opened" almost all of his presents himslef (I helped him grab and then pulled the gift to rip it open), before he got a bit cranky and had to take a nap.

It was a bit of a long night for all of us (we didn't get home till 11:30!). Christmas was another big day, we all slept in which was much needed, then headed to Grandma Ruth's to open presents. After we headed to Grandma Nancy's to open presents and have an early dinner.

When we got home and finally got everything inside I describe it best as looking like Christmas has exploded all over our house! haha Presents and wrapping and bags and toys EVERYWHERE! We got so many wonderful gifts I can't list them all. "Xander" got a Wii and Chris and I are really enjoying it! haha I didn't think I'd be so into it but it's great to play Monopoly or a round of bowling with Chris rather than sitting around watching tv. Definitely a great gift for us! As you can see in the picture I got Chris a new Miami Dolphins jersey and hat (and they are going to the playoffs by the way!).

I have much more to say but not much time to say it so I will post more soon! Sorry I've been so slow on updating everyone lately!

Mmmm.... Carrots!

Xander had his first food this weekend! We decided to go with the carrots. He LOVED them! We made two attempts this weekend, first time we were snapping pictures and trying to get the look on his face and I think we overwhelmed him slightly, he only had 3 bites then closed the mouth denying further entry. But the second time he had around 10-15 bites and ate all that I had put in his bowl! With the second attempt mom convinced me we should try Bananas too, I caved but it turns out he had no interest in the bananas and really loved the carrots! We will stick to carrots and rice cereal this weekend and try sweet potatoes next week!

Also I just wanted to mention it's snowing here like crazy, looks like Xander's first Christmas might actually be a white one! Yay!!!

4month appt., shots and more!

Look at our strong little man!


Holding his head up like a champ! He's getting SO strong and can even scoot a few inches when attempting to crawl!

So last Wednesday (12/3) Xander had his 4 month check-up and shots. As some of you might recall I mentioned it was re-secheduled. Xander's peditricitin Dr. Garcia was pregnant and I assumed she took off for maternity leave early. Turns out she had her baby already! She was due in Feburary, so November was very early. I didn't get many details, but if you would all say a little prayer for her and her family we'd appreciate it! She is an amazing doctor and I look forward to her returning, whenever that may be. Xander's replacement doctor however was not my favorite and the hunt is on for a new pedi. We are looking for someone in the heights hopefully that is under Presbyterian if anyone has any suggestions.

Now to the good stuff... Xander is growing like crazy, he is now 13lbs 10oz, up almost 8 pounds in 4 months! And he is 25 inches long! He wears sizes 6-9 months only now, as well as some of the 9-12months. He's a BIG boy, and he is getting more handsome by the day! The doctor just kept saying how great he was growing! She said he was eating great and was impressed with his sleeping schedule. She also commented on his excellent neck strength. The doc gave us the go ahead to start solids. She explained the process and gave us a guide. I have purchased 8 different kinds of 1st foods (don't worry I'll be homemaking the baby food, after we get going), the brand new high chair is all set up and I'm ready to go... But we haven't gotten to it yet with the teething. The teething is going ok, we have good days and bad days, the bad days are the ones where he gets so fussy and refuses to nap all day, yesterday was a bad day! lol I can now feel the teeth getting ready to come through on the bottom. The shots went well, although it was slightly more nerve racking this time. The office seemed to be filled with children getting shots that day and there were screams of pain coming from every direction as we waited in our little room for our turn. Xander recovered quicker this time from the pain and calmed down enough so I was actually able to make his next appointment.

A new discovery... Xander has found his voice, well he's found that he can make amazing and terrible high pitched screeching noises, not one of those fun discoveries for mommy, it's ear splitting and it cuts right though me. I am starting the worry what neighboors are going to think! It's very bad, and now since the teething, it's often and really loud. He gets worked up and no matter what you do with him... put him in the vibrating chair with music, nope, put him in the other vibrating chair with more interesting toys, nope, on the floor to play with the mat with dancing toys, nope, swing, nope, on the stomach, nope, on the couch, nope, eating, nope, teething rings, nope, tylenol, nope, teething tablets, works for a second but nope, then I resolve in wrapping him up and making him take a nap, after 10 minutes of the screeching and worrying that the neighboors will think I'm neglecting him I give in and start this ALL over... this is my day. After a LONG day of screeching and trying EVERYTHING to please him, he finally napped yesterday and when I came back into the living room you would have thought we had two babies! There were baby chairs and toys and activities and stuff just everywhere, I realized that this is now Xander's house and Chris and I just live there! haha

Other news...

We have put our Christmas tree up! Xander is not very interested as of yet...

We had our first snow! Xander stared at it in amazement, I don't have a pic of him in the snow but I have one of him all bundled up when we got to the office...


Last bit of news, Chris and I got an AMAZING night off this past Saturday(Thanks to Aunt Mary and Uncle Len and Grandma Nancy!), we went to Chris' company's annual Christmas Party. It was at Sandia Casino/Resort. We danced and had a fabulous time, MUCH needed! They even gave us chips to gamble with, but Chris and I aren't much for gambling so after losing $10 and then winning $14 we cashed the chips in and decided to put an order in for breakfast-in-bed, and it was the best idea yet! At 9:30am breakfast arrived, we laid in bed ate, relaxed, watched the news and cuddled, before we packed up to go pick up our baby boy. Definitely a wonderful weekend!
A picture of us before the party...

Blue eyes...

Look at those big beautiful blue eyes! You have to admit that is one pretty baby boy!
Xander chewing on his new teething beads, he loves them. Between those and teething tablets my sanity is saved! haha

A few more Thanksgiving pictures to share, hope you enjoy them!

Mommy and Xander on Thanksgiving


Daddy and Xander


Grandma Nancy and Xander (my mom)


Aunt Danielle and Xander (Chris' sister)


Me, Chris, Xander, Grandma Ruth (Chris' mom) and Aunt Danielle

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Just a couple of Thanksgiving pictures before I'm off to bed!

Xander before two Thanksgiving dinners...


Xander after...

(I don't think he was happy I was taking the picture ha ha)

We just want to say our little family is so Thankful this year for all the wonderful family and friends we have that have done so many amazing things for us and baby Xander this past year, we are truly blessed.
We hope you all had a Thanksgiving that was happy and filled with as much love as ours were!

~The Pierre Family~

Teething!!!

Yes you read it right, teething! Already! Xander is 4 months old today, and yesterday he started teething! From what I've read this normally happens around 7 months, but can happen as early as 3 months (in rare cases earlier) or as late as 12. Chris and I have come to realize Xander doesn't like to do anything "normal"! ha ha

So here's the story... Yesterday started out pretty average, I should also mention all week, especially Friday he was like a faucet with the drool, first sign, anyways I had plans to go grocery shopping in the morning, then Grandma Nancy was going to take Xander for the night so Chris and I could celebrate our 6 year anniversary (Yay us!), well I should learn never to make plans by now. When I gave Xander his 2nd bottle of the day he started to drink it then started screaming, we fought back and forth like this, he was so hungry but every time I gave him the bottle he just cried more and more, it got to the point where he was just crying and crying, only soothed by walking him around the house distracting him. But he couldn't eat, all day we tried to feed him, he maybe had 2 ounces out of each of his afternoon bottles, and he was so obviously in pain, he couldn't stop crying. Of course Chris and I tried everything the baby book said, tylenol, teething rings - I have like 10 of these all too big for his tiny little mouth, and he can't hold them in by himself, he can put stuff in his mouth but he's not that coordinated yet especially when it's so big for his mouth, I tried rubbing his gums - as the book instructed and that's when it was 100% definite he as teething, he screamed his little head off when I put any pressure, Chris made an emergency trip to Walgreens for baby oragel which only stopped his crying when he tasted how sweet it was then proceeded with the screaming. Needless to say, it was a LONG day. I felt so terrible for him, he seemed just SO SO miserable! Around 7:30pm he finally calmed down, drank almost a whole bottle and played with Chris and I (doing EVERYTHING to distract him) until almost 9:00 when he went to bed.
He's doing better today, I have stopped putting rice cereal in his bottles like I normally do, from what I can tell the cereal was making him have to suck harder and it was hurting him, with just formula he doesn't hardly have to suck and it's easier. I tested this theroy this morning, I was right. Other than that he's ok today, not too cranky, calmer, but still not totally happy.
This afternoon I'm going to make another attempt at the grocery store.

Also any suggestions, advice, anything is welcome on this subject, I knew it was coming but was in a bit of denial all week about it, I guess I figured it wouldn't happen so soon. We will be holding off on trying his first veggie (we were hoping this week) until he's gotten through this teething thing, or at least gotten more used to it, no need to rush. I wanted to let everyone know that his 4 month doctor appointment and shots that were due this Monday have been rescheduled to December 3rd : ( But mom and I did try to weigh him the other day (we took turns holding him on the scale) he's between 14 and 15lbs! And has now grown out of the 3-6months clothes (but only in length, he's still wearing size 1 diapers! He's got a tiny butt!)

Lots of New Discoveries!

First Xander sitting on the couch all by himself like a big boy! He sits SO well!


Sorry it's been so long since I've put up a new blog! We've been very busy, so this will be a long one.

Xander has had so many exciting discoveries recently I've actually had to keep a list going so I didn't forget to tell you guys everything! Where to start...

Well Xander is now ticklish! Starting last Friday night, Chris tried to tickle him to see what would happen (this hasn't worked before), Xander curled into a ball and giggled and laughed like I've never seen him! HUGE smiles and big laughs, it was amazing! Then when I was out Saturday Chris tried it again, he said he laughed so hard he couldn't believe it! After a while Xander started to figure out what daddy was doing and before Chris could even tickle him he curled into a ball and started giggling in anticipation! We haven't gotten him to do it again yet, but I think you have to catch him in the right mood.
What else is new? Xander knows his name! He'll respond when I say his name by looking at me and usually smiling. I think he's definitely figured out that he's Xander, or at least that Xander is a good thing. When I put the blanket over his head and we play "Where's Xander?" He gets SO excited when I find him and say his name. Also he has discovered his face in the mirror. I'm not sure if he realizes that the baby in the mirror is him, but he sures stares and stares at that baby when you put him in front of a mirror. He becomes mezmorized. It's very cute.
Next he has discovered that when he gets dressed he needs to push those little arms through the holes and then he can resume sucking on his hands (probably his favorite activity by far). Now when we get dressed it's a big help that he searches for the arms holes himself and pushes his little arms through before I even get the chance to help him. He's so independent!
We are starting to think he will be walking before he crawls. He tries to stand up alot more often and when sitting tries to push his legs into the stands position. Of course he can't do it himself but he tries and tries. I have also figured out a new trick to getting him to take naps at the office, make it dark. He's just like his mommy when it comes to this (if you've ever seen me sleep you know I still use one of those eye covers because I can't sleep with ANY light) Xander has been napping better at the office since I've figured this out. I had started to notice when he gets sleepy he tries to put the bunny on top on his head and over his eyes. I thought maybe he's trying to make it dark, I was right. So now at the office I can put him in the swing, leave him in the back room with the light dimmed and he'll sleep as long as I will let him, it's wonderful!
My favorite new discovery is that he likes mommy! ha ha He is actually starting to favor me over other people! This is such a first, because Xander has always been pretty happy with whoever, as long as you hold him he's happy. After he went to his Grandma Ruth's last week I started to notice. We got him home, I knew he HAD to be starved because they had just started to feed him when I picked him up, but I thought we'd just wait till we got home, he'd have a bottle and go to bed. But when we got home he could care less about the bottle. He just was so happy to be home for the first time! He was VERY smiley and giggly and he just played and smiled at Chris and I for about an hour before he realized he was hungry again! Then we've noticed the last few days, he follows me with his eyes when I leave the room. He seems to be favoring me holding him too. I love it!
Bedtime... Chris and I have also been working on getting him to take naps and go to bed without the 30 minutes of rocking him to sleep it has been taking. Mommy's back was starting to suffer severely so we decided it was time he started working on falling asleep on his own. He already sleeps great in his crib, but I was resorting to a boucing, rocking, pacing routine that was getting difficult as he gets bigger and bigger. He's actually doing pretty well on his own. Usually he won't cry until he's escaped his swaddle, then we'll go back in re-wrap him, start the music again for him and say goodnight. At first it was difficult, considering I can't handle him crying AT ALL, but it's actually starting to work! He is crying less and less each time, now it's down to no more than a couple minutes.
So I'm sure you all remember me mentioning Grandma and Grandpa Simpson coming to visit. They drove all the way here from Michigan, and we were SO SO happy to see them! Xander had a wonderful time and I think he really loved having Grandma and Grandpa around. I think they may have liked it too! ha ha Bailey (our dog if you don't know) may miss them more than any of us, I think he was liking all the extra attention. He's done really wonderful since Xander's been home, but I think he still feels left out and a bit neglected. Grandpa took him for 4 walks a day (maybe more I lost count)! He was just plain spoiled, and he loved it! Of course I was a bit spoiled too, I came home Monday from work and my kitchen was taken over, I didn't mind it one bit. My house smelled like Grandma and Grandpa's house, it was heaven! We were all sad to see them go. We wish they lived closer, but they have promised us a weekend visit here and there more often, and we are holding them to that! Chris and I are planning on driving to Michigan first chance we get, hopefully next summer, as long as Xander can handle it, we're going for it!
Oh also, here are a couple pictures!

Grandpa and Xander, do you recognize that Simpson nose?


Grandma and Xander!

I love Rock'n roll!

Or maybe just twinkle twinkle little star! haha Well the past 2 days Xander has developed a fondness for music. He was not in the least bit interested in anything musical before, he just ignored it. Aunt Judy sent him this wonderful Baby Einstein toy that goes in his crib, it has a screen with fish that swim and light up. It plays baby versions of classical music like Mozart and Bach. When we recieved it I was so excited I put batteries in it right away and put it in the crib. Xander on the other hand was not at all amused, much to my disappointment. I was sad that he might not like this toy or enjoy the music at all. I guess he was just too young for it still, because yesterday I switched it on, just for the heck of it, to see what would happen, and he turned his entire body towards it and became entranced! It was amazing, he LOVED it. Then today the strangest thing... I put him in his swing at work, which I was worrying he was starting to outgrow due to the fact that every time I put him in it he cries after about a minute, so I put him in it one more time just to try it, but this time I turned on the music, for the first time in forever, and he stared and stared at the place where the music was coming out and then fell asleep! When I tried to turn the music off, after he'd been out for a while, he instantly woke up and I had to turn it back on! He is growing so fast and everyday is a new discovery for him (and me).

On another subject I just have to say, I'm itching like crazy to feed him baby foods, but his doc said to wait and we could start them after we discussed it at his next appointment on Nov. 24th. I'm trying to hold out till then. Maybe for thanksgiving he'll get to try sweet potatoes or carrots! That would be SO exciting! He already watches us so intently when we eat, I think he's very curious about it. He definitely is paying attention, which is a sign he's getting ready to eat. Hopefully he'll have his mom's taste and appetite, not his dad's! ha ha ha

Also I have to mention we are very very very excited to be expecting the arrival of Grandma and Grandpa Simpson all the way from Michigan this weekend! Xander can't wait to meet his Great-Grandparents and we are SO excited that they are able to make that LONG drive! We will share all the pictures and stories soon! So I might be slow on the blog for about a week or so.

Also here a couple new pictures one is Xander and daddy on Halloween, we didn't get many great Halloween pictures except for that morning because he didn't really like wearing the outfit for long stretches of time (good thing I didn't spend money on a costume!) Also I added a few to his photo album, note: the bunny is on his head by his choice, I tried to take it off and he put it back! What can I do?

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Halloween from Crystal, Chris and baby Xander!!!

He rolled over!!!

Yay!! We had our first roll over! It was friday evening (Oct. 24th). This is a big accomplishment for us! I was worried because Xander HATES being on his tummy! Which doesn't help for tummy time. It's been a bit of a struggle. We try to put him on his tummy on the couch with us as often as possible but he always cries after about 5-10minutes. I was worried about his neck strength but he seems to have a very strong neck and can already hold it up well when sitting. So back to the rolling over. He rolled over from back to stomach. It was kinda funny and very all of the sudden. Chris tells me to look and I realize he is balancing completely on his side. As soon as I saw it I grabbed the camera but only managed to get a few shots that don't look much like anything, but here they are...


We had a couple other fun first's this week, like playing with his first toys, enjoying music for the first time, first time watching cartoons (actually watching not just staring at the pretty colors!) and learning how to bend his legs so he slides out of any seat when I try to set him in it! I've been very busy but I will make sure to update soon! We are VERY excited for Halloween, Xander has 3, yes THREE, pumpkin costumes! Don't ask me how that happened, but needless to say he will be a pumpkin. Lots of pictures soon!

New Tricks and Old Favorites

Xander is learning faster than I can believe! He's SO smart it amazes me more and more every day! Not only has he mastered pretty much every skill he should have by the end of the 3rd Month but also all the 4th month skills! And he'll only be 3 months old tomorrow! I was reading my baby book last night in amazement as I checked off all the things he could already do. The biggest is his head and neck control. He is so strong and has been holding his head up and steady for about a month now. Also he is a big talker. He will talk and talk to you if you start a conversation with him. He has already started to make combinations of sounds like ah-goo which is a big skill to have down already! The most amazing is that he now turns in the direction of any voice, but knows my voice, Chris' voice and grandma Nancy's voice by sound and will look for us when he hears it.

He has also learned a couple new tricks. I'll try to describe them the best I can but bare with me.

First trick, Last week Xander was playing in Grandma Nancy's office by her desk. Mom called me into the room because she couldn't figure out what he was doing. He would curl up into a ball with his feet in the air and then slam them down on the ground sort-of spread eagle and make a funny thumping noise. Once mom and I discovered what he was doing we watched and laughed and encouraged him to do it again and again, and he did! It was so neat, he just kept laughing and slamming him legs on the ground and we'd laugh and he'd do it again. It was really amazing to see him do this trick. He still is performing this little trick but it's hard to get him started on it, once he gets what you want him to do he goes crazy.

Second amazing trick, Yesterday Xander had socks with grippers on the bottom of his feet. At lunch I set him in his blue chair, Mom came up to him and started playing with his feet. She asked him what was on the bottom of them and kept kissing them and showing them to him and playing with his feet. Quickly he caught on and started raising his feet in the air to show us the bottoms. We'd ask him, what's on your feet? and he'd present the bottoms in the air for us to see. He did this over and over and the more we laughed he laughed and did it again. Now I have to admit I've never really been around babies much so I'm not sure if they all do tricks like this, but I'm not thinking so. It's amazing how preceptive he is and how quickly he seems to pick up on things.

A favorite activity of Xander's is sitting on daddy's lap like a big boy. Often when I come home when the boys have been home alone I find them like this on the couch.

Aren't those the two most handsome men ever???

Old favorites, so now Xander has some well established favorites. First, his blankets. He enjoys cuddling with the small receiving blankets that we no longer use to wrap him up because he's too big. He likes to have the blanket up by his face so he can rub it against his cheek or chew on it if he chooses. He often falls asleep with it cuddled up next to his cheek. Also he has taken a clear liking to his bunny Aunt Judy sent him a few weeks ago. It small, white with purple inside the ears, says my first bunny on the tummy and rattles. This is by far his favorite thing and still the ONLY toy we have gotten him to even acknowledge. He likes it best when he has his blanket AND bunny. Blanket on one side of his face bunny on the other. He likes to chew on bunny most of all. I pick it up after he's been playing with it and it's always soaked with drool! He loves to cuddle him close and hug him too. It's really cute to watch him play with it. Yesterday he fell asleep with the bunny and the blanket on either side of him, it was SO adorable, but I didn't have the heart to take a picture and risk waking him from his nap. But here are a couple pictures of him and bunny.

Baby Manicure!

Anyone know where to get a good baby manicure? I wish! We could use one. Xander's nails are getting a bit out of control. Grandma-Nancy first tried clipping his nails a couple weeks ago, they weren't really too long at this point, she got through 2 nails before she accidently clipped the skin. It was very tramatizing for me and I've put it off since. Then last friday I woke up to discover a scratch right on Xander's adorable little nose! So I decided it was time to try to clippers again. Chris assisted and held his hand while I concentrated on trying to clip his nails. I got through one hand and two fingers of the next when I clipped him, bad! He bleed just a little but I was in tears when he started to cry. I think it may have hurt me more than him! ha ha Needless to say he was worn out and went to bed extra early friday night and consequently woke up at 4:30am Saturday. We will have to try again in a couple days because Mommy is getting scratched and I don't have the heart to put the little gloves on him he loves to chew his hands so much I don't think he'd like it very much.
A couple new pictures of Xander at the office one with Grandma Nancy, one hanging out by Mom's desk on the floor (aka his favorite place!)

Another exciting week!

Here are some fun new pictures (I also put several on his photo album for all to see!)
At the office with Mommy (wearing his balloon outfit for the balloon fiesta!)

Pumpkin Hat and Pumpkin socks for Halloween!




All dressed up in his winnie the pooh hoodie outfit!

Look at the froggie! Isn't that adorable!

We had a very eventful week last week, Xander made his first trip to a store (or any public place for that matter). Friday afternoon Grandma Nancy and Mommy really wanted to go to the fruit and veggie store to get some green chili and veggies to make green chili chicken stew (it was fabulous by the way!), but baby Xander was with us. I was very nervous since he hadn't been in a public place yet, except the doctor's office, Chris and I have managed to keep him pretty sheltered so far, thanks to my possibly irrational fear of germs and people touching him in the store, etc. But Mom convinced me it would be ok to take a quick trip to the veggie store, it's a small store by her house in the valley and not many people are usually there. Ofcourse when we arrived it was packed! More people than we've ever seen there before. The parking lot was full so I parked in the back, and as soon as I got Xander out of the car the wind picked up and sand was everywhere, including my eyes! I was very worried that he would get it in his eyes too so I quickly covered his little head with a blanket and rushed inside. Once inside I decided just to carry him around (left the car seat in the car) and he looked all around at everything. All the colors and smells, I think he was silent with amazement. It was really neat. He was (ofcourse!) perfectly behaved and didn't make a peep the entire time, he just looked around and clung to mommy's shirt. It was a pretty good experience overall.
On Saturday Daddy had to work and Mommy wanted to go grocery shopping with grandma, so Grandma Ruth and Aunt Danielle got to spend the day with Xander. I dropped him off around 12:00, his great grandma was over within a minute of our arrival, no one can resist that sweet baby boy! And he stayed all day until his bedtime at 8:00. Ofcourse around 1:30 while at the grocery store I started to miss him terribly! After heading to a couple stores and getting all the groceries put away, Chris and I decided to take a long saturday nap. It was wonderful! We haven't gotten one of those in too long. Xander did great at grandma's house but didn't get a good nap so he was cranky when he got home and we think he got a bit over stimulated because for the first time in week's he woke up in the middle of the night at 3am! Thankfully after being up so late or early, he slept in on Sunday morning.

Aren't I the cutest??

Yes I am! Xander in his new outfit at the office. 100% baby boy! Isn't he just the most handsome boy ever!


Dressed up in his warm jumper Grandma Nancy got him, isn't that the cutest?? He got to wear it for the first time yesterday, it was FINALLY cold enough! Yay!!


My first bunny! Playing with his first bunny that his Great-Aunt Judy sent him. This is his FAVORITE toy! Of course it's a bunny, just like his mommy. Aunt Judy sent this to him last week and he discovered it on the couch and has been in love with it ever since. So far this is the only toy we've gotten him to play with. He likes to eat his ears.

I just put ALOT more pictures up on his album, take a look and let us know what you think!

Peek-a-boo!!

Peek-a-boo! Xander has decided to play this new game with us! Xander has a new favorite thing, his blankets. He enjoys laying in his car seat with his blanket. He enjoys eating his blankets, and started to play peek-a-boo with his blankets now. He holds the blanket in front of his face and covers his eyes with it and squints and makes a funny face and then shows us his face again and smiles. I didn't catch a smile on camera but I caught him playing peek-a-boo with us! He did this over and over one day at the office while Grandma Nancy and Mommy took as many pictures as they could, needless to say I don't think alot of work was done that afternoon. It was probably a site to see us standing over him in his swing with our camera's trying to catch every cute look, taking picture after picture. He still tricks us with the smiles, and won't let mommy get one on camera no matter how hard she tries! (and believe me I tired ALOT this past week) He has the biggest smiles and giggles now I just want to share them with the world.

Xander also started to assert his independence this past week. He no longer let's Mommy just hold and cuddle him for no reason (unless he's tired). He likes to sit on the couch with Mommy and Daddy and talk and play or sit in his car seat with his blanket and talk to us.

Mommy is obsessively changing baby Xander's clothes as well. There are SO many absolutely adorable outfits that he still hasn't worn, and he seems to get bigger by the second! Mommy has tried dressing him different everyday, but somehow the cute outfits always get tossed aside for a nice comfy onsie. Fall is finally in the air and the weather here in New Mexico seems to be finally starting to cool down so maybe we can start getting him into some of the warmer outfits before he's too big. Mommy is considering having a bit of a fashion show before he outgrows all the cute stuff and just taking lots of pictures. I guess we'll see how it goes!

We have a routine!! Plus Milestones!

Yay!!!!! After this past weekend I am assured that Xander is now on a set routine. He had been doing awesome about bedtime and sleeping during the week, but on the weekend he seemed to be getting confused because we weren't going to work. The past two weekends his sleep schedule got confused and didn't go back to normal again till we were back at work on monday, but this past weekend, it stuck! He seems to have settled on a bedtime of about 8:00pm and wakes up around 7:15am. Which is like heaven for Mommy, I feel like I'm getting loads of sleep! Yay! In his bedtime bottle I have started giving him 2 tbsp. of rice cereal in his 8oz bottle. I was worried about him sleeping such long stretches and not eating, so that makes me feel a bit better about it. The Dr. said it was really a personal choice but as long as I was using such a small amount it wouldn't really change anything. She wants us to start cereal in a bowl at 4 months and was concerned that he would get used to having it out of the bottle and reject it on a spoon later, but when she heard the amount I was giving she said it wasn't an issue because it's not really enough to even get thick and I could continue doing it if I choose.

So Mommy has been keeping up on baby milestones in books and on websites and I am proud to say Xander is progressing amazingly!!
There are 3 catergories, one is mastered skills, stuff most kids can do by the end of that month, two is emerging skills, stuff about half of kids can do at that age, and three is advnaced skills, a few kids can do this stuff.

2 months skills (by the end of month 2):

First I'll start with the level one skills (this is stuff most kids can do):
~ Vocalizes: gurgles and coo's Check!
~ Follows objects across feild of vision Check!
~ Notices his hands Check!
~ Hold head up for short periods Check!

Level two skills: (about half of kids can do this stuff)
~ Smiles, Laughs Check!
~ Holds head at 45-degree angle Check!
~ Makes smoother movements Check!

Level three skills: (only a few kids can do this stuff!)
~ Holds head steady Check!
~ Can bear some weight on legs Check!
~ Lifts head and shoulders when Check!
lying on tummy (mini pushup)

And he even has started to master some of his 3 month skills early!
~ He already recoginizes Mommy's face and scent
~ And he already recoginizes both Mommy and Daddy's voices, and turns to look for us when he hears us, a Level two 3 months skill (only some kids can do this by the end of the 3rd month and he's not even to the end of month 2 yet!)

Finding his voice...

The past week or so Xander has really found his voice. He went from being a realtively quiet baby who only really made noise when he was hungry, to being a VERY outspoken little man! Xander has a wide vocal range including, cooing, ga's, goo's, and he even seems to purr like a kitten! haha He likes to have conversations with Daddy and Mommy. He'll lay on the couch or sitting on Daddy's lap (which he loves! He sits just like a big boy, it's adorable!) and just talk and talk and talk to us. It's so amazing, he has so much to say! We practice having conversations with him and he loves it. We talk and he goos and purrs and goes on and on. He also has taken to letting us know when he's not happy with what he's doing or wants to change positions. We rotate him between the Swing, his car seat (he likes that chair, ofcourse he doesn't like at all the nice chair great-grandma got for him that vibrates), laying on the couch with mommy and daddy, or sitting on the couch like a big boy. Once he has decided he is done with his current activity mommy and daddy wonder around moving him from place to place trying to figure out what location please's him next, and if we don't figure it out fast enough, boy does he let us know! He has a very specific hungry noise, so we always know when that's what he wants, and you would too if you heard it. Sometimes I think, he thinks he'll starve and we'll never feed him again because we can't get that bottle in his little mouth fast enough! Lately in the evening's he's gotten alot fussier because he is tired after a long day at work with mommy and can't decide what he wants. So Mommy discovered that a bath always does the trick! He LOVES the bath and is always relaxed after. Yesterday he was very fussy and didn't like a thing so I gave him a bath and afterward he sat in his carseat and talked to us for almost an hour before he ate and went to bed. We also experienced several big smiles and laugh's this week. Mommy loved his smile's but it was obvious in the beginning they were just gas, but now we got the real thing! He gives us huge smiles, although we've yet to capture one on camera : ( The other day while on his changing table he had his first laugh, Mommy was changing him and we we're talking and I was showing him the big pooh bear on the new diaper I was about to put on him and suddenly he gave me the biggest smile and laugh! I called Chris in right away and we just stared at him and talked to him while he smiled and laughed at us, it was great!

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for all the amazing clothes that have been given to us, his dresser and closet is overflowing! But please no more newborn or 0-3 months sizes. He has grown so much he's about to have to switch to 3-6 months in the next couple weeks. He has so many adorable outfits Mommy has been trying to put him in a different one everyday and take pictures. We can't believe how fast he has grown! He went from all of his clothes being giant on him at birth to filling out all his clothes very well now, only 2 months later! I worry he won't get to wear everything before he moves up in size and there are a few smaller outfits he never got to wear that now he just won't fit in. Mostly it's the long sleeve, long pants outfits, because it has been, and still is, just too warm for him to wear stuff like that. Since he sleeps swaddled in his miracle blankets he can't sleep in anything but a onsie or he wakes up because he's too hot.

2 months!!! Already???

I can't believe Xander's two months old already! I've been trying to get this blog started for the past two months to keep everyone updated on his progress and our adventures, but mommy has been very very busy! I'm back to work full-time and so is Xander. He LOVES coming to the office with mommy and Grandma Nancy. Since we've been back full-time he's been having such big days he started sleeping all night long! I still can't believe it. I thought it would never happen. It started about 2 weeks ago, we had an expecially big day of work and then went to Great-Grandma June's house to see their new puppy and show off how big he had gotten after work. Well we didn't get home till almost 6:00pm and after eating and his bath my baby boy fell aslepp at 7:30pm and slept until 6:00am! Ofcourse Mommy still woke up at 3am, 4am and 5am wondering why he was still asleep and terrified that he wasn't ok. Ofcourse he was just fine and started sleeping about 9 hours every night since. Mommy and Daddy are grateful to be getting full nights sleep now, who ever thought Chris and I would consider 8 hours ALOT of sleep! ha ha

Yesterday Xander had his 2 month Doctor Appointment and the dreaded first shots! Mommy was especially nervous about the shots. First, the good stuff, Xander is growing growing growing! He's now 10lbs. 10oz and 22.5inches, up almost 5lbs. from birth! She said he was eating great, although Mommy was concerned because he eats 7oz at a time, which is alot more than most babies his age, but the doc said that he was doing great and not to be concerned, escpecially since we were lucky enough to have a baby that was sleeping all night long. Everything else looked great, she checked him all out and said he was coming along perfectly and she had no concerns. Then it was time for the shots. He recieved 3 shots total, in his legs, two in one and one in the other. The nurse was amazing and did one after another really quickly for us. There was a slight delay in his reaction when the first one went in, but then his whole face turned bright red and he made the face that Mommy hates to see, and he cried real tears! He's never done that before! Confirming Daddy's suspicions that he doesn't really cry ever, he just complains a little until he gets what makes him happy, Daddy thinks he's spoiled, but that's ok with me for now, as long as he's happy! ha ha I admit there were tears in my eyes when I saw him in that much pain. It was torture for me. Ofcourse then it was all over and we are stuck in the doctor's office with a baby that was now inconsolable. I quickly took him outside to relax while Daddy made his 4 month appointment. As soon as we got outside in the sunshine Xander started to relax and realize he was going to be ok.