Sippy Cup Success!

In the past few weeks Xander has really started to transition to solids eating what would equal to about 2 jars of baby food per feeding and only taking about 2-3 oz of formula at a time. Although we do have our off days where he'll only drink the bottle and won't eat, but those days are starting to get few and far between. The challenge lately has been the dreaded "sippy cup". The problem was Xander would just chew on the hard spout on the lid and didn't like to drink out of it really. No matter how hard I tried or what I put in it I just couldn't get him to pick it up and drink himself, he'd only drink if I held it for up for him and only small sips. So I did a little research and I read online a recommendation for a Nuby Sippy Cup So this past week I was at babies'r'us buying yet another baby gate in our attempt at somewhat containing our little crazy man, and I picked one up. I got home put some juice in it set it on his high chair tray and turned my back to do the dishes. When I turned back to check on him, he was holding the sippy cup drinking the juice! He chugged down half a the cup, I was shocked! The lid is the same type of material as a nipple so it was just so much easier for him to get the hang of it. I tried to get the camera out for a picture but he threw the sippy cup at me, ahhh the adventures of motherhood! lol

Hugs!

Xander started giving hugs this week! I mean not just letting me hug him but actually reaching out, grabbing me, hugging me tight and just holding on. It's the best feeling in the world! Chris thinks he's using it to get what he wants with me, and I have to admit he MAY be right about that, but I'll worry later. Right now I'm loving all the hugs I can get, it's SO sweet! After being gone Sunday afternoon for a couple hours Xander hugged me when I got home for a good two minutes straight. And I'm not the only one around here getting hugs, Xander will stop and hug his stuffed animals as he crawls by them, he'll even crawl up to the dog lay his head on him and give him a hug and then go on playing, it's just about the cutest thing you ever saw.

A few fun pictures...

Xander LOVES to climb in his toy boxes (I once caught him doing a head stand into one!)




This is how I almost always find Xander in the morning or after a nap, standing in his bed chewing on the rail or the bunny music box, those teeth are trouble!






And finally Xander at the office... we have our challenging days, but of course we always see the lighter side of things and take LOTS of pictures! ha ha

Cheerios, Cats and Ducks!

Yesterday Xander found the box of Cheerios I was snacking on. He grabbed the box reached inside and began pulling out little handfuls or what we now like to call "O's", I was worried he'd choke but I held back and let him do his thing. And he was fine, of course! He sat and ate O's out of the box for a good 15-20 minutes, while Grandma Nancy and I sat and took picture after picture, it was pretty cute!

Xander also learned two NEW words this week! CAT and DUCK!
We'll start with CAT... My sister Samantha got our mom a mother's day card with a picture of a cat on the front (shown below)

When we walked into the office Tuesday morning it was sitting on mom's file cabinet. Xander spotted it right away and would not take his eyes off it. So we pulled it down and told him this is a CAT, we said CAT maybe 3-4 times and next thing you know Xander whispered "cat" perfectly! It was amazing! Well he went crazy from there saying "CAT" over and over all day, carrying the card around the office everywhere he went. When we got home he "showed" daddy the cat, well actually he shoved the picture of the cat in his face and said "cat!" over and over, he also did this to our dog, poor bailey! ha ha
The next day we were playing with a stuffed toy duck my good friend Jenna got Xander for Easter, mom and I told him duck, I think we maybe said it twice and next thing you know he whispers ever so carefully "duck", it was amazing! So once again when daddy came home he had to show him the duck and say duck and of course he showed the dog too! We're going to try to teach him at least a word every other day, next word I'm thinking will be either ball or hat!

Outside!

The weather is FINALLY warm and we are finally all feeling better. So Xander and I went to Grandma Nancy's yesterday afternoon and played outside. Xander's still not fond of grass, I think it's too pokey for him ha ha, but he enjoyed playing in his play pen under a tree in the shade : )
Isn't that little hat just the cutest?

Four words!!

Xander's vocabulary now consists of 4 words! Ma-ma, Da-da, Ba-ba, and Dog. He learned Ba-ba last week. At mealtimes I hold up his bottle and say ba-ba, he'll repeat it over and over until he gets it. He started saying dog every now and then this week and yesterday when he went to his Grandma Ruth's for the day, he looked at the dog's and said dog over and over all day. Which continued when he got home, over and over, nothing but dog, it was very cute! He's growing up so fast I really can't believe it!

No, no...

This week we are learning Boundaries... ha ha I read in my baby books it's about the right time to start working on discipline. Although that can be difficult with a wild, curious, exceptionally adventurous 9 month old. He has started to show some understanding of the word "no" and shakes his head side to side when I say "no". We started with just a corner, a corner of un-baby proofed room, it's next to the fireplace and it's where the plugs for the tv and cable go into the wall, kinda hard to baby proof. So I thought it would be a good place to start teaching Xander boundaries. When he goes near this "off-limits" corner, I say "no, no" and shake my head no, Xander will look at the corner then at me and then shake his head "no, no, no" at the corner. It's very cute. Sometimes he will heed my warnings and go on to play somewhere else, but other times he will test those limits. He'll inch closer and closer, while watching me, as soon as I get up to stop him he goes for it! haha Then he goes into his play pen for a "time out" not really much of a punishment, just a good way to re-focus that energy and re-enforce consequences. He'll play in the playpen for about 10-15minutes than I take him out and give him back the freedom to crawl all over his play room again. I think it's working... we'll see!

Not the Swine Flu!

Ha ha! Xander and I have been sick for the past week. He had a fever on Sunday and started acting cranky. It continued to Thursday, and on Wednesday I gave in and took in to the doctor. I guess all the news got to me, but he had a fever of a 100 for 4 days and I got worried. Doctor said everything was fine, just a normal virus, nothing we could do but what we were doing and wait it out : ( It was a LONG week. Xander just was unhappy in general, he didn't want to play unless he sat on my lap, I'd put him down and he'd just crawl up my legs until I'd pick him back up and he actually laid on my lap for long stretches of time and watched tv! Which he never does, he doesn't even acknowledge the tv most of the time. It was so sad, but kinda adorable too. He's been extra cuddly, which I couldn't help but enjoy. I must say it is VERY hard to be sick with a sick little one. I never even got the chance to really "feel" sick because I was so worried about taking care of Xander. We both felt MUCH better as of yesterday.
So it's been a while since I've posted an update, but I hardly touched my computer all week. LAST week on my birthday Xander had his 9 month well-baby check-up, no shots this time, yay! Just a little prick on his toe to check his blood to see if he was anemic, unfortunately he is. Not a big deal the doctor said, I guess it's pretty normal at this age, he's just not getting enough iron. She gave us a multi-vitamin/iron supplement, which he HATES to take (of course). I asked her what I could feed him to get more iron in his diet, but she said leafy green veggies is the best thing and she didn't seeing him eating a salad anytime soon! ha ha She said not to worry that the supplement was more than enough, there wasn't much more I could do at this age. She also gave us the go ahead to try almost any foods! With the exception of cow's milk, honey, eggs and peanut butter. She also told us in 3 more months we can start switching off of formula to cow's milk and work on making his diet mostly solid food based. For some reason this makes me very nervous! The bottle has been so easy and convenient. Just grab a bottle really quick and feed him in a couple minutes. Now I have to come up with 3 new baby safe meals a day! Mom and I went to the library yesterday and I got a couple good books to help with some ideas. Doctor said to start trying it ALL, meats, veggies, juices, pastas, baked potatoes, everything! I think it will be very exciting for Xander, he seems to really enjoy eating.
His weight at this appointment was 17lbs 4oz, Height 28inches. She said he slipped a bit behind in his weight percentile but not to worry. It's because he's crawling constantly now and just SO active. That's very true, he IS active. He pulls up to standing on everything now, climbs all over his chairs and toys and is quite the little acrobat! The baby gates I purchased are just inches too small and I need to get extenders so we have a small barricade across one of our living rooms (more like Xander's play room), he likes to search out weak points or holes and squeeze through. This morning I set him in the middle of the room and went down the hall to the bath room, next thing I know I hear a pitter patter coming down the hall, I walk out the door and there is Xander crawling down the hall coming to find me, the barricade needed some re-enforcing ha ha
His vocabulary is broadening too, he is now saying ma ma, but not often enough for me, he said it several times on the days he was really sick. AND he is saying ba ba! I have been showing him his bottle and saying ba ba for a while now, and he's started saying it back when I show him the bottle this week! Not every time, he's pretty selective when he chooses to talk. He also seems to be working on "Dog" or more of a Dohg or Doh, but he's getting there!
Well I better get going, I think Xander's waking from his morning nap, Breakfast Time! I have MUCH more to say and will post again soon!
Oh and sorry Grandma, no pictures still, can't find that camera cord ANYWHERE! : (