Xander gets a little red wagon!

So Grandma and Grandpa Linnenbringer bought Xander a "little" red wagon (supposed to be just like the one Frank had when he was a little boy but we had to compromise a little since they don't make that kind anymore!) for Xander for Christmas. Grandpa very graciously put it together for us and Xander gave it a whirl. As you can see he thought it was awesome! I think he was most excited by the fact that he could grab onto the sides and pull himself up- much to mommy's dismay as he just about tumbled out- luckily the sides are too high for him to do that quite yet so his head is protected for a little while longer.

Xander is 7 months old!

Where has the time gone...It's hard to believe that my little man is already 7 months old! This is a pic with him and his grandpa this afternoon. He has his grandpa wrapped around his little finger! He especially loves climbing all over him while he is trying to relax on the couch- It's like the grandpa jungle gym! He also has his grandma wrapped around his other little finger. She's been having fun feeding him and giving him baths the last few days. Xander has finalyl decided that solid food is a good way to go and opens his mouth like a champ thses days. He has now eaten peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, peaches, and pears. The next step is apples I think. We bought a started pack of 1st baby foods in jar from the store but now that his range of foods has expanded we'll start in on the foods that I pureed from the garden. Zucchini is not exactly a first food however! He has broccoli, pumpkin, apples (from Alison's Orchard), green beans, peas, zucchini, and butternut squash all ready and waiting for him. That way we can cut out having to buy all those extra jars of baby food- event though they are awfully cute!

Xander's First Christmas!

Well I am not sure that Xander cared all that much about Christmas but he had fun eating the wrapping paper. He enjoyed very much his gift from Reba and Jeff (a color kalidescope from baby einstein) until he dropped it on his feet- whoops! Other favs were the wheels off his wooden cars and the rings from his stacker. He especially enjoyed his steering wheel but I got tired of the incessant beep, beep, beep very quickly so the sound got turned off for a little while- maybe eventually I'll turn it back on. Hopefully Frank will enjoy his dehydrator- personally I am looking forward to some strawberry fruit roll ups come next June! I got some new patterns so hopefully while the in-laws are here this week Lynn will consent to babysit so I can dissapear into my sewing room- he he he! Merry Christmas to all!

Like Father, Like son!

So Xander has developed a fasination with remote control- well actually with anything that has buttons really but the remote is his special favorite! Now he has his own remote for the TV b/c it became impossible to even change the volume let alone select a program to watch with him in the vicinity. mmmmm, boy much....

Xander's 6 month appointment

So last Friday Xander had his 6 month Dr appointment. He has caught up with his head circumference, although he still has a small head. Length wise he is now 26 inches tall so for now he can stay in his infant carseat but not for much longer- it's good up to 26 inches! Luckily I already got a new carseat for my car and my mom had gotten one for Frank's car awhile ago. Weight wise however he fell off his growth chart...he is a little over 16 lbs now. The scale at the dr's office is in decimal points so I am not sure exactly how many ozs over 16 lbs. He had gained weight since I took him in for his rash though so that is a good thing. The Dr said he looked very healthy but we'd need to keep an eye on his weight. I think he is just his father's son- skin and bones until he turned 30! He's so busy all the time now and eating is just not a priority for him! We've been working on adding solid foods to his diet but so far he's really not that interested. He hasn't quite figured out that he needs to open his mouth in order for us to put food in. Usually he needs an entire outfit change post- eating. He's doing better yesterday and today though- my mom was watching him today and she said he ate pretty well! I wanted to avoid starting fruits until he had the veggies down better (trying to avoid too much sweet stuff) but I finally gave in and offered him bananas just to try to get him to eat. He's been waking up a lot at night to eat recently so I hope he starts to get some extra calories from solids so I can get some sleep! We have to go back to the Dr in a month for a weight check. He has also developed baby exczema. I'm hoping that it is just remnants of the rash that he had a few weeks ago lingering, but the dr said tha some of the spots on his leg looked exczema like and given the family hx- poor little guy is doomed. I am sure that his dry skin isn't being helped by the constant dry air caused by the wood furnace though. I need to invest in a couple of dehumdifiers for the house. Other than that he is loving hisnew daycare arrangement. I think he really enjoys the stimulation of the other children and they love him! This week though he gets to spend some quality time with Ninny who is staying with us so she can babysit for my work days this week. I'll add some pics when i find my camera- it's buried in the diaper bag somewhere...think I need a smaller diaper bag?!? but then where would I put all his cloth dipes, LOL. PS- check out what Cassie did to Xander's paci- she seems to really like them!

Xander is six months old!

I can't believe that Xander is already six months old! Oh how the time has flown... He is sitting up pretty much unassisted now and can roll (and frequently does) from back to belly but as yet has not figured out how to roll from belly to back. He likes to get on his belly and then either spin in circles or scoot across the hardwood floor. I keep finding him in the most random spots. The other day he managed to wiggle himself into the corner between the wall and the sofa and get himselfwedged so he couldn't turn back around. Needless to say he wasn't too happy about that! I miss the days when he would stay where I put him and I am not looking forward to the very near future when he can do more than scoot! He has his 6 month Dr apt on Friday so we'll find out ht and wt then.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving with my family. The best part was that we went over and spent Wednesday night at my mom's house so when Xander woke up at 6 am, which is his new habit, I fed him nd turned him over to Nan and we got to sleep till 9:30! Ahhh the forgotten joys of sleep...wish I could get some more today.

I included some pictures of our visit down to Reba and Jeff's house last week. Xander has discovered hair as you can see from Frank's face! And he loves to give kisses although for all who think they might want some I warn you they are pretty slobbery! It was the first time that Xander had met Laura so that was fun - although I think he was more interested in opening his present and eating the paper rather than being interested in the present itself! Thank you Laura for the Curious George doll. It was fun to see him actually rip off the paper on his own present. I think he will probably be too young to appreciate Christmas this year all that much but I can just see him trying to eat all that pretty paper- fun!

Well back to the grind!

long week....

It's been a long week! Having mastitis really threw me through a loop. I didn't get out of bed for days and then all I did was move to the couch. I'd feel great and then BOOM after a couple of hours I'd be back feeling lousy again. I've had no stamina whatsoever. We went over to the seacoast this weekend to do family pics for mom's christmas card and I wanted to do some shopping as well but boy did I pay today. I barely made it to work tonight. I think that allergies on top of being ill just made me feel as if I was walking around in a fog! I felt better a few hours after taking some allergy meds. Anyway despite being wiped today we did have a nice weekend with the famdamily. Xander enjoyed going to the busy mall- he really seemed to enjoy people watching! He was exhausted by the end of the day, heck he was tired by the time picture taking was over, but he kept fighting sleep- so cute. We got some really gorgeous pics of him so that was worth it! His individual pics were much better than the ones of him in the group but you can't win them all. He wore the outfit on the right in several of his pictures. Gotta love a baby in jeans. What can I say he is his father's son!