Busy, Busy, busy!

We've just been busy around here recently- busy doing nothing! Xander is continuing his relentless quest to crawl and walk at the same time. I'm not sure what he is going to do first! today he pulled himself fromt he floor to a standing position- the first time he has done that. He is growing up so fast. He is starting to make word like sounds now- ba ba ba is his fav. We keep trying to get him to say ma ma or da da but everything is ba ba! He is eating much better, plowing through 3 meals a day and chomping on his sippy cup like a champ! Last thurs after our staff mtg at work I weighed him and he is up to 17lbs 2 oz! How fast they grow! I keep trying to figure out how to upload videos without having to download them to you tube but so far no luck. Not that my videos are of the greatest quality but whatev! I'm to impatient to wait for vid to upload!

Rosy cheeks!

I love Xander's rosy cheeks in this picture. He had just gotten up from a nap and he was very excited to be held by his daddy! Mind you about 2 minutes after I took this picure he spit up all over himself! His shirt was dirty already so...it's just more laundry (Daddy should know better than to squeeze him after he just had a belly full of milk!) He has taken to pulling himself up on everything recently. We had to lower the mattress in the crib and he isn't allowed to sleep in the cradle anymore b/c yesterday morning he fell out of it as he tried to climb over the side! Luckily he sort of slid down the side of the bed and landed on a pillow that had fallen on the floor so he was fine! I somehow didn't realize that in the pic on the right he stil had carrots all over his face. Apparently he doesn't like carrots all that much b/c he tends to just smear them all over his face whenever he eats! He had started with the sippy cup and does pretty well for the most part. He got it right into his mouth on the first try but I think he likes to chew on it more than he likes to suck! He quite enjoys his Veggie Booty though... he only gets about hald of each puff in his mouth though and the rest always seems to end up in his lap. The trials and tribulations of feeding a baby!

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!