January 8, 2015 (9 Months)

Alex is 9 months old!

Alex has mastered the art of cruising along furniture and is now working on climbing the stairs. He can make it up about 4 steps before he starts to fall backward, tries to turn around, or gives up and sits down.

Alex has a turtle night light that sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as he falls asleep. I knew he liked it but didn’t realize how much until I found him using it as a pillow one nap.

 

Alex loves to play, he gets a huge kick out of playing Peek-A-Boo especially with his big brother. He also really loves to be chased and crawls as fast as he can giggling all the way.

Alex absolutely loves bath time. If he is ever having a fussy night all we have to do is give him a bath; he cheers up as soon as he sees us filling the tub. He splashes around happily and especially loves running water and bubbles.

Poor Alex caught the stomach bug that made its way around our entire household over Christmas. We tried to make the most of it and still opened presents but the poor thing wasn't overly excited about it. Some highlights of his gifts included a picnic set, a toy phone, a lullabye teddy bear, and soft play food.

 

Alex's menu now features finger foods including puffs, peas, cheese, tofu, avocado, banana slices, berries, and bread. He happily feeds himself while the rest of us eat our dinner.

 



Alex has become quite a little Mama's boy and has started to experience some separation anxiety when Mommy leaves the room. He loves to be held and snuggled.

Alex still only has his 2 bottom center teeth but his top left lateral incisor is working on poking through.

December 8, 2014 (8 Months)

Alex is 8 Months old!!!

After mastering crawling, Alex quickly moved on to learning how to pull himself up to standing. All he wants to do is stand! He stands up every chance he gets and is starting to slowly cruise along furniture.

Despite the colder temps Alex still enjoys getting some fresh air outside.

Alex played with play dough for the first time, he wasn't too sure what he was supposed to do with it.

 

Alex loves to have his picture taken, whenever he sees the camera he gets a big smile!

Alex now has both his bottom front teeth, he was miserable for several days while they came in :(

November 8, 2014 (7 Months)

Taking Alex's monthly picture is getting much more difficult now that he is so mobile!

Alex is crawling!!! He did his first couple crawls on Halloween night and within a week he could crawl across the room. The best way to entice him to get moving is to try and fold a load of laundry on the other side of the room.

For Halloween Alex was a penguin and he also wore the dinosaur costume that Andrew wore on his first Halloween. It was a cold night but Alex was a trooper trick or treating with his big brother.

Alex likes to exercise, he does a lot of "planks" and his favorite yoga pose is "downward dog."

Alex loves to be outside and had fun playing in the leaves!

Alex is continuing to do well with solid foods. His menu now contains broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, avocado, carrots, banana, peas, spinach, potatoes, apple, pear, cantaloupe, yogurt. We haven't found anything that he doesn't like yet and are looking forward to trying new foods and more complex combinations.

Changing Alex's diaper is becoming increasingly challenging as he tries to roll, push off, kick his feet, eat his toes, and just in general squirm. Usually it is with a smile on his face and lots of giggles, he is lucky he is so cute!

Alex can sit himself up now and also likes to practice standing and leaning against things.

Alex has very inconsistent sleep habits. His naps range from half an hour to three hours. On good nights he will wake only once to eat and go back to sleep until 6am. Other nights we will wake two or three times or get up for the day at 4am. We are blaming the time change!

Alex has adjusted to sleeping unswaddled; a lot of times he falls asleep while feeding but when he is put down awake he usually is able to put himself to sleep.

Alex is a really happy guy, it is easy to make him smile and giggle just by smiling at him and making faces. He is also really ticklish!

October 8, 2014 (6 Months)

Alex continues to be a very good natured, happy, smiley, content baby! He accompanies us happily wherever we need to go. Some of our more fun outings this past month include the Milwaukee Zoo, Schuster's Farm, and Door Creek Apple Orchard.

Alex has started eating "solid" foods and is loving them! So far he has had sweet potatoes, bananas, avocados, apples, and carrots. We can't seem to get the spoon to his mouth fast enough!

Alex wants to crawl SOOO bad! He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks forward so it won't be long. Even without crawling he gets around really well with rolling, scooting, and army crawling.

Alex was sleeping really well until one unfortunate night when he rolled onto his belly while swaddled and so we had to pack the swaddle blankets away. He is now working on adjusting to sleeping unswaddled and it has been an adjustment! Naps are shorter and he wakes several times during the night. The good news is he wakes up happy and ready to play!

Alex loves to be outside. He enjoys sitting in the grass, swinging, going for walks, and of course stroller rides with his big brother.

 

 

 Alex loves to get his picture taken. Whenever he sees the camera he is always more than happy to look and smile :)

 

 

 

 

 

September 8, 2014 (5 Months)

At 5 months Alex is a very happy and content baby!

Alex is a quiet observer most of the time but is starting to find his voice.  He is full of smiles and giggles, he especially delights in silly faces and voices and being held above your head.

Alex has finally won the battle with thrush and his clogged tear duct has resolved itself! Life is good!!!

Alex now really enjoys floor time and is getting quite strong.Whenever he is placed down on his back he immediately rolls over to his tummy and does a push up. He rolls all over the place and can scoot himself forward by pulling with his arms and pushing off with his feet.

We took Alex swimming a couple times last month but he was pretty indifferent about it. He wasn't fussy but not really happy either, just kind of took it all in quietly.

Alex went on his first camping adventure at Pride of America campground. He did great and really seemed to enjoy all the outside time.

Alex went through a rough patch where he was waking up 2-4 times every night but *fingers crossed* he seems to be back on track waking to eat only once a night around 3am.

Alex continues to like bathtime and has now taken a couple baths in the tub with his big brother who likes to help wash his hair and pour water on him.