Week Thirty Five Pictures

I've uploaded the pics from last week and even did a separate post of Thanksgiving pictures. I also put them in order (Mon-Sun) of last week to keep things consistent.

Happy Birthday Moira!

Week Thirty Five: Pictures...

Week Thirty Five: Monday, November 19th - Sunday, November 25th, 2007

8 Month Official Picture

The 8 Month Glove shot... he just woke up from a nap and wasn't full ready to cooperate - hence the last picture where he had enough.

Thanksgiving Pictures

Here are pictures from Alexander's first Thanksgiving. We started out the morning with his official 8 Month pictures in Daddy's glove and then we went to Grammie & Grampie's. He wore a cute little argyle sweater & cords that Auntie Alyson gave him for a special occasion.

We had some food before a nap and you would have though he has never tried carrots or pears by the faces he made. Then we played with a bowl & a spoon and then we played with Grampie before bedtime.

Week Thirty Five Pictures...

On Friday we went to my aunt's house for a family gathering of my Mom's family. He wore yet another stylish outfit & looked quite dapper.

We got to see Nana & Papa, Sue, Moira & Charles, Arlene, Elizabeth, Cissy, Pitsy, Casey, Sean & Joann and all the gents...

Last Post of Last Week pics...

Lowkey weekend at home - playing with Daddy, eating, playing with spoons, drinking from a sippy cup

Week Thirty Five: At A Glance...

Week Thirty Five: Monday, November 19th - Sunday, November 25th, 2007

We had quite the busy week with the start of the Holiday season...The goal is to do a separate post about Alexander's first Thanksgiving.

• Says 'Da Da' and knows what it means...I'll ask Alexander where Da Da is and he'll look around until he finds him.
• Consistently waking up @ 5am this week but still going down to bed aroun 7:30pm each night
• Sleeping has been an issue this week - wakes up @ 5am but will wake up during the night crying & upset. I've tried to calm him, rock him or let him cry it out and nothing works except sleeping on my chest (which works like a charm)
• Does not want to finish his bottles. He'll push it away but then will finish it a bit later, if at all.
• Nods his head yes
  He was great in school all week
• Linda said he had one of his best days ever on Wednesday - constantly happy & laughing
• Still as yet to duplicate an outfit to school
• This week we ate: applesauce, squash, carrots, oatmeal, peaches, pears, Dutch Apples & Apple Blueberry
• He tugged on the hamper, so we put him in and he pulled himself up without help from either of us!
• A bit of the wheezing has returned (lightly) with a runny nose...he thoroughly enjoys having the saline sprayed up his nose
• Had a very lowgrade fever twice this week
• We've given him some motrin sporadically during the week to help with the fevers, teething, etc
• Loves bathtime - whether in his tub or with Mommy...loves splashing!
• Had a lowkey weekend at home after two days of busy family gatherings

Week Thirty Five Pictures: More to Come...

It's 10:20pm Sunday night, the Pats game is on, I'm tired, yet I can hear Alexander start to stir...

So this is what I'm going to do... I'll post a SMALL handful of pictures now so I don't get emails asking where are the pictures and I'll post alot more Monday night...

I apologize if this small amount doesn't tide you over, but I'm pooped ya'll!

Alexander's First Thanksgiving

Alexander's first Thanksgiving is successfully under our belts.

I picked him up from school early on Wednesday to help minimize the amount of traffic we would have to face, it ended up being a good idea as the traffic got worse as the afternoon went on. At home we played for a bit, had our afternoon bottle and then Daddy came home. It was a typical Wednesday evening from that point on.

Thursday morning Alexander woke up @ 5a - however he had a few moments during the night where he woke up crying & upset. We left to go to Grammie & Grampie's house early than expected because we wanted to not have to worry about more traffic. He didn't nap in the car but that was fine because he took a great nap before we left. At Grammie & Grampie's, he played with his train and bounced around in his exersaucer. There was certainly plenty of people to entertain him. He started to get a bit fussy around 2:30pm so I fed him his bottle and put him down for a nap. He originally fought the nap even though he was tired, but I was able to get him down in the pack & play for a nap. He slept long enough for us to eat our yummy Thanksgiving dinner. He woke up while we were getting the kitchen cleaned & desserts ready. He banged on a bowl with a wooden spoon which entertained him for quite sometime.
After desserts, he played a bit more with Sharon & Grammie before it was time for pj's. He went down pretty quickly for bed and slept in the pack & play. I was quite happy at how well he did all day. He was chatty, drank his bottles, ate some solids, took some naps and was genuinely in a great mood all day. The only time he fussed was when he was fighting nap time - which is common.
Thursday night he slept in the pack & play for a good 4 hours before he started crying in his sleep. I tried to calm him down but he only got more upset. I brought him into bed with me and he immediately fell asleep. However, he woke up @ 12am and wouldn't calm down unless I brought him into the kitchen. When I sat him on the floor, he was quite content. So I made a small bottle and it helped relax him. He finally fell asleep around 2am as we were lying on the living room couch. I didn't sleep much but he did so that's all that matters.

Friday morning he woke up about 5:30am and was up for the day. I was trying to keep him entertained so he wouldn't wake everyone else up but I think Grammie & Grampie were excited about their sleep-over guest because they came out @ 6am. I went back in and took a little nap while Grammie & Grampie watched Alexander. Once Daddy was up, he went up to help feed Alexander. We were going over my aunt's house that afternoon so we were hoping Alexander would nap. I put him down around 10:30am and then My Mom & I ran out to the grocery store. Unfortunately he only slept for 30 minutes but that's better than nothing. Mom & I took Alexander because we were going to make a stop (we were going to visit Santa) while Dan & Grampie went together. Alexander fell asleep so we decided to just head straight to my aunt's house - there's always next time.
Alexander was amazing at my Aunt's house. He didn't make a peep, fuss or cry once. He wouldn't eat but I expect that's due to the excitement. I'm quite happy that my grandparents were able to see Alexander again. We still can't get over how well he did Friday afternoon. No matter who held him he didn't cry, however when he saw Dan or I he would put his hands out as if to say "I don't know if I know this person so please take me back". It was a really nice afternoon hanging out with family. He got to play around with Arlene, Sue & Moira, his faithful blog readers! He even snuggled with Arlene a bit.
We knew we had a long ride back home so we got him in his pj's and hit the road. Daddy fed him a bottle in the car and after he finished it, he fell asleep and slept the entire ride home. We were even able to transition him from his carseat to his crib without an issue.
He woke up during the night again, but at least he fell back to sleep once I brought him to bed.

There was another family gathering on Saturday for my Dad's family...my cousin Amy is up from Florida. But that one was at 7p Saturday night and it's not as if they live next door. We opted to stay home which I think was for the best because Daddy & I certainly didn't have the energy to get ready, pack the car, and drive. Guess we'll have to stock up on nap time for Christmas.

Overall, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving where we got to see some family, eat some great food, and chill out. Alexander was fantastic & I can't wait until Christmas...

8 Months...

Developmental:

I don't feel as though a lot of changed over the past month. He seems to be quite content sitting on his own

-He still sits but will now reach out for objects around him...sometimes this means he ends up on his belly.
-He still does not crawl but when on his belly he will bounce up & down as if he thinks that will make him move
-When on his belly push himself backwards or around in a circle
-Loves standing and pulling himself to a standing position when holding onto someone's hands
-Loves to jump! He jumps in his jumperoo and his exersaucer
-Says Da Da and when you ask him where is Da Da he looks around to find Dan.
-He nods his head up & down as if to say "yes" and sometimes has done it to answer a question. (He did it Wednesday morning at school - both Linda & I got a chuckle out of it)
-Still holding his own bottle, however he likes to pull down on it rather than hold it up
-Drinks out of a sippy cup when sitting in his eating chair
-The grunting noise continues, complete with facial gestures, when he's annoyed
-Still no teeth yet but loves to chew on anything
-Doesn't use his binky as much except when sleeping or really fussy, otherwise he's content to put his hands in his mouth or anything else he can get a hold of
-Great motorskills (Loves to bat things around that are in front or above him)
-Sleeps on his back, stomach & side - depends on how he rolls/moves
-Still wheezes but the doctor doesn't know from what or why - we're keeping an eye on it...
-Not only will he play with my hair when eating, but now he pulls it (hard)
-Cuddles after he eats or when he's calming down

Sleeping:
Sleeping schedule is about the same
-Typical wake up time is 5a, but there are some mornings where he'll sleep til 4a or 6a
-He sleeps in his crib and occasionally, in the mornings, I'll bring him in and lie down with us as we're waking up
-At school, he will take about 2 naps, usually one long nap (anywhere from 1-3 hours)
-On the weekends, he has a tendency to fight naptime and when he does go down they're typically shorter naps but 99% of the time wakes up happy
-He's cut out the 3rd nap completely
-Bedtime is around 7p and most nights goes down without a problem.
-Every now & then will have a crying fit in his sleep but will sleep through it. We usually have to wake him in order to calm him down. But he's been good about going back down after some rocking & cuddling.

Clothes:
-Wearing a variety of sizes. He can still wear 3-6 months, 6 months and the occasional 6-9 month onesie (albeit big)
-Mainly Size 3-6 & 6 Months.
-6 Months pants are still too big in the waist but 3/6 Months are too short.
-6 Month pj's tend to work the best
-Still has yet to duplicate an outfit to school
-Diapers: Size 2/3 Swaddlers


Feeding:
-5-6 bottles a day (Typically 24 oz - 32 oz per day)
-Morning bottle before school (he'll eat between 2-4 oz and then will push it away)
-3 bottles at school (6 oz) and a small 4 oz bottle for late afternoon
-Last bottle (4-6 oz varies at what he wants to eat) at bedtime, around 7p
-Solids - he'll have two-three solids a day:
-- Likes: Carrots, Applesauce, Squash, Prunes, Dutch Apple, Apple Blueberry, Pears, Peaches
-- Dislikes: Garden Vegetable Medley
-- Other: We've had oatmeal but he seems to like it better when I mix applesauce with it

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hope everyone has a happy & safe Thanksgiving Day!

Love,
Alexander

Thanksgiving Plans...

Alexander is about to celebrate yet another first holiday - Thanksgiving! It's potentially going to be a busy weekend too.
Thursday we'll celebrate the day with my parents & Alyson(she makes the best stuffing). We'll also be celebrating with Gary, Sharon & the kids... so that will be fun to watch Alexander try to play with the big kids. Then Friday, my aunt is having a gathering at her house that we will most likely go to.
On Saturday, my uncle is having a family gathering because my cousin is home from Miami and won't be able to come home for Christmas - so this is her chance to see everyone for the holidays. However that gathering is at nighttime and because the previous two days may be busy, I'm not sure we're going to make that one. That's a tentative one. I don't want to mess with his schedule more than we have to... otherwise the poor kid will be miserable and then we'll be just as miserable.
Alyson & Moira talked about getting together for lunch to celebrate Moira's birthday - which is next Monday - so maybe we'll do that on Sunday. Whew - that's a busy weekend...I'm already tired and it's not even Thursday yet. :)

What is everyone else doing?

Week Thirty Four Pictures...

Week Thirty Four Pictures: Monday, November 12th - Sunday, November 18th