Alexander's First Halloween...

Today was Alexander's First Halloween and he seemed to enjoy it. Even though he hadn't the foggiest clue what was really going on. The Halloween parade at school was absolutely adorable. I'm so glad both Dan & I took an hour out of our day to go. It was so much fun and Alexander *loved* being outside. And he didn't mind the costume at all!

He looked absolutely adorable as a cuddly lion. There were a lot of cute costumes, but Alexander really was one of the cutest in the ENTIRE school. But not that I'm biased or anything...







Don't mind the white marks on the faces of the other babies...I didn't want to put pics of other babies I'm not responsible for on the internet without permission. And I didn't want to open Photoshop to blur it more neatly - so I opted for Mickey Mouse type circles.





Then once at home we put on our other costume, Darth Vader. I thought for sure he would not want to put on another costume but he didn't fit me in the least. He loved the cape and kept looking behind him. The hat looked silly and he didn't seem to enjoy that because he took it off once he realized it wasn't snapped on.

I was hoping some trick-o-treaters would come to the door while Alexander was in costume, but alas...that did not happen.

He also dug into the candy bowl to help himself... which was good someone did because we only got 4 trick or treaters and 2 of them were our neighbors who didn't want any more candy. Such good kids!!

Happy Halloween!

Alexander would like to wish everyone a Happy Halloween
Pictures from his Halloween Parade and his costume (potentially costume changes) will be updated later on...

Gearing up for Halloween...

Alexander is getting ready for Halloween tomorrow with his "Peak-a-Pooh" shirt...

Showing our team spirit...

Here's Alexander showing off his team spirit on Monday, the morning after the Red Sox won the World Series...











Here's Mommy & Alexander in their Red Sox Gear...

Still in shock...

This doesn't happen to us Red Sox fans where we win twice in 4 years, we're usually the joke of the playoffs... I'm still in a bit of shock, as are most of my co-workers. Last time we couldn't contain our excitement. This time, we all seem to be asking "did this really happen to our team?" "Is it really OUR Red Sox that are the golden team?" Questions aside, it's still pretty darn cool.

I think the part that I find most humorous is that Alexander woke up last night - something he very rarely does now - just in time to watch the end of the game. He was born in the year of Boston sports teams are having their time in the limelight! Red Sox, Patriots (can they be any better?), Celtics and potentially even the Bruins. Let's just hope he doesn't become spoiled thinking that every year his sports team win the championship. Every Boston sports fan has to have a little heartbreak - that's what helps build our character. And we have plenty of that!

Week Thirty One Pictures...

Week Thirty One: Monday, October 22nd - Sunday, October 28th

Week Thirty One Glance...

Week Thirty One: Monday, October 22nd - Sunday, October 28th

• Alexander turned Seven Months on Monday
• Auntie Alyson turned 30 this week so we had a half day from school so we could spend the afternoon with her on her birthday. We walked around the new Natick Collection.
• Alyson, Grammie & Grampie came over Thursday night to celebrate Alyson's birthday (anyone want ice cream cake, we have plenty)
• Not crawling yet, but got up on all 4s and looked around as if he wasn't sure what to do and then got back onto his tummy
• Had a good week at school - played outside during the nice days, took decent naps, and played in the circle with the other babies
• Does very well playing with the other babies at school - however Ginny seems to make a bee-line for him everytime. She likes to steal his toys and I've even seen her grab at him and pull him down. She best watch out
• Still has yet to duplicate an outfit to school (I've picked out his clothes for the upcoming week and still new outfits)
• He had applesauce, carrots & prunes this week
• We tried pears and he seemed to really like them
• Loves to blow rasberries
• When changing him, he's getting really good at helping put his arms in his sleeves. And a few times he's even helped to get his shirt off around his neck. It's very cute
• Diaper rash seems to have come back on Friday - had a baking soda rinse
• Would go to bed around 7p - most nights he would fall asleep while eating but as soon as I put him in his crib he would wake up. Then he would lie in his crib and play with his pacifier until he fell asleep
• Still wakes up around 5am every morning and depending on the timing, we'll bring him in with us and he'll fall back to sleep until 5:45-6am. A couple mornings he woke up at 4:30 (like this morning)
• Had a runny nose and a cough all weekend
• Took a great 2 1/2 hour long nap on Saturday - this is great as he never naps that long at home!
• Played in his jumperoo and jumped and jumped and jumped
• Loves playing with his train and knows what button to push to turn it on
• Daddy put Alexander to bed Saturday night because Mommy went out for Alyson's birthday dinner with all of the Girls
• He was fussy going to bed for Daddy but finally settled down
• Got confused with daylight savings (our clocks are programmed and changed on us automatically - eek...)
• Was very fussy on Sunday... was very tired but didn't want to fall asleep, however when I put him down on the changing table he would close his eyes instantly. But if I picked him up to put him in his pack & play, he would wake up screaming. Finally he took a nap.
• Bumped his head on Mommy's knee and got a red mark on his cheek

We Are The Champions...

After sweeping the Colorado Rockies... the Boston Red Sox are World Series Champs for 2007!

After waiting 86 years for a championship, the Red Sox bring home 2 World Series titles in 4 years for Red Sox Nation!

And I think Alexander knew about the excitement because he woke up in the 8th inning and watched the ending with us - and seemed to be quite intrigued!

One More...

All we need is One...More...Win...

And then it would be...

Champs

Seven Month PhotoShoot...

Here are just a few pics from today ...

Here he is in the morning before school. He looks like he's about to take off any minute, but alas nothing yet!

Here's the famed glove shot...he's still able to sit in the glove, it actually fits him quite perfectly. This may be the first picture where I'm able to see a bit of Dan in Alexander.

Then we figured we'd let him try out the bat & ball. He looks like he means business here. Get back to work...

Seven Months...

I'll update with the Seven Month Pictures as soon as I take them (and be on the lookout for yet another glove shot)

Developmental:
-Sits up by himself and can even reach for objects around him
-Holding a bottle on his own
-His hair is slowing growing in
-Definitely finding his voice (grunting, babbling, saying dahhh dahh dahh and diii diii diii)
-Just recently (past couple of days) will do this new face & noise when he's getting frustrated and it's absolutely hilarious (see video below)
-Rolls over both front: back and back: front
-Loves standing and pulling himself to a standing position when holding onto someone's hands
-Not crawling yet but can move himself in 360* on the floor & in his crib
-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
-Picks up his binky and puts it in his mouth correctly
-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...
-He still loves to play with my hair
-He's getting to be a even better cuddly baby
-Loves to bat things around that are in front or above him

Sleeping:
Sleeping hasn't changed all that much
-Typical wake up time is 5a, but there are some mornings where he'll sleep til 6a.
-He sleeps in his crib and occasionally, in the mornings, will come in and lie down with us as we're waking up
-During the day he will take 2-3 naps, usually one long nap (anywhere from 1-3 hours)
-Bedtime is around 7p and most nights goes down without a problem.
-He has a tendency to have his coughing episodes between 10-11pm but it doesn't happen every night. And when he does cough, he's able to sleep through it.

Clothes:
-Wearing Size 3-6 & 6 Months. 6 Months pants are too big but 3/6 Months are too short. Overall almost everything fits him well
-Some 3-6 month pj's are too tight in the feet however he can wear Size 3 Month Onesies
-Still has yet to duplicate an outfit to school
-Organized his jam-packed closet to put all of his 6 Months clothes up front
-Diapers: Size 2/3 Swaddlers

Feeding:
-5-6 bottles a day (24 oz - 32 oz per day)
-Morning bottle before school (~6 oz)
-3 bottles at school (6 oz) and if he's extra hungry/fussy he'll have a small 4 oz bottle for late afternoon but he doesn't always have that one
-Last bottle (4-6 oz) at bedtime, around 7p
-We've been having carrots & applesauce and he loves the both. He's also had some prunes and he seems to like prunes.
-We've tried cereal but that made him sick, but we're not sure if that was bad timing because he had shots earlier that day.

Week Thirty Pictures...

Week Thirty Pictures: Monday, October 15th - Sunday, October 21st, 2007

Week Thirty at a Glance...

Week Thirty at a Glance: Monday, October 15th - Sunday, October 21st, 2007

• He had a cough, congestion & a runny nose all week. He would cough during the night, but it only woke him once.
• Bedtime was around 7-7:30pm, and he would wake up around 5am every morning.
• Tuesday night was rough where he woke up and wouldn't go back into this crib so he slept with Mommy and he was restless all night
• Had a good week at school: had applesauce & carrots every day, took decent naps (Friday he had a 3 hour nap at school), went outside and played with his friends
• Did not duplicate an outfit yet to school (I know, it will be a shocker when it does happen)
• Loves jumping - either in the exersaucer or not
• Giggled up a storm when you fan something at him to create a breeze
• Blowing rasberries with his mouth
• Doing a much better job at holding his own bottle
• Is really secure when sitting by himself
• He had a really good weekend - mood, napping, and visitors!
• Saturday, Daddy took him to cousin Will's football game & Grandpa & Grandma were up for a visit. He got to hang out at Uncle Steve & Aunt Carolyn's house and visit with everyone. Daddy said he was incredibly well behaved and perfect!
• Saturday afternoon, Auntie Alyson came over to babysit while Mommy & Daddy went over friends house for dinner.
• Mommy, Alyson & Alexander went to the playground and played on the swings
• He was perfectly behaved for her and he went down easily for bedtime
• Hung out at home on Sunday with Daddy, Mommy & Alyson... played, had a mini-photoshoot, took good naps and again had a great day.
• Went for a walk with Daddy in the afternoon over to Damon & Melissa's house (friends from work who live on the other side of the lake)
• And to top it all off, the cough & congestion are going away!

For your enjoyment...

Sorry for the quality but this was too good to pass up. The past couple of days, he's started to do this grunting thing when he begins to get frustrated. The expressions are priceless.

Where does time go...

So while I was trying to make bottles for tomorrow, get his clothes picked out, and school bag packed - I was wondering where does time go?!?

I don't feel as if we do something overly special each & every day but when the day comes to an end, I am constantly wondering where it went! Our schedule hardly varies yet I still have no time for anything other than our schedule. I was so behind this week in my own personal email - that never happens.

And this is what all mother's tell you when they say that time goes by in a blur.

Every day, we wake up around 5a and then get ready for the day around 6am. Dan leaves for work, and then Alexander & I head out. I drop him off at school and I stay there for about 10 minutes each morning. I get him settled, play a bit and then head out to work.

If Dan has pick up duty, he'll leave around 4:30p, if I do I try to leave a bit before 5p so he isn't there all day. I always feel like such a bad mom if he's the last baby there.

We get home around 5:30/6p and then play with him until bedtime @ 7p. Bedtime is the best time of the day for me. It's 30-45 minutes of relaxation. We rock in the glider and he'll play with my hair or cuddle. Then I put him down in his crib. Most nights he falls asleep right away, but there are some nights where he ramblings and then will fall asleep on his own.

After I put him to bed, I try to get everything done that I need to. However now I'm exhausted because rocking in the chair has now made me drowsy & ready for bed. I make bottles and get his stuff ready for school. Then I try to get things ready that I'll need. And depending on my level of exhaustion I'll make any cards I have to make or just go to bed and do it all over again.

How do people have two babies under a year?!