Alexander - 8 Months Old

Alex,

You are 8 months old now!  You are such a big boy and have been doing so much to make mommy and daddy such happy parents.

We started this month of your life with mommy's birthday.  With the help of your Grandma and Grandpa, you got me a beautiful rose for my birthday!

It has been unseasonably warm this winter/spring, so we have also been doing a lot with you outside this month.  We have been doing a lot of walks around the neighborhood both in your stroller and in your Moby wrap.

Your Gram takes you out to feed the fish in her pond everytime you go over there.  Your Grandma Gerry has been taking you for walks and to the park to play with Alyssa too.  You have also been going outside with your babysitter Chrissy a lot.  She took you and Tyler to the park the other day.  You two had so much fun riding in the stroller together and riding in the swings.

We also celebrated St. Patrick's Day this month!  It was so much fun!  Daddy, Poppy and I all took you downtown to watch the parade.  Unfortunately we couldn't get close enough to actually see the parade, but there was plenty around us that you could look at.  You really seemed to have a nice time and it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day!

(Auntie Sabrina, notice the plug covers I put in . . . lol!)

You have continued to impress us with your developmental skills.  You continue to roll instead of crawl, but you seem to be able to get anywhere you need to go without a problem.  You are able to push yourself up to the crawling position, so we are just waiting for you to take off!  When you are in your crib, you reach up for the mobile.  You were actually able to pull one down the other day!  I think mommy and daddy need to move your mattress down!



(As you can see from that video, you have also been a bit of a mama's boy lately - as soon as I touch you, you want me to just pick you up.)

You love to play with your blocks, your bugs, your rattle, your cup and of course your steering wheel.  Chrissy started giving you some puffs which you loved and we have also added fruits to your diet.  You still love all your veggies, but you just can't get enough of your fruits!

You still love bath time and we have moved your tub to the actual bathroom instead of the kitchen (okay, we did this a while ago, I just forgot to mention it before).  You are really ready to get out of that tub and into the actual one, so we will probably start doing that really soon.  Either way, you are just loving bath time still!  You have so much fun playing and splashing in the water.  As soon as you are finished you are ready to get lotion rubbed on you and have your bottle and go to bed.  And you are FINALLY sleeping through the night on a consistent basis!  Amazing!

You are such a great boy, Alex!  We love you so much!  Here are your 8 month pictures:

Love you Sugar Pot!

Love,

Mom

Alexander - 7 Months Old

Alex,

You are 7 months old now!  You have continued to grow, grow, grow!  At your last doctor's check up, you weighed 18lbs 6.5oz and were 27.25" long.  At another visit to the doctor for an illness, you weighed over 20lbs!!!  You are such a big strong boy!

We had a lot going on this past month.  First of all, you were Baptized on January 22, 2012.  It was a beautiful baptism.  We had it at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church.  Msgr. Ramacciotti performed the baptism and we chose Aunt E and Uncle James as your Godparents.  You were so good, Msgr. Ramacciotti he told us you get an A for your behavior.  When he poured the water on your head, you didn't cry, you just looked up trying to figure out what was going on up there.  It was so cute and so funny!  After your Baptism we had the whole family over to our house to celebrate.  It was a wonderful day!

A couple weeks after your baptism, we celebrated your first Super Bowl Sunday.  We went over to Kayce and Matt's house and you got to meet their dogs.  You weren't so sure about the large puppy, Ellie, but you loved Gretchen!  You got so excited when you pet her!  The game was the Giants vs. the Patriots and the Giants won.  You had a great time with mom and dad and even "helped" daddy hold his beer.

We also celebrated Poppy's birthday this month.  You and your cousins had a great time together at Poppy's celebration.

You have also been enjoying hanging out with Aunt E.  She has been teaching you Yoga.  You are a pro at the Cobra position.

Next, we celebrated Valentines Day.  You gave your grandparents and aunts and uncles all very adorable Valentines with your picture on them.  Everyone loved them and said they were the best Valentines they had ever received.  Here are the pictures we took of you on Valentines Day:

We have also started to introduce vegetables to you this month.  You were not so sure at first, but now you open your mouth wide in anticipation of the veggies.  You try to grab the spoon from me if I don't feed you fast enough.  Mommy has been having so much fun making you some homemade purees!  So far I have made both peas and squash.  You are still not a fan of the rice cereal.  When I try to feed it to you you close your lips tightly.  So for now we are sticking with the vegetables.  Here you are eating some peas:

(this video is one of the first attempts that didn't go that great.  subsequent tries went MUCH better)



As you see from that picture, we have also introduced a sippy cup.  You pretty much just think it's a toy at this point, but we are working on it with you to show you that there is some yummy juice in there.

Another big developmental milestone this month is that you have started transferring objects from one hand to the other.  You do this with your bug toys, your silver cup and your blocks.  You have also started scooting a bit.  Right now you pretty much only scoot in a circle, but you are able to get to where you want by scooting to a certain position and then rolling over.  You are SO close to actually crawling!  Daddy and I need to start baby proofing the house!  You have also started to wave a little bit.  You don't do it every time, but you definitely do it at the correct time.  When someone says hi or by to you and waves, you put your hand up like an American Indian saying 'How' - then you start moving your arm up and down.

It's awesome!  And finally after a few months of illness you are finally starting to feel better and at last sleep better!!!  This has occurred only at the end of this month, so we are hoping and praying it continues and that you stay healthy.  The good thing is that at least you are building up all your immunities at a young age!

You are such a good boy Alex!  We are so blessed you have you for a son!

Here are your 7 month pictures:

Love you Sugar Pot!

Love,

Mom

Alexander - 6 Months Old

Hello Alex,

You are 6 months old now!  Time flies when you are having fun, and we have definitely been having fun!  We continued the holiday season with your first Christmas.  It was wonderful!  We started the celebrating on Friday at your Grandma Gerry and Grandpa Rick's house.  Although the idea of gifts is still lost on you, you really enjoyed ripping the wrapping paper.

The next day, Christmas Eve, we went over to your Gram and Poppy's house.  You had fun with your cousins Will and Harrison.  We also went to mass that night with everyone.  You continue to just love it at mass.  St. Peter's had a baptismal font and you enjoyed splashing your hand in the holy water.  You also loved all the Christmas lights and the songs.

On Christmas Day we continued the celebration.  We started the day off at Gram and Poppy's house for our annual Christmas breakfast.  Then later on that day we went to your Great Aunt Patty's house to celebrate with all of my cousins.  You  really enjoyed yourself there since there were so many people.  You are a very social baby and you always seem to love being passed around to new people.  Brooke was especially into you this Christmas.  You really like her too!

 Mommy, Brooke, and Poppy with you

 You with a Christmas Bow

 Mommy with a bunch of her cousins

 Brady, Brooke, Grace and You (the next generation of cousins)

 The "Outlaws" AKA now, the "Survivors

 "Sharing" a beer with Poppy

Another Christmas Bow

So your first Christmas was a success!  You have definitely made my Christmas brighter!  Can't wait for the Christmases to come.

We also of course celebrated your first New Year.  I suppose there's not much you can do for the New Year at your age, but daddy and I did dress you up in his hat and gave you a noise maker.  You were not a fan of daddy blowing on that noise maker!  I'm sure you will love them in the years to come though:

Your physical development has been great!  You are on track and even a little ahead in some things.  You had your last Physical Therapy session this month.  Patrice, your therapist, said that you are doing fantastic and that you have officially graduated from PT.  Pretty exciting stuff!  Here is a picture of you right after your last session in your baby Under Armour:

You have also started sitting up on your own this month.  This has made you so happy to be able to do.  You can play with Tyler a lot easier now.  Not much longer and you will be crawling . . . you are so close!

Dad and I have been taking you out and about with us still.  We recently found out that Dooley's has reopened.  This made mommy so very happy!  So we went there.  I cannot wait till you can eat these burgers with me!  After Dooley's, we decided to take a trip to Ted Drewes before they close for a few weeks.  After the whole rice cereal incident last month, you have been very hesitant to eat anything except your bottles.  But when I put some of the frozen custard on your lips, you latched onto my finger like it was your job!  Don't worry, we will get lots of Ted Drewes for you growing up.

We celebrated your daddy's 31st birthday this month too.  We went to Cunettos.  Frankie, Erin and Tim were so glad to see you.  We have thoroughly exhausted you this month with all we have been doing!

We also took you to Llywelyn's to watch a Marquette Basketball Game.  There were a lot of people there and they were all so happy to see you in your cool Marquette Sweatshirt that Aunt E gave you. 

  

Sadly, your Great Grandpa Herm passed away this month.  We are so very grateful for the time we got with him.  We were not even sure if he was going to make it to meet you so we feel so fortunate that you two were at least able to spend the first 6 months of your life together.  He was a great man and he will be missed.  You got to see him one more time a couple days before he died.  You held his hand and he kissed you.  It was beautiful. Rest in Peace Grandpa Herm:

So that about wraps up the 6th month of your life.  Here is what you look like at 6 months old:

You have been such a wonderful baby!  Thanks for making me such a happy mommy!  I love you!

Love,

Mom