9 months old

Xander turned nine months old on Tuesday. He has been out as long as he was in give or take a few weeks. He celebrated with Cheerios and star puffs. So here is a quick list of things Xander is up to. He is really getting good at cruising and loves to stand. He'll pull up let go and just start squeeling in excitement. He is into everything and loves opening doors and pulling everything out. His favorite meal time game is to throw a cheerio over the side of his high chair and stare at it for a while and then find a new one to toss overboard. He also loves crawling under, into, around, over and through everything. He still loves to be under the dining room table and chairs. He likes to play peek a boo and it is just ridiculously adorable when he tries to hide his eyes from you. He also loves putting things in your mouth, which is a bit odd, but just cracks him up. He also still puts everything in his own mouth too, just for the record. He has 6 teeth and they make him look so grown up. I think he is teething again too since he has been drooling buckets again. He can clap his hands together and does it all the time. He knows 3 signs, light, more and all done. Of course, now anytime I lay him down for a diaper change he starts doing the all done sign. He does not like diaper changes at all. His favorite baby food is still sweet potato, but he really likes big people food, particularly anything bready. He is still pretty clingy, but has been getting better. He can entertain himself for a while now as long as I am in the room. He just adores Aisling and loves playing with her, although he has a bad habit of yanking her hair.

Pictures to come soon....

Enough!!!

So can we go back to 2008? So far 2009 has been a real bummeroo. Poor little Ais has really had it tough these last few weeks. Last week I tried to give her a hair cut, I know I know, what was I thinking. I had cut her bangs many times and they were fine, but apparently the rest of the hair is a whole other skill set. So her hair went from bad to worse and we ended up with an emergency trip to Fantastic Sams, which she did great with, but her hair is so much shorter. It is still adorable, but I do feel bad and miss her pretty long hair. Ah well, I guess it grows back. I will never do that again!!! On the same afternoon of the hair disaster, I accidentally poked her in the eye with my thumb and scratched the corner of her eye, so after a frantic call to Brian when her eye started bleeding, we took her to the ER and everything was fine.

Fast forward to Valentine's day... My Mom was out to babysit so Brian and I could go out and little Xander gets the runs and then 5 minutes before we leave he throws up his entire bottle all over the place. So Valentine's day was a bust... Xander seemed fine the rest of the night and so in the morning we headed to the OC for Baby Shawn's baptism. Everything was going well until towards the end when I gave Xander a bottle. About two seconds after he had finished I felt his stomach gurgling and he started to spit up. Luckily I was able to get up and run out of the church, or at least into the entryway before Xander projectiled the whole bottle again. Thank goodness I got up and ran out or everyone in the pew before us would have experienced there own baptism of sorts. So it seems he either had the flu or didn't like my milk anymore, since both times he chucked it was on my milk, geez everyone is a critic. So no more Mommy milk, apparently little Xander prefers formula. But anyway, back to our saga ... we head home, and what do you know the same night Aisling and I get the stomach flu followed by Brian the following day. Ais is still pretty sick, but Brian and I recovered pretty quickly, although it was a horrible flu, knocked us flat out. At least Brian and I didn't get it at exactly the same time, so there was always one grown up on guard.

Of course, it hasn't been 100 percent awful I guess. We did get to go to Disneyland a couple of times. Once with Arianwen and her folks and last week with Becca, Matthew and my Mom. Xander has 3 more teeth peeking out, which makes a grand total of 6. He has four on top and 2 on the bottom. He is starting to cruise and likes to let go and stand up for a second or two. He is talking all the time and making some pretty silly faces, like scrunching up his face and closing his eyes. He learned his first sign, light and is really into lights now. He is into everything and loves opening and closing doors. So I guess things could be worse.... I just really want us all to be healthy for more than a few days. Let's hope we have hit our quota for this cold season.

Anyway, here are some pics from the last few weeks....


Ais and Xander going for a ride.

Ais' new hairdo.

Daddy and Ais on the Merry Go Round.

Xander's first Dumbo ride. And my first ride with both kids on my own.

Xander happy on the train.

Arianwen and Ais waiting to see Tinkerbell.

My Mom with Grandkids and Grand-nephew Matthew at Disneyland.

Valentine's day cupcakes.

2009 take 2

OK so we are all healthy for the moment and are crossing our fingers we have paid our sick dues for this year. Ugh we were all pretty miserable for the majority of January.

Xander is 8 months now. He is fully mobile and into everything, much to Aisling's frustration. She has been losing it from time to time when he goes after her toys. She has been sitting on him, hitting, kicking, shoving and my new personal favorite trying to poke his eye. We have both become experts in the art of time outs. Hopefully, now that we are all healthy, we can get out more and maybe she can burn off some of that extra steam. Anywho. back to the 8 month update. Xander has a new tooth now. He just sprouted his top right vampire tooth. He looks so silly, it is so cute. He is pulling up on everything and had his first real head bonk this morning, complete with big ol' bump, so sad. He is really into eating anything that isn't baby food. His favorite human food is anything from the bread family. He loves the Gerber Star puffs, biter biscuits, and anything I am eating. He is talking more and more and has been working on his da das and ma mas. He also seems to say hi every now and then. He has slept through the night now for 7 days straight!!! We are so happy and hoping this is it for the waking up at night thing. He has also been really really clingy to me lately. He screams bloody murder if I don't hold him all the time. And boy does he have a scream!!!!!

As for Ais, she is doing great too aside from the Xander attacks. She is getting a full fledged big girl bed this week, complete with it's own trundle bed. She is requesting Tinker bell sheets for it and is really excited. We also just checked out a preschool for her this morning. She loved it there and didn't want to leave. She is so ready for school and will do great. We'll find out this month if she gets in or not and if so the program starts at the end of August.

Here are some pics from the past few weeks.

We have a new president. Let's hope for Ais and Xander's sake that he is better than the old one!!! Ais watched a bunch of the inauguration.

We have had a few fun trips to the park. Ais still loves the swings as long as you don't push it too high.

Xander tolerates the swing for a few minutes, but would be happy to forgo the whole thing. He clings on to me for dear life, with his pincher grasp, if I try to put him in the swing or on the slide. Oh my sweet boy.

Family picture time at the park. It is so fun to be out as a family.

Aunt Angie with the little guy.