In his eleventh week, Xander is: starting to nurse a little bit again (yay!!!); hitting another growth spurt; and champing out with tummy time (holding his head up at a surprising angle, doing a mini push up, and even getting a knee up underneath himself every now and then).
In his tenth week, Xander is: giving us a six hour night; moving his bedtime a bit earlier and enjoying his bedtime routine; and starting to carry on conversations with an adorable little “guh”, a sideways smile, and an eyebrow raise.
The boys and I went to the zoo with our dear friend, Lizza, and her precious new baby, Bennett. Here’s a picture of us, hanging out with the camels in the petting zoo, and chilling in front of the newest and coolest additions to the zoo…the flamingos (or as Jonas says…the “flingamos”).
We ran into a local gymnastics coach at a playground near our house and found out, after talking with her a little bit, that they offer a free weekly class for children ages 18 months to 3 years. So, we took Jonas this weekend, and he LOVED it!!!
During circle time, he was very quiet and observant. But then he was off and running before the coach even finished introducing and releasing the parents and children to the play stations.
He was a natural on the balance beam (he didn’t really even look at his feet), quick to go through the tunnel made of mats (he has no fear), and strong on the horizontal bar (here he is doing a pull up). We all had a blast and look forward to many more, fun-filled, gymnastics Saturdays…
At twenty-two months, Jonas is: counting to ten; saying most of his ABCs (he calls them ACBs and the song is one of his favorites); flooring us with his phrase and sentence speak (God bless you baby Xander, JoJo go fast, I love DaDa too, I see baby paci, Hold MaMa hand, Xan-Man sleeping, etc.); jumping; sitting in his car seat like a big boy (forward facing) and enjoying the view; and being a wonderful big brother (taking great interest in baby’s diaper changes and feedings, bringing MaMa burp cloths and bottles and pacis for baby, sharing his cozy mama prized possession blanket with baby, putting in baby’s paci, wiping up baby’s spit up, putting baby’s diapers in the Diaper Genie, introducing baby to his toys, calming baby down if he’s crying by saying “shhh” and “okay Xander”, jumping up and down in front of his bouncy saying “hey baby” with much excitement, etc.).
At nine weeks, Xander is: growing like a weed (we cracked up when we discovered that he already had size 2 feet, when we were consignment sale shopping a few weeks ago); passing his hearing screen (yay!!!); strengthening his suction every day with his bottles of breastmilk (we meet with lactation next week and are hopeful he’ll be able to nurse again soon); and emerging as quite the little clock when it comes to his daily routine of eating and sleeping.
We have been going to the zoo almost every week since the weather has taken a promising turn towards fall. Here is a picture of Jonas exploring one of his favorite “exhibits”, the Jungle Gym.
At eight weeks, Xander is: smiling every time you look at him, talk to him, or smile at him; enjoying naps in the Bjorn on our evening neighborhood walks, especially now that the weather is cooling off a bit; and starting to move his arms and legs with much gusto (I always wonder where he’s going) in his wakeful moments.
At seven weeks, Xander is: really becoming quite the little clock with his wakeful times, eating habits, and sleeping patterns; continuing to work on his nursing skills (thanks to Betty, the dear lactation consultant at Vanderbilt, who is graciously walking with us through the process); and stealing my heart when he smiles at me behind his bottle.
After ducking into a neighbor’s house out of the rain on our evening walk last week, we found out about a splash pad at a local park. Intrigued, Tom and I loaded Jonas and Xander up on a Sunday morning and headed out with Aunt Beans, who was visiting with us (and who also took this wonderful picture), for a little family fun. I don’t know who had more fun…Jonas or DaDa.
Inspired by MeMe and her ability to expand the artistic horizons of wee ones, I cracked out the finger paints with Jonas a few weeks ago…
I was super excited to use the easel we found at a yard sale earlier in the summer (a great deal at $3) and super nervous to let Jonas be free to bolt and run with paint all over his hands. HaHa!!! He was not a big fan of the smock, so we opted for less clothes and the meal time bib. Tentative at first, he kept pushing me towards the easel and saying, “MaMa do it!” He warmed up to it after a little while, though, (although still not keen on having paint all over his hands) and here he is putting the finishing touches on his first finger painting. Beautiful, eh?
In his sixth week, Xander is: continuing to eat and sleep like a champ; holding his head up with surprising strength; and smiling whenever he hears Jonas’ voice.
In his twenty-first month, Jonas is: amazing us with his two to four word sentences (sit up MaMa, Petra come, hello Good Dog, buckle up, be careful, Petra get off couch, DaDa mow yard, DaDa throw Petra ball, etc.); trying to jump (although he can’t quite get both feet off the floor…this is one of my favorite things he tries); attempting to go up and down the stairs one step at a time without holding MaMa or DaDa’s hand; reaching for door knobs and light switches; working puzzles with surprising accuracy; identifying colors; saying no; cheers-ing with drinks; climbing up into his high chair and car seat; taking a big boy bath; working on eating with a big boy plate (still not there yet) and with big boy utensils (doing great); and trying his hand at finger painting.
At five weeks, Xander is: sleeping through the night more times than not (the five hour kind…and we are totally thankful and AMAZED); enjoying his bottles of breastmilk while we work through our nursing issues; smiling and cooing quite a bit; and emerging as quite the “soul searcher”.
At four weeks, Xander is: starting to coo; tracking really well with his eyes; hitting a bit of a snag with nursing (but we’re working on it); and taking several good naps a day in his pack-n-play.
We really enjoyed our weekend visit with Jonas and Xander’s Aunt Sherri, Uncle Rich, Cousin Kaitlyn, and Cousin Andrew (consignment sale shopping, splashing in the pool, playing Wii, having fun with play-doh, and catching up with great conversations over car rides and neighborhood walks). Here’s a picture of all of us on our evening walk (from left to right): Tom, Jodi and Xander, Kaitlyn and Jonas, Petra, Sherri, Rich, and Andrew.
