Actions and Reactions

Xave can now grab objects and then put them in his mouth. Quite sanitary, right?

When flying through the air, he likes to stretch out like a board. He's like a little airplane!

Hmm...

Scratch the previous puppy I found...Leap Frog has a much cooler one!

Maybe if I drop enough hints via my blog, The Husband will let me buy it for Xave...haha

Hello December!

It's hard to believe November has come and gone, and with it, another page in the book has been turned.

Thanksgiving, which I hosted for my third time this year, went well. It's hard to believe that last Thanksgiving, only my husband and I knew I was pregnant, and that next Thanksgiving, my son will be at the table with us (this year he just slept though dinner - I'm not complaining though).

Watching his first Thanksgiving Day Parade (and sitting up assisted)!

Hanging out with my family. While Xave slept, they looked at pictures of him to satisfy their baby crave.

While on the subject of sleeping, the past few weeks Xave sleeps anywhere from 9 to 10 hours at night now - usually going to bed around 10 or 11pm. I was concerned that he was sleeping so long and so soundly, but from what I've gathered from friends and the Internet, I should be grateful and stop complaining.

Developmentally Xave is becoming so much more aware of things around him, as well as his ability to manipulate them - stretching for things, squirming towards us, etc... The other day, he noticed that on his sleeper, there were lions on his feet - he was most perturbed. He would look at his toes, as if thinking "Mom. Dad. What is on my foot? There's something wrong here." and would then look up as if to say "Hey, aren't you going to take me to the doctor or something?!"


The Husband and I also bought Xave his first Christmas presents, although it'll probably be a while before he can play with them. The Husband picked this turtle out, while I chose this stacker with flashing lights. I'm trying to convince him that this Learning Puppy would be a good toy, but he doesn't like it.

I'm almost done Christmas shopping for the family - just a few more gifts to get now...

I'm looking forward to going to Hawaii in March - The Husband is presenting at a conference there, so we're going to use it as a vacation opportunity. My wonderful parents have already agreed to take care of the baby for the week that we'll be gone. I've never been to Hawaii before, but I'm super excited to hit the beach and check out some of the National Parks!

My previous feelings of anxiety over where we'll be moving to is starting to develop into excitement - I think we're both ready to move, find a bigger city, get a bigger house, etc... I still remain anxious about the possibility of moving far away from my family however - the support, love, and strength I gain from them is immeasurable.

However, God will provide and place us where is best.

1/4th of a Year, Limbo, and the upcomming holidays.

Xave has been three months old for a while now, and with his increased expression of joy, he (logically) is able to convey his displeasures in life as well. This is not to say that he is unbearable, or even bad in the slightest - he is just more vocal about being unhappy, and more prone to want to us to touch or hold him.

For example, where Xave was once perfectly content to sit in his swing and look at us, about a week ago he started fussing a lot instead. Initially, we thought we were in for big trouble and that he wanted to be held constantly - this was only partly true. In actuality, he just wanted to sit beside us on the couch.

I read to Xave the other night - his attention was right on the book as I read! (Also, note that my hair is all chopped off! I went and got it cut last Friday...so refreshing!)

I feel, at the moment, that our family is in a bit of limbo right now. We're not sure where The Husband's job is going to take us, or what we'll be doing a year from now. This is the first time I've ever had to deal with the uncertainty of the future - not that I am scared, but rather, simply anxious.

So what do we do to allieviate the stress? Why, go out to eat of course...even dressed Xave up for the occasion!


Thanksgiving is only a few days away now. This will be the third year I have hosted the holiday at my house (the same number of years I've owned it actually). I am so excited to start cooking! I only have a few more things to buy before I've got all my ingredients ready...maybe, I'll take some pictures of the food prep...I haven't done that in ages!

Old friends of ours, new friends for him.

Last night, our friends Jesse and Bekah came over for dinner (I fixed a homemade Cream of Mushroom soup...no pictures of the food...oh how times have changed!) and brought their darling Raphael (who is about 3 weeks older than Xavier).

It was fun to get to see Xave and Raphael play together...if that's what you could call it. It's really amazing (to all four of us) how similar they are in size now, especially considering how much smaller Xave was than Raphael when he was first born! It just goes to show how fast these little guys grow in a month or two...but then again, if you think about it in a more long term sense, they're practically the same age!

"C'mon man! We can do it!"

Onto a completely different tangent: I am a lazy mother in the way I dress Xave. Most of the time I am completely content with throwing a zip up sleeper on him for whatever the occasion may be...going to the grocery store, Mass, visiting friends, etc... So, I decided to take a small step of initiative and dress him in some cute OshKosh bibs I found. This was the result:

Oh, too cute. But don't get me wrong, he's still in sleepers 90% of the time - there's just the 10% chance of being dressed cutely. Perhaps, it's because I don't think he needs it...

Though, a little Photoshop never hurt anyone...

A few words from the front lines:

All has been well here as of late. No major traumas or news worthy events to really blog about - which, if you consider it, can be a good thing. There's something to say about the valleys and plateaus in life - they are predictable and at times, calming. I don't like things to stagnate too long, but a few days of anticlimactic life aren't so bad.

I did forget to mention, that when I came back from my parents last (after he had slept through the night for the first time), The Husband and I decided to move Xave into his crib. So far, he has been doing well sleeping apart from me, although when he gets me up at the 7am-8am mark, I'll usually bring him in our bedroom and set him back down in the co-sleeper to grab an hour or two extra of sleep (this is because at this time, he's less inclined to go straight to sleep, and a hand to pop his pacifier back in his mouth is necessary). This move has gone well for all of us. At first it was difficult because I was so used to hearing baby snores in my ear, but I have gotten used to it now. The Husband, however, still jumps up every now and again to peek into the nursery and make sure the baby is okay.

I put away Xave's 0-3 month clothing away two days ago. When getting out his 3-6 month things, I found that probably 50% of the things people bought for us are warm weather outfits - t-shirts, shorts, etc... that unfortunately he's just probably not going to wear. On the bright side of things, he has plenty of zip sleepers now that I bought ahead of time since I now know how much I love them - he practically lives in them day to day.

In regards to picture taking, Xave is fascinated in my camera - and this is not necessarily a good thing. The Husband and I have tried a million times to photograph his smile, and 99% of pictures are of Xave staring blankly into the camera lens...

Case in point:

...however, the 1% of photographs we have of his smile melt my heart~

AWOL.

I haven't died - really. I don't know why I've been so absent from blogging lately - no real reason I suppose. I'm going to try to backtrack and get everyone up to speed, although I'm pretty sure I'm going to leave out some important milestones one way or another...

I am not going to the Rec Center anymore - it turns out I don't really have a membership there since I'm only enrolled in online classes...which stinks. The pescetarianism is still going well and strong though.

October 22nd: Xave slept through the night for the first time - from midnight to 8:30am to be exact. When this occurred, it about scared the living daylights out of me - I thought he had smothered. Since then, he sleeps shifts at night going anywhere from 5 hours to 8 hours, usually falling asleep anywhere between 11 to 12. To be honest, I didn't realize how much I missed a solid 8 hours of sleep until I got it.

October 26th: We went down to visit my husband's grandmother, and she found out we were Catholic. We knew this would happen eventually. Prayers would be greatly appreciated that she may be comforted right now - from her religious perspective, this is very traumatic for her, and she is very upset and hurt.

October 28th: Such a fat little man...

October 31st: My parents took Xave to spend the night with them at their house so The Husband and I could go out for Halloween. Initially it was very hard for me, but I knew he was in good hands and if anything were to happen my mother would call. We both missed him terribly though, and were more than happy to see him the next day.

October 31st: Je suis une citrouille en français.

November 3rd: Today, Xave went back to the doctor for his 2 month appointment. He is 13lbs and 6oz, and 23.5 inches long. That puts him at the 97th percentile in weight, and 75th percentile in length. He checked out just fine - got a clean bill of health, and our Doctor believes him to be about 6 weeks ahead in regards to muscle development and control. He got a slew of vaccines today as well, and due to my insurance, they were all separate ones instead of the nice combo one...so the poor guy had to endure 5 shots instead of two. He didn't take them too badly - he cried out and his face turned tomato red, but after it was all done, he had a few little cries, and then was just quietly sad for a while. So far this evening he hasn't been particularly crabby, but I figure he'll be sore when he wakes up again (which is probably going to be soon).

I keep trying to tell him there are a lot worse things in life - like taxes - but he doesn't seem to get that right now.

November 2nd: Looking at his mobile and holding a toy. He doesn't register he's holding the toy yet, but his grasp is pretty good.

November 3rd: He's able to hold this position for about 30 to 45 seconds now before his neck tires. He'll rest, but then be able to push himself back up to the same angle!

November 3rd: My two favorite boys.