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Big Boy High Chair

On the way home from South Carolina, we took a much-needed pit stop at a Denny's outside of Richmond. I brought in Alex's sippy cup and a few toys, and let him sit in a restaurant high chair for the first time while we ate. He looked like such a little man. And Mike and I both marveled that this sitting up, happy baby was ours. It somehow felt more real that we have a baby when said baby was sitting up in a high chair rather than asleep in a carrier.

Rainy Day

It rained today, but it didn't matter. Alex and Grandpa just sat and watched the rain fall, while Mommy cooked a big fat turkey (and didn't drop any, much to the chagrin of Puck and Tucker).

Giving Thanks

We had a lot to give thanks for this Thanksgiving. How much our lives have changed! We spent the holiday weekend with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Katie on the beach in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Alex enjoyed sitting at the table, and especially enjoyed his sippy cup and a shiny spoon.

We also had the opportunity to do some walking on the beach and window shopping at Sea Pines, near the light house. One store had a toy boat for sale, and Alex struck a pose or two.

But most of all, we enjoyed being with family. We gave thanks for loving aunts and grandparents (on both sides -- and Uncle Denny too!) and for our precious, marvelous, wonderful baby boy. And did I mention, thanks? I don't think we can really say it enough...

Peek a Boo!

Alex has started to participate in peek a boo. I cover his face with a diaper or his Taggie and say "Where's Alex?" And he pulls the diaper off his face and just laughs. So cute.

Achoo!

Maybe three weeks ago, Arthur's abuela observed that Arthur just loves it when she fakes sneezes, but Alex didn't seem into it. Last night, I did the fake sneeze thing and he just cracked up. Sometimes I forget what a huge difference in age two weeks is when they are this small!

Mazel tov!

We attended the Bat Mitzvah of my co-worker's daughter today. Alex danced his first horah!

Crawling

We've been watching closely and waiting for the moment when we can definitively say Alex is crawling. For quite a few days, he has had the ability to get quite far using his arms only to pull himself forward. He has also been able to get up on his hands and knees and do a little rock and roll. Last night, he combined the two to crawl a few feet across the floor toward his mommy. Both Mike and I witnessed it. He really got his legs into it!

Today at day care, Claudia said he was moving quite quickly. Not always up on the knees, but she agreed we should consider him a crawler. I had a feeling it would happen before Thanksgiving.

Yipes. Now I really have to baby proof!

Sippy Cup

Alex has been showing such an enormous interest in our food and drink that I think we are going to try to give him cereal pretty soon. In the meantime, though, last night we started putting him in the feeding chair while we eat. I also handed him a sippy cup with a little water in it to play with, and he LOVED it! He gets so excited when he sees it, and fusses if we take it away from him. It's really fun to see him so darn excited!

Who's Your Daddy?

Last night we went to Annapolis to celebrate assorted and sundry birthdays with various and sundry Hertle offspring. It was so great to see Allison and Ann and the grannies, not to mention Janie and Ellen. They even managed to manufacture a birthday for Alex (he is, after all, almost a whole half year old) and surprised us with gifts for him as well. We had a fabulous dinner, and it was so much fun to watch Alex and the girls play together.

As we were getting ready to leave, I had put Alex in the car seat and walked away for a moment. Allison asked Alex "Who's your Daddy?" and damned if Alex didn't turn his head away from her to look at Mike. They did it again, and he did it again. She asked him where Mommy was, and he turned to look directly at me. We were really just floored. Mike's reaction: "Wow, I really need to clean up my language when I am driving!"

Fire Alarm

We just had a fire alarm at work. Before walking out the door, I grabbed my purse, my coat -- and my just-pumped breast milk. I didn't have time to grab the cooler, so I just had the bottle with me, out in the open for all to see. When I got downstairs, I ran into another mommy lugging her entire pump -- if the building were to burn down, she didn't want to lose that important investment!

I work so darn hard for every ounce, that I literally have cried over spilled milk the few times it has happened. It's just amazing to me how one's priorities change when one is a Mommy.

Five Months

It is really hard to fathom that Alex is already five months old. His first year seems to be flashing before my eyes very quickly. Here's Alex with his new Taggies blankie (courtesy of Matt, Annette, and Penelope):

And Alex asleep on the floor:

My Friend Tiff

Today Alex and his parents had breakfast at Tiffany's in honor of her birthday. Alex really enjoyed hangin' with his friend Tiff.

Out Cold

I forgot to post this earlier -- on Friday, Mike stayed home from work so that we could spend Alex's first Halloween together as a family. In the morning, I left the boys upstairs while I went downstairs to do some quick work on the computer. When I went back upstairs, this is the scene I found:

Both boys passed out cold in the middle of their respective leisure activities.

Legacy

Last night, we went to Richmond to celebrate SigEp's Founder's Day. Everyone loved the youngest legacy in the house.

-- Photo courtesy of Scott Thompson

And the little legacy loved his Mommy's drink -- he showed interest in my cup, so I let him take sips of my water. He mostly just licked the side, but he did get some to drink as well. He totally slimed the cup, and I couldn't help thinking about how grossed out I got last year right around this time when Sean backwashed into a water bottle when we went to the BalloonFest. In my defense, I was pregnant then. Still, I've come a long, long way!

Trick or Treat

Alex had a great Halloween. In the morning, Mommy and Daddy took him to visit the local assisted living facility with our church group. We met lots of other parents as well as some neat older folks. Except for a brief "feed me now!" cry, he was quite personable and all smiles. It didn't hurt that they had new toys to explore.

We didn't have many trick-or-treaters at night, but in the afternoon, we took a walk through the neighborhood with Tucker to show off to the neighbors. He was quite cute in his costume. From left to right, (1) Ferocious Creatures (2) Dragon Smile, (3) Happy Dragon.