For Aunt Sarah....

As requested, serious but expressionless.


This is one of my favorites. This was Alex getting ready for his first dip in the ocean. I love that belly!

No More Screechy Baby!

Sweet baby Alex has returned, for the most part. He's not as screechy as he was for a while. But while the grumpy teething-ness has subsided, he has become more opinionated lately. He is very insistent that he never, ever be left alone. Not even in his play pen across the room while I try to do something else. Oh, no. It's pretty much Alex and Mommy, together, all the time. I can sometimes trick him. I will lay him on the floor outside the bathroom. I will go into the bathroom and do "peek-a-boo" several times from behind the bathroom door. I will let longer time lapse between "peek-a-boo"s. Then, I make my move. I go ahead and pee, and hope that he just thinks it's an extended "hide." Usually, this tactic works. I then quickly jump back out and say "peek-a-boo" as if nothing happened. Yeah. I have to play peek-a-boo to go to the bathroom without the accompanying sound of a crying baby. And Dan wonders why I sometimes pick him up from work and ask him to drive while I walk home.

I was going on the theory that you can't spoil a baby with too much attention, cuddling, etc. before they were 6 months old. All the experts say that no baby is going to "learn to manipulate" things, and if they are crying, they just want to be close and feel loved. OK, that's great. I want Alex to feel loved, and safe, and secure. But I think that at some point he needs to learn to play on his own. Not for hours, but for 10 minutes. He cries almost immediately, as if I had abandoned him. Dan suggests that this is left over from days past, when if a kid realized he was not being carried, that meant he was going to be left behind by his nomadic tribe, and so crying whenever he's not in contact with a human being is a survival technique. I promise, Alex, I'm not going to leave you in the play pen, pack up our teepee and move on after the buffalo herd. I just want to do some dishes. Or laundry. Or go to the bathroom.

In more cheerful news, Alex is becoming a serious connoisseur. His over-enthusiastic mother is having so much fun watching him try new things that she's not heeding the dr.'s warning to try things one at a time to watch for allergies. I don't have any food allergies and neither does Dan, maybe that's why I'm not as apt to take that very seriously. Oops. For example, if he has a reaction to a recent new food, it's either avacados, papayas, cucumbers, or peas. Yeah...all of those were new foods within the last two days. But, he's just enjoying it so much, it's hard to resist one more new experience!

And finally, Alex is really trying to get around. He likes to get up on hands and toes, and he gets into a crawiling stance and then rocks back and forth like he's winding up for something grand. Still no actual productive movement forward, but it's so close he can taste it!


I'm so close! But now what do I do with my hands?

In my Yoga Class, we call this one "Downward Dog."


Just pausing for a goofy smile after all that hard work.

New Friends

Last Saturday, Alex and Dan and I went to a little potluck playgroup at the apartment complex of a family we met here in Hawaii. Their condo is really neat, in that it has a beautiful park area 4 floors up, right in the middle of downtown Honolulu. So this is where the party was. And Alex had a great time. The kids there ranged from just a few months old to about 3. There were quite a few little kids toddling around, which Alex found really amusing and fun to watch. I set him up on a blanket on the edge of the action, and he just stared, vocalizing his enjoyment of all the chaos, probably just talking about how he wished he could play, too.

These new friends of ours are a couple and their little boy: Dahni, Dominic, and little Elijah. Elijah just turned two, and we went to his birthday party a few weeks ago. Dominic has taken Dan spear fishing, and they plan to go again next weekend. (Dan's mother's comment last time was, "They're not going with Dick Cheney, are they?") Here in Hawaii, any adult that comes into contact with a kid on any regular basis is an "Auntie" or an "Uncle," I guess this keeps kids from having to remember too many names :-) But it's also endearing, and makes us all part of this big island family. A friend of Cate's told me that it really comes in handy at Christmas and birthdays! So, we are now Auntie Laura and Uncle Dan to Elijah.

Other news...Grandma Bette is visiting us next week! This is great incentive for us to finish unpacking. Also, we finally made a dent on the furniture search and got two bookcases, a dresser and a bed! That means we actually have places to unpack stuff into, and a place to sleep that doesn't have to be pumped up before we sleep on it!

Also, Alex and I have joined a little play group. We met last week at a park and just hung out. A couple of the kids were big enough to toddle around and enjoy the grass and slides, but most of the kiddos weren't mobile yet. We are going to the beach as a group this week. I bought a beach ball today for Alex to play with there. He's finally getting interested in stuff around him enough that I think he might enjoy sticking his hands and feet in the sand, playing with a ball, etc.

Here is Alex at Elijah's birthday party a few weeks ago. Elijah is a big Thomas the Tank Engine fan, as you can see from the little party hats.

Here is Alex with Elijah. Poor Elijah. Alex decided that he didn't feel like sitting up, and he flopped back into Elijah's lap. Elijah responded by trying to give him his pacifier.

Screechy Baby and Catch-Up Pictures

Alex has a new habit of screeching. This screeching means a lot of things: pay attention to me, I'm lonely, I'm sleepy, etc. It has almost replaced crying, which is not good because crying is sad, annoying, something you want to stop, but this screeching is really awful. Like a noise that makes you want to leave the baby in the house and go somewhere else.

I'm hoping it's just his teeth hurting that is making this new sound such a prevelent part of Alex's vocabulary lately. Really, really hoping. If it's just his teeth, that means that the screeching is sure to go away in...oh...about two years.

One of the interesting things about Hawaii is that, because the weather is so lovely, all the windows are open all the time. And, even if they are not actually open, the windows aren't like anything I've seen before. They are like Venetian blinds with wide slats and a little handle that you turn to make them open or shut. So, unlike all windows I've ever seen, where they open up or down, and half the window space is still covered by glass (in fact, now two pieces of glass), the entire window is now open. Dan says it's called something French that starts with a "J." Jeloise, maybe? Anyway, I am digressing...the point is that the entire neighborhood can hear when your baby is crying, whining, or screeching. We don't close the windows, but even if we did, they don't really keep noise in. We know this because a baby across the street cries a lot. When we first moved in (a.k.a. before Alex magically transformed in to a screech owl), we used to look at each other and think how sad that that baby was always crying, can't her parents do whatever it is that will make her happy, keep her from wailing all the time. And now, it has come back to bite us: Oh, you think those neighbors just aren't working hard enough? What about your own screechy baby? The one who used to wake up after 8-9 hours, with a giggle and a coo, looking for someone to play with who now wakes up crying a few times a night (or, on a super-awful night last week, every hour!!!)?

All the websites and experienced parents we know claim that it will pass. It will come and go, and then finally be gone. Our sweet baby will return to us, and we will be able to sleep through the night again. We'll keep you updated.


Some catch-up pictures:

Alex on the airplane. He was a busy little boy for most of the flight, but oh, so good. We were sooo lucky!

Even busy little boys need a nap. Although, truth be told, I think Dan slept more on the flight than Alex did :-)

Auntie Cate met us at the airport with welcome leis. "Oh, these leis are for greeting? I thought you said they were for eating!" Leis...no one can eat just one!

Daddy and Alex sporting their leis outside of the rent-a-car place. These boys are happy to be here after that long flight!

Alexander Appleseed

Six months old yesterday! Wow, the time flies!

Today was the 6 month check-up. Stats: 22.5 lbs and 27 inches! So he hasn't gained much weight (tell that to his parents as they trek around with him, especially up the stairs to our 2nd story duplex!), but it looks like he's grown! The dr. said he's healthy and lookin' good.

We also got the go-ahead for a super-major milestone today: eating solid food. The dr. said that she didn't think that "baby food" was actually necessary, and that a slightly modified version of adult food was all that we needed. In other words, no need to actually use a food processor, we could just mush or scrape or mix things to make them swallowable, and that would be good enough. So, our debut dinner was raisins and apples. Auntie Cate happened to stop by and say hello just as the great even began, so she and her friend Phil got to witness Alex's first taste of apples. Dan fed him, I took pictures, Cate fed him a couple of bites, Phil looked on, and Sydney sat in the corner, being the overlooked and underappreciated older sister.

Alex didn't seem to get the idea of opening his mouth, but he did understand helping Daddy to bring the spoon to his mouth. He would reach for the spoon and bring it to his mouth with so much enthusiasm, and then only open his mouth a few milimeters, not really enough to get the spoon and the apples inside. He can open his mouth wide enough to get most of the head of his stuffed dog in his mouth, but not some mushed apple? I don't know about this kid! The raisins were amusing, too. I put one in his mouth, he gummed and gummed, with a confused look on his face. Two minutes later, still gumming, still looking not quite happy. I guess he finally swallowed the raisin. Eventually he wasn't chewing anymore, and a close inspection of the inside of his mouth showed no concealed raisins, although I was watching for him to swallow and I didn't see that, either.

Here are some pictures from the evening. Check out the cow bib.

I'm a little psycho calf. Having my first meal. Mmmmm...apples.

Look, I actually have my mouth open...Mommy makes up stories about me all the time!

Let me help you, Daddy, it goes down here!

Perfect! Yummy apples!

Back By Popular Demand!!

I have received several complaints about a lack of updates on lil Baby G and family. Well, the truth is that we still don't have internet access...but a wireless network capability, a neighbor with internet, and a crafty Dan have come together to provide you all with an update anyway. Shhhhhh! :-)

So...it'll be 6 months on Sunday since the little monkey was born. His latest achievements are almost sitting up, inching like a worm across the floor (but only succeeding in moving backwards, poor baby), rolling over both ways (this is a better and faster way to move across the floor, he has discovered!), and...drumroll, please.... starting his collection of teeth! Yesterday, I stuck my finger against his lips (to test if it's meal time), and he chomped down. I thought I felt something other than gums, and when I looked, there was the smallest little ridge of a tooth. It's his right bottom tooth. I got all excited and called Dan at work. When he got home, Dan agreed that there was indeed a little bitty tooth poking through.

************************************

Oh....I have so much to tell you all and so many pictures to share! It seems like Alex learns something new everyday, and I can't believe how much cooler he is, even than a month and a half ago when we left Texas!

For example, today I was in the kitchen andAlex was swinging in his swing. I heard this giggling, and then it became just about the hardest laughter I've ever heard from him. I've only heard him laugh like this when I tickle him, this was no ordinary response-to-peek-a-boo giggle. I look over, and there is Alex, laughing his heart out because Sydney is running in circles, chasing her tail. Come on, now, that's actually funny. So, I want to laugh, too and then clap and cheer because I've just seen evidence that my kid has a sense of humor, but I kept quiet, kind of afraid to ruin the moment. Alex laughed and laughed and Sydney kept chasing her tail, until the inevitable: Sydney caught her tail, realized it was her tail, and laid back down on the ground. Alex kept staring, hoping that she'd get back up and be funny again.


"Oh, Mom, are you posting pictures of me again?"

(This is the outfit that Aunt Sarah calls his "Lemur suit." With his big eyes and stripes, he does look a bit lemur-esque.)