We have a top tooth! And we’re on our way
to Franklin today. Yay! What a good day!

So I spent $14.95 on this fancy crawling toy a few months ago.
It has lights and music and its supposed to encourage baby to
crawl after it. Lex likes it well enough, but never crawls
after it. He sits on his butt and plays with it. But… give
that boy an empty bowl or a bottle of water and he’s all over
the house. It’s hysterical! I gave him a small bowl of Cheerios
on the floor today. He dumped the bowl, first thing, then
proceeded to pick up individual Cheerios, put them in the bowl,
and then eat them. One at a time. Then he ran out (as far as he
knew) and so he started throwing the bowl (yes, another new
trick) and crawling after it. When he’d get close to it his
hand would hit the bowl and it would got another few feet. He
made it all the way around the living room like this. I was
laughing so hard. Then he came full circle, back to where he
had been eating Cheerios, and found a little pile of them that
he’d been sitting on! So he got his bowl back, put the Cheerios
in it, and ate them. Funny baby :)

Lex is so smart. I love watching him
learn. We have two “interactive” books (one being Pat
the Bunny) and Lex knows exactly what to do on each
page. We don’t even read them much. He never liked them before,
but lately he’s taken a real interest. Pat the
Bunny has a page with a little mirror on it and Lex
always touches the mirror. Tonight we were reading a different
book and one page has a picture of a mirror on it. When I
turned to that page Lex reached out and touched the mirror (not
the rest of the pages, just the mirror). He’s so smart. I love
watching his eyes scan the pages when we read stories. And I’m
teaching him how to put the balls in the holes on the dragon
toy he got for Christmas. He tries very hard, but his
coordination needs refinement :) He’s just so much fun. It’s
amazing to watch him every day!

PS.
New photos on
Snapfish.

My little sister will be joining me at
Binghamton!! Or maybe I’m joining her? Either way –
yay!!

Lex is getting pretty good with “mammama”
and “daddadda” these days. He seems to use them pretty
consistently and accurately. Alan said that the other day when
I came home, Lex heard the car door shut and immediately
started saying “mamamama” and looking around at the door for
me. Good baby!! The drawback, of course, is that when he’s
crying himself to back to sleep in the middle of the night he
calls “mamamammama” and it breaks my heart. I’m sure he knows
what he’s doing because he doesn’t make any other words, just
wailing, sniffling, and “mamamamma”. Luckily he’s getting
better at sleeping, so he doesn’t have to cry himself back to
sleep too often.

I think the hardest part of being a parent
is the continual self-doubt. Just when you think you have the
hang of things, baby changes and does something different and
throws you for a loop. For example, Lex has been napping well
all week with little to no crying. Today, however, after a bad
night of sleep (for no apparent reason), he just wouldn’t go
down for a nap. He was obviously tired, but he cried and cried
for 1/2 hour until I finally gave in and nursed him to sleep. I
don’t even think he was hungry, just wanted to cuddle or
something. Was that the best thing to do? I don’t know. I
really don’t want to get back in the bad sleeping pattern, but
maybe he really needed something today. Who knows.

Good morning Tessa,

It is my pleasure to inform you that you have
been accepted into the Accelerated Program at the Decker school
of Nursing. Congratulations! …

Have a
great day!
Sincerely, Fran

This morning he completed two
full crawl motions (coordinated arms and legs), but then he sat
back down and started playing with his toys. By time time I got
home tonight he was full on crawling!!! He’s so tiny and
adorable.

Watch a short movie
(2MB) of Lex crawling or a much
longer movie (64MB) that includes some playing and
other silliness (well worth it for those of you with
broadband).

Lex is such a little ham. This morning I
put him on the bathroom floor while I got ready for work and I
gave him a few “toys” (2 hair scrunchies and a plastic cup –
limited options in the bathroom!) He was trying to hold all
three, but each time he picked one up he dropped one. He’d have
the cup and a scrunchy and go for the other one, but the first
would fall out of his hand. So he’d get the second and try for
the first again with the other hand – dropping the cup. It was
so funny. He just kept trying over and over. He’s also very
mobile and he gets on his hands and knees and stretches to
reach objects. Then he backs up onto his butt again to sit up.
Each time he does this little maneuver he ends up in a slightly
different spot. This is largely how he gets around. He’ll do
this a few times then stop, look around, asses his current
location, and get right back to it. Last night he moved all the
way across the room like this. I’m pretty sure he knew where he
was going and very intentionally trying to get there –
roundabout and backwards. He cracks me up. This morning he was
wearing a sleep sack that Alan’s mom made, so he didn’t have
the full range of motion with his legs that he’s used to, which
just made the whole process funnier. And the best part is that
he didn’t get mad or frustrated, just kept trying.

He’s also a ham for the camera these days.
Whenever he hears me turn it on he stops what he’s doing (doh!)
and smiles big for the camera. He’s so adorable I could take a
million pictures, but I try to control myself – sometimes
:)