Portland Trip

This past weekend we took a trip to Portland. We decided to leave around 5 PM on Friday which is usually the time Alex is very active. I assumed he would stay awake in the car but instead he slept the entire time. This meant his schedule was completely off and rather than going to sleep at 8 he went to sleep at 11:30.

We had a great time. Sunday the whole family came over for brunch. Alex got to meet and play with all of his cousins. I think he was fascinated by all the older kids (he wanted nothing to do with the adults).

As you can see from above, Alex found a cool cubby to crawl into and hang out. He is really moving around and exploring and has no desire to sit still.

Tomorrow we leave for Palm Desert. I am so excited to get in the warm sun and hang out by the pool. Alex has only been swimming a few times in his life but he is going to get his share this next week. I hope he likes it.

Last weekend

This is an older picture but don't they both look so cute!

This past weekend Rob and I spent our first night away from Alex. While he was home having a great time with Grandma and Papa, Rob and I were living it up in Leavenworth. Sadly living it up for us means a few drinks, possibly making it to 11 PM and then crashing. Regardless, we had a great time and enjoyed our freedom for the night.

Other than that things are status quo. Alex pulls himself up on everything and is starting to creep around the furniture (he really only takes a few steps before he chickens out). Sampson is being very tolerant of Alex's adventurous side as he climbs over Sampson and then proceeds to steel the bone that he was in the middle of chewing.

We are heading down to Portland this weekend to celebrate Heather's 30th birthday and see the family. We should have some new pictures for you then.

More pictures

Here are some more Alex pictures for you all. I'll try to get some Sammy ones for all of his fans out there. Not too much new in our world.

Alex in one of his many warmup outfits. I think he's warming up to play football. The Huskies could use him.
Pre-game workout. Alex likes to do pullups on his pack and play to stay fit. He's hardcore.
Now he's ready to go, but he can't find his football in the toy bin.
Whatever. Maybe I'll just go pretend to be the dog and play with his toys in his crate. He did this to himself...really.

No more sleeping

Alex has decided that he no longer wants to sleep at night. He has been waking up around midnight and showing no desire to return to sleep. This has made for some unhappy parents. Hopefully this is a phase and it will pass. Like everything, we blame it on teething. What happens when he gets all of his teeth in, we will need to find a new culprit for all of his ails.

Alex with great grandma Kathy

Weekend in LA

This past weekend Alex and I went down to L.A. to celebrate Ezra's first birthday. It was Alex's first time on an airplane and he did great. He really liked looking out the windows. Luckily we had an empty seat beside us both ways because Alex is hard to keep still and he had no desire to sleep on the plane. Alex had a great time playing with his cousin and got to meet his great grandparents for the first time.

Alex has been very busy crawling around (still on his stomach) and he is pulling up onto his knees. He really wants to stand but hasn't worked up enough nerve yet. I can also report that he has his first tooth. It started coming in last Thursday.
Sorry for the lack of posts recently. Stay tuned, I have lots of pictures to share.

Climbing Alex

Alex has figured out how to climb up things. Mainly he uses Rob and me to climb on but occasionally he uses the table and the dog. He isn't very steady on his feet and tends to stand on his tip toes but he gets better every day. He has also figured out how to go from a sitting position to his stomach. Now if he could only figure out how to get back into a sitting position he would be set. His new mobility is making him very happy. He likes to explore underneath the kitchen table and loves to weave through all the chairs.

He has been battling a cold for the last week so getting him to take naps has not been easy. Rob resorted to an oldy but a goody with Alex sleeping on his chest.

Halloween sneak preview

Since all of the stores immediately went into Halloween mode the day after Labor Day, we figured we'd give you a sneak preview of Alex's Halloween costume. We'll say for arguments sake that he's a kosher dog.

Creeping Alex

Alex got to visit with his grandparents very briefly this past week. During his visit grandpa took this video of him moving. He is getting around more quickly now but he is still dragging his stomach on the ground and does not use his legs very well. Hopefully he will figure out a more efficient way to move soon.


We went in on Friday for Alex's 9 month check up. No shots this time, which was nice, just a general check up. Alex is doing fine but as you can probably tell, still on the small side. He weighed in at 16 pounds, 1 ounce. That puts him in the 3rd percentile. The doctor said we should try and fatten him up a bit and add some high fat foods to his diet. We are now pretty much adding butter and oil to everything we make for him. If only I had that problem and my doctor told me to fatten up a bit (I would be in cookie heaven).

Labor Day Weekend

We spent this past weekend at the beach. We had amazingly nice weather and were able to spend plenty of time outside and in the sand. The first day we took Alex to the beach he spent the entire time trying to eat the sand. The second time I think he learned his lesson and decided to dig in the sand rather than eat it.


Sampson also had a great time running free. At one point when the tide was low he ran into the water thinking it was shallow and he went completely under and came up frantically dog paddling. He made it out just fine and gave Rob and me a good laugh.

Mr. Pumpkin

The other day at daycare Alex had a few unfortunate accidents which meant the removal of his cute outfit and the use of his back up daycare clothes. He doesn't often need to use these clothes so we generally throw a random assortment of things in. This day he ruined his shirt and his bottom which led to this result (to top things off he also had on green socks during the day).
We have been trying very hard to get a video of his new creeping but he doesn't seem to do it when the camera is around. We will have more free time when we go to the beach this weekend so hopefully we can capture it then.