Update

Sorry no pictures...but I didn't want to neglect the blog this week, it's just been busy. The drool-machine's Oma and Gramps are in town, so although there has been lots of picture taking and movie making there has been no time to post. Here are some updates on what the drooly boy has been up to the last week and a half (a lot can happen in the life of 5 ½ month old in a week and half).

As you can probably guess…a lot of drooling! Gums are a bothering him, but no teeth yet. He seems fascinated with kisses (watch out ladies) and we think he tries to imitate after we give him lots of kisses. He leans in with his mouth open and slobbers all over our cheeks…no attempt to bite, though! He is also fascinated with adult food and drink…we’re always telling him he can’t have pizza yet, but we have given him water in his big kid cup (not sippy cup!) He wants to drink like mami and papi. We’ll get a shot of that later. He had been struggling a lot with rolling over, both from belly to back and back to belly. He could manage it, but would roll and fall back and repeat several times before getting over…then all of sudden yesterday he started doing it like he was an old pro. Just “Hey, look over there…I want that…" ok, roll. He also walks! Not really…he scoots backwards in his walker at his abuela’s house. But he does dance…usually it’s to the new Sean Paul song (but I’ll get him moving to some Carlos Vives or Sonora T or D). We caught that on tape! That will get posted when I get that figured out and a certain someone returns my camera’s software. That’s all for now.

As promised...

These were not easy pictures to get. Xochi does not come near Xavier these days. She just does drive bys...

Kiko tolerates him a little better, but doesn't like getting pinched so usually leaves in a hurry.

Occasionally, Kiko will be too lazy to move and he gets to "play" with her. Don't worry we didn't let him bite her...See...is that a guilty look or what?

Bedtime Routine

I promised tia Lala a new video since she misses the x-man so much, so I thought I would capture some of his bedtime routine (at 23 weeks) for the blog. We start by getting x ready for his bath...this usually means some toe sucking followed by wrestling and raspberries on the belly. It always ends in giggles. Hopefully you will be able to hear it over his dad's monster noises...


View this clip on Vimeo

Then he's off to his bath. He just got this yellow rubber duck. His Oma and Gramps bought Xavier a great book about 10 rubber ducks lost at sea. He loves looking at the ducks and tries to grab them, so now he can...

When he's all dressed and ready for bed he sucks down a bottle. If you listen carefully you can actually hear it.

View this clip on Vimeo

He gets comfortable and sucks on a pacifier or his thumb. Tonight it was a pacifier that fell out as soon as he fell asleep.


What a little angel...If you are wondering if he is sporting a new haircut...yes, he is. His abuela took him to see his aunt in Cicero to...umm...fix his...errr...hair...in preparation of the Anello grandparents visit next week! He can't wait! He's also looking forward to tia Lala's visit in the spring!

Happy Birthday to Titi Linda

We spent Sunday with Titi Linda, whom we hadn't seen in a little while, and her sister, brother-in-law and two neices. Xavier was little on the quiet side, mostly because he was having lots of teething trouble that day. We got great advice from Bea about cold carrots...It worked like a charm - he didn't want to let go once he got his gums on it. We've decided we will need to go back for more advice...

Seeing Lin hold Xavier made us realize how much he has grown. Just compare these two pictures.
















He now measures at least 27 inches, though we can't be sure. He wouldn't stop grabbing his feet long enough to get a good measurement, how do they do it at the dr.s office?

We sang las man~anitas, ate cake (or stared at it) and then settled in for a late night bottle. Titi Linda thought he was cuteness and we couldn't agree more. Thanks for having us over!

Xavier is 5 months

Tuesday was Xavier's 5 month birthday. On that day he got a new car seat and...that's it. He's got more new stuff than we know what to do with...
I followed the advice of the only two people who made suggestions and got this Britax car seat from e-bay (brand new! thanks marna) and saved $60! My sister (AKA madrina) suggested this color combo and I think it will work nicely.

Though I just noticed that gramps suggested a used one...I checked those out on ebay as well. I don't have the patience to look for one that is in good condition and bid on it. I did get our 2nd base used - $10! BTW, this one goes up to 65lbs.

These pictures were taken just after dinner when x was playing with his dad. Well, at first he was just sitting in his high chair after his new favorite meal (peas), being "curious". We are really afraid of this curiousity when he learns to crawl and walk. Yikes!

See how he leans in closer to inspect? He's also been inspecting the cats recently, right before he pounces on them and, yes, tries to bite them...Sorry Pippi, it's not just you. I'll get pictures of that the next time they sit still for the attack.

Here he is, doing what else, yelling. Pippi's mom and I were talking about his the other day. The babes seem to be doing more and more of this lately. Go figure. It is tough to talk above it sometimes.

He looks confused by something his father said to him. Maybe it was a comment about his cute overalls. They were a gift from his aunt Lynda and uncle Chris. They fit! YAY!.

By the way...his cousin Tyler, has his own blog now too. We can't wait to check out all the new pictures, because he lives so far away - in Germany. Another friend is working on a blog in Vermont. We are going blog crazy. We can't wait for Alaina's blog to go live! Oh, the blog fun we are having.

Let's go shopping!

for a car seat...I know, not as exciting as when we used to shop for shoes or jewelry, but that was B.C. (before child). We have recently decided that we will get another britax for one of our cars (probably mine) because, well frankly, we think they are really safe. X has been in the britax that madrina got him (the roundabout) all this month in abuela's car and even without a latch system that seat has not budged. However, this is a big purchase and I would normally browse the stores with my sisters or friends for something that cost this much - as my mom might say "sue~na Mexicana", in other words "yeah, right". So we'll do our browsing on the blog and purchase online...