Creeping, Rocking and More!

Here is the brief clip taken by Xavier's madrina at her house. As you can see the rocking only last a few seconds before he belly flops.


View this clip on Vimeo

Today he decided that crawling isn't for him...yet. He has started creeping along on his belly instead. Another first, he pulled himself to standing in his play pen, to the dismay of his mother and abuela! Thankfully, uncle Joey was there to yell at Xavier to sit back down...which he did for about two seconds and then stood right back up! So the play pen and his crib mattress have been lowered so he won't fall over with the weight of his head. His abuela is dreading the day she must chase after him...


View this clip on Vimeo

Weekend Adventures!

So this weekend Xavier and Pippi decided to head off to the Shedd Aquarium. Their moms wondered what they were thinking trying to go to a busy tourist attraction on a Saturday afternoon, but decided to accompany them anyway. Marna, the expert blogger, brought her camera but was unable to capture a good shot of the kids’ fascination with the penguins. I think it was too dark...But they had a lovely time (minus the million strollers) and later returned to the Anello home to hang out. Pippi and Xavier will have to return when they realize that the fish are actually more exciting than the lights in the tanks.

Later that day Xavier had a visit from his uncle Gabe and aunt Tsubasa. He climbed all over them and then pulled up a chair to have his dinner alongside the four of us. He sat back and enjoyed the conversation. Then we were rather surprised when at the end of dinner he agreed with aunt Tsubasa about how delicious mango lassis are and let us know he wanted a taste to make sure. We thought he would make a silly face and decide he hated it...instead he opened his mouth and leaned in for more....and more...and more...oops, we created a monster. This MUST be a result of all those Indian food cravings during pregnancy.

Get Ready, Get Set, GO!

So far xavier only has the "get ready" and "get set" parts down...no "GO" yet! However, I thought I would post some pictures of all his new found mobility. He was always a little squirmy for his age, but has become even more so the last few weeks. Let me start there.

Here he is trying to go somewhere...I'm not sure how he thinks he'll get there...

Yes, folks, that is an Arsenal soccer outfit (Daniel would probably disapprove of the term outfit)

Ok, back to the squirminess. Ready. He gets on all fours by leaning over on his hands when he is sitting...


Set. Then he moves his feet out from under him, but manages to stay on his knees. After this he usually stays in this position for a bit and then does a belly flop or starts rocking back and forth. If there is something he wants to get to, he will throw himself to reach it...I try to let him practice on soft surfaces, but now when I put him down for belly time he scrunches his knees up and goes right into crawling position. Daniel tells me I'm being too...(what's the technical term?)...wussy. BUT, in my defense, he did throw himself once and his head hit the floor...so, there is reason to be somewhat concerned. When he does try to move his arms he forgets about his legs and also falls over those times. That's what happened in the picture above. It's all very exciting but also worrisome...because we will need to start chasing after him soon!

Almost "Go". My sister has a video of the rocking, I'll see if I can get a hold of it and post it later...It's not crawling, but it is cute.

Let's Get Ready to Rummmmmble

DING! DING! DING! In this corner, in white trunks with sesame street characters, weighing in at 17 lbs 7 oz and "standing" at 27 inches, with an impressive record of 33 and 0 - with 31 wins by way of knockout, forfeiting his featherweight title to challenge for the lightweight championship of the worrrrld...Xavier "Butterbean" Anello!

We know, not the most menacing look...The "weigh-in" happened on Wednesday, March 8, the day after he turned 6 months! His weight and height were in the 50th and 65th percentile, respectively. He also got his next round of shots and took them like a champ. He was angry but recovered rather quickly. His doctor also said that she thought his speech was developing on target (possibly even advanced) for his age, which is something we worried about after the hearing tests. We'll see about that in the months to come, but can give more details when we talk to you.

This is just a picture in his baby einstein...which he doesn't love as much as he used to. We think he would prefer to roll around on the floor these days.


And a picture trying to get his pacifier in his mouth. We wish he would do this as well in the middle of the night as he does during the day!

Here he is watching futbol with his father and holding on to his own soccer ball. We can't really tell if he's that interested, but Daniel swears he loves it.










Again, doing something that he is apparently only able to do when he wants...

Anello grandparents visit

Here are the pictures of Xavier's visit with his grandparents. Actually, we just have pictures with oma and didn't get any with gramps. Sorry, gramps...we'll have to take lots next time.


This is right before his new dance video...

Oma and gramps missed this new development...he did this Sunday morning for the first time...who does it remind you of?? His father maybe?

Here's the drinking water picture...as you can tell most of it actually ends up on him. He also sucks on the rim of the glass like he can't quite figure this out...but he seems to think it's fun to take water in his mouth, gurgle and then spit it out. We LOVE cleaning up after that. Why don't I stop giving him water you ask? Well...I didn't get a picture of it, but when I bring a glass to my mouth he opens his. I just find it rather pathetic and cute at the same time and I don't have the heart to deny him his gulp of water.