First I'll report on the teething...After a rough two nights it looks like Xavier has a new tooth. It's an upper front (right) and it feels like the other fang is about to break through any day (whatever that means). So he's up to three (in the most random order) and may have four by his first birthday next Thursday. We're so excited and already have a little celebration in the works during his visit to his grandparents in NYS this coming weekend. Can't wait!
Xavier has a few new favorite activities (and word). He likes to sit or stand at the bottom step and yell "kitty" up to the cats. It sounds more like "ditty". The hard part about this is that it seems he is a bit of a thrill seeker and hangs on that step in a way that makes his parents very nervous. He stands too close to the edge, hangs from the bars, and tries to climb up the stairs on the outside of the staircase!
Over the weekend Xavier met a new friend. He met three year old Ela, who can eat on her own, talk and jump! He loved her. He, of course, chased her around to hug and kiss her, but he also watched her every move so that he could learn from her...This is what he learned.
C:\Documents and Settings\Daniel\My Documents\My Videos\Jumping on Vimeo
In case you can't tell, he's trying to jump.
At the suggestion of Pippi (who now wants a pony), we decided to take a trip to Lamb's Farm on Wednesday. Dylan and his mom, Becky, came along for the adventure. You can see their blog for more pictures. He didn't get to ride on a pony, but he did ride on a train. He didn't love it. If you read Dylan's blog you'll notice that the car ride didn't go so well, but I will add that Xavier didn't help the situation by poking Dylan in the face whenever he tried to go to sleep - sorry. But it was well worth the trip when I saw how much Xavier loved the goats. He hugged and kissed them and I think wanted to bring one home.
Dylan thought kissing a goat was kind of a silly thing to do. I think I would agree.
He also tried to get as close to them as possible. Like here, where he shoved himself in between his favorite two (he spent most of his time petting, hugging and kissing these guys).
Dylan and Becky, thanks for coming along and for taking the pictures! Yes, I actually forgot my camera! The next day we drove to Michigan for a couple of days of beach time. I will post some footage of that later this weekend. I'm off from work this week and staying home with Xavier while abulela takes a much needed vacation. After only a few days with him, I can certainly attest to the "much needed" part. There are plans to keep him busy, but I hadn't expected him to be on the go every waking minute! Somehow the weekdays would be different from the weekend? A girl can hope. So today was a slow day. We dropped uncle Joey at soccer practice, got a haircut, and had a late lunch with tias Gris and Mari. In between I tried to get a few pictures for the blog. This wasn't so easy. Mostly I got pictures as Xavi ran away, like this one.
Here is one trying to reach my keys
K icking the soccer ball around
And, of course, hanging off the table.
I did get some great pictures over the weekend of him playing outside, but they are on our new camera phones and I'm still dealing with new cell phones and a new company. Once I have that figured out I will post. They are pictures of Xavier finding rocks, running with them, licking them, and then throwing them as hard as Xavierly possible. I don't have pictures of the licking, I was trying to take them away from him. Then we had ice cream. Xavier had a great time.
On the teething front, Xavier now has two teeth and another coming in. He has a bottom front and an upper fang. Really. It's so weird. The tooth that is now coming in is the other bottom front.
Xavier was out today to cheer for mami at the LaSalle Bank half marathon When we posed for this picture, though, he was more interested in what I was drinking...thanks for the cheer, xavi.
I finished in 2 hours and 29 minutes...YAY!
Can you believe it? Xavier is 11 months old today. He is looking and acting less and less like a baby these days. In many ways it feels like he has entered toddlerhood a little early, for us. He is walking and running around all over the place. He picks a ball up and throws it...or kicks it like he has seen his dad and uncles do. He gives you a high five or reaches to give you his hand when you ask him to. And the definition of toddlerhood? Negativity must be in there somewhere, as well as the testing of limits. He loves to shake his head no (all the time) and will point to things he can't touch and questioningly ask with a shake of his head if he's allowed to go there. When you respond that he's not, he laughs as he throws himself into whatever is not allowed (this weekend it was pile of extension cords). When we try to hold his hand as he walks he pulls it away like he's way too big to have it held. I won't even get into the tantrums.
Oh, and by the way, meet Hollywood John...
P.S. His hair is starting to curl...and yes it does need to be trimmed again.
