26 Weeks

This shirt fit fine for all of the first pregnancy, so I'm going to pretend that I shrank it in the wash and that's why it's almost too small. I kept having to tug it down when I had company.

Don't you like how Xander just had to jump in the picture?

Not much new with the pregnancy. I'm still getting acid reflux, but it's not bad if I remember to not overeat and avoid the tomato sauce. I think I'll get more 'nesting' this time around. Sunday I went around and cleaned all of the windows, which I have not done since moving in nearly two years ago. I also really want Xander's old clothes out of the attic so I can start sorting what can be reused.

I do get a little freaked out that Enchilada doesn't move much. For a while I would wake up in the middle of the night with the bumping and thumping. Now I will go days without much movement. I remember Xander being born with the cord wrapped around his neck and I'm hoping Enchilada isn't having that trouble. Scary to think about.

18 month checkup

Ah, the doctor again. It's been a while since we've had to go there since Xander hasn't been sick lately (knock on wood). I've been getting a lot of comments about how big Xander is, which confuses me since he fits into 18 month clothing. Maybe he just looks broad in the shoulders and the way he tackles other kids makes him seem bigger.

Height: 31.5 inches (40th percentile)
Weight: 25 lbs, 11.5 oz. (40th percentile)
Height vs. Weight puts him in the 75th percentile! At the last appointment he was in the 50th.
His head wasn't measured.

There were a lot of questions to make sure development was going ok. Aunt T helped me count and he has about two dozen words he says, he understands sentences, he moves and climbs a lot, eating and drinking are going great. I have noticed Xander is drooling a little and putting stuff in his mouth so I asked about more teeth, which I guess is a good possibility. I was asked to start brushing his teeth twice a day.

After the appointment we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner and Xander received his own little platter with bread and bananas. He ate one piece of banana and promptly stuffed the other three pieces into his mouth. He also didn't want to use his special sippy cup that I brought and instead played with the cup, lid and straw of the kiddie cup brought out. He would pull out the straw and struggle to get it back in. After he dropped it, he would turn the cup over and try to drink out of the hole where the straw was. It was entertaining.

Outsmarted

Xander is just getting nosier and more curious about everything. He figured out how to get into the file cabinets and desk drawers. Not a huge deal, the most he could get into is the pens in the top drawer. But still inconvenient and quite a mess can be made.


So Chris and I think we're smart and Chris buys some dowel rods and slides them through the handles of the cabinets and desk drawers. Ta-da!

Well, earlier this week Xander figured out that by climbing onto the couch and then onto the file cabinets, he can pull those rods out. And he's sneaky about it, so I'll suddenly see him running by waving two sticks around. After he tripped himself a couple of times I just took those away and am hoping the files can fend for themselves.

Yesterday Xander discovered that the dowel rods are just bendy enough to give room for his hand to slide into the desk drawer and grab a bunch of pens.

I tell you, there is no end to baby-proofing a house.

18 Months

Xander is a year and a half old today. And he has no idea what's going to happen in July. I'd love to prepare him, but no one has a baby right now. Lots of people due this summer though, so hopefully Xander can handle sharing attention. I'm trying to teach him to say 'baby', but it comes out as 'bay' which is also his word for 'basement.'

As I was carrying him downstairs this morning, I was telling him how he is 18 months old. He ignored me and saw a cat on the stairs. "Hi cat!" I was so shocked I stopped and stared at him for a minute. His first senctence and he greets Ainsley.

At least he still hasn't learned 'no'.

Xander was a monkey in a previous life

I'm sure of it. Seriously.

If you've spoken to me at all lately, I've carried on about how he is climbing everything. He was just getting onto the loveseat and going over the edge to the end table where he'd do a happy dance.

Then he grew and was able to climb on all of the couches without too much assistance.

Then he realized that he can sit on the dining room chairs too. That involves leaning over the chair seat and giving it a big bear hug and lifting his lower body and then swinging a leg around to get a knee or foot onto the seat. Serious muscle control going on here, folks. He will then either turn around three times and sit down or climb onto the table and sit dead center.

He especially loves the computer chair. If he sees you walk away, he will climb right up and start clicking away. And if you are in the seat too long, he will just turn off the computer. And then turn the computer on when you leave the room. Then climb into the computer chair.

Oh, but he's not stopping there. The entertainment center now has a lot of space on the television shelf since we switched from a tube to a flat screen. And the shelves below it make a great ladder! Every time I leave the room I will hear him get upset because he will either be stuck halfway up the 'ladder' and can't figure out where to go or he is sitting in front of the tv and realized he can't get down. I'd take a picture, but that would only encourage the behavior.

He's still into everything and has figured out that the big, shiny object in the corner is the curio cabinet. I didn't even notice the first time he got into it. Chris walked down the stairs and found Xander with the lid of some wedding crystal. So that will be fun, I'm sure.