Out for Dinners

This week we were out for dinner twice.

On Tuesday Xander and I met Ikkin for burgers at Red Robin. It was so great to just get out and chat with a friend. Xander was a putz who was on the verge of crying, but he did wait until I was almost done with my burger.

We did discover that he already has a favorite condiment: ketchup. At one point, while Xander was calm, Ikkin held up a bottle and moved it around. Xander was completely fascinated. Then while I was buckling him in and he started to meltdown, she held up the bottle again. He would catch sight of it and get all wide eyed, start to cry, then see the bottle and calm down again. I wish I could describe it better because it was hilarious to see.

Thursday night my mom and aunts came to town for a conference over the weekend, so we met them to eat at Max & Erma's. Xander was tired for half of it and then became incredibly wiggly. Nonetheless he was cuddled and kissed within an inch of his life. Honestly, I found some glitter on his head this morning, so someone had lip gloss on.

Overall these outings were a good time. When Xander first arrived on the scene I was absolutely paranoid about going out. What if he began crying uncontrollably? What if he needed fed? What about diaper changes? What if.... well, you get the idea. So it's nice to know that Chris and I can handle these things.

Au Natural

Not too much new is going on with Xander this week. He still can't get that darned thumb in his mouth but usually seems to be content with his first knuckle and index finger. He's spitting up more and I think the knuckle-sucking has something to do with it. And his Uncle Mark has repeatedly warned us that we'll regret letting him suck on his hand when we try to break the habit.

I did order some BumGenius diapers since they went on clearance prices (still expensive, but they'll pay for themselves over time). I only bought eight and I have a few old fashioned diapers. I figure I use a few while at home each day and use disposable while on the go and at night, at least until I get more.

Chris is concerned with the smell and germs while storing dirty cloth diapers. So any suggestions are appreciated, just leave them in the comments (or email if you'd like).

Go Browns!!

Another football sunday. We missed the Browns game, but we got to see the Chargers pound on the Ravens! Whooo-hooo!


I guess I'm the local bleacher for the games.

In other news, we'll have to figure out the cause of the complete meltdowns that we have in the car. It's a painfully long 15 minutes to get from one end of town to the other while meltdown boy is melting down.

crafty crafter

I had some poster frames from when I was a kid that I didn't want to hang up anymore, so I decided to put them to good use for Xander. I used the wife's construction paper and cut out a colorful little alphabet for him on this one....


...and on the other some numbers, the periodic table of the elements, a map of the USA and some colors to fill in the leftover area.


I think they are pretty neat and add some color to his room. Now I just need to get a Cleveland Browns' poster and at UT Rockets poster and he'll be all set.

Two Month Checkup

Xander and I made it to the doctor's office today for his two month checkup. So far, so good! I had a few questions I'd been saving up that were easily answered, Xander was looked over and then he received his first set of vaccinations. Oh, did that make my heart break. He was all happy and cooing when the doctor came in, after a meltdown in the car. When the nurse gave him his shots the screams were even worse than I imagined. He's a tough little guy though, once I was holding him he just sniffled a while and wanted to be held.

Stats:
Head - 15 inches
Length - 22.5 inches
Weight - 12 pounds and 4 ounces

Things to work on:
Tummy time
Chris possibly doing some bottle feeding

Xander's Baptism

Yesterday was Xander's Baptism and it turned out to be a lot of fun. This was after the mayhem and panic that began the day. We all were up early so went to the 7:30 mass. Afterwards I said "You know, we never called to confirm Xander being baptized today and no one called us to confirm. Let's stop by the office and make sure." Good thing we did because they had no information on Xander being registered. He wasn't on the announcement or in the office records. PANIC!

But the lady in the office was super nice and added our name to the announcements (and ended up recopying them). She found an extra candle and set everything up with the deacon. I do want to call and check his baptism certificate is taken care of.

So we headed home to relax, wait for a few people to arrive early and get the house ready. Then I think of what Office Lady said about the white garment - that we would provide it. Huh, I must have misheard because Chris and I both remember in the class saying a white towel (blanket?) would be provided. So I call Office Lady and ask and she is sure we need to have our own white outfit, which I was way too cheap to splurge on and the family baptismal garment is way too antique and fragile to wear. My mom is bringing a sweater and pants, but we don't know if they will work. So Office Lady offers to loan me one of hers! Office Lady is a saint!

I get off of the phone and nearly have a meltdown. No baptismal registration + no white garment + messy home + needing to get food ready + long term sleep deprivation= Meltdown Hugs. Chris spotted this right away and gave me a hug then sent me packing to bed for a nap. That was blissful.

So family arrived and we were distracted and left a little late because we needed to go to the office to change Xander into his fancy white duds. Rush, rush, rush and we make it in time.

The ceremony was long since there were eight different children. Xander was the best behaved of course (that may be due to the pacifier we let him have, none of the other parents let their children have one). Our family and friends took up more pews than any other family, go us!

The best part was after his mouth and ears were blessed he gave us a huge smile.

Then we all headed back to the house for food and good times. It's a fun feeling to have the house so full of people who love our little guy. And I once again learned more about child-proofing a house courtesy of some broken marble chess pieces. :)

Here we are with Xander's godparents, Ukie and T.

a few free moments

Xander's baptism is tomorrow. Amanda is making cupcakes for everyone after the ceremony and they look great. I'm more concerned with eating one...but she only made 21 and I don't know if that'll be enough for everyone to have one, so I have to wait.

He's cutting one loose over there in his swing, so I better go and change him.