Moving again!

I hate to do it, but I got so tired of Bloggers interface I decided to move.  Midst-change over Blogger changed their interface.  Eff.


Oh well the damage had been done.  Please move with us to our new locale:


Xandersxoo.wordpress.com

11 Months Old - Holy Cow!

Dear Xan Xan,

Another month down and you continue to amaze me. Your walking skills get better and better even though you don't seem to care much how well you walk - you are going to do it no matter what and at whatever peril. When you watch video of you walking at the beginning of this month you were wobbly and unbalanced when you could get a few steps in. By the end of the month, the world was yours to explore!

at 10 months:


at 11 months:


In other news we are still struggling with getting you to like food. I'm sure one day we will laugh and talk about how much you hated solid foods and you'll be 100 pounds over weight or something. I hope not. If it sounds like I am a broken record in our attempts to get you to eat and how many times we have failed well, try living it.


We sit you in your high chair every day, usually three times a day, just on the hopes that one day it clicks. When or when will it be? Everyone has a "solution" and then they quickly learn just how difficult it is. Remember - the doctor said we could start feeding you solid food at four months. We have been trying ever since. Ugh. As you can see in this picture most the food we give you ends up in your hair.


We fill our days up with doing various fun activities - playing down in the basement, in the backyard and various outings with family and friends. On thing you get to do weekly this summer is go to "Music Together" over at your friend Miles' house. There you learn all sorts of songs that the dads sings to all their kiddos - it must be quite a sight from an outsider - but we have a good time. Your instructor, Dawn, brings her "autoharp" which you all love to climb on and play at the end of each class. In this picture you are playing a drum by John and Chris.



We did so many things this month from more visits to the zoo to a visit to the humane society to look at dogs for your uncle Jase.




We spent a lot more time outside because this super rainy spring started to stop and get sunny. You went to your first REAL Salt Lake soccer game (and your second).



You had visits from your Roark cousins, and your aunt Mim and Uncle Kevin.

There was one visit that was not a good one, however. That was a visit to the ER! Your Papa took you out for a bike ride one evening. When you came back you weren't quite yourself - unable to stand, looking a little off in the eyes. I was going to take you upstairs to take your temperature and you threw up - three times. Then you started to pass out. We panicked and quickly called 9-1-1. They arrived super quickly. They checked you out and found nothing super pressing but felt it would be best to have you checked at the hospital. So we gathered you up and brought you there for a long evening of tests. It ended up being nothing they could figure but it was a long and scary night. Our best guess - motion sickness! :-(

You LOVE outside and want to get out there as much as possible. Luckily your super awesome neighbor, Cecilia, has a swing that you can use pretty much whenever you want. How great is that?

We had a couple of great holidays to celebrate this month. It was your first Independence Day! To celebrate we did something new: the bike parade in Centerville - you just watched.


We did something old: the 4th celebration at Eaglewood Gold Course in North Salt Lake






And we did something lame: 4th of July celebration at Liberty Park (it was new this year and while we had great company the fireworks were pretty lame). You actually quite liked the fireworks - pointing and saying your first word "Light" over and over again...it was a lot of fun to watch you. You didn't get scared at all!


The other holiday we got to celebrate was Fathers' Day. For most it is Father's Day which denotes one Father...for us...lucky us, and you, it is Fathers' Day - because you have two Dads! Fathers' Day this year was a beautiful day so we decided to go out for some quick pictures on our front steps. They turned out pretty good.


To top off our month of adventure we took yet another plane ride. This time to visit your great grandma Mosman. She is your Nonnie's mom. She lives in Alberquerque, New Mexico - where your Papa grew up. It was a great adventure to see some of your family roots. It was great to finally meet this great grandma - for both you and me. Here are four generations:

While in New Mexico we got to see the sights a bit, including driving up to Sante Fe! We had a great trip and you were such a good boy sleeping very well.


You got to meet a lot of your great aunts and uncles as well. It was really great to be with so much family. They were so loving and welcoming!


One morning you got up early. It was a great opportunity for me and you to go explore the neighborhood. So we did before it got hot. We went to a local park and spent some daddy-baby time together. I loved it!



Well, it was a full summer with lots to do and things to see. First experiences abound! Next month we will be rounding out your last month of firsts. We might even venture down to Lake Powell! Although I'm not sure we can handle it. I was sort of hoping you wouldn't be walking by then so I could keep a better eye on you. We'll have to see. But we will continue to enjoy the summer - lounging in the back yard, over at the neighbors, or just traveling the streets in your diaper. Summer can't be beat!

The big 1 - 0....that is ten months, yo!

Dear Xander,

I can't believe we are only one month away from you turning one year old. I can't believe it was a year ago when we were in Kansas all sorts of anxious for your arrival. A year ago we were madly getting out basement remodel done and not totally aware of how our life was about to change. Now we play in the basement every day, we are fully aware of how much our life has changed, and we have the joy of our lives giving us hugs, smiles, and the best laughs we've had every day. At this point I can't even remember my life without you (for better or worse :-) ).

This month we had some great experiences and some great milestones passed. The biggest milestone, of course, is the fact that at 9 months and 3 weeks you WALKED! As predicted by your Poppi and agreed to by your Dad, you walked. I made sure of it. With some intense training sessions and constant berating and withholding of food when necessary we did it. (okay, it was far more instigated by your intense desire to get places quickly than anything I did - and I didn't withhold food...or intensely train).


Unfortunately for prosperity sake the video shows a dad that is probably way too excited - but hey - it was a very exciting day to see you moving on your own. I will never forget the odd feeling I had when I set you up to stand and you didn't collapse or crumble under your own weight. You held yourself up for a long time! Unfortunately, in an effort to capture the greatness of this moment it wasn't a few hours past your first solid steps when you fell square on my leg - causing you to get a fat lip and a bloody nose :-( But we got it on video:


You are so eager to walk and each time I set you up and encourage you to go your arms go above your head for balance and you giggle in delight over your new discovered skill. It is so fun to watch. I worry, however, as you get a little more daring you will begin to get more fat lips and more bloody noses. You seem to be unswayed by fear though and keep plowing through it all.

Another skill you showed off this month was your ability to climb stairs - REALLY FAST. You can climb with really no hesitation or problem at all. Pretty amazing for someone who didn't know what stairs were just a few months ago :-).

You are starting to say words more meaningfully. Your first word, other than "da da da da da" probably came from a game your papa played with you. He would switch the kitchen light on when and it would catch your eye. You would then point at the light and your papa would turn it off. Each time you pointed he turned it on or off. We would say "light" a lot while we did it and so guess what your first word was? Yup, "Light." Pretty cool!

It really was an amazing month with so many milestones completed. We still have to work on shoring up your walking skills and encourage talking all we can. Now that the weather has improved we are going to go out and explore the world more. We have made many outings to the park, the zoo, and to friends house and I'm sure the next month will be the same. Thanks for being in our life, Xan. You are the man!

Love,

Dad.

9 months old...wow.

Dear Xander,

I cannot believe you are now 9 months old. Time has flown so fast. Finally we are emerging out of the long winter that set in just a couple months after you were born. I have felt so cooped up inside unable to take you out to see the world. But slowly and surly we are going out and seeing more more of this amazingly complex and beautiful world.



You spent this month crawling EVERY WHERE. Literally. We couldn't stop you. Everywhere you could see you would go. Particularly if there was a dog ball you could put in your mouth or a door open to go through. You particularly love the bathroom in the basement - such a cool place I know, but it was also the scene of your first cut. Your Papa was watching you, not me :-) But you took a tumble and cut your face. It broke our hearts.


You are continuing to hang out with your new friends, Cecilia, Miles, Sonia, and others. It will be so fun to see if you stay friends with them as you get older. But for now it works out just fine. You have gone to the zoo with them, to the Park, you have hung out at their houses and they have hung out at yours. Already getting so social!



It is amazing to see the world through your eyes - as you grow and grow. You are looking more and more like a little boy and not a baby. This is both sad and exciting. But what is even more amazing is what is going on behind your eyes. It is very obvious you are starting to learn things and understand more and more. In fact there are two new activities you love to do. You have started to wave to people whether they are coming or going. Sometimes you just roll onto your back and wave at the ceiling :-) I'm sure you are just exploring how to work all those arms and legs you have!I'm not sure you love anything more than lights, as you always have, but now you have started to point at them. Your Papa was playing a game with you that when you pointed at a light he turned it on, then off with another point. I think he got you convinced all lights do it so we can barely pass through a room with lights that you will point in hopes the light will turn on or off. Very cute - but we cannot always make it happen. I hope you aren't too disappointed.

You and I still spend so many hours every day together. You go everywhere with me. Even though I don't do much politicking anymore I still have lots of meetings and you are lucky enough to come with. It used to be a lot easier when you weren't needing to touch everything in sight! But we do manage. There is nothing cuter than hearing your little heavy breathing coming from the back seat of the car while we are driving around. I nearly stop and pull over just to watch you sleep. It puts the biggest smile on my face.




Some of our favorite places to go, other than meetings, is Kid to Kid to buy you some cool stuff - like toys and clothes. We also like to go up to visit Grandma and Grandpa at their house. There you often get to hang out with your cousins and your aunts. It is a lot of fun. I can't wait for you to get bigger to where you can really plan with all of them. They can hardly wait too! We do lots of fun stuff together. We go to the Park, to the store, over to friends houses, on jogs, and to the zoo. We've gone to the zoo more times than I can remember at this point but unfortunately you don't really care much about the animals yet, but I'm sure you will soon. I like going each time hoping you will get excited about the elephant or the giraffe - not yet though.



But the reality is, especially since the weather has been so bad, we spend a lot of time hanging out in the basement. It is a place you have free reign. You can climb up on everything, touch everything, mouth everything, and you seem to love it. We built that basement just for you, so I glad you like it. Right now your favorite toys are balls, a train your Aunt Amy gave you, and your VTECH walker, and your Leap Frog music table. You could spend all day on those! One exciting thing you did with your walker was you walked across the entire basement holding on to just the walker. It was so cute to see the smile on your face knowing that you had just accomplished something so big. Walking without the walker is coming soon. In fact, I wouldn't be too surprised if it happened before your 10 month birthday, but we will see.

One happy and celebratory day we had with you was to go to the Utah Pride Festival which celebrates unique families like our own. It is so great to see so many people just like us in families that are different but work oh so well. You were the star of the festival as everyone wanted to see you and hold you!

Congratulations on completing another month of life. I'm so proud of you and can't wait to see what comes the next month.

Love,

Dad

Guacamole, sun, beach, and more guacamole.

(pictures to come)

Wanting to beat the crawling madness, avoid paying airfare for a two-year-old, and get a break from the endless winter this year we booked a trip with Brandon's parents down to Cancun, Mexico. Ah, paradise.

We had done a similar trip a couple years ago pre-baby, so this time we were a little nervous as to how our trip would be different. Which it was - but it was great!

We left the last week of February and came back the first week of March. At first we thought it would be the tail-end of winter and wouldn't really be a break. Little did we know that winter was going to creep into May this year. It was a tremendous break from the craziness of life.

We flew on a direct flight down and even though this was Xander's 7th flight of his life he was getting a little more antsy so we a little worried how he would handle. I'll be honest - it was a bit harder. He kind of hated being restrained the whole flight and wanted to sit by himself. I can definitely see the advantage of buying a seat for a baby - even if you don't have to.

When arriving in Mexico we made our first parenting decision - and we failed. The shuttle drivers were so kind and pulled us in front of like 15 people who were waiting there before we were and put us on a shuttle. We hauled our car seat all the way down there simply for this ride. We got in the shuttle - they threw our bags in the back and other people started packing in. While this was going on we began to crack out the car seat. The shuttle employee came back and told us in broken English that there was no room for Xander to have a seat and we'd have to carry him on his lap. Ugh. If we were stronger/more protective parents we probably would have protested and waited. We didn't. We held Xander on our laps and took the 45 minute drive to our hotel. Luckily there was no incident. Hey - we all survived childhoods without seatbelts/carseats etc... don't judge.

The hotel, the Playacar Palace, was tremendous. All you can eat/drink/do/relax. Perfect. Best part - my endless supply of chips and guacamole. Oh yes, I took advantage of that. Every day. Sometimes twice a day. The resort was beautiful - right on the beach and our room overlooked the pool, beach, and ocean. We did so many things through the week - but mostly spent a lot of time at those three places - the pool, beach, and ocean. I have to say it was so nice of Brandon's parents for not only paying for our stay but being there as baby sitters and company for us. What a treat! Thanks Nonnie and Poppie - you are the best!

One day for a small trip we took a shuttle over to Cozumel - an island just 30 mins off of the shore of Mexico. The resort chain we stayed at allowed us to go from resort to resort enjoying the different amenities. Brandon and his mom snorkeled. Russ and I relaxed. Baby, swam and slept. I ate chips and guacamole.

Back at our "home" resort we spent some time on the beach - giving Xander his first taste of the ocean (which he didn't like - too loud and scary) and his first taste of the beach...literally (actually, he was good not to eat it...I think). He loved the sand. We obsessively lathered him with sun block and covered him with a hat and sunglasses. If you see a picture in the sun without that stuff it was probably because we quickly removed it just for picture purposes.

We spent lots of time at the pool just hanging out. Good thing Xander couldn't crawl yet - although we knew he was getting very close and spent lots of time in the room practicing his crawling and spending time with family. We also spent a lot of time in our room while our baby guy napped - but that was also nice, taking our own naps, reading, and talking. His nap schedule, which really was just forming, stayed right on and regular. He was actually almost like clock-work, sleeping through the night, taking naps at the exact same time. It was really convenient. He was such a good trooper to let his dads get some r & r and enjoy their chips and guacamole.

One day we rented a car and went to Coba - one of the more recently uncovered Mayan ruins. It involved some mild hiking through the jungle to see a few ruins. Not as cool as Chitzen Itsa, which we visited last time, but still cool it its own right. We were able to climb the tall pyramid and see over the vast jungle of the Yucatan. Very cool. Xan had a good time and fell asleep. Standard fare for the little guy. We almost took him to the top, and probably could have, but were a little nervous since we had already been neglectful parents once on the trip. The worst part of the ruins is they didn't serve chips and guacamole.

We got the royal treatment back at the resort. Endless food, manicures, pedicures, massages. More chips and guacamole. Ahhhh....so wonderful. So relaxing. Brandon and I even had a romantic dinner on the beach.

The hardest times we had were eating. We wanted to enjoy the buffet but Xander generally wanted nothing to do with that. He didn't eat anything himself that didn't come in a bottle (see previous posts related to trouble eating solids). So we generally entertained him by giving him a butter knife or spoon (no, the knife was not sharp) that he liked to shove in his mouth to chew on. He was content for a short period while we ate fast or took turns.

On the last day Brandon's mom wanted to get some pictures done by the resort using some resort credit we had. So in Mark fashion we all were adorned with the same shirt and posed in various ways for the camera. They actually turned out quite well. Of course I got my first parental scolding from a stranger who thought our light toss of Xander into the air was abusive. Meh. Good thing she didn't find out how we got him to the resort! Actually it made me quote mad. Mind your own business, B#*@%. Yes, that is essentially what I said...actually it was, "Well thank you, I appreciate your nosiness." Luckily we were leaving the next day.

Then on our way home. We packed up our bags, held our baby on the shuttle :0(, and headed back to the airport. Good news is the plane was less full and we had a separate seat for the baby. He liked that much more. We arrived home just a couple days before we had to turn around and head to California to make our family official.

Thanks Russ and Donna for such a great memorable trip. We loved it!

8 - a whole new world

(pictures to come)

About two weeks into his eighth month (about 7 and 1/2 months old) he began crawling. Our life has not been the same since.

I mentioned in my last month post that he was beginning to make the signs of crawling. He could whip himself onto all fours without any problem and then he would bounce. That was about it. I worked hard to try and make the 7 month goal - but failed. But it only took about a week after his 7 month birthday that he began to venture beyond the bounce. He took a couple steps.

A week later he was mad crawler. We quickly baby-proofed the house and got ready for the new phase of our lives!

At almost the same time he began crawling he was pulling himself up on anything and everything. He acts as though he just wants to pull himself up to see what could be on top, or on the other side. He is so curious!

I also saw him pull himself up in his bed which prompted the lowering of his bed so he won't fall out. Now we are usually greeted throughout the night, or in the morning, by him staring over the edge of the crib at us. So cute.

Two other big things this month. One very important and exciting moment. On March 11th, just a few days after we got back from Mexico, we hopped back on a plane for what we hope to be our last plane ride for a while. We headed to California to make our family as official as we are allowed now. Our adoption became legal, real, recognized by the government. What an amazing thing. As we were walking into the building I thought to myself that not only is this moment making Xander our son, officially, but it is legally connecting mine and Brandon's relationship. Other than joint bank accounts, mortgages, and car titles we are not recognized as a pair. But now we are Xander's parents. Whether or not the state of Utah accepts it. A very happy day. Welcome to the family, Xan.

While we were in California the next thing happened. I was driving up the freeway with my cousin Missy and her daughter, Tessa, when Xander popped my finger into his mouth as he does constantly and I felt something sharp! Sure enough...he had teeth. We knew they were coming soon, but this was the first time we noticed them for real - and they were already through. The bottom two teeth had broken through and sharp! It wasn't more than a couple of weeks later when we got home that he cut two more teeth - the top two! Now he is a four-toothed little man!

What a difference a month can make. We came back from Mexico, Adopted our son, he crawls, pulls himself up, and cut four teeth. Wow. Of course all of this leads to the oh so fun - life is too exciting to sleep - phase.

Ever since he started this fun he has been waking up multiple times in the night. We think it likely has to do with him not eating solid foods well since he just can't get enough food in a liquid diet to help him sleep through the night. So until we get that mastered we are going to be up, and up, and up. I'm tired.

Now that he crawls he takes so much more energy. He is all over the place. His main motivation for going form here to there is something he shouldn't have. Usually that thing is a dog ball or toy which he grabs and then promptly puts into his mouth. Which is swiftly followed by a "icky, ca ca, dirty!" and I pull it from his mouth. Over and over and over and over. It is so cute though when he sees something he wants, shouldn't have, or gets excited about. He makes a slight giggle sound and crawls at a super-sonic pace to that object. Then it goes into his mouth. It is quite cute.

Well that about wraps it up. Just to make sure I get all the highlights here is the rundown

• Got a visit from the Roarks where they watched our little guy twice! So nice!
• Got to visit the zoo and the park again. Usually not a super exciting thing but since this winter is going to stretch well into May before we get spring any day we get out of the house is monumental
• He is now pretty good about holding his own bottle...although sometimes he misses:
• Still working on the solid food. We feel like such parental failures being that he still is 99% on the bottle. Our friendly little parenting book tells us he should be up to three "meals" a day at this point. Ha! He is lucky if he gets one every other day. To be fixed ASAP.
  
• He is just the cutest guy with such a great personality. He is always happy and inquisitive. He is so good and so easy.
  

We are lucky dads.

SEVEN

Well here we are, another month down. Time flies - especially when you are having fun.

This month was filled with some great adventures, paramount to the rest was, of course, our trip to Mexico. This was Xander's first real "vacation" vacation. We have gone to Colorado to visit family, and flown to California for adoption stuff, but this was a real get-a-way. It was very awesome. More on that in a bit, first let's talk his advancements this month.

I alluded to this last month and I won't hold the suspense any longer (I know you are dying). Yes, he is sleeping in his bed! Just a couple days after his 6 month birthday we were feeling the pressure to put him in his bed, and out of the swing, primarily because our for our trip to Mexico we knew we wouldn't have a swing to put him in and we most certainly wanted our sleep. But his move to the bed came more sudden than we thought it would. We had been testing the waters with naps in his bed and they were off and on okay. Sometimes he would sleep well others he would wake up instantly. But this one night just after his 6 month birthday Brandon went to put him in his swing and he seemed so irritated with it - arching his back, waking up etc... Very unusual. So he put him in his bed. Asleep. And slept through the whole night.


Wallah.

Now, it has had its challenges since he's been there - but nothing we didn't experience in his swing. Some nights he wakes up numerous times and others he sleeps through the night. In fact, after a bout of waking up tonight I am writing this blog post at 3 AM because I can't go back to sleep :-(. Nonetheless he is in his bed. The cutest thing he will do now is when he goes down to sleep and we lay him in his bed he will turn to his side immediately - preferably close to the side of the crib. There he will sleep, on his side. Adorable.



Slowly through the month you could see Xander getting more interested in crawling. He would sit on his hands and knees for a while, then that developed further to where he would rock back and forth seemingly knowing that this would be a great way to move. Then while we were down in Mexico and he was less encumbered by his long, warm clothing and had more constant attention and encouragement from his Nonnie and Poppie, who joined us down there he began to make moves telling us crawling is right around the corner. He now will move a leg or two - either by bouncing them forward or moving a knee forward one at a time. Where he struggles is with his hands. He doesn't know how to move them. He will reach one hand out toward an object but that usually ends up in him falling over. So as we cross into his eighth month he isn't quite crawling - but SO close. I was convinced I was going to get him to crawl before he turned 7 months, but it didn't happen :-(. Oh well, he has an 'A' for effort.




One movement related to our work in the crawling field is his ability to sit up from a laying down position. I haven't seen it yet in a smooth, one-movement, fashion, but all the movements are there. From a laying down position he can get to his stomach easily, from his stomach he can easily push up to a crawling position, and then from there he can plop his bum down and sometimes (this is the hardest part) push with one arm up to a seating position. Usually that arm is too far out and he just doesn't have the strength (probably why he isn't quite crawling yet).



On the solid food front, still no luck. While in Mexico we even tried bananas - nope. I have recently reverted back to rice cereal where we had the most success. Sure enough back to about the same level of success. I'll call him optimistically, yet cautiously, curious with rice cereal. From here I intend to slowly add bits of squash into the rice cereal getting him used to more flavor. I figure by 16 or 17 years we'll have him on pizza.



Our baby guy is just so fun to have around. His personality is shining through more and more every day. He gets in silly moods and laughs at the dumbest things, he can be serious and so focused, and pretty much is always ready and willing to give you the biggest smile in the world and it is the best thing to be given. His fussiest times are usually when he wakes up. His great-grandma said it is when he doesn't know if he is awake or asleep. That is the best description I've heard. Other than that he is a HAPPY HAPPY baby.

Now, the monthly run-down

• He is SO "grabby." He will wound your face, pull your hair, rip your lip, squeeze your ears, or twist your nose...but it is always done with a smile and with love :-)
• He seems so interested and curious about crawling - you can see the intent to learn in his eyes. He'll get there.
• He loves to play with your hands or your face while he is eating his bottle. He has done this for a while, but as he gets better with his hands it is becoming more and more his favorite thing.
• He is such a chatterbox and loves to make all sorts of sounds - even when it is just to himself: (The annoying beep sounds is my phone)
  
  

• We had our first visit to the park...he didn't really "get it."

• We made our first visit to the zoo as well...he didn't get that either. I thought that maybe he would think the animals were at least "large dogs" but nope - he didn't care. Nice walk anyway.
• And of course, Mexico. I will do a post on the trip later...