Likes the sippy cup

Alex wants to drink anything and everything we drink. He reaches for, holds, and tries to drink any glass, cup, bottle, etc. we have...like this wine glass...
So, we thought we might as well try to give him a sippy cup and he absolutely loves it. He holds it, tips it up, and drinks. It's so funny to watch. So, he's been enjoying his water in a sippy cup along with a new food this week...oatmeal...which he also seems to really like, way better than the rice cereal. He's also had a little bit of banana but doesn't seem to be a huge fan of that.

We got this new toy station thing for him and he really likes it. He's already figured out how to spin himself around to get to the different toys and presses the animal buttons that say things and play music. He also likes to bite the monster toy that all the reviews I read said the kids are scared of...not this guy!

Here's some pictures from this past week-"swimming" in his pool and cute pictures of Alex and his daddy cuddled up together.

This past Sunday we went flying to Bismarck, where we stopped and went to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. Alex has been doing really well in the airplane, we'll see how he does flying commercially this week! We leave on Wednesday morning for Florida for a week, then Andy returns and Alex and I go to Tennessee.

5 Months Old

Alex is 5 months old!! He's doing lots of fun things now...
He has found his feet, and likes to play with them, especially the right one and especially on the changing table. He is getting much better at "sitting" on his own in the "quad-pod" and tripod positions...
Our friends are part of the Boudreaux family of Boudreaux's Butt Paste, and they sent us a nice collection of BBP stuff, including this T-shirt. I thought I take some BBP poster child shots of Alex.
It's the nicest time of year here in Minot. The ND State Fair starts tomorrow, Matchbox Twenty is the concert tomorrow night, which I might get to go to. The farmer's market opened this week, but only had about 3 booths so far when I went on Thursday...although it did make the news! I went to the Wild about Wines at the Roosevelt Park Zoo. They had wine samples at the different animal exhibits. It was an interesting thing to do, kind of weird sampling wines next to the animals, but something different to do and I handed out a few business cards for my wine-tasting business! It was good until we got sprayed by the anti-mosquito spraying C-130 that flew directly overtop of us. They sprayed on base on Wednesday too, so hopefully that will help lessen the crazy mosquitoes around here...they were getting pretty bad. The weather has been very nice mixed with some bad storms. Andy has had to work so much though, we haven't gotten to fly except for last Sunday...and this is how you know it is really bad, he hasn't golfed all week!
Well, that's all the news here in Minot. Here's some pictures from the past week.

Happy 4th of July and Our 6th Anniversary

Alex enjoyed his first Fourth of July helping his daddy smoke baby back ribs and brisket. Grandpa Chuck flew to ND that day in his Cardinal and arrived in time to enjoy dinner with us.

I left really early the next morning along with dad and our friend Bubba to fly back to IL with dad, then turn around and fly back to ND (Bubba and I) in my Mooney. It was a crazy long day...we stopped in Brookings, SD on the way down and back, and arrived back in Minot at about 1:30am. The weather the next day didn't look too great, so that's why we flew back the same day. Andy survived 22 hours alone with Alex...the longest yet!

The next day, July 6th, was our 6th anniversary. Andy arranged for our friends Kerry and Dan to watch Alex that evening so we could go enjoy a dinner together at Michael's restaurant, and then we went to Barnes and Noble for a coffee and cookie. It was nice to have a date together. It was our first since having the baby...ironically, our last date was the night I went into labor, and we ate at Michael's that night too...February 16th.

Since that big weekend, Andy has been very busy with work. I've been trying to get smart on my plane and all the nuances of owning your own plane. I found a hangar (finally and luckily) in Kenmare, ND...about a 50 minute drive away. It's well worth the drive and money to keep Noble hangared. I just need to watch out for all the crop dusters that fly out of there!

We went on a family flight this past Sunday when the weather was absolutely beautiful. We flew around ND for about an hour and Alex did great in his car seat strapped into the back seat of the plane with cotton sticking out his ears.

Alex has been rolling over more and more. He can sit on his own for several seconds at a time. He seems less happy with rice cereal this week for some reason. We tried a little bit of mashed banana today and he liked that better. He has been doing a great job of sleeping at night, putting himself down to sleep with just a little help and back to sleep when he wakes up most of the time. He has also started laughing a little bit, mostly when you tickle his belly. He really likes to play with his toys or whatever he can get his hands on, like my hair, your glass or food, Andy's beer bottle. He's also discovering his feet more and more. He loves to stand up, more than sitting or laying down. So we spend a lot of time holding him on our laps or on the floor. He can hold himself up on the ottoman for a little while.

We're getting ready (and I'm getting anxious) for our trip to FL at the end of the month. We leave on the 30th. Andy gets back on the 5th, and Alex and I return on the 12th, since we are going to TN to see my mom and stepdad after FL. I can't wait to take Alex to the beach!

Here's some pictures from the past 2 weeks.

4 Months Old--Rolling Over and Eating Cereal

Well it's been way too long since I last posted, so here's all the latest news.

Alex turned 4 months old on June 17th. He had his 4 month checkup--more immunization shots but all was well. He is inching towards the 50th percentile all around at 14 lbs, 6 oz and 24 3/4 in long.

He rolled over tummy to back for the first time on June 14th, and has done that a handful of times more since.

We got the go-ahead from the pediatrician to start some rice cereal, so we've been giving him just a few little spoonfuls each day. Some days he seems to really like it, and others he just maybe tolerates it. Sure is funny to watch him get all messy! Here's a video of his first meal!

We took our big car trip to IL to visit with Andy's family there. The normally 14 hours trip took us 18 hours to get down there and was exhausting for all three of us. Coming back went much better and took only 16 1/2 hours. Alex got to meet his great grandparents, great aunts and uncles, and lots of other family and friends. He also went on his first boat ride...Phil Kramer's pontoon on Little Swan Lake.

While we were in IL, we went to Greenwood, IN to pick up the airplane we bought. It's a Mooney M20G Statesman...his name is Noble. We were going to fly the family home to ND on Friday, but the weather didn't cooperate, so Noble is in a hangar in Macomb, IL and we are in Minot. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so I can fly it back this weekend.

Alex had his first dip in his baby pool on Monday. He didn't seem to be sure what to do with it. He still doesn't love taking his bath either, so I think he might have been hesitant since it probably seemed like bathtime. I hope he starts to have a little more fun with it so he is excited for the ocean on our trip to FL next month.

Here are LOTS of pictures from all the events from the past few weeks. Happy 4th of July!