Trips to FL and TN

Alex got to see the beach for the first time in Florida when we went to Fort Walton Beach area for Seth (and new wife Jen) Olson's wedding (Andy was the best man). He was pretty happy to watch the waves and even to sit in the water a little. Keeping the sun off of him was a full-time job, so our beach trips were pretty short. He also enjoyed the pool at our condo. He did great with the plane rides, car rides, new places, and tons of new people playing with him. We also got to visit with some old friends from Barksdale, Jean, Will, and Jaya Bellamy who live in Panama City.

After a week in Florida, Andy returned to Minot, and Alex and I went to Knoxville, Tennessee to visit Grandma and Grandpa Brooke for a week. The grandparents had a great time playing with Alex as he is much more playful and interactive than last time they saw him in person. He had a good time watching the Olympics with Grandpa and keeping his eye on their bird, Charlie.

We got back on Tuesday and are getting ready for a short visit from Grandma and Grandpa McElvaine, who arrive Thursday evening.

While we were gone, Alex was sleeping in a travel bed which is basically a pad with a velcro-on soft bumper around it. He started rolling up on his left side and hugging the bumper and falling asleep that way. Then he learned to roll over from his back to tummy too. So the first night at home in his crib, he woke up 3 times crying because he had rolled over to his belly (which he still doesn't like to be on). The next night, though, he set a new record for longest sleeping on his own when he slept for 10 hours!! I guess he probably won't do that every night but that was pretty nice. Alex also discovered that he likes peaches as he latched onto one I was eating. He pretty much tries to eat everything that you eat or even just hold or have in front of you.

He turns 6 months on Sunday, and has his 6 month checkup next Monday, and then we'll start more foods (he's still just doing oatmeal/rice cereal). I'm going to attempt to make his food, we'll see how that goes!

Here's the pictures from our trip.