Aleksander Is 5 Months

This little guy is now 5 months. And he is funny! He spends most of his day laughing, smiling, and talking, that is when he's not sleeping.

He rolls over continuously from back to tummy. Which has helped find his favorite sleeping position...his tummy. This is how he was sleeping when he was an infant and like I said then, he sleeps his best on his tummy. In the beginning of his rolling over phase he would take at least a half hour at bed time to practice this over and over again. We would put him at the head of the bed and find him at the foot after a few minutes.

He has tasted some solids. He has tried oat cereal, potatoes (yuck), parsnip, pear and avocado. His aboslute favorite was the cereal. We should have stopped there. Potatoes was yuck but who likes bland potatoes without butter or salt. Parsnip goes down and pear was good too. Avocado was a strange, with this I got no reaction really except that it took him a long time before he would actually swallow it done.

He takes a pacifier if he has to but is not real fond of it still. Loves the boob still and eats often. Well not too often during the day compared to his night wakenings. Ugh! Some nights he goes a good 5hrs before eating and other nights he wakes up more often.

He loves cuddling. He loves to be near all the time and be held. He usually gets to snuggle with us from 3 or 4am until it's morning.

He adores Enzo and smiles from ear to ear when he sees him.

He recognizes his name. It's cool!

He weighs 7850kg and he is 67cm long.

Our big baby! Love you Aleksander.

Outdoor Stroller Aerobics

One of the gyms here has a class where they do stroller aerobics in the park. So, Aleksander and I went one Wednesday when I was off from school. It was awesome. You jog inbetween stations and at each station you are working your muscles. It felt good. We did a ton of pushups, situps, ran up a hill several times, worked our triceps and our core. It was AWESOME! If I go on maternity leave next semester instead of studying Aleksander and I will be joining them every Wednesday.

While I was working up a sweat he was sweetly sleeping.

COOOOOOLLLLLLLLDDDDDD!

We have snow. We've had snow now for about a week. Enzo loves it. He loves chuffing through the snow. Chuffing is Enzo's word to describe how a train goes. He's chuffed and chuffed creating his own train tracks. He has loved crawling on all fours through the snow. This is a big difference from last years snow experience. However, he wasn't so thrilled to go down the hill on his sled. Bummer! The past day now it has been so cold. I mean it's so cold you can feel it in your core. So we have spent a limited amount of time outside.

Enzo chuffing along.

Enzo helping Pappa dig the car out of the snow.

Enzo taking a break from chuffing.

I did ask Enzo to make me a snow angel and he did it gladly. Enjoy!

Baby Food

Today, at 16wks Aleksander had his first taste of something other than breastmilk. Well, that is not entirely true. The other day Mattias let him suck on an orange wedge. Other than that he had his food debut today. He has been so observant of us eating lately that we thought we would give it a shot. I can't say it was a huge success. He had about 3 teaspoons of cereal. Not sure if he really liked it. It wasn't the response that we got from Enzo when he started eating. With him it was more, more, more. But I am sure that will come with Aleksander too. Just going to give him some time. It was only day 1.

Step Into The 80''s

Doesn't it look like he should make a workout video in the 80's? Enzo is so funny and always has some silly idea. Not that he was thinking about making a workout video. He was more thinking that if he wore that headband he would look like a girl. Not quite. He's going to hate me for writing this one day. Sorry Love.

Spiders

For Enzo's Halloween party I made spider cupcakes. I totally forgot to take pictures, besides this one I took the night I was making them. I think they turned out pretty good. They were yummy anyway.

Nicknames

My mom has started to call him Sweet cakes. Not sure what I think about that nickname. But he is my Munchkin, that's for sure!

Hair

This boy has a lot of hair. And you know how most babies get a bald spot in the back of their head from sleeping on their backs? Well, not this guy. Instead he's just gotten a flat head from lying on his back. He has so much hair. I love it. Hope he loves it too someday. I wonder what style he'll be wearing. Enzo has the curly fro... Will Aleksander follow in the same footsteps?

ps. Who does he look like? Last I've heard was that he looks like my mom...

Grandma's Visit

Grandma was here for six weeks. And Grandpa joined her for about 9 days. It was a nice visit. Grandma was my extra hands. She was a great pair of extra hands. She was a great help as Mattias was working a ton and I was juggling motherhood and fulltime studies. It was fantastic!

Many of days Grandma had the morning shift with Aleksander which was their bonding time.
She played just about any game Enzo wanted to play. She was a perfect Grandma. As the weeks passed grandma would even pick Enzo up from school. She got into her own little groove here. I was proud of her being more daring. Good job Mom!

The boys loved all the quality time they received and it took a couple of days for it to sink in that Grandma had actually went back home.

I can say, I sure do miss you folding the laundry and ironing the clothes :) . Thank you mom for all your help! We miss you.

Grandma and her boys.

Aleksander and Grandpa.

Enzo scooting with Grandma. He actually dared to ride it. Thanks Grandma!

And here is Grandma riding the bike. We rode bikes out to dinner her last night here.

Don't You Just Want To Squeeze Him?!

Aleksander has become so round and rolly! Love it. It matches his happy personality.

Doesn't He Look Like A Little Jewish Boy?

Enzo wearing Aleksander's hat, which used to be Enzo's hat about 3yrs ago.

Spinning

About a month ago, (if you've read the last few posts you would see that I am behind on posting)
Aleksander and I went to a mommy and baby spinning class. A friend of mine invited us. Once again, Aleksander showed me that he is sweet baby. He just layed there and observed all the mommys spinning away. It was fun!

My Enzo!

I love this kid so much! He is my pride and joy. Ok, that sounds so cliché. But he really is. He is funny, and has such a warm and charming personality. But he doesn't let everyone see this. He is a rather shy guy for those he doesn't really know. He has a goofy sense of humor, this he got from his silly parents.

I cannot believe this boy has been a part of our life for almost 4 years. Where has the time gone?

We are so grateful for him. His caring and compassionate way. His hugs. His kisses. His cuddles. And let me tell you, he doesn't cuddle with just anyone so if you are ever so fortunate someday...cherish the moment.

We recently had a parent-teacher conference at his school. We were informed that he is such a delight. And that he can play with absolutely anyone and does this at school. He doesn't just play with the same kid everyday. She also told us that he is very shy. This we knew already. And that his shyness actually hinders him from getting involved in different activities...he opts out on fun sometimes. Bummer. But then she went on to say that even though he is shy he is not a push over. The teacher said that sometimes they pair him up with bully/rowdy kids in the class because they know that they won't try anything with Enzo. That's my boy!!!

He loves math and learning new things. He doesn't really like arts and crafts but ask him to build something with his Legos and he's all over it. He loves to do things the right way and also to point out for others when they aren't doing things the right way.

His kind heart puts a smile on my face everyday. My most favorite part of the day with Enzo is probably the morning, that is if he doesn't get up before 6:30/7am... he usually walks into our room, looks to see if I am awake, makes eye contact, smiles at me and then puts his face up to mine. Right about then I could just eat him up. Then he crawls in and cuddles with me for a few moments. Love it! That's my Enzo moment.

With this post I just want to say Enzo, I love you and I thank God for you everyday! Kisses mommy's Love Bug!

Our First Date

About a month ago Enzo and I went out on a date. We went to the movies first and then went to the coffee shop and I had a Chai Latte (my favorite), he had juice and then we shared a chocolate chip muffin. It was fun to do something just the two of us. He really enjoyed it. And we go to do one of our favorite things while at the coffee shop...look out the big window and people-watch.

Halloween 2010

Halloween was fun this year just like last year. Enzo had great anticiaption. He was anxious to wear his costume. I must say he was the cutest train engineer I've ever seen. We celebrated Halloween with the American Women's Club (a club I am a member of). We invited some friends and we all had fun. Aleksander stayed awake the whole time, the noise and lights were too interesting, he couldn't close his eyes just in case he missed something. Enzo, ran around, ate the offered hotdog and fries, trick or treated and ate ice cream with sprinkles. It was a fun and safe Halloween. And to top it off, grandma was here to celebrate with her boys.

Of course, to start the holiday off right we carved pumpkins. Here's mine. I was quite impressed with myself. I usually do the typical jack-o-lantern face. This year, however, my mom brought us a pumpkin carving kit and this kit left me feeling like a real artist! Thanks mom!

Mattias's pumpkin. His was awesome but he usually does a rather artistic pumpkin. Mattias is artistic so this wasn't too challenging for him.

Enzo's pumpkin. Carved with help from me. He was proud of his pumpkin.

The boys in their matching pj's on the morning of Halloween.

Enzo opening his Halloween gift from Grandma. Another Pez dispenser.

Aleksander with his Halloween card from Grandma. He was ready to eat it.

Enzo opens his Halloween card and money is revealed. He was stoked! He loves money but has yet to learn the value of it.

And Aleksander with his Halloween money.

This is Enzo's collection of Pez dispensers. I think we are on to something. Since this picture we have collected one more.

Here are the boys ready to go to the Halloween party. My train engineer and my little wanna be pumpkin. Too cute!

Me and my boys.

My little boys and my big boy...

Grandma and her Enzo Enzo.

Grandma and her boys. I know how badly Grandma wanted a granddaughter but I know she couldn't imagine not having her grandsons. Right, mom?

Enzo and his friend Emil taking a break from playing at the party to eat some icecream. Can you see how rosy Enzo's cheeks are?

Enzo at his Halloween party at school. The cutest kid there! I know, I am totally biased but he is!

Precious Goods

We went grocery shopping and Enzo found exactly what we were looking for. He's so juicy you just want to eat him up.

Aleksander Is 4 Months

This post is a bit late, like a week late, but like they say... it's better late than never.

This munchkin is 4 months now and this past week he has exploded in his size. It seems like over night he began to weigh a ton.

He weighs 7390kg.

He has become very aware of his surroundings and is easily distracted, especially while nursing.

I think he has his daytime and night time feedings a bit mixed up as he can go several hours during the day without eating but at night he loves to wake up and nibble...ugh!

He smiles and laughs all the time. I can even go so far as to say he is ticklish.

He is still very sweet and calm and only fusses or cries when he is tired or hungry.

He still loves the boob and not so much a pacifier. He goes in phases with the pacifier. One day he'll take it and the next day he can't even consider it.

He talks like crazy. He screams, as if he wants to see how loud he can get. It's funny and super cute. I wonder if he'll be chatty like his brother.

He still adores his brother and I get the feeling that he is anxious to start playing with him.

Happy 4 months Aleksander. We love you!