Week 34

What a week. Xander still has the rash- the bumps are not as big, but there is a little bleeding in the diaper area. The rash itself is shrinking but, you can tell, it itches so badly. He's so patient and calm though.

He loves to sit and play with the other kids that come into the house and I'm just glad that he has someone to play with. He's eating "treats" now- they're the little dissolve-able cereals and yogurt bites. He's not sure about the yogurt bites but the others he loves.

Xander's favorite thing to do is to sing. The problem... our little boy has the screeching-at-the-top-of-his-lungs thing down. He loves to squeal and make these obnoxious "girl sounds" as Scott calls them. We love it but dang!!

Xander's making a little progress with the movement. He can scoot himself backwards and he pushes himself backwards in his walker. How in the world do you get the little man to go forward? Oh me. He does love to roll and scoot. He's so very beautiful and sweet.

Singing and strumming the guitar with daddy...

He's making all kinds o cute noises and figuring sounds out. I love this!

Week 33

It's been a rough week. Xander got strep and was placed on antibiotics and then had, what we think, was an allergic reaction. It started with a "diaper rash" with bumps so big they looked like blisters. Changing his diaper is a horrible event. He cries and scissors his legs to try to scratch. It must itch so badly. My poor little guy. Then he woke up last Saturday and the "rash" had spread all over his body. Sunday we stopped the steroid medicine that we had from the doctor. We are using mela gel and renew lotion and it's working better than the prescription was, but healing takes time. His diaper rash is the worst and his poor little legs look like hamburger meat.

All through all of this my little man is quite happy and beautiful. He is such a content little man. He's always full smiles and loves to be tickled and he giggles so cute. He loves his walker and is pushing himself around~ backwards, of course. He also loves to be on his tummy and is scooting around~ backwards, of course. He's playing with his toys more and more and loves to play with other kids. Of course, there's a lot of hair pulling and poking... but I like to call it play. They don't cry so...

He's my little man...

"I'm done, mommy, no more..."

So, that's it in a nutshell... 'til next week...

Week 32

So much happening with the best little man ever!! He is getting 4 teeth up top and is miserable. His poor little upper lip was so swollen. One finally broke through today and, if we can get through the next few days, we hope to see more... Fast!!

He also got a hair cut. If he hadn't moved so much it would have been a beautiful cut. As it is he only has a couple baldish spots~ oops.

The cut...

He sat so very still as long as he could...

He was such a good little man...

He's sitting up more, too. It's fun to watch him play with the other kids. He laughs and laughs and just has so very much fun!

And we find him playing with his toys a lot more. He is growing so very fast...

Week 31

My sweet little man has been sick. Last Thursday he woke up with 101.5 degree temp and we took him in only to find out the poor little guy had strep throat! He's only 6 1/2 months old and has strep!! What a bummer. So we've got him on antibiotics and he LOVES them. Well, he loves the bubble gum flavoring of it...

He's enjoying so many different foods as we introduce new ones into his life. His favorites are veggies but he likes some fruits- pears and bananas mostly. He's on a good solid schedule and adores his daddy.

He sat up but refuses to do so anymore. I will sit him up and this is how he ends up...

That little booger will sit there for a few seconds and then push back. He has no desire to sit. He does like to push himself up though. When he's on his tummy he'll straighten his arms and push himself backwards... He'll probably crawl before he sits.

I like this one~ I think he'll be a hero...

That's my man~ a hulk to be.

What can I say? He's growing so fast. As of Thursday, he was 16 pounds. He is interacting with other little ones. One of the daycare kids (2 years old) had him laughing so hard the other day. Xander has the best, most amazing giggle/laugh. He's such a doll. We just gave him his 2nd haircut and boy did he scream (like a girl). WOW!! So, when Scott took him to the doctor they used a straw thingy to suck the snot from his nose, scrapped his throat, and pricked his heal~ his reaction~ a little wimper. Scott cuts his hair and you'd think we were cutting his fingers off! So much screaming over something that feels no pain. And dang, that little boy has a scream like a banshee. I thought we'd lose our hearing!

Today I noticed that he has four big bumps in his upper gums. Once he finally let me see inside his mouth I noticed two white spots where teeth were coming in. I think he's getting four new teeth. Scott disagrees and says just two. We will soon find out!

What can I say? He's a heartbreaker (and eardrums).

Week 30

Last night (Saturday the 28th of Jan) at around 8:20 my son sat for the first time. I put him down for a minute to see if he could hold the position and he sat for almost a whole minute. He's growing so fast! I'm so excited to be part of the progress.

We have a full house lately as we've added another little one to the daycare roster. Xander is loving having all these little kids around. It's so wonderful to have all these little ones around. It's great for our little man, too. I love taking pictures of all of them together...

a new friend...

Xander is trouble and he knows it...

We set the date for Xander's sealing. May 15th (Tuesday) in the Logan temple. We are so super excited!!

Week 29

I have this image in my mind... There's a little boy, two or three years old, running wildly across the yard towards an older woman. His dark hair is flying back crazily in the wind he's creating as he runs across the grass. His eyes are bright and he has a huge toothy grin as he leaps into the open arms of the woman, who twirls him wildly and laughs at his squeals of delight. He throws his head back and laughs as he screams, "One more time, grandma. Twirl me again." I watch as she twirls him and kisses his face and neck.

Those are my thoughts and the vision I see in my head whenever I think of my mother-in-law. Last night when Xander got up this is the thought the came to mind after I fed him and put him back to bed. Let me explain... My MIL is the reason we have Xander in our lives. She is the one who met Jennifer and made the connection and she is the one who was there helping Jennifer along the way, as we were not close enough to do the things that we would have liked.

With everything that has gone on and with all the changes in our life, I have failed to say thank you. So, I am taking this opportunity to thank this wonderful woman. She was always there and would drop everything to tend to our concerns. She spent time with Jen, loved her, talked to her and did all she could for her. My MIL is a wonderful and giving woman, who would give the shirt off her back. Again, she did this for us. How can you possibly thank a woman like that?

She and Xander will always have a close and wonderful bond. She was our connection, liaison, the tie that binds, the one who brought the sun back out from behind the clouds. Through her our Heavenly Father was able to work his miracles. Because of her willingness to listen and because of her tremendous love for us we have a family.

So, mom, thank you so much for loving us. Thank you for sacrificing your time and giving of yourself so that we could have what comes so easily for others. Thank you for bringing the sweetest little spirit into our lives.

Just chillin'

Week 28

Xander is growing so much and so fast. He loves to play and has some fun new toys. We love watching him learn...

He's exploring and having fun. He's also enjoying his food~ not prunes so much. Loves sweet potatoes and pears...

Once he swallows (mostly) he opens his mouth and waits...

He is so wonderful and is laughing and playing more. He does so love to see daddy and misses him greatly when he is not home.