Walking and Talking

For a few weeks, he's been walking a few steps in between things. Then last week, after we rearranged to set up a larger play area for him, he started doing this. Just needed the space, I guess!



And he's been enjoying a new phone from Nana and Papa. Sorry the video is dark. We had him open the present at night. We have photos too, but still have to take the red out before uploading them. (Mom and Tom, we have several videos of him actually "opening" the gift, which took forever and would bore everyone, but I'll send them if you want to see them. He still plays with the wrapping paper.)

Needless to say, our toy long-distance bill has skyrocketed.



And finally, a bit of fun with the curtain in his new play area:



OK, back to work with me.

Time Travel

Come back in time with us to the weekend after Thanksgiving, when Darrick's mom visited on her way back from Mexico. She brought kisses and a super cool cowboy vest for Alexander. It's still a little long but not, ahem, too wide.





Before Grammy arrived, Alexander watched for her car for a while.



Then he got bored, so he killed time with a little dancing, staging a fight between his giraffe and the alien star clown, then chewing on the camera case, after getting bored with his own toys.







Finally, he decided to drive out to find her, in case she got lost.



After she left, he just hung out, single-handedly reviving the one-strap overall fad of the 80s.

A-a-choo!

Adventures in Brokaw Land

We're a little behind on the blogging because all three of us have been sick. So here's our blog from two weeks ago.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we spent a day over at the Brokaws, just hanging out.



Alexander learned how to drive, thanks to Ben.




And Lauren let him play with her toys while she chilled on the floor.



We had Shelly's homemade fudge and some other food that wasn't fudge.

Donkey Boy King of the Tupperware Party

Alexander couldn't decide what to be for Halloween. The strap on his mummy mask broke.

So he thought maybe he'd be a spooky ghost. Eating diced green beans. In Hawaii. Alo-o-o-oha, woooooo!

The pumpkin mask never quite did it for him.

And the skeleton mask was a good one, but it didn't quite match his physique.

By the time he tried being the statue of liberty, he wasn't feeling too patriotic.

So I thought he might like a mustache to match mine. (I phoned it in this year: bearded lady. Darrick didn't even pick up the phone with his luau outfit.) Alexander was so upset by the Groucho glasses, he broke them. I guess we shouldn't have pushed so far with the costumes.

Finally, though, he did decide: He wanted his dad's costume. To chew on, anyway.

When Babies Attack

Quick Blog

He's got 9 teeth at last count (and they are getting difficult to count these days). He still likes to use them to bite us affectionately. And he enjoys experimenting with the different sounds he can make now that he has more teeth. One of his favorites is a velociraptor-like sound. We're still sorting our videos, so we'll post some talkies soon.

He's been walking around holding onto things like he thinks he's people. And sometimes he crawls under his exersaucer for some me time.





Or he just chills out, you know, just being casual.



More posts soon. Gotta get back to work. As you hold your breath waiting for the next installment, check out our blog translated into gangsta rap. Courtesy of Gizoogle.com. Note that the translation has some language that you'd expect from a rap translation, but in this context, even that's funny.

Update on the boy

We've been working a lot, and it's just going to get worse before it gets better, so here's a quick catch-up blog.

Alexander is crawling, although he still mixes it up, crawling forward a bit, then collapsing on his stomach and inching forward, then rolling, then crawling some more. While I was sitting on the floor with my back to the couch, he scaled me and got onto the couch without my help. He's got six teeth, maybe more by now. They're popping up so fast, and he likes to gnash them together in the most disturbing ways. He's also giving kisses, big, wet open mouth on our cheeks, sometimes ramming his teeth into our flesh.

Here's some videos of him pulling himself up on the coffee table and laughing it up with his dad.

Alexander has friends over

Brooke and Foster came over to play today, and Alexander had a great time! He's such a ladies' man. He's got four teeth now, two on top and two on the bottom, and he's really working them, chewing his lip, as you can see in these photos.




Earlier in the week, we finally let him get closer to the pets.





He even managed to grab Gonzo's tongue with his ninja-like reflexes.



Then we went through a pack of baby wipes.

Single baby seeks romance, possible long-term nap

Single male, still living at home, looking for someone to drool over. If you're 12 months or younger, like long crawls on the floor, midday naps, and staring at your hands, I just may be the guy you've been looking for, baby.*




Check out this six pack.



Give me a call, shorty, and we'll hang in my crib.



* Must be willing to accept public flatulence.

Scooting, snorting, squealing

Here are some random movies of Alexander Cappy Scooter Pig Boy Mallon. He's been scooting himself around, getting up on his hands and knees but not quite getting how to crawl yet. Between the scooting and rolling, he manages to get where he wants to go, and at an alarming rate sometimes.

He's also big on snorting lately.







He's generally more interested in furniture than toys: his hamper, the changing table, his diaper pail (hence the abrupt end to the last film). He's also a bit of a squealer, which means, of course, that he has no future in the baby mafia.

In yo face, Mama

Usually, the moment I bring out the camera, he freezes and goes silent. Not tonight.

Sorry the video's so dark (as usual).

Grandparents exersaucer first tooth peas mama devil baby

What a week. Nana and Papa spoiled their grandson rotten with good times . . .





and an exersaucer that holds every toy ever created:



Alexander's first tooth broke skin, and a second one appeared today, not far behind the first. He's been using his choppers on peas, which he tolerates but doesn't love:



He much prefers his thumb, and frankly, I don't blame him. Peas are gross.



He's been saying "mama" like crazy. He doesn't know what it means, I'm sure, but he has learned to say it repeatedly in the mornings when he wants out of his crib and when he's hungry. We'll get video when we have a chance. He also plays with his "n" sounds, delighting my mom with some "nana" rambling while she was here.

And he showed his devilish side last week, which he gets from his dad, of course. He does not, however, take after his dad in head size.

Darrick's mom visited over the past few days, leaving this morning. She'd just had some major dental work done, so she was in a lot of pain, but she was a trooper during the visit, and Alexander was thrilled to have someone to share his baby food with.



And finally, after several months, we finished Alexander's room. Long ago (last year), Case helped Darrick put up the wallpaper and mural:



And during my mom's visit before Alexander was born, she created slipcovers for our glider.



Mom and Tom also provided several other elements in the room: tiki mask, beautiful armoire, Hawaii postcards, wall outfit (doesn't the wall look handsome?), bunny picture frame, mobile, and other stuff I know I'm forgetting because there is so much, not to mention all the books, toys, and animals about the room that Alex received from friends and other family members--thanks everybody! If you click on the last picture to enlarge it, you can examine the documentation from Alexander's travels.

So without further ado, Alexander's room: