Xena

Xena chilling in the sun.

Paging Dr. Chng

Checking Xena's temperature

Applying the bandage to "fix" her

"This will only hurt for a moment", his exact words

Using the stethoscope to check her out.  As you can see, she isn't that interested and would much rather just nap.

When I was making lunch today, I guess this is what Alex decided to do.  Play doctor with Xena.  Xena wasn't really bothered, but I think that really she just wanted to sleep.  He was taking great care in making sure she was okay though.  In the end, it was decided that she may have to stay in the hospital for a few days.

Silly Boys....and a Girl Dog Too!

This is so fun! I'm pushing Daddy on the trike.


It would appear that Alex wanted Daddy to get on the trike to anchor it down, so he could hang like a monkey.


As you can see, Xena was quite interested in this little game too!

Chillin' in the Front Yard

Chillin' in a sunny spot


Little Bro Bro, what are you doing?


Hey Sissy, look up in the sky!

This afternoon we did some yard work in the front yard and surprisingly, Alex took a break from undoing piles of leaves and actually rested with Xena in the sunshine for awhile. This is a rare occurence, so as soon as I saw it happening, I went in to grab the camera. They were having quite a lovely time hanging out in a sunny spot together. At one point, he made a "nest" back behind one of the trees and was trying to convince Xena to come in there with him. "Hey ZZ (I have never heard him call her that before), wanna come in here with me?" It was super cute, but of course, I listened to it for too long, before actually starting to record it.

Quiet time?

As I was getting ready this morning, it was very quiet in the rest of the house, which is not always a good thing. Today, however, this is what I found. Alex had climbed up on the chair which Sis Sis has now basically claimed as her own, and he was reading "Are You My Mother" to her. How cute! It looks like Sis Sis was more interested in taking a nap, but at least Alex wasn't pinching her.

Yum, Spaghetti!

Alex is having a lot of fun feeding himself these days. He is quite proud to put that food in his mouth by himself. It does get a bit messy, but as you can see, Xena posts herself on cleanup duty on a nightly basis.

Hey sister, I've got your tail!


Alex and Sis-Sis

I'm posting some happy pics of Alex because this week was a sad one in Oakland, with the tragic deaths of four of the police officers who served to protect us every day. My mind kept wandering back to the situation throughout the week and today, while watching pieces of the funeral, I couldn't help but think of their families and what they are going through. My heart goes out to them all, the parents, the wives and the children. It reminds you just how precious life is and how thankful we should be for the police officers who work so hard and put their lives on the line every day.

Bubbles!

Today Alex's friend Johnny came over to visit for a few hours and since it was cold outside and we couldn't play in the sandbox, we played with bubbles inside for entertainment. As you can see, it was quite a hit. Xena got in on the action too, actually trying to eat the bubbles!

Cabin Fever

After a day cooped up in the house, cabin fever strikes!

I Love My Sis Sis!

Alex is still completely enamored with his big sister, as you can see. He follows her everywhere, and spends alot of time giving her hugs and trying to get her to play. She's a good sport and really enjoys that he also shares food with her, by throwing it from the highchair.

The Latest

Alex has been keeping busy this week, especially during the unseasonably warm weather on Monday. After finding out that our BlueSky Family Club had shut its doors, only a few weeks after buying a membership (bummer!), we decided to meet some of our friends at TotLand Park in Berkeley. It is an awesome park for the kids. They have so many toys for them to play with, including the car, walker and rocking horse, which you see Alex on above. Doesn't he look like a little old man, looking into the mirror to switch lanes in that photo? He had a fun time playing and then we all had a picnic lunch in the park. I guess we will all be meeting at one another's homes during the rainy season, which is too bad, because the club was a great place to meet.

The other day, while getting ready to take Alex and Xena on a walk, I came back in the room and there Alex was, holding onto the leash. Just had to get a shot of that...pretty cute! He has recently learned to open up cabinet doors, which means that we need to get those childproofed. He loves playing on the foam block playset, which we bought this weekend at a neighborhood yard sale. It has a couple of ramps which can be used to climb and then slide down as well as a couple of other shapes to play with.

As you can see from the recently posted video, he continues on his culinary explorations. In the video, David was feeding him bits of a LaFarine chocolate croissant (none of the chocolate, of course). He was very interested, as you can see. We went for dinner at a local Cambodian restaurant on Friday evening and he enjoyed sampling the rice and charbroiled pork. These days his favorites seem to be stewed pears (from the backyard) and yogurt, or baked sweet potatoes, lentils and rice.

He keeps us on our toes, and we love it!

I Love My Sis Sis.....

Ride 'Em Cowboy!

Xena continues to entertain her little brother. He still finds her to be so funny. He loves to pet her, sometimes gently and then other times, not so much---he's learning, slowly but surely. All in all, they seem to like one another and soon, when the food is flying from the high chair to the floor, Xena will be much more enamored with the little one.

Relaxing Weekend

We had a fun, yet relaxing weekend here. Alex had his six month checkup on Friday and we are pleased to report that he is doing very well. He is tracking well in his height and weight and is a healthy little guy.

Saturday we went in to help Alex apply for his passport. We wanted to get the paperwork in early, since there has been quite a backlog in processing during the past year. Later in the evening, we decided to get a pizza and go up to the Berkeley Rose Garden for a little picnic. Alex enjoyed looking at all of the pretty roses and had a great time hanging out on the bench with mom and dad.

As you can see, he is still quite fascinated with Xena. He loves to pet her (well, actually I think it would be considered grabbing) and we are trying to teach him "gentle"--not a concept that he really gets quite yet.

Hot, hot, hot!

It looks like it will be another hot week in Oakland, again. I don't remember it being so hot in the summertime in the past, but it sure has been this summer! Alex and I met Carrie and Johnny at Tumble and Tea today, for a little playdate. The concept is quite cool--there is a play area for kids, some tables and sofas to hang out at, and a variety of food which can be ordered, including sandwiches, salads, smoothies and drinks. Since Johnny and Alex are pre-crawlers, they cannot really enjoy all of the equipment, but I am sure someday it will be quite fun. We had a nice little outing and enjoyed spending time with Carrie and Johnny.

Yesterday, David and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary...hard to believe! I received some beautiful roses, and Alex decided that he wanted to explore them more closely and grabbed a whole handful of petals. He is very grabby lately, wanting to pull on everything. He's definitely a good little explorer. As you can see, his fascination with his sister continues. He always wants to try to figure out what she is all about.

We are off to play "swimming pool" with our huge baby bathtub. We put cooler water in it and put it on the floor and let Alex splash around in it. He loves it and it does a good job of cooling him down.

Take care!

Hey Big Sister!

Alex was having quite a conversation this morning with Xena. Well, I guess it was more of a monologue than a dialogue, given that Xena was just kind of looking at him the whole time. Finally, after much cajoling by Alex, Xena walked over to him and kind of sniffed around like, "hey, Little Bro Bro...do you have any food?" When the answer was no, she just kind of walked away and went back to her bed. Alex really likes her and I'm sure once he does have food, Xena will like him even more!

Happy Thursday!

Hi everyone! Hope that things are going well with you. Just wanted to write and give an update on what has been happening here. I turned 5 weeks old yesterday---Mommy and Daddy can hardly believe that I've already been around for 5 weeks! Today, Mommy and I went to our first Baby and Me group, which was fun. I took a nap, had a snack and then scoped out the group for awhile. I was very happy to get out and about and see other babies. I was the youngest baby there by quite a bit, but it was fun. While we were there, mommy weighed me and I am now over 10 pounds and 22 inches long, so I am growing fast.

We've gone out on some walks with my sister as well, around our neighborhood. I like to ride in the stroller and usually take a nap while we are out. These days I like my bouncy seat, which vibrates, and as you can see, my sister sits next to me to keep me company. I also love to play koala on both Daddy and Mommy, as you can see from the picture. Even baths are fun now. My dad uses the baby bathtub now to give me baths and I like it---it's just like going to the spa!

That's what is happening here. Talk to you soon!

Love,
Alex

Outing to the Park

Hi all!

I celebrated my three week birthday yesterday by taking an outing to the park. We took a picnic to Point Isabel and walked around the shoreline and enjoyed the beautiful weather. My big sister was quite happy to be able to show me one of her favorite spots to spend time. The weather this week has been great, so we wanted to make sure that we enjoyed it, and we certainly did. Here's a picture of me, my dad, and my big sister....you can't see me, but I'm sleeping in my stroller. I love to take rides and sleep in the stroller!