More Firsts!

Alex has had a whole slew of "firsts" lately.

His first football (thanks to uncle Tim and aunt Kelly!) and the first time in an exersaucer. We made sure to get our hand-me-down "exerciser" (as Ray refuses to call it an "exersaucer") cleaned up as soon as we got home from our trip to Michigan. It's now Alex's favorite spot to hang out and play.

His first "big boy bath." Yes, he is sitting up on his own! He has some bath toys, but doesn't really know what to think of them yet. He just enjoys having the water poured on him and tries to grab the water as I'm pouring.His first plane ride. This picture was actually taken in the airport after getting off the plane. He sat on my lap during travel - or rather, he SLEPT on my lap during travel.
His first boat ride. In uncle Tim and aunt Kelly's boat on Lake Michigan. It was a beautiful day, but man, it was cold once we got out to the big lake! His first solid foods. Green beans! Yum! Ray and I are making our own baby food - it's really easy and a lot cheaper than store-bought baby foods - plus we know exactly what we're putting in to our kiddo! We bought $8 worth of fruits and veggies, then spent about 2 hours one afternoon processing green beans, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, and peaches. We made enough food for at least a month. 1 two pack of stage 1 baby foods is $1.39. We rule. Alex agrees...

Finally and unfortunately, we're currently experiencing Alex's first cold. Luckily, he's just a bit congested with the worst of his symptoms being goopy eyes. He's taking it all in stride. Usually Alex is all smiles first thing in the morning, but yesterday his left eye was matted shut. He looked up at me with a confused look on his face and you could tell he was working really hard to open both eyes. When the left eye finally opened up, he laughed out loud - what a start to the morning! He is a bit more tired than usual...as you can see... The first nap in his exerciser... ;)

First Trip to Michigan

Over Labor Day weekend, we took our first family trip to visit Ray's family in Michigan. Alex had his first plane ride, which went pretty well. Each descent was a little rough, but luckily Alex had charmed all our nearby travelers before the fussing started, so instead of glares and stares, all we got was sympathy..."oh, poor baby, his ears hurt!"..."poor little guy...he's just so sweet." It was pretty great. During our stay, Alex got to see his Nana and Pops and uncle Tim for the first time since he was three weeks old (way too long) and met lots of family for the very first time - his great Nana, aunt Cheryl, aunt Kelly, cousins Josie and Emily, great uncles Jeff and Danny and Ray's cousin Jeffrey. Nana's house is quite well-equipped for entertaining a baby - Alex had a blast! Mom and dad had fun, too. It was nice to have full-time baby handlers/entertainers at our disposal - we actually got to relax a little! We can't wait to go back!

Alex was a little grumpy after a long day of traveling...But it didn't take long to warm up to his Nana!

Alex with his Great Nana

Aunt Cheryl with baby Alex (as opposed to dog Alex, Cheryl's baby)

Alex with cousins Emily (10 months old) and Josie (3 years old). Isn't Josie great with the little ones? She did a great job wrangling them for pictures!

Getting some lovin' from aunt Kelly