Food!

So Alexander has been dying to eat regular food.  For months, he has noticed when we eat, but over the past month he has watched us eat more and more intently.  He will stop playing with toys to stare at us eat, which I think is funny, but he has been getting more and more stressed that he doesn't get anything.  It seemed like he was definitely ready to try some food, but since he is just over 5 months I wasn't sure yet.

Two nights ago, though, we decided to give him food after he was upset and crying about not getting food.  I wasn't ready with home-prepared food for him this early but I did have a can of salt-free sweet peas, so those got mashed up and strained and watered down.  The end result looked kind of gross, actually.  But Alexander certainly didn't mind! :)

He did impressively well at keeping the food in his mouth and swallowing it - he hardly got messy at all!  Now I just need to decide what to try next after the peas...suggestions?

In other news, Xander had been sleeping in his bouncer chair every night up until a week ago.  He just had a hard time sleeping more than a couple hours in his pack and play, so I had been putting him down for naps there, but nighttime just wasn't working there.  Plus when he spits out his pacifier, a few times per night, he was way closer for me to put it back in :)  Last Friday he fell asleep in my arms and I decided to just try putting him in the pack and play for the night...and he slept there all night!  Well he woke up once needing the pacifier reapplied, but then he fell back asleep there.  And he has slept there every night since, no problemo!  We are very impressed by how well he took to it...well, it only took 5 months, but he is doing well there now... :)

Basically our little boy is growing up, and while that makes me happy and he is so fun right now, it also makes me sad since he is so different from when he was younger!  I guess that's how things go, but I just wish I could have him both ways.  I mean, you just can't compare this

to this.  Both stages are too cute for words :)

Red, white, and blue in photos

So here are the promised pictures of us in our Independence Day finery. Enjoy!

Happy (late) Independence Day!

Excuse the lack of blogging, Alexander has been sick with a cold this whole week and then he got me sick :( Good thing I love him!

Independence Day was, as usual, a good chance to think about the ideals this country was founded with and all the many sacrifices that have been made for us. It has taken so much thought and effort to give us the freedoms we have. I appreciate those greatly, though I do not think of it as often as I should. The mandatory American Heritage class at BYU is generally complained about for being hard, but learning about the founding of this country should require a little effort for us, right? It was one of my favorite classes and I should read more books on this topic. Any recommendations?

I wanted to show you how Alexander and I dressed up in patriotic colors/clothing- though Alexander's participation in this was not of his choice, I'm sure he will appreciate it when he gets older :) Sadly, though, I can't get pictures of him to upload from my iPhone, as I am blogging from the road (I feel so technologically connected and cool!) on our way to Cleveland for the weekend. I will work to rectify this situation- check back soon for pictures of cuteness :)