Family Fun!

Fall has been full of family fetes. (Say that five times fast)

We went to a couples shower about 6 weeks ago. Alex has a (3rd) cousin who is making her appearance in January. We got the opportunity to wear Indian clothes. Grandma and Grandpa got Alex this little blue number while I wore a new sari that my dear friend Shri picked up for me recently in India.

Family photo:


Here's Alex fascinated by a balloon.

Thinking we may get a nice nap or quick trip to the movies in, we tried to leave him amongst the baby gifts, hoping no one would notice. But we were unsuccessful.




Alex met his Great Uncle and Aunt from Chicago (Ramesh Kaka and Veena Kaki)
later in the month as well.




And he also met his (2nd) cousins from Chicago, Asha and Lexi.



Asha and Lexi bought a present for Alex. An animal magnet set. Ooooh.
Matt is secretly plotting to steal it when the kids aren't looking.




Alex's favorite part of the whole toy set was of course, this pig butt.



It's still one of his most favorite toys currently. Mmm. bacon.


Asha, Lexi, Julie (their mom, aka my cousin), Alex and I went to the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose one afternoon.




Here are the 3 kiddos in the back seat of the car. We managed to
get them and their car seats to fit. Aren't they so adorable?


Here's Asha giving her baby cousin a kiss! Aaw.



Lexi and Alex.




Asha taught me something great! If you sing the alphabet song to Alex when he is fussy, he'll stop and listen calmly.


Lexi celebrated her 3rd birthday in San Jose. But Alex
was more interested in his basket of toys we brought along.
Sorry, Lex!





One last photo of Asha and Alex as they say goodbye outside of
Barnes and Noble. Next time they meet it will be on Skype!





Wish we all lived closer. We'll have to make a trip out to Chicago soon!

8 Months Old!

Two weeks and two days ago Alex turned 8 months old (aka November 14th).

Our little chunky monkey is...or was... 19lbs 11oz. I have no idea how tall he is but he definitely looks longer. He has a lot more hair coming through, unfortunately (or fortunately?) it seems to be taking shape of a faux hawk.

I should probably ditch the blanket idea now. He's too huge for it.


Alex and I went to our monthly Mommy and Me group. This time it was at Amber/Jake's house.

So many babies.


Here's Alex and Jake hanging out on the couch. Notice the teethers that each one is holding.



At some point, they decided to trade.




Sharing is caring.



There were a few days where Alex discovered some new muscles around his forehead. He kept making this weird squinty face which was terrifying. We started calling him vampire baby. Looks like it was just a phase since I haven't seen him do it in awhile.



Baby gurning competition?



Lots more to post about: Alex's cousins visit from Chicago, Thanksgiving, Daddy turns 31, Alex sits up on his own etc. Hopefully I'll get around to it sooner than later.

Random Photos from Early November

November has come and nearly gone. I was hoping to write a few proper posts this month but am now barely cranking out one! We have been busy!

I pretty much left off at Halloween with the updates so I will pick up there.
Alex is definitely teething this month. He puts whatever he can in his little gob.

(As you can see, he is perfectly happy with a washcloth or a spoon.
This is why I don't buy him expensive toys.)





Earlier this month he had a bit of a stomach flu. Took him a good week to recover.


Lots of daddy cuddles (or maybe just xbox?) helped him feel better.



Started to get chilly outside. Bundling up before one of our walks. He finally fits into this cute little jacket his Uncle Jamie and Auntie Liz sent from England months and months and months ago!


Eventually the rain came so we started hanging out at the bookstore. Check out his cool paci from Switzerland (Thanks Joanne!) So international!



A little nap on the way home.



Built up energy for his most favorite kitty.
Alex has become slightly obsessed with Mau.


She both loves and hates the attention. Notice how she's moved closer.



Close. But no cigar.




99.9% of the time Alex is a very, very happy baby. He is so much fun to be around.
We thought surely we'd be stuck with a non-stop cry baby since Matt's such a whiner
but clearly we lucked out! Looks like he got mommy's genes (yep...the good ones!)


Saved the best for last.
I'm not exactly sure how to caption this one. All I know is I crack up every time I see it.

We'll have to make sure we save it so we can show his future girlfriends when he's in his teens.
Muahahahaha.

Gigantes

2010:

Alex is born.

Giants win the World Series.

Coincidence? I think not.


Some tense moments, some happy moments and some slobbery ones

A Plea for Help

If you are reading this then please help! My name is Sophie. I was born in France on May 25, 1961. My owner, Mr. Alex is terrorizing me. He is not as innocent as he seems.

At first, life wasn't so bad. I moved to California in July of this year. I was so happy to meet Mr. Alex and become the center of his attention.






He used to consider me the life of the party.



But things changed quickly. At first I thought he was just smothering me with kisses.



But something just didn't feel right



Mr. Alex it seems, was not as innocent as he appeared.


He likes to bite me from head..



to toe :(







Please contact the authorities and save me!



A short clip below. WARNING: Video contains graphic violence.

From All About Alex...well, a little bit about Mau too!