At the park with grandpa

Boyfriends

We hosted playgroup today and, as usual, Emil came over to give Xan a kiss hello.

Toscanini's

We stopped by Toscanini's on our way to meet a friend today. I got ice cream and Xan had Oatios. I won't be able to get away with that much longer.

We ran into a little boy from the neighborhood, out with his mom and their dog Ajax. Xan was totally digging Ajax, staring and giggling. He was delighted when he got to pet him, but looked a little shocked when Ajax licked his face.

I got a couple of shots of him by the window that show the haircut I gave him last night. There are more on Flickr.

Ring of books

Early Riser

I don't know if it's because it's getting lighter sooner, or what, but Xan has been getting up at an increasingly ungodly hour. This morning it was 5am.

He loves shrimp noodles

Double Bleh

After almost two years without it, it seems my period has returned.

Bleh

I just came home to a notice from the city that they will be doing construction on our street for the next four months. At least we don't have to drive or park on it.

Before that bit of nuckiness, I enjoyed a beautiful walk home in the sunshine, passing a film crew in Harvard square shooting for that movie about the MIT kids who won a ton of money in Vegas. Bill saw them filming several weeks ago at the People's Republik while he was walking home. I also got a few minutes on a bench with a book at the Zen park while Xan napped in the stroller.

He stood up!

Xan has been cruising along couches and benches for a while now, but hasn't shown any sing of wanting to balance on his own - he usually leans pretty heavily into whatever surface is supporting him. If I try to get him to balance, he used to stay stiff-legged ans tip over, but the past few weeks has immediately collapsed to sitting. Leaning back = sit down, apparently.

Today we were listening to music and I was clapping along. He decided to join in and stood up clapping for a few seconds before he remembered he needed support and reaching out for my knees again. He did it again a few moments later. It was fleeting, so no camera shots yet. I'm working on it.

Home Alone

Bill is traveling for business, so after Xan went to bed it was just me up in the apartment. I decided to have a glass of wine and watch Buffy, something I hadn't done in more than a year. It felt kind of like going back in time since I used to watch so much of it and it's been gone from my life recently and it was a little surreal because it was the first time I've seen it since we decided on a name for Xan. Hearing someone else, even a fictional someone, being called Xander felt strange.

Counting

One.

Two.

Wait. TWO?!?! Aahhhh! Oh no!

I shall eat the second finger, thus neutralizing it.

More funny faces here.

Who's that cute baby on the screen?

It's me!

Gap-Toothed Boy

Note to self

Try to catch some or all of the recent cuteness on camera, preferably video

• carefully holding up two fingers
• smacking his tongue and his upper lip to make a kissing sound when you give him kisses (thanks Nonnie for teaching him that)
• that scrunched up face he's doing every two seconds these days that cracks everyone up
• the ecstatic spastic naked baby kicking he does when he realizes it's bath time
• waving bye-bye, which he's been doing for a while, but did spontaneously in context this morning when he saw Bill put on his jacket
• helping to get shirts on by punching his arms through the sleeves, and holding his arm back for the second jacket sleeve, also been going on for months but never thought to tape it
  

Race to the toilet

Going to the bathroom these days is an interesting challenge. I don't want to bring him in with me because we're not great about cleaning the floor, we haven't gotten around to putting the baby locks on the cabinet under the sink, and there are lots of places for him to bonk his head if he falls after pulling himself up on the side of the tub if he falls, but mostly it's the filthy floor - it is seriously disgusting, especially behind the toilet. I also can't really leave him in the living room alone. He's just starting to pull himself up on the trash can, sometimes pulling trash out of it, and today he pulled the tray of candles off the sofa table onto his head. Guess we'll be baby proofing that soon. Holding him on my lap is a last resort. Wriggly almost-toddlers trying to grab the toilet paper roll do not make for easy butt wiping.

So the temporary solution is to race him to the bathroom, and try to complete my business before he catches up with me. This has been working well, but can't last much longer, as he'll be getting faster soon and might lose interest in following me even before that. I don't know what I'll do then. I'm sure I'll figure it out when I get there, just as long as it doesn't involve having to clean the bathroom.

Food Preferences

My child is a grape-hating freak. Stinky cheese and super garlicky hummus? Bring it on. But spare him those nasty, nasty grapes.

First Gleek

Today as he was scrunching up his face in delight at the joy of a banana, he opened his mouth and gleeked a good two feet. He hooked it off to the left, so I was spared a direct hit, though these days saliva is the very least of my bodily fluid worries.

At S&S

Enjoying his first bite of cantaloupe. (Yes, that's an enjoying face.)

Charming the waitress

Demonstrating two of his new expressions.

Tongue on the left (rarely on the right)
Nose scrunched (prelude to a scream)

Waiting for sushi at Koreana

Nose

Cheek