Alex totally wants to be a dog.

You wouldn't believe how Alex really does want to be a dog. We have daily evidence. He follows Marty. He lights up whenever Marty is around. He instantaneously crawls to Marty's water bowl when placed on the floor. He used to play nicely with the water. Now he picks up the bowl and makes a huge mess! What else? He regrettably loves playing with Marty's toys (especially the ones that really smell like dog breath) and he has unfortunately sampled some kibble. That was totally my fault. I wasn't moving fast enough that morning.

Oh my.

I keep telling Alex, "You are a boy, not a dog." He just smiles.



We attended Alex's first birthday party for one of his many girlfriends. Her name is Klarissa and she just turned 1!





First we went to his friend Abiniah's house for the morning so mommy could visit with one of her best friends Sugantha. He took a nice nap and had a great time. He really likes pretty girls. And that Saturday was full of them!



Another fun event for us was Cousin Ashley's third birthday party! She had a blast meeting up with all of her friends, opening gifts, and seeing everyone. There had to be a thousand kids there! LOL. Seriously though, lots of little ones = lots of fun.




Ashley got a sweet Power Wheels Mustang for her birthday. It freaked her out at the time, but I heard that Matt convinced her to drive it the next morning after putting Minnie in the passenger seat and a juice box in the cup holder. That can't get any cuter. That was a big gift for a big girl.



Alex, of course still being a little guy, had tons of fun with this stick.



The last big event in the past few weeks, and yes, it has been super busy for us lately- was a trip to see the great grandparents. Lee and Marlys really love seeing Alex. He is such a happy baby and just wandered around, took a little nap, and was very sweet the entire time we were there. Lee especially likes Alex. He seems to be the type of man that just adores babies in general. I caught him in action...



Here are some more pictures from our visit last Sunday:







This picture was taken out in the hallway. Lee and Marlys keep their apartment pretty warm... Sue and I escaped with Alex for a little while to cool off!

I just love this picture.



We have had such a busy time lately but it has been totally worth it. We love visiting with family and friends! Tomorrow we are celebrating birthdays with a family dinner and then next weekend we are off to see Jessica play volleyball and then the big trip! Kentucky! I cannot wait for that.

Big things are happening for our little guy. He is currently with his grandparents in Chisago. He had his first overnight away from his mom. I am hosting a baby shower for Jacquie this afternoon and needed the time to get the house and food ready. I am sure Alex is happy and playing right now as I type but boy do I miss him. I cried, a lot, last night but I trust Sue and Larry completely so that is very comforting. Brent and I took advantage of a baby-free home but we still missed our son.

Alex is a joy, a real blessing. Even with another tooth coming in (5 now!) he is a happy baby. He is starting to climb now. See for yourself...



And I will leave you with this excellent picture taken by Brent. My boss saw it and said, "He could be a baby model."

Gotta admit- he's pretty darn cute!

Finally- an Update!

Alex has two more teeth coming in… yes two! He has been a little fussy, drooling constantly, and is actually quite shy about his choppers. This makes 4 teeth for the big guy and we have yet to capture a picture of him showing them off! He doesn’t really let us look at them, but he will definitely let us put our fingers in his mouth for a chew toy. Ouch.

He is army crawling all the time now. He doesn’t get yet that if he lifts his tummy off the ground he will go much faster, but we are okay with that! Everything is moving so quickly with him it seems. He is already in 12 month clothes, stands well (with help), and is getting stronger every day. Soon enough he will be a holy terror running around our house and after poor Marty!

Alex has definitely gotten used to eating solids. He has never refused to try new food! He will truly eat anything we give him. He enjoys fruits more than veggies… but he’ll eat them! We tried something called Chicken Dinner and it was the first time I passed on taste testing a new food. It smelled wrong. It drove Marty absolutely bonkers! He was acting like a cat does with cat nip. But Alex loved it. His little nose crinkled up a bit and then he wanted it very badly. He makes this guttural noise like, Gimme! Very cute.

We are getting very excited for our trip to Kentucky for Easter. That will be the first big road trip for Alex so we will see how well he does traveling for 16 hours in a car. I am a little nervous about that but we will break often and stay overnight to make the trip more bearable for us all. My parents haven’t seen Alex since he was born so this trip is going to be so special. We call on Skype and he laughs with them. They have seen him crawl, eat, play, talk, etc… but I am sure they just want to hold him and snuggle. And they will!

One last thing- Alex has now been upgraded to a big boy car seat. No more travel system! It has been great just picking him up and carrying him versus carrying him in the car seat. It was SO heavy! He is definitely still rear-facing… but soon enough that will be a thing of the past as well.

Enjoy the pictures!

A Couple Videos

Since I'm a lazy blogger I just post pictures and videos. Here are two more videos.

Carrot Carnage

Part I



Part II

A growing Bond

Alex is becoming more and more interested in Marty. Whenever Marty is around, he reaches out for him. Last night I was feeding Alex some formula and Marty jumped up to sit on my lap. Yes, I had both boys on me at once!! Anyway, Alex got so distracted. It was clear he was trying to decide whether he wanted to pet the dog, or keep eating. He tried to reach out for Marty and keep sucking, but it was clearly too much for him to handle at once! It was pretty cute.

Another heart-warming site is when Alex actually gets a hold of Marty. He will hold onto his body, face, tail – whatever he can get – and start talking. He just moans and groans. And Marty just sits there like, “Okay, now what?” The only time Marty seems to care about Alex’s groping is when he starts to pull. Then Marty gets that look on his face like, “Mom, dad a little help here please.” Sometimes I really wish that dog could talk.

Those two are going to be the best of friends. Marty and I have talked about it several times. Alex knows. He loves Marty dearly. And I can see that bond growing every day. It’s awesome.

Green Beans

Lydia has been chomping at the bit since the Doctor gave us the go ahead for solids to feed Alex some veggies. He's been eating oatmeal up til now but tonight he experienced green beans for the first time.

A month's worth of FUN!

Alex has had an eventful month as shown in the pictures below. He is a smiley, happy little guy and tons of fun.




Alex had his first Big Boy bath without the aide of an infant sling on 11/05/09. He LOVED it and kicked like a mad man!




Here is a sweet picture of Alex after a diaper change.



Playtime with his floor gym!



Above is a more serious picture of Mr. Alex Johnson in his "Cosby" sweater as it has been dubbed by Brent.



Here is Alex and his daddy admiring Brent's annual Fruit Pizza for his birthday celebration. YUMMY!



And here is Alex when we got home that night... he was completely worn out!



The bonding between baby and doggie. The below pictures are from a day trip to the Minneapolis Sculpture Gardens. We had a great time playing around.









Alex "flies" now with Dad!



After Alex's 4 month doctor appointment, he was cleared for baby cereal and a slow introduction to solids. He took his first bite of oatmeal on 11/25/09. He didn't really know what to think of it! But he ate it...



This is a picture from Thanksgiving. Alex and Aunt Sheri are getting a closer look at one another. I am pretty sure Alex wanted to eat her. He likes to put everything in his mouth these days. And yes, we have Teethers!! I am thinking any day now he will cut a tooth.



This is also a shot from Thanksgiving. Ashley and Alex are becoming friends now. Check out the video:





And finally, here is the Big Boy taken tonight. He loves his colorful bouncer and has drooled all over it! He loves to spin the dots and chew on the blue thing (hidden by the enormous hat!)

Alex is growing up. He is laughing out loud and we both predict he will be rolling over within a week. He is developing his own little personality and loves to spend time with mom and dad. He smiles easily and is starting to really investigate his surroundings.