Xander's new hat

Here's our precious baby angel modeling his new sun hat.  This picture makes me laugh out loud.

In development news, Xander has not only found his fists, he has also learned how to drool copiously.  And when he cries, sometimes real tears leak out!  

We took him to the doctor for his two-month checkup.  He's very healthy.  His height remains in the 97th percentile and his weight is - I'm not exaggerating - off the chart.  He weighs 16 and 1/2 pounds!  At nine weeks!  There is no percentile for that size!  We're either proud or slightly alarmed, depending.  Chris and I are also developing wicked strong muscles from schlepping him around all the time.

A smile? Let's say yes!

He's discovered his hands!

Our little bundle is right on track developmentally.  Little buddy has discovered his hands exist, and they're his new favorite toy.  He sucks on them and rubs his face with them.  We're so proud!

Xander, bright-eyed

We call this his mug shot.

Sigh...

Here is Xander and his mama on the last day of his mama's maternity leave.  We thought we'd take a picture to commemorate our eight weeks together.

While I love my job and am looking forward to seeing my coworkers again, I now understand the appeal of the stay-at-home parent lifestyle.   He's so precious!  Who wouldn't want to stay with him all the time and address his every need?  

I find myself wanting to bottle time.  But since that is impossible, I turn to picture- and video-taking as the less satisfying alternative.  He breaks my heart every second he gets older.  Ah, well.  We'll always have the past eight weeks.

Video: Eight weeks, and with his dad

Xander grows.  Chris lifts weights.  

Milestone at the two-month mark:  When we put him down (put him down at night to sleep, not put him down like, "Your mother dresses you funny!"  Although she does), he'll sometimes sleep a whole four hours!  In a row!  Our heads reel with pride.

Hair update

We were told that Xander's copious hair might fall out a few weeks after he was born.  It appears to have grown longer and thicker.  

In this picture, it looks reddish.  It still gets really curly when wet.  Sometimes, we comb it into a faux-hawk (that would be a faux mohawk, for those of you who aren't up on your street slang).  Mostly, though, we don't comb it at all.

Let your freak flag fly, baby!

But how are the parents looking these days?

Video: Seven weeks, two days old

Xander and I discuss the inevitability of aging.

Head check

Just for the record, Xander is very close to being able to hold his own head up.  He's always been prodigiously strong, but in the past week or so he has gotten noticeably better.  It used to be he'd only hold his head up when he was bawling or screaming.  Now he sometimes holds it up just to look around.  When I put him up against my chest to burp him, sometimes he'll lean back suddenly to take in the sights, or perhaps to terrify his mother.  

In fact, his neck strength is progressing much faster than his mother's postpartum abdominal strength.  If only Olivia, my Pilates instructor-friend, were around!  How she would help me tone my transverse abdominus!  

Xander as Karl Rove

This is an adorable outfit given to Xander from my cousin Adriene.  He looks like a little golfer.  He looks like he should be riding around in a golf cart trading stock tips.  

My mother thinks he looks like a Republican.  Potato, potahto.  

(P.S. - Chris didn't want me to mention Karl Rove in this blog post in case someone tried to Google Karl Rove and found our site instead.  So if you're looking for Karl Rove facts and instead find yourself looking at adorable baby pictures, I apologize. )

Tubs

Remember a few weeks ago when we lamented how Xander had grown out of his froggy sleeper?  Well, apparently the boy likes to please his parents: if he cannot wear the froggy, he will become the froggy.  

That belly is not a prosthetic.  It's all him.

The Steve Martin connection

Xander's onesie is a gift from his Aunt Mandy.  It sports a quotation from Steve Martin.  Chris and I can't agree exactly where or when Steve Martin said it, but we know that he did.  We even went so far as to Google the phrase; apparently nobody else knows when Steve Martin said it either, but we all agree it's the kind of thing he would say.  

Xander discusses the environment; dances

Here we are having an important discussion about our family's carbon footprint, when suddenly Chris starts playing his saxophone.  Xander probably recognizes the sound from when he was in the womb - at least we hope so, because it just so happens that Xander's bedroom is directly above Chris's practice area, and he can hear everything his old man does.  We're operating on the assumption that he finds early jazz music soothing and not perplexing.