Welcome Alexander!: Alex's 9 Month Check

Alex has officially turned 9 months old, and I am still in disbelief. How come my baby boy has to grow up so fast. At this stage it seems like everyday he is losing that little baby in him and getting to be such a big boy. I love to watch his progression, and it is neat to see him get so excited when he learns to do something new, but he is also learning how to play "The Game!" He's learning that screaming will sometimes get him what he wants and that throwing his head backwards when you try to take something from him will sometimes make you say, "Forget it! You can have it." It just saddens me deeply that we can't keep our babies as the smiling at you all the time, happy with whatever you give them, let you lay them wherever because they are fascinated with everything little babies. I don't think I am quite ready for this new phase of independence yet.

Alex is a very busy little guy. He loves to play! Alex likes to play with his house, Mr. Potatohead, and balls. He is obsessed with paper towels. If you wipe his face and/or hands with one, he HAS to have it, tear it to shreds, then eat the shreds. If you try to stop him, he throws a MAJOR fit! He also loves to wipe things. His little hands are constantly moving in circles. My mom thinks he looks like he is conducting an orchestra. (Who knows! Maybe he is practicing to do so one day.) Alex has developed the funniest little laugh. He sees something amusing and chuckles at it in a rapid, "Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee." It is really cute!

Right now, our biggest struggle with him, however, is sleep!!! Alex just doesn't. Since I have started watching Miller, Alex will take 2 naps a day in his crib, which has been a HUGE accomplishment, but Alex is up ALL night long. The longest we can usually get him to sleep is 2 hrs. This is normally the first two hours that he is in bed for the night. After that, Alex will wake up every 15 mins. to 2 hrs. the rest of the night. Most of the time I feel like I am in zombie mode. We even tried to let Alex cry himself to sleep for a few nights in a row. Yeah, didn't help. It made me sick to hear him crying! He cried for 3 hrs. straight, and none of us felt rested. Some nights I would rather not go to sleep. I liken it to a bitter battle, one that just does not seem like it is going to end. Alex, then, got sick after Thanksgiving with lovely bacterial pharyngitis. So now, I am too afraid to have him cry too much. Sam and I are hoping that after he completely recovers from being sick Alex will fall into a better sleep pattern. We NEED it!