Xoo Snacking

We have always been avid xoo-goers, but with this year's mild winter, we've been able to go more than ever!  Paul and X often go while I'm at work, but sometimes, we all meet there after I'm done with work, and Paul will pack food to eat.  A few trips ago, we were snacking in the orangutan habitat and they seemed really interested in Paul's food!

Choo Choo!

Xander loves choo choo trains!  He makes them out of everything.  I came home yesterday and noticed this arrangement of magnets on the fridge.  I assumed Paul did it, but he said Xander did!

Here is a video of a curried Xander (he's yellow from eating dinner) making a choo choo train out of blocks from his toy train.  I love to watch him organize his toys--he is so particular about them, but he struggles a bit getting his hands to do exactly what he wants.  It's fascinating to me how he has preferences and a vision for how he wants things to be organized. 

X is Growing Up!

Xander is growing up so fast!  He surprised me last night by saying "bus"--his eyes lit up, and I looked out the window to see a school bus driving by!  I don't know how he picked that word up!  He also says milk now--he has been signing it for months, but didn't say until these last couple of days.  He pronounces it "malt" with a sharp "t."  I was climbing out of bed to go to work this morning, and he whispered "malt"--so cute (although he just had some)!

Here are some flashback pictures:

March 2011 - little superboy!

March 2011 - wearing Christmas jammies that were so tiny!

March 1st, 2010 - He's in there somewhere!

High Five!

Xander has been sick (and so have his parents), but you'd never know by the way he enjoys himself in this video!

X Up Close

Xander, as always, has been a busy little dude.  He now tells us he wants to "eat" all the time, he still loves playing with Molly but talks about Andy more frequently, and he's finally getting his bottom lateral incisors!  Xander has also been talking up a storm, now saying "on" and sometimes "off" as he plays with the light in the car, "jump" as he pulls his heels off the ground (although his toes stay planted), and "high five" as he gives high fives :).  I love how he says "Mmmm" when he eats, which we must do, too!  X has been feverish at night lately, with a sad little cough, and so has his mommy.  But we are hanging in there and having a blast during the day!

Here are some pictures of Xander playing last Monday night before bed.  Notice that in a couple you can see X's new tooth, which we didn't notice until Friday night--oops!

New tooth!

Daddy is hilarious!

Mmm.. the camera tastes yummy!

Bedtime stories

Bedtime entertainment

Night-Night Kermie

This Week

We drove to Sioux Falls this weekend to visit Xander's Gema and Grandpa Jerry.  Xander had a blast playing with his sunglasses in the car!  He has been a busy baby--he learned how to say a bunch of new words over the course of the last week or so.  One of my favorites:  He says "baby, baby, baby" and rocks his hands back and forth when he wants to watch the "Baby Signing Time" DVD.  While we were watching the section about pets on Wednesday, he started saying "frog" and saying and signing "birdie."  He's been saying them all weekend!  He also says "Ruby" now, although it sounds like "Ro-bie."  Ruby is the name of his toy who looks very similar to Hubie.  Xander is so much fun, always playing and talking and interacting with the world around him.  He is getting to be so much more independent, but at the same time, he is more patient about letting us do certain things for him.

Here's some footage from our car ride on Saturday--sorry so shaky, Mike! ;)

Accelerated Hair Growth

We found these old pictures of Xander wearing a pirate wig on a lost SD card! He's got such a fun personality!

Christmas?

I had the day off yesterday, so we started some early Spring cleaning.  We discovered a bunch of Christmas pictures that we never put on the computer.  Hard to believe that Christmas was almost two months ago already. 

Snow! ... Finally! .... : (

We have been getting snow all night! Here are a couple pictures of the trees that fell in both the front and back yards this morning.

Xander is 19 months old now and loves to eat, play, and talk.  Over the last week or so, he has learned to say banana ("nanny"), eat (the word and the sign), zoo, and hat (the word and the sign).  Here is Xander using an orange peeler to eat his Morning O's:

Chili Con Xander

Xander loves vegan chili!  It has all of his favorite bite-sized foods:  different kinds of beans, corn, peppers, and tomatoes.  Yum!  We've never see him eat so much in one sitting!  Good thing Xander also loves to take baths ;)

Recent Videos

We have been having a lot of fun lately! Here's some recent vids from our youtube channel :)

Weekend Visitors

Gema and Grandpa Jerry came to visit last weekend.  Xander had a blast showing them everything he can do now!  He has been talking about his grandpa all week :)

Here are some pictures from Gema:

Happy New Year!

Xander has had a busy week!  One week ago, we celebrated the new year at the Xoo, complete with a noon countdown and beach ball drop.  On Tuesday, we went to Lincoln for a playdate at X's aunt Kiki's, where he wore himself out playing with the twins.  X had a doctor appointment on Wednesday and received his last shots until he's four years old!  The doctor said he is super healthy and doing well.  We don't have to go back for 6 more months.  Xander is talking more than ever, now enjoying the words house, water, fishy (he says "sishy" and signs fish with one hand), down, and of course Andy.  He loves to run around at the furniture mart, climb the ramp at Legend Comics, play with every toy at the library, and flirt with all the girls that walk by him at the mall.  We are having a blast!

Here are some pictures of X playing with blocks, doing his favorite yoga move (down dog), and drinking his favorite drink (water):