Mr. Mom, Mrs. Paycheck, & Mr. Smiley

I went back to work last week. After 12 weeks of one of the most joyous times in my life (Thank you heavenly Father!!), it's back to the reality of earning money to live my life. Mark and I feel very blessed to have lived off of our savings so we could enjoy this special time together: learning how to be new parents, learning from each other, learning about our new baby and his needs, learning that we can, in fact, survive on very little sleep, learning that we still need time for our individual selfs, and learning that no matter what time I have to be somewhere with Alex in tow, that I will always, always, always be late! :)

Mark seems to be enjoying staying at home with Alex while I am at work. They have been having some great play time together. I think it's very important for Mark to leave the house at least every other day, so I'm going to continue to offer my support when I get home from work. Besides, all I want to do when I get home each day is play with Alex anyways...

Now, on to baby Alex: He has finally learned that there's more to life than eating, sleeping, and pooping! He is staying awake for longer stretches during the day and staying asleep for longer stretches at night. Mark has found the ultimate secret to nighttime sleep: wrapping him up in his swaddle me blanket! Our boy will sleep anywhere from 6-10 hours at a time when wrapped up in that blanket.

He's definitely making us laugh, and he's started to giggle himself a little bit. Mark said that he loves learning about his cute personality. He's definitely into music, he likes to listen to your voice when you read him a story, and he was actually watching an old episode of Full House on the TV the other day (no joke...)

Alex is a kicker! When he is awake, he kicks non-stop. He kicks when lying down & kicks when people hold him. The only time he is still as a mouse is when he's eating a bottle (and even then, he crosses his little hands in this "I'm being proper" position, and his feet dangle below). Also, we are amazed that he is already bearing a bit of weight on his legs. He likes to stand up (while supported of course) and look around at everything. Something tells me we'll be pulling out his Car Walker & Exersaucer soon. Oh my gosh -- my boy is growing toooooo fast!!!

Just this past week, he is starting to make noises: He said 'brrrr' the other day when staring at his musical star. When I say to him "talk", his mouth opens up, and he tries to make sounds. Sometimes with success, and sometimes not. But he is indeed trying!!

He also likes to stare at the pictures of himself on our walls. We tease him and say that he is being narcissistic, but really -- I think he likes the black & white frames that surround his picture.

Milestone alert: He is 13 1/2 weeks old, eating 5 oz every 3-4 hours, and he is about to roll over anyday now! Something tells me that will be my next post...