Alex!!!

At church he's known as *smiley*. Now being added to that is *wiggley*!! When we had Ella here, everything had to be kept off the floor. Now it's for this little tyke! I won't get to turn my head for this one! He's already pulling up on his toy box and in the crib. And yesterday, when I stepped into the kitchen for a quick minute, he crawled over to the lamp, pulled up on it and then fell back and when I heard this, I saw the lamp laying on him! Luckily it wasn't heavy and he hardly cried. This is one of his characters. He is ALWAYS smiling! Even when he's upset, he manages to perk up a smile (yes, while crying). Jeff sweetly tells him, "It's okay buddy, you don't have to smile when you don't feel good." One night last week, he had a rough one (ended up in bed with us). He woke up crying and cried for about half an hour. We couldn't figure out what was wrong, but even in the midst of all the tears, he smiled at us a couple times. We could tell something was wrong, but the smiles were still there. He's also constantly laughing at his brother and sister. They are silly and they can really get him going. It is so fun to watch the three of them together. They all love on each other so well! I think one of Alex's favorite things to do is reach out for his sister's hair and yank on it when he gets a hold of it!
I can definitely see some struggles there in the future! I think he's going to be a little joker...he laughs at the word "no" and when his name is being called.
He's also pretty funny with his bottle. Sometimes he'll finish it really fast. But other times, especially at the high chair, he'll grab on to the nipple and watch all the milk squirt out! Not only does he just watch, but he laughs! We call it, milking his cow. He is a very curious little fellow. I've noticed this week that he likes cords. No matter how many times we've already told him to leave the lamps alone and re-direct him, he's back at it again a few minutes later. Hmm...I wonder what the future holds! He is also becoming verying interested in that floor that goes up where he sleeps (the stairs). It is such an interesting place, everyone goes up and down right there! We've got the gates in place, but for some reason I don't think that he will care, one way or another, he's going to discover *stairs*. Ahh!!! He also loves food. His favorites include: his morning cereal with chickpeas, barley, flaxseed, and wheatgerm; sweet potatoes, zucchini, squash with asparigus, blueberries and pears, peaches and bananas. He loves it when we let him have food he can take to his own mouth, cheerios are at the top of that list. But anything we let him try he'll go for it and want more! He's got the cutest two little teeth and we think more are on the way soon! He's got a few babble words and that's growing too: dada, baba, nonanan (we're pretty sure this is Jonathan!), ada (and this has got to be Adie!). He uses baby signs for "milk", "all done", and "more". We are working on please and thank you, and so many others. He is definitely comunicating though! I can tell that he's going to love books. He reaches for anything that has words, and it's not just with the baby, "I want that." He has an extreme determination and he's going to get what he wants. God gave him a beautiful personality, a strong personality. He is very determined and that is a wonderful character to have! His name means "helper and defender of mankind." With his extreme determination, positive outlook, and ability to laugh, this young man is going to soar to great hights and do amazing things for God!