So Close...
Greetings to everyone.
Xavier has become very mobile, though crawling still eludes him. We can no longer leave him on the floor in his room without supervision. Rebecca walked in and found him along his dresser, where he had managed to pull the bottom drawer out, and was able to press the drawer up to overcome the safety catch. He had the drawer poised over himself and ready to drop.
Placing him on the floor, especially when he is "feeling his formula," he will motor all over the place. He can be set down, and within seconds he is several feet away from where he started. It is amazing how fast he can get away at nine months!
He was on his floor mat tonight playing with one of several small toys while Rebecca and I watched a TV show. He started rolling around; Rebecca and I commented on his mobility. Within two sentences he found his way over to the TV stand and began playing with the DVD player, which rests on the bottom shelf. My hopes of not having to child-proof the house for items below the two-foot line for another few months were dashed by a dose of Xavier reality!
Xavier is so close to crawling it hurts. His primary mode of movement is to roll, then popup as in the picture above, adjust his angle and roll again. On a smooth floor, like the engineered wood room with the TV, Xavier will press up like above and push himself backward. As if he wasn't fast enough at rolling, he can really move on a smooth surface!
"Victory is mine!" Not only is Xavier a shameless flirt with people, and with Mom, who is taking his picture, he also is not camera shy. Apart from chasing his mother across the room, his "smart bell" is what he was after.
A Silver Spoon
Hello to everyone.
One of the many surprises Rebecca arranged for my 50th birthday was a visit from my good friend (and Best Man) Andy, or Uncle Andy as we have introduced him to Xavier. It was Andy's first visit since Xavier was delivered, and he came bearing gifts.
Here, before he really got messy, Xavier attempts using the silver spoon Andy brought, a gift Andy's mother sent via him.
Shortly after this picture was taken, Xavier—armed with his spoon—was introduced to cereal. Digging in, he covered himself, his high chair table surface, the high chair seat and back, his clothing and some of the floor with cereal. It's amazing how far he managed to spread a tablespoon of formula-soaked cereal! We think the only thing safe from the cereal barrage was Xavier's stomach; he has not figured out the whole swallow thing when a bottle is not involved.
Two Red Balloons Go By
Greetings to everyone.
Last weekend Rebecca threw a surprise party for my 50th birthday and these balloons were part of the decorations. Xavier has been fascinated by them all week as they floated high near the ceiling. Today, he figured out how to get them down to his level: grab the strings (which was within arm's reach), roll several times to spool the stings around torso, then declare victory. (Of course, this was done in a fully supervised environment, though it saddens me I need to insert such a disclaimer)
Once Xavier declared victory, he became frustrated. He could not hold the balloon in his mouth or get a good taste of it, so he beat the bad balloon repeatedly.