Xander's 3rd birthday

Xander working the candles

Xander attacking the cupcake

He somehow escaped getting shots during his 3 year checkup. I’m sure he was very disappointed about that. So despite the fact that he seems to be eating less than Kayden, he’s actually still a pretty big kid. The measurements were…

• Weight: 38 pounds (90th percentile)
• Height: 41″ (95th percentile)

The economy is still melting down, we’ve had our first major storm of the season, and Kayden is sitting up and semi-crawling!

Kayden sitting up

She’s now at the 7 month mark and from what we all can recall (it’s a haze though), she’s a lot stronger than Xander was at this point. The point here: don’t mess with Kayden.

I forgot to post her vital stats for the 6 month checkup…my excuse? I was on the other side of the planet. Better late than never so here we go:

• Weight: 18 pounds, 1/2 ounce (75-90th percentile)
• Height: 27.5″ (90th percentile)
• Head circumference: 17.25″ (75th percentile)

Xander is up to his usual tricks, hoarding toys and not letting little sis play with anything. Here he is making short work of a bagel.

Xander vs bagel

Two words: careful neglect. Plenty of that going on in this blog. So here’s a massively overdue update.

First, here’s how Kayden sized up three weeks ago on the massively lucky date of 8/8/08 (Olympics, anyone?) for her 4 month checkup.

• Weight: 16 pounds, 1 ounce (95th percentile)
• Height: 25.5″ (90-95th percentile)
• Head circumference: 16.5″ (75th percentile)

So she’s still doing pretty well in the eating department by holding steady in every category from last time. Here she is laughing evilly at something…don’t ask me…just stand back.

Kayden really, really wants to eat solid food. Every time she sees us eating, she smacks her lips and lunges at whatever food is in grabbing range. Xander, you may need to learn how to eat faster. Just warning you now.

It’ll be a few more months before we can actually give her solids, so in the meantime, it’s maximum gnawage on anything she can get a hold of. Toys, fingers, sleeves, and in this case, giraffes.

It’s a good life for Kayden and it shows.

Kayden is getting stronger by the day. And bigger, but that’s sort of a given at this point. Here he is doing her daily push-ups.

I’m definitely going to need loans to feed these two. That’s one mighty plump shrimp roll we’ve got there. Apologies to Xander for the bad haircut dad unloaded on him the other day.

And here they are enjoying a mild July afternoon outside with grandma.

Yesterday was Xander’s first day of preschool and by all measures, things went well. We were all wondering how he’d react after being dropped off. Was he going to be like me and have ferocious separation anxiety or be like Tammy, who had hardly any at all. It was pretty clear he reacted more like mom.

Xander went barreling in and barely looked back. He apparently barely batted an eyelash when mom told him that she was leaving. It sounds like he had a blast all morning until he got hungry and then was looking for mom for something to eat. We’re starting him on half days for now and I would have bet good money that he wouldn’t want to leave. But when mom showed up to pick him up, he jumped up, left all his things behind, ran to the door, and proclaimed, “ready to go!” I suppose we have nowhere to go but down from here. It’ll be interesting to see how the next week goes and whether or not the novelty wears off.

In the meantime, he’s absolutely going bonkers over his Thomas the Train backpack that we got him for preschool. Here he is after triumphantly returning home after his first day.

Meanwhile at home, Kayden is working out, doing push ups. And it looks like she’s plotting something too.

After brunch in Montclair with Audrey, Xander goes for a stroll with her. Too cute!

We got a 2 for 1 special and got both kids to the pediatrician on the same day. Here’s how Xander sized up…

• Weight: 32 pounds (90th percentile…and we feel every ounce of it)
• Height: 37.75″ (>97th percentile)
• Head circumference: 19.25″ (50-75th percentile)

He enjoys trying to be helpful with Kayden. Most of the time, he just insists his Elmo doll needs a diaper change when she needs one.

The other thing he enjoys doing is picking toejam. Every time time socks come off, he just goes at it with his toes.

Xander turned two today and we can hardly believe how quickly time has gone by. Here are some of his current likes and dislikes.

Likes

• Thomas the Train
• Elmo
• Digging up my mulch
• Running
• Using head as weapon
• Beating up daddy
• Crispy potato puffs
• Boxes
• TV
• Stealing slippers

Disikes

• Authority
• Naps
• Going to sleep alone
• Sharing
• Being quiet
• Rashes

Here he is tearing into all of his birthday presents. We think he enjoyed the Elmo wrapping paper as much as the loot.

I wasn’t joking about the Thomas the Train action. He scored some more for his ever growing collection of what must be the most expensive toy set.

Although there is no shortage of jealousy, I think Xander is taking the arrival of Kayden quite well. There have been a few instances of him being too rough, but not bad given the way he pounds on me. Here are some of the more interesting moments.

There’s been some acting out, but that was to be expected. At least the first encounter a few days ago went relatively smoothly…