Barcelona -- what a snoozefest!

Kevin and I enjoyed Barcelona very much -- we understand why everyone seems to love it so much! As for Alex, though, he seemed kind of bored.

At the castle at the top of Montjuic

At the slides in the park at Montjuic
At a soccer game
At the seaside village of Sidges
At a park in the city
He seemed especially unimpressed at the works of famous architect Gaudi. I don't think he had his eyes open once!

At Parc Guell
Still at Parc Guell
At La Sagrada Familia
At La Pedrera

Jess' giant

Those of you that know my cousing Jess will be very pleased to hear that she hasn't changed much in her time in Barcelona. Meaning, she is just as weird as she ever was.

Jess is very enthralled with the life of a baby. She loves the idea of someone carrying her around and snuggling with her. In fact, she loves the thought of it so much, she wants to have her own personal giant.

This became a theme of our trip to Barcelona. Jess would point out a stroller and say, "I think I would like my giant to carry me in a stroller like that." She thought tummy time looked like torture and likened it to "my giant hanging me upside down and saying 'Time for upside down time!'"

I pointed out the flaws in her plan -- you wouldn't make any decisions for yourself like what to wear or when to eat (well, okay, if you cried enough you would probably be able to). And you don't get many options for food. And, if your giant was anything like Kevin, he would make you take pictures like this:





She didn't seem deterred though, and we are still on the lookout for a gentle 15-foot man or woman willing to take care of a sweet college student.

Alex adora a prima Jessica

When we announced we were pregnant, everyone felt so sorry for my cousin Jessica. Since she is studying abroad in Barcelona for a year, she missed most of my pregnancy and the birth of Alex.

But the joke's on everyone else! Jess just got to spend nine straight days with our little man, and she can safely say (at this point) that she is the family member that he knows best!

We knew Alex would love Jess -- and why not? She has no shame and will do anything to get a smile (and sometimes even a laugh) out of him!

More on the Spain trip later, but here are some pictures of Alex and Jess. They don't even do her justice as to how much Alex enjoyed her!

Tummy time

Like a lot of upper twenty-somethings, Kevin and I had never heard the phrase "tummy time" until four months ago. Our peditrician mentioned it rather nonchalantly at our appointment when Alex was just four days old. "Try to give him a bit of tummy time each day," he advised while flipping Alex over onto his stomach. "It helps build his neck, arm and back muscles." Sounds simple enough. Little did we know how many conversations involving tummy time we would have in the next couple of months.

New moms talk about tummy time the way we used to talk about shoes. You cannot have a five minute conversation with a new mom without mentioning tummy time. "Does he like tummy time?" "I know I should give her more tummy time, but I hate to see her cry!" "Oh, look at her -- showing off with her tummy time!"

I find it quite amusing. First of all, being "good" at tummy time entails not crying. Really, that's all it takes to be good at tummy time! (I wish we used that criterion for other things in life -- I would be really good at a lot of things!) Secondly, some moms seem really upset when their children don't appear to like tummy time. Give him time, he'll catch on eventually -- it's not as if he is going to be five years old and still stuck on his back!

Alex was so "good" at tummy time when he was two months old, my mom friend Karen asked me, "So is you or your husband or a combination of the two of you that made your baby a Superbaby?"

Here are some pictures of Alex showing off his tummy time skills:






And Karen, to answer your question, Superbabies run on my side of the family.

What happens when Daddy and "Druncle" Ryan are in charge of the baby...

My Little Yogi

Alex and I are in a Mommy and Me yoga class. What happens at a Mommy and Me yoga class, you ask? A lot of stretching for the babies, a lot of normal yoga poses with the babies incorporated for the mommies. We also sing songs and when we do cat and cow poses we meow and moo!

We do a lot of exercises in which we lift the babies. Although Alex is one of the youngest babies, he is the biggest! So I like to think I am getting a better workout than the rest of the moms!

Here's Alex doing a spinal twist:


And here is my bridge pose with Alex on top:

Good thing we didn't have a girl!

Today Alex and I went to a luncheon at which a professional photographer was present to take pictures of each baby and mommy pair. I put Alex in a really cute outfit given to him by Lindsay which is a blue and gray striped sweater with a little penguin on it and gray corduroys. I wanted to coordinate with him, so I put on a sweater that is the same color blue as the blue in his sweater. Then I realized, "Hey, I have gray corduroys too!" So I put on my gray corduroys! I have to admit, we looked pretty cute dressed as twins!

But it made me realize what a financial nightmare it may have been if we had had a girl. I would be like this every day! "I have a pink sweater too!" "If the baby is wearing a flowy top, Mommy's going to wear a flowy top!" "One purple dress for you, one purple dress for me!"

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take a picture with my camera of Alex and me, because one of us (I'm not telling you which one) pooped and had to put on a new outfit before we made it home. But this won't be the last time we dress as twins, so I'll take a picture next time. And I haven't seen the professional pictures yet -- hopefully there will be some good ones I can post!

Sweet home, Chicago

Well, yes, of course, Chicago is not home for Alex. (We'll see if Daddy ever reads Mommy's blog.) But we did take Alex for a visit with his family out in the Windy City.

Here are some pictures of the weekend that were taken with my camera. It was over a month ago, so Alex has grown a lot since then!

With Auntie Mel



With cousin Casey

With Great Grandma Judy

With Jill

With Great-Great Aunt Mary

With Great Aunt Pattie (love my mom in the background of this one!)

With Lindsay (she's giving Alex a little playmate at the end of June!)

With Pop-Pop
With Grammy

We were there for Valentine's/Presidents' Day weekend. For Valentine's Day, Kevin and I went out to a nice dinner while Grammy and Pop-pop babysat. It was one of the first times we went out without him. But we were pretty good -- the conversation did not include solely Alex stories! Although we did watch the video on Kevin's phone three times -- but I only teared up twice while watching it!

I am pretty sure the Chicago relatives liked Alex just a little bit. So I think we would be welcome back for another visit!

Two month check-up

We took Alex for his two-month check-up last week. Here are his stats:

ABC Stats (2/24/09):
Weight: 15 pounds, 14 ounces
Height: 23 3/4 inches
Head circumfrence: 41 cm

And since I didn't do a post after his one-month check-up (I don't remember exactly, I will double-check the next time we go to the doctor):

ABC Stats (1/22/09):
Weight: 12 pounds, 6 ounces (95%)
Height: 23 inches? (50%)
Head circumfrence: ??? (25%)

He is a big boy! When most people see him, they assume he is six months old! I can't believe how much he's grown. I look back at pictures from when he was first born, and he is so little! I feel like I don't even remember him when he was that small :(

Here are a couple of recent pictures in which Alex shows off his heft:





He also needed to get a few shots when we went to the doctor, poor guy. He took them like a champ, though. He cried when they stuck him (more like a wail, actually -- it broke my heart to watch it), but within 15 seconds, he was back to his normal self.

Snow day!

Yesterday we woke up to find the following views outside our windows:





It was a snow day! Kevin didn't have to go to work, so we got a three-day weekend! We had a fun day -- we played with Alex when he was awake, we cleaned the apartment, we read, we listened to music, and of course, we ate. It needs to snow in the city more often!

Alex vs. Britney

Alex has been a little fussy today. I am not complaining, since his fussy days are very few and far between. But I was in our bed, folding laundry while also trying to soothe Alex, with my back up against the wall we share with our next-door neighbor Rico.

Rico was blasting Britney Spears...and singing along. I am also not complaining about that, since I like Britney. But I don't know Alex's musical tastes yet.

So it made me wonder...Is Rico blasting Britney to cover up the sound of Alex crying? Or is Alex crying because Rico is blasting Britney?

Getting from Point A to Point B

Alex is a real New Yorker. (Which Kevin will never let any of us forget!) Because he is a New Yorker, he is used to many different modes of transportation. Here is his first bus ride (he was two weeks old):



Here is his first taxi ride:



Most exciting, here are some pictures from his first plane ride:





He has also ridden on the subway, but we don't have any pictures! I think all that is left is the Staten Island ferry!

Party time!

Alex and I went to a Valentine's Day party the Thursday before Valentine's Day. It was sponsored by one of New York City's many mom groups. Unfortunately, Alex is still a bit young for some of these parties. So while this was going on:



And this:



This is what Alex was doing:



So I took that time to make a chocolate heart for Daddy:



(It says "Alex" in gummy worms. Okay, so art is not my forte.)

Until the party was over and we were on our way out. All of a sudden someone was wide awake: