Alex- 3 Months and First Trips

        This cutie pie turned 3 months old on Friday! It's amazing how fast he keeps growing. So, a few things:

        He LOVES water and swimming. In fact, he starts kicking his legs and smiling before we even get him in the water- then it's just complete happiness while there.

        Alex is getting great at grabbing objects in front of him now (then proceeding to stick them in his mouth). His coordination is getting much better. He loves grabbing our hands, my hair (though he's been doing that for awhile), and any toy we put in front of him.

     His head/neck control is almost pretty solid now. We need to do tummy time more often, but he's pretty strong and is doing a great job!

        His newest obsession? His feet. Goodness, he works hard to grab those suckers. He could probably entertain himself with his feet for a good amount of time.

        Alex's night schedule is improving (just last night he slept from 10-5, then went back to sleep after feeding, then slept until 8- now is back to sleep again). So more sleep for me!

        He also loves to talk to himself and make several baby noises. When we mimic him, he just laughs and smiles with his huge dimply-cheeks. Speaking of dimples, apparently they're genetic (dominant gene). If parents both have dimples, there's a 100% chance of baby getting them, and if only one parent has them, there's a 50% chance. However, neither Gary nor myself have dimples, so I've been trying to figure out where he got his dimples! Lucky, lucky boy. I do believe one of my brothers has dimples though (according to my mom), so I'll have to check that out. 

      Alex also had a couple of firsts these past couple of weeks!

With Dad

First ocean trip! We didn't hit the sand or water, but just strolled around the Santa Monica pier. It wasn't too crowded or bad, and it was just beautiful. Alex did pretty much snooze the whole time, but I do believe he did get to see the ocean for a bit. He also happened to get a lot of girlfriends while there too. I swear it was every other person who commented on how cute he is. He sure is!

Beautiful!

Snoozin'

        First beach trip! This time he actually did hit the water and sand. He had mixed feelings about the ocean. This year it's actually 10 degrees warmer- but still the Pacific Ocean, so you know.

Feeling the sand for the first time

After mean ol' Daddy let a wave hit his feet

This is better

Viewing the ocean and taking first steps on the sand

With Mommy and Daddy

At the harbor

        Sadly, as much as we tried to cover him up and keep him in the shade, he got a little sunburned. You can't really put sunblock on a baby under 6 months, but we sprayed a little on his legs. He did change out of his swimwear after his first dips, but the sun will do what it wants I guess. His cheeks and arms are a little red- and since sunburns can be pretty scary for babies, he'll be seeing his doctor anyway today. But it's just a little redness and he doesn't seem to be bothered by it.

        Anyway, the main reason he's visiting his Ped is because lately he's been having some pretty wicked crying spells which is totally not his typical behavior. He sometimes cries while eating, spits up a little more than usual, and just seems plain uncomfortable. He's also drooling a lot and he's rubbing his eyes and nose red while sticking fingers in his mouth. So, though he's 3 months, teething is a possibility. We're also concerned about allergies and reflux. His doctor does believe he may have some sort of allergy, so I've been trying to change up my diet to see what could be causing it. He seemed to have a bad reaction after I ate peanut butter, so who knows. You can't really allergy test a baby under 1 year, but we'll see what's going on when we see his doctor today. 

     Besides that, he's doing great and is a happy, happy baby. Okay, more pics:

Dimples!

Still a little small for this, but Daddy was eager to buy it. He seems to enjoy it though- just needs a little assistance staying upright (notice extra padding behind him)

New crib mobile (though he still sleeps with us in the bedroom)

With his bunny

Tummy time!

With Hulk!

Smiling at Mommy!

     Speaking of the crib, we've been letting him play and nap in there during the day so he can get used to it, but I'm not quite ready for him to be transferred over just yet. He sleeps in his bassinet by my bedside (or sometimes I'll bring him in the bed with us for a part of the night). It's just- so much easier when he's right there next to me. I can quickly feed and change him without really waking him up too much, and he goes right back to sleep. Besides, you know, it's nice having baby next to you. I feel like I can protect him more compared to him being in a complete separate room. We have a video monitor which works great, but still. Anyway, in time!