Busy, busy, busy!

Alex rolled over last week. LAST WEEK, and I don't think I even mentioned it to anyone. Well, I mentioned it to his pediatrician, while he was screaming because she was looking at him (how dare she) and in general, not being cute at all. I also tried to tell her how great he is at holding his head up and pushing up onto his elbows, and how much he loves watching his sister bounce off the walls. He's doing some really amazing things! When I pull on his hands, he sits up (and then usually projectile vomits from the combination of reflux and pressure on his abdomen). He can stand up by himself from this position by arching his back and planting his feet firmly on the floor. He grins and drools ferociously once this is achieved. I think maybe she didn't believe me, because as he lay there, face as red as a tomato, wailing at the top of his lungs because it was his nap time and the staff had kept us waiting waaaay too long and he was nowhere near his beloved crib, he was doing none of his great tricks.

The screaming is an issue.

Alex is not exactly a people person. Some babies are really laid-back, and just kind of chill their way through every day. Pass them around? Sure. Nap spontaneously in a stranger's arms? No problem. This is not Alex's personality. He is regimented and scheduled. Eats at 8:30am, plays until naptime, naps in his crib from 9:30 to 11:30, and then the cycle starts all over again. This continues throughout the day, until he goes to sleep between 7 and 8, and wakes up again at 8:30am. He doesn't like deviations, which makes things like running errands and taking MJ out of the house difficult. So we deal with the crying; otherwise we'd have no life! Sometimes I think I should wear a T-Shirt to circumvent the inevitable dirty looks and often intrusive comments. No, he's not hungry. No, he isn't sick. No, there's nothing wrong with him. No, please, he doesn't need to suck your finger. He's just off-schedule.

While Alex is busy learning how to roll and stand, MJ is teaching me how she sees the world. She asks to play in the dirt every day, and is fascinated by the sound of a stick clanging down the siding on the house. She discovered that when you mix colors of paint, you can create new ones, and she can name them correctly. Yup, not even two, and she knows all the colors (and can count to thirteen, and identify all the letters of the alphabet in both upper- and lower-case. I'm aware that we might have a genius on our hands). Inexplicably, she enjoys naming all the kitchen appliances. She tells me every day which one is the "fer-frig-uh-rator" and microwave, as if I might forget. She spins in circles and sings her own medley of her favorite songs, including "Twinkle Twinkle," "The Wheels on the Bus," and "Edelweiss." She points to the floor when she demands I join her in a dance to whatever music happens to be playing, and smacks the TV, calling out "high five, Fish" when The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That is on. She thinks you can't see her if she has a bowl on her head. She pronounces her name "Uh-Kay-la" (which is an improvement over "Ba-geek-uh"). When I go into her room in the morning or after a nap, she sings, "good mooooorning," whether it's morning or not. When she finishes a drawing, painting, or "message," she holds it up, cocks her head to the side, and says, "hmmm. Boo-ful!" Everything she likes, from babies to sippy cups of milk, is "soo key-uuute!"

These babies are the best, crying or not.