Partying at 30,000 feet

Alex handled his first airplane flight without any problems. In fact, if this photo is reliable evidence, he had a riproaring good time.

Let's do it again!, says he.

Meet the Grandparents (Again!)

Granny Peggy & Grand-dad were clearly psyched to see Alex over the weekend.

And they were clearly good sports for offering to play babysitter for Alex while his parents attended the Bodner-Lufrano wedding.

It's not clear, however, that they knew they were signing up for six hours of unadulterated Alex in a hotel room. Whether or not they knew what hit them, they put on a good face. It all worked out... Parents got to party, Grandparents got to bond with baby and Lyz & Mike got married. Sounds like the makings of a Shakespearian Comedy.

Curious Alex & Curious George -- Separated at Birth

Uncle Jordy, Packer Fan

Twelve weeks ago, our buddy Jordy went way out of his way to make the trip from Madison to New York to attend Alex's bris.

So he and Alex have a pretty intimate relationship already. Their reunion at the Westin Hotel in Chicago was a pretty cool moment for two loyal Packer fans.

Alex & the Ladies

Yeah, Alex has a way with the ladies.

In Chicago, most of them couldn't keep their hands off of him. Jen & Tracy were two notable examples. :!)

Our new newborn

One of the highlights of the trip to Milwaukee was the purchase of grand-dad's car.

That's right, the family that has sworn off of auto-ownership for years is finally caving into our new transportation necessities (Alex's existence & Matt's new job).

The car is a 2002 Malibu, the perfect NYC street car. We're unequivocably psyched about this new newborn--actually make that used newborn.

Delighted greetings from Mari

Over the President's day weekend, we visited Milwaukee and Chicago, prompted by the wedding of Lyz Bodner & Michael Lufrano.

Along the way, Alex encountered people of all shapes and sizes, from nosy TSA security agents to delighted flight attendants.

Unquestionably the most excited greetings came from cousin Mari who greeted Alex with shreeks of happiness and super-wide smiles. Clearly, Mari and Alex get along.

Fungie

If we run the math in a certain bizarro way, we could calculate that Alex is some portion Sicilian. After all, he was born into the Carroll Gardens neighborhood, where the paisanos are thick as theives. Also, his cousins Max, Julia and Ian in Los Angeles are 1/4 portion Sicilian.

According to his Uncle Jamie, the face Alex is making in this picture is vintage Sicilian. This particular fat-lipped look is labeled Fungie... the Mushroom... by Uncle Jamie.

Troy... Another Uncle comes out of the woodwork

Suddenly our little house is becoming quite a destination for out-of-town guests. Not because our neighborhood is becoming remarkably hip, but because our kid is worth the price of admission.

We've seen it twice in the past couple of weeks... An uncle comes out of the woodwork from some distant town and adopts Alex for the night.

Tonight, it was Uncle Troy's turn to pretend he had important business to take crare of, once today's current inventory reduces a bit.

Male Pattern Baldness, take 1.

Hair loss is an indignity that we'll all face sooner or later in life.

Alex seems to be destined to experience it twice in life, once after 40 years-old and another--surprise--after 40 days-old.

With his obvious hair loss comes a clarity of focus, though... at least that's the way it comes off in pictures.

Gyminee-nation

Apparently, gyminees can be pretty captivativing. Over the past week, Alex has delveloped a real expertise in knocking around the brightly colored fleecy birds and ducks that hang down from the gyminee supports and tempt his attention.

He usually responds by looking at them, then swinging his fist at them. We're all very proud of his well developed preditorial instincts.

Relaxation: It runs in the family

With an increase in his neck strength comes an ability to sit up. So Alex is now happy to hang out in a seated position in the arms of his dad, his mom or anyone else for that matter. Coupled with his increased attention span, and it seems like he's getting pretty good at this "relaxation" thing.

A very curious baby

It's amazing how quickly a baby can develop awareness. As of a couple of weeks ago, Alex was connection with the visual world around him and his human cohorts seemed pretty tenuous.

These days, he's taking no prisoners. Each encounter with the world around him stimulates his curious gaze. And each encouter with his parents (particulalry his mom) involves heightened awareness.

Check it out.

Late into the Night

Late into the night--sometimes very late into the night--the playground and kitchen are open.

Alex is now sleeping in 4 hour cycles. That means his parents are usually awake once per night for a feeding. That's an improvement from three weeks ago, when he would be awake in three hour cycles (implying parents wake up at least twice per night).

The trick is getting him to sleep initially. In this picture, Alison played with Alex last night and fed him well past his bedtime. This was a better use of time than watching the State of the Union address.