For the record, this is my favourite Alex picture to date... makes me smile.

Month 5 started out in Toronto but due to unforeseen circumstances, we made a rather impromptu trip to Regina early in the month.  No problem though... more time to hang out with the grandparents, cousins, et al

At 5 months:

• you can roll over... kind of.  Alex started to roll consistently from his back to his tummy last month but then decided that rolling over was for chumps and doesn't really roll anymore.  He has once or twice rolled from his tummy to his back but doesn't really seem too interested in this feat anymore.  Apparently he has taken a 'been there, done that' stance on this milestone.
• you've been eating rice cereal for a few weeks now and seem to like it.  You make mmm noises and eat everything.
• you've started to grab your feet and suck on your toes -- mom finds this a rather impressive display of flexibility.
• you got your first tooth!! It is bottom center.  The days leading up to its eventual emergence, you were a grumpy little bugger!
• you have been around countless new faces this month and didn't pull strange with anyone.  Everyone loves you! Your cousins (esp. Harry) can get you laughing and giggling like crazy!!
• you still like jumping like a mad-man in the Jolly Jumper.  You have amazing control and can come to sudden and abrupt stops in it.

The Month 5 Flickr set can be found here.

Alex eating rice cereal

Alex jumping and stopping!

Alex and Harry getting the giggles.

More Alex-Harry Jumping Insanity

So... I have been in Regina now for almost a month.  It is well into December but I just haven't had time to update this blog.  This post will be back-dated to fit into the real sequence of things. 

It was Friday November 12th when we got the notice.  I  remember it well.  The notice read something to the effect of: 'Bed Bugs are suspected in a suite near you.  Here is a list of things you are required to do to prepare for preventative spraying in your suite.'  The list was exhaustive: move all furniture off walls, empty all closets, wash every piece of clothing/linens in your suite in hot water and dry for at least 40 minutes and seal in garbage bags, the list went on.... Further, because we had a child under 1 in the household we were required to vacate for a 24 hour period each time they sprayed and they were going to spray TWICE -- once on the 15th and then again on the 30th.  Did this mean living out of plastic bags for 2 weeks??

We were pretty horrified.  We wanted more information. We have a baby.  We did not want our home sprayed with chemicals!  This notice was delivered at the end of day Friday.  No one to get information from until Monday.  Pest control was coming the following Wednesday.

We ambushed our building manager on Monday morning.  By then we were pretty angry at the way this information had been communicated.  When I expressed my concerns at having the baseboards sprayed with chemicals she replied, "... well your kid shouldn't be licking the baseboards anyway."  What a BITCH!  Kids touch everything and my kid puts his hands in his mouth.  I was FURIOUS!

In the end, we found out that the suspected suite was not on our floor; we were either above it or below it.  This we were told was a good thing - harder for them to spread this way?  We also found out that the exhaustive list that had been included in our notice was not supposed to have been sent to us but only to the suite infested.  We did have to move our furniture off the walls but that was where the 'preventative' list ended.  The damage was done though... we had started the preparations over the weekend.  I was so freaked out that we had removed ALL of Alex's things and put them in storage at N's aunt and uncle's. 

We did eventually receive an apology from our buildings management team and were told that we were not the only people to complain only the first to.  We were given a guest suite free of charge for the nights we were getting sprayed but it didn't matter... I had already changed my Xmas flight to Regina -- I took my baby and ran.  Poor N was left to live with a mess for two weeks and then had a household to put back together alone.

We never did have bed bugs but now have an appreciation of what a horrorific thing it would be to have them and how easy it could happen. 

My goodness!  This is the month my little baby turned into a little man.  He bounces and rolls over.  He is so chatty at times and so quiet (like his daddy) at others.  He laughs!  He likes to stand!  Yes, stand -- with assistance!  If you pull him up to a sitting position, he will plant his feet and push up until you help pull him up to a fully standing position. He is ready to crawl but he wants to walk.

So ready to crawl

Look at me, I can roll over!

He is a big boy too.  He is 28.5 inches long and weighs a heavy 18 pounds.  I wouldn't say he is a chubby baby but he is LONG and SOLID.  He wears some 12 month old clothing now!  Mom is ready for this growth to slow down!!

This is the first month he has shown an interest in the TV.  Now he has favourite shows (he likes to have Playhouse Disney on and seems to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Handy Manny).  This is a bit irritating to mom as she soon discovered that most TV programming for children is extremely grating on the nerves... "Hot-dog, hot-diggity-dog!"

He loves his jolly jumper.  He loves his play mat.  He tolerates shopping with mom and he falls asleep in his stroller everyday (even if he just woke up from a nap) on our daily strolls.

We seem to have fallen into a bit of a daily routine now, which is nice.  I now know when he will expect a nap, a feeding, or playtime.

He is fantastic on our daily outings.  I am able to walk to the grocery store, Shoppers, the library, the coffee shop, the park etc... this is one great thing about where we live in Toronto -- there really is everything you could want within a few blocks of us.  I am not looking forward to snow as right now it is super easy to get out of the house.

When we hang out at home he helps me do laundry and helps me cook supper.  Now that he can hold his head up well, he LOVES facing out in the baby carrier.

Did I mention that he giggles?  It is the cutest thing to hear.  I don't hear it too often though -- it takes a lot of work to get him laughing.  Have a listen:

To mark his 4th month, we graduated him to the big bath tub tonight.  He did great -- he loves the water.

Cannot wait to see what changes another month brings!

For Alex's first Halloween he was a bat.

And a garden gnome.

He was cute as both!! He was a good sport too.  He never fussed at all or wondered why we were making him wear these silly get-ups. 

My mom had suggested that N and Alex go as Dr. Evil and Mini Me.  I think that would have been hilarious but alas, I ran out of time and steam (you have no idea how many attempts it took to make that stupid gnome hat). Maybe next year!

This fall the weather has been great.  Cool, crisp and colourful.  The leaves here turn a wide spectrum of colours and it's one of the only times of year I would say Toronto looks lovely. 

This year we didn't have visitors for Thanksgiving.  Instead, we had turkey at my Aunt and Uncle's in Bradford on the Saturday. 

Then we had our own turkey dinner just the three of us on the Monday.  It was a pretty low-key weekend.

Not much exciting happening around here.  Just enjoying the season.  Alex's first autumn.