He's a Maniac, Maaaaniac on the Floor..

 

Don't let this nice picture fool you. Xander is out of control. OUT OF CONTROL I tell you!

Consider what happened moments before this shot was snapped...

 

Yes. He's got his brother by the ear. And, I believe, me by the juglar.

Xander is at the phase where he grabs everything. Totally normal behavior for a five month-old. The thing is, he can also GET to everything he wants.

He's not crawling, but he can rotate all the way around AND scootch. He gets his knees up under him and then digs in with his feet and propells forward. The other day I tried to get some dinner ready. When I looked over at him, he was gone. Nothing like that feeling of WHERE DID HE GO??!?

He'd simply traveled off his playmat and was practically off the carpet and onto the floor - a distance of about four feet.

He also enjoys flipping over during poopy diaper changes. And screams his head off the whole time.

This kid. Right here.

 

I have no idea where he gets it from...

 

I am not AT ALL ready for a mobile baby. We are not child-proofed yet. I have tried to get the bigger kids to pick up all the tiny Toys of Choking Death they like to leave around. And their fruit snack wrappers that they try to hide under the couch.

They are kind of getting it. But then today I heard some crunching. There was Xander, chewing on a newspaper. Hey, it's fiber, right?

He also is back to wanting to be carried. And since I'm genetically programmed to follow his every command, I comply. I'd say he looks pretty pleased with himself.

 

He's also not sleeping at night. Again. I put an old aquarium thing-y in his crib and it took him about 2 seconds to figure out how to turn it on. So at random times at night, I'll hear the sound of the ocean before the inevitable shrieking. Makes me long for the beach...not so much.

He will be six months old in a few weeks. I can't wait to see what he has in store for me.