Back to the grind

It's always hard to come back from vacation and have to settle back into our daily routine, which can be a bit stale, and dare I say it, boring. We have been trying to keep ourselves occupied, and luckily, Alex has been a provider of non-stop entertainment over the last few days. Now don't get me wrong, he's always a chipper chicken, but this is ridiculous. My theory is that he's figured out how to move his high chair across the kitchen, scale the chair 'til he reaches the counter, where he opens the cabinet where the coffee is stored, and drops a handful of grounds into his sippy cup for an afternoon pick-me-up.

His overly cheerful demeanor may be related to the good sleep he's gotten lately. He slept great at my parents' house and has been going down for naps and bedtimes without yelling nasty things at me before falling asleep.

His giddy behavior and abundance of energy have kept us occupied in more ways than one. He can now cruise at the speed of light...

...and today, he discovered that climbing is just one more way to reach things that he's not supposed to have.

Another development, as of today - he has started to share his food with us, which is nice as long as his food isn't a handful of mushed beans. Here he is sharing an apple-flavored wagon wheel with me (after he does his piggie impression, first).

I have been trying to pack up anything in the living room that is not bolted down, because Lord knows if ain't bolted, Alex is taking it with him. Of course, the open boxes strewn about are just as attractive as the stuff that goes in them.

We've spent most of the last two days cooped up in the house, cuz the weather's been less than ideal.

However, we did venture out last night to have dinner at the Primms, where Alex played Oliver one-on-one on a half court then took a ride on Uncle Seth's shoulders.

Against my better judgment (ahem, Timothy), we stayed way past Alex's bedtime, so he fell asleep in the car (after lots of screaming and crying, which was why I wanted to avoid coming home late in the first place. AHEM, Timothy). He was so cute that I kind of forgot about being annoyed that he was sleeping in the car and not in his bed. Kind of.