Houston, We Have Liftoff

A big milestone reached this week as Alex has started crawling. While it's still tentative at this point (a few "steps" forward when he's feeling energetic) we are pretty certain that in no time at all, he will be motoring around the house faster than Mommy and Daddy can keep up with him. And in a related development, he is now pulling himself up in his crib to both a sitting and standing position. Mommy was quite surprised today when she brought Ari into her bedroom for a nap (after having put Alex down just moments before) and looking into Alex's room discovered he was not sleeping, but standing at the end of his crib with a mischievous smile on his face. Apparently, his new achievements are much more interesting to Alex than sleeping. Then again, who wants to sleep when there's so much to do?

Ari is also making progress towards crawling: she can easily get up on all fours but hasn't yet figured out how to propel herself forward (she can, however, go backwards). Mommy has mixed feelings about crawling: while it's an exciting milestone, it also means figuring out how to manage two babies moving in different directions...she's up for the challenge, though!

Here is Alex, preparing for launch:

In other news this week, Alex and Ari welcomed a new friend, Matthew Philips Hausman born to parents Lara and Andy, joining his big sister Taylor. We're looking forward to meeting Matthew and Alex and Ari are ready to teach him all he'll need to know in the months to come. Also, today was Nana's birthday although she was not here to celebrate. Rather, she had the good sense to celebrate it in sunny Florida (with a lobster dinner we hear). Alex and Ari called her earlier today to wish her a Happy Birthday, though. Happy Birthday, Nana!