Alex and his lei. Yet another 'hat' (one of his nouns).

Getting the last drops out of his "snacks". "Snacks" is some sort of organic whole-grain breakfast cereal (currently something resembling Rice Chex) mixed with dried cranberries. Unfortunately, when he's given it to hold (as it's easier to do), he tends to spill them all over the place - and Josh doesn't care for either the cereal or the fruit.

Another downside is that he's served it in the same containers as the cat food / water, so there's not a clear distinction between what is for PEOPLE and what is for PETS (that and Josh cleans our plates for us).

So Alex sometimes puts his head down into the bowl, to see why the animals prefer it that way.

Alex kindly offering Caira his (non-existant) snacks. Aleways the optimist, Caira investigates, but when Alex insists, she decides to walk away. The two are constant house companions, although now it's pretty much him chasing her around.

I try getting him to chase the dog instead.

We started our vacation by driving to Three Rivers, just outside Sequoia National Park the night before (we left after Travis got off work... the long drive was when Alex should have been asleep.) (Hotel review: Comfort Inn, Three Rivers - don't go there.)

The next day (the 13th), we went to see the big trees. (I'll put up a link to the vacation photos... when I get around to it.)

So we're walking toward General Sherman tree, the largest tree in the world, and there are some bears on the side of the path. Travis is taking pictures when Alex drops some sticks he'd been holding, and startles the baby bears into the tree... and the mama bear starts menacing toward us.

Grandma wisely hotfoots it away with the baby. Travis kept taking pictures. Bless his heart.

Alex enjoyed running down the path. Here is his method of stopping - the belly stop. He lands into me this way sometimes, too. Yes, well. (It's blurry because the baby was moving quick*.)

Here he is racing down the hill. Perhaps because all trees are bigger than he is (bonsai excepted) he wasn't very impressed with the trees around us.

His other method of coming to a halt. It HAS to involve the diving into the object. Notice the matching dirt patch on his bum? He was having a great time.

Peeking through the fence. Who needs big trees?

Really, I just wanted to go on vacation and see these places, in case they burned up or something. It's why I'm anxious to see Yellowstone, before the caldera goes. Go ahead, laugh. As it is, Old Faithful isn't so faithful anymore. Gotta see these things, before they're no longer.

So much running, though, and the young man gets tired. Here he is being carried by Papa. Notice the other hand curled around his shirt? When he's being carried by me or Grandma Barbara, he prefers to curl his hand up in our shirt - down the front, of course.

Here's a picture Grandpa Jack took. (Alex knows who is meant by "Grandpa", but when he wants him, he shouts "Jack!!!" in a really loud imitation of Grandma's invocation for her husband. His first proper noun (other than "Josh" being the dog).)

We made it up to Sacramento for Goodstock 2007 - Grandma Barbara's family. Here Alex is playing with... his second cousin, once removed, says Travis. She is the granddaughter of Travis's cousin.

During the official photo shoot for the reunion, Alex decided he had to play musical chairs. Well, he ran laps around the families being photographed. Here he is with Travis's grandma (Alex's great grandma).

After leaving the reunion on Sunday, we drove to Marina, just outside Monterey (and saved over $100/night on the hotel rooms). After much harrassment, I was able to convince the Holiday Inn Express folks that they needed to share the fresh cookies they had made, and Alex had a part of one. It sort of made a mess.

Note: No matter how tempting, removing chocolate cookies from the baby's face by licking it off just makes more of a mess.

Grandma Barbara showed me how to turn Alex's shirt inside out. So that when we were carrying him, the mess wouldn't get on us. Ahh, the wisdom of the elders. (She also didn't think the lick method would work.)

We went to the beach. As usual, Alex went racing toward the water (this after careening down the big dunes). Here comes a wave... and then the whole issue of wearing the shirt inside out is resolved... Travis carried the baby back to the car, for a relative change of clothes.

There was this fantastic piece of driftwood which I told Jack & Barbara was a canoe. Row the canoe! I told them. There will be an animated picture on the vacation page. (Note: Don't depend on the two of them to get you anywhere in a canoe!)

Once Alex returned from his clothes-changing trip, he decided to join them.

Grandma showing Alex how to bury his feet in the sand. She may have shown him how to chase birds, too, but we're not sure.

We made it to the Monterey Aquarium. Travis took pictures of the fish. I minded the baby. But here's Alex marveling at the sardines (or anchovies) that were swimming in circles around this tank. One wonders what Alex thought of it. He was thinking about it.

He's actually not waving, although it looks like he is. He stopped waving about 10 months ago now. But he did have a great time in the otter exhibit area - sliding down a plastic slide. He showed another boy a couple days older than him how to go down it. And some other kid how to push a button to make the otter model 'swim'. Amazing how they learn faster from each other than from an adult patiently showing them how to make it work. Somehow, another toddler doing it is just better.

(Almost finished with the not-vacation photos.) The previous day, after enjoying ourselves at the aquarium, we drove down the coast to San Luis Obispo and had dinner with Mark, Cindy, and little Zoe. She's so cute, she makes me want to have another one!

Anyways, we went to the pier the next morning, and Alex had a grand old time chasing the pigeons off the pier. He chased all of them off, at least once.

And after running all the way to the end, chasing pigeons, and about half the way back, he became tired.

Which was good, because the drive home was still about five hours. Which he endured without complaint - until we were within five miles of the house. What a good baby though!

Kicking back in his stroller. He lives in his stroller. Well, sleeps, at least. His daily nap is in the stroller, and he's allowed to sleep at night in it until Travis brings him up to bed at Travis's bedtime.

Here his eyes are open just a crack.

Oh, and the Bob Revolution - his stroller - the best thing for babies since sliced bananas.

Alex consulting with his stock broker. He had been nagging me to get off the phone - I thought he just wanted to call one of his little friends to discuss that morning's teletubbies episode.

Dang it, mom, the stock's going to split today! I have to get it before New York goes to lunch! He complained to me.

Sure, Honey, but Mommy's discussing what colors to use in her next quilt with Grandma. Drink some Yobaby. Chill.

Luckily he still managed to get the trade in. And he glared at me for not letting him use our e-Trade account anymore (he still gets fingerprints on the computer screen - drives me nuts!).