He's got teeth! Alex has sprouted two little chompers on his lower gum, and a third one is in sight. He has a bit of discomfort with them, but Orajel, frozen washcloths and teething toys seem to help. Speaking of putting things in his mouth, he has also been experimenting with his first solid food, mashed bananas. Generally, he eats about a 1/4 teaspoon of it and then smears the rest into his hair. He absolutely insists on holding his own spoon, though.

Alex rolls onto his tummy every chance he can get, which makes diaper changes interesting ("Hey, squirmy, come back here.."). Lately, he's been pulling up to a crawling position, but ends up scooting backward on his belly instead of crawling forward. When he scoots off the carpet onto the slick wood floor, he really picks up speed and we often find him clear across the room from where we set him down.

Other new developments: Sleeping through the night consistently (9 p.m.-6 a.m.) and taking two or three predictable daytime naps, trying to touch the dog, crumpling any paper that gets within reach, poking at our faces if we seem to have fallen asleep, using his index finger to manipulate toys, and "talking" to the animal designs on his crib bumpers.