Wow...what a couple of weeks it's been!

Well, first the stats: Alex weighs 10 lbs, 5 oz. as of Tuesday this week. We aren't certain, but think he is about 23 inches long. We will go to get his shots next week and update you then. Second, the celebrations: Alex is smiling in response to mom and dad's faces and voices on a regular basis and he can now support his head for more than a minute at a time. He is really strong in both the neck and the legs. He started batting at dangling objects and grabbing my hair and necklace this week.

And....the biggest celebration of all....at 7 weeks and 4 days...Alexander Reece slept a full seven hour stretch last night with only a brief period of waking/fussing for about 10 minutes at 3:00 AM! WOW!! It is remarkable. And for all you who doubted "my book", it is this philosophy followed pretty diligently that allowed for this success! Now, we know the key will be consistency in the schedule moving forward. Of course, we are very flexible as to the "where" he eats or sleeps because we are a family on the go... but rest assured, Alex eats, plays and then sleeps at just about the same time every day and he is so content and happy because of this.

Well, to catch you up on the last two weeks, we spent 8 of them traveling to New England for Alex's first vacation. He was (I'm not just saying this because I am his mom) AWESOME! Never once, did he cry or scream on all the ups and downs of the southwest flights that ultimately got us to Providence and back. We went on a small prop plane to Nantucket, and he slept in the sling on my lap both on the way there and on the SCARY ride back....on our return to the mainland, the storm that was moving up the East Coast was in full force and we almost were not able to return at all...

We had a 9 AM flight to Providence, where we would have taken off at 10:50 AM for the return to Texas, but we were not able to leave Nantucket until 12:00 noon and even then it was a treacherous ride. We could see absolutely nothing but the beating rain and dark clouds enveloping our tiny plane. I hate to say it, but for about 10 minutes, I truly thought that we were going to die like Carolyn and JFK, Jr. By the grace of God, we did not and the pilot landed us in Providence expertly. We had missed our flight of course and after much deliberation and re-routing, we were able to get to Austin, where Angie picked us up. We had a late dinner with her and then she dropped us at our car in the San Antonio airport. I think it was 11:55 when we walked in our door!

The trip (the first half was work for JT) was so much fun and a much needed refresher for the Tinker clan. Tiffany joined us for the first half of the trip to keep me company and help with Alex while Jonathan attended the ASTRO convention in Boston. Tiff, Alex and I stayed the first two nights in Barrington, RI with Aunt Kay and Charlie. We visited the Breakers and other mansions in Newport and lunched at the NY Yacht Club. Then, Aunt Kay drove us into Boston and Tiff and I toured around (mostly shopping) with Alex in tow. We had a great time!

We ended the trip with a retreat to Nantucket. Jonathan arranged the Cape Air flight to and from the island and found a delightful B&B where we had a comfy two room suite right off Main Street. The island is so picturesque and quaint, just the way you imagine it would be. We walked to the wharf and sampled home made pistachio almond ice cream, browsed the boutiques and galleries and of course...had WONDERFUL food every night we were there. Alex took it all in stride - he already knows mommy and daddy's secret love is traveling and he seems ready to join in the tradition!