New haircut, sassy attitude.

The new haircut and Xavier's every present giggling-one-minute-screaming-the-next attitude are unrelated. But I just figured I'd combine them into one post.

Nick gave X a new haircut, which he is obviously feeling very happy about. Here, he's showing it off in his gait trainer.
One of my new internet friends from Australia told me that Xavier sounds "cheeky". Not a common adjective over here in the U.S., but perfectly fitting for Xavier. He is cheeky indeed.

People often ask me, "Will he let you know if he does or doesn't like something?" The answer to that is : YES! Even though he can't talk, Xavier is extremely aware of what is going on around him, and responds in such a way that we know what he wants/likes/dislikes. He says "hi" (although it comes out "hhhhaaa!"). He shuts his mouth and shakes his head "no" when we try to feed him something he either doesn't like or when he's full. And the latest bit of cheekiness Xavier is sharing with us - pulling full plates of food or beverages off the table and onto himself or the floor. His new seat allows him to sit at the table, and this has afforded him ample opportunity to use those long gangly arms of his to reach far and yank things off. The hilarious part is he waits until we've left the table, and then mischieviously giggles, reaches, and heaves the target off. Ben will then inevitably say, "Xavier! Don't do that! Its not funny!", as Xavier is laughing his little head off.

In other "Xavier news", I've decided to schedule a sleep study to figure out why he's waking up in the middle of the night, then not falling back asleep, or why he wakes up at a decent time (6ish) and then is exhausted during the day. And cranky. Oh-so-very cranky. Sometimes, the only thing that can bring him out of his funk is music, in particular: The Clash (or BAD II, which makes sense - its the evolution of the same band). It NEVER fails: if I blast "Should I Stay or Should I Go" on my iPod, his screaming turns into laughter every time. I joke with Nick that Xavier's egg must have been paying attention during the early 90's when I listened to said music for the first time...it seems to be ingrained in him to like it. Either that, or he just inherited an appreciation for good music ;-) Songs will start, he'll stop screaming, listen, then clap his hands and grin.

Anyway, you would think the solution is simple, if he's tired, let him nap! But, alas, Xavier refuses to take a nap even when we set the mood for him (in his darkened room) but will sometimes fall asleep on his own terms, like in this photo where we were playing outside. He shut his eyes mid-play, and that was the end of that:

And yesterday, he fell asleep right before dinner (a very inopportune time, when bedtime comes quickly after we eat)...

Ben took it upon himself to cover him up and give him a teddy bear for company (I found Xavier like this about 5 min after I left him on the couch to make dinner and Ben was watching a movie.) He likes to take care of his brother :-)