Where does the time go?

Alex had his 18 month appointment last week and it seems that he is still on the short side....surprise, surprise! He weighed 24 pounds (plus change) and was 29 inches long. That puts him at 25th% for height, and 35th% for weight.

He's growing up so fast! He has a vocabulary of about 75-100 words and will try to say anything you ask him to. Unfortunately anyone other than myself or Evan has a hard time figuring out what he's saying. Often, his version of the word and the actual word are nothing alike. For instance, we call his pacifier a Fuji. We have always called a fuji and if you ask him where it is, he knows that you are talking about his pacifier. However, HE calls it "Ta" So, if he were to start crying and asking for ta, you would likely never figure it out until he grabbed you by the hand and drug you to its location (also something he is fond of doing).

Some of his other accomplishments thus far and things that have changed are:

-down to 1 nap a day
-eats consistantly (though not always well) with a fork or spoon
-can stand on tippy toes and reach (nothing is out of reach anymore)
-loves to climb
-loves to jump
-imitates mommy and daddy constantly
(I often have a hair band on my wrist, and when he finds one around the house
he puts it on his wrist)
-loves to sing and dance
-bananas are his absolute FAVORITE.
-can open doors (now we have to keep our bedroom door locked)
-loves to play with the dogs and pull the cat's tail.
-understands almost everything you tell him to do (put this toy back, go get your ball, where is
fuji, find your shoes, get your jammies out etc...)
-still has a hitting problem for which he visits time out frequently.
-goes to bed at 8 without a fuss and sleeps (usually) until 8 am
-FINALLY sits with me and allows me to read to him at night.
-gives hugs and kisses without being prompted.
-can take his own clothes off (and diaper sometimes)
-can identify animals and the noises they make
-LOVES to color (though not always on paper)


He continues to amaze us everyday with his accomplishments. He seems to learn something new every minute. He truely is a joy to raise and we are enjoying every second of it! O.K. so not EVERY second, but even on the days when he tests every ounce of patience we have, neither one of us would change anything about him. His intensity and spirit are what make him "Alex" and he is an amazing child!

Swimmin with the fishes

Riding the Carousel

Lookin at the Walruses

Playing in the Bamboo

Watching a show with cousin Becky

Watching Shamu

OK so we didn't swim with the fishes but we did SEE alot of fish on our trip to Sea World. Alex and I joined Matt, Amy and the kids for a day at the park. It was reaaaaaaly hot so Alex was pretty miserable all day, not to mention he has a stuffy nose, is working on two more teeth and didnt' have so much as a cat nap most of the day. But, I think he still had fun! He really liked the Pet's Ahoy show (also one of my faves) and would point to all the dogs and cats when they appeared on stage. He also enjoyed watching the stingrays skim the top of the water in the interactive tank, but he kept trying to jump into the water so it was short lived. We ended the day with a carousel ride and a trip through the arctic to look at the polar bear and walruses. He liked the carousel so much that he got mad when it stopped so we had to ride again :)

videos

Ether

Well this Easter sure was different from last year. Alex had lots of fun! The Easter Bunny brought books and sippy cups and lots of eggs to find. I was suprised at how well he "got" it. He was able to find the eggs and put them in the basket with a little direction and motivation of course. Anyway, the attached videos are from the day. One is Alex finding his basket this morning at home (the longest 0ne) and the other two are Alex with his cousins helping us deflate the air mattress and finding egss out in Granny's backyard.

First Haircut

Alex was beginning to look like a little rag-a-muffin, so we took him for a haircut today. There is a place in Sanford that caters to kids. They have cars to sit in while getting a trim and T.V's and DVD's at each station to entertain the kids. Despite all of these "amenities", the experience was exactly as we anticipated it would be. Lots and lots of drama! Alex wanted none of it!! He cried and screamed and flailed about so much I was sure she was going to cut his ear off. Fortunantly, we left with both ears in tact and a much better "do." However, we were slightly put off when we walked in as discovered that a cut was $16, but by the end of our visit, we realized exactly why! Trying to cut the hair of a wiggly, hysterical, one year old, without drawing blood, is no easy feat!

Kitties, Monkeys and Ducks.

Alex had a busy weekend! On Friday, Daddy and I took Alex to the zoo. He had a great time pointing at all of the animals and walking around. He didn't quite understand why we couldn't pet the "kitties" though. He kept grabbing our hands and pointing at them, which is what he does when he wants to pet our cats at home. He also liked looking at all of the monkey's and does quite a cute little imitation of one.

Today (Saturday) Matt, Amy, and the kids came over and we went to the Duck Derby in Winter Park. Becky and Zack had a great time decorating their rubber ducks for the race, while I practiced my artistic ability on Alex's duck. Sadly none of our ducks won the race, but I'm calling shenanigans since the 1st place winner was the daughter of the guy officiating the race........what's up with that??
Anyway, I neglected to take my camera to any of the a fore mentioned outings so I will post birthday pics instead.

Walkie Talkie

Well, my little baby is not such a little baby anymore :( He has decided that walking is the preferred mode of transportation and doesn't crawl at all anymore. He has formed an attachment to the dog blanket that he sleeps with (we call it woof, mostly because it says woof on it) and carries it everywhere. I have mixed feelings about it. While it is sooo cute to see him with his little dog, I don't want to be frantic someday because woof is nowhere to be found and Alex is screaming and non-functional without it. But, I figure for now it's OK.

He also has lots of words now. Unfortunantly they all sound the same, (some variation of duh). There is "dah" which is dog, "duh" which is duck, "dat" which is that. "dlah" which is cat, and many more.

For those of you who don't know, Alex will be "1" on Tuesday the 24th! Can you believe how fast this year has gone?

A touching story of strength and courage

I'm passing this story along because it has touched me so profoundly. I never met the little boy, but I did know his mother in high school. Their 2 year battle against brain cancer is hearbreaking and inspirational. After reading this last night, I hugged Alex a little harder today, kissed him a little more, and just took the time to enjoy him. I hope that I will continue to appreciate just how lucky I am to have him in my life, and never take for granted that life can change in an instant. To truly grasp the enormatity of the situation and how brave Brendon's mother was when faced with treatment options that were sometimes worse than the disease, you have to go to the very first page of the journal and start at the beginning when Brendon was first diagnosed. I hope you all take the time to read this story and remember how precious life can be.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/brendoncoates

Giggle Box

Young Frakensteing likes toilet water...no not perfume.

Well, I have a few minutes between classes so I thought I would fill you all in on Alex's newest activities and shenanigans.

He is starting to walk in that Oh so cute frakenstein, drunk midget sort of way. It's more of an organized fall right now, but it's progress! He'll be walking all over the place before his 1st birthday! His favorite past time is to point at things and make us walk over to them so we can tell him what it is. He also has discovered it's sometimes (most times) easier to grab mommy or daddy's hand and make that hand do the things his hand cannot. Like turn a knob, or flip a switch. He will be quite a little manipulator!

On to shenanigans....

So, I was sitting on the couch doing homework this morning. Evan and I were both home, so we were kind of both keeping an eye on him. Well, I thought Alex had followed Evan into the bedroom, but I began to hear this "splash, splash, splash" sound coming from the end of the hallway. I spent a few seconds running through my mental list of what he could be doing... Is he taking the nightlight out of the socket AGAIN? no that's not it. Is he trying to climb into the litter box behind one of the cats, AGAIN? no, that's not it. OH NO! HE'S PLAYING IN THE TOILET WATER!! So I jump up and right as I look down the hall, he puts his hand in his mouth! *GASP* I wanted to dip him in bleach! But, I settled for washing his hands, applying hand sanitizer and giving him some juice to wash his mouth. So, kiss him at your own risk, you now know where his mouth has been!

FYI, His first birthday party will be 2/22 and our official wedding date is 6/13/09. So save the dates!