Merry Christmas

Dear Santa (Alexandra's Christmas Wish List)

Dear Santa,

I am new at this, but know that I am supposed to write you and tell you what a good little girl I have been in my first 9 months of life. Here is what I would like for Christmas this year.

1. Mommy's cell phone. Actually any cell phone will do. I like to chew on them. And the lights are pretty cool. It is fun to take a selfie with mommy, which I even know how to do by pressing the screen!

2. Mommy's glasses. She says she needs her pair to see, but I really think they are interesting, so perhaps you can bring me a pair of my own. Of course, I will probably just chew on them.

3. Paper. Any kind works for me. It makes cool noises when I grab it in my hands and it is fun to eat!

4. The TV remote. All those buttons are fascinating! I like to push them, and of course chew on the edges.

5. Bottles of water. They make such fun noises and taste so good (the bottles, not the water)!

6. Books! I love the cloth ones that mommy reads to me, but the other kind taste better!

7. Mommy's camera. It looks so interesting and I want to figure out how to use it. I love it when she shows me pictures of myself that she took.

I also loved stuffed animals, rattles and toys that make noises!

Merry Christmas!

Love, Alexandra

Inside Outside Day - 40 Weeks 1 Day

Alexandra was born on March 16th at 40 weeks and 1 day by the pregnancy calendar. Today she is 40 weeks and 1 day old so it is "Inside Outside Day." To celebrate, I took a picture holding her in almost the same spot as my official last bump photo.

Week Forty

I can't believe tomorrow is "Inside-Outside" Day. Since Alexandra was born at 40 weeks 1 day gestation and tomorrow she has been alive 40 weeks 1 day, I will have a special picture to commemorate the event.

On Sunday, Alexandra and I went to Elizabeth's 4th Birthday Party in Orange County. While there, we took pictures with her friend Jake. He is 4 months old and is bigger than she is. At one point we had them sitting next to each other on the couch and Alexandra reached over and took his hand and held it for awhile. And so it begins...

There is not much to write about this week since mommy and daddy have both been sick. Alexandra had her first sleepover at Grandma Janet's because we were just too sick to look after her. Thankfully my mom lives just a couple of minutes away.

Tonight I finally got around to putting the lights on the Christmas tree that I got last Saturday! Here is Alexandra checking out the pretty lights!

Nine Months

Hello Loyal Readers,

December 16th was my 9 months or 3/4 birthday! I can't believe how fast time is going and how much I have accomplished in just one month. I now weigh 18 pounds 9 ounces. I have really grown!! Mommy thinks I am about 28 inches long, but we will know for sure on January 3rd when I have my next doctor's appointment.

The coolest thing I can do now that I could not last month is pull myself up and stand. Yes, I still have to hold on to furniture or mommy, but I am getting close. I really want to stand on my own and hope to do so by the New Year.

I met Santa Claus!!! Mommy and Grandma Janet took me to meet him last week. He seemed very nice, but I was not sure I wanted to sit on his lap. I was good long enough for a few photos, but then I started to cry. At least I got this one good photo and I even got a certificate saying that I have officially been put on the nice list! Now I have to make my list for what I want for Christmas.

Mommy got tired of me chewing on the TV remote so she bought me my own remote. It is so much fun and I love to bang at it. It makes all kinds of noises and teaches me about what remote controls can do.

I tried meat for the first time this month. I love everything. So far I have had chicken and apples, turkey and rice, chicken and veggies, beef and veggies, turkey and sweet potato. All are yummy. Now that I am 9 months old, mommy says I get to try even more foods.

I earned my 5th state this month and am going to be applying for a passport soon. I want to be a world traveler just like the rest of my family!

My favorite things right now are my remote control, a white Santa bear, a Santa rattle, my books and my jumperoo! I really don't have anything that I don't like, but when mommy gives me a stuffed toy, especially my Santa bear and Santa rattle, I give it a big hug and make this noise mommy describes as a "happy whimper."

We had a big party at our house and lots of people came. I got passed around. I like playing "pass the baby," but this was a little crazy. I even got to see my baby friends. Soon we will be able to run around and play like the older kids.

I love that I have gotten to see more of both of my grandmas. Mommy tells me that in just one week, I will get to see more of my family on Christmas Eve. Even cousin Brian is coming all the way from Boston just to see me (okay maybe its to see his own parents, but I am so cute that I am the bonus)! I did see my Grantie Lorel the other day when mommy and I were in Orange County for a birthday party. We stopped by where Lorel was getting her nails done just to say Hi!

Daddy took a trip to Phoenix this week and spent time with my Grandpa Stacy and Nana Kathy, as well as many other members of my family. I missed him while he was gone! Mommy lets me "talk" on the phone with him and I just can't figure out how he gets inside the phone! Some day I will understand, but for now I just stare and wonder where he is?

I am sorry my blog is late this month. Mommy has been sick and I had to wait for her to get well to help me finish this up. See you in 2014 for my 10th month!

Love,
Alexandra

Week Thirty Nine

Oops - late on another week as I am finally writing the blog on December 21st!

Sleep continued to be a challenge at the beginning of the week. On Sunday, Alexandra woke up at 1:30, again at 6 and finally got up for the day at 9:!5. Then she went to bed that night at about 8:45, after fighting going to bed for 30 minutes! She woke up at 11:00 pm, had a bottle and went back to sleep. She got better during the week so we are very happy about that!

This week we took Alexandra to meet Santa Claus and she was interested in first, but soon got red in the face and was ready to cry. We did manage to get one smiling photo of her before that. We ended up taking some cute pictures of her around the "North Pole" setting that they had where we saw Santa.

There is not much else to write about this week so I will leave you with some cute pictures!

Week Thirty Eight

Once again I am behind on blogging. I can't believe that its already week 40 and I still have not posted what I began to write two weeks ago! Alexandra continues to grow and her personality is so fun!

Alexandra has been trying to stand using everything in sight to pull her up. A lot of time is spent keeping her away from things that can hurt her. She loves using the couch to stand and even lets go with one hand. The look of pure accomplishment on her face is so fun to see. We all think she is trying to walk before the New Year.

Sleep has been a challenge as Alexandra decided to wake up at 4:15 on Friday the 6th. By the time she was ready to go back to sleep at 5:15, it was time for me to get up. Then on Saturday it was even worse! She woke up at 1:30!! Thankfully she went back to sleep after a bottle and slept until 6:15. It is not just that she makes noises when she wakes up, but that she stands up in her crib. So of course we have to get up and go and get her. A bottle seems to be all she needs to get back to sleep. Lets hope this little phase ends soon and we get our good sleeper back!

Saturday night we had our annual Chili & Cheer Holiday Party! We had a great turn out despite the rain that morning and everyone loved seeing Alexandra in her Santa dress. She had a chance to "play" with her friends Julian (born in April) and Jake (born in August). It will be fun next year when they really can "play" together! Here is a picture of her and Julian. Alexandra met some people for the first time: Mary, Melissa, Miranda, Bill, Steve, Sonya, and Jon. I think she had met everyone else prior to this.

This was another "Two Grandma Weekend" and Alexandra loved all the attention. Her Grandma Janet had been in Asia for a week so she was happy to see her on Friday when she got home. Grandma Sara came Saturday morning and spent all day with her while mommy and daddy got ready for the party. Alexandra loves having both her grandmas closer now and I am excited that we will all be together for Christmas! I love these pictures of my mom and Sara with Alexandra. They all look so happy!

Some more pictures from our holiday party:

Weeks Thirty Six and Thirty Seven

I am a whole week behind and then some behind!  I guess that is what happens when we are busy having fun! So I will do my best to recap the last two weeks. So much has happened and Alexandra is already another 1/2 month closer to one!

Highlights of Week Thirty Six:

• Alexandra stood for the first time in her crib! She was so proud of herself. Now she is pulling herself up all the time and even starting to cruise on the furniture!
• She had meat for the first time (pureed). Alexandra likes both turkey and chicken. She loves the chicken with apples! 

A Trip to Reno (Part of Both Weeks):

• Alexandra, Grandma Janet and I went to Reno to visit my Uncle Bob and Aunt Sarah. What a great time we had. Alexandra not only earned her 5th state (10% already at just 8 months), but she also met two Labrador retrievers and played (well more like tried to crawl in) the snow! While in Reno, we weighed her and she is 17.4 pounds! 

Highlights of Week Thirty Seven:

• Mommy was off all week which meant lots of quality girl time! Daddy had Thursday and Friday off so Alexandra got more time with him as well. 
• This week she celebrated her first Thanksgiving by sleeping through dinner! Yep, a two hour long nap right before dinner meant she missed it all. She did get pureed turkey, sweet potato and grains. We gave her a taste of cranberry and a taste of pumpkin. She did not seem interested in either.
• Alexandra went shopping with mommy and daddy on Black Friday. Don't worry, we did not even start out until 9 AM! She was a trooper and thankfully we did not really have any lines to wait in or big crowds since everyone else seemed to shop on Thanksgiving (which we refused to do).