Photo Book - Months 9-12

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A Year of Alexandra

 I took one photo every day for this first year of Alexandra's life. Enjoy!

I Am One Today!

Dear Loyal Readers,

One year ago I was rudely yanked from my comfy home and forced into this big world. But what a great thing that happened! This world is far more exciting (not to mention roomy) than my first home. At 3:56 PM, I will officially be one so that is when I am posting this blog entry.

What a year it has been, but if you have been reading my blog, then you already know! So I will just focus on the last month, which has been by far the most exciting. Why you ask? Because I have figured out how to walk! I can now take 15-20 steps on my own without falling. When I get too excited and try to walk faster is when I fall down. Lots of times I like to carry something small in my hand while I walk. And other times I have someone help me walk.

Yesterday there was a big party in my honor. What fun to see friends and family come celebrate little me! The best part was the cake. I have never tasted something so sweet and creamy. I could not get enough of the frosting. And the chocolate cake was not so bad either! I got so many fun new toys that I just don't know what to play with. I start with one, get bored easily and move on to the next. I got lots of toys that play music and make noise. I also got a couple of dolls, a stuffed dog, clothes and lots of love.

I am also taking swim lessons. We go twice a week and play games in the water. Sometimes I just like to observe or cling to mommy, but at yesterday's lesson, I even let the swim instructor Tori take me for a few minutes. I also sat on the pool side and clapped my hands before jumping into the water. This was an accomplishment for me as previously I had immediately jumped back at mommy! I am getting better and better each day. I am usually very serious, but I finally smiled at yesterday's lesson! I can't wait until summer when I can going swimming every day with mommy. Grandma Sara just brought me several more swimsuits to wear throughout the spring and summer!

I love to talk. I just wish someone would understand me because I feel like I am speaking a foreign language or something. My people just stare at me and don't do what I want them to do. Occasionally they will talk back to me, but it never is in the right context. They just don't speak baby!

Grandma Janet just returned from Korea and brought me a hat (which I could probably do without), a cute onesie and a stuffed Hello Kitty! I also got some hair bows and a purse. When Grandma Sara had gone to Asia, she also brought me some cool things. I like it when family members travel!

Well, I guess that is all for now. I can't believe I am officially a toddler!! Please make sure to check out the pictures from my party yesterday that mommy posted in a separate blog entry. I will try to update you next month when I am 13 months old. Until then...

Love,
Alexandra

Birthday Party

What a fun birthday party we had for Miss Alexandra! The theme was shamrocks so everything was related to that. We added pink to make it bright and cheerful. Here are some pictures from her special day.

Decorations and Food:

I ordered the banner from a fellow March Mom off Etsy. I had everyone sign the Dr. Seuss "Happy Birthday to You" book and will give it to her on her 18th birthday. I looked on Pinterest for inspiration and made both the high chair banner and a lime sherbet punch! I also made a video of photos from each day of her first year that I played on my laptop for guests to enjoy.

Cake Smash: Yummy! Frosting is so good!!

Presents: Alexandra was most interested in the cards and paper, but loved the toys once they were unwrapped.

Other Fun Pictures: A good time was had by all!

Week Fifty One

Fifty one weeks! That means that one week from today, Miss Alexandra will celebrate her 1st birthday! How crazy to think that an entire year has gone by and this time last year we were eagerly awaiting her arrival, wondering what she would look like, and planning her first days at home. Now we have watched her grow into an adorable little girl, full of love and personality. She has changed our whole lives for the better.

Enough sappiness (as Dave would say) and time to get to this weeks notes. Alexandra is becoming more proficient with walking and I finally caught her on camera. She takes 4-5 steps before falling. As long as she goes slowly she is fine, but once she gets excited and tries to walk faster, she falls.

Now that she is standing and walking, she is trying to get at things that were onceout of her reach. Last Sunday, she decided it would be fun to take the DVDs out of the bookcase in our media room. She also goes after magazine piles, loves purses and wants the trash can. I can tell that we are going to get quite a workout chasing after her real soon!

Swim lessons continue. We are going twice a week (Tuesday and Saturday). She already was comfortablein the water, just not interested in doing what the instructors wanted her to do. She was more interested in clinging to mommy. On Saturday, she was much better and even let the instructor hold her for a few seconds. Of course her eyes were always on mommy. Daddy goes along to the lessons because four hands are so much easier when trying to get in and out of the pool, change the girl out of her wet suit and plus she has someone to look at when going across the pool. In a few more times, we will switch places and Dave will get in the water with her. I can't wait until it is warmer in our pool to take her swimming each day!

This weekend, Grandma Sara came over for a visit. She spent much of the day watching Alexandra while mommy caught up on grading (especially important since grades are due Monday) and daddy did some cleaning. While I was upstairs on my computer, I could hear lots of laughter and talking from the little girl. She loves to talk! This is of course no surprise considering her parents are both Toastmasters!

Here are some pictures taken this week. Next week will be Miss Alexandra's 1 year update!!!

Week Fifty

It is March 1st and that mean's we are just 2 weeks away from having a one year old! What a difference a year makes. This time last year, I was on my last day of work before maternity leave. Now I have a beautiful daughter sleeping in the other room who is about to celebrate her 1st birthday!

Week fifty has been an exciting one for sure! She took her first steps (that we are counting) on Sunday the 23rd. It is possible she took a step one time earlier, but it happened so fast and I had no one to witness it to tell me if it really happened. But on the 23rd both Dave and I saw it happen! I have not been able to get photographic or video evidence, but I will keep trying! Now Alexandra is up to about 4 steps at a time and I know soon she will be walking all over the place.

In addition, Alexandra had her first swim lesson this morning. While she was quite comfortable in the water, she was more interested in observing everyone else than in doing the activities the instructor wanted her to do. At first she cried when asked to float on her back, but once given a toy to play with (or put in her mouth was the case), she had no problem doing it. Then in the bathtub this afternoon she also had no problem laying on her back and getting her ears wet. Too funny! We are going to take lessons twice a week this month and then see where we are at.

Its been raining for the last two days and really hard. We have been going for walks almost every afternoon because the weather has been so nice. While we definitely need the rain, I would like a little break so that we can have a short walk. Maybe tomorrow.

We have been working on teaching Alexandra how to give a "high five" and she is getting it. She does not respond all the time, but most of the time. In addition, we are working on waving bye-bye.

I have only two more weeks left of daily photos and weekly blog updates. It will probably be very hard to break the habit of daily photos as it has been fun to put together a video that I will soon be sharing with you of her first year. Here are a few of my favorite photos from this week!

Week Forty Nine

Week forty nine started off with Alexandra turning 11 months old on Sunday. It was a holiday weekend so we got to spend Monday with her too! I was fortunate to have a four day weekend, so also spent Friday with her.

Tuesday was quite a challenging night as Alexandra woke up every 1.5-2 hours crying and wanting cuddles. Mommy and daddy were quite tired Wednesday and we soon knew why - two new teeth that finally broke through on Wednesday! Alexandra now has a total of five teeth (3 upper and 2 lower). Thankfully she returned to sleeping through the night (most nights).

The weather had been warm and so we have been taking walks almost every afternoon. Alexandra loves the outdoors and even if she is fussy, she calms down as soon as we get outside. The upside is that it gives me a chance to exercise also. The one thing we have to work on for our walks is getting Alexandra to wear her sunglasses. She is very happy playing with ours and chewing on them, but takes hers off almost immediately.

Other favorites of Alexandra that have not been previously mentioned:

• Purses are fun to play with and chew on the straps.
• Door stoppers because when you hit them they vibrate.
• Daddy's closet has so many cool things to look at, including zip lock bags (which mommy and daddy insist she not chew on)!

Here are some photos from the week: