15 Months

Since I have failed miserably at getting the blog updated on time for the last two months, I am going to write this one early in the hopes it will actually be posted on June 16th! Since I am finally on summer vacation, it should be easy. Let's go back to about May 25th since the rest was part of the previous blog post.

On May 27, we took Alexandra to her 1st baseball game. It was a Lake Elsinore Storm game and she had a lot of fun. She loved the mascots most of all, so we made sure she had the chance to meet Thunder, the team mascot.

Now that I am on summer vacation, our days are filled with walks, swimming, playing at the park, naps and even shopping. Miss A is taking swim lesson on Saturday mornings and loves jumping into the pool and using the kick boards. She does not, however, like the idea of floating on her back. We are fortunate that we have several nice parks in our community where she can run around.

Miss Alexandra can express herself even better now, often pointing at things she wants. She says mom, da, uh-oh and up, although not always in context.  She will see Dave either in person or a picture and say da. Sometimes she points to the wrong person in the picture, but I think she understands da is daddy. There are times that she will look directly at me and say mom, but she also says ma for more. Lately when something falls she says uh-oh and on June 11th, she started saying up when she wanted to either go up the stairs or be picked up. She understands even more than these words she expresses. When there is a container, she can follow the directions open and close with the lid. If I mention that we are going upstairs, she will walk towards the stairs. When I say bye-bye, she waves and sometimes even for hello.

The play remote control is still one of her favorite things. It was the best $10 I have spent on her to date. She loves that thing. Of course, real remotes are still even more interesting. The second she sees my cell phone now, she wants it and even throws a mini-tantrum when I won't give it to her. Other things that she loves include stuffed animals, books, her baby laptop and a musical tea pot. She plays the same song over and over, which I sing to her in a British accent (imitating the song). She loves that! She likes when we sing to her, the favorite song being Itsy Bitsy Spider!

Alexandra loves books. She will frequently take every book out of the container where they are kept, flip through the pages and then toss it aside for the next one. Her favorites include the peekaboo books, Sophie the Giraffe books, Penguin Says Please and Itsy Bitsy Spider. She "reads" the peekaboo book over and over. Unfortunately, Miss A also likes the taste of books and has been caught eating them a time or two.

With nine teeth now, Alexandra has become a pretty good eater. She loves cheese puffs and veggie puffs, little owl crackers, strawberries, pancakes, breads of all kinds, Belvita crackers and juice. At Olive Garden the other night we got her a peach-mango smoothie that she loved! Another milestone is that she can drink through a straw and does it all the time with water now.

For Father's Day, we had lunch at Fuddruckers and then Dave went and did a Go Kart race at K1 Speed in Ontario. For dinner, we went to our favorite neighborhood restaurant called Teakwoods. Everyone there loves Alexandra and she loves them. They take the time to say hi, play peekaboo with her and I honestly think they are just happy to see us because we bring her along!!

A few other things: she has started trying to stand on her head, can climb up onto the ottoman in the media room, has her own chair in the living room, and is finally wearing sunglasses (although not all the time). She has the most adorable straw hat that she happily wears when we go outside. Miss A is a total night owl, often staying up until nine and even after ten on nights where she takes a nap too late in the day. Before I go back to school in August, I will have to change this and get her to bed earlier.

Here are some fun photos from Month #15!

Week Forty One & Forty Two

I am seriously behind on the blog updates again. I got over the first illness and got a second cold on New Year's Day. Plus, going back to work after a two week vacation has been keeping me busy. What a great two weeks it was! See the special blog post of a photo book created for Alexandra's first holiday season. Here are the highlights of the last two weeks:

Week Forty-One:

• Alexandra's 1st Christmas - On Christmas Eve, we went to David & Lorel's for turkey dinner. Cousin Brian was also visiting from Boston. Alexandra had fun seeing all the family members and opening her first presents. She got really cute Christmas pajamas from her Great Uncle Bob & Great Aunt Sarah which she wore to bed that night. She also got to open presents from Grandma Sara, Uncle David and Grantie Lorel. This included a doll and the book, Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus, a small Santa Claus board book, 
• On Christmas morning, both grandmas came over and we opened presents. Alexandra got tons of books, an activity center, a stuffed zebra, a blanket, and more. Alexandra was visited by Santa, who brought her some books, a camera (a baby version that makes lots of noises) and an elephant rattle. She loves the camera! In addition, she also got lots of cute clothes from Grandpa Stacy and Nana Kathy. Marivel & Dylan got her the Jingle dog and storybook, a cute hat, and some slippers.

Week Forty-Two:

• A brand new year! On the 31st, Alexandra, Grandma Janet and I went to Marivel's for awhile. Poor daddy did not feel well. But then it was nine and Alexandra was ready for bed. We were all asleep well before midnight, but Miss Alexandra decided to wake up at 11:53 crying. After some cuddles, she was fast asleep and with just 4 minutes left in 2013, mommy turned on the TV to ring in the new year!
• Alexandra got another sleepover at Grandma Janet's on the 1st as mommy came down with a bad cold and felt miserable! Unfortunately, everyone in the family ended up with stuffy noses. This affected Alexandra's sleep and she started waking up in the middle of the night crying.

The best part of the last two weeks was that I was on vacation and got to spend so much more time with Alexandra. Christmas has always been special, but it was even more so with Alexandra this year!

Eight Months & Week Thirty Five

Dear Loyal Readers,

Eight months just sounds so much older than seven months! It has been a very exciting month for this little girl. I celebrated my first Halloween, went to the pumpkin patch and learned more new things. I smile all the time, but just did not want to for my official 8 month photos. Finally, mommy was able to catch these:

Halloween was an interesting event. I went as Minnie Mouse and only "trick or treated" at one house (our neighbors Rick & Tina). They gave me an unwrapped sucker to play with. It was fun to chew on the paper. Then all these strange people kept ringing our doorbell and mommy would give them candy. She gave me the empty candy bag and I had so much fun with it. It made some really cool noises.

We visited the pumpkin patch this month and it was such fun. At first I did not know why I was sitting among all of these strange shaped objects, but then I decided it was okay and gave mommy and Grandma Janet lots of smiles so they could take my picture. They even gave me a short ride in a wagon. What fun!

Pictures of Halloween and the pumpkin patch were on previous blog posts, so please go check them out if you missed them!

I still love my toys, but mommy and daddy have so many fun things that I want to play with. My favorites are restaurant menus (which taste so good), TV remote controls, phones and water bottles. Mommy did just get me my very own remote control that plays music and will help me learn the purpose of a remote control. It is so much fun, but I still like the real thing. Tonight we are going to Chili's for dinner to celebrate my 2/3rds birthday! I am sure there will be a fun menu to chew on!

Look at me sitting up in my crib in this picture at the right. Mommy just caught me doing it for the first time a few minutes ago. She has never seen me do it before! I am also working hard on trying to stand up by myself and am getting much better at crawling! What a big girl I am!

I am learning Spanish. Miss Marivel has taught me so many words in Spanish and even mommy speaks Spanish to me sometimes. I am excited to become bilingual! My favorite word is "leche," which means milk! But I am learning all sorts of other words. I gave Marivel a hug the other day because she takes such good care of me while mommy and daddy are at work!

I am now wearing 6-9 month clothes. Some of them are huge on me so I have to wear pants over the onesies to make them comfortable. It is fun to transition to new clothes. I can still wear the 3-6 months, but mommy says its time to outgrow them since I have been wearing that size since July!

A funny story from tonight. Mommy was trying to change my diaper in preparation for bed and she decided to do it on the floor since I had been wiggly earlier. Well, I thought it was far more fun to roll around than to get a diaper. Mommy had to get daddy to hold me down in order to get the diaper on. All three of us were laughing!

Mommy entered my photo in the Gerber Photo Contest. Please vote for me! You can vote for me every day at https://www.facebook.com/Gerber?sk=app_586462271392312&app_data=234200 Thanks! Speaking of photos, we took some professional pictures at the end of October and mommy forgot to post them, so here are a couple of my favorites!



Since mommy usually does her weekly update on Saturday, she asked me to include some stories from this week. Last weekend we went to Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach and spent time with Grandma Sara. We had a great time seeing grandma's new apartment. With no furniture I was free to crawl almost anywhere I wanted. We also went out to eat several times. I love to people watch. I usually stare at the waitress or waiter for a long time. A walk on the pier and boardwalk was fun. When we were walking into the sun, mommy put the shade down and it was hard for me to see so I used my feet to kick it up just enough to see out, but still be out of the sun. The crib that I had to sleep in had bars and was smaller than my crib. It was "baby jail." On Monday, I went over to Grandma Janet's and got to sit in the new high chair she got for me. I decided it would be fun to put my feet on the table since it was there.

Here are some pictures from this week:

Well, that is all for now. I will see you on December 16th and will be able to update you on my 1st Thanksgiving. I am so excited. Mommy says I can try meats now that I am 8 months old and that means turkey!!!

Love,
Alexandra

Week Thirty Two

Another week gone and its almost November! I have a book called The Wonder Weeks that talks about certain weeks when babies make mental leaps. There is always a checklist to mark off with behaviors that your child exhibits. The last one was at 26 weeks and at the time there were very few of the characteristics that Alexandra had met. Now at 32 weeks, many of them are things she does. The next mental leap is just a few weeks away at 37 weeks!

Alexandra has been playing in her Jumperoo and loves it. She can spend at least 30 minutes amusing herself. Tonight she even started jumping while I was holding her on my lap.

As mentioned in the previous blog, Alexandra had a "Two Grandma Weekend." On Sunday, we all went to breakfast and then had pictures taken at JC Penney's. We ordered a CD of photos, so once that arrives, I will add some photos to the blog.

Being sick and having such an adorable daughter sucks! I was not allowed to cuddle, kiss or even touch her until today. Talk about mommy torture! Thankfully, my mom, Dave and Marivel all took good care of her.  I am still a less than 100% so I wear a mask when I am holding her.

Halloween is this week and I am excited to take some pictures of Alexandra in her costume. I like Halloween and look forward to it every year as the start of the holiday season. It is fun to decorate and it will be even more fun once Alexandra is old enough to go trick or treating.

Alexandra loves to practice standing. I have noticed that she is trying to get her feet under her when sitting on the floor so that she can stand up. Tonight I put her arms on the foot stool of one of our chairs and she was reaching for something on it. I let go for a few seconds and she was able to hold on. She has such strong legs that once she realizes she can do it, she will be cruising around on our furniture. For now, she will continue to practice standing when one of us is around to help.

Another tooth is just below the surface and has caused Alexandra to be fussy off and on. And she must be growing again because she is eating like crazy. Today she had 5 ounces of food, 7 ounces of juice and 30 ounces of milk! We tried apple/cherry mix today and Alexandra liked it a lot. In addition, she had mango this week which is definitely one of her favorites. She smacks her lips with that one and peaches. Dave gave her a taste of mashed potato at dinner and she stuck her tongue out at him with the look that said, "how could you daddy." Clearly she did not care for them!!!

Alexandra loves her stuffed animals. I will often play with her that the monkey or kitty is giving her kisses. After about three times of touching her face with the stuffed animals face, she grabs it and snuggles it. It is so adorable to watch. And she makes this really cute little sound of pure contentment.

There is not much else to report for this week, especially since I have been keeping my distance. I look forward to a lot of kisses and cuddles this week to make up for it!

Week Thirty

Its hard to believe that it has been 30 weeks since I first met Alexandra. Time goes so fast now and on Wednesday she will be 7 months old. She will have a lot to report for her monthly blog.

She is currently sitting in my lap and watching intently as I type. Perhaps she wants to make sure I don't forget something or give away all of her secrets! She is babbling away and perhaps telling me what to write. If only I spoke baby. In her babbling I distinctly hear "bababa", but notice a "w" every now and then.

She has started wearing some 6-9 month clothes finally. For sleepers and pants, that size fits perfectly, but the onesies are entirely too long! Oddly enough, there are still some 0-3 month clothes that fit her. Just like all women's clothing, there is no consistency in sizes. Since we have finally had some cooler days, we have been able to use some of her pants and long sleeved tops. This week it even started getting cold at night, so we are using sleepers. One of the outfits that she finally got to wear was this blue, white and yellow one from her Great Aunt Ann.

Grandma Sara visited last weekend and got some quality time with Alexandra. As I mentioned in last week's blog, it was a "Two Grandma Weekend." What fun and what a lucky girl! We went to breakfast at Coco's and out to dinner at Lonestar. We also went shopping. Alexandra was able to show off her new moves. She is getting really good at scooting. Grandma Sara helped her exercise her legs in preparation for standing some day soon. She loves to play what we call the "Up the Baby" game and made sure Grandma Sara did it with her!

This week we transitioned from her seat in the bathtub to a little ducky bathtub that goes inside the big tub. She loved it because she could sit up on her own. She really enjoyed tonight's bath and was splashing her hands and getting water every where! This girl is a water baby for sure! We figure that we will use it for a few weeks until she can sit in the tub without sliding around. I probably need to purchase a tub mat. Here is a picture of her new bathtub.

This week Marivel got a Jumperoo from a friend and Alexandra LOVES it. She has all kinds of toys that she can play with and the best part is jumping up and down. We had to put a large flat pillow underneath as her feet don't hit the ground. She will need to grow a few more inches before that can happen. Nevertheless, Alexandra is intrigued and can now entertain herself for hours. Okay, maybe not hours, but certainly for quite a few minutes!

Alexandra tried several new foods this week. She liked bananas, apricots and mixed vegetables, but HATED green beans. When Grandma Janet gave her a few bites, it was obvious that even though she ate them, she was not enamored of them. This week when Marivel tried to give her green beans again, Alexandra started crying at the first taste of them! When we went out to dinner last Sunday, we gave Alexandra a taste of baked sweet potato which she liked and baked potato (plain) that she did not like. During the week we also gave her some mashed up avocado, which she did not seem to care for at all. It is fun to see her reactions to the different foods. We have several new purees for her to try this week including: apples & cherries, mango, sweet potato & corn and pears & pineapple. Now that we are giving her stage 2 foods, there are some interesting combos!

Marivel speaks to her in Spanish and uses the word "leche" for milk all the time. When we were out at dinner, I asked Alexandra if she wanted milk and even showed her the sign for milk. She looked at me but did not really react. A lot of the time she will get a big smile with either. When I said, "Quieres leche?, " meaning "Do you want milk?" her head turned very suddenly towards me and it was clear she understood exactly what that word means!

The other bit of news is the unmistakable white of a tooth that has appeared just below her gums! It is not poking through yet, but it is definitely ready and should do so any day now. Well, that is all I can think of for this week. Be sure to visit back during the week for Alexandra's 7 month notes! Here are a few more parting shots! Enjoy!