A year and a half! How is that possible? It seems like yesterday that she was just turning one year old. And now six months have flown by and she is half way to two!
Alexandra is quite the talker. While there is a lot of babbling, she does use lots of real words,some in the correct format, while others are good attempts. Examples of words she can say include: eye, ice, mom, dada, duck, uh-oh, oops, hi, bye, ball (ba), more (momom), up, down, open (op), close (clo), and oh. She loves to say Hi to people wherever we go. I swear once she said monkey, but she hasn't repeated it. Same with bottle.
She absolutely loves books and is getting better about sitting through an entire story. She has favorite books that she wants read to her over and over again. The current favorites include: The Crack on the Track, Pajama Time, Brown Bear Brown Bear, Good Night Little One and The Cuddliest Cuddle in the World. Often, the first thing that she goes to in a room is her box of books.
She is a good eater. She LOVES fruit and eats strawberries, all kinds of melon, grapes, blueberries and banana. She also likes bread, hot dogs, cheese and her fruit/veggie pouches. She is funny though and picky about eating certain things with certain people. With Marivel, she will eat chicken, but when I offer it to her I get a look like "Mom you can't seriously expect me to eat that?" She is now doing the same thing with her milk and oatmeal....only with Marivel. If Dylan (Marivel's 8 year old son) is having it, Alexandra wants to try it. Thankfully she is getting plenty to eat, but I hope this is just a phase since Dylan can't be with us 24/7!
She knows many parts of the body and can point to them when asked. She knows eyes, nose, cheeks, tummy, foot, chin, bum, mouth and toes. Every night we read Good Night Little One and as I get to the part in the book, she touches the appropriate body part. So cute!
Alexandra is a good sleeper, at night. It is a funny thing that during the week at Marivel's house, Alexandra will point to the pack n play indicating she is tired and go right to sleep for a nice long nap. On the weekends or a day off, she cries and cries and cries if I try to get her to take a nap. It seems my only luck is when she gets really tired and we go for a car ride. Then most times I can bring her into the house and put her in her crib for a nap. But trying to encourage her to nap on her own just isn't happening. Marivel must have a special touch, because she does not want to nap for my mom either. Sometimes she will get so tired that a walk will also do the trick, but often that is later in the day than we would like. She is pretty good about getting to sleep at night, but we have to lie down on the floor with her in her room and transfer her to the crib after she falls asleep.
Alexandra has finally gotten to the point at swim lessons where she lets the instructor hold her without fussing. She is now the pro in the parent-toddler class. My mom really enjoys taking her for these lessons. I can only imagine how great a swimmer she will be by our next vacation in March.
She also got to spend extra time with Grandma Janet as I unfortunately got a nasty back to school bout of bronchitis. Dave was out of town visiting his dad so he could not help out. We did also spend a Sunday in Redondo, having brunch with Grandma Sara after she got back from her trip to Florida and New York. Grantie
Lorel and Uncle David also came to breakfast so it was fun to see them.
We had a neighborhood watch party at the park near our house and Miss A had fun with the slides. It was so fun to see how excited she got when she saw Dylan. She started shouting and clapping. Marivel tells me that this is the reaction she gives every afternoon when school is out and they go to pick up Dylan. In the morning, she apparently cries when he leaves.
Alexandra loves playing outside and I am looking forward to cooler weather (its been 105 the last few days) so that we can resume
walks in the evening and maybe even go to the park. For now, she really likes the backyard. Since it has been too hot to play outside, Alexandra's days include coloring, dancing (especially to Latin music), reading, playing with her little kitchen and playing with her toys. Some of her favorites right now are her little car, the baby stroller and she still loves all the musical toys. She finds several ways to amuse herself.
Miss Alexandra has decided that she likes to clean. One day, she started pulling out wipes and cleaning our hardwood floors with them. Today, she wanted to sweep the steps at my mom's house. I will have to nurture this love of cleaning, since it is something I definitely do not enjoy!
A few other fun facts about Alexandra at 18 months: She loves sitting in the big chair at the dining room table (although it is only for a short while). Alexandra gets so excited over technology and loved when Grandma Sara let her play with her laptop (it did not matter that it was old and would not turn on). She loves to dance. Her favorite song is a Latin song called "Lento." When she hears it she starts bouncing up and down. And finally, she has started giving kisses to people. She blows kisses to almost anyone, but saves her sweet little kisses for a select few.
Here are some other fun pictures from her 18th month!
In July, we transitioned Alexandra to a big girl bed. She now sleeps in a full size poster bed that was my grandmother's and thus a family heirloom. She loves it! Here is a picture of her the first time she saw her new bed. Her grandpa Stacy came to California to help move it from the guest bedroom and left her the stuffed dog as a gift. She calls it "Papi Puppy." Daddy picked out the sheets and comforter which went nicely with the orange and pink tropical theme we already had in her room.
