13 Months and a Few Weeks

I planned on doing this blog update on Easter, which was exactly 400 days since Alexandra was born, but time slipped away from me. I wrote this weeks ago, but now here we are one week from 14 months and I am finally ready to post it. There is a lot to report since Alexandra's last update on her 1st birthday, but I will save some for next week. Here is what happened during her 13th month.

Alexandra loves climbing up the stairs. If left to herself, she would spend all of her time doing this, but it is quite tiring for the adults to chase after her. She is very comfortable walking now, although she still falls often. The first time that I put shoes on her, she cried and cried. Soon she became comfortable with them and now puts out her foot to help me put them on her. She has really cute sandals that she wears most of the time.

We had quite a few nights where we were up with her a few times a night, but that was because several teeth were coming in at once. Alexandra now has 8 total and is back to sleeping well most nights.

Alexandra earned the first stamp in her passport on March 28th when we arrived in Cancun, Mexico. We spent a week at the Westin Lagunamar in a great room that overlooked the pool and ocean. She enjoyed being able to look out the window at the view. Her favorite activity was definitely swimming, which she got to do every day but one. She really had picked up a lot at the swim lessons and would kick a lot when we tried to get her to float on her back. She also was really good with getting her face wet and even started using her arms to swim.

One of her favorites was the fountain in the lobby of our resort. Every time we would walk by it, she would get excited. She really liked being able to reach out and touch the water. It became a daily activity for her.

While in Mexico, Alexandra discovered that she likes bread. At a couple of different restaurants we gave her a small slice of bread which she ate. In addition, she loved re-fried beans! She is not really into finger foods yet, but has sampled string cheese, pasta, cucumber and melon. We give her little samples for her to try, but she still really likes her purees! In Mexico, we were able to expose her to lots of tropical juices including mango, which she really liked. She seems to like all juices. However, when we got home, I bought some pineapple, orange, guava juice which she refused to drink. Both daddy and I thought it was wonderful. And yet she drinks prune juice. She can be a silly girl sometimes!

We ate at Hooters a couple of times. And even though I am not normally a fan, I have to admit the food was good and the service was very good. The second time was for lunch and one of the waitresses was Alejandra. She was quite excited to meet Alexandra (whom we had been calling Alejandra all week) and not only took photos with her, but let her wear her name tag. It was very cute. All of the wait staff oohed and aahed over her. She was quite the center of attention!

Here are more photos from Mexico:

Alexandra attended her first Easter Egg Hunt when my mom's neighbors hosted one for all the kids on the cul-de-sac. She loved the eggs with money in them more than candy because of the noise they made when she shook them. She mostly seemed to enjoy watching the other kids. When we got home, I put cheerios inside them and now it is fun to shake them. She loves to grab them all out of the basket!

That is all I can remember from month 13. I promise to be more timely in the month 14 update! Here are more photos from this month:

Photo Book - Months 9-12

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Photo Book Tip: Create an adventurous travel photo album at Shutterfly.com.

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!