Due to our extended absence from the blogging world, this is an extremely long post.
It saddens me and stresses me out that I have not posted in 9 weeks. I don't even know where to begin because so much as happened with our lil family of 4!! I guess I can start with saying things are going really great for us... we've adjusted to having a new person in the fam and can't really remember life before Jack, let alone before Alexa! Dan and I LOVE being parents to our two amazing children ♥
I found milestone charts on Babycenter.com that I'm going to use to update y'all quickly on what's been going on with Alexa and Jack these past two months. The bullet point milestones are skills that are Mastered (most kids can do), Emerging (half of kids can do), or Advanced (few kids can do) by the listed age.
Alexa Rose
23 Months
• Names simple picture in a book (M) - Check
• Uses 50 to 70 words (M) - CHECK CHECK CHECK
• Opens doors (E) - Sometimes
• Sings simple tunes (E) - Check
• Takes more of an interest in playing with other kids (E) - Check (she is always asking to have playdates or to go to the gym to play with friends)
• Talks about self, e.g. likes and dislikes (A) - Check
24 months
• Names at least 6 body parts (M) - Check
• Half of speech is understandable (M) - CHECK!
• Makes 2-3 word sentences (M) - Check (she is speaking in full sentences, using pronouns, adjectives, verbs, etc. pretty much all the time!!)
• Can walk down stairs (E) - She is still scooting on her butt or holding one of our hands
• Understand abstract concepts, e.g. sooner and later (A) - Check
• Learns to jump (A) - Work in progress (she's got the motion but doesn't get her feet off the ground)
25-26 months
• Stack 6 blocks (M) - Not sure
• Walks with heel-to-toe motion (M) - Check
• Uses pronouns, e.g. I, me, you (E) - Check
• Washes & dries own hands (E) - Check (with minimal assistance)
• Speaks clearly most of the time (A) - Check
This last list of skills are for children older than Alexa, but I wanted to share them as my way of bragging about how great our little girl is ♥ I cannot even begin to describe how proud it makes me to read these things and know that my daughter has already mastered skills that 2.5-3 year olds are supposed to be working on!!!
• Beginning to recognize ABCs (A 27-28 months) - CHECK (she knows #s too :) )
• Brushes teeth with help (M 29-30) - Check
• Names one color (A 29-30) - Check (she knows 'em all!!)
• Names one friend (A 29-30) - Check
• Carries on a simple conversation (M 33-34) - Seriously? The girl can have advanced convos. CHECK CHECK CHECK
• Toilet trained during the day (A 33-34) - CHECK :) I am so happy to say that Alexa is doing a FABULOUS job, and that she has been keeping her diaper dry most nights too!
• Separates fairly easily from parents (E 35-36) - Check
• Rides a tricycle (E 35-36) - Work in Progress (I guarantee she will be able to do this E skill well before her 3rd birthday!)
Alexa loves...
• Mickey Mouse
• Charlie Brown & Snoopy
• Jack
• Mommy & Daddy (this was her response when I asked her what she loves today)
• art class (we've been going to a toddler art class in Powell on Mondays that is AWESOME!)
• going to the gym
• singing (anything from Ohio State songs to Low by Flo Rida)
• being a helper
Alexa is...
• potty trained during the day (***knock on wood). It used to be that we just put her on the potty every few hours and she would go. Lately though Alexa has been consistently telling us when she has to go, and we have been accident-free for over a week! (Praying this doesn't jinx us.)
• testing boundaries like every other 2-year old
• able to identify the letter L and R on the bottoms of her shoes/slippers and can't be these things on the correct feet!
• is a little comedian... she loves making us laugh (her latest joke is from the Backyardigans: Why did the chicken cross the playground? To get to the other slide. When she tells it she laughs after she delivers the punchline, it's hilarious.
• getting better at using a fork and is great at using a spoon
A couple cute quotes from Alexa
• That'd be cool. (She says this ALL the time!)
• Mommy, it's nice out... nice and cold!
• The moon is hiding from me. Brutus Buckeye put it in his pocket. (Alexa told Daddy this one morning when she woke up.)
• I can't give my big booty a smack because my hands are dirty. (Referring to her dance move to Low while eating breakfast and her hands were covered in maple syrup)
• I sit in timeout at the gym, Mommy. For hitting Zander. I say, I'm sorry Zander. (Alexa totally told on herself b/c Christi forgot to tell me. Later I found out that she [not any of the adults] put herself in timeout right after she did it.)
Jack Walter
1 month
• Lifts head when lying on tummy (M) - Check (he doesn't hate tummy time near as much as Alexa did)
• Responds to sound (M) - Check
• Stares at faces (M) - Check (esp. Alexa's face!)
2 months
• Vocalizes, gurgles and coos (M) - Check!! (he is a 'talker' like his Mama and sister already!)
• Follows objects across field of vision (M) - Check
• Notices his hands (M) - Check (we call them his fun hands, which is what we coined 'em when Alexa started playing with her hands as an infant)
• Holds head up for short periods (M) - Check!! (he has excellent neck control IMO for his age)
• Smiles (E) - CHECK!!
• Can bear weight on legs (A) - Check (Advanced)
• Lifts head and shoulders when lying on tummy (A) - Check
3 months
• Recognizes your face and scent (M) - Check (well, at least Mommy, Daddy, & Alexa's faces, I have no idea how to test if he recognizes how we smell!)
• Holds head steady (M) - Work in Progress
• Visually tracks moving objects (M) - Check
• Blows bubbles (E) - Check
• Recognizes your voice (E) - Check
• Rolls over, from tummy to back (A) - Check (he started doing this on his 1 month birthday!!)
• Turns toward loud sounds (A) - Check
• Can bring hands together, bats at toys (A) - Check (he recently has become interested in having the activity bar on his bouncer; which side note, he is QUICKLY outgrowing!!!)
**Jack won't be 3 months until 12/21 so the fact that he is working on and even mastering these skills is proof that he is going to be just as brilliant as Alexa!!**
Jack loves...
• watching Alexa
• Christmas lights
• to put his hands in his mouth (we take them out b/c we do NOT want a thumb sucker!)
• eating (as evident by how ginormous he is!)
• laying on the flooring and kicking his legs
Jack is
• sleeping anywhere between 5 - 8.5 hr stretches at night (thank you, God!!!)
• almost always awake during Alexa's nap - it sure would be helpful if they slept at the same time!
• wearing size 3-6 months & 6 month clothes already
• a nursing champ
• weighing approximately 15-16 lbs
• a Spit-up Monster
• on Prevacid for acid reflux... it seems to be working!
• starting to hold onto toys, burp clothes, etc.
• emotional (his moods range from either extremely upset like it's the end of the world to over-the top happy where he is smiley and cooing)
• awesome, obviously
• loved beyond words, obviously
Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the past few months and some videos (along with my awesome commentary):
For more pictures please check out the following albums on Facebook: October 2010 I and October 2010 II, November 2010 (including a mini photo session courtesy of my dear friend Michelle Sip), and December 2010, as well as Jack - Professional Pics and Alexa - Professional Pics (all albums have been updated since my last post!). I've tried to put descriptive captions for each picture so you know who is in them and what we're up to! I figure if I can leave the blog for stories & videos and use FB for pictures maybe, just maybe, you'll get updates more frequently then once every two months!!!!
10.19.2010 Alexa singing at the library
10.21.2010 Jack rolling over (this was like the 4th time)
10.21.2010 Alexa & Jack playing together
10.21.2010 Alexa & Jack playing together
10.21.2010
10.23.2010 Alexa's 2nd Birthday Party in Perry - she picked out her pretty pink party dress! Hard to believe our 'baby' is TWO!!!!!!!! Daddy and I are in agreement that it has been the absolutely positively best two years of both of our lives :) Being her parents, and now Jack's too, is the most rewarding and challenging job in the world!
10.27.2010 Celebrating Alexa's 2nd Birthday just the four of us - Lunch at House of Japan and painting a name sign at Bare Bowl.
10.27.2010 Alexa opening a birthday present
10.27.2010 Alexa & Daddy painting a crown
10.28.2010 Happy Halloween!!! Alexa was the cutest giraffe ever and LOVED tricking or treating!! She was so polite, saying "Trick or Treat" and "thank you" at each house :) Jack fit into the Jack O'Lantern costume better than Alexa had two years ago, haha. He did great hanging out in his cocoon in the stroller while we trekked through the neighborhood with the Huston's for a little over an hour.
10.30.2010 Cute picture of the kids posing with their sock monkeys (J's was Daddy's when he was little, A's was her big sister gift from Aunt Kathy & Uncle Dave)
10.30.2010 Boo at the Zoo. It was a little bit chilly but we had an excellent time showing Noni & Papa around the Columbus Zoo while we collected candy :)
10.30.2010 Daddy & Mommy (aka Dan & Nikki) at the Zamora wedding.
10.31.2010 Alexa's 2nd Birthday Party in Columbus - she's the best gift of all!!
11.2.2010 Alexa identifying her colors while coloring on her new easel (bday gift from Auntie & JaJa)
11.2.2010 Jack hanging out with Daddy
11.3.2010 The kids and me at El Vaquero for my birthday dinner
11.4.2010 Jack all smiles in his bouncer (go to the Nov album to see the "many faces of JW") and Alexa being a rockstar
11.6.2010 Alexa eating ice cream cake
11.9.2010 Our final photo session with John (more in FB album)
11.11.2010 Jack hanging out with Mommy
11.11.2010 Jack attempting to crawl during Tummy Time
11.17.2010 Alexa & Kyla playing while Jack & Jett alternate hiccuping :-)~
11.18.2010 One of Alexa's 2-year-old pictures
11.19.2010 Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo - we went with the Huston's
11.21.2010 Our Christmas card photo, taken by our friend Michelle Sip (more photos from her in November album on FB)
11.25.2010 Jack & Alexa on Thanksgiving Day at Grandma & Grandpa's house
11.26.2010 Jack & Alexa's Christmas 2010 Photo with Santa Claus (Polaris Fashion Place)
11.27.2010 Jack's Baptism
12.1.2010 Jack loves to hangout on the floor
12.2.2010 Jack talking to Daddy when he was working from home one day
12.4.2010 Alexa & Jack getting a bath together
12.4.2010 Annual family trip to Tower City
12.4.2010 Jack dancing with the Toy Soldier at Tower City
12.4.2010 Alexa dancing with the Toy Soldier at Tower City (seeing this brought tears to my eyes as I remembered my sister dancing with him when she was A's age)
12.6.2010 Doing some singing at art class
12.7.2010 Alexa insisted on watch "Script Ohio on You Tube" (her words) when she saw our Buckeye ornaments
12.7.2010 After we finished decorating our Christmas tree
12.10.2010 Alexa having a tea party with [dancing] Santa, Mickey, and Minnie
12.12.2010 Alexa loving on Jack, as usual ♥
I could go on and on listing all of the people (family and friends) that have come to see us over the past two months and all of the things that we have done, but gosh the very thought of doing so is completely overwhelming... I hope it is sufficient enough to say that we have been showered with love and support from our fabulous families and fantastic friends! We are so incredibly blessed to have such amazing people in our lives!!
I'm sure there is TONS that I have forgotten to include, but I am too ex-haust-ed from writing this post to try to recall anything else!! So for now I'm off to hide Jasper, our Elf on a Shelf friend, and then to have some adult-time with Dan. No promises on when the next post will be, but hopefully it will not be another 9 weeks until you hear from me again, my dear readers. Hope your homes and hearts are filled with love, laughter, and joy during this holiday season as we prepare for Jesus' birthday, Santa's deliveries, and New Year's parties!!... Ciao.
