A Lot's Been Happening!

Gosh, I feel like it's been FOREVER since I last blogged. How quickly the past two weeks have flown by! Even crazier, is that in just under three weeks Alexa is going to be ONE!!! Can you believe it? I can't! This weekend last year we went down to campus to celebrate Tim's 30th birthday, and my HUGE-self was waddling along. Now, Alexa is HUGE and stumbling with her first steps (she has taken one, unsupported step, a couple of times)! So much happens in the first year of a child's life, and I feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to stay-at-home with my daughter :-)

Before I get to pictures, I want to update y'all on all of the awesome things going on with Alexa...

First off, her vocabulary is expanding. Here are the words that she says (let me clarify that every single phonetic sound is not present for each word, but it is close enough that we understand what she means): Mama, Dada, book, ba (bottle), ball, Papa, dog, Chl (Chloe), goo gr (good girl), ta bl (tag blankie), uh-oh, & awe (she says this whenever she another child). Darn good vocab for an 11-month old!!! Alexa has begun to point at things if we aren't understanding what she is attempting to say. For example the first time she said "ta bl" I had no idea what she meant, but she was laying down for bed & started pointing at her tag blankie. She is so smart! I also thought I'd attempt some sign language with her. I started with "all done," and she does it now! It is so cool to see her catch on to things so quickly :-) I've begun to introduce the sign for "more," and I want to introduce "eat," "drink," "please," "thank you," and "play" in the near future. So brush up on these signs to try 'em out the next time you see Ms. Smarty Pants :)~

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, Alexa has taken one step on several occasions without holding onto our hands or an object. Then she gets all wobbly and sits down. I think it'll be a little bit before she gets the whole walking thing because a. she gets wherever she needs to go by crawling at a pretty good speed, and b. she doesn't have the confidence yet. But she has mastered the stairs! Just the other day she climbed from the bottom step in the basement all the way up to the kitchen floor without an assistance :-) When she got to the top and sat down on the kitchen floor she had a huge grin on her face. You could tell she was proud of herself, and of course hearing Mommy & Daddy say, "Yay! You did it! Way-to-go, Alexa!" let her know that we were proud too.

Alexa can finally do the shape sorter toy. She needs someone to hold onto the lid (otherwise she pulls it off), but once you've got a grip on it, she'll pick up the shapes (circle, square, triangle, star) and put them in the container. Just like with the step climbing, I praise her and she is so proud of herself. When you're not there to hold the lid on for her, Alexa will do the easy task of placing the shapes in the container (kind of like she is cleaning up, haha).

There are a few phrases that we say that Alexa knows how to respond to them. If we say "Where's Alexa?" she will reach her hands up (sometimes she misses covering her eyes, lol) and then quickly pull them down for our "Peek-a-boo!" response. Another phrase she knows is "Alexa, clap, clap, clap your hands." Alexa will also jump when told to (it's better on our bed then on the hard, solid, unbending ground), bounce (when sitting), and dance (shake her butt back & forth). The final (and my favorite) phrase that Alexa knows is "Can Mommy (or Daddy) have a kiss?" She will plant a big wet one on ya ;-)

Alexa eats just about anything these days, but her favorites are cheese (just like Mommy), any protein (turkey, chicken, beef), plums, snap peas, gold fish, and bread. For breakfast she usually eats yogurt, a baby breakfast puree, dry Cheerios, or a waffle. For lunch she usually eats the makings of a sandwich (turkey, cheese, bread) and a fruit or veggie. For dinner she usually eats whatever we're having (unless it's fish and then she'll eat leftovers). She is a great eater! I'm trying really hard to offer her a variety of foods, and to encourage her to keep trying them even if she didn't like them before. She has gotten really good at using the sippy cup, especially since I bought one without handles. Alexa would prefer to drink water then any kind of juice, but she will not take her formula out of a cup. We've introduced some toddler utensils, well just the fork. She's used it a couple of times and has begun to figure out that once Mommy gets the food on it, she needs to put it in her mouth :-)

She continues to enjoy Babytime at the library (we've been going on Mondays). Alexa really likes Ms. Allison, our librarian, and loves the other babies in the room. Most of the time we are in there, Alexa is either saying "awe" at the other kids or smiling/laughing at the rhymes/songs. Alexa also is enjoying swim lessons (which are on Tuesdays). She really has a crush on Mr. Carlton, our instructor. Last week, Daddy got to take Alexa to swim (because I was subbing), and they went down the big, twisty slide. Apparently she LOVED it -- our little daredevil! She didn't like it so much with Mommy this week though because I didn't lift her enough at the end and she got dunked. Oopsie! I'll do some upper body workouts, and we'll try again next week ;-)

The most recent big news (as of yesterday): a tooth is finally appearing! Alexa's bottom right tooth has finally broken the surface. It is just a little white, bumpy line, but once it grows in a bit more I'll get a picture to post for y'all to see. I'd been feeling every day and suspected that one was coming, but Alexa has honestly been in a fine mood, sleeping normal, and not drooly (***knock on wood) so I wasn't sure. Dan just happened to notice it yesterday. And ever since I have been obsessed with prying her mouth open to sneak peeks, haha. Although I am going to miss the super-cute, baby, gummy grin :-/

See? I told you that awesome things have been going on with Alexa! I am in utter amazement of how quickly she is growing and how fast she is learning. Not only is she so smart (and clearly beautiful), but she is loving/affectionate and silly too. She is just the complete package! God really has blessed us with Alexa Rose!!!

I know this posting is already a mini-novel so I'll try to keep my photo/video captions to a minimum :)~

Alexa saying "ball."


Proof that Alexa claps on demand.


Here is Alexa hanging out under Noni & Papa's kitchen table two weeks ago.










Noni & Alexa at Auntie's volleyball tournament. The entire time we were there, she just kept saying "ball ball ball" as she watched it go back and forth over the net... that is until we got her her own ball to play with :-) The single step at N&P's house is how Alexa began to gain confidence with stairs! She makes this silly face ALL the time, haha.










Papa & Alexa Rose -- Alexa with Auntie (after Auntie just opened her birthday gifts).










Alexa playing with Noni on our way to dinner. Self-portrait of Mommy, Alexa Rose, & Noni.










Auntie & Katelyn at Mongolian BBQ. JaJa (no teeth smiles rule, hahahaha) & Uncle at dinner.










LMAO! Uncle & Paul made a plan... Paul shot water through his straw at Mom, while Uncle captured it on camera :)~ Anyone who knows Mom can imagine how pissed she was, but you know it was hilarious! Then, Uncle took a nice picture of my parents.










Noni took three pictures of the three of us, and in every single one Alexa did this fake smile with her eyes closed. She had our entire table laughing to the point of tears!!










After dinner at Mongolian BBQ, we stopped by Gram's house to see her, Aunt Janine, & Uncle Ken.










Finally, when we got home we celebrated Auntie's birthday with an ice cream cake. Which Alexa LOVED!!










After every single bite (of something she likes), Alexa goes "mmmm..." She is 100% a part of our family, that is something her Noni & Mommy do :-)










Noni bought bubbles on Sunday while Alexa was napping. She really enjoyed them!!










I went in the kitchen for something, and when I turned around Alexa had crawled over to Chloe and was petting her paw/leg. Too cute!










Alexa being a big girl during dinner and using her fork!










A quick peek at Alexa dancing.


She really loves playing with balls. She has gotten good at throwing/bouncing her Princess ball.


Happy/proud to have a utensil at dinner like Mommy & Daddy. Do you like our Monkey Girl's pajamas (that's what Daddy calls her)??










We had quite a few friends over (obviously) for the OSU v. Indiana game this past Saturday. Our friend, Kelly, brought her 8-year old son, Dylen, over. Alexa was really interested in his toys! Dylen is now really interested in having a baby brother or sister. I told him he can come play with Alexa whenever he wants :-)










Alexa enjoys this play block thing at the library.










Here is Alexa in the Playroom! The ceiling is done, the walls are painted, the 12-foot baby gate is up, but the decorations aren't complete... so I'm not posting pictures of the Playroom until it is all done!










Here is Alexa putting the shapes in the container.


Hope I haven't bored y'all too much! This weekend Alexa is going to have her first sleepover ever without Mommy & Daddy (she's had a few nights without Daddy, one night without me, but never a night without both of us). We are meeting Noni & Papa in Ashland on Saturday morning. Dan & I will return to Columbus to go to the OSU v. Wisconsin game (GO BUCKS!), and Alexa will head to Perry to watch Auntie go to Homecoming :-) We'll meet on Sunday afternoon (yay, we'll get to SLEEP IN!!!) in Lodi to get Alexa and perhaps do a little outlet shopping. Should be a fun weekend for everyone!!!!

Well, we're headed upstairs to catch up on some TV. Our DVR is like 88% full because we haven't been watching TV with all the work on the basement, my class, Dan's class, our trips to Perry, me teaching PSR, being busy with Alexa, etc. I'm excited to see Jim & Pam finally get married on The Office!!! Ciao.