Woof, Moo, & Qua Qua

Alexa and I met Daddy for lunch at Las Margaritas and made a quick shopping trip to Once Upon A Child one afternoon in mid-November :)










Because Daddy has so much vacation time he has to "use or lose" before the end of the year, he has been taking every Friday off since mid-October. This has been SO NICE on the weekends that we go to Perry because we can leave early. One Friday afternoon we were able to surprise Gram with a visit :)










We also got to see JaJa before he went to a farewell happy hour with his co-workers. For those of you who don't know, he took a job at Fit Works as a personal trainer/sales rep :)










That very same Friday afternoon we were able to stop and see Noni at work (see, I told you leaving early on Fridays have been awesome!). Noni loved showing Alexa off around the school :) When we got home, the two of them played chase up & down the hallway and around the kitchen & living room - Alexa was laughing so hard as she scrambled to go super fast!










During halftime of the Iowa game, we went out back to grab some family photos.










The four of us ♥













When Alexa was a baby-baby, I used to wave my hand in the air and then slowly bring it down before tickling her. Over the months, this has turned into a game between us because when she wants to be tickled, Alexa will raise her hand, wave it back & forth, and squeal in anticipation as she sees my hand coming toward her :)~










Alexa loves hanging out in Auntie's room, there are so many fun things, like cell phones, balloons, pictures... hehe.










Alexa & I on Monday of M!ch!gan week.










She was showing her BUCKEYE spirit at Babytime!










Here are some attempts at pictures for our Christmas card (this is the one we chose for Chloe but not of Alexa).




















Our last Babytime of 2009 :( They take a break the month of December and resume again in January. Hard to believe, but when we go back next month, it will be an entire year since we went to our very first Babytime!! The both of us have REALLY enjoyed our time at the library this past year - doing rhymes, flannel boards, bubbles, books, singing, and just socializing! I cannot believe how much Alexa has changed since that very first time we went...










Ms. Allison blew extra bubbles after Babytime was over just for Alexa :)










I know I have been doing an awful job keeping the blog up-to-date. I'm sorry! I could make a huge list of excuses, like finishing up my class, preparing my 2nd graders for their First Reconciliation, traveling to Perry, football season, entertaining Alexa (who seems to be going through a bit of separation anxiety - to the point where I cannot leave her inside the gate to play while I check my email without her screaming), etc., but I won't bore y'all with that ;-) Let's just say, the Ritchey's are EXTREMELY busy!

Life is going really great for us. Alexa is still very hesitant to walk. She will walk when we ask her to but not on her own. I think she just knows she can get anywhere she needs to go by crawling, and it is easier and faster so she feels no rush to walk. That's fine with me. I know I'll be chasing my little girl around before too long ;-) Alexa continues to amaze us with her talking! Her brain is like a little sponge. She is literally absorbing everything. If you ask her what a dog says she answers "woof," she knows that a cow says "moo," and a duck says "qua qua." I'll try to get some videos of her talking and making animal noises for a post soon! In preparation of the holiday season, I've been teaching her that Santa says "ho ho ho." :) Alexa has begun to like necklaces (hers and other people's) and cooking (thanks to Noni) - and she says both words. She says "more" while she signs it, which is so cool. She loves to pet Chloe and Dixie, and is always telling them that they are "goo gr." Alexa is incredibly social when we are out shopping. She waves hi to people, woofs like a dog, and even says "bye bye." She has an amazing appetite (minus when she's been sick) and is usually not too picky. Oddly enough, we've discovered that Alexa really likes pickles and cucumbers, as well as pears and oranges. Oh, I almost forgot... if you say, "Alexa Rose loves..." she'll respond with "Cheerios" and point to where they are located (both in our pantry and my parents' cabinet). A couple of other cool things she is doing right now are dancing (which is positively joyful), semi-counting (we start with 1 and she'll say "two" and is just beginning to say "three"), and my favorite is how she sings parts of a silly song I made up for her when she was a baby (the next time you see us ask us to sing for you or maybe I'll try to have Dan take a video). My other favorite thing is if I ask her to do nosey-nosey, she'll rub her nose to mine. I ♥ that she understands when I talk to her now. It is so neat to be able to communicate with Alexa!!

See all that has been going on? And I'm sure I've missed half of it! With an extremely busy & brilliant toddler-to-be (because she is not a baby anymore, tear), it is so hard to find the time to update the blog and when I do, it's hard to remember everything. So sorry if that all seems a little scatter-brained, lol. I'll try to post about our Thanksgiving Perry-cation in the next day or two, but first I have to get our Christmas cards ready to go in the mail. I cannot believe that it is December 1st and my cards aren't already sent (and my tree is NOT up, ugh)!! That is the first time in YEARS - so that just shows you how busy I am!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, Y'ALL!!! Ciao.