So let me start off with a story from last night... the three of us are sitting at the table eating dinner. I'd been feeding Alexa some pureed food when she started fussing, so I went and got the ever-faithful slice of bread. I tore off a few small pieces and put them on Alexa's tray. She went right to work devouring her carbs! When I went to try the puree again, which she will normally take easily after a "break," Alexa started FAKE crying so I would give her more bread!!! She got all worked up, her face turned red, and she even had tears... then she busted out laughing :-) They say babies are not born with the ability to manipulate, and I believe that to be true, but I also believe that somewhere along the way they learn to manipulate and Alexa is there now. Dan said, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" - my response was, "I don't like to think of it as manipulation so much as I don't take no for an answer." Haha~ fun times ahead for our family!!
Well, we've been BUSY BUSY BUSY since my last posting! We went to lunch and shopping with Stephanie at Easton last Wednesday. Last Thursday morning, Alexa and I met my friend, Sarah, and her two sons, Daniel and Joseph, at the Columbus Zoo. We walked around North America and Africa - it was a lot of fun! Daniel talked my ear off :) I hadn't realized how much I miss being around children that ask lots of questions and can carry on a conversation - I cannot wait until Alexa reaches that stage! One of my favorite exhibits was the tiger. You are only separated from it by a piece of glass, that is maybe 2" thick!
Here's Alexa posing with the tiger statue (Sarah has one of the boys each summer with it so she can see how much they grow... so I figured I should do that too, lol). Alexa & Mommy watching the elephants.
The best shot I got of the baby elephant was its butt - sorry! Alexa LOVED the aquarium!!!
After walking around for almost 3 hours, Alexa was exhausted!!! She fell asleep in the stroller walking back to the car. Then, we went and had lunch with my friend, Jess, and did a little shopping at Once Upon A Child (a used baby/kids' stuff store). I've gotten in the habit of taking the camera in the bedroom when Alexa wakes up to try to capture her standing... lately though, we've only found her hanging out on her tummy.
Listen to Alexa say "book" it sounds more like "buk" with a very soft -k sound.
I'm reading Alexa her favorite part of her favorite story - watch how she smiles!
Look how great Alexa can turn the pages of a book - she's so smart!
Practicing how to pull herself up to stand (which she now does using our hands, the coffee table, her crib, etc.), and "walking."
A simple text message from Mom ("Wow...it is going to be a great jet skiing weekend! Love you!"), triggered a change of weekend plans --- we got to go to PERRY!!!! Here is Alexa on Friday night hanging out with Noni & Aunt Chris :)
On Saturday morning, Alexa hung out with Auntie and slid across the kitchen floor in her walker. Saturday was a rainy day - so we ran a few errands and stayed inside - so much for "great jet skiing" weather huh?
Alexa LOVES to hang out with JaJa in his bedroom cave :) Aunt Kelly came over for a visit before heading back to Kent.
The whole fam went out to dinner at Joey's (an Italian restaurant in Madison) on Saturday night. Alexa kept looking at the lady next to our table, so we figured we should ask her to take the photo, and of course Alexa turned away right when the shutter went off!
Alexa fell asleep on the car ride home from dinner, so I carefully took her outta her carseat and brought her inside. This is the first time in I don't know how long that she snuggled me, and I LOVED it! I didn't want to put her to bed :)~
Great jet skiing weather never came, but it was sunny & hot on Sunday so we went down to the lake anyway. It was really choppy being out on the skiis from the wind and other boats/skiis being out. We enjoyed our time in the water with Alexa though. It was the first time she enjoyed playing in a natural body of water :)
Auntie took Alexa out to play in the water too!
And so did Noni & Papa. Just a picture of our set-up when we spend the day at the beach (on the right).
Daddy & Alexa spend a good amount of time under the tent (although, Alexa is tanner than Daddy). Aunt Denise, cousin Angela, and Mom/Noni hanging out.
Playing in Lake Erie with Daddy & Mommy.
Playing in Lake Erie with Noni.
We returned to C-bus late on Sunday. It's always hard to say goodbye to the family, but I cherish the moments we do have with them. The 3 of us always have a great time when we are "home" (even Dan refers to Perry as "going home"). I'm so thankful that he has fit in so well with my family :) One day, when we are all living close together... I just can't imagine anything better!
Alexa is saying "What, Mom? I'm trying to play!" on Monday morning in her pink, ruffly, girly dress. For dinner on Monday, Alexa tried some black beans. She really liked them! We've continued to introduce her to self-feeding solids, and she does great with each of them. Alexa has tried black beans, green beans (she only sucked on 'em), fresh peach and plum, cantaloupe, pasta, carrots, etc. I love watching her independent face show triumph when she does something like "a big girl!" She is so proud of herself and so are we :)
Yesterday, we ran some errands (including going to a fresh produce market, yummy) and hung out with Tiffanie. We were finalizing plans for her Bachelorette Party #1 in Louisville this weekend!!! It'll be my first night away from Alexa... I'm sad about that, but also kind of looking forward to a break. I know she will have a ball with Daddy-Daughter Time :)
This morning we ran errands (notice a trend here?), and then did lots of playing at home (both indoors and out). I finally caught Alexa on camera standing in her crib after morning nap! Look - I got the piano from the garage sale to work! She loved playing it while standing on her own. Let me reiterate, she is Ms. Independent :)~ And look how dark her eyes are finally getting!!! It was the one thing I really wanted my baby to have, my deep brown eyes!
Well, that's all I've got for now. Hope you guys are having a great week - we are! For the inquiring minds, Dan and I worked out a resolution ourselves for his sister's wedding. We are all going to NC, but Dan will be attending all events (rehearsal dinner, breakfasts, pictures, reception) solo. Alexa and I will attend the ceremony only. This is a compromise that satisfies the two of us, and it allows us to still make the trip together (and get to see Auntie Kathy, Uncle Dave, Rox, John, Bella, & Jack beforehand). So that's it... I'm gonna enjoy the last few moments of Alexa's afternoon nap. Ciao.
Many of you have noticed on Facebook that my status updates have been less then chipper lately and have asked what's wrong, so here goes... The past few days have been more than a little rough in our house. Dan and I have been fighting because we were just informed that the children (Alexa, as well as our nephew and niece, David & Natalie) "are not welcome" at Maureen and Dan's wedding reception in September. A wedding, mind you, that we will be driving close to 20 hours round-trip to attend. My blood still boils just typing about it! Maureen tells me "there are compromises to be had," but when Dan (our Switzerland, lol) presented what Andy, Cathy, and I felt was a very fair compromise, Maureen responded in [what I thought to be] a rude and unproductive manner. I'm not entirely blameless in this situation, I have yelled and yes, been a bit "dramatic." The fact remains that this battle has been waging since Saturday with no end in sight... I know it may not be proper to air our dirty laundry on my blog, but guess what? It's my blog, and I can say WHATEVER I want to say. I was not raised in a house where we act like things are okay when they really aren't. And things are definitely not okay. I wasn't going to post all happy happy joy joy when that's not how I feel! I want to be honest and tell people like it is. Readers, PLEASE PRAY FOR US!!! Pray that Dan and I will not allow this to effect our marriage any further. Pray that Dan and I will come up with a solution that makes us happy. Dan and I love each other, our daughter, and our dog, and the rest of this should not matter.
Now I'm done with that tirade... one more prayer request before I move on to happier topics :-) Please continue to pray for Kyle and Sara Rusnak. Things have taken a turn for the worst since my last post about them, and they need all the prayers, thoughts, good vibes that people can send their way!! If you click here, you can read more about Kyle's battle with cancer and keep up-to-date (Sara is really good about updating everyone). It makes me sad that I'm wasting my time fighting with people... we should be thankful we are all healthy!
Our weekend and beginning of the week recap:
On Saturday, we played outside and then Pat & Becky came over for dinner. We had yummy chicken kabobs! They were able to see Alexa do lots of crawling and even eat like a big girl :-) She had chicken, peaches, and bread cut up really tiny.
The highlight of Sunday was going to the Ohio State Fair with the Sip Family! Leylynn and Alexa loved looking at one another, and Leylynn kept saying "Daddy that's Alexa!" It was really cute :-) We saw lots of animals, went to the petting zoo, and of course ate tons of food!
We didn't do much of anything on Monday except play, read, eat, and sleep. Speaking of eating, Alexa has returned to eating purees without a fight (***knock on wood). Thank goodness! I was a bit worried about her not getting enough nutrition. On Tuesday, we ran a few errands and spent the afternoon at home. Every day I've been continuing to work with Alexa on her crawling. She is now using both legs in the more traditional-style crawl. Her crawling has certainly changed things for me day-to-day. I have to watch her like a hawk now! True story: Alexa SURPRISED me yesterday... when I went upstairs to get her when she awoke from her afternoon nap, she was standing up smiling (in her sleepsack to boot). It was like she was saying, "Mommy, look at me. I did it!!" We lowered her crib last night, haha. Last night we also began to work with Alexa a bit on the walker. She gets pretty nervous, but if one of us is behind her and the other coaxing her in front, she'll eventually take a few steps. Once she gets the hang of it, we'll get a video to show you guys!
Here she is playing with Daddy last night (we try to play in the basement, in the family room, in her bedroom, and outside for variety).
Here is a video of Alexa crawling last night in her bedroom.
Well, that's all I've got for now. Alexa and I are headed out to Easton to have lunch with Stephanie (and to maybe do a little shopping). Tomorrow we are going to the Columbus Zoo with my friend, Sarah, and her two boys, Daniel and Joseph. And this weekend we are going to St. Brendan's Parish Festival (our old church) with Nick and Angie. I'm looking forward to these next few days - should be lots of fun! Ciao.
It was definitely hard leaving Perry and saying "see ya soon" to my family :( But we got right back into the swing of things with our life here in Columbus. On Wednesday evening, we went to Brio to celebrate Pat's birthday - I won't divulge how old the "old man" is, lol. On Thursday morning, Alexa and I did some grocery shopping. You wouldn't believe how empty our refrigerator was!
Then in the afternoon Alexa had her 9-month check-up with Dr. Jacob. She weighed in at... drum roll please... 19 pounds 1 ounce, which puts her in the 55th percentile! She is 27.5 inches long (40th percentile) and her head circumference is 17.5 inches (55th percentile). Alexa is getting so big!!! Dr. Jacob was THRILLED with Alexa's "growth spurt." Here are a few photos of Alexa fascinated [as usual] with "the baby in the mirror" at the doctor's office :-) Too cute! 
During the examination, Dr. Jacob kept exclaiming "how perfect" or "what a good girl." She even gave Alexa a big hug and face stroke :-) According to Dr. Jacob, Alexa's physical development is right on track. She was happy to hear that Alexa has started to crawl, that Alexa tries to pull herself up to stand, and that Alexa can support herself standing up. She had completely pulled herself up in this photo - do you like my new darker & shorter hair style?
In regards to intellectual development, Dr. Jacob said Alexa was "brilliant" and "advanced" (I knew it! Haha)!! When I told her Alexa's 4 words (Mama, Dada, Book, and Papa) and 2 pseudo-words (Hi and Bye), Dr. Jacob said that was very verbal for a child Alexa's age! She was impressed with how much Alexa loves books and that she can turn the pages :-) Dr. Jacob told her to "keep reading!" At one point during the exam, I was holding Alexa and the doctor gave her a tongue depressor to play with. Alexa released the stick and her eyes looked immediately to the floor. Dr. Jacob thought her cause-and-effect reasoning was advanced for her age too!!
She was pleased with Alexa's social development and personality too. Alexa does a good job of making eye contact, smiling and laughing, and waving (the open-close hand style and the beauty pageant style).
The only "issue" we discussed was how Alexa has been losing interest in the purees over the past several weeks. Dr. Jacob gave us the go-ahead to try more teeny-tiny cut solids - steamed carrots and broccoli, the inside of peaches and plums, some meats, and even pasta! I'll keep y'all posted on how this is going :-)
She felt Alexa's gums and said they are swollen, which means she is teething. Who knows when those things will finally break through... at least they aren't effecting her sleeping patterns or her personality. She has been sleeping in every morning until 7:35 - 8:00 am since we came back to Columbus (again Dr. Jacob said we are so lucky to have a baby that sleeps so well at night AND takes two great naps)!
By the way, I forgot to mention that while we were home last week, we had our last breastfeeding session :( :) I was having mixed emotions about it (and still semi-miss it). Although it is a relief to have my body for myself again!
Noni realized that the "Say cheese!" comment on her cell phone's camera always makes Alexa turn and smile - it also works if someone says it in a high-pitched voice. See how good it works?! 
Here is our little crawler - motivation, cell phone.
I really challenged her to keep going further for this video!
Here are the highlights of Alexa's 9-month photo shoot yesterday at Portrait Innovations. The photographer took 88 photos total, and I narrowed it down to these...
The one on the left has a pale gray vignette border on the printed product.
The right photo was my FAVORITE :-)
The one on the left is zoomed in more for the printed product (so you see less of me).
Isn't this one darling??
I only ordered this one in a 10x13 for the symbolism of Alexa ROSE :-)
This trio is on a 10x13 collage. The left picture is zoomed in and big on the left, the middle picture is on the bottom right, and the right picture is on the top right - the collage has a pale pink background.
After our photo shoot, Alexa and I went with Tiffanie to try on bridesmaid dresses. It was a lot of fun! The three of us had an uneventful Friday evening but made plans to fill our weekend. This evening, Grandma and Grandpa are coming over for dinner and, more importantly, to see our lil star crawl :-) Tomorrow afternoon we are meeting the Sip Family at the Ohio State Fair! Swiss fried cheese sticks are calling my name... Ciao.
