School Project...

It's no secret I would much rather be at home with Alexander each day than going to work. However there are days when I get school projects or a "progress" report where it makes me smile and know that at least he's in a good place every day.

Here is a bunny that Alexander colored!

We're going to hang it up at work (I made a copy for Dan)

Picture Recap...

Picture Recap (Monday, April 21st - Sunday, April 27th, 2008)

Picture Recap...

Picture Recap (Monday, April 21st - Sunday, April 27th, 2008)

Week Glance...

Week at a Glance (Monday, April 21st - Sunday, April 27th, 2008)

• Lowkey week at home & school
• Turned carseat around in Mommy's car
• Went to the playground a few times after school with Daddy & Mommy
• Played in the front yard - loves watching the cars & trucks drive by but hates grass on his hand (won't crawl on the grass)
• Did really good at school this week (wore a lot of new clothes since we had some nice weather this week)
• Loves to take his shoes & socks off at school...and sometimes even his pants. We don't know where this comes from
• Took a few steps at school
• Loves to Dance - he'll dance to the alphabet magnet on the fridge, to the Wiggles, and to his basketball game
• This week was a pretty consistent week re: food. He ate waffles & applesauce for breakfast, hotdogs & cheese for lunch, yogurt & puffs/cheerios for snack, and peanut butter sandwich for dinner. He did eat the ham steak Saturday for dinner which was a nice change.
• Did a great job of stacking his blocks this weekend
• Said 'water' for Mommy when I asked him what he wanted to drink - he's only mumbled it since then
• He also repeats "O-K" when someone says it
• Saturday went to run errands with Mommy (went to Babies R Us to buy a 2nd carseat and some clothes for the warmer weather)
• After errands, all three of us went over to the playground. Alexander's biggest enjoyment is going thru the tunnels and going down the slides - those make him quite giddy & excited (hands & feet moving a mile a minute)
• I know I've been saying this since June of last year, but I think Alexander is *finally* cutting some teeth...but we know it's not over til the fat lady sings.
• Sunday went to the Kite Festival for Austism Awareness Month - loved taking in all of the festivities (Played with the bubble machine, won a prize & LOVED the doggy)
• Went out to lunch on Sunday with Mommy, Alyson, Grammie, & Grampie. He did great eating all day: Had pizza, couple bites of chocolate chip cookie, and some of Mommy's Broccoli & Cheddar soup (liked the soup)
• Napped well this weekend but seemed to fight his morning naps even though he was tired
• We misssed his 2nd nap on Sunday due to the kite festival so he ended up taking it alot later than normal - but he was pooped from the day o' fun

Kite Festival...

Today, Alexander & Mommy went to the 8th annual Kite Festival to celebrate Autism Awareness. It was a bit cloudy & chilly but there were a lot of families there in support of raising money & awareness for Autism. My parents friend's grandson has autism so it was nice to support them as well as take in the festivities. Alexander got a free kite that I'm sure Daddy will love to show him how to use it when he's a bit older. Alexander that is, not Daddy.

Alexander couldn't get enough of everything that was going on. He especially loved the bubble machine that was blowing bubbles constantly. At one point, we parked his stroller in the bath of the bubbles and he was having a grand ole time.

Alexander had a slice of pizza for lunch before he wanted more time with the bubble machine. Then it was time to win a prize which Auntie Alyson took him over to play the games - he won a blowup giraffe.
The best part of the day, for Alexander, came when he saw a dog. I wasn't sure what his reaction would be with a dog that close. He surprised me - he LOVED it. He wanted to get as close as possible, at one point almost stepping on the dogs paws. The dog was very sweet and let Alexander go up and pet him. The dog started to bark at another dog and when I thought Alexander was going to freak out, he screamed back at the dog thinking he was barking at him. Then he started to laugh and wanting to pat the dog some more. It was very cute. Everytime he saw the dog, he wanted to go over and sit down right next to it. After the festival (it was chilly), we went to lunch. Alexander was extremely well behaved for a little boy who was missing his 2nd nap. He had some lunch and played with everyone at the table. Then it was time to come home & take in a little late nap.

Playground...

Saturday afternoon, we all went over to the playground that is across the street from our house. It really is quite convenient to have a playground that close. It was warmer earlier in the day which is why we had the idea to go over and then go and get ice cream. However, the colder weather creeped in so we just stuck to the playground idea.
He loves going thru tunnels and going down slides. Daddy was even showing him how to turn around in the tunnel so he can get out or go the other way. He did really well.


Yes, I do exist. A few people have commented that I'm not in any pictures and that it's always Daddy. So here I am...

Carseat x2...

Update to Carseat:

The past few days, Alexander has been much better with the carseat and even playing peek-a-boo with me in the mirror. I think he's gotten use to facing forward and he seems to enjoy looking out the windows (He loves cars going by).

We also took the plunge and bought a 2nd carseat for Daddy's car today. It's time to retire the small carry-along carseat. It's time for Alexander to have his own big boy carseat in both cars.

We'll see how he does in Daddy's car...

The Right Direction...

This past weekend, we decided to turn Alexander's car seat around. We were hoping it would let him enjoy the car rides a bit more. Well, let's just say there's been an adjustment phase. Earlier in the week, he was none to happy. However, I think the unhappiness comes from the fact that now he can see people. I don't mean that in a bad way. I mean that he sees people so he whines in order to get something (whether its his shoes off, a toy, his pacifier, etc).

When he was facing backwards, he would whine & fuss but then work to do it himself. Now, he's wanting me to do it. Towards the end of the week, he got better and realized that if he attempted to get/do things on his own, it would be quicker since Mommy can't always reach.

13 Months...

Developmental:
-Taken his first steps 2 weeks after his first birthday
-Took a few more steps since then but nothing major
-Walks by holding onto your hand but not quite steady
-Cruising & crawling is quite fast
-Babbles up a storm
-Major word is still Dada; has said turtle, all done. When he's trying to say the words he makes the sounds mimicing you
-No Teeth yet (but I hope for his sake that he his teething so the pain goes away)
-Understands No

Sleeping: (this has not changed in a month)
-Wakes up around 5:30-6am every day
-Most days he takes two naps (morning/afternoon)
-Bedtime is 7p and he is usually asleep by 7:30pm

Clothes:
-6-9 Months or 9 Months. Pants is 9 Months to help with the length. However I was able to put him in a sweatshirt that was size 3-6 months and it fit him fine
-Diapers: Pampers Size 3 Cruisers

Feeding:
-4 Bottles a day of whole milk (24-30 oz)
-Solids - three meals a day:
--Breakfast: oatmeal, pancake or waffle with applesauce and his sippy cup
--Lunch: Hot dog & cheese and milk in sippy cup
-- PM Snack: Fruit or yogurt & cookie with water in sippy cup.
-- Pretty much likes everything except pasta, string cheese
-Will try anything but pasta
-Lately he's tried: tuna, ham steaks, turkey cutlet, hash browns, scrambled eggs

Likes:
Being outside
Taking his shoes off
The Wiggles & Sesame Street
His Grover & Cookie Monster books
Singing ABCs
The word: Shimmy

Dislikes:
Pasta/textured food

Picture Recap...

Picture Recap for Monday, April 14th - Sunday, April 20th, 2008

Picture Recap...

Picture Recap for Monday, April 14th - Sunday, April 20th, 2008