Photoshoot...

Today we took Alexander to get his professional Christmas photos taken. However despite the great nap and the good mood going in he wanted NOTHING to do with it. He didn't want to pose, he didn't want to sit there, he didn't want to let go of me or Grammie.


Warning: venting for a moment. The girl who was taking his pictures was inpatient and not that helpful. I believe she thinks that because a feather duster works for some kids that it will work for all kids. If my kid winces and looks away, odds are he doesn't find that favorable. Also, even if you "think" that it is not a professional pose, if the child is smiling & happy you may want to take a picture. She was so disinterested and some times not even paying attention. It brings me back to my thought of if you are going to work with little kids (hair cuts, photographers, Santas), then you should know going in that you need to be patient and sometimes creative. Don't give attitude...


And it stinks because he looked so INCREDIBLY handsome/cute/adorable and the pictures would have been fantastic...(just a sneak peak at his outfit)

Black Friday...

This is how Alexander spent some of his Black Friday...doesn't he look comfy?

Chillin' with Elmo in the morning:

Putting lotion on after his bath:
Cuddling/napping with Grampie:

Thanksgiving Dinner...

This is Alexander's plate on Thanksgiving. He did not eat one single bite, nor was he interested in trying any of it.

Happy Thanksgiving...

Alexander would like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo Recap...

Photo Recap (Monday, November 17th - Sunday, November 23rd, 2008)

Photo Recap...

Photo Recap (Monday, November 17th - Sunday, November 23rd, 2008)

Weekly Glance...

Weekly Glance (Monday, November 17th - Sunday, November 23rd, 2008)

Had Color Week at school and did very well (despite one day where he was a bit crabby in the AM)

Loved Red Day the most because he got to color Elmo and bring it home

Majority of the mornings he woke after 6am, but on those days he didn't, he was up EARLY

Picked up a cold (runny nose, a bit congested)

Loves playing with Flash Cards (Daddy has one way and Mommy has another way and he doesn't like them to be mixed)

Went down to NJ for the weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving with Grandpa & Grandma C

He did quite well in the car ride (both down & back) despite it being a long ride & he didn't sleep the entire time

Got some exciting news that Alexander's going to have a new cousin - Dan's sister Catherine is pregnant

Wanted Grandma to feed him lunch & change his diapers (Mommy wasn't allowed)

Took a odd nap Saturday afternoon which made him groggy & took some time to warm up to folks

Was a bit cranky for Saturday dinner and wanted to sit with Daddy or be with Daddy (which made it a tad difficult for Daddy to eat)

Once he warmed up, he had a ball playing with everyone - loved playing ball with Daddy & DJ in the kitchen

Went to bed late on Saturday since of the napping schedule and to spend more time with everyone

Woke up at 6:30 on Sunday (wooo!)

Went to visit Joan (Dan's godmother) where he had chicken nuggets and couldn't eat them fast enough (he had 5!)

Warmed up to Joan quickly and played with her singing frog

Napped on the car ride back to Grandpa & Grandma's and then slept with Mommy once we got back for a total of 3 hours!

New words: Mine, Go, papa (which is for Grandpa C)

Played after his nap and was in a great mood

Loved playing with the tykes car & playing ball with Grandma

Slept in the pack & play with no major issues

Jersey Shore...

Alexander took his 2nd trip down to the Jersey Shore. Since we were in NJ, we wanted to go visit Joan (Dan's godmother) for a birthday/Thanksgiving visit. She has all sorts of stuff in her house that Alexander could look at/play with. The thing he liked the most was a singing frog - he just lied there and listened to him sing.

It was very nice to see her as we don't get to see her all that often because it is such a long drive...but she was very happy to have us over, even if it was for a couple of hours. I'll ignore that she fed my child chicken nuggets since it made everyone happy & he actually ate. Plus, I didn't have to feed him so it worked out well...

Family Fun...

We went down to spend the weekend with Grandpa & Grandma C in NJ to celebrate Thanksgiving. Catherine & DJ were going to be there so we thought it would be best to be there when we'd get to spend time with others as well.

Alexander napped a bit in the car & then a bit that afternoon, but around those naps he played blocks with Grandma, colored with Daddy, showed Jen how he takes pictures, and played ball in the kitchen with Daddy & uncle DJ (and had so much fun that he lost his breath a few times because he was laughing so hard)...

20 Months...

20 Months

New:
-Knows how many fingers to put up for 1 and knows that Thomas is 1 and James the red Engine is 5.
-Learning to give thumbs up and say 'ok'
-Snaps

Developmental:
-More teeth came in - 8 teeth in total (2 bottom teeth, 4 top teeth, 2 top molers)
-He takes direction very well, excellent at putting things away
-Loves singing (itsy bitsy spider, wheels on the bus, ABCs)
-Loves books (Dr. Suess, trucks, Thomas the train)
-Eating with utensils
-Loves anything to do with trucks (books, real, toys)
-Starting to walk up stairs and come down just holding onto one hand
-Wants to brush his teeth every night once we get home
-Loves to play with his train & flash cards
-Likes coloring
-Seems to love animals
-He knows all of his body parts
-He screams, loudly, when he's excited
-Puts his hands up for "touchdown" or how big are you
-When we ask him to turn himself or something around he mimics my finger of spinning in a circle
-If he sees a fire truck or ambulance (real or picture), he'll spin his finger to mean 'siren' and now he will say 'wooo wooo'

Vocab:
dada
mama
Ahh Daa (is his word for Please)
up
apple
turtle
JoJo (His teacher's name is MaryJo)
Aiden (aah-den)
Hi
Moo
Quack Quack
woof woof
Yah
Bye
All done
All gone
baaaa (sheep noise)
No
uhoh
baabaa
'ruck (I think this is truck)
Hat
Hot
hot dog
elbow
cup
ball
baby
pat
home
apron
tractor
knock
heart
oval
Book

New ones:
mine
go
papa (this is Grandpa)

Animal Noises:
He knows what sounds the lion, cow, sheep, dog, duck, frog, elephant, rabbit & cat make

Sleeping:
-Wakes up around 5:30-6am every day, even on weekends
-Takes one nap in the afternoon, usually 2 hrs
-At home on the weekends, most times he takes his 2 hr nap in the late morning
-Asleep by 7:30pm each night (on average)

Clothes:
-18 Months for shirts, sweaters, PJs
-18 Months pants are still a bit long but fitting better
-Shoes: Size 5
-Diapers: Pampers Size 4 Cruisers

Feeding:-
Loves pancakes/waffles, eggs, muffins, mini rice cakes, teddy grahams, apples (but doesn't always finish them but wants them), cheerios, goldfish, raw carrots, PB & J, hot dogs, Mac & Cheese, grilled cheese, recently had chicken nuggets and devoured them

Likes:
Being outside, water, taking baths, Bubbles, going down slides, Singing ABCs, reading books, pushing his truck, playing blocks, vaccum, being chased by Daddy, showing off that he knows his body parts, medicine, sweeping

Dislikes:
textured food, at home he won't eat fresh fruit besides apples

Colors of the Week...

As previously mentioned, Alexander had Color Week at school with every day representing a new color.

For each day there were different activities, books, snacks and crafts all related to the color of the day. They also asked if the kids could also dress in the color of the day to help teach the kids the different colors.

Monday = Purple (I've already apologized for the outfit for today...Yes, I'm aware that I sent my child to school, out in public, in lavender sweat pants that I bought in the girls section. At least his shirt was brown & from the boy section. When Dan was getting him dressed that morning, he almost ignored my chosen outfit and put jeans on as he forgot about the color of the day and thought I had lost my mind. And there was a little girl in his class that had the exact same sweatpants on. OH MY.)
For Monday, they played with purple playdough, read "Harold the Purple Crayon", had purple grapes, and made purple lolipops and also used blue & red paint to make purple.


Tuesday = Red
On Tuesday, they read "Spots Colors", had red apples, colored Elmo, and made different shapes out of red construction paper


Wednesday = Green
On Wednesday, they played with green foam blocks, painted with green rollers & the dot markers, ate green grapes & sang "The Green Grasswall Around"

Thursday = Yellow
For Thursday, they Read "Yellow & Yummy", made paper plates into the sun, colored Big Bird & had yellow bananas

Friday = Orange
On Friday, they played with orange pompoms, read "Baby's First Colors", colored & glued tigers, and made different shapes with orange objects and had peaches for snack

Family Tree...

Upcoming School Project: Family Tree

Next week, Alexander & his class have a new project. They are going to work on their family tree. They have asked parents to bring in pictures of the family...and since I'm such a picture person, this was right up my alley!

Here are the pictures I put together for his family tree: