Alexander Christopher

Monday, July 28, 2008

Photo Recap...

Photo Recap (Monday, July 21st - Sunday, July 27th, 2008)

Week Glance...

Week Glance (Monday, July 21st - Sunday, July 27th, 2008)

It was a VERY quiet week, especially with Daddy gone for 1/2 of it
Daddy went to Ireland (he brought us back presents!)
New words: Mama, Quack Quack, Up, All done
Had a good week at school, despite getting paint on two brand new shirts - two days in a row! That's it, I'm sending him to school in gray sweatsuit every day
There was also one day where he was being a bully at school when I picked him up. One of his teachers kept looking at me apologizing telling me that he never does this and she really did look shocked
Woke up around 5:30am almost every morning except for Sunday
LOVES playing with his bag of blocks - mainly dumping them out and moving them around, not necessarily building things
Has begun taking objects from one side of the room and specifically placing them at another end and will make sure it is just right before going to get the next piece
Managed to get a leg stuck in between his crib rails - thankfully it wasn't a major case of the 'stucks'.
Time to figure out the crib/bumper situation...
Ate two whole slices of pizza by himself on Friday night
Uncle Matt & Aunt Laura came over Friday night to spend the night as they are in the area house hunting so Alexander got to spend time with them Saturday morning
Took a 2 3/4 nap on Saturday after the playground with Mommy
Went to the Mall with Mommy before picking up Daddy!
Was actually running around the house Saturday afternoon for the first time - it was because he was excited Daddy was home
Had his Weekend walk with Daddy on Sunday and then hung out with Daddy while Mommy went to Boston to take photos

Friday, July 25, 2008

It's time for a new chapter in the life of Alexander.

Sleeping on the floor!

Yesterday morning, I got up to take a shower before Alexander woke up. It would make the whole morning a lot easier! Just as I was finishing up, he started to wake up. He babbled, played, cried, played, and babbled some more. I knew he was fine although he was getting to the point where he was 'saying' "Okay lady, time to come get me out of here".

As I get out of the bathroom and put the monitor back, I can hear him crying but since I'm his Mom I know his cries...and he's fine. Well what do I know! I walk into his room and he has his leg through his crib bars. He's not stuck and it doesn't appear to be hurting but you can tell he doesn't know how to get it out. I don't know if he tried to step on his bumpers or if he just put his leg through. Guess it's time to relook at his bumper-situation...however he sleeps where he bangs his head against the bumper. hmmmm......

Great! That's it - forget putting pillows around the crib, I'm moving the mattress on the floor.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

16 Months...

16 Months...

Developmental:
-Gives actual kisses now when you ask and they're just the sweetest kisses
-His walking has really taken off and every now & then he'll break out into a small run
-Has 2 bottom teeth & 1 top tooth
-He takes direction very well (You can ask him to get something, find his book, go to his seat for dinner, put away his toys, and he'll do it)
-Dada & Hi are still the primary words however he is very good about saying "please". Mind you, his please is "Ahhh da" but he says it when you ask him "Alexander what do you say or what is the magic word?"
-Eating with utensils is getting better with each week, there's still a mess but he's improving
-Knows where his head, hair, nose, mouth, ears & belly are and knows the difference between his body parts or others if you ask him
-He is great with stairs
-Very good with brushing his teeth before bed and can tell if you're tried to trick him with no toothpaste
-Great with stacking blocks
-Developing an amazing arm with this throwing ability (don't know if this is a good thing or not yet)
-Loves playing in the pool/water
-Knows what & where to turn the tv on but thankfully hasn't figured out the correct flow of buttons that need to be pushed
-Waves Hi & Bye
-Flirts like crazy, he blows kisses to all women but gives men the "hand up wave"
-Loves dogs & birds - the kid can spot a bird a mile away (at least I know his eyesight is fine)
-Knows what the cow, cat & dog says...and is learning that ducks say "quack quack"
-When I tell him to get his Elmo & Patty cake book he knows which two books to get and where to bring them. He also knows the order of the books and mimics what the book says
-Knows a few of the rhymes in his books and will act them out with me as soon as we get to that page. (When This Little piggy page comes up, he will immediately put his foot up on the book but then squirm away)

Sleeping:
-Wakes up around 5:30-6am every day
-Takes one nap in the early afternoon, usually 2 hrs
-At home on the weekends, he may take 2 naps each day depending on what is going on
-Asleep by 7:30pm each night (on average)

Clothes:
-For the most part, everything is a 12 Months.
-Shoes: Size 3
-Diapers: Pampers Size 3 Cruisers (Dan bought size 4 and they fit but are still a bit big)

Feeding:
-The biggest change is that he is no longer drinking from bottles. Once we stopped, he never looked back or asked. He drinks his milk or water from sippy cups
-Three meals a day: (typical menu for school)
--Breakfast: pancake or waffle & his sippy cup
--AM Snack: Cheerios & fruit (bananas or strawberries)
--Lunch: Grilled Cheese or Hot dog & cheese and milk in sippy cup
--PM Snack: snack bar, fruit, graham crackers, or yogurt
--Dinner: Varies (Omelets, PB Sandwich, Grilled Cheese, Hot Dog) and we're starting to do more pasta and he's liking it as long as there is no meat sauce
-- Does not like food with texture

Likes: Being outside, water, taking baths, Bubbles, going down slides, learning about the bathroom, Singing ABCs, reading books, pushing his truck, playing blocks, says Hi to the vaccum, being chased by Daddy
Dislikes: textured food

Monday, July 21, 2008

Photo Recap

Photo Recap (Monday, July 14th - Sunday, July 20th, 2008)

Photo Recap...

Photo Recap (Monday, July 14th - Sunday, July 20th, 2008)

Week Glance...

Week Glance (Monday, July 14th - Sunday, July 20th, 2008)

Had a good, yet short week at school
Played outside & played in the sprinkler at school
Dancing with Ginny at school
Got his 2nd haircut
Had his first accident, complete with blood
Alexander & Mommy went to have breakfast & spend the morning with Grammie on Thursday
Flirted with all the women in Grammie's office & the women at the restaurant
Sat in his chair the whole time at the restaurant - had a pancake & some of Mommy's OJ
Slept a lot this week: Naps were long at school
Slept for 13 hours straight Saturday night
Played outside in his pool on Saturday with Mommy & Daddy
Was very surprised that he kept his hat one for a while in the pool (he normally takes hats right off)
Played soccer & on his playsets
Did very well while Mommy, Alyson & Grammie had a yard sale at home
For some strange reason, Mommy didn't take any pictures of the yard sale...1) everytime I went to get the camera, we got a customer & 2) I didn't want anyone to think the camera was for sale as I'm sure someone would have tried to haggle me for it
Played in his pool on Sunday during the yard sale - he helped bring in the customers as people commented on how cute he was
New word this week is "yah" and he knows when to say it and it no longer is just a sound.
Played with Daddy in the afternoon since he wouldn't nap!
Got the coolest outfits from Grammie & Grampie
Was asleep before 7pm on Sunday night!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Littlest Star Wars Fan...

How freakin' cute is this?!?!?! Alyson, Grammie & Grampie (honestly I can't remember which one as they were all in a big bag o' stuff - SORRY!) got this for Alexander! It's absolutely perfect since Mommy is a huge Star Wars fan/nerd. It's 18-24months so it won't fit him right away.

I was so excited when they told me about this and even more excited when I saw it in person! I'm going to have to get some in bigger sizes and even get the Darth Vader one so he can wear them later!

Sleeping...

For those of you who know Alexander, you know he is an early riser. He's not a 12 hour a night sleeper. Never has been and I don't presume that will change anytime soon.

This weekend, he blew away all presumptions & expectations. Friday night, he went down quickly without fuss and was asleep by 7:15pm. This was even after his little bathtime bump. Saturday morning, he woke up a little before 6am which I can completely handle on the weekends. He & Daddy had their weekend morning walk & Dunkin' Donuts jaunt. Daddy must have worn him out because he was zoning out & rubbing his eyes. He took an hour & half nap in the morning.

After lunch, we filled up his pool and played outside as it has been incredibly hot here this weekend! He played in the pool, played soccer with Mommy & Daddy, and ran around the back yard looking for birds. Again, he was getting tired - heat & playing in the pool can do that to a little one. I put him down for a nap around 3:30pm just to see if he would lay down again. After a little bit of crying/playing in his crib, he fell asleep by 4pm.

Well...that was it from him! He was out for the ENTIRE night. A few times around 6pm, I was going to wake him because I wasn't sure if he was asleep for the night, but no one could bring themselves to wake him as he was out cold! We checked on him several times but he just kept right on sleeping.

He woke up a little before 5am this morning and got about 13 hours of sleep! And that didn't stop him from taking a 2 hour nap this morning! He will not, however, sleep this afternoon even though he really needs a nap...can we say cranky??

I'm still in shock - 13 hours?!

Friday, July 18, 2008

First Accident...

Alexander had his first accident with blood tonight during his bath. Now before the grandparents from NJ start freaking out and calling everyone - everyone is fine! This was as minor an accident that you can have!

I put him in the tub to a) cool him off as it was 90* and in the meantime b) give him his bath. Alexander goes in phases where he will either sit down during the entire bath or he will want to stand up, then sit down, and then want to stand up again. It can be challenging when you've already put soap in his hair and your hands are soapy, but I do manage to get him back on his bum.

This time, he was standing up facing me & the side of the tub and I was asking him to sit down on his bum. I was holding onto both of his hands. I then tried to get him to bend his legs but he didn't want to. He stood there and cried a bit. Then he tried to get out of my hands and in the meantime bumped his mouth onto the side of the tub.

At first, I just thought he bumped his mouth and that was it. He was crying pretty hard so rather than have the kid stand in the tub, I picked him up and that's when I noticed the blood. It was so minor that after I wiped his mouth with the face cloth, it was gone. Not even enough blood for a picture.

However, he still had a head full of soap and refused to get back into the tub. So...Daddy turned on the shower and jumped in. The plan was that Daddy would stand under the water and get Alexander rinsed off. However, Daddy had a different plan - to just dunk the kid under the shower. Alexander was NOT happy. I rinsed his hair while Daddy held him and we just tried to get him out as fast as possible...poor kid.

I checked his mouth before bed as he was brushing his teeth and nothing is swollen so it was a minor little bump with no side effects.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

2nd Haircut...

I took Alexander to get his haircut today as it was getting long. We went back to the same place as we went for the first one so hopefully it gets easier and easier. Per usual, he was all smiles and flirting as we walked in but the minute we walked over to the chair he clutched onto me and wouldn't let go.

We got him in the chair and before she even touched a comb he was crying as if he knew what was coming. This girl (I forgot her name), had a lot more patience than the first girl which I think made a difference. One thing that really helped him was that she didn't spray him with water but instead sprayed her comb instead. Plus, she used clippers with the guard so it actually made it quicker & safer.

The receptionist came over with a big thing of bubbles and that really helped. He calmed down enough to check out the bubbles and even tried to grab for them. I'll have to remember that for next time - bubbles! He fought the majority of the time, but it wasn't nearly has bad as the first time.

And of course as soon as I took him off the seat, he was just fine. He smiled at the girl and blew her a kiss. We went over to pay and to get his 'prize' and he was laughing up a storm as the prize came out of the machine. I then sat him on the couch to take a 'after' photo to which he had no problem posing for me.

His haircuts seem to tranform him instantly into a little boy and I think it makes him look so much older. This time was no exception, my little guy is growing up fast.