Picture Recap...

Picture Recap (Monday, September 29th - October 5th, 2008)

Weekly Glance...

Weekly Glance (Monday, September 29th - October 5th, 2008)

• Continued to wake up early but will lay back down & fall asleep if Daddy goes in and lays on the floor - he won't do it if Mommy tries
• This week was hit or miss if he would go to bed right away or need his back rubbed
• Some meals he wouldn't want to have anything to do with eating, other meals he couldn't get enough
• Had a good week at school
• Played outside and on Wednesday played in puddles and got his pants soaked!
• Hung out with Daddy Tuesday night as Mommy was at her 3rd tour stop - went down for bed without a peep
• LOVES trucks - real trucks, truck books, toy trucks - anything to do with trucks!
• Loves to color
• Loves to play with his flash cards
• Likes to practice swimming during bath time
• Has a bit of a diaper rash again
• A new routine Alexander is starting - after work/school, Alexander will go into the bathroom and beg until we come in. He wants his tooth brush and he wants us to brush our teeth too. So we sit on the floor and we brush our teeth and then we show him how to clean off his brush. Hey - if it gets him to brush his teeth every day, I'll do it
• New words this week: Happy, Me, Ball
• New sounds/actions: Makes a helicopter sound/hand movement as well as a fire truck (siren) noise/hand movement; also puts his hand up to his nose for an elephant
• Saturday was family day where we went shopping & out to lunch
• Ate bread w/oil, pizza but more importantly broccoli and liked it
• He was in a fairly good mood despite only an hour nap on Saturday
• First Trip to the Aquarium - loved the penquins & the turtle
• Loved running up & down the docks outside of the Aquarium
• Got to see Charlie, the horse, at the Aquarium

Swimming with the Fishes...

Today, Alexander went to the New England Aquarium for the first time. He loves to make fish faces and he loves turtles so we thought it would be fun. It was Mommy, Alexander, Grammie & Grampie. Daddy couldn't join us as he has tickets to tonight's Red Sox game (yah, how that's fair, I'll never know...I jest!).

When we got there they were cleaning the outside tanks for the Sea Lions. He was a bit timid but did think it was exciting. We got inside and saw the penquins first. He loved the penquins and loved to follow them as they swam around.

After the penquins, we decided to walk around the Giant Fish Tank in the middle. We saw divers in the tank feeding & cleaning. Alexander was more excited to see the bubbles from their diving tanks!! We saw sharks, big fishes, little fishes, stingrays, and the big turtle! We went all the way to the top so Alexander could look in the tank! He just liked to look through the glass but not necessarily at anything and then run around the tank.

We headed back down to the freshwater exhibit so he could hold a starfish. That didn't work out so well because all he wanted to do was put his hands in the water and splash. And I'm sure the folks next to us didn't want to get *that* wet. We walked around and saw more fish & turtles. Then it was time to grab some food which Alexander did very well with. He loved his hot dog, french fries and even a few bites of Mommy's pizza.

Mother venting moment: Before leaving, I went to change his diaper. We were washing our hands getting ready to leave and a couple teenage girls were standing in front of the mirror checking out their hair. I was blocking Alexander so they wouldn't run him over. One girl walked around and the 2nd girl almost bumped into him but said excuse me. The 3rd one bumped into him and almost knocked him over. I said "excuse me be careful where you walk" and she shot me a dirty look. I said "no, don't give me attitude when you clearly are completely rude" The Mommy-genes were out in full force. If I still didn't have to pick up the stuff and keep an eye on Alexander, I would have totally ripped that girl a new one!

After the aquarium, we walked around outside a bit checking out the scenery. Alexander was checking out the horse, the birds, the boats, and loved running up & down the dock. I think he enjoyed it more when people would chase him and then let him run down! Overall a fun day!

Aquarium Pics - Take 2...

Here are more pictures from our Aquarium adventure...

Well now...

Today, the three of us went out for the afternoon. We went shopping so Daddy could buy some clothes and then we went to Patriot Place (shopping area right next to Gillette Stadium).

For lunch, we decided to take Alexander to Bertucci's. Afterall, it's all you can eat salad - Daddy loves salad! He loved the rolls (who doesn't) and loved them even more dipped in oil. We got him his own pizza which he was okay with but he actually enjoyed our broccoli more.

Towards the end of our meal, a waitress walked by us carrying a piece of cake with a candle on it. Obviously someone was celebrating a birthday. As soon as Alexander saw this, he started to sway back & forth (as he does when he dances) and started to say "happy happy".

Now, how & when he learned the word 'happy' and that a candle on a cake is Happy Birthday, we'll never know. But we were both surprised and thought it was quite cute. So he's added yet another word to his list...

Photo Recap...

Picture Recap (Monday, September 22nd - Sunday, September 28th, 2008)

Photo Recap...

Picture Recap (Monday, September 22nd - Sunday, September 28th, 2008)

Weekly Glance...

Weekly Glance (Monday, September 22nd - Sunday, September 28th, 2008)

• Hit the 18 Month Mark
• Didn't want to pose for his 18 Month Glove photoshoot
• Had a good week at school despite having meltdowns/tantrums at home
• Woke up early ALL WEEK
• Actually woke up twice this week during the night around 1am
• Started eating apples and actually EATING them and turns out he likes them so now he points to the table and asks for "apple"
• New words this week: purple, heart, ball, knee, pig & cup
• Loves making his fish-face, sometimes without being asked
• Has decided he doesn't want to sit in his chair anymore unless he's able to eat at the table without his tray
• Asks for his flash cards and will look at your mouth as you pronounce the words, he's started to copy the sound 'P' 'Ne'
• Points to his crayons and will actually color in his coloring book
• Daddy & Alexander had a guys night on Friday as Mommy started her own New Kids tour
• Woke up at 4:30am on Saturday (SATURDAY!)
• Didn't nap all that well on Saturday
• Went out with Daddy, Matt & cousin Michael for a little bit
• Played with Mommy in afternoon and was in a great mood as long as it was just 1:1
• Hung out with Daddy on Sunday afternoon as Mommy went to see New Kids (#2)
• Daddy & Alexander went to go visit Matt & Laura
• Played well with cousin Michael which was good as he was a bit territorial over his toys on Saturday when Michael was here
• Did very well with Daddy Sunday afternoon & at bedtime

Blog update...

FYI: Monday's weekly post may be a bit later than usual.


Thank you for your patience.

Another First...

For the first time ever, Alexander brought me a diaper, the box of wipes, and his changing mat from his diaper bag. He set it all down and then just stood in front of me. I asked him if he needed his diaper changed, he said Yes and then sat down.

And sure enough he was right!

This was a pretty big thing as about 80% of the time it's a struggle to change his diaper and the fact that he knew it needed to be changed and he was okay with it was a miracle!!

New Words...

Alexander had a few new words this week: purple, heart, ball & knee

18 Month Photoshoot...

Alexander has been a bit tempermental lately. Most times he has his meltdowns when he's with me and just likes to scream & flail about. We knew going into this mini-photoshoot that it probably wouldn't go well as he was already starting to crash. But we figured we'd try it anyway...
Well, as you can tell from the pictures, the poor guy wanted nothing to do with this and we didn't really push it further...

18 Months...

18 Months...

Developmental:
-Meltdowns are continuing
-Gives great kisses & hugs
-Has 2 bottom teeth & 2 top tooth
-He takes direction very well, excellent at putting things away
-Eating with utensils
-He is great with stairs and is getting even better at going down them by walking (holding hands)
-Very good with brushing his teeth before bed and can tell if you're tried to trick him with no toothpaste
-Loves to put things in 'hiding' spots
-Uncanny ability to throw things
-Loves playing in the water
-Waves Hi & Bye
-Still a huge flirt
-Loves dogs & birds
-Knows exactly what I'm asking for when I say "go get your dinosaur book" or what his other books are
-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
-Loves to lick (people, food, things)

Vocab:
dada
mama
Ahh Daa (is his word for Please and potentially thank you)
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)
New ones:
No
uh oh
baabaa
'ruck (I think this is truck)
Hat
Hot
hot dog
elbow
cup
ball
baby
pat

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

Sleeping (hasn't changed except he's on a pattern of waking up on the early side):
-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:
-12 Months and moving into 12-18 Months (Gap/Old Navy)
-18 Months pants are HUGE (length & waist) yet 18 Month shirts isn't that large (but wouldn't it figure that 12 month pants are too short and sometimes too tight in the tummy)
-Shoes: Size 3 or 4 depending on the shoe
-Diapers: moving into Pampers Size 4 Cruisers

Feeding (Really hasn't changed that much in a month):
-He drinks mainly milk or sometimes water from sippy cups
-Three meals a day: (typical menu for school)
--Breakfast: pancake, waffle, cereal bar or muffin with his sippy cup
--AM Snack: Cheerios & fruit (bananas or strawberries) or graham crackers
--Lunch: Grilled Cheese or Hot dog & cheese, applesauce and milk in sippy cup
--PM Snack: snack bar, fruit, graham crackers, or yogurt
--Dinner: the staples are: PB&J, Hot Dogs, Grilled Cheese, cheese pizza, egg but he will eat veggies & fruit in the Gerber containers (he loves to feed himself)
-- Does not like food with texture
--Loves to get out the bread from the fridge so he can have a slice

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

Dislikes:
textured food, apparently Dr. M (poor guy)

Photo Recap...

Picture Recap (Monday, September 15th - Sunday, September 21st)