Photo Recap...

Picture Recap (Monday, October 20th - Sunday, October 26th, 2008) ...

Weekly Glance...

Weekly Glance (Monday, October 20th - Sunday, October 26th, 2008)

• Hit the 19 Month Milestone
• Had a good week at school - played outside
• Slept well this week
• New words: off, empty, on, yellow, elmo
• Two more top teeth are breaking through!
• He will show you his teeth now if you ask him too
• Loves anything that has to do with trucks
• Loves to wrestle
• During tubby time, loves to swim and is getting pretty good at the kicking and getting himself around without a mouthful of water
• Ate a lot of carrots this week
• Eating strawberries & bananas now (yah for more fruit)
• Played in the leaves with Daddy - loves running into a big pile of leaves
• Celebrated Alyson's birthday on Saturday
• Helped Daddy & Grampie outside with stacking wood
• Going up the stairs without a lot of help and getting better about going down only holding onto one hand
• Got our 3rd Haircut - and this time Daddy came with us (Daddy was horrified)
• Tried on his costume(s) and he seemed okay with them although he much rather wanted to cuddle with them
• Went out with Mommy & Daddy after haircut for a new winter jacket & some lunch.
• Actually wanted to eat his burger & apple slices

Haircut...

Alexander was due for another haircut (his 3rd) and this time Daddy came with us. I don't know who was more horrified - Alexander or Daddy.
We went back to the same place we've gone for our other 2 haircuts to help to get him more used to it. Yah, didn't work... We had a third woman cut his hair. Although she appeared to be very nice in the beginning she got annoyed(ing) when Alexander started crying. Again - I don't know why people who work at these types of places don't have more patience. Alexander pinched her and she wasn't happy. Oh well...
I held his hands and Daddy tried to distract him. Occasionally it would work, but he cried hard the entire time, he really didn't want to be distracted. She missed a few stragglers here & there but overall she did a good job considering he wasn't sitting still.

Yardwork...

Alexander helped Daddy & Grampie stack some wood and pick up sticks. He was a very good helper and wanted to be around the big boys.

Happy Birthday...

We went to Grammie & Grampie's today to celebrate Alyson's birthday. The weather was nicer than expected so we got to hang out a bit outside.
Alexander helped Daddy & Grampie with some wood & tried to push the wheel barrel. And I mean it when I say he tried to push it. He dug his feet in, grunted, and pushed! It was pretty comical! I'll post those pics separately...When it was time to sing Happy Birthday he didn't really want to sing as he was too busy getting ready to blow out the candles with Auntie Alyson.

Celebrate...

This weekend is a busy weekend in terms of celebrations.

First is Alyson's birthday on Saturday. Yah!
Alyson, we hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Then on Sunday, Grandpa & Grandma C celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. How exciting! Happy 45th Anniversary - may you have many more years together!

New Teeth...

Finally...Alexander will have more than 4 teeth!

Daddy noticed that 2 more top teeth are coming in next to his front teeth. Hopefully this means the rest will start to break though soon!

19 Months...

19 Months

New:
-Puts up one finger if you count or say who's number one?
-Loves ring-around-the-rosie (goes around in circle and then plops down)

Developmental:
-Meltdowns are not as frequent as they were a month ago, but he still has them
-Gives great kisses & hugs
-Still just 4 teeth (2 bottom teeth & 2 top teeth)
-He takes direction very well, excellent at putting things away; Knows exactly what I'm asking for when I say "go get your dinosaur book" or what his other books are
-Loves the itsy bitsy spider & ring-around-the rosie songs
-Eating with utensils
-Loves anything to do with trucks (books, real, toys)
-Great with going up stairs and even getting better coming down holding onto hands
-Wants to brush his teeth every night once we get home
-Loves to play with his train & flash cards
-Likes coloring
-Puts things in the trash when asked
-Great throwing arm
-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'

Vocab:
dada (this is still the main word)
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:
Nouh
oh
baabaa
'ruck (I think this is truck)
Hat
Hot
hot dog
elbow
cup
ball
baby
pat
home
apron
tractor
knock
heart
oval
Book

Animal Noises:
He knows what sounds the lion, cow, sheep, dog, duck, frog, elephant, rabbit & 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:
-12/18 Months for shirts, sweaters, PJs
-18 Months pants are still a bit long but fitting better
-Shoes: Size 4/5 depending on the shoe - this happened quickly
-Diapers: 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, 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

Bedtime Book List...

Just thought I'd list out the multiple books we read every night as part of our bedtime routine. The order and specific books can change each night...and some books we call by a different name than the title and he will usually pick them out ahead of time.

1. Cookie Book (Cookie Rhyme, Cookie Time)
2. Elmo Book
3. Grover Book
4. Dinosaur Book
5. Easter Bunny Book
6. Pumpkin Book (this is a new edition courtesy of Halloween)
7. Spider Book
8. Truck Book
9. Truck Book (we have 2 different ones and he knows which one you're referring too)
10. Moon Book
11. Face Book
12. Noah Book
13. Animal Book
14. Patty Cake Book

Picture Recap...

Picture Recap (Monday, October 13th - Sunday, October 19th, 2008)

Picture Recap...

Picture Recap (Monday, October 13th - Sunday, October 19th, 2008)

Weekly Glance...

Weekly Glance (Monday, October 13th - Sunday, October 19th, 2008)

• No School on Monday - Topsfield Fair with Grammie & Grampie
• Sleeping was typical - up between 5:15-6am & bedtime around 7:30pm with some nights with fussiness
• Woke up @ 7:30am on Monday (woot!) only because he was wide awake from 4a-5:30am
• Has a runny nose and small cough
• Had a good week at school - no issues, slept & eat well
• Had Mommy's granola bar and LOVED it
  New words this week: apron, knock, heart & oval
• Tried a new thing during bedtime - got rid of humidifier and now sleeps with music
• Bedtime books vary between 6 - 12, depending on his mood
• Plays with his flash cards - he can find the following cards when they are spread out on the floor: fish, dog, elephant, apple, hammer, dog, tiger, apron, blocks, whistle
• Likes to wrestle with both Mommy & Daddy ... if one of us is not wrestling, he'll pull us down with him onto the floor so all three of us are rolling
• Likes jumping - he grunts but he doesn't get off the ground
• No pictures on Friday, October 17th...don't know what happened!
• Sings "oooh" during Summertime
• Went over Uncle Matt & Laura's house on Saturday
• Celebrated Cousin Michael's 2nd birthday - sang Happy Birthday, blew out candles
• Loved playing with cousin Michael & Uncle DJ
• Went over Uncle Steve & Carolyn's house on Sunday to visit, played with the boys
• Blew out a candle all by himself
• Wanted Daddy to feed him dinner & then wanted to cuddle with Mommy before bed

My Men...

Daddy & Alexander enjoying outside on a crisp, fall, New England day...

Check out how cute they are!

Cousin Michael's Birthday...

Today was Cousin Michael's 2nd Birthday Party!

We went to Uncle Matt & Aunt Laura's new place to celebrate. It was nice to see everyone as Grandpa & Grandma, Tony & Fran were up from NJ. And Aunt Catherine & Uncle DJ came from Pittsburgh. Alexander hasn't seen DJ since Christmas but he was immediately comfortable with him and was okay playing with him. And of course, Uncle Steve & Aunt Carolyn with the boys were there as well.

The only ones missing were Paul, Doug & cousin Charlotte - and missed they were.

Michael didn't take a nap but he was very excited about his presents and playing outside with the kids. He also loved his cake which was a car! Alexander did a good job of singing Happy Birthday and 'helped' blow out the candle from across the room.

Blockhead...

My child is an official 'Blockhead'. (Blockhead is a person who is a fan of the New Kids On The Block)

We all know he loves to dance and seems overly excited when the song "Summertime" from New Kids On The Block is on the radio. He immediately dances and kicks his leg. But now he'll actually do a part of the dance and sing along!

We were driving to cousin Michael's birthday party and "Summertime" came on the radio. (Okay, I admit the CD is on repeat in my car) Alexander started to dance and when Daddy & I sang the "ooooooh" part and put our hand up - Alexander did the same thing! And he even did it on his own without prodding a couple more times.

And one time he even did it exactly when he was supposed to...I'm such a proud Blockhead Mommy!

No Pictures...

Okay - don't really know what happened today! But there are no pictures from today.

It wasn't intentional and it wasn't as if something out of the ordinary prevented lack of pictures. The only thing I can think of is that the day got away from us. So sad...

Daddy dropped off Alexander off at school which meant they left before I did in the morning and then I got home later than usual due to Friday night traffic and Alexander was already upstairs in PJs.

I completely forgot to run down and get the camera...silly Mommy.

Which also makes me a sad Mommy...

Topsfield Fair...

Monday was Columbus Day and Mommy & Daddy had to work. However, Grammie & Grampie had off and took Alexander to the Topsfield Fair.

They saw trains, horses, piggies, & even played the elusive Dan the Candy Man. They didn't win but at least Alexander has finally gotten a chance to play.

Picture Recap...

Picture Recap (Monday, October 6th - Sunday, October 12th, 2008)...