Time Out

I've started putting Alex in to "time out" this week. He definitely knows what he is doing when he causes mischief, so it was time for him to start learning consequences. I have to admit it was rather like a segment from "Super Nanny" with all the times I had to keep sitting him back down. He just kept getting back up and running away from the spot, laughing his butt off. After a several times putting him back though I managed to get him to sit for a minute each time. Then he signed "sorry" to me when I asked him to say sorry. We're going to have to keep on him if he's ever going to learn that he doesn't rule the roost. I love his spirit, but wow, he's stubborn and very, very willful.

Nom, Nom, Nom

Alex took it upon himself to grow 4 new teeth last week. His top molars surfaced as well as the two in front of them. He is about to cut the last two on the bottom and my fingers are crossed that my little Bear will be teething-free until his two year molars arrive. That would be about six months of bliss. He bit his brother today... for no reason. When I called my mom to check in she told me that he left teeth marks but didn't break the skin. And when she scolded him (after consoling Brandon), Alex just pouted, sulked and then laughed at her and moved on.

My Bear...

Fun Things

Alex LOVES books. When he's not in to mischief you can find him sitting in the rocking chair with a book in his lap, happily looking at the pictures, babbling the story as only he can tell it.

 

Here's our daredevil little man at the top of a very long slide.

 

Aunt "Grandma" Janice came to visit this month and Alex had a blast with her!

 

And here's our little men - caught wrestling and looking all innocent about it.

 

The Beach

Today we went to the beach to swim. Alex, despite our walk on the beach earlier in the month when he had a blast in the sand, did not like the beach this time. He was terrified of the water and it took a lot of coaxing to bring him out of his shell. He sat on the beach chair for about 45 minutes before he ventured forth to play in the sand. It was only at the very end of the outing that he let Daddy swing his feet in the water. I'm ok with him not liking the water though. I'm totally ok with that.

 

 

 

 

Other Updates

April 11th Alex says:
- "Ah down" for "Fall Down"
- "Aye" for "Yes"

April 12th Alex:
- says "Beepah" for "Grandpa"
- goes to get a tissue for himself, blows his nose and puts the used tissue back in the box.

Easter Sunday

Today we spent the day at my parents' house and enjoyed a fun Easter Egg hunt after the boys' naps. Great-Grandpa Al got in to some trouble though teaching Alex to find the "Big Easter Egg" though. You know, that big blue glass ball that my mom has been teaching Alex to stay away from every other day he's at her house. It sure was cute though to watch these two trouble makers together.

 

 

Easter Eggs

This year we enjoyed Easter egg dying with Great-Grandpa Al at our house on Easter Eve. I wasn't brave enough to let my mischief-maker anywhere near the dye cups but Daddy helped him make a few eggs of his own.

 

 

 

 

Walking on the Beach

Today we went for a morning walk on the beach and it was the first time we let Alex walk on the sand himself. Up until now we had pushed him in the jogging stroller or I had carried him in the Ergo carrier. Alex delighted in chasing the birds and making his own trails. He did manage to let us capture a few sweet pictures with us though.

 

 

 

 

March 2009

I started back to work this month and Alex is home with me alone on Tues and Thurs. On this particular day, the 17th, Alex was playing with some toys near my feet and later went to sit in the rocking chair to watch some cartoon. He got pretty quiet and when I looked up, this is what I found!

 

 

The poor kid fell asleep climbing down from the chair. It totally cracked me up. He slept there for a half hour, which completely ruined his afternoon nap, but it was so cute and unexpected.

On the 20th we took the kiddos to play putt-putt. We were so not surprised that Alex cared nothing about the game we were there to play. Instead he went down his own paths, usually the ones that led to ground level, non-fenced pools of water, completely freaking me out. But it was a good time overall.

 

Finally - this shot just sums up everything Alex. I found him at the end of the month sitting on the train table playing with Thomas. That's just how he does things. He climbs, he finds, he conquers and destroys.

 

February 2009

 

So February rolled around and left us all sort of winded from its whirl. On the 17th our little Bear learned to smack his Daddy and say "no no no no nooo" when he didn't want Daddy to tell him "no." He has such a temper.

 

 

On the 21st we met Grandpa Joe and Grandma Jan in St. Augustine for Grandma's birthday and spent the morning at the old fort and walking along the seawall before having a nice lunch at a yummy restaurant. Later that same day Alex developed croup, thanks to his big brother who had it only days before. It was a long couple of days.

 

In other developments Alex is learning to pull chairs and stools around so that he can climb and get to things he's not supposed to get. Fun times.

January 2009

We celebrated the first day of the new year in style by heading to the playground with our friends the Kengs. Alex had a blast on the slides and generally just running in every direction except the one we wanted him to go in.

 

 

Later in the month we attended the Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus and Alex shocked us by sleeping through the human cannon ball. The kid literally just started sleeping through the night in December, waking up when a pin dropped, yet he slept through a cannon. That nap was the only nap he took that day.

 

In other developments he learned to sign the word "Milk" this month - his most favorite beverage.

Things Alex Said This Month

December 12th - Alex says "Two" after Grandma Jan says "One" (he so smart!)

December 17th - Alex says "Bah-oon" for Balloon.

December 18th - Alex says "Nah-Nah" and meant me, Mama!

December 19th - Alex says "Santa!"

Alex Meets Santa

In retrospect, a huge stranger in a bright red suit is perhaps not the greatest idea for a one year old. Alex only sat long enough for me to record this moment of relative child abuse. :)

 

 

Alex eats a grilled cheese

Today Alex tried his first grilled cheese sandwich (cut in to small bites) on a fork - also a first for him too. Here's a little video of how cute he was!

From December 2008

Alex is One!!!

 

 

Our baby boy is one year old now! Last weekend we had his first birthday party and Alex had a grand time eating cake for the first time and making an utter mess of it all. It's hard for me to put in to words the emotions that come with a year of memories for this sweet, crazy, chaotic and wonderful little boy. It's been a year of the best kind of love any family could ask for.

Alex's First Birthday

Shoes

Alex loves our shoe pile by the garage door. He sorts them, chews on them (to my disdain), carries them around, etc. I have no idea what is so fascinating about our shoes. Lately we have had to hunt for our shoes too because Alex carries them off and stashes them in hiding places.

Last week I couldn't find Brandon's crocs. One ended up being in a kitchen cabinet. We didn't find it until later that evening because after 5 minutes of looking we decided to go get socks and have Bran wear his sneakers.

Today I took the kids out to run errands and it took about 20 minutes to find Brandon's missing croc shoe. I looked in all the usual hiding places, under all the beds, in the blanket basket in the family room, behind the sofa, in the laundry, in the master bedroom closets, in the playroom bins and pretty much everywhere else I imagined Alex had access to. I was starting to lose it but then I found his new hiding spot. In the playroom we have this little foam, folding sofa. It was half open, something that I didn't even notice because it's like that all the time. This time though the shoe was hiding under the little fold out. I never would have found it except I lifted up the whole thing and it came tumbling out.

Alex laughed when I found it.

Seriously!

October in Review

Our October was fantastic! We took the boys to a Pumpkin Patch/Corn Maze early in the month and later Alex enjoyed his first Halloween dressed up as a Teddy Bear. We figured that since we call him our Bear that it was the perfect first costume. He looked adorable and magically didn't pull off his hat the entire night.

Some of Alex's first steps

Here is a little video (taken with my camera phone unfortunately) of some Alex's first steps! His first official steps were at the beginning of October - just one or two here and there. Now he's putting 5-10 together in one stretch.

A Walk with Friends

This gorgeous October evening we took a nice walk on the beach with our friends Mandy, Leng and their son Kai. Mandy and I are sporting the fabulously comfortable Ergo baby carriers in this photo. No lower back pain!

It was a wonderful evening and the weather was perfect to enjoy the stroll with our dear friends.

 

Rock Band Rock Star