20!

Well, I tried to update from my phone but for some reason, I could not type in the info, just the title. I couldn't even download pictures. Oh, well.

Alex is now officially 20 months old!!! That sounds so big to me. He has come so far in the past few months. Playing with his cousin, Zak, over Christmas time was a great present for him. They had so much fun playing together and learning from each other. Zak taught Alex how to crawl up onto tables and chairs while Alex taught Zak to scream. Alex will greatly miss his newest friend.

Also new is Alex's language skills. He can now throw things away, hand me something, or take something to Grandpa when asked. He can answer "yes" or "no" to questions. He can identify his head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, belly, and toes. He can say and sign so many more words now I have a hard time keeping up. I got some simple books from my mom that have a picture and the lable under, one per page, and Alex is able to identify what each picture is when asked. His new favorite word: apple. He will sign it on my face when I am holding him. Very cute.

I really do like being here in Belton. I am spoiled with family here to watch Alex while I nap, shop, or just get lazy. We are slowly able to save up money to pay our debts, but it seems like we will be living with my parents for quite some time still.

The only thing we are lacking here is a good church. I know for sure that I am constantly comparing to our church in Buda, and none are as good to me. I miss our friends there and the weekly LifeGroup. I am praying that we find a church home soon. Finding one, knowing that you can only visit one per week, is slow going and frustrating.

new pictres are here

Finally!

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What is life like at the Grandparents' you ask? Tantrums. Lots of them. I don't know if it is all the newness, the age, or all the stuff that he is not allowed to do or he just can't do physically. Thank God for giving me the patience to handle this.

We spend a lot of time outside taking walks with the dog and going to parks. He loves to play in the leaves and push his stroller. He has learned a lot of new words and signs. Some of his new favorite signs are "leaf" and "airplane." He hears lots of planes and helicopters overhead now that we are so close to Fort Hood. He hears them before most anyone else.

What is up with the tantrums? He likes having everything go his way or he gets frustrated, squats down and bonks his head on whatever he is mad at. Thus he now has a big bruise and a sore on his forehead from whacking it too hard. My new mantra: "This is only a phase!"

No Sir!!

Finally settled in at the Grandparent's.

Two Words!

Alex said, "No sir!" I got it on video, but cant figure out how to get it onto Mom's computer just yet.

Is that considered a sentence?

When will it end?

Why is it that while packing up and getting everything out of the house, the house actually seems messier than before?

I have spent this week packing all our stuff to move in with my parents this Saturday. It is all going into the garage for now and we will fill up the moving truck on sat. It isn't very hard except that I have Alex to attend to at the same time.

He was really cranky yesterday since he didn't get much attention and has been watching all of his toys and stuff being put away. Today is starting out quite whiny as well. Thank goodness he still takes a nap. I can choose to get work done without him or just sit and relax. Yesterday I worked my butt off, so today I will spend these two hours silent and fairly still.

Pray for our sanity. I have been quite quick tempered with Alex and feel really bad about it.

1, 2, 3, Go!

I put the step stool in here yesterday and he decided to create this little game. He has been doing it for about 30 minutes now.

Bout Time!

At the Texas State Homecoming game. Alex ate an entire hotdog and had a great time. The mascot scared him a bit and he couldn't take his eyes off of it. The whole crowd around us helped to get him to look at the camera, but he was not persuaded.










Yes, those are shorts on his head. He got upset when I took them off, so he wore them for quite a while.


These are just more cute pictures. Daddy cooking with the kid, and Alex hiding stuff in the buffet.

Man of the Year Award

Patrick found the camera!! It was under the bed. Hooorrayyyy!

So coming soon. . . more videos and pictures.

PS: We will be moving in a couple weeks to my parent's home. Pray for us an easy and uneventful move.

It's Super Baby!!

Not the best quality pictures, but you can still tell what is going on. Isn't he adorable?

Words

Alex loves to talk. Lately, he is babbling all the time. Here are some of the words he now can say:

1. Hi (His favorite word so far.)
2. "mi" (milk)
3. no
4. moo
5. uh-oh
6. wow
7. da-da
8. ma-ma
9. baby (mostly by signing)
10. sign for "apple"
11. "mo" (more, with sign)

Male Supermodel?

My little man went to the doctor yesterday for his 15 month well check. (Okay, we were a month late-he is 16 months now.) He got three shots! Ouch!!

He is now 31 3/4 inches tall (80%) and 21 pounds 12 ounces (25%). So he is very tall and skinny. His weight on the chart was consistent with the past, but his height shot up considerably in comparison to his previous measurements. I was pretty shocked to find out how little he weighed. I was expecting at least 26 pounds. He just seems so much heavier than 21 pounds.

More

Oh how he loves his ball!!


As I was washing dishes, he got into an open bag of pecan pieces and dumped them on the floor. He thought it was interesting.


The broom became a javelin. He is quite strong.

Pictures!

Cousins playing in the dirt.

Book time.

Notice the jacket. It was cold outside!

Ribs!!! Yummy!!!

Taking a walk with Grandpa.

Scrubbing the dishwasher with Mommy.

Yucky dirt!

This is the way I stroll.

This is the life!

No, I still haven't found my camera, but fortunately I send Patrick a few pictures each day via text, so I just got those.

Great Cook

Christine and I went into Lockhart today with the kids. While we were there, we went out to lunch at a bar-b-q place. One of the cooks was walking through and saw Alex smiling. He told him that with those chompers he could probably do in a rib good. So, after a minute he came back out of the kitchen with a little plate and one rib! Alex loved it. I never would have thought to give him a rib, but with his new molars and his front cutters so big, he made easy work of that meat. I was quite impressed. He ate most of it plus some of my mac n cheese, beans, roll and Christine's potato salad. What a big belly he had after that! I cant wait to see how great of a nap he gets today!

(He is down to just one nap a day now. He sleeps from around 11-1 or as late as 1-3 depending on the day. He refuses to sleep the second time around, so I gave up. He is a bit cranky in the evenings, but I like having him around more!)

Soon

Pictures will come soon. I can't seem to find my camera right now.

Alex got a new haircut Friday! He is so cute. Thanks, Mona!

Table time

Now that is what I call fun!

Little Boy Boots

He has lots of room to grow, but aren't they the cutest!!!

Shoes and more

These are the shoes I promised to show you as well as other adorable pictures.

Clementine came for a visit today and got to spend some time in Alex's cubbie. (He wasn't exactly happy she was in there, but he shared well.) They played well next to each other and even shared toys at times. They are so cute together. I think they understand what the other "says".

Shoes- not just for girls

Grandma Ludlow bought Alex some adorable shoes this past weekend. He loves them. He brings them to me and holds up his foot so I can put them on him. (Elizabeth and Alex have something in common!)

Yesterday, with his new shoes on, he got to walk through HEB instead of riding in the cart. Boy, was that fun. He loves walking and all the attention it gets him. He does insist I hold his hand at all times, though.

He saw the toy section and found a kitchen toy. When he pulled the faucet lever, it started singing. He got so excited, he started dancing right there and continued to pull the faucet to keep it singing. His dancing consists of squats and then an excited stomping and screeching. It was so cute. I wish I had the camera so I could have gotten it on video. I will try to take a picture of the shoes and get it on here, hopefully soon.

Clementine's One!

This last Saturday was Clementine's first birthday. Alex had so much fun with his cousin. Isn't she adorable in that fluffy pink dress?

Grandpa Franklin and Pam gave Alex a ball and book to play with and he didn't put it down for about the first hour we were there. Clementine seemed to like not having to share her toys with him. ("Oooooh!" --That is what she said when Alex came in the house. I think she remembered the mean boy who took her spoon and bonked her on the head with it the day before.)

Alex became attached to a new friend, Keiko. She is a friend of Chris and Christine's. He spent so much time on her lap, when we left, he even smelled like her!

Roman

Roman had a bad day yesterday and will be paying for it. I am taking him to a shelter today. Patrick and I agreed this was the best thing to do. We will miss him.