Peer Pressure

This past weekend, we went to Grandma Franklin's house where Chris, Christine, and Clementine were as well. Clementine is walking now and was showing off her skills to Alex. He seemed to be thoughtful about this new thing she was doing.

He would try to stand and take some steps while we were there. Ever since, he has been practicing over and over again. He will try to stand and thinks about taking steps. Sometimes the steps work, but most of the time he lands on his bottom. Good thing he has lots of padding there!

Christine said that once they are able to squat down and pick up a toy then stand themselves back up, they will soon walk. Well, that is what my little man did today. I was so proud of him.

It's about time!!!

Disregard last post

I just removed the last post if you were wondering where the pictures of Roman went. He is going to stay with us, just farther away from Alex. There is no where for him to go as of yet and until a proper second home can be found, we will keep him.

First Steps

Last night we were in Temple with my parents. While Patrick and I were out, Dad got a video of Alex standing by himself and taking two to three steps on his own!!! I am upset I wasn't there, but this is soooo exciting. If you look at the Blogs on the right, you will notice that Clementine started walking too. Hers was quite a bit farther, though. Yea!!!

The Vocalist

Cuteness Squared

Woohoo! We're down to two!

Two naps, that is.

Yes, you read that right. My little one loves to sleep. We just recently were able to get him down to only two naps a day instead of three. Supposedly most babies are down to two naps around 9 months-Not my kid! I started noticing on the monitor that he was not sleeping, just playing quietly in his crib the whole time during one or two of his naps. That is when I said, "That's it."

I now keep him up in the morning until 9:30 and he sleeps for about an hour. Then his next nap is at 3:00. This has become his two hour nap. Yea, Alex!

My little one is getting on a schedule and Mommy is loving it!

Oh what fun was had!

We spent the weekend with my parents. On Monday, John came to visit and brought his three girls. Gianna had fun stacking blocks for Alex and letting him knock them over. She made sure they didn't fall on him or make too much noise. (Her sisters were sleeping.) It was precious to watch how she took to him. He was happy to have someone to play with as well, though he is still learning how to play with others.

Most of the rest of the family was there as well as a Skype call with Christy, Zak, Bill, and the almost-here Yonas. Seven more weeks!

I was able to scrub the baseboards in the dining and living room, use the shop-vac to suck out the water that had accumulated in my dad's old sailboat, take a car ride through Belton to see all the newly built stuff, and play with the family. What a great weekend!

On Friday I will go back with Alex. I have been hired as my Mom's maid. I am excited to start. I need to help with income since I quit my job. There are many things (like dirty baseboards and other low-lying items) that I have noticed since having my son crawling around there so often and I want them cleaned. I will be going every other week and my dad/whoever-else-is-there, will watch the kid. Yea. Sounds like a winning situation from every angle.

Is he one or two?

Alex has begun to express his voice on lots of things these days. He is quite loud and will swat his leg as he cries. He gets himself all worked up. We are trying to teach him baby sign language, but even though I think he understands me, he doesn't quite get how to talk back. This, along with his insatiable need for independence has led me to believe that the "terrible twos" are, for us, beginning a bit early. It is draining to say the least. He is still happy and smiley, but he will get frustrated when he finds out that he can not open the fridge or drag his walker on his back.

Tonight he threw an all out tantrum because I took away his graham cracker. (I am perfectly okay with being the mean mommy sometimes.) This fit lasted for a good ten minutes with him rolling on the floor and screaming at the top of his lungs. When he finally calmed down, we tried dinner again. First bite- good, second bite- fit. We were just about to leave my mother-in-law's house anyway, so we just packed him up still screaming and gave him a sippy of milk. He finally calmed down after about another ten minutes in the car. By that time I doubt he still knew what he was crying for. He finished his dinner at home with no fuss. (thank goodness)

I have spoken to some friends about these fits and they all say it is normal. Talk about testing out the mommy skills early. Good thing I have practice with lots of kids screaming at me all day!

Big Helper

He saw me getting out the hand sweeper and dust pan and decided he needed to be involved. He held the pan while I swept, then cried when I needed to use it. Then the mop came out and he was soooo excited. He "mopped" my floor pretty well. I can't wait until he is old enough to do the real job so I don't have to!

UP & DOWN

Alex was taught by Grandma Franklin how to get down from furniture and Mommy taught him this morning how to use Roman and a box to get up. He has been going up and down all morning!
UP Down

Baby Signing Time

Alex has been watching Baby Signing Time at home. This is my brilliant boy signing "baby" as I sing the beginning song. So sweet.

Three cheers for the Birthday Boy!!

We were all excited to celebrate Alex's first birthday. So much so that we celebrated three times!! On the Sunday before, we went to Grandma Franklin's house for brisket lunch and cupcakes. Alex and Clementine had a blast together in their diapers. Alex wouldn't eat the cupcake, but Clementine definitely loved hers. On his real birthday, poor thing had to go to daycare and didn't get picked up until 6 (bedtime.) Not much excitement that night, but he did get woken up to the birthday song. Then the following Saturday, we had crabfest and bday party at Grandma and Grandpa Ludlow's house. This was a big family get together and Alex decided he liked his chocolate cupcake! Yea!

Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!!!

My angel is officially one year old today at 12:10 this afternoon. My, how time flies when you're having fun!

A new kind of exercise

He loves to climb!



...but it sure is exhausting!!

Yummy!

While at Cracker Barrel the other day, I gave Alex the lemon from my tea and found out that he LOVED it! The waiter brought him a plate of orange slices and he spent the entire time chewing on them. He likes the rind, too. Weird. I also learned that he loves strawberries. Not a good idea while in clothes-even if he is wearing a plastic bib. Even his diaper got pink.

3, 2, 1. . .

The countdown is on! Only 8 more school days until I am a SAHM!!!! I am so excited and nervous I can't stand it! I am trying to plan as much as possible in order to have some semblance of normality with all the new "free time".

Happy Mommy to me!!

Is there a more perfect mother's day gift than to offer your baby to God? I think not. We dedicated Alex to the Lord yesterday and had a good number of our family come to celebrate with us. Even Patrick's dad (Papa) and Pam made it up for a while.

Afterwards, we all went to our house for pizza and cake. (Thanks mom for helping out!) Alex crashed as soon as we got home. When our friends came over with their kids, it was quite a happy home. One of the kids thought Alex had woken up and so decided to go in his room and turn on the lights. He didn't like that very much. But, it allowed our family and friends some time to hang out with him.

Alex got a few gifts including toys, a bible, books, clothes and a piggy bank. Thanks everyone!

Happy Mother's Day to us all!

Before and After

Before: Notice the long locks. After: Daddy gave him a trim. Before: "What is that brown stuff over there? I wonder what it tastes like." After: "But I am having fun. I don't want to go to bed."

REALLY?

Alex went to the doctor yesterday. We thought he had pink eye and found out he also had another ear infection!!! I thought he was over that. Even the doctor was stunned.

Summer please come quickly!

life after surgery

He had his ear tubes put in and his adenoids were removed last Thursday. It took him a while to get over the sleepiness of the anesthesia. I relished in the fact that he was once again laying still in my arms for more than two minutes. He was so drowsy that he didn't even flinch when the nurse took out the IV. My brave son!

He is on antibiotic ear drops twice a day, antibiotic liquid three times a day, the nebulizer twice a day and ibuprofen for pain management every four to six hours. I think the medicine is reducing his appetite and upsetting his tummy, making feedings very difficult. It is so frustrating. Oh, and apparently when addenoids are removed the sinuses fill with mucous to aid in healing and then drains profusely out the nose. That doesn't help him with eating very much, either.

Seven more Mondays. That is all the time I have left until I am an official SAHM! I can't wait to have a son who is well and NOT on antibiotics.