Search results for 'alex'

Twenty Three Month and Twenty Fourth Month Snapshot: Alexandra

I completed the monthly snapshots of our beloved Alex during her first year.  Here is the snapshot of Alex’s twenty third month and twenty fourth month!  Alex is two, already!  We cannot believe it!  (You can view Alex’s thirteenth and fourteenth months here; Alex’s fifteenth and sixteenth months here; Alex’s seventeenth and eighteenth months here; Alex’s nineteenth and twentieth months here; and Alex’s twenty first and twenty second months here).

“You will never have this day with your children again.  Tomorrow, they will be a little bigger than they are today.  This day is a gift.  Breathe and notice.  Smell and touch them.  Study their faces and little feet and pay attention.  Relish the charms of the present.  Enjoy today.  It will be over before you know it.” — Jen Hatmaker

This above quote is so true.  Our time with Alex is flying by.  Babies do not keep — Alex is turning into a little girl before our eyes.  This year has been really fun with Alex, and we have done our best to keep things as normal as possible for her during this time, as the last third of her second year has been impacted by COVID.  However, COVID has not stopped Alex.  She loves her books, and she goes to sleep with them and she wakes up with them in her crib.  She is still very curious about everything!  I think her favorite phrases are, “Help please,” and “What’s that?”  She has a big personality and is so strong in every way!  This spring we got rid of Alex’s paci, for good, cold turkey, after making it through quarantine/lock down!  For the first week, she would say, to us, “Where’s ‘pat pat!’  We told her that ‘pat pat’ went to help another child.  Then, she seemed to have forgotten about it, thankfully!  She also got her first hair trim this spring, and I kept a few locks of her hair for her Promptly Journal, which I do my best to keep up with.  Alex also loves to pick out her clothes, socks, and shoes each morning!  Alex’s car seats are now forward facing, and she seems to enjoy her car rides more, as a result, along with having more space for her legs and feet!  We also are transitioning her to the Stokke chair, as she is getting too big for her high chair.  She is also, currently, cutting her two-year molars, which is no fun.  We were able to get her into the dentist this month, as her spring appointment was rescheduled due to COVID.  She did fairly well, and her teeth are looking good, thank goodness, and I hope she got Doug’s teeth and not mine!  Before we know it, she will have all 20 of her baby teeth!  We have her two-year doctor’s appointment coming up — I am sure she will be off the charts, again, with her measurements!  We are already transitioning into size seven Pampers!

This spring, we got a small pool as our pool was not open, and Alex loves to play in it!  However, our pool did open late, with many restrictions and limitations, due to COVID.  Alex loves going to the pool — she has absolutely no fear of the water!  She is a little fish!  (A few videos of her in the pool are shown below!)  So, we get Alex to the pool several times a week, to take advantage of this time, so she can do some swimming, and we recently even got her to wear her goggles for a period of time.  She is learning to tread water a bit, currently, and she loves to jump in the pool!  Alex also really loves music, and she especially loves to dance to music, which she asks us to put on for her everyday!  This is still her favorite song, which we listen to daily!  She also loves art, especially painting!  She also loves to build with her Legos and Magna-Tiles with her Dada!  But her favorite thing to do is to look at books and spot objects, letters, numbers, and colors, etc.  She is recognizing more colors, letters, and objects everyday it seems!

Additionally, we celebrated Father’s Day at the end of June at home!  Doug set up Alex’s pool that day, and we all had fun!  Alex loved opening Doug’s Father’s Day gift we picked out for him, of course!  We also celebrated the Fourth of July at home.  Doug got Alex some sparklers, but they were not a big hit with Alex this year.  During this time, on these hot summer days, we have enjoyed taking the girls to get ice cream at Vaccaro’s and Rita’s, which they both truly love (and we eat our ice cream together in the car)!

Importantly, during this time, we celebrated Alex’s second birthday!  We cannot believe she is two-years-old, already!  It was quite a journey to parenthood, so we will always celebrate Alex’s birthday, as it is a very special day for us!  This year, due to COVID, we had Alex’s birthday celebration at home with the four of us followed by a trip to the pool, and take out for dinner!  Alex had a great day and we all had a nice time together!  She loved her rose cupcake we got her, as she ate it all up!  We had Alex’s second birthday cake, a butterfly cake, made at the same place as last year, on a smaller scale.  And, we also got Victory an unfrosted vanilla cupcake, which she loved, too!  (We were supposed to be on vacation this past week, over Alex’s birthday; perhaps, we can try again next year.)  And, we just finished putting all of the magnets on our fridge capturing Alex’s second year!

Alex is her own little person, and the time is going by so quickly, especially this second year.  Even though this pandemic is awful, it has been nice to have this period of time together that we would not have otherwise.  Alex is changing all of the time.  My favorite time of the day is putting her to bed at night after she is done playing.  We sit together in the glider and read books, and she spots letters, colors, and objects.  Then, she will cuddle before I put her in her crib.  I know this time will pass, but it is simply the best holding her in my arms, with her head pressed against my chest and I can feel her smooth, soft skin along with her damp curly hair.  I know one day, she will be too big for this, so I savor our present.

We are so grateful for this journey.  We are incredibly fortunate that we get to be Alex’s parents — it is the best job ever!  She is a bright, beautiful, amazing little girl!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few iphone images from Alex’s twenty third month!

 

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty third month — Alex watering our plants!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty third month — Alex swinging!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty third month — Alex and Doug talking!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some iphone images from Alex’s second birthday celebration!

 

 

 

 

There has been so much change in a year’s time!

 

 

 

Here we all are at age two!

 

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty fourth month, her second birthday — Alex on her birthday surprised with her gifts!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty fourth month, her second birthday — Alex and Victory together on Alex’s birthday — Alex feeding Victory treats!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty fourth month, her second birthday — Alex having her cupcake on her birthday (she was not a fan of the candles lit!)

 

A few iphone images from Alex’s twenty fourth month!

 

 

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty fourth month — Alex swinging on a bar with all of her strength!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty fourth month — Alex swimming with no fear!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty fourth month — Alex jumping into the deep end of the pool!

Twenty One Month and Twenty Second Month Snapshot: Alexandra

I completed the monthly snapshots of our beloved Alex during her first year.  Here is the snapshot of Alex’s twenty first month and twenty second month!  (You can view Alex’s thirteenth and fourteenth months here; Alex’s fifteenth and sixteenth months here; Alex’s seventeenth and eighteenth months here; and Alex’s nineteenth and twentieth months here).  Alex is changing all of the time and she continues to grow like a weed and she has the loveliest hair curls — I think we might be getting close to her first hair trim in the near future!

Joan Didion said, “Life changes fast.  Life changes in the instant.”  This is so true, especially now.  Life as we know it has changed, greatly.  Things are very different due to COVID-19.  This post is different than Alex’s other blog posts, as during this period of time, we were in quarantine, which continues.   We have no idea when Alex will return to school; however, she is doing daily Zoom sessions with her class, which she enjoys.  I know that I will miss this time together, whenever this period ends.  We fell into a daily rhythm, early on, and we spend as much time as we can outside together, while embracing the nice weather, which has vacillated between warm and cold weather this spring.  Alex loves to run outside and burn her energy, always.  Alex loves spotting puppies and other animals, while on our walks.  Our Governor left one State Park open, which we frequent.  Alex absolutely loves throwing rocks with her Daddy into the river!  We have found new trails and places that we have never been during this time, as everything is closed.  During our walks and hikes together, Alex loves collecting sticks and she is in love with storm drains and water run off reservoirs — she finds them fascinating!  She also absolutely loves to do bubbles, too.  (We made sure we stocked up on bubble solution during this time, which has been hard to come by, along with other items, which we take for granted!)

Alex continues to change all of the time.  Her favorite song, currently, is “Skip to My Lou” — she absolutely loves it, and she dances to it as well!  She does not watch television, but she does like watching a few clips, at a time, of the Super Simple Songs.  Alex loves to FaceTime as well!  One of Alex’s favorite things to do is doing the Highlights “Find It” pages.  She is captivated with finding the items in the pictures; and she also enjoys greatly looking at her books asking us and telling us what is contained in the pictures.  Alex also loves looking and learning about animals in her Ranger Rick Cub magazine.  She is learning to count and she recognizes some letters, already!  She is talking more each day, too!

We celebrated Easter at home with Alex and Victory!  They seemed to have a great time with their Easter baskets!  We also spent Mother’s Day at home filled with beautiful weather and a fun walks together, along with take out for dinner!  I am so grateful.  I still cannot believe Alex is almost two-years-old!  The time is flying too fast and we are doing our best to savor it.  Due to the COVID-19, we cancelled her birthday plans, this summer, and we will celebrate at home together instead.  And, we will also likely cancel our vacation plans as well.  I will always remember this time for many reasons.  We will have many stories to share with Alex, someday, when she is older, from this time together!  I do my best to capture our time together via photographs.

Alex still cuddles with me before bed and she sits with me in the glider where she loves to spot items in her Highlights and her books with me before bed.  She is sleeping and napping really well these days, thankfully, and she is eating well, too!  Everything is always changing and it is all so fleeting.  What I will remember from these months is how she wakes up talking to herself in her crib, while looking at her books, which she loves.  She is entertaining herself more in the mornings, which is great, especially during this time of great juggling between everything!  Victory and Alex are closer than ever.  Alex’s new hobby is feeding Alex from her high chair!  Victory, I believe, has no complaints!  Alex and Victory are always up for an outing and adventure!   We took the girls to get ice cream on more than on occasion, and we all ate our ice cream in the car together!  Alex is becoming her own little person right before our very eyes, and she is looking more, and more like a little girl!  I feel so fortunate.  It has been such as journey.  We are doing our best to embrace the now, the present.  We are so grateful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few iphone images from Alex’s twenty first month!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty first month — Alex riding her Roadster!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty first month — Alex trying the Peloton for the first time!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty first month — Alex and Doug throwing rocks into the river together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A few iphone images from Alex’s twenty second month!

 

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty second month — Alex dancing on her hands to Redbone!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty second month — Alex feeding Victory some food!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty second month — Alex and Doug flying a kite together!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twenty second month — Alex running over a bridge!

Nineteen Month and Twenty Month Snapshot: Alexandra

I completed the monthly snapshots of our beloved Alex during her first year.  Here is the snapshot of Alex’s nineteenth month and twentieth month!  (You can view Alex’s thirteenth and fourteenth months here; Alex’s fifteenth and sixteenth months here; and Alex’s seventeenth and eighteenth months here).  Alex is changing all of the time and she is still growing like a weed!

How is our little girl already twenty months old!  The time continues to fly by very quickly!  I cannot believe we will have a two-year-old in short order!  This is such a sweet time, and there has been so much change in these last two months.  Alex is finally sleeping consistently throughout the night and it has really made a difference.  Since birth, Alex has not been the best sleeper at night.  Right now, her sleep is consistent and predictable, and I am honestly getting the best sleep since before she was born.  Her hair is getting longer, and she still has her lovely curls.  We can even do little pigtails now!  She is not a picky eater, and she is willing to try anything.  She is also working on getting her two-year molars.

Alex is quite outgoing, she has a sense of humor, and she is fun and adventurous!  She has the cutest laugh and giggle!  She is dancing up a storm and she loves to dance (she makes up her own dances) on the hardwood floors at home!  She loves music and she makes up her own songs, which she sings, and it is so endearing.  She still loves her bath time and she loves practicing going under water and blowing bubbles during this time!  She has even started to take a few showers with me, and she loves it!  She also is really into balls right now — she loves to throw them and play with them!  Alex is also captivated by her Daddy’s trains, shown below!  She still loves to read her books, she loves for us to read to her, and she enjoys going to the library and bookstore.  A favorite book right now, is the “I spy” books!  She loves looking at her books, and she frequently says, “What’s that?”  She is spending more time on her own reading her books and playing, which is great!  She also loves coloring.  She made the cutest Valentine for us at school and we gave the girls Valentine gifts, which they loved!  Alex loves going to school and she enjoys learning and being with her friends at school.  Alex is learning to count numbers and she is saying more words and she seems to comprehend and understand more and more each day.  Her favorite that phrase is, “What’s that?”  Alex still loves to be outside and go to the play grounds.  She is quite curious; and, she never forgets anything!

However, it has been a tough winter filled with sickness here.  Alex missed at least a week of school as she had fevers, a double ear infection, and bad cold.  It took multiple rounds of antibiotics to kick the infection.  I then got run down taking care of Alex, and I got strep, the flu, pink eye, and a bad cold all in quick succession.  Then, Doug got a bad cold.  This all happened over a six week stretch.  We just cannot wait for spring to come fast enough, and it’s almost here, technically!  Victory and Alex bonded during all of this sickness, as she is so attentive to everyone in our home.  As a result, there are not as many photos taken during this time, as I did not feel well.

Once everyone felt better, we took Alex to the train store to get a few things for Doug’s train set up.  After much work, Doug has nearly finished his train set up, a passion of his, and he can run three trains simultaneously!  And, it is so sweet, because each night, Alex asks to go up and have Doug run the trains!  The trains have never been run so much, ever!  It is so nice Doug can share his passion with Alex!  (A brief video is shown below).  Doug even got Alex a girl’s conductor’s hat, and Alex loves to conduct in only her diaper, of course!  We are working on getting Victory to come up during this train time, but she is not yet comfortable.  So, we bring Victory up during this time, only to have her leave!  So, we are working on it!  For Valentine’s Day, Doug got Alex an Ikea train, which she loves and she is pretty good putting the track together and ‘running her own train’ liker her Daddy!

We also took Alex to Port Discovery, a children’s museum, with her little friend from school.  Alex had a great time.  It is one of the neatest and most interactive places that I have been to for kids.  As you will see in the images below, there was a large slide, four stories high, and one had to be five years in order to go down the slide.  So Doug broke the rules, and they climbed up to the top together, as he knew Alex would love it.  They reached the top, and Alex sat right down on the slide; and, thankfully, the museum worker let them go down the slide even though Alex is clearly not five-years-old.  It was neat to watch them go down together!  Alex still seems to have no fear and she is pretty adventurous!  There were so many activities for the children, and Alex really enjoyed pretending to be a cashier and pressing all of the buttons on the cash register checking people out with their food!

We were finally recently able to get Alex back into swimming lessons after everyone got over being sick!  She still loves it!  Doug and I take turns going in the pool with her!  And, we now have Alex on a wait list for a gymnastics class since she is so active and loves to climb!  That should be fun as well!

We also went with Alex on a school field trip to the Maryland Science Center, where she had a wonderful time with her class!  Alex loved the Kid’s Room and she especially loved the dinosaur exhibit!  She had a great time exploring, as always!

We were fortunate to get some fun outings in, described above, before things really changed out here late last week due to the COVID-19.  We hope you are all staying safe.  It is a really crazy time, isn’t it?  We will have to be really creative to keep Alex occupied, while finding safe ways for her to burn her energy!  Most everything is cancelled out here and work schedules have been modified greatly for many people.

Alex still cuddles with me for a little bit before bed and sits with me in the glider.  She no longer falls asleep in my arms outside of her being really sick.  It is a reminder that everything is always changing and it is all so fleeting.  What I will remember from these months is how she wakes up talking to herself in her crib, and it is so captivating.  She is entertaining herself more in the mornings, which buys us a little time!  However, she loves to and prefers to play with us!  How she greets Victory in the morning with a big smile and wave, whereby Alex says, “Hi Tory!”  I always love her big smile, which melts our hearts.  Alex also loves to run up to us, and she gives us hugs on our legs, while we are standing.  It is so sweet.  And, she is always up for an outing and adventure!   She is becoming her own little person right before our very eyes!  I feel so fortunate.  It has been such as journey.  We are doing our best to embrace the now, the present.  We are so grateful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few iphone images from Alex’s nineteenth month!

 

 

Here is a video from Alex’s nineteenth month — Victory being such a good ‘big sister’ to Alex!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s nineteenth month — Alex feeding Victory some treats!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s nineteenth month — Doug and Alex running the trains together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few iphone images from Alex’s twentieth month!

 

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twentieth month — Alex coloring!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twentieth month — Alex at her swimming lesson!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s twentieth month — Alex and Victory sitting together during a dinner together outside!

 

Seventeen Month and Eighteen Month Snapshot: Alexandra

I completed the monthly snapshots of our beloved Alex during her first year.  Here is the snapshot of Alex’s seventeenth month and eighteenth month!  (You can view Alex’s thirteenth and fourteenth months here; and Alex’s fifteenth and sixteenth months here).  Alex is changing all of the time and she is still growing like a weed!

How is our little girl already eighteen months old!  The time is flying too quickly!  It has been a busy few months for us.  Alex is still busy as ever and curious as ever!  Alex is turning into a little girl right before our eyes.  Doug coined her name on her new easel, that she got for Christmas, as the following: A is for Active; L is for Lovable; E is for Energized; and X is for Xtraordinary!  Alex is talking more and saying more words, too.  She comprehends a good amount as well.  Alex is down to one nap a day these days, and we have not found anything Alex is not willing to try food wise, including brussels sprouts, go figure!  She has a lot of personality and she is her own strong little person who knows how she likes things — her way!  She loves running around the house in only her diaper!  Her hair is very pretty and it is getting longer with some blonde and red highlights, with lovely curls in the back!  She currently is obsessed with our remote control for the television and the baby monitor screen for her room.  She thinks they are her telephones, which she loves to pretend play with each day!  She also loves to go into my office and sit in my chair and ‘type’ on the computer, use the mouse, and talk to Victory who is usually sitting under my desk at home!  She even likes to help with laundry!  She, unprompted, likes to take our dirty clothes and put them in the laundry, and a short video is shown below!  She also likes to help throw trash away, too!  And, she is also pretty good about putting her toys away as well.  Overall, I think, she is a good little helper!

Additionally, she is exploring more in the house and interacts more with Victory all the time.  Her chasing of Victory has mitigated; and she is petting Victory more gently, and she loves to give Victory treats before ‘night night!’  It is so sweet.  A short video is below of our girls!  In a few more months, I think Alex will understand more about Victory.  Victory still joins us in Alex’s room in the mornings and always before Alex goes to bed!  We will say to Victory, “go see sissy,” and she immediately runs upstairs to Alex’s room!  Alex has stopped calling Victory ‘Lou Lou’ and she is now saying ‘Tory,’ which is so sweet.  She always says ‘hello’ to Victory every morning and tries, sometimes successfully, if Victory is up for it, to pet Victory!

Alex really loves to go out on outings with us as well, even if it is just to the local Lowes with Victory!  She can ware herself out running up and down the aisles, and she thinks it is fantastic!  We also went on another field trip with Alex’s school to the B&O Railroad Museum, which she enjoyed and the museum was decorated nicely for Christmas!  Doug loves trains, so it was really a fun day!  And, Alex loved the short train ride, too!  Alex still loves our neighborhood playground and loves to play with the chalk and go in the swing!  We found another large park that she loves to go to as well.  The weather has been pretty mild, so we have been able to get her out and about!  She also still likes to go on walks together.  For Christmas, she got a new trike, which she loves, and she eventually will be able to peddle the trike by herself!

Alex had a great Christmas and Thanksgiving.  (Their visit to Santa this year was memorable.)  She participated in her school Holiday Party!  She looked adorable and she did her best to sing along with the rest of her class!  On Christmas Eve, she decorated homemade eggnog sugar cookies with Doug and it was a lot of fun! (A short video is below.)  On Christmas morning, Alex and Victory wore matching pajamas, their Happy Hannas!  They looked so cute together, albeit, it was challenging to get a photo of them together, as Alex was excited on Christmas morning doing her own thing, but I managed to get one descent photo of the girls together!  By the end of the morning, after working hard opening gifts, Alex took a long nap.  I am not sure Alex fully understood the concept of Christmas, but she had fun!  She also loves her new personalized new chair, which is fitting as she had been and still says, ‘I sit’ frequently!  She also loves her Roadster for indoors as well!

Alex tried out the Peloton Tred, which we love, pictured below, that we got for Christmas.  Alex never really cared for the child care at the gym, which made it challenging for us to get to and use the gym regularly, so we decided to get a treadmill for the house.  We had to reconfigure two rooms of our house, but we got it all to work and we absolutely love having a treadmill in the house, which is so convenient and the classes are engaging and fun, too!  I wish we had done it sooner as we are now able to workout consistently!

With Alex’s long Holiday break, we took her on some outings, including a few trips to an indoor playground, which she loves.  She still loves Pump It Up, as well, which we also visited a few times over her break.  She had a few play dates, too.  We also took her to Enchant, in D.C., which we all loved.  The light display was beautiful.  We plan to go back next year, if it is still local.  (There were even a few dates, which we missed, that allows one’s pup to attend as well!)  We took Alex to D.C. and Northern Virginia for New Year’s Eve and we had a nice evening together!  We have a few more places on our list to try this winter with her, which we are looking forward to.

Alex still cuddles with me in her glider, right before bed.  She pulls down her blanket and crawls into my lap with her lovie (a burp cloth); and most of the time, she falls asleep during this time.  It is one of my favorite times of the day.  There is nothing like it.  I feel so fortunate.  It has been such as journey.  We are doing our best to embrace the now, the present.  We are so grateful and we are excited for this new year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few iphone images from Alex’s seventeenth month!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s seventeenth month — Alex doing laundry!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s seventeenth month — Alex swinging!

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 A few iphone images from Alex’s eighteenth month!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s eighteenth month — Alex decorating Christmas eggnog sugar cookies with Daddy and Victory!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s eighteenth month — Alex climbing with all of her might at Pump It Up!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s eighteenth month — Alex shooting balls at Mamma with Daddy!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s eighteenth month — Alex sitting with Victory!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s eighteenth month — Alex feeding Victory treats!

 

Finally, below is a look back, month-by-month, (via iphone images), of our sweet Alex over the past eighteen months!  There has been so much change in such a short period of time!  We are so grateful for our healthy little girl!

 

Fifteen Month and Sixteenth Month Snapshot: Alexandra

I completed the monthly snapshots of our beloved Alex during her first year.  Here is the snapshot of Alex’s fifteenth month and sixteenth month!  (You can view Alex’s thirteenth and fourteenth months here).  Alex is just changing all of the time and she is still growing like a weed!

Alex is still extremely busy!  She is always doing something!  She is quite curious, adventurous, and she loves exploring.  She loves being read to and she now likes to go to bed with her board books, which she is pretty hard on, as she breaks the binding of the books, at times!  (We have already had to replace a few books!)  She loves playing hide and seek!  She usually likes to hide in our bathroom or my closet and she thinks it is hilarious when we ‘find’ her!  She also loves to play telephone, and Doug usually plays this game with her — they hand the phone back and forth and pretend someone is calling for little Alex!  She also recently started brushing her own hair, it is so cute!  She also loves Taylor Swift’s, The Man song, which we play in the evenings, and she dances, and it is incredibly heartwarming!

During this time, we did a lot of swimming!  Alex took swim lessons at the Goldfish Swim School and she swims regularly at our gym!  Alex loves the water and she is pretty brave when it comes to trying new things, thankfully!  She still loves her bath time as well, and Daddy usually gives her a bath in the evenings these days!  We took our girls to Pups in the Park along with several trips to the park, book store, as well as dinner outings!  We also took Alex and Victory to Lowe’s and Bass Pro, during bad weather; Alex loved getting on the boats and the all-terrain vehicles, along with the big lawn mowers at Lowe’s; and she also loved the Lego store, near Bass Pro, too!  We also took a trip to the petting farm and two trips to the pumpkin patch!  Alex was adventurous and she rode a horse at the petting farm, shown below!  We celebrated, one of our favorite times of year, Halloween with our Super Girls!  Alex also participated in a school Halloween parade and celebration, and she had a wonderful time!  Alex even went trick-or-treating to about a dozen nearby houses!  She had a ball, and she even helped hand out candy before getting too tired!  We also took a lot of long walks in our neighborhood together, which Alex enjoys!  (We have to order the Bob Stroller soon, as Alex has already just about grown out of the Bugaboo Fox Stroller, sadly, which should have lasted until she was about three, but she is so tall!)  Alex also attended two birthday parties and she had a ball!  One party took place at Pump it Up, and Alex went down steep slides all by herself (Doug, fortunately, carried her up the steep steps, multiple times!)  A brief video is below!  We, of course, also celebrated Victory’s eighth birthday!  Alex, especially, loved celebrating Victory’s birthday — she absolutely loves balloons!

Alex has started saying more words!  It is endearing listening to her talking to herself in her room early in the morning!  Alex is sleeping eleven to twelve hours a night, although the recent time change has caused Alex to wake early, but we are almost back on track, fortunately.  We are so beyond elated!  She is also still taking a morning nap and afternoon nap.  Alex loves to climb and, when she wants up, it is the cutest, she says, “I sit!”  Most of the time, she usually can get up on the object she is climbing, on her own.  Alex now climbs up the stairs and goes down the slide at the park all by herself!  Additionally, Alex loves Victory and says “hi” to Victory all of the time.  There is a resident dog at Alex’s school named “Lou Lou.”  Alex, consequently, calls every dog, including Victory, “Lou Lou!”  When we are on walks together, and when Alex spots a dog, she waves and says, “Hi, Lou Lou!”  We are working on getting Alex to say, “Tory,” Victory’s nickname!  Alex still likes to run after Victory, so we keep that to a minimum, for Victory’s sake!  Victory is a good sport with Alex, and we cannot wait for when Alex really understands that she cannot run and pull on Victory — we will eventually get there!  Victory loves her little sister, too.  She is very tolerant, thankfully!

Alex, as of the fifteenth month, is officially off the bottle!  Yay!  She is slimming down a little, too, as a result.  She loved the bottle, but it was time for her to exclusively use the sippy cup!  (Alex still loves her paci for nap time and bed time!  We are aiming to get rid of her paci by age two, per the pediatrician and dentist!)  Alex is also feeding herself, pretty well, with a spoon and spork!  She really loves being independent!  She absolutely loves fresh watermelon — a favorite fruit!  She loves carrot sticks, too!  We are introducing more fruits and vegetables and she is even eating more chicken and beef!  Victory is always close by, during meals, to gobble up Alex’s food droppings, and Victory is even getting more brave going under Alex’s highchair to eat the food droppings, while Alex is still in her highchair!

Alex did pretty well at her fifteenth month doctor’s appointment; however, she is not keen on going to the doctor’s, even for well visits.  And, of course, she is still off the charts!  Alex also had her first trip to the dentist during this time.  The pediatric dentist was very nice and thorough; however, as mentioned, Alex is not keen of any medical professional these days!  Importantly, her two-year molars are the last teeth to come in, and then we are done with teething!  Yay!  At the dentist, the tears came, but the dentist got done what she needed, thankfully.  Teeth brushing is not one of Alex’s favorite times, nor is it ours!  Flossing is a real struggle, as one could imagine!  Interestingly, it is actually easier for me to brush Victory’s teeth, and I brush her teeth about five mornings a week!

Alex will still cuddle with me in her glider, right before bed, in her dark room, just before placing her in her crib, and I love receiving her kisses and hugs, hearing her talk, and feeling her soft curly hair against the side of my face, as I know these times will not last forever.  We are doing our best to embrace the now, the present.  I am savoring each day with her and she is one of my greatest teachers, in addition to Victory and Biscuit.  Alex has a beautiful smile, eyes, and personality — we think she is absolutely adorable!  Alex is worth every minute of our wait and our journey to get her; ultimately, she entered our lives right on time, when she was supposed to come.  We are so happy we get to be Alex’s parents.  I am very grateful to be able to document our every day, as these seemingly ordinary moments are so precious and fleeting; I always want to have these images for posterity.  Life is good; and we love getting a front row seat seeing our adventurous girl grow up!  Each month gets even more fun with our girls, Alex and Victory!  We are so, so grateful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few iphone images from Alex’s fifteenth month!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s fifteenth month — Alex in the pool at her swim lesson!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few iphone images from Alex’s sixteenth month!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s sixteenth month — Alex at Pump It up!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s sixteenth month — Alex at Nordstrom’s helping Mamma pick out some new boots, while saying, “I sit!”

 

Thirteen Month and Fourteen Month Snapshot: Alexandra

I completed the monthly snapshots of our beloved Alex during her first year.  I am still not, for sure, how I am going to share Alex’s second year.  In any event, here is the snapshot of Alex’s thirteenth month and fourteenth month!  Alex is just changing all of the time and she is growing like a weed!

Alex is a busy, busy, busy girl!  She is always doing something, always!  She loves exploring and she is quite curious.  One of her favorite things to do is to stack things, particularly the stacking cups!  She also thoroughly loves stacking while taking a long soak in the bath tub!  She loves her bath time!

Alex started saying “hi,” “bye,” “yeah,” and “yes!”  She is constantly babbling away, while starting to mimic words she hears!

Alex’s teeth continue to come in!  We go to the dentist in a few weeks for her first dental visit!

Alex remains very strong-willed and full of personality!  She is her own little person who is always up for a new adventure!

We enjoyed many trips to our park and pool during these two months, which Alex loves!  Alex is now jumping into the water, floating on her back (with assistance), and going underwater, without issue, on her own!  It is so neat to watch!  She is a little fish who is now signed up for swim lessons, which begin this weekend and we got her some goggles to try!

We also took multiple trips to the book store!  She keeps us on our toes every time and Doug and I usually leave exhausted from chasing her up and down the book aisles!  She is too fast!  She is currently reading this series before bed.

Alex loves our bubble whale machine!  We have fun with Alex and Victory with the bubble machine on our deck.  Alex attempts to catch the bubbles!

Alex started her first day of ‘big girl’ school!  We cannot believe it!  She loves school and she is thriving!  We framed her first piece of art, a water color painting, shown below!

Alex and I were on our own for several days while Doug was away on travel for work.  Alex, Victory, and I made it through okay!  Doug started a new position, which he is enjoying, and we are all acclimating to a new rhythm, as a result!

Alex took her first trip on an airplane!  Alex and I flew to Michigan where she met some extended family for the first time.  Alex did well on the plane.  I was, honestly, a bit nervous flying by myself with her, for the first time, but she did well.  She, fortunately, slept during the entire flight back to Maryland in my arms.  On our way back to Maryland, the gate attendant was so kind — she let us have a row to ourselves, which was wonderful, which provided a small area for Alex to roam prior to take off!  (Alex did well on flight to Michigan as well, she was awake for the entire flight!  And, Victory had a lot of ‘daddy time’ while we were away!  Victory went out to eat each evening!)

During this time, we enjoyed dinners out with Alex and Victory!  And, Victory went on two date nights with us.  Doug and I just celebrated 15 years together since our first date!  Where has the time gone — so much has changed; while, simultaneously, so much has remained the same, fortunately.  I feel so grateful for it all.

Additionally, Alex is interacting more and more with Victory.  Alex really wants to give Victory food, shown in a short video, below — Alex just has to learn to let go of the food so Victory can eat it!  We are looking forward to some outings this fall, which likely will include: Pups in the Park; the petting farm; a Navy football game; the pumpkin patch, and celebrating Halloween — the girls have their costumes ready!  We love the fall season and we cannot believe it will officially be fall so soon!

In between everything, I have continued to work on the revisions to my long-term photography project, which, hopefully, should wrap up this fall, I hope!  It has been a really long journey, but the work is taking shape, and I look forward to staring the next steps going forward.

Life is so full and so good — each month just gets better!  Doug and I are truly grateful for this journey.  We love our girls so very much.  I am savoring our early morning and evening snuggles with Alex rocking in the glider in her room, as they will not last forever.  Importantly, Alex is living her best life!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Technically, during Alex’s thirteenth month, we went on vacation, which I previously shared here; and we celebrated Alex’s first birthday celebration during her thirteenth month as well, which I also previously shared here.)

 

 

A few iphone images from Alex’s thirteenth month!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s thirteenth month — Alex in the pool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few iphone images from Alex’s fourteenth month!

 

 

Here is a video from Alex’s fourteenth month — first time on an airplane!

 

Here is a video from Alex’s fourteenth month — Alex trying to share with Victory!

Twelve Month Snapshot: Alexandra

We made it through the first year!  Alex is officially a one-year-old!  We are so thrilled and elated!  The time keeps going by more quickly and more quickly.  (This post is delayed, as we have been away on vacation and I recently took a break from the blog.)  The theme this month, summed up in one word, is grateful.  We are so grateful that we made it through the first year, a feat.  Most of all, we are so incredibly grateful for Alex, our long-awaited rainbow baby.  Our lives will never be the same and we are extremely grateful to have a healthy child!  The first year felt long, at times, but short simultaneously, if that makes any sense.  There were days that I felt so utterly exhausted, for what felt like days on end, in contrast to days that were filled with great joy and everything else in between!  I did my best to be (and continue to be) present in it all.  The moments, after all, are so fleeting.

Most importantly, our baby Alex is turning into a little girl, before our very eyes, which seems difficult to fathom.  Alex is literally running these days!  She loves to explore, climb stairs, go through our lower cabinets, nightstands, dressers, and carry bowls around the house, etc.  (We still have some kitchen baby proofing to finish!)  She always loves to have something in her hands while she explores.  Her favorite toy is her play phone, which she loves!  She really loves all toys that play music!  She currently says: ‘mamma,’ ‘dada,’ ‘uh oh’, ‘cuckoo’ (Korean for peek-a-boo) and ‘umma’ (Korean for mom).  She does lots of babbling as well.  One of her favorite things to do is dance.  She loves music, including the ABC song, and most any song.  She understands rhythm; and she wiggles her whole body, and it is just hilarious and heart-warming to witness!  I frequently gaze back at her in the car and she is wiggling her body to the music playing!  Alex also loves the park.  We take Alex and Victory to the park, frequently, and Alex loves carrying her toys around and picking up everything off the ground!  She likes the swing and the slide, too!  She also still loves going to the pool and she floated, with assistance, recently, on her back!  Alex also loves to go to the bookstore where she loves to explore!  We are looking into a dance class that might take one-year-olds and we will start her in swim lessons this fall since she continues to like the water and she loves bath time more than ever these days!  Doug has coined it her ‘long soak!’  Overall, Alex is a busy bee and she is living her best life.

At the beginning of this month we also celebrated Doug’s first Father’s Day and, some images, documenting that special day, are shown below as well.  Doug (and Alex) opened gifts that morning and we all went out to lunch and spent the day together followed by ice cream in the evening with Victory!  Alex also had her first Fourth of July celebration this year!  She looked really cute in her spirit-themed outfit!  We also had a great date night this month — we saw the Rolling Stones!  Additionally, we had a painting made, which now hangs in our home, shown below, of our beloved cherubs made by the talented artist, Chelsey Luster.  We are so pleased with the painting of our girls.  Victory, of course, is still involved and integrated more than ever; and she is still an attentive ‘big sister.’  She still joins Alex in the early mornings and waits in Alex’s nursery for Alex to come in after bath time for ‘night-night’ in the evenings!  It is absolutely adorable.  They sit next to each other in the car — I imagine Victory knows that Alex is strapped into her car seat!  Alex is still learning not to grab Victory’s fur — Alex tries to chase her, but Victory is way too fast!  It is hilarious to watch!

Alex recently had her one-year doctor’s appointment and she is, again, off the charts with her size!  Alex has almost already out grown her Bugaboo Fox!  If we had known, we would have got the Bob stroller off the bat.  So, we will have to get the Bob stroller next, and that should be our final stroller for Alex!  She continues to work on getting her molars and two more teeth on the top and bottom, two of which has cracked her gums.  She will go to the dentist for the first time soon!  She started eating meat for the first time this month — she likes turkey and chicken.  She is now also drinking only whole milk and water.  She still loves yogurt and fruit.  She is sleeping through the night as of the eleventh month, and it has been so helpful for us.  It took us awhile to get here, but, alas, it has been so nice to sleep.  She is still up really early in the mornings and she occasionally gets up with her teething, but she is sleeping through the majority of nights, thankfully.  Also, we recently had her first parent-teacher conference at her play school, which went really well.  Alex is thriving and her teacher described Alex as: bold, adventurous, curious, and stubborn!  We think these adjectives do describe her well right now!  She is a strong person in personality and physical strength!

Notably, we celebrated Alex’s first birthday this month!  The morning of Alex’s birthday, we celebrated her birthday at home, as a family, just prior to leaving for our vacation to the beach that day!  We decorated her room where we opened gifts together; Victory also joined us, of course!  Then, Alex and Victory each had a vanilla cupcake, minus the icing for Victory!  I am not sure if Alex knew what to make of the cupcake, but she did smash it up pretty well, with some help, and we stripped her down to her diaper in short order!  We then had a birthday dinner with Alex in Rehoboth Beach!  Some images from her actual birthday are shown below, a day I will never forget!  She loves her climber that my parents gave to her along with her first baby doll that we gave her, Wee Baby Stella, whom she affectionately sleeps with!  She loves her other various toys she received from us, friends, and family!

Additionally, soon after returning from vacation, we had a first birthday celebration for Alex with friends and family!  A good time was had by all!  We had a pink and gold themed birthday for Alex’s first birthday.  I had the most fun designing Alex’s cake that was in keeping with the theme of Alex and Victory’s monthly photos along with our first vacation together, shown below!  And, the cake decorator, Rachel, did a truly wonderful job bringing my vision to fruition, which came to me earlier this year!  Doug and I were really pleased and everyone loved the cake!  The birthday cake features Alex and Victory at the beach atop the cake along with water color butterflies painted along the perimeter of the cake, which ties into the invitations, while also representing the metamorphosis of our family this year, along with beautiful, life like, roses, as “Rose” is Alex’s middle name after Doug’s beloved Grandma Rose.  (Water color roses were also painted on Alex’s swim suit.)  We served our favorite ice cream with the cake — Jeni’s ice cream!  Alex enjoyed her cupcake with a fondant butterfly coordinating with her birthday cake; and, overall, Alex had a nice time at her party and she looked adorable!  We are so very grateful that we were able to celebrate this special time!  A few images from Alex’s birthday celebration are below along with a video from this special day.

We also recently took our first vacation together as a family of four!  Doug literally found one of the only places to rent at Rehoboth Beach that permitted a baby and furry family member!  We had so much gear to pack for our trip, we thought initially that we were going to have to take two cars!  It took a long time to pack, but, fortunately, we really did not forget any items, and Doug managed, somehow, to get everything in one car along with Alex, Victory, and I in the back seat.  Due to traffic and the Bay Bridge back up, it took us over four hours to get to the beach, much longer than usual; Alex did pretty well, but she definitely is not a fan of being in her car seat for any long periods of time!  But, we made it!  And, we got both of our cherubs to the beach in the evenings, which was no small feat!  Alex loved the ocean; she walked on the beach; and she even went swimming in the ocean!  It was really nice to get away together and we all love the ocean!  We have many wonderful memories!  I will do a separate blog post pertaining to our vacation, in the near future, but a few images, providing a snapshot, are shown below.

This month, while celebrating a big milestone, has been full of some really exciting changes and Alex will, for sure, continue to really keep us on our toes.  We love our girls and we are embracing it all, and we feel extremely blessed!

A few highlights from Alex’s twelfth month include:

-she is all over our house into everything!  It is really unbelievable!

-she is climbing the stairs on her own, which is a little terrifying!

-she still loves the pool!

-she loved her trip to the ocean and she did really well!

-she loves to clap her hands and wiggle her body to songs, especially the ABC song!

-she is sleeping through the night, most nights!  We are so, so grateful!

-she is tolerating us brushing her teeth!

-she loves being with other kids and interacting with them!

-she is being a little more adventurous with food — she is trying more things!  She had ice cream for the first time this month and she liked it!

-she still likes going for stroller rides and she loves going to the park where she walks around!

-she loves bath time more than ever these days!  she has a lot of bath toys that she plays with and she loves standing up in the bath and walking around in the water.  Her new favorite thing to do is to play a game where she turns the water on, and I turn it off, and it just continues.  I suppose we will have to break this at some point soon!

-she is still very alert, curious, observant, and she loves for things to be her way!  She still loves to interact with other kids and observe them, and she is still enjoying her play school!

 

A few highlights I would like to remember:

-photographing and making videos of Alex — I want to remember and capture as much as I can!

-remembering our first vacation together.

-remembering Alex’s first visit to the ocean!

-remembering Alex enjoying the pool!

-remembering Alex giving the biggest kisses ever!

-remembering how Alex loves to have her burp cloth over her eyes when she takes her bottle before her nap and bedtime.

-remembering how Alex sticks out her tongue slightly when she concentrates like her Daddy!

-remembering her curiosity and determination.

-remembering Alex climbing the stairs for the first time on her own!

-she loves her toys and she still loves to pull them all out and play!

-remembering our walks together around the neighborhood in her Bugaboo, which she loves!

-remembering greeting Alex each morning.  Some mornings, I swear, she has grown over night!

-remembering Alex’s curls — her hair is growing at a pretty rapid rate!

-remembering that Alex is always up for a new adventure!

-remembering how Doug turns Alex upside down like a bat and Alex just giggles and giggles!

-watching her explore her environment — which has grown ten-fold for her because she is really on the move now, and I am not sure we are ready!

-watching her interact with Victory!  Alex loves to try to capture Victory to no avail!

-loving how she smells after her baths!

-loving on her long, velvety and smooth body!

-marveling at her smile — she has the most wonderful smile that melts our hearts, and now we can see all nine of her teeth!

-admiring her eyes — they are the prettiest deep blue eyes I have ever seen!

-loving her long and lovely dark eye lashes!

-knowing on the days that I feel totally exhausted, that I will someday really miss these early days, and I need to remind myself, at times of this fact.  The daily exhaustion is improving, some.

-still asking myself what will I miss about this time of my life when it’s all gone?  This question keeps everything in perspective.

-most of all, we are cherishing getting to be Alex’s parents!

Doug and I are very grateful for our little girl and our little family!  We feel so fortunate and our hearts have grown so much since Alex’s arrival.  We look forward to seeing Alex’s little personality continue to develop and unfold.  Below are a few images: Alex’s monthly portrait; Alex and Victory’s monthly portrait; followed by photos of Alex throughout this month; and some iphone images during her twelfth month with us!  You can read our birth story along with viewing images from Alex’s birth here; you can read Alex’s one month snapshot here; her two month snapshot here; her three month snapshot here; her four month snapshot here; her five month snapshot here; her six month snapshot here; her seven month snapshot here; her eight month snapshot here; her nine month post here; her ten month post here; and her eleven month post here.

(I finally completed the series of monthly photos with Alex and Victory to chronicle this first year together full of so many changes in such a short duration of time!  It was not so easy!)

This month I have continued to work on finishing further revisions on my long-term photography project with my mentor in between everything.  I am getting close to finishing revisions, an endless process, it seems.  I will continue to photograph and take videos of Alex and our little family; however, I will likely not share them in this monthly format that I shared over Alex’s first year.  I will continue print images of our family; make photo books of our family via Artifact Uprising, each year, chronicling our time together; and I will continue to write in Alex’s Promptly Journal.  This is my attempt to capture and preserve our present and past for our future reflection.

 

See how much Alex has grown as compared to last month!

 

 

Above, you can see the extraordinary change in only twelve months!

 

 

See how much Alex has grown as compared to last month!

 

 

Above, you can see the extraordinary change in only twelve months!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few iphone images from this month!

 

 

The painting of our cherubs.

 

 

 

Here is a video of Alex in the swing at the park!

 

Here is a video of Alex swimming with mamma!

 

Here is a video of Alex swimming with daddy!

 

Here is a video of Alex on her actual birthday!

 

 

Here are several favorite images from Alex’s first birthday celebration!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a video of Alex from her first birthday celebration!

 

Here is Alex’s first birthday cake inspiration board!

 

Here are a few favorite images from our recent vacation to Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a video of Alex and Victory together at the beach!

 

Eleven Month Snapshot: Alexandra

I cannot believe it is, again, already time to do another post, Alex’s eleven month blog post!  The days are flying by too quickly these days!  The theme this month, summed up in one word, is thriving.  Alex is now a two-footed mobile little person who is saying a few words such as ‘mamma,’ ‘dadda,’ and ‘uh oh!’  Alex started balancing herself, without assistance, in early April, and then she took her first steps in May, around Mother’s Day, and by the end of May, at ten months old, after she figured it out, she was walking on her own and she walks a little farther in distance each day.  (A short video is shown below.)  Alex is so proud of herself when she walks and she was so determined to figure out how to walk!  We also got Alex her first pair of shoes recently from Stride Rite, the place where I got my shoes as a kid, and Alex has now mastered walking in shoes!  It is crazy to think that only 11 months ago, Alex could only hold her head up (she was born with very strong neck control) and she now is walking and starting to say a few words!  My little baby is turning into a little girl before our very eyes!  We think Victory prefers her on two feet instead of Alex charging Victory while crawling!  Alex is really progressing and coming into her own, and we are so grateful!  She is truly a gift and a ray of light!  Alex loves to walk laps around our kitchen island and take all of the magnets off the refrigerator — what was I thinking?!  She loves playing, and each morning she occupies herself, for a little bit, while she gets out almost every book from her bookshelf, pulls out every stuffed animal friend, and pulls out almost every toy she has in her nursery and she then plays.  Victory still joins Alex in the mornings and evenings in Alex’s nursery.  One of Alex’s favorite things to do is she still loves crawling all over us, treating us like her ‘human jungle gym!’  I think both Doug and I are covered in bruises, as a result!

Currently, Doug and I aim for one date night a month, hopefully more frequently, as Alex gets older.  This month, we took Victory out on her own for one of our date nights, as we wanted her to have some time alone with us!  We took her to one of her favorite barbecue restaurants and then we went for gelato together!  Victory had a grand time; and she was so tired from her outing she spent the following day resting in our bed!  We plan to give Victory her own time with us more often, especially during good weather.

This month we also introduced Alex to the pool, at the end of May, when our pool opened, and she seems to really enjoy it!  (A short video of Alex’s first time to the pool along with two short videos from last week’s pool visit are shown below!)  Alex can now even walk in the shallow water!  Alex has been under water a few times without crying; and she has put her face in the water all on her own!  She is also really social with the other kids at the pool — she does not seem shy, at all, as she goes right up to the other kids, without hesitation!  We had planned to start swim lessons with Alex this past winter, but with her, what seemed like forever, pneumonia, things did not work out as we had hoped.  So, we will plan to do swim lessons with her soon since she really seems to be a water baby!

Alex is also quite curious and she is quick moving.  She gets into everything, and she especially loves to go into my nightstand and pull everything out along with going into my purse where she crinkles paper, plays with my keys, and plays with my iphone.  She is doing a little better playing on her own this month, but she has her moments where she cries and cries in her ‘baby jail,’ and the moment one of us goes in there with her, she is, suddenly, all smiles.  Victory still helps us in a pinch by being in the room or in the ‘baby jail’ with Alex.  Alex still enjoys outings and seeing new things.  In addition to the pool, Alex likes to go out to eat with us; she likes the neighborhood park; and she still loves to go on walks in her stroller.  We are planning some summer outings with Alex and we are also looking forward to celebrating Alex’s first birthday next month while we are on vacation!  We cannot believe she is turning one so soon!  It should literally be an adventure for all four of us!

Alex is still physically big!  However, her eating has slowed down a bit, and she has two more teeth coming in along with her molars, which has been no fun!  In fact, she has run a fever, this month, due to the teething, poor girl!  So, she has eight visible teeth right now, (four on the top, and four on the bottom, with more on the way.)  Alex is sleeping through the night, most nights, after we started sleep training this month, as everyone needs and requires rest!  (Although, there are times we regress with the teething in full swing.)

We look forward to enjoying our first summer together as a family of four.  Importantly, we look forward to celebrating our first Father’s Day as a family of four this weekend!  It will be fun!  This month has been full of some really exciting changes and Alex will, for sure, continue to really keep us on our toes.  We love our girls and we are embracing it all, and we feel extremely blessed!

A few highlights from Alex’s eleventh month include:

-she started walking, which is exciting and terrifying at the same time!  It is quite amazing seeing a little person walking around our home!

-she is saying a few words such as ‘mamma,’ ‘dadda,’ and her favorite right now, ‘uh oh,’ along with making a lot of different sounds!

-she loves the pool!

-she loves to clap her hands!

-she loves making a clicking sound with her tongue!

-she still loves getting into everything in sight!

-she is sleeping through the night, most nights, after some sleep training!

-she loves being with her fur sister, Victory, and loves when Victory joins her for a meal, while Alex eats in her high chair.  Alex creates lots of ‘droppings’ that Victory helps herself to!

-she still loves going for stroller rides outside!

-she still loves her bed time routine and Doug usually plays with her, gets her ready for bed, and reads a few stories, which Alex loves!

-she likes bath time more and loves to splash in the water and play with her toys in the water!  We transitioned her bath time to the regular bath tub, as she pretty much outgrew her little whale bath tub!

-she is eating well, but some days she does not eat as much.

-she is still very alert, curious, and observant!  She still loves to interact with other kids and observe them, and she is still enjoying her play school!

 

A few highlights I would like to remember:

-photographing and making videos of Alex — I want to remember and capture as much as I can!

-remembering her really walking for the first time!

-remembering her saying her first word, ‘mamma!’

-remembering her first time to the pool!

-remembering her sweet kisses and hugs!

-remembering how she loves to play in her nursery and pull out all of her books, stuffed animals, and toys!

-remembering how Alex still loves to crawl all over us, like we are her ‘human jungle gym.’

-remembering our walks together around the neighborhood in her Bugaboo, which she loves!

-remembering how we say, “It’s time for sleepy time,” and then Alex makes the biggest smile!

-remembering how on most days Alex does not like to have her hair combed or brushed!

-watching her explore her environment — which has grown ten-fold for her because she is really on the move now, and I am not sure we are ready!

-watching her ride on her Daddy’s shoulders in the pool, which never gets old!

-watching her interact with Victory!

-greeting Alex in her nursery each morning, as she is ready to start her day early no matter whether it is a week day or morning!

-loving how she smells after her baths!

-loving how her hair is so fluffy and soft against my skin!  It keeps growing and growing and she is getting a little bit of wave and a little curl in her hair in the back!

-loving on her long, velvety and smooth body!

-loving her giggles!

-marveling at her smile — she has the most wonderful smile that melts our hearts, and now we can see all eight of her teeth!

-admiring her eyes — they are the prettiest deep blue eyes I have ever seen!

-loving her long and lovely dark eye lashes!

-knowing on the days that I feel totally exhausted, that I will someday really miss these early days, and I need to remind myself, at times of this fact.  The daily exhaustion is improving, some.

-still asking myself what will I miss about this time of my life when it’s all gone?  This question keeps everything in perspective.

-most of all, we are cherishing getting to be Alex’s parents!

Doug and I are very grateful for our little girl and our little family!  We feel so fortunate and our hearts have grown so much since Alex’s arrival.  We look forward to seeing Alex’s little personality continue to develop and unfold.  Below are a few images: Alex’s monthly portrait; Alex and Victory’s monthly portrait; followed by photos of Alex throughout this month; and some iphone images during her eleventh month with us!  You can read our birth story along with viewing images from Alex’s birth here; you can read Alex’s one month snapshot here; her two month snapshot here; her three month snapshot here; her four month snapshot here; her five month snapshot here; her six month snapshot here; her seven month snapshot here; her eight month snapshot here; her nine month post here; and her ten month post here.

(The monthly photos are still tricky; Alex is in her laundry basket again this month because she kept walking away and trying to pet Victory who then began to also walk away!  I just have to find a way to capture Alex and Victory for one more month in order to make it to a year, chronicling this special year via this photo series!)

This month I have also been working hard on finishing further revisions on my long-term photography project with my mentor in between everything; and it is quite a bit of work keeping up with Alex’s monthly photos; printing of the images; creating her photo book for her first year; creating blog posts; and writing Promptly Journal entries.  However, this time will only happen once, and we want to record and remember it, so we are going to keep going with this process through the first year, where so many changes occur, sometimes seemingly over night!  I will always continue to photograph our little family to document our time together, but I am not, yet, sure how that will look for us after the first year with Alex!

 

 

See how much Alex has grown as compared to last month!

 

 

See how much Alex has grown as compared to last month!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few iphone images from this month!

 

 

 

Here is a video of Alex walking!

 

Here is a video of Alex at the pool for the first time!

 

Here is another video of Alex at the pool last week!

 

Here is another video of Alex at the pool last week!

Ten Month Snapshot: Alexandra

I cannot believe it is already time once again to do another post, Alex’s ten month blog post!  It has been a busy month, and it is not always easy to keep up with everything, but we are doing our best!  The theme this month, summed up in one word, is affection.  Alex is now giving us kisses and hugs regularly.  It is the sweetest — she crawls up on us and then stands up to get herself level with our faces and then she opens her mouth wide and then leans her lips onto our lips!  Then, she giggles and thinks it is just too funny.  She is giving us lots of hugs, too.  She can even ‘high five!’ and she can shake one’s hand as well.  She also really enjoys her story time.  As pictured below, in the evenings, Doug places her in her crib and then reads to her with Alex standing up, perched over her crib looking at the pictures.  Otherwise, if she is in our lap, when we read to her, she just wants to eat the books and grab all of the pages!  So, this has become a nightly ritual at bed time!

Alex likes her gated play area containing some of her toys, which we affectionately refer to as her ‘baby jail’ comprised of this gate and this play mat.  She loves to play with her toys, (she is really into balls right now and she is playing more with her toys instead of immediately putting the toys and everything in sight in her mouth), and she likes it even more when one of us plays with her, and she often demands one of us be with her playing!  If we are in a pinch, Victory will serve as her ‘play buddy’ in her ‘baby jail’ or in her nursery, buying us a little time to get some things done around the house.  Victory, fortunately, will cooperate!  Alex is still very aware and into Victory!  I think that Alex wishes that Victory would just sit still and literally play with her!  We are trying to teach Alex, as much as we can, to be gentle with her fur sister, Victory.  Hopefully, when Alex can understand more, she will be able to be a little more gentle with Victory.  Victory is not too keen on Alex ‘charging’ her, even though Alex means well.  Alex is currently learning what ‘no’ means.  Victory has been incredibly tolerant with Alex, which we are very thankful.  Alex is still growing like a weed and she was literally off the charts with her size when she was at her nine-month doctor’s appointment.  She is healthy, thankfully, and she is doing really well.  She had two more teeth crack through her gums this month, with more on the imminent way.   Alex is crawling all over and she really likes to and prefers to be standing vertical.  She is curious and loves to get into everything in sight!  She is balancing herself on her own more and for longer periods; and, just before Mother’s Day, Alex took her first step just before plopping down!  She literally seems to be moving right along.

Also, during this month, we celebrated our first Easter together, and it was fun.  Alex also had her first Easter Egg Hunt at her play school, which was fun, too — we helped her of course!  Both Alex and Victory got their own Easter baskets on Easter morning and they seemed to enjoy their Easter morning together!  We also just celebrated our first Mother’s Day as a family of four, which was really special!  Doug and I had a date night this month, which was nice.  We aim for one date night a month right now, if we are lucky!  Also, this month, Doug and I somehow finished getting our gardening and decks ready for the spring and summer months; and Alex and Victory are enjoy going out on the deck together overlooking their neighborhood!  Doug is also currently finishing some more baby proofing, which seems to never end!

We are looking forward to enjoying our spring and summer with Alex and Victory!  We cannot believe Alex turns one so soon!  This month has been full of some exciting changes and Alex will continue to keep us on our toes.  We love our girls and we are embracing it all, and we feel extremely blessed!

A few highlights from Alex’s tenth month include:

-she took her first step this month, which was exciting!

-she is standing and balancing herself more each day!

-she still loves crawling and getting into everything in sight!

-she is sleeping well in her crib in her sleep sack, while she is still getting up one time a night to eat most nights — we really hope to get her sleeping through the night soon, as we are very tired!

-she loves being with her fur sister, Victory, and loves when Victory joins her for a meal, while Alex eats in her high chair.  Alex creates lots of ‘droppings’ that Victory helps herself to!

-she is making lots of different sounds and she is getting louder with her sounds!  She still likes to laugh and giggle, too!

-she is very ticklish and she lets out the cutest giggles as a result!

-she still loves going for stroller rides outside!

-she loves her bed time routine and Doug usually plays with her, gets her ready for bed, and reads a few stories, which Alex loves!

-she likes bath time more and loves to splash in the water and play with her toys in the water!

-she is eating well and cheese was introduced this month, and she absolutely loves it, along with Victory, of course!

-she is still very alert, curious, and observant!  She still loves to interact with other kids and observe them!

 

A few highlights I would like to remember:

-photographing and making videos of Alex — I want to remember and capture as much as I can!

-remembering her taking her first step!

-remembering her sweet kisses and hugs!

-remembering her giving us some ‘high fives!’

-remembering how intrigued she is with my buttons on my clothing and necklaces that I wear.

-remembering how Alex likes to close her bedroom door continuously.

-remembering how Alex loves to crawl all over us, like we are her ‘human jungle gym.’

-remembering that she likes to have her back rubbed once we put her in her crib to help get her settled.

-remembering how she giggles so hard when she is tickled behind her ears!  She finds this hysterical!

-remembering our walks together around the neighborhood in her Bugaboo, which she loves!

-remembering how we say, “It’s time for sleepy time,” and then Alex makes the biggest smile!

-watching her explore her environment — which has grown ten-fold for her because she is really on the move!

-watching her ride on her Daddy’s shoulders, which never gets old!

-watching her try to chase Victory in order to try to grab/pet Victory’s fur!

-greeting Alex in her nursery each morning, as she is ready to start her day early no matter whether it is a week day or morning!

-loving how she smells after her baths!

-loving how her hair is so fluffy and soft against my skin!  It keeps growing and growing and she is getting a little bit of wave in her hair in the back!  It will be neat if she gets some curls, but we will have to see.

-loving on her long, velvety and smooth body!

-loving her giggles!

-marveling at her smile — she has the most wonderful smile that melts our hearts, and now we can see all six of her teeth!

-admiring her eyes — they are the prettiest deep blue eyes I have ever seen!

-loving her long and lovely dark eye lashes!

-knowing on the days that I feel totally exhausted, that I will someday really miss these early days, and I need to remind myself, at times of this fact.  The daily exhaustion is improving, some.

-still asking myself what will I miss about this time of my life when it’s all gone?  This question keeps everything in perspective.

-most of all, we are cherishing getting to be Alex’s parents!

Doug and I are very grateful for our little girl and our little family!  We feel so fortunate and our hearts have grown so much since Alex’s arrival.  We look forward to seeing Alex’s little personality continue to develop and unfold.  Below are a few images: Alex’s monthly portrait; Alex and Victory’s monthly portrait; followed by photos of Alex throughout this month; and some iphone images during her tenth month with us!  You can read our birth story along with viewing images from Alex’s birth here; you can read Alex’s one month snapshot here; her two month snapshot here; her three month snapshot here; her four month snapshot here; her five month snapshot here; her six month snapshot here; her seven month snapshot here; her eight month snapshot here; and her nine month post here.

(The monthly photos are still tricky; Alex is in her laundry basket again this month because she kept crawling away.  I just have to find a way to capture Alex and Victory for a couple more months in order to make it to a year, chronicling this special year via this photo series!)

This month I have also been working hard on further revisions on my long-term photography project with my mentor in between everything; and it is quite a bit of work keeping up with Alex’s monthly photos; printing of the images; creating her photo book for her first year; creating blog posts; and writing Promptly Journal entries.  However, this time will only happen once, and we want to record and remember it, so we are going to keep going with this process through the first year, where so many changes occur, sometimes seemingly over night!  I will always continue to photograph our little family to document our time together, but I am not, yet, sure how that will look for us after the first year with Alex!

 

 

See how much Alex has grown as compared to last month!

 

 

See how much Alex has grown as compared to last month!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few iphone images from this month!

(The images immediately shown below capture our first Mother’s Day together).