Alexa meets baby Anne!

Alexa and Anne are worlds apart right now... Almost one year old, Alexa is working on her first steps. Just over four months, yet born a preemie, Anne is working on holding her head up and sitting on her own. But someday these two will be good friends! They will, after all, be in the same grade at school. And they both have super cool mommas! For now, they just stared at each other, and my goodness was it cute to watch! Alexa clapped her hands and reached out to Anne, who stared back at her and smiled! I didn't catch her beautiful smile in my photos, but she smiled! Alexa can't wait to see Anne again... And play with her someday too!

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Is Alexa ready for her own trike? Or car?

Here she is at several recent parties checking out other kids' ride-on toys and a trike... What fun! Looks like she might enjoy one of her own! The only question is... Which one?

The horse is actually kind of vintage, apparently I had one when I was a kid! There is also the Playskool Step Start Walk'n Ride. And the creme de la creme... The SmartTrike! The only downside of the SmartTrike is that the wheels are plastic. Other similar options are the Kettler Trike, which has rubber wheels (eh, expensive!) and the Radio Flyer Trike, which our neighbors have. There is also the Little Tykes Cozy Coupe, the Push Buggy and the Radio Flyer Walker Wagon... Oh boy, the choices!

Birthday Party #4 (Julia & Sara turn 3!)

This is actually Alexa's second time going to Julia and Sara's birthday party. It's just that last year, I was days away from my due date of Sept. 2 and Alexa was still in my tummy! This time, my bubbly baby got to enjoy the party on the outside, which meant crunching on yummy pita chips, checking out this cool ride-on toy, playing dress-up and checking out a slinky! As favors, kids were each given a bucket to decorate with puffy stickers. Mommy helped Alexa put her name on her purple bucket. What a great party!

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Birthday Party #3 (Catherine turns 1!)

Alexa was excited to go to Catherine's birthday party today! As you might recall, Catherine is Alexa's first friend! Alexa met Catherine at her first doctor's visit when she was only five days old! Also, her first play date was with Catherine when she was about two weeks old. Catherine is 11 days older than Alexa and a strong walker! She gave Alexa a few tips... They were adorable to watch!

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After some yummy cupcakes, the girls took a dip in Catherine's baby pool! They LOVED splashing and getting wet. They were giggling and squealing in delight. Don't take my word for it, here's a video!



Some more adorable pictures of our bathing beauties. Also at the party, Alexa got to meet baby Ellie, who is 3 months old and the daughter of two other co-workers, Kim and Ken. She was adorable in her bee outfit. A little too small to go in the kiddie pool, but she watched the big girls!

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Birthday Party #2 (Avery turns 1!)

After the first Avery birthday party, Alexa was ready for another Avery party! This Avery was also born on 9/9/09, about an hour and a half after Alexa. I know Avery's mom, Blythe, from my mom's group. Our babies have known each other since they were about two months old! Also at the party was baby Ella, who was born in September a couple weeks after the A's. We all had a great time!

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Check out Avery eating her cake... She wasn't sure what to make of the frosting at first. But once she tried it, she dug in! We can't wait for Alexa to try her first cake!

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Birthday Party #1 (Avery turns 2!)

This weekend, Alexa was quite the party girl. She was invited to FOUR birthday parties! What a popular baby. Alexa took a nap, then got dolled up in her pink party dress for her first event: Avery's 2nd Birthday Party! Alexa knows Avery from day care. Her party included cookie decorating! Alexa was more interested in watching the bigger kids than decorating, so Mommy helped out. Daddy helped eat the cookies. Below, Avery is on the far left. All the dads work together.

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Alexa's new ball!

At this age, babies like to roll or throw balls, so I got Alexa a new toy! I wanted a ball that was light enough for her to hold and carry. This one is plastic, so it's soft. And it bounces! Plus, it has raised bumps all over it so that it's easier for her to grip. I think it's technically called a "sensory ball." And it was only $3.99 at Buy Buy Baby. Sold!

I also remember a friend of mine who has an older baby buying this for her daughter at the same time she recommended the Oball, which was a huge hit. So far, this ball has been a hit too! Alexa cracked up every time she dropped the ball and it bounced away from her... Still gotta work on the trowing part!

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My little walker baby! (video)

Awww... I was walking home from work today and look who came to meet me! My cute little baby! She was walking with Daddy and her face lit up when she saw me. Awww!

Alexa and her friend Hugo!

Daddy went to visit Alexa last week and found her sitting at the table with her friend Hugo! They were eating crackers and laughing. So cute! Hugo is adorable. He's the son of our friend Uzma, who is the cousin of our friend Shazia, who went to college with our friend Elizabeth. What a small world! Hugo is a trip. When I dropped Alexa off at day care another day, he waived at me! And he clapped his hands when he saw Alexa! Awwww... So cute. They're friends!

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A is for Alexa... and Adorable!

After weeks of extreme record-breaking heat, we finally got a nice week! Today was the best.... a high of only 75 degrees! Wow! to celebrate, Alexa got to wear her denim leggings again. They're almost too small! Here are a couple pictures of her, before daycare and after. She's a cutie pie!

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Waffles and Walking!

Alexa likes waffles, and we liked brunch last month at North End Beach Grill, so off we went! Alexa had fun playing with plastic spoons and fake keys until the food arrived. Then she went to town on my waffles! Yum, yum!

After breakfast, Alexa walked off the calories with a little exercise... And gave Mommy lots of hugs and giggles!

She also bonded with Mema over art... Sort of. We gave her a wet paint brush, hoping that she would enjoy "painting" a piece of cardboard. The wet strokes turn the cardboard a darker color. But all she wanted to do was practice walking and play with fake oranges. Oh well, maybe next time!

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One more picture... Our little Alexa at the rest stop... Look how small she is compared to her Daddy!

UPDATED BELOW: Happy 70th Birthday, Grandpa Howard! (video)

Yes, yes, Grandpa turned 70 last month when we were last in Ocean City. But this time, we had a party for him! All the kids and grandkids were there. So Alexa got to play with all her cousins! And aunties and uncles! She had a blast seeing everyone...

She especially liked walking back and forth across the yard with her big cousin Samantha! She was a walking machine, practically running! Look at her go!

She really liked walking over to the fence where the dogs were. She pointed at the dogs and made a "ruh ruh ruh" sound. It was like being at a zoo, a dog zoo! Here's a video of her talking to the dogs!

Update: Some more pictures of Alexa, thanks to Aunt Missy! Thanks for taking such great shots, you captured lots of smiles and got some really special shots!

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Alexa takes her first steps - at the beach! (video)

It's official - We have a walking beach baby! Alexa has been standing on her own for about a week or so... On Wednesday, I saw her take a half-inch step with one foot. Then on Friday, Daddy and I both watched her take one micro-step with one foot. Still... Only one step is not "steps," plural, so we waited! Then, on Saturday, as we were getting ready for the beach, Alexa spied the cat and off she went on her own... SEVEN STEPS!

Grandpa Howard and Mema Wanda were there, but Daddy was busy putting the beach chairs in the car, so he missed it. Boo! Alexa made it up to him at the beach... Here is a video of Alexa walking on her own! (2 steps, squat, 4 steps, 1 more = 7 steps!)



She was so proud of herself, that she gave herself a standing ovation!



My adorable baby... She likes the beach better every time we visit! If you recall, she wasn't very excited about the beach on our first visit. Probably because the water was so cold. This time, she had fun playing in the sand as well a splashing in the water. Here are my favorite photos of the day!

Here is our beach baby enjoying the waves and splashing in the ocean! Yay, Alexa!



OK, OK, ONE MORE video of her splashing... She was loving the water!

Alexa's first beach chair!

Also known as... Your daily dose of cuteness! I mean, come on, could she be any cuter?!

We took these pictures last Sunday after we got home from Buy Buy Baby. We have several birthday parties (four parties!) coming up next weekend, so we decided to get a head start on buying gifts. We got this beach chair for Alexa's friend from daycare, who is turning 2. But it was so cute, we had to get one for Alexa too! As you can see... She loves it! We are headed to the beach this weekend, so we'll bring it!

More day care art!

Look what Alexa made in day care today! My goodness is she a talented baby. Wow!

My sleeping baby...

As you can see, Alexa sometimes sleeps on her back! Usually, she sleeps on her stomach, but she moves around quite a lot at night. I'll put her down facing one direction only to find her curled up at the other end of her crib a few minutes later! She'll even sit up in the middle of the night, then nose dive back asleep. Often, she'll look for one of four pacifiers we keep in her crib, pop it back in (or toss it out of the crib) and fall back asleep. Check out the lower right photo... She has a pacifier in her mouth and one in each hand! We are very fortunate though, once we put her down around 7:30-8 p.m., she sleeps straight until we wake up at 6:30 a.m. to get ready for work. Yay for our good little sleeper!

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Re-cap of Alexa at day care

When we dropped Alexa off at day care today, the kids were getting ready for their daily walk! They go out on days where it isn't too hot. I couldn't get a good picture of Alexa, so here is what I have. She was all smiles and clapping her hands as her teachers buckled her in. It was so cute!

Last week, she did some pasta play... Check it out! Fun! Now, if only she would EAT it!

Here are some other projects she did in daycare... Scribbling with markers! Foot prints! Doesn't look like she is having fun with those foot prints though. Ha! (Btw, if you are admiring Alexa's cute dress and hot pink leggings, I got them on clearance at Macy's for only $7.99! Wow!)

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More clapping! And... A standing ovation! (video)

But first, a message from your sponsor of today's post: Starbucks Coffee! We kid. But really, that is Alexa fake-drinking some Starbucks coffee. She is now in the phase where she wants to copy everything we do... So after she kept reaching for my coffee, I finally washed out the empty cup and let her have a go. She took it and immediately tried to take a swig! She  must have thought it was a giant sippy cup!

So anyway, back to the clapping. Now that she can clap, she wants to do it all the time! Here she is:



And here she is clapping some more! And more! Plus, standing and clapping, also known as.... A standing ovation! Wow!

Alexa meets baby Annika!

We went over to the home of our former P St. condo neighbors Kyle and Elizabeth to meet their new baby today. Well, Annika Suzanne isn't so new anymore. She's already 3 months old! But compared to Alexa, she was so tiny. What a cutie pie!

Alexa had fun showing Kyle and Elizabeth what they will need to baby proof. She climbed up their stairs, pulled wine bottles out of their racks and crawled under their glass coffee table! Oh boy, it was quite an effort keeping up with her! She finally kept busy with the tissue paper from Annika's gift. Whew!

After her nap, we went out to lunch and Alexa got to try out her new Snack Trap, a nifty little thing that is designed to allow babies to feed themselves while keeping tiny snacks like Cherrios and Goldfish from spilling all over the floor. Awesome! Love it! It took Alexa a minute to figure it out, but once she did, she loved it too!

Mom's group birthday party!

It's hard to believe that our babies are almost a year old! I met a wonderful bunch of women through a mom's group I joined when Alexa was 2 months old. We've kept in touch through weekly e-mails, Facebook and tons of awesome play dates. Today, we got together for a family play date to celebrate our babies' birthdays!

Here are our same babies at previous get play dates... They've grown so fast!

The oldest, Brandon, turned 1 on July 5. Most of the babies are close to Alexa's age with birthdays throughout September. Her birthday buddy, Avery, was also born on 9-9-09! Speaking of, here is Alexa with Avery!

And here are Alexa and Avery throughout the past year... We are excited for Avery's 1st birthday party coming up in two weeks!

Here are some more pictures from the party... We had such a good time! I made lemonade pie, and it was a hit! Everyone wanted the recipe!

At the end of the party, Alexa took a spin on Brandon's new SmartTrike... What a cool bike! She loved it! It has shoulder straps and safety bars to keep younger babies onboard, plus foot rests for little feet and an adult push bar. Basically, it's a stroller-bike!

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Alexa is clapping her hands! (video)

We've been working on this one for a while... And now, Alexa is finally there! As you read in yesterday's post, Alexa is clapping her hands! It's the cutest thing ever. When we clap our hangs, she copies us and claps. Or she just claps. She claps sitting. She claps standing. She claps in our lap and she claps in her car seat. Look how cute!

And now... Video proof of her clapping! Enjoy! Happy Friday!

All about Alexa at 11 months!

We're almost done! Almost at 12 months! But first, here are Alexa's birthday pictures for 11 months. What a little cutie pie, as if you'd expect any less. Enjoy!

Some fun facts about Alexa at 11 months: 

• In addition to crawling, pulling up, cruising, walking with a walker, and standing without holding on, Alexa can now stand UP from a sit!
• She can also squat, and stand UP from a squat!
• She can waive goodbye!
• She can clap! Yay, clapping!
• She can put small things into a container, like putting all her ducks into a plastic bowl!
• She can roll a ball! We're still working on her throw...
• When sitting on the edge of the pool, she can "jump" into our waiting arms!
• Loves playing hide and seek! I go hide behind the couch and she crawls over and "finds" me, and when she does she cracks up laughing!
• In addition to walking with her walker, she now pushes just about anything around the house, like her "Alexa" stool or a dining room chair!
• Loves her play cell phone. Loves my cell phone even more. Loves the remote control the best!
• Knows what buttons to push to make her toys play music and will push the buttons over and over to hear the sounds!
• Is talking up a storm, although it's tough to make out exact words. We think she says dada, mama, dog and duck... Her daycare teachers swear she said "Hugo," which is her friend's name!
• Speaking of dogs, she has taken a BIG interest in them! When she sees a dog, she gets excited and starts making sounds! She also is curious about cats and when we were at Grandpa's house, she chased the poor kitty all around the house!
• She still has only two teeth, but we swear her top two are on their way any day now!
• We've read that at this age, babies start to dream. We think she has because she sometimes startles in the middle of the night, although she always settles back down easily.
• She is still under 20 pounds! Alexa weighed in at 19 lbs, 3 oz. That puts her in the 25th percentile. And, as such, she wears most 6-12 month and 6-9 month outfits, some 9-12 month and 12-month items
• You'd think at her size all she eats is veggies. Nope. She not met a cracker she did not like: Favorites are Gerber crunchies, Saltines and goldfish!
• She also loves water ice and frozen yogurt. Yum!
• Has beautiful hair that is getting longer! We love her long bangs and there's no way we're cutting her hair! Not yet! 
• Gives us big hugs where she wraps her arms around us and buries her face. Awww!

And now, check out how Alexa has grown in the last 11 months!

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Weight Check!

We took Alexa in for a weight check today... And she's not nearly as big as we thought she was! Alexa seemed to really chub up, so we were sure she had put on 5-6 pounds in the last two months. She hasn't. She's still in the 25th percentile and hasn't even topped 20 pounds yet! She weighed in at 19 lbs., 3 oz.

Here are her updated stats:

HEIGHT:

Birth: 19 3/4"

1 month: 21 3/4"

2 months: 23"

4 months: 24"

6 months: 25 1/2"

9 months: 27"

WEIGHT:

Birth: 7 lbs, 12 oz

1 month: 9 lbs, 7 oz

2 months: 11 lbs, 5 oz

3 months: 12 lbs, 3 oz

4 months: 13 lbs, 10 oz

5 months: 14 lbs, 6 oz

6 monhts: 14 lbs, 13 oz

7 months: 15 lbs, 4 oz

8 months: 16 lbs, 1 oz

9 months: 16 lbs, 12 oz

11 months: 19 lbs, 3 oz

What a happy baby!

Alexa was in a great mood when we got home from daycare today... She was all smiles as she pushed her stool and played with her cell phone. Look how cute she is! So cute, so cute!

And here is Alexa practicing her squat. Daddy says she has the catcher's stance down pat! Now all we gotta do is get her in some pinstripes... Speaking of attire, if you want to see how much Alexa has grown, here is Alexa wearing this SAME OUTFIT back in January (7 months ago!) when she was 4 months old. The tunic still fits, but barely. The pants have become capri pants!

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Update: We've gotten so much use out of this simple hooded tunic, that I decided to get another one, in her size! I found this one sized 12-18 months on eBay and ordered it. Yeah!

Alexa is 11 months!

It's hard to believe that it's been 11 months, almost a year, since the most beautiful, happy, amazing little girl came into our lives. We took some fun pictures in our backyard yesterday and I was struck by the similarity of these two shots. Same location. Same time of day. Same afternoon light twinkling in the background.

Looking back, I am amazed. Little did I know then how much joy was awaiting us! This past year has been a challenge, sure, but it has also been the best adventure of our lives! We are so lucky. We love you, Alexa! You are the best part of every day!

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Sunday afternoon fun in the back yard!

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Anything is a walker, as long as you push it! (video)

Seriously, who needs a walker with wheels? Alexa has found that anything she can push can be a "walker." Like, say, a laundry basket or a dining room chair. Or a music table. Or even her "Alexa" stool. Here is a video of Alexa pushing her stool all over the place...

And now, here are some photos of our cutie pie having fun playing with her stool and cell phone! She was in such a good mood, all about playing! And standing. And cruising. Yay!

Alexa loves her Aunt Chimmy! Yes she does!

What fun we had this morning! Aunt Chimmy came over last night to hang out with me since Daddy is away at a bachelor party. We enjoyed a nice bottle of Reverie wine and unlike our younger days, fell asleep by midnight! Ha!

In the morning, I went for a nice run with Alexa... A whole long story there, but here are the cliff notes: The front wheel of the jogging stroller came OFF! Alexa didn't fall out, not even close, but I had to wheel her home like a rickshaw. She slept the whole time!

When we got home, Aunt Chimmy was brewing tea so we all sat down for breakfast! Alexa tried waffles for the first time and she LOVED them! She also loved swinging and walking with Aunt Chimmy!

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Alexa is standing UP on her own! (video)

Alexa is getting closer and closer to walking! This weekend, she started standing up on her own, getting up from a squat position. So far, she just stands there and then sits back down. No first steps... But she is close! Want to see for yourself? Fine, check out this video!



And now, here are some more pictures of Alexa from today... Look how cute she is! She was full of smiles and talking up a storm. My little munchkin! She is also getting VERY good at drinking from her sippy cup. Just the other day, she drank HALF of the water in it! That's a good sign because once she's a year old, we'll need to wean her from bottles and move her to sippy cups for milk and juice (she hasn't had juice yet, but I assume we'll introduce that soon.)

And finally, here she is playing with her cups in the kitchen again! If you look closely at her pants, you can see some uneven stiches around the hem. They are size 6-12 months but were WAY too long for our shorty, so I had to (gasp!) hem them! LOL! If she stays short, I better get my sewing machine out...

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