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!