Sleep Dog Wants to Play...

I absolutely am loving (most of the time) this stage Alex is in. He is learning new things every day and is just so much fun. 

I just have to share a story from yesterday that was the cutest thing:

On the way home yesterday afternoon Alex was busy as usual playing with the iPad. But then I heard "momma broke". I glanced back to see what the problem was and the iPad wasn't responding to him. The reason? Because he decided sleep dog wanted to play the game and was holding sleep dog's paw with his hands, trying to make the game work using sleep dog's paw. It was so cute but how in the world do you explain that an iPad requires a human finger? I just told him to touch it with his finger and luckily he went on with playing. I just thought it was cute how he was holding sleep dogs paw trying to push the buttons on the app.

I could share stories like this every day with all the new and fun things he is doing. He is really smart (probably too smart for our own good) and is always wanting to do things. We are getting a lot of the "I do" now with him wanting to do things on his own. But I am glad he is smart and able to try things on his own. Even if he means taking 10 times longer to cut up dinner. :)

Getting Bigger Every Day!

We had more "big boy" moments this week that I had to share.

First, despite the fact that we are 2 months away from his 2nd birthday, we flipped his car seat around to face forward. His legs had gotten so long after a recent growth spurt that he was all cramped up again the back seat. The first time I sat him in it, he was not happy. He is a major creature of habit and he knew that it wasn't right and wanted it fixed. A new Mickey app on the iPad helped distract him long enough to get bucked in and head towards home. Now I fight him wanting to get out of the seat and come up front with me every day. He thinks he should be able to come up front and play with the radio that he can now see. But he also can now see all the big trucks and loves being able to do that!

The next big step actually started at Nan and Poppy's while we were gone on vacation. In the past he has been obsessed with having his bath ring in the tub during bath time. So much so that if we didn't have it, he wouldn't sit in the tub, he would just squat. However now he has decided it is pretty cool to be able to move around in the tub and "swim" on his belly.

And of course he is very much in the "monkey see, monkey do" phase especially with Reagan. He even had to have his water in the same cup as her at dinner the other night. So he has decided he should brush his teeth now. This started about 2 weeks ago but I got some really cute pictures Tuesday night. First of him after bath time while Reagan was at practice and then later when he had to brush again because she was. You may notice that he is in different pajamas even though it was the same night but he had spilled water on himself and had to change.

Pulled the stool over to the sink, looked at me, smiled and said "brush teeth".

I guess he has heard us telling Reagan to "brush teeth, brush hair" too many times...

"Am I doing it right sissy?"

Sinus Infection and Allergy...

Right before Alex hit the 22 month old mark he had his first prescription written for him. While we were on vacation he developed a sinus infection and Nana had to take him to the doctor. Thankfully it wasn't anything serious and he didn't act like it was bothering him too much. Besides one case of the croup and a few minor colds here and there, we have an extremely healthy boy. This was his first infection and therefore his first antibiotic. Not too shabby for an almost 22 month old!

The day after we got back from vacation, things got a little interesting. As I was dropping him off at Sandy's, I noticed redness on the beck of his neck that had not been there that morning. As we started looking closer we noticed it was all over his back and tummy too. 

After another trip to the doctor we find out he is allergic to penicillin. And also has developed an ear infection on top of the sinus infection. So onto another antibiotic we go, along with Benadryl to knock out the rash. It has now cleared up and you can barely see any rash at all. He is still on the new antibiotic so hopefully it will knock out the infections and he will be back to 100% soon.

I was really worried about this new allergy until reality hit me in the face with the fact that I should be thankful that this is the "serious" problem my son is facing. As I read the blog of a previous co-worker about her little girl that will fight mental and physical disabilities for the rest of her life because of a brain injury, or read on facebook the updates of an old friend who's 2 week old daughter has spend every moment of her life in NICU and has already been through 6 surgeries to repair an over sized liver that grew outside her body, I can only be thankful that my happy, healthy son is only faced with a rash from an allergy and sinus infection that barely seem to bother him. 

We have been so blessed to have 2 very healthy children and I think God for that nightly as I rock my little boy to sleep. I pray for all those mothers that worry nightly about cancer, disabilities, and much more serious problems. I can't imagine how strong they have to be to watch their children suffer like that.

Mommy and Daddy Gone...

Well Matt and I took the plunge last week and went on vacation without the kids. We had left them before for small trips and I have had to be away from them for work, but this was the first full week away from them since Alex was born. To add make things even more strange, we went on a cruise to the Southern Caribbean, which meant we had no access to phones, email, text, or any type of communication with home for almost the full week. 

It was a great week and we had a blast together. It was a much needed vacation for us away from the real world and I don't regret it one bit. 

But when we landed in Lexington I was more than ready to see that little boy. And nothing could have made me happier than to see that huge smile when he spotted me and then took off running as fast as his little legs would carry him. It was one of those moments I will cherish forever in my heart.

Nana and Poppy did a fabulous job taking care of him and I don't think they were ready to give him up when we got home. I am so thankful we have family that loves and takes such good care of our boy so we can enjoy trips like this.

What's That??? (Video)

I am pretty sure I have mentioned Alex's all time favorite phrase, "What's That?" I finally caught it on video, complete with the "oh" after I told him what it was. I laugh every time I hear him ask, it is so serious and he is so concerned.

Sweet Little Wave...

On the 13th, Reagan had a soccer game in Lexington that had a pretty big area of grass beside it. This was perfect for Alex since he never wants to sit still during her games. Part of the area was a small hill and he would run up and down the hill. In the video it looks like the road behind the hill is closer than it really it, but trust this overprotective mother, it is not close at all.

He thought it was so cool to run up that hill by himself and would ever just sit up there and look around. I had to get a little video of him when he would turn around and wave at daddy. It was the cutest thing.

I'm A Big Kid Now!

Last week was an emotional week for this mommy as my little boy took 2 big steps from being a baby to being a big boy.

First was at Sandy's where he slept on a mat in the playroom with the big kids for nap time. Sandy said he laid right down, went to slept without any trouble and stayed on his mat until she told them it was time to get up even though he has already woken up. He had been in the other room by himself in the pack n play so this is a big deal. AND he did this without sleep dog and his paci! When I got the text message from Sandy I was excited that he did so well but then noticed I had tears running down my face at the thought of how big he has gotten. And then she send me a picture which sent me over the edge:

And then to make things more emotional for mommy, we visited the Barber Shop for the first time. The night before Matt cut off a curl for me to keep and then we headed downtown to Steve's Barber Shop for his first haircut. I will say, Marion did an excellent job, giving him his iPhone to watch Bugs Bunny and giving mommy a certificate and envelope of curls. Plus since it was his first, they didn't charge us. Made it a great experience.

Before picture.

Enjoying a donut while we wait our turn.

Not happy about being in the chair!

Still not happy!

Bugs Bunny and sleep dog to the rescue!

Doing much better now and almost done!

With Marion and daddy for the after picture.

After picture!

Certificate from the barber shop: Says "This is to certify that Alex has bravely met all the requirements of receiving their first haircut and has graduated from babyhood on the 6th day of April in the year of 2013." with the location and barber's signature.

Future Duck Dynasty?

Well let me start off by saying, we are not watchers of the Duck Dynasty show. I could do a whole blog on why reality shows like that just drive me nuts but I won't bore you with that. However, Nana went to a meeting where she met some of the Duck Dynasty group and was given a couple of their duck calls. Of course, being the wonderful Nana that she is, she gives them to the kids to add to their collection of noise makers.

Alex thought it was great and had to play with it all night that night.

I will make a note of the mean child in the video. We are going through a hitting stage right now which is terrible, so you will see him get mad at me for videoing him and hit my phone. He also says, "Stop It". But then he goes ahead and shows us how to use his new Uncle Si duck call.

What's That???

Alex's new favorite phrase is "What's That". He is a nosy little boy and uses it all the time whenever he hears something that he doesn't recognize. The funny part about it is that when you answer him, no matter what the answer is, he looks at you very seriously and says, "Oh." Like he completely understands. It always makes me laugh.

Last week we went to Reagan's school for the annual enrichment program where students show off what they have learned in music, dance or drama class. It is in the gym and is loud most of the time. When the first group of drama started, a 3rd grade boy gets up to the microphone to start their little play. Everyone gets very quiet to hear him. After he speaks, there is a hush and all of a sudden everyone hears, "What's That??" really loud. Of course those around us giggle and Matt and I just have to smile. Never a dull moment with that child of ours.

Here comes Peter Cottontail...

Just wanted to post a few pictures from Easter since our little man was so spiffy. Matt found his hat at the mall one night and put it on him as a joke. But the joke was on us when he wore it around the store forever and loved it. So of course I had to buy it and hope that it matched his Easter outfit. 

Here are the fun times of Easter...

Professional pictures with the Easter Bunny and real bunnies. Last year Alex didn't mind the costume bunny but HATED the real bunny. This year was the exact opposite:

Meet Thumper, the brave bunny who let Alex pet him.

First picture, not so happy.

Really not happy now. Of course I had to buy a copy of this one just for fun. :)

Concentrating very hard on his egg he is dying at Sandy's house:

Egg hunt at Falling Springs:

Reagan won a bike!!

Fun at Nana and Poppy's the night before Easter:

Good thing Nana didn't go "overboard" on the baskets this yet....

  

Easter morning at church with my family:

  

Easter lunch at Denny and Pa's house where we have the annual Easter Candy Auction. We pick random eggs from a bowl and hope they have lots of money in them. Then we bid on all kinds of different Easter candy against our family members. Always a good time. Alex was the first winner of the auction, taking home a Reese variety pack and enjoying it right away!

Bounce House Fun...

Since Alex has developed this love of jumping and flinging himself onto the ground, we thought, what better place to take him than somewhere with lots of bounce houses. We have been to Monkey Joe's a couple of times and about 2 weeks ago took the kids to Bounce U. Every time we go, he is a little nervous at first but after a couple of trips down the big slide with mommy and daddy, he is ready to go. Here are a few videos from the trip to Bounce U.

Finally brave enough to go down the slide by himself. Despite the tumble he was all laughs and ready to go again!

Fun in the big bounce house!

And then we found out we may have a future MLB star on our hands. Gee, soccer or baseball, or both??

At first I thought him hitting the ball was a fluke but after he did it several times, I finally thought to video it. He got a hold of it really good several times and was doing a good job with eye, bat coordination. I was impressed but of course I am "mommy".

1...2...3...Go!

Another short and sweet post but I was so proud to see him count to 3 for the first time. Of course it was just to jump like a maniac onto the couch, but whatever it takes to learn, right?!? This was on March 23rd while we were just playing his favorite game - jump and somersault like a crazy person. :)

Future Soccer Star?

Just a quick post of Alex playing with his new soccer ball at Reagan's game a couple of weeks ago. He has gotten fairly good at kicking, but of course he kicks absolutely everything so I guess that would be why!

Trouble Maker...

So it comes as no surprise that Alex is mischievous but here recently he has crossed over the line to actually being bad. This week in particular. All the Easter festivities (I will post about them separately) messed up his sleep routine a bit on Saturday and Sunday and caused us to have quite the cranky baby on our hands. Hitting when he was told not to do something, hitting just to get a reaction, whinning, fussing, just being contrary. This continued into Monday and he got into some trouble at Sandy's, losing sleep dog and paci at nap time and even not being allowed to go to Poppy's for the afternoon. Tuesday he improved and has continued to all week. Hopefully he is getting the message that behavior like that isn't tolerated by anyone.

At Sandy's, punishment is time-out and if it is really bad, time-out in the hallway. She sent me this picture one day of him in the hallway after hitting one of the other kids. I had to laugh at the look on his face. He is such a mess. We will have our hands full for years to come!