Category Archives: Alex

Okay, Alex has done nothing but badger me all day about getting the pictures from the park posted. I finally had enough of him pestering so I’ve uploaded some of the park pics as well as a few others. Enjoy the pics!

Okay, I gotta be quick here. Dad’s in the kitchen making me breakfast and absolutely HATES it when I play with his computer. And, since he sucks at posting and Mom’s only moderately better, it’s up to me to make a post.

Yesterday Mom & Dad took me to the park by our house before Dad had to go to work. I got to ride in my wagon that Grandma got me for Christmas. The park was a LOT of fun. It has a little play set thing that has a couple slides and this little musical piano thingy. I had lots of fun with that though, unfortunately, a couple of the keys didn’t work properly. And the slides. I absolutely LOVED the slides. Like any kid, pretty much the first thing I did with the slides was try to walk up them. Mom had to help me a bit, but I made it! Oh yeah! I almost forgot about the swings. There’s a couple swings there too. I’m too small still for the one swing but I’m just right for the other one. I had fun in that too. Dad was better at pushing me in the swing than Mom. She was a bit of a wuss and was just giving me boring gentle pushes but Dad got me some good height!

Dad took some pictures but we know he sucks at updating. I know that he’s moved the pictures onto the computer off the camera so maybe I can figure out how to get the pictures posted. Gotta find them on the computer first. So far, all I’ve found is porn, but I know they’re here somewhere.

Crap. Here he comes. Gotta go. Breakfast is ready. Yummmmm!

So I just spent a couple minutes watching as Alex first grabbed the pillows on the couch, threw them on the floor, then grabbed one blanket and threw it on the pillows, then got frustrated as he tried to grab another blanket that was stuck.  He actually screamed when it wouldn’t pull down.  I finally had to help and put the blanket with the other stuff on the floor.  After all that what does he do?  Lie on top of them to drink his milk!  What makes him a goof is he’s done this before.  It’s apparently his new thing, he won’t take a drink unless the pillows and blankets are all set up and he’s on top of them.  Silly goof!

I turned 18 months yesterday.  I was busy playing with Grandma Andrea all day because mommy and daddy were working so I forgot to post.

By the end of this month I SHOULD be able to:

*say 3 words – I’m getting quite proficient at this talking thing.  Grandma recently taught me “knittin'”.
*point to a desired object – My new game with mommy and daddy is to throw my crib toys out onto the floor in the morning, start crying, and when they come to get me, point until they are put back into my crib.

…will PROBABLY be able to:

*run – and then fall shortly after I start.
*use a spoon/fork but not exclusively – I’m still figuring it out, I poke at the food but I don’t always come away with a mouthful.
*point to one body part when asked – I know and can point to eyes, ears, mouth and nose.

…may POSSIBLY be able to:

*kick a ball forward – no kicking yet.
*follow a 2 step command without gestures – I don’t really listen to my parents, I like to try and do what I want.

…may even be able to:

*identify 1 picture by naming – not sure on this one.
*use 50+ single words – I can say alot, but my vocabulary is not quite that big yet.

Boy, it’s been another month.  Well, let’s see how I’m doing.

By the end of this month I SHOULD be able to:

*use 2 words – Doing well on this front.
*drink from a cup – sippy cups are fine.  I can also drink from a regular plastic cup, but either my parents or the grandparents have to hold the cup or I might make a huge mess.

…will PROBABLY be able to:

*build a tower of 2 cubes – yup.

…may POSSIBLY be able to:

*walk up steps – very cautiously I can, but typically only one before I need help.  And my mom worries and hovers around me when I want to do it on my own.
*remove an article of clothing – LOL.  I’ve been doing this for months, I like running around the house half naked.
*feed a doll – no dolls in the house and I haven’t tried feeding a stuffed animal.  I do hug and kiss my toys though.
…may even be able to:

*build a tower of 4 cubes – I think so.
*identify 2 items in picture by pointing – we haven’t tried the picture thing.  I can point to my nose when asked though, does that count?
*combine words – nope not yet.
*throw a ball overhand – I throw everything!!
*speak and be understood half the time – nope, only the folks and grandparents are slowly figuring out my code.

Happy New Year’s! Anyway, I’m 16 months old now so here’s an update.

By the end of this month, I SHOULD be able to:

*imitate activities – yup.
*scribble – over any books I can find!

…will PROBABLY be able to:

*use 3 words – I’ve used “kitty” and “thank-you” for sure. There may be a couple others.
*dump and object in imitation – in imiation, on my own and not just dumping, but throwing is fun too.

…may POSSIBLY be able to:

*use 6 words – I don’t think it’s 6 yet, but close
*run – hehe, for a few months now!

…may even be able to:

*kick a ball forward – I kick things, but not specifically a ball to go forward.
*brush teeth, with help – yup. I like to brush my teeth.

Well, as everyone probably figured, Alex made a killing again this year.  He is quite spoiled.  Rob’s dad even visted yesterday and dropped off more presents for him.

So, he received tons of clothes, a lot of books and a few stuffed animals.  He now has a TMX Elmo (although he’s afraid of it), a Little People garage set.  A Thomas the Tank engine musical thing.  A huge safari wagon.  Plus more and that was just from the presents we opened at our place!

Then we headed over to my parents and there were more presents.  Mostly for Alex.  He now has a train table, wooden train set included.  It also has storage underneath and the board the train sits on is also a white board or a chalk board.  There was a musical chair, and a baby einstein book reader.  He got a larger wooding train set that is also blocks he can build with.  There was a mega blocks Pirate ship and a drum set.  Yeah, this was just from my folks.  We have a very spoiled child.

Rob and I received some great gifts too.  We now have a light sign of vegas to go in the poker room as well as a poker themed clock.  Coke glasses.  Rob got the 80’s Trival Pursuit game and my brother Travis game me a game based on the CSI TV show.  We now also have a new light to go in the living room.  It’s similar to the one we already have, but in the middle of it, is a lava lamp.  That is very cool.

I could go on and I’m sure I missed a few things.  I just wanted to list the important items anyway.  And finally the point of this post is to say “Thank-you!”.  Everything is great and we love all of it.

So, last night was the first time Rob and I had to basically stay away all night taking care of our sick child.  Alex has had colds before, where he woken up in the middle of the night, a little stuffy and needing his soother, but last night was much different.

Around 10PM last night, Alex starts screaming in his crib.  Rob goes in to check on him figuring he just lost his soother or had a bad dream.  A short time later, I hear Rob ask for help.  I come into the bedroom wondering what is wrong, thinking possibly Alex had a really leaky poop.  It turns out, he had vomitted all over his mattress.  Poor kid.  He’s still screaming and shaking.  He’s all clammy and he’s pale.  He’s definitely not feeling well.

After cleaning him up, changing his clothes, washing him off, changing the sheets, cleaning us up, since he was covered in the stuff and we had to pick him up to start cleaning, the three of us head to the livingroom.  I figure Alex is not going to want to go back to sleep right away, so sitting with us in the livingroom will help him calm down and feel better.

Probably 30 minutes later, Alex is acting tired.  Rubbing his eyes and being slightly fussy.  So I try to put him back to his crib.  Ten minutes later (during this whole time there was complete silence, so he had fallen right to sleep), more screaming.  We check, and yup, he has puked again.  So, we clean up again and return to the livingroom.  It looks like we will be spending the night out here.  Rob gets a bucket and we start our vigil.

Unfortunately, for my little guy about every hour to hour and a half, his stomach starts churning and up it comes.  Fortunately, between bouts Alex would fall asleep.  But as soon as he woke, we knew to quickly get him to the bucket.  So basically Rob slept on the one side of the couch and I craddle Alex in my arms and dozed on the other side.

This went on until about 5:30 AM.  Alex woke again, but he didn’t seem to need the bucket.  In fact, he kept motioning for the bottle of water we had ready for him.  He hadn’t wanted any earlier in the night, even though we tried, so I was happy to give it to him.  He started drinking and drank about a quarter of the bottle.  He seemed less pale and more alert too.  But, without any warning, a few minutes later, all the water came right back up.  Time to clean up including some of the couch as well.
After that, he still wanted water.  So Rob gave him some, but in stages, hopefully so that it would stay down.  It seemed to, so the three of us curled up in our spots on the couch again to wait and see.

It was around 8:30AM when I woke from a doze and I saw Alex opening and closing his eyes.  He was just working his way to wakefulness.  He looked much better.  There was colour in his cheeks and he wasn’t clammy anymore.  In fact, when Freya came to investigate he wanted to play with her.  I’ve also given him a little food and some milk and he’s had no further problems.  He seems his typical self again this morning.

So the damage total:

3 pairs of pj’s
3 of my T-shirts
2 sheets
1 of Rob’s shirts
1 couch

Not bad for his first time vomitting.

That’s right, I’m 15 months old today. And it’s December! It’s the Christmas month. I can’t wait to get all my presents! Anyway, here is how I should be doing for the month.

I SHOULD be able to:

*walk well – yup.
*bend over and pick up an object – quite easily.
* use at least 1 word – we still aren’t sure if they really are, but “Thank-you” and “Kitty” seem to be words I’m capable of saying so far.

…will PROBABLY be able to:

*use 2 words – see above.
*drink from a cup – my bottles have been put away, I’m all about the sippy cups. Next I will need to practice will real cups.
*scribble – yup, all over my books.
*point to a desired object – yuppers.

…may POSSIBLY be able to:

*point to one body part when asked – yup, the nose. But then if you say point to the ears, or the mouth or actually any other body part, I still point to my nose.
*use a spoon/fork – I’m not too bad at this. I still need to use my fingers once in a while, but I am now able to get some food on my fork and even stick it in my mouth.
*build a tower of two cubes – I have blocks, but I never really play with them.

Well, I’m not 100% certain, but I think Alex can say a word.  Andrea seems to think so as well, and she mentioned that when she asked Rob if he thinks it’s a word, he agreed that it might be.

Anyway, I think Alex can say “Thank-you.”  Of course it comes out more like, “ta-ta” or something like that.  But he says this every time we give him something and I tell him to say “Thank-you.”

Okay all you whiners. I just uploaded a whole bunch of (LONG OVERDUE) new pics. These pics cover pretty much May through October. Needless to say, I didn’t post every picture that I took – only the best ones. Enjoy! There’s 76 of ’em.

The link is in the right hand column near the bottom of the list. Or, if you’re really lazy, just click here.

Wow, another month has gone by.  I’m already 14 months old!  Of course, they seem to be going a little slow now.  That’s because Christmas is right around the corner and I can’t wait for PRESENTS!!

Anyway, here’s how I’m doing.

By the end of this month, I SHOULD be able to…

*walk well – yup
*bend over and pick up an object – yup
*use at least 1 word – bah, still nothing truly recognizable yet.

…will PROBABLY be able to:

*use 2 words – can’t use one, so can’t use two.
*drink from a cup – sippy cups are fun!  But mommy and daddy need to get me more, I only have 3 right now.
*scribble – I have once.
*point to a desired object – nope, not yet.

… may POSSIBLY be able to:

*point to one body part when asked – both grandmas are still working on this with me.
*use a spoon/fork – I do, sorta.  I hold it and put it in the food, but I’m not really good at picking any food up.  I also put it in my mouth, but again, there isn’t usually any food on it.
*build a tower of 2 cubes – yup, I like stacking.  I can also put one object inside another if it fits and then take it out.  I like doing that.

…may even be able to:

*“feed” a doll – I don’t own any dolls, I’m a boy.  I have some stuffed animals, but I don’t try to feed them.

So, I’ve been on this planet for 13 months now.  I’ve learned so many new and amazing things and I have so much more to learn.  Here’s another monthly update.

By the end of this month, I SHOULD be able to:

*pull up to standing position – yup.
*get into a sitting position – yup.
*cruise – yup.
*clap hands – yup.
*indicate wants in ways other than crying – yup, so I’m all on track here.

…will PROBABLY be able to:

*put an object into a container – yup, I started out putting my toys away at night, and now,  I put my toy blocks together.
*imitate activities – I love sticking out my tongue after my mommy does.  And I will mimic sounds too!
*stand alone – mastered this long ago.
*use 1 recognizable word – not yet, but I’m very close.

…may POSSIBLY be able to:

*drink from a cup – finally figured out a sippy cup, well a starter one, it has a nipple like tip rather than a hard plastic one.
*use 2 recognizable words – see above.
*point to a desired object – No pointing yet, I reach though, does that count?  I also look in the direction of a pointing finger now, when I didn’t use to, maybe that’s the first step.
*scribble – oooh, now this sounds like fun, I will have to talk with mommy and daddy to see what this is.
*walk well – you bet!  I am a walking machine.

…may even be able to:

*use a spoon/fork – sorta.  I can hold the spoon and put it in the food.  I can also move the spoon to the mouth.  But I don’t always put the spoon in the bowl or the mouth the right way, so I never really have food on it.
*remove an article of clothing – again, sorta.  Starting about a month to two months ago, whenever my parents would put my pj’s on, I would tug at the one sleeve.  Eventually I would get my arm out of it, but that’s about as far as I get.  I’ve only got two arms out once and never the whole shirt off.
*point to 1 body part when asked – Grandma Andrea is working on this one with me.  Next time she babysits we will practice some more.

So Alex had his 12 month Doctor’s appointment today. He received 2 shots which of course he hated. Everything else checks out fine.

He is now 31.5 inches tall and weighs 23 pounds and 13 ounces. He is still a very big baby.

Thank-you to everyone who came over and brought gifts for Alex’s birthday today. He loves them all.

So a quick breakdown of what he received for all of our friends and family that weren’t here.

First the clothes. He received three outfits. Two were Nascar themed. One for Earnhart and the other for Earnhart Jr. He also received a bowl, cup and fork and spoon all with his name on it. He will definitely love eating from those once he can read. He also got a Gap leather jacket that is VERY cool.
One of my favorite things he got was a chair. It looks just like a normal chair someone whould put in their living room, but it’s sized just right for him. He can’t quite sit himself in it yet, but he does play with it.

Now for the toys. From Rob’s mom he got two trucks that store mega blocks. This seems to be one of his favourite toys right now. He’s been playing non-stop with the blocks for about an hour now. Then from my parents, he received the Little People farm set. From my brother, he got a Little People truck. He also got a tool set, some bristel blocks and stackable barrels. From mommy and daddy, he got some stackable wooden blocks and a toy grand piano. I think the piano is his second favorite toy. He loves music and this toy supplies plenty for him.

I’m one!!!! Wow, it’s been a whole year since I was born. The time sure does fly.

Here’s what I should be up to.

By the end of this month I SHOULD be able to:

*walk holding onto furniture – you bet!

…will PROBABLY be able to:

*play patty-cake or wave bye-bye – clapping is easy, waving not so much. If you hold up my hand for me though, I will wave.
*drink from a cup independantly – nope.
*pick up a tiny object neatly with tips of thumb and forefinger – yup and then it goes right into my mouth!
*stand alone momentarily – yup.
*say dada and mama indesriminately – yup.
*say one word other than mama or dada – not yet, but I’m trying out lots of sounds.

…may POSSIBLY be able to:

*indicate wants in ways other than crying – not yet.
*play ball – this game is fun!
*stand alone well – yup.
*use immature jargoning – yup, really working on getting a word out.
*walk well – oh yeah!! I’m a walking machine!

…may even be able to:

*say three words or more other than mama or dada – not yet.
*respond to a one step command without gestures – I will come to you if you ask, but that may be more likely cuz you want to play and I can tell rather than you calling to me.