Holidays!

Alex celebrated part of Christmas today before he started traveling. He is going to Minnesota and then to California to visit both sets of his grandparents. He opened his presents in Seattle.

First, a wooden train set from Santa:


Second, a band in a box from Santa:


Finally, some magnetic farm animals from his friends Ava and Harry in Michigan:


Thank you for the presents!

We also had another snow day today so we had more time to make home movies. Here are videos of Alex the proud stairclimber and Alex the airplane.

Proud Stairclimber:


Airplane:

Snow Day!

Alex seems to be completely recovered from RSV part II except for a minor cough. He got to skip school today (Thursday) because of snow in Seattle. He was really eager to go out and explore the snow. He brought Mommy his winter coat. After his coat was on he walked to the door and pounded.

Then, he got outside and found the snow very pretty but cold and hard to walk around in.

RSV Again

Alex was sent home from school on Friday with a fever. Joanna noticed a sign at school that said that one of the kids in Alex's class had been sent home with RSV. RSV is the virus Alex caught last year that hospitalized him for 4 days. His symptoms are nearly identical this year. There are many strains of RSV so kids can catch it many times, sometimes even in the same year.


http://babyalex07.blogspot.com/2008/01/back-home.html


Since Friday (it is now Sunday night), Alex has been fighting fever, tiredness, and vomiting. The difficulty breathing is the worst part. RSV causes bronchiolitis. But, Alex has not had to go to the hospital to fight RSV this time. He has been drinking fluids (he needed an IV last year) and eating mandarin oranges. Because he is sick, he has watched about 5 hours of Sesame Street even though he does not usually watch television.

He seems to be getting better. Tonight he was smiling and making his usual jokes about his belly-button and the 5 monkeys that fall off the bed.

Holidays are Coming!

Alex saw a doctor for his 18-month checkup on Friday. He is in great health and is now in the 50th percentile in height and weight for actual age.


So far, he likes the lights and music of the holiday season. He especially likes singing songs and dancing. But, he does not like the giant snowmen and reindeer walking around the mall. They are very frightening up close.

First Sentence

Alex said his first sentence sometime in the last two weeks. Many times now he has correctly used the sentence "What's that?". His teachers at school deserve credit for being the first to notice that he was saying this regularly and correctly. Usually he will be pointing at whatever he is asking about.


Alex is also now just past 18 months. The last few days he has been really happy at school and one of the little girls (also an 18 month old) runs up and gives him a kiss every morning when he gets there. But, he is also starting to get frustrated when he is not understood by adults. He wants to say a lot more than he can right now.

Christmas Lights

Alex enjoyed the lights at the Bellevue Botanical Garden on Saturday. He is looking forward to Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Alex really enjoyed Thanksgiving. He went swimming and to the playground and had fun at Aunt Ann and Uncle John's house. He didn't eat as much as we expected, but he does seem to like pie a lot. Today is also Alex's 18 month birthday. He is 25 lbs and has 11 teeth. He got his 4th haircut yesterday. Tomorrow he'll do a half day at school and then have fun with Dad.

Alex Playing

Alex is having a good month. He is getting a lot of quality play time in. Alex helped clean up the house and pick up leaves in the yard.

Another Busy Weekend

Alex had another busy weekend: swimming, the children's museum, the zoo, playground at the mall, Costco, coffee with grandma and grandpa. Mom and Dad really appreciate their memberships at the zoo and children's museum.

Museum of Flight

The rainy season has started in Seattle. We went to a wet outdoor playground last weekend. Alex did not seem to mind. We also went indoors to the museum of flight to see the airplanes and to a playground at the Bel Square Mall.

The museum of flight:

The playground in the Bel Square Mall:

Alex was a dog for Halloween!

Grandma Jane got him a really cute dog costume. He was in a parade at school. And he went trick or treating with Dad. Alex really likes candy along with all other food.

Picking Pumpkins:


Alex Playing (long video):

Relaxing Weekend

Alex did lots of exploring close to home this weekend. He explored the backyard and the woodpile. He went swimming at the Bellevue Club. He checked out the downtown Bellevue park and the ducks again. He wished Uncle John a happy birthday on Saturday night. And he ate a lot of noodles at PF Chang on Sunday night.

Visit From Grandma Brady and Diane

Grandma Brady and Cousin Diane visited from Minnesota for a few days this week. Everyone had a great time. Alex liked the Bellevue Botanical Gardens and a Halloween party especially. Thanks to Grandma Jane for the great dog costume! We toured Pike Place Market, did Klondike tour, and explored a few playgrounds. Alex did not like the chocolate factory tour because they kicked him out for refusing to wear a hair net. Alex found their chocolate pretentious anyway.

Kelsey Creek Farm

Alex visited the Kelsey Creek Farm this weekend. He liked the hay ride and all the animals. He got to practice all his animal sounds.

More Words

Over the last two weeks, Alex has moved on from walking to almost running. He is very mobile and he is not afraid to explore new areas inside and outside.

He is also really working on his vocabulary. He loves to practice with books and to watch people talk. We think he can now say:

dog ("dah")
bird ("bur")
fish ("ish")
bus ("buh")
apple ("app" sometimes with "le")
banana ("ba")
tractor ("ack er")
bear ("bea")
ball ("baa")
that? with a questioning inflection("da?")
on ("ah")
off ("ah")
milk ("mm")
dad ("da")
Hi
Bye
"Mu" (for cow)
"Baa" (for sheep)
"Neigh" (for horses)
"Buuu" with a finger-pointed line across the sky is a buzzing airplane

Sadly, "Mom" is not one of his words yet.

Alex can comprehend many more words than he can vocalize. He can always point out his ears, nose, and belly button or the same body parts on Mommy and Daddy.

He had a minor cold and a bout with asthma this week, but he is back to normal now. He is looking forward to seeing Grandma Brady and Cousin Diane in a few days.

More Walking

Since Wednesday, Alex has taken up walking full time. He hardly ever crawls anymore. He is also now able to stand up without the help of something to pull up on.

Here is a video from Saturday at a park in Bellevue. Alex is bitten by a duck about 2:30 into the video. Alex was brave and stared down the duck.



Below is Alex walking from Wednesday this week. Wednesday was really the first day Alex did nearly all walking instead of crawling.

Fun at School

Alex is finally getting used to the new classroom at school. We've had 3 days this week where he wasn't crying when Mom left. We think the transition has been especially hard because there hasn't been a stable set of teachers. After school, Alex and Mom like to play in the courtyard in front of school. Alex likes to walk on the nice flat surface, pick flowers, point out airplanes, and wave to all the passersby. Below are 2 pictures of Alex modeling the new shirts Grandma F got him for back to school.

Science Museum

Alex was home from school sick on Friday with a fever and a bad cough. He was still sick on Saturday, but he toughed it out for a trip to the science museum. He seems to be better on Sunday.

Walking

Alex has decided walking is better than crawling over the last few days. He can cross large rooms, turn, and stand pretty much as long as he wants. We still don't have a great distance-walking video, but here are some action videos from today:

Updates

It has been a couple weeks since our last post. Updates:
-- Alex now has 8 teeth. He had 7 for a long time.
-- Alex graduated from infant class to toddler class. It was tough at first, but he seems to be adjusting. He misses his teachers from infant class. He liked them a lot. The first two days were especially hard. The morning of his second day of toddler class, Alex was the most upset he has ever been. But, he has started to like toddler class as he has gotten used to it.
-- He is good at pointing out his belly button and Mommy's belly button when asked
-- His walking is very good, but he still prefers to crawl a lot of the time
-- He is very good about pointing out all airplanes and buses

Alex has had a few minor adventures: playing in parks, seeing his friends from PEPS, spending Saturday with Grandma and Grandpa Felton, visiting the ducks.

Here is a compilation of video clips from a petting zoo Sept. 14:

Vacation!

Alex went on vacation with Mom and Dad over the weekend. We went to Lake Chelan State Park and then Stehekin on the north end of Lake Chelan. We went to Stehekin with many friends from Seattle: Aaron, Marie, Kay, Lila, Elliot, Sean, Jennifer, Deena, Clark, Erin, Paige, and Lauren. Alex had a great time playing with the older kids.

Here is a picture slideshow:


Here is a movie (about 8 minutes):

New Class Starts Tomorrow!

Alex transitions from infant class to toddler class tomorrow at school. He will be back and forth all week and then completely in the toddler class starting next week. The toddler class has new teachers and much more of a routine and schedule. His school (Bright Horizons) does many of the transitions in August. A few of his infant classmates will be moving up with him. He is being very brave about the transition, but the new room is a little scary.

Alex was a little under the weather on Sunday during the day. But, then he got a big burst of energy around 7:30 at night and he was able to find some new places to play like the kitchen pantry.








A very short video of Alex walking


Alex at the beach on Saturday


A long video with a lot of talking

Walking(?)

It is tough to make the call of when Alex is officially walking. Alex is either already there or very close. He will very frequently take 5 steps in a row without support to get from hand-hold to hand-hold. He is getting better every day. We don't have a video yet, but we will try to get one. Below is a video of Alex playing in the kitchen and then finding clothes to get dressed. He knows socks go on feet and he tries to put on Daddy's sock. The middle section of the video is the best.

Alex would also wish to say Happy Birtday to his friend Lila who turned 6 today. He had a great time at her party!

Camping and Grandpa Felton's Birthday

Alex had another very busy weekend. Alex went to Mom's soccer game, looked at new houses, helped clean up the house (messed up the house), went camping overnight on the Kitsap Penninsula, took 2 rides on the ferry boat, celebrated Grandpa Felton's birthday, and went to Michelle's barbeque. Here are some pictures from Alex's first camping trip and Grandpa Felton's Birthday. He had a great time at both events.

Trying on the headlamp.


Eating as many blueberries as he could

Night Owl

Alex set a new record on Friday night by staying up until 11pm. He got home from Mom's soccer game late and he had to finish his daily work of unloading the kitchen cabinets, the chunky puzzle, some books, a sesame street song on youtube, and checking out all the rooms downstairs. On Saturday morning, he slept in.

Here is a video of Alex standing. He can also do a few steps on his own if the trip is very short and someone can catch him at his destination. This video is about 1 minute.



Here is another video of some of his activities this week. This video is about 3 minutes.

Wading Pool

Today's excitement was the wading pool. He enjoyed the splashing and the other kids. He also enjoyed the swings, as always. In the evening, Alex cleaned out the plasticware drawer and had some blueberries (his favorite fruit). He also brushed his teeth by himself. He makes a buzzing sound like the Sonicare when he brushes his teeth, because that's how he sees mom & dad do it.

He is still staying up really late - often 10pm - and is most energetic after 7pm at night. He has mastered crawling and cruising and now practices standing a lot. Sometimes he gets so excited that he can stand by himself that he claps his hands vigorously and then loses his balance.

August 1

Alex has had some new accomplishments this week. He has added the word "bird" to his vocabulary (sounds like "burh", but he says it whenever he sees birds), he has started writing on his magnetic pad, and he is getting better at standing. Here is a video of this week.

Normal Week

Alex has had a good week at school. His new teacher doesn't give us reports, so we don't know what he does all day, but he seems happy. At home, he's been taking everything out of the drawers and cabinets. And he loves to look at his picture books and point at things.

Below are some pictures of Alex laughing because he kept biting Mom's toe and thought it was really funny

Busy week

Alex has had a very good week. Alex is really working on his talking and standing skills. He is also becoming a very motivated student. Alex studies his picture books on his own nearly every evening and practices saying the words. He caught a cold late in the week and his asthma came back, but he seems to be recovering quickly.

Today he got to visit Grandma and Grandpa Felton and Uncle John and Aunt Ann. He had a great time with them while Mom and Dad were looking at houses. He gave Grandma Felton lots of kisses and hugs.

Here are some videos from this week (about 5 minutes run time):

Exciting Weekend

Alex had a fun weekend. He mostly played at home but he did go to a free Gymboree class with Dad where he sang songs and he went to a new playground with Mom.

He likes to clap a lot now (picture below).