18 Months Old

Alex turned 18 months old a few days ago. He is such a little boy now and all of his "babyness" is quickly being left behind.


We went to the doctor today for his 18 Month Well Visit. Again, we are blessed to have a very healthy little boy.

18 Month Stats:
28 lbs - 75th percentile
34 1/4 inches tall - 97th percentile

Alex is so much fun right now and just talking more and more everyday and wants to communicate so badly. He is a parrot and constantly repeats us and attempts new words every day. His new favorite word is "sit", so when he wants us to play with him, read to him, etc. he will tell us to "sit" by him and this weekend he started combining two words and said "momma sit". He will also clap his hands at us if he wants us to come somewhere - apparently we have turned into his dogs in training.

He is big into Yes and No right now. Yes is "anh huh", but mostly we hear "noooo" if you ask him anything.

Alex loves to have his "owies" kissed all better and will purposely hit his hand against the wall or something and then pretend cry and want his owie kissed.

He is sitting longer for activities - i.e. playdough, puzzles, etc. The other day he painted for the first time.....

Alex has always loved the tags on his blankie and he will rub them against his nose to fall asleep but now he is officially obsessed with them. He goes through drawers, laundry baskets, etc. to find little wash clothes with tags on them and he carries them around all the time.

He amazes me daily with what he understands. Now when we go to the grocery store we talk on the way about what we are going to buy at the store. When I ask him what we will buy at the store today, he always says "nanas" (bananas) and "bed" (bread) and if I ask him what we are going to buy Daddy at the store he will say "pop".

Mmmmm...pop...

He has all his one year molars in and is now getting his two top canine teeth.

Alex is still an excellent eater with fruit being his favorite food - especially strawberries, kiwi and grapes.

He still absolutely loves playing outside.

He is obsessed with poor Buddy and follows him around all day and always wants to lay by him, cuddle him and pet him - but he is still working on how to do this all gently.

Alex LOVES his music class and we have to listen to the music and dance at home all the time - a little snippet of him in action - (when he lays down it is because the song says we are sleeping in the car) ;)...

Apparently...

we went to bed in Alabama last night and woke up this morning in MICHIGAN!!!! We woke up to 6 - 8 inches of snow on the ground this morning. Needless to say, Huntsville has pretty much shut down. Except for hospitals, police stations, etc. everything is basically closed today and everyone is off of work - oh yeah, except for Eric's company ;).



Alex enjoyed playing outside this morning, but missed his sled that we left in MI at Grandma and Papa's house - because surely we would never have a need for it in AL!

Alex's Baptism

We were blessed to be able to have Alex baptized while we were in MI. It was a very special ceremony for many reasons...
*We were able to have Alex and his new cousin, Kensingtyn, baptized together.
*Our families were able to be there to share in the moment with us.
*Our brother-in-law, Steve, (who also married Eric and I) performed the ceremony.

It was an intimate ceremony, with our immediate families, at Eric's sister's house. Alex was a little wiggly, but it was definitely a very special moment that we will never forget.

Eric's sister's family - seriously - what a gorgeous family!

Our family...

Sadly, for the first time ever, our camera ran out of memory, so the video of the baptism got cut off and we only have a few pictures.



Most importantly though - we have one of the cake ; )...

Swimming in Michigan

While in MI we took Alex swimming with his cousins. It was a great set up, there was a kiddie pool that was the gradual entrance/no stairs with fountains and a bigger pool that was about 4 feet deep. Alex LOVED LOVED LOVED it!


Alex was laughing and chasing after his cousins and trying to imitate all the tricks that they did with the fountains, etc. And he had to have Eric with him every minute. If Eric went into the big pool to play with the older kids, Alex would cry until Eric took him in too.

Christmas Day

We spend Christmas Day with Eric's family. It always begins with a big brunch and then of course.... presents again!!


Eric's sister had a new baby last month...sweet baby girl - Kensingtyn Elle... here she is with her Grammy....


Alex loved Baby Kensingtyn....


"Seriously people we just want to open presents - stop making us pose for pictures"


Again, favorite present - what the big kids got ;)....


We had Christmas Day Part II a couple of days later when Eric's sister's family from NYC were in town. Alex loved playing with all of his big cousins. The main event - wrestling on the Pillow Chum. Alex was pretty sure he was just one of the big kids and was right there in the mix....

Christmas Eve

The tradition in my (Julie's) family is to do our big Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve. Most years the day begins with some very competitive bowling - just for the record I did beat Eric and my little bro in one game this year!

Somehow my nephew became as tall as me - I swear he was just a little boy - what happened???


After an amazing spread of appetizers it is PRESENT TIME....


Alex's favorite presents...what his big cousins got ; )....


LOVING the boxes and his cousin's Pillow Pet....

Christmas in Michigan

We went to Michigan to spend Christmas with our families. Alex did amazingly well on the 10 1/2 hour drive and thankfully we had clear roads and uneventful travel.

A little "car seat hair" after a nice nap....


Alex's first experience with snow was a dirty snowbank at a gas station stop - and he loved it...

Thankfully he got to experience some clean snow once we arrived in Michigan. First stop was my (Julie's) parent's house. Papa bought Alex a sled and it was a HUGE hit - pure glee as Eric pulled him around the yard. ONLY Daddy was allowed to pull him on the sled, if I tried he would start to fuss until Eric took over the reigns again.

Happy we don't have to suit up like this every time we go outside to play in Alabama....


SNOW FUN....SLEDDING FUN....




Just listen to the squeals of pure happiness.....