Category: Alexis Monthly Posts

Dear Lexi,

Your monthly letter completely escaped me. I took notes throughout the month, but procrastinated in writing it because, by gosh, you are TWO my sweet girl and don’t know how to articulate this happy, sweet, funny and smart little munchkin you’ve become. Three months later…here we are. The details and stories aren’t as vivid but I’m sure if you ever dare to read this 15 years from now, you’ll suffice.

Favorite memories:

Not necessarily a ‘favorite’ memory, but a huge milestone: you are officially potty trained. We put you in underwear over Thanksgiving break since I was home from work and had the time to work with you and bring you to the potty often. The first day was pretty rough. I think you had 6 accidents. I was ready to give up, but knew I needed to stick it out for a couple more days. Day 2 was a little better, maybe 4 accidents and by day 3 you maybe just had one. We didn’t necessarily use one of the ‘potty training methods’ out there as you didn’t react well to them when we tried back in August. This time, I just would very casually bring you to the potty every hour or two, and you always went. We didn’t make a big fuss about it or talk about it a lot–we just did it, and you seemed to respond pretty well to it. We also were only attempting to train you in the day, not for naps or night time, but after two solid weeks of waking up dry, we quit putting diapers on you. March update: you’ve had less then 5 night time accidents. Way to rock it my big girl! (minor note: You have a really hard time wearing any kind of character underwear as you get rashes on your bum–so we’ve stuck to the Gerber cloth type training pants and Gap)

We started a Mommy and Me swimming class this month. The first couple classes were a little rough as you had NO interest in doing what the class was doing and just wanted to play. The teacher was also requesting you to do pretty advanced tasks that you just weren’t capable of yet, but nonetheless, by the third week you were listening to the teacher and doing a much better job. One of the evenings, we stayed after class to swim and you blossomed. We were able to work on things like kicking and floating on your back and you rocked them. You also got comfortable going down the tot slide and probably went down it 30 times that night. To say you LOVED it was a complete understatement. I wish I would have had a waterproof camera to capture your big smile every time you went down.

I also took you to get your first haircut this month. The mullet had just gotten out of control and we needed some direction. We went to a specialty kids place, they put you in a little seat, gave you a sucker and let you watch Frozen. I wanted them to keep your hair as long as possible but get it out of your eyes and eliminate the mullet. They suggested bangs as kids your age have a hard time brushing the hair to the side. Even though I’m not a fan of bangs, the logic made sense and we went with it. You were terrified the entire time and kept wanting to give me hugs. And the amount of hair they cut was pathetic and totally not worth the $20. However, they did give you a nice little certificate with a little bag of your hair for your baby book.

One night I had made Mac N’ Cheese for dinner and you and I were sitting at the table and for whatever reason I told you to take a ‘Big Bite’ but said it in a slightly lower octave and kind of loud and you thought it was the funniest thing you ever heard. You giggled uncontrollably, which of course prompted me to repeat this because that sweet little giggle of yours is seriously the happiest noise I’ve ever heard in my life. Thankfully, we got it on video, but this little saying has become a regular part of our vocabulary and has even stuck around 3 months later.

Notes:

You LOVE to read Curious George. It is usually read every night before bedtime. You also love Frozen, Minions, Ariel and your little Princess Books. You refer to Despicable Me as Minions and New Minions.

You are amazed by Christmas lights on people’s homes. Whenever you notice them you yell ‘Wook at that mama. Wook Wook Wook!’

You absolutely adore Papa! You talk about him at home frequently and pretend to talk to him on your phone, specifically about how you’re going to eat Gum Drops and play diggers together. Whenever you see him your face lights up in excitement, it is so sweet!

You love to help Daddy shovel the snow. You chatter away while you’re out there, usually saying ‘I heping’

We went to the Children’s museum for the first time this month and you are such a shy and timid little girl sometimes. You’re very polite and wait your turn for things, but then get frustrated and angry when the other kids budge in line or take things from your hands. You say ‘That’s Wexi’s’ and furrow your brows, but don’t ever take things from other kids or push. Part of me is happy that you’re so well behaved, but the other part of me wants you to stick up for yourself and not let other kids push you around. I hope that you’ll be able to learn do stick up for yourself yet still be the sweet polite little girl that you are.

Of course after the Children’t museum, you got a cold. You were pretty run down and fell asleep while watching one of your shows, (which never happens).

This month you’ve also learned to easily climb up and down the stools at the counter and sit and eat there occasionally.

Thats it my sweet girl. Officially, your last monthly post. I’ve loved capturing the past two years for you (and for me) and hope you’ll enjoy looking over these as you get older. We love you more than you will ever know.

Love,

Mama

My little love bug,

You really are the sweetest, happiest, most easy-going toddler I have ever seen. You LOVE to give mama and daddy hugs and kisses and do so, unprompted several times throughout the day. You just go with the flow, are a great sleeper and eater and have just blended into our lives seamlessly. I’m a little nervous how we’ll all react to a child that may not be any of these things.

Favorite Moments:

This has happened several times throughout the month, but to varying degrees. You and I were doing something in mama and daddy’s bathroom and daddy was working on the computer and he sneezed a couple of times. Without interruption of what you were playing with or looking up or anything, called out bless you for each sneeze and just kept going about your business. It was just funny how you didn’t hesitate and he couldn’t hear you, but you knew that’s what you say when someone sneezes. So sweet my little girl.

Dancing continues to be one of your favorite things to do. You love all and any music. Your favorite songs right now are Thrift Shop and Let it Go. If music is on, your dancing in one way or another. You’ll clap your hands to the beat (and are amazing accurate) bounce your head, move your hips or jump. I love that this is a theme that I continue to write about every month. I think next year we’ll put you in a dance class if you still seem to love it as much as you do now.

While Daddy is working, you love to come downstairs and play (and usually get into things). One day, he hears a thud and looks over the ledge and you had gone into the diaper bag, grabbed the changing pad, unfolded it, got a diaper and put your baby down on the pad and we’re attempting to change it’s pants. You’re going to be such a good big sister and I have a feeling want to always be helping mama.

Your long-term memory is getting much stronger as you recall things from a days or weeks ago and tell us about it. The most common story you like to tell us about is being woke up from your nap by Thunder. This happened at least a month ago, if not more, but you tell us about it several times a week. Whenever you hear a big noise, you tell us it is thunder. Then proceed to tell us words or phrases that help you tell a story. In this case it would be “Thunder? scary. i nap. boom. wake up. i scream.” Of course the expression and your big wide eyes that go along with this little story make it that much better. It is little moments like these that stand out to me and make being a mom so fun. It is so exciting to see the output of your brain developing and how much you’re growing and learning.

For awhile now, we’ve been trying to teach you that you if you aren’t in your high chair eating, you must eat at your table and not walk around the house with food. We frequently tell you that you need to chew and swallow before you can leave the kitchen and will have you go AHHH to check your mouth. In typical Lexi fashion, we were sharing an apple and you were at your table and I was sitting on the stool chewing and you had finished your piece got up, looked at me, pointed with your finger and in a very forceful and demanding voice told me chew and swallow. You’re a ham sweet girl and I’m glad all those times we’ve said it to you, it registered.

Notes:

For whatever reason, you’ve decided that on the floor and in the corner of the couches between the ottomans is ‘Lexi’s spot’. You regularly have several blankets, pillows, pals and dump your whole bucket of toys there and like to make this little nest for yourself to play in. You play with the toys, pretend to sleep, watch shows etc… Its so funny that you’ve selected this little area and the moment we clean it up, you go and recreate the mess almost instantaneously.

 

You have a slight obsession with trains–specifically Thomas the Train. Last month I bought some new books for you and one of them is an ABC Thomas the Train book and I kid you not, we probably read it 5-10 times a day. I think you honestly have it memorized. You refer to it as ‘All Aboard’ as that is the first line in the book, “A is for All Aboard.” We’ve only had it for a month, but it looks like we’ve had it for years as you take it to bed with you and everywhere you go in the house.

Update on the potty training topic. Last month you had your little set back, but it only really lasted a week or so. You’re back to almost pooping exclusively on the toilet! Yeah!!! You have some unusual habits with it though. You don’t let daddy in there while you go, but you’ll let me in there as long as I close my eyes. You also like to hold my nose or hair while you go.

The weather has started to get a little colder and while we’re playing outside some nights you’ll rub your arms and shrug your shoulder and say ‘It’s chilly.’

You really like to go inside closets and close the door and then say ‘Where’s Lexi?’ Also, as you’re closing the doors, you remind yourself out loud to ‘watch your fingers’ to make sure they don’t get pinched.

You officially have a mullet. Your hair is getting pretty long in the back and longer on the sides. I’m not sure what to do with it. I don’t know if it is just a stage you need to go through so it can get long, or if we should get it cut.

You like to tell us when things are your’s. You’ll say ‘that’s Lexi’s’–specifically about chap stick, your palls, pillows, blankets etc…

You love to wear your jammies and tell us you’re going to keep them on when it is time to get dressed for the day. You also have an afinity towards polka dots (your definitely my child on this one). You always request to wear shirts that have polka dots on them.

This month we started drinking from a cup without a cover or sippy function and you are doing great!

You’re attempting to go down the stairs without holding onto a railing or spindel.

You love yogurt and call it o-gurt and request to eat it every morning for breakfast.

You are so close to counting to 10 by yourself. You easily count 1,2,3,4 get stuck on 5, but when we say it, you continue with 6,7,8,9,10.

You are so verbal and talk all the time and are turning more and more phrases into full sentences each week.

September was another great month. We love every part of you so much and are so grateful on what an easy addition you have been to our life.

Love,

Mama

Dear Lexi,

We just finished the last ‘official’ month of summer and I have mixed emotions. I’m not ready for the cold weather to start yet, but it has been insanely busy so I’m ready for things to settle down a bit. It feels like this month has gone by really quickly and really slowly at the same time. Looking over my notes from the month, I questioned, “Did that really happen this month, it feels like that happened so long ago.” You continue to develop more personality every day. You get very upset if we don’t give you or allow you to do something and fall to the floor in tears—very tantrum like. You’ll even swing your whole upper body and head your head back and forth if I’m holding you and almost try to bang your head against mine, and then get even more upset if you do as it hurts. It is a very interesting little pattern you have. You continue to be very shy around new people and places for the first 20 minutes or so requesting to be held or hiding between my legs but eventually warm up and leave my side. Overall, you are a very happy little girl and love to play, dance, be tickled and give hugs to mama and dada.

Favorite moments:

At the very beginning of the month, all of the neighbors got together for National Night Out and it was so fun to just watch you run around and play with all of the other kids. It was one of the first times I felt like I had a small child and not a baby. You were happy and content playing with the kids and didn’t need mama or dada by your side. It was so nice to talk with other neighbors and just know you were OK playing without constantly worrying about what you were doing or where you were.

We headed up to the Tansey cabin for an evening to spend some time with Tara, Dan and their kids and I loved watching you play with Megan. You are about 4 months apart and both have blond hair and little pigtails and it was just too fun to watch you playing with your cousin! There was a couple of times where you were both in your diapers and standing on either side of a coffee table coloring. Melts my heart to see you start to develop relationships with your cousins as I have so many memories and much fun with mine.

Two little sayings you picked up from us and say on a regular basis are: A-dookie-dookie for okie-dokie and ‘up-e-go’ for up-we-go whenever you want to be picked up or are laying down and are getting up. So cute!

We regularly catch you having conversations with yourself. While dada was working he heard you playing on your slide downstairs and hears you tell yourself to ‘Sit-Down’, which you proceeded to do and than thanked yourself for doing so. It is funny to hear the stuff we say so often repeated back to us and fun to see you pick up on it.

You sit down and read to yourself on a regular basis, but there were two instances that were particulary cute. The first was while I was putting clothes away in your room and you were sitting on the rocking chair with your book ‘Things that go’ and you were flipping through the pages and pointing out the different pictures on the book. ‘Farmer, Ambu-ence (ambulance), doc-or-tor (doctor), boy, garbage truck. The other scenario was you had propped your pillow up against the side of the crib and were leaning against it with one of your blankets wrapped around your shoulders and reading your monster book. As we were spying on you doing this, we caught you adjusting your blanket to make sure it was wrapped around you just so. Just too darn funny!

For the first time this month, you started to sing along with me. We were in snuggling in the rocking chair before bed and I was singing Twinkle Twinkle and you slowly attempted to repeat the words after me. It literally melted my heart and recorded how sweet it was to hear your little voice singing a song with me. You’ve started to do this more often and will attempt to sing ‘Let it Go’ from Frozen even though you only say, Let go, you will tell me that ‘I singin’.

You also really love the song ‘Happy Birthday’ and soley refer to it as ‘Happy Daddy’ as you like to watch videos of the family singing happy birthday to dada for his birthday. As we sing the song over and over and over again, you request we sing it to different people, most commonly, Ashley and Courtney, but also very obscure things like eggs and the sky and different animals.

Hands down, one of my favorite things every day is an unprompted hug from you. We’ll be playing chalk outside or laying on the couch and you open your arms up really wide and run to us and squeeze extra tight and say ‘Huuug’. It is seriously the best!

Notes:

You continue to get better and better at puzzles. I would say you can get 90% of the pieces in by yourself. You do much better with animals as you are able to match up the feet. You ask to do puzzles almost every day.

Your Favorite toys: princess castle, chalk, reading books, playing with necklaces, slide

You attempt to say our last name and it usually comes out something like ‘Sam—pon’

Your bedtime routine has changed a bit over the month. After giving Dada hugs and kisses and saying good-night, you proceed to say bye-bye or nigh-nigh to everything in sight including your cars, your house, your babies, the trees—really anything that you can see, you try and say good-night to. In an effort to make it go faster and not have you need to fall asleep with me, we’ve been making changes. We have cut down on our songs and our books to one song and one book. You almost always ask/beg to snuggle with me before you go into your crib where you would like to fall asleep. While we’re snuggling you ask for me to hug you, which means you want me to wrap my arms tight around you. If you don’t fall asleep in my arms, which I try not to let you, there are epic screams when I put you into your crib and beg for more snuggle time and cling to my neck and wrap your legs around my body so you don’t have to go in. I’ve also been making a better effort to not threaten you that I’m going to put you in your crib if you don’t listen so it doesn’t feel so much like a punishment and it is just something that we do.

This month has brought some ups and downs of potty training. You were doing really good with telling us and going to the potty so we attempted potty training. We put you in under ware and had you going to the bathroom every 20 minutes and you were not having it. I think there was too much pressure for you to go and you started moving in the opposite direction and refusing to go into the bathroom. So we stopped doing that and rarely ask you if you need to go and you’ve started to come around the corner again and will go maybe once a day and will usually tell us when you need to go.

We also went to the State Fair for your first time. I was going there for work, and decided to have you and Dada meet me there. It didn’t turn out very well. You missed your nap and are not a fan of your stroller at the moment so there were some epic meltdowns to begin the day and quickly realized that visiting the animals wouldn’t be very fun as you pretty much need to be out of your stroller to see them and to put you back in is such a fight, it wasn’t worth it to take you in and out. So we ended up getting a few pieces of food, taking your to the tractor area to let you run around and then headed home. Hopefully we’ll have more success next time.

This month, I also started a new job at Best Buy which is going really well and I really like it. And so far, the commute is better than UHC and I feel more fulfilled and not so much as I was settling.

You also learned to open the fridge and pantry this month which has opened a new set of challenges as you regularly like to go into both and take things out, or pick out the food you want to eat. We’ve had to rubber-band them shut—which you really don’t like.

You’re starting to understand what the word ‘scared’ means and tell us you’re scared of everything, with thunder being the most prominent. You regularly ask us about thunder and tell us it is scary. When it actually is thundering, you want to snuggle or ask to hold our hands.

You’ve also started to like to play games on the i-pad and ask to play them on a regular basis, as well as watch shows and movies.

That’s it for now my sweet girl! We love you so much and can’t wait to watch you become a big sister, 6 months and counting!

Love,

Mama

Dear Lexi,

You are 19 months old today, which means you’re only 4 months away from being two. I feel like I can easily say you’re ‘almost two’, which is strange because I would have never considered saying you were almost one at this point last year.  We are in the heart of summer and were lucky to enjoy several of the fun activities that often come with summer this month.

Favorite Moments:

Your 20^th month started off with the booms of the 4^th of July fireworks. We headed to Excelsior to watch the airshow and fireworks.  You loved watching the airplanes and every time one flew by there was wide eyes, pointing and ‘Oh Wow and owwww’ sounds escaping your little body. You were absolutely fascinated with them. The fireworks were a little less impressive to you. By the time they started to go off, you were pretty tired and just wanted to go home, and kept asking me ‘home’ while they were going off.

The following weekend we made a trip to the Wisconsin Dells with Mitch, Teresa and Nessa. The weather wasn’t super warm, which made the outdoor pools breathtakingly chilly, but we did find a favorite spot at a wave pool. Instead of several waves coming, one really large one would come every 5 minutes or so and sweet girl, you loved it when the water would sweep your legs out from under you and woosh past you. You would go down the kiddie slides with mama and dada but I wouldn’t say that you particularly enjoyed it. Your face usually showed terror, but not enough to prevent you from going again. You also rode on a little balloon ride that you hated and literally crawled out from the buckle so I could hold you.  I think it was the spinning and the quick up and down movements that made your tummy flutter.

At some point throughout the month you learned how to ‘cheers’ a glass and do it on a regular basis. You raise your glass and say cheers and will bang your cup against anything that you can. In fact, you often ‘cheers’ yourself with your milk and water cups.

You’ve come to grow an obsession with the book, Love you Forever and solely refer to it as ‘Cwazy’. There is a line in the book that say’s “This kid is driving me CRAZY!” and you love it! Admittedly, the book is a little creepy, but you ask to read it all the time and read it to yourself as well. From time to time, we hear you say the word ‘me’ and the respond ‘CWAZY’ and giggle to yourself as I typically read the line and pause after the word me, so you can say ‘CWAZY’.

At the end of the month we were also able to make a trip up to the B-well cabin and went for a boat ride down to Duluth, which I thought was really fun as I have been up there nearly every year but have never really been out on the lake aside from a little canoe ride. For you, the highlight of the trip was going for a ride on the mini-bike with dada. You were terrified at first, but then became more comfortable as time went on and now ask to watch yourself riding the ‘cycle’ whenever you see my phone. We also printed a picture out of you and dada on the cycle and you’d think it was Christmas morning every time you see it.

Overall, I think the best part of the month was the fact that I only worked 3 days a week and was home to do fun things with you and enjoy the summer. We went to the Zoo with Grandma and She-She, went swimming at Elm Creek, played in your pool at our house, went to different parks and on bike rides. It was great and so fun to enjoy those activities with you.

Notes: 

You regularly ask to go ‘Simmon’ and attempt to put your swim suit on over your clothes to let us know you would like to go ‘simmon’.

You’ve started to use the word sorry, but don’t know how to use it in the right context and say it at very random times or when you want us to stop doing something.

Your final eye tooth came in so you only have your 2-year molars left!

We’ve noticed you’ve started to slim down a bit and your belly doesn’t stick out quite as far and your thighs aren’t as roly-poly.

You’ve learned how to pronounce you ‘G’s and can now say ‘Gamma’. You’ve also learned how to say Lexi and regularly tell us when something is your’s or when you want something you call it Lexi’s.

Your hair is long enough to put into a full ponytail, but we still prefer pigtails as they stay in better.

You wear a size 4 diapers, size 6.5-7 shoes and clothes depend on brand but typically wear a 3T on top and 18M-2T on bottom

You know all of your body parts and can count to 2 and say ABC when you’re reading to yourself.

You love to push your babies in your stroller outside and around the block.

When you go to sleep at night, you insist that you’re covered with a blanket or as you refer to as ‘carpet’

I’ve been working with you for months on this but you finally learned how to blow bubbles in the water.

While playing on your beloved slide, you were hot rodding, and I believe you were standing on top of it and feel off.  I was in the kitchen making dinner so I didn’t see, but we think you feel on your wrist as you were holding it and saying ‘owie’ and couldn’t use it well at all. You nursed your arm for a good 4 days and we wondered if you had broken it or sprained it or something, but the doctor didn’t think you had and you seem to be fine now. You did get a pretty good bruise on it and occasionally nurse it if you bump it, but I think you’ll be just fine.

You also had a little sickness this month. You woke up with a pretty good fever and were very lethargic all day. Medicine helped, but when you woke up from your nap, you had a 104 degree temp and the medicine wasn’t kicking in an hour later so we took you to the doctor to get checked out to make sure it wasn’t something serious. You ended up throwing up for the first time as you were so terrified and upset about getting weighed. Blood tests looked fine, but then the next day a rash appeared all over your body that looked like Roseola again. That rash evolved into some nasty blisters most significantly on your bottom and face, with the ones on your bottom being the worst. It took several days for these to start to look better and eventually go away and involved conversations with the doctor everyday sometimes multiple times a day. You still have a little scaring on your bottom but hopefully they will continue to subside as more time passes.

That’s it for this month my little love bug. I love you!

Love,

Mama 

Dear Lexi,

Another month down in the books and it was busy! We had something every Friday, Saturday and Sunday the entire month! There were a couple of sleepovers at Grandma B’s house and lots of time spent outside playing. We were also up at a cabin with the Sampson’s for several days and you had so much fun playing with your cousins’s Ashy and Coco!

Favorite Moments:

At the beginning of the month, I took a day off work so we could take you to the zoo for the first time! We made the long trek down to the Minnesota Zoo. I hadn’t been there in almost 20 years and was excited to see how it had changed. The highlight of your trip for sure was seeing the sharks. I’m not sure what it is, but you get SO excited about sharks! All of the other animals were too far away for you to really see and many of them were pretty obscure, you don’t know what a moose or a camel is so you were pretty un-phased. It was still fun and you enjoyed being outside and walking around with mom and dad.

This month you turned a corner and have finally been able to ask for giraffee. It comes out as draffee, but you ask for it a lot and your eyes get huge and twinkle with delight whenever you see him. You seem to ask for him most when you are in the car. I’m not sure if you’ve had it in the car a few times and you are used to it or if the car makes you sleepy and you want it to cuddle, but it is so sweet to hear your little voice asking for draffee.

The several days at the cabin brought many favorite moments this month. The sleeping arrangements weren’t ideal, but we made it work and you weren’t too crabby. You and Coco were pretty much inseparable the entire time. You would follow her around and read books together, play with your animals, pretend to take naps, play cards, color etc… It was so fun to watch the two of you together.

There was two days were the sun came out and it was warm enough to go swimming and you loved it! They had a little floaty that you could sit in and you thought it was the best thing ever. We would sing songs and spin you in circles and you would kick your little legs and kept repeating, ‘I simmin, I simmin, I kick, I kick.’

We also had the boat up at the cabin with us and you loved going to boat rides. You would hand us your life jacket, put your arms through the holes by yourself and say ‘boat, boat boat’. You loved going fast and watching the everyone tube. It was a much different experience than last year when you hated wearing your life jacket and you screamed the entire time.

Throughout the month, you continued to add more words to your vocabulary and have started putting phrases together. A few of the most popular ones are: ‘oh gosh,’ ‘oh man,’ ‘lets go’, ‘I simmin,’ ‘oops-e-daisy,’ ‘i sorry (but never use this one in the right context)’

Every time we go to the park, you get a little better at climbing the stairs and going down slides. This month, you attempted to climb up a little rope/chain ladder and you did great. I didn’t know how well you were going to do, but you only slipped once, caught yourself and continued climbing.

While I was at work one day, you were playing with your little people race car track and got your hand stuck in the flap that the cars go through right before they finish the race. You calmly called to Dadda, ‘uh-oh Dada, uh-oh,’ ‘uh-oh Dada, uh-oh’. Dada peered over the ledge and sees you just looking up at him with your arm stuck in the ramp. He said it was the funniest thing as you clearly couldn’t get your arm out yourself, but didn’t panic at all and just called for dada to come help you.

Notes:

Right after your 18 month shots, you had Roseola. You’re fever came about 24 hours after your shots, so I thought you were still reacting to that, and then the next day, you had little red dots most notably on your hands and feet, but were also on your back and neck too. For whatever reason, you were terrified of the doctor that was evaluating you, (in your defense, she was a little creepy looking) and screamed in terror and held onto my neck with a death grip and attempted to climb up me until a little ball to avoid being an inch closer to her.

Mom and Dad got you a little slide to play with and you were very hesitant it at first but now love it. You climb up it and slide down it and have even become a little show-off and stand on top of it too. It provides a good amount of entertainment for you as you bring your pals, your cars and pretty much anything you can push down it with you.

Nursery Rhymes continue to be a favorite. We finally got a large book with what feels like over a hundred nursery rhymes. I never realized how gruesome some of them where and how many of them really make no sense at all. (3 blind mice, Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater)

Your attention span is noticeably longer as you sit through longer books and TV shows. You still have an obsession with Daniel Tiger, Choo Choo Bob and Dinosaur Train and ask to watch them non-stop, literally sometime you ask over 20 times a day. Usually we only let you watch if you’re not feeling well, had some sort of incident or we really need to get something done without you in our hair.

You love to sleep with your pals cheek to cheek. Most of the time, we turn the monitor on and see you sprawled on your back with giraffee and piggy or doggy on each side of your face.

You love the sit-n-spin and giggle as you go round and round.

I would say you’re officially in ‘parrot mode’ where you repeat 70% of everything we say.

While changing your diaper (which you call diapy) you almost always say tummy, which means you want a wipe to wash your tummy with. Not sure where you got that from but it happens almost every diaper change.

Your top eye tooth came in and turned your happy smily personality into an angry whiny little toddler. Thankfully, it only lasted a day or two.

We went to a splash pad for the first time. I would say you kind-of liked it. The water was pretty cold, and you didn’t like anything that sprayed in your face and wouldn’t go anywhere by yourself. However, if I held your hands and we ran through things that sprayed low, you seemed to really like it. I’m curious to see if you like it more as you go a few additional times. That seems to be a common thread with many actives for you.

As we go through our bedtime routine, you are very particular about which songs you want me to sing you to. If I start to sing a song you don’t want, you tell me ‘no, no, no, stop, stop, stop.’ So, i’ll start listing songs and you veto most of them. A popular one this month has been ‘Take me out to the ball game’

And that rounds out your 19th month my sweet girl. Dada and I love you profusely and just can’t get enough of you.

Love,

Mama

Dear Lexi Lou,

Sweet girl, I can’t believe you’re half-way to two. You are growing up so quickly and am enjoying every moment and each new milestone you reach. You are a cheerful, smiley, sweet, analytical, chatty and content little peanut and you have your mama and dad absolutely infatuated with every piece of you.

Favorite Moments

Because I leave for work before you wake up each morning, I always look forward to bed time. It is good quality mama-Lexi uninterrupted time and this month brought lots of extra snuggling time.  We usually read a couple of books sing songs and then I lie you down in your crib to fall asleep on your own. For whatever reason (I think it was teething) I got in the habit of letting you fall asleep with me in the chair and just cuddle. Deep down I know this isn’t a good habit to form as it is difficult for you to fall asleep when I’m not there and it is just good for you to fall asleep by yourself, but I so rarely get cuddle time with you, I just couldn’t resist the peacefulness of the way you would nuzzle your head against my chest and the sounds of your deep breathing. I would look forward to that moment when there weren’t any distractions of the TV, my phone, you being busy and I could truly enjoy the moment. I was also known to fall asleep once or twice with you.

While discussing sleeping, you’ve really come to love nursery rhymes this month. You love tongue twisters with Peter Piper and Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater being two of your favorites.

After the busy weekend at Leech Lake over Memorial weekend, I was a little hesitant to take you swimming when Auntie She-She called and asked if we wanted to join her at the outdoor pool at the gym It was a beautiful day and we hadn’t been swimming in awhile so I said sure. Oh my stars alive, did you love it. You were laughing and giggling and loved singing songs (Motor Boat, Wheels on the Bus, and Row Row Row your Boat). You were having so much fun, and kept saying ‘summon’ while the lifeguards were taking a break that we had to go swim inside until the break was over. It is so fun to share your joy over some of the simplest things. And you and that hat, is just too cute. (if I take it off, you ask where it is and demand it to be put back on your head.)

While playing with your foam letters and numbers in the bathtub one night, you were repeating many of the letters or numbers I was sticking to the wall, so I thought I would just see how many letters of the you could repeat and was astounded that you could say them all. You won’t say them by yourself but when I ask Can you say ‘A’, you respond ‘A’ and repeat 26 times with each letter. Way to go Lexi!

I’m a little fearful of this next milestone as I’m nervous it indicates a problem we may have in the future. You love to wear my shoes, well really, any shoes, and love to look in my closet, pull clothes off the hanger and demand to wear them. Sweet for an 18 month old, but terrifying for 15 years from now.

Oh sweet girl, I love to see your nurturing side show through. Currently, you love to push babies (or really any object) in your stroller and insist that they come outside with you so you can take them for a walk. I know feminists may cringe at the thought of this, but I sincerely hope this is a trait you never loose. Male or female, the need to want to care for others isn’t something that everyone has and it is an asset that I believe will take you far in life, whether that it is caring for your own children if you so wish, me and your dad in the later years or life, sticking up for others on the playground or in the workplace. Going the extra mile to help others is always appreciated.

Notes:

At your 18 month check up you were 33.5 inches and 28 lbs, putting you in the 90% for both.

You use a spoon or fork at every meal. You’re successful about 50% of the time of getting food on the utensil and into your mouth, but eventually resort to using your fingers (while holding the fork in the other hand). Yogurt tends to be a messy one.

Your two bottom eye teeth popped through at the same time at the beginning of the month. You were a little crabby, but overall not too bad.

You continue to be a chatter bug and I have completely lost count of the words you say, but you’ve started putting sentences together. You’ve been saying ‘what happened?’ and ‘What’s that?’ for a couple months now, but have started other phrases like ‘Where go?’ and hi dada (hi dago). You also can now say bankie, which for some reason is absolutely adorable when you say it.

You love playing ball, whether it is throwing it or kicking it. Your favorite thing to do is roll it under the cars and see where it gets stuck.

Your hair is getting thicker and longer! Makes your ponies much easier to put in! You’ve also got some curl to it. I’m not sure if it is the length that it is at, but almost everyday, the back part just naturally curls out! There aren’t many things cuter than a little girl with curls, and in my biased opinion, you are not an exception!

You have an obsession with patty cake these days. You want to listen to it over and over and over in the car and want to play it at home and in the cart in stores and pretty much ask for pat-a-cake 24/7.

There have been a handful on tantrum’s that we’ve seen out of you. They mostly occur when you’re tired, haven’t seen me all day and I’m telling you no to something. You fall to the floor and start whining, but usually it is over as fast as it started.

You got to meet one of your new cousins Brian, not sure why you look so grumpy here cause you kept saying Baby over and over again while we were there and on our way home.

You continue to drag your three amigos with you everywhere you can.

Happy 18 months sweet pea! We love you so much.

Love,

Mama

     

 

 

 

Lexi Lou,

My sweet sweet girl! The months with you continue to fly by. This month finally brought us temperatures above 30 degrees, grass, walks and enjoyment of the good old vitamin D we’ve all been lacking, and you sure seem to be soaking it up.

Favorite Moments:

By the time you go to bed most nights the house is in total disarray. Everything you touch is a little seed traveling through the house. Whether its books, toys, socks, combs, clothing, toothbrushes etc… they seem to end up in the opposite location of the house you picked them up. You pick things up and carry them until you get distracted and find something new to pick up. Although it is a lot of work and straight-up exhausting most days to pick up your tornado of a mess before you wake up and do it again the next day, it makes me happy to do so. I love the constant little reminders of you all over our house and am oh so grateful to have you regardless of how messy and exhausting you can be.

Awhile back I started to bounce you and say ‘bum bum bum bum bum bum’ as we would go down the stairs and you would throw your head back and giggle. There have been a couple of times, I have forgotten to do this and three quarters of the way down I hear your little voice going ‘bububububu’. I love how you pick up and remember little things we do and say.

During bath time, we have a little routine down. You start by let the water run over your hands as the tub fills, then you’ll play for a little. Once you try and climb out or pull the plug to let the water out, we wash your hair and body. Usually, you fight lying down on your back but once you’re there we sing the ‘Down in the Meadow in the itsy Bitsy Blue’ song and you’re very comfortable. After we’re done rinsing, you pull the plug and watch the water drain out. I put your Tigger towel on over your head (which you usually try to take off) wrap the towel around you with your arms at your side like a little soldier and lift you out of the tub. We go right to the mirror to look at ‘Lexi Tigger.’ I could just die at this next moment but you wiggle your arms out, push the hood off your head and wrap your little arms tight around my neck and push your check against mine. I nearly melt every time you do this.  Your tight embrace is one of my favorite things and you do it every time. It. Is. The. Best!!!!

Dada and I have definitely noticed your increased need for our attention. You love to tell us where to sit and watch you play. You’ll even come find us in a different room of the house, pull our hand to where you want to be, pat the floor and say ‘sit’, which by the way sounds awfully close to another four-lettered word.

Lexi, your zest for life makes each day that much better. Each morning you wake up cheerful and will lie in your crib and talk to your animals, sing and just be happy for a good 20 minutes. And the moment Dada or I open your door, you start jumping up and down. What a great way to wake up each morning! Let’s hope this continues into your teenage years! (haha!!)

Sweet girl, you have an incredible sense of hearing! Whenever you hear any kind of sound outside, you immediately stop what you are doing and run to the window and ask “What’s that?” Currently, your favorites are airplanes, helicopters and the garbage truck. You love to run from window to window watching where he will go next.

Notes:

You experienced your 2^nd Easter this month and didn’t quite ‘get it’ but looked adorable in your little yellow dress. The Easter bunny brought you bubbles, coloring materials, chalk, your stuffed pig and a bike. You LOVE your pig and gave it a big hug as soon as you found your basket (hidden under your table in the kitchen). Your bike on the other hand, you aren’t a big fan of. We were practicing riding it and you tumbled off and have refused to go near it sense. Overall, the day of Easter was fantastic. The weather was beautiful and you had so much fun running and playing with your big cousins Ashy and Coco. You were also spoiled in getting presents from many of your family members.

You’re a very polite little girl. You regularly sign ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ without us prompting you and say ‘Chew’ after someone sneezes or coughs.

You like to pretend to sleep and will cuddle with one of your animals or on a pillow and say ‘Sheew’ imitating snoring.

You love to throw things down the stairs and then go and get them. Playing on the stairs is one of your favorite places to be—not the safest, but you do really really well on them and we have very little fears of you falling. In general, you continue to be very cautious. You’re hesitant on jumping into our arms, sliding off furniture, stepping over ridges or through doors.

You experienced your first real owes this month. The first was tripping over mama’s computer cord and hitting your face on one of the floor vents and getting a little boo-boo on your nose. The second was getting into Dada’s travel bin, finding his razor and attempting to shave your face. There was a brand new blade on it and you cut your cheek a little.

You like helping mama cook. You’ll often beg to be picked up and then say ‘hep’ meaning you want to help stir.

Whenever you give a hug, you like to announce by saying ‘Huuug’. I also can not get enough of the way you say ‘ah-k’.  It is just so sweet and innocent. You continue to love almost all foods, with your favorite being blueberries and ask ‘bue’ for everything.

Lexi, we love you and your enthusiasm for every new thing you see, hear or emotion to experience. Your giggles bring life to our walls and radiate happiness to everyone you encounter. Thank you for being you and the way you have perfectly nuzzled your way into the warmest places in our hearts.

Love,

Mama

Dear Lexi,

This was another long, cold month. I was reading over your 15 month post and it feels like the things I talked about happened months ago. Coincidently, this is the month I have the fewest ‘notes’ of what happened, so we’re just going to kind of go with it, which describes your personality in the truest sense.

Favorite Monthly Moments:
To prolong bedtime, you try to play instead of reading books. One night, while doing this, you pulled out all of your diapers from the drawer and attempted to put them on yourself. You would open a diaper up and squat over it. It was hilarious to watch you do this—as if you were thinking they would magically fly onto you, but very sweet to see your nurturing side shine!

A funny but slightly embarrassing moment occurred while we were out to eat for St. Patrick’s Day. We brought you to listen to some Irish music, your favorite, and enjoy some Fish and chips. For whatever reason, you felt you could skip using your hands to feed yourself and put your mouth directly to the table and suck up your fish. I’m not sure where you got this idea as we have never seen it before, but it was pretty entertaining to watch. I just wish I had an actual picture of it, instead you’ll have to enjoy this one.

Daddy has been busy working with you on a lot of things, one of which is saying ‘love you’. Now when we say ‘I love you Lexi’ you respond with ‘uv-ew’. You also love to give hugs. You run up with big arms and lean your head onto our shoulders and say ‘hu’. We’ll keep working on pronouncing the whole words, but it feels pretty great to have you attempt to tell and show us how you feel.

In addition to the words love you and hug, you also say OK, yes (and use them correctly when we ask you questions) pumpkin=pum-pum, cars=zoom zoom, heart, baby, and my favorite word, pillow=piwow.

Your Auntie Sheila moved back from Chicago so we all went over to Grandma B’s to help welcome her home and unpack the moving track. And you have developed quite the strong bond with Grandma! You love to play with her and beg for her to hold you! It’s so great to see you developing strong bonds with people other than Daddy and myself.

There were a couple of nice days this month where you were able to go outside and play and you LOVE being outside. You are scared of the snow, but love running up and down the sidewalk! You even walked around the block with me!

With some of your teeth coming in, we enjoyed some extra snuggle time for bed time and in the middle of the night. As exhausting as it can be to get up in the middle of the night, Your cuddles are far and few between and I’ll take them where I can get them! One thing that is really funny when you sleep is how you keep your arms tucked down at your side. You’ll pull giraffee up onto your shoulder and then tuck your hands under your tummy like a little torpedo. Daddy wonders if that habit came as a result of swaddling?

Notes:
Your other bottom molar came through and one of the top ones is very close. These teeth have given you a hard time. It disrupts your sleeping and generally makes you more whinny than normal.

You do a great job of putting all of our shoes on the shelf when they’re left out and bringing me yours when we’re going to leave.

You’ve started to throw little tantrums when you don’t get your way.

You recognize the shape of a heart and say it when you see it

You love to be facing forward in the car! (and I love being able to see you!)

When you say bye-bye to people you say the words nigh-nigh.

You love to wave to people when they aren’t looking. When someone does look, you get very shy and cling to mama.

You’ve regressed a little from going to the bathroom on the potty. We were getting you like 50% of the time and now it is maybe 25%.

I’ve been working with you on putting puzzle pieces into their spots, verses just taking the pieces out and walking around with them, but you haven’t shown too much interest in this. You’ll usually try once or twice and if you don’t get it, you walk away.

Your favorite book is the big animal book. We read it every night. You love to howl like a wolf.

Your hearing is off the charts. You hear every noise buzz, beep, airplane or car that drives by. You always stop what you’re doing, get huge eyes put your arms out at your sides with palms up and ask ‘What’s that?’

Love bug, life gets better with you every day. It is so fun to watch you grow and your ability to communicate with us has made things so much easier. We love your sweet antics and your chubby checks!

Love, Mama