More Swim Pics

Last night Josh got in the pool with Alex. It was so much fun watching them together! She seemed to do better with him than me, but it may be because it was her second class so she was a little used to the pool. She actually kicked her feet and moved her arm to try to reach for the rubber duck! It looked more like she was trying to crawl in the water than swim!

Alex's first birthday is just around the corner so I've been working on stuff for her party! We'll be having her birthday party at our house and we'll be celebrating with cake twice over the 4th of July weekend at each of our parents house. I think by the time her party happens, she'll be a pro at feeding herself cake! The invites went in the mail yesterday! I'll post a pic of one next week! I've been getting kinda crafty working on stuff for her birthday, I made the invites, I'm making the decorations (with some help from my sister!) and I'll be making her cake...and we made Josh's father's day gift!! I am thinking of starting to make the transition to whole milk in the next 2-3 weeks so by the time she turns one, she'll be completely off, or almost off, formula! Any tips? We are still doing 4 6 ounce bottles/sippy cups of formula a day and she is getting water through out the day. I am kind of at a loss when it comes to how much milk and water she should be getting a day!?!?

First Swim Lesson!

We had our first swim lesson today. I was a little worried because it doesn't start until 6:30 but the evening class is the only one that worked for us. She did great! For the next 2 weeks we'll just push back her bedtime about 45 minutes. We got right in the water with no problems and Alex had fun...until it was time to put her on her back. She was not a fan of being on her back in the water! She grabbed on to my top and wouldn't let go. I've decided I need to wear a swim suit that doesn't tie around the next for tomorrows class. We worked on kicking legs, blowing bubbles, pushing off from the wall and paddling arms. She was soo interested in watching the other kids and everything else that was going on she barely kicked her legs. When we got home and gave her a bath, she was kicking like crazy. Figures!

Look Mom, No Hands!

Alex is standing on her own! She is so cute when she does it because it looks like it surprises her! If I am right there, she just leans forward until she looses her balance and I catch her. Last night she figured out how to slowly lower her booty to sit down without falling! She will take steps holding on to one of my hands. Maybe walking is just around the corner!

Yesterday Erika and Dane came over to play in the splash pool. Alex loved it for a while, then she became more interested in the nectarine Erika was eating. Dane loved it! Abby was happy sitting in my lap waving her hand over the spray. I'm mad I didn't get any pics, but I figured it would be best to leave the camera inside, last thing I need is to get the new one wet! :(

11 Months Old!

Oh sweet baby, you are almost 1 year old! I can not believe it! Month ten was a busy month. Tooth #2 made an appearance, she went from pulling up every once in a while to now pulling up on everything! She is cruising and can stand for a few seconds with out holding onto anything. This month we transitioned from the infant car seat to the convertible car seat. She is still rear facing and will probably be until right around her 1st birthday. According to our home scale she is 19 lbs and 29 inches (give or take a couple of ounces either way). She is moving away from purees and pretty much only eating table foods. This weekend was the first time she actually ate what we made for dinner. Josh made a lasagna and we made her a little one without the spicy turkey sausage. When we eat out, we order her a side of veggies instead of packing food, but we always keep a cup of applesauce in the diaper bag just in case.

We have also taken a small step backwards in sleeping through the night. Every 3 or 4 nights, she will wake up crying and screaming so we have to rock her for a few minutes then she goes back to sleep. A few times, she has stayed up for an hour or longer just wanting to play. I am hoping we will get past this...very soon!

Alex understands no, but usually stop what she is doing, smiles at us and keeps on going. She will wave bye bye about 75% of the time on command and will now look in the mirror and wave at her reflection. She has great fine motor skills and has been self feeding for several months now. She is always saying mama, and is slowly connecting it to me. While Josh was changing her diaper this morning, she said Dada. When we are on the bed and pat it to call Cooper, she mimics us and pats the bed until Cooper jumps up. She is only using a sippy cup and has been since 5.5 months and is now using a cup with a straw on a daily basis. She can, but not always will, hand us a toy she is playing with if we ask for it.

She is still in size 3 diapers and I'm sure will be for some time. Clothes are still all over the place. If she is wearing a dress or shorts, she can wear 6-9 or 9-12 month, jammies are all 9-12 month because she has long legs. I am not looking forward to fall/winter, because I have a feeling if pants fit her in the length, they will be way too big around the waist. We are working on shoes. If we leave the house, I put them on her, if we are at home, she is barefoot. She is not a fan of shoes. She currently wears size 2 or 3.

Alex and Cooper's new favorite book...Doggies, by Sandra Boynton.

Alex laughs and Cooper goes a little crazy when Josh reads it!

Baby Sprinkles!

We had another fun weekend! I love warm weather! Yesterday we met Katie, Tracy, Mark, Veronica, Sarah, Chris, Kerri and Damien along with the babies (Abby and Grisham) at Koppe Bridge for burgers! From there, the guys headed to the movies and Katie, Sarah and I headed to the pool with the babies. Alex and Abby had a blast in their little pool floaties. Alex was worn out by the time we finally got home, Alex was pooped! She slept until 6, which we knew would bite us in the butt, because she didn't go to bed until 8:45 or so. She was up at 5am crying so Josh rocked her back to sleep then the was up for good at 6:30!!!

Today, Josh went with a guy from work who is looking to buy a project car, to give advice and help him check it out. Alex and I went to Target. I got her a new baby pool/activity center since the old one had a leak. There are so many little pools and stuff to pick from. I settled on the Bonzai Baby Sprinkles! It is so cute and big enough for 2 babies to play in. It has a sun shade area, a little slide, some blow up stars, a whale Alex can sit on and a blow up tree. When Josh got home, he started blowing it up while I got Alex ready. She LOVED it! It has water that sprays up from all different directions. She loved tried to drink the water that was spraying up! I will tell you, it is a pain to drain and put away, so it's sitting on our back porch now since I figured I'd use it with Alex and Abby some time this week.

As soon as the water started bubbling up, Alex was off the blanket and headed straight to see what was going on!

Trying to catch the water in her mouth

trying out the slide
trying to drink the water...again

When we turned the hose off, she decided she was over the pool.

I guess she only liked it when it was spraying everywhere!

Same Park, Different Story!

We hit the park today! The same park we had a minor melt down at last time, but today, it was great! Main reason? We stayed off the swing! We started out by meeting Josh, Katie, Tracy, Mark, Veronica and Randy at Ninfa's for lunch! Yummmy! From there, I took the girls to the park, prepared this time! We got there, put our blanket down and had a seat while the girls got used to their new surroundings. Alex was off in a flash! Abby was a little more timid and was just fine sitting on the blanket looking around. Both girls had a great time and it was nice to be outside for a while, even if it was HOT!

Lunch with Daddy!

hmmm, what is this black stuff?
Wait! You want me crawl on this? OK, I approve!
Sitting like a big girl!

What is that I see over there?
Of all the things to play with, my child heads straight for the diaper bag and stroller! Mmmm, tasty! Hey Alex, how about a little drink for your bestie? Determined to get to the top! Am I doing this right?

More RA News

yes, we are playing in the car seat box!

I had my appointment with the Rheumatologist today. Everything is still good, I don't know what my blood count numbers were, but she said they are great, so I'm happy. I have been having a few little aches and stiffness, but we determined that was because I was lowering my Prednisone dosage too quickly so I have to slow it down a bit. My next appointment is in 3.5 months and hopefully after that, I'll go back every 4 months. I do have one new prescription for Prevacid since everything I currently take can mess up the lining of my stomach. Just one more thing to add to my daily pill intake!

We are hosting our HOA meeting at our house tonight. When we volunteered, it sounded like a good idea. Now, it just seems crazy. Josh and I spent last night cleaning, now all that's left if picking up. There is no point in picking up until about 6 tonight since Alex loves to pull the DVD's off of the shelf as soon as I put them back and dump all her toys as soon as I put them in the basket.

My sweet little bundle of joy decided to wake up last night when I went in her room to turn the timer on the white noise machine around 11. Not just a little groggy moving around, but straight up, bright eyed awake. I rocked her for a few minutes and put her back down and she screamed. Tried it again, same results. So, I took her in our room and let her lay with us for a little bit. Lay = play. She crawled all over us, stood holding onto the headboard, tried to get Cooper and just rolled all around. She got the giggles which was soo cute. But about hour into her play time, it started getting old. I took her back in her room and rocked her again, put her down, she screamed...repeated that a couple of times then it was back to our bed. She had no intentions of sleeping. Finally, at 1:00, after being up for 2 hours, I turned off the monitor so Josh could sleep, put her in her crib and shut the door. She fussed for a few minutes and finally gave in and crashed. I stayed in the living room until about 1:30 to make sure she was sleeping then I turned the monitor back on and crawled in bed. And wouldn't you know it, she was up right on time this morning!