Splash Day

Candice and I met for a music class with the girls last week. They loved it! Because we had conflicts Tuesday and Wednesday we were only able to make it to the Thursday classes. This Thursday was the end of the summer session so it was a splash day! Alex had soo much fun! The class will pick back up in the Fall so we are looking forward to it!

A few of Candice's friends and their daughters met us there then we all headed to Candice's for lunch and a play date. The girls all sat at Kate's little table and had a tea party. We stayed way past Alex's nap time because she was having such a great time!

As we go to more activities, it really hits me we are in a small town. We are in gymnastics with a friend from our school year Friday play group. We see several moms and kids from our gymnastic class at the library for story time on Wednesday, and then even more moms from story time and gymnastics at music class on Thursday. Then there are other moms I see all over town running errands, at Barnes and Noble, Chick-fil-a or a the mall play area. Then we see at least one mom/kid from swim lessons at each activity. As summer is coming to and end, I am sad because some of my mommy friends are teachers so they will be going back to school and most of the other kids are starting MDO. I guess it's time for me to branch out and meet more moms with kids who aren't in MDO. I'm just not ready for Alex to start this year. I plan on her starting next Fall when she is 3!

Alex and Kate

Mia, Alex and Bethanny

Alex, Bethanny and Kate

Mini Vacation!

We have planned our first little family mini vacation! I am so excited about it. Next month, we will be going to Wild Oak Ranch in San Antonio! We are going Monday-Wednesday. It is kind of short, but since it's our first vacation with Alex, I don't want to be gone too long in case she doesn't adjust well. We have a 1 bedroom condo so we have a kitchen, dining room, living room, bedroom, huge bathroom and even a washer and dryer! I love the set up because Alex will be able to sleep in the living room and we will have our separate room. We can access the balcony from our room and we have a tv in our room so we will still be able to move around after she goes to bed. The property looks beautiful! They have a lazy river and a little beach, fire pits to make smores at night. They even have grills the staff will light for you if you want to grill your own stuff...not sure if we'll actually do this, but it's nice to know we can if we want! I only wish we were going on a Friday because they do a children's movie and popcorn under the stars. Maybe next time!!! We haven't planned any activities yet, but I'm sure we'll spend a good portion of the day at pool area and we are only minutes away from Sea World!

It's going to be a super busy week! In addition to our little vacation Monday through Wednesday, Friday I'll meet my mom to make an Alex switch. She is going to start keeping Alex one weekend a month so Josh and I can do want ever we want. This particular weekend, we are going to Wimberley to celebrate my best friend's 30th birthday! Her sweet husband is renting a house (or houses, depending on how many couples end up going) for the weekend. There could be about 15 couples! I am so excited about our August! Oh, I didn't mention it's also our anniversary month, so Josh and I will be doing a little weekend getaway while Grandma and Grandpa come here to stay with Alex. A busy busy month!

Popcicle Days

We had our usual Sunday...out for breakfast, walking around Target then a stop to Lowes. When we got home, we all went outside to plant some flowers. Alex helped me water the plants and watered herself too! She was SOAKED. When we were done, she got to enjoy her first entire fudgecicle. She wasn't too happy with how messy it was or how cold it was, then she embraced it!

Alex at 2

Alex had her 2 year check up today! Development wise, everything is great!!!

She currently weighs 28.6 lbs (73%) and 34 13/4 inches tall (72%). Her weight is up from the 32nd percentile from her 18 month checkup! I spent the week preparing Alex for shots at her checkup. We packed some Toy Story band aids to use after the shots. I was so happy to find out she didn't need any shots! She did have to get a finger prick so they could check her iron levels so she was excited to to get her band aid. (She has a slight obsession with band aids. She has to put one on every morning when she gets ready.)

Here is what she is doing now...

She is talking up a storm. I tried to make a list of her words to see about how many she has in her vocab, but there are just too many. She seems to learn several new words every single day!

She loves to jump and hop around!

She is learning her shapes (heart and star are her current favorites) and is working on her alphabet. She can point out about 8 letters on her fridge magnets and will sing along to the ABC's.

She can repeat numbers all the way to 20 and can count to 4 without assistance, then needs a little help to get to 10.

She remembers EVERYTHING! Her morning routine is to get up, diaper change, grab some milk then lay in bed with me. She watches Josh get ready and tells me everything he is doing. (Shower, blowing nose, brush teeth, comb hair, get dresses; pants, shirt, shoes). She runs into her Daddy's arms every single morning and gives him a huge hug and kiss.

A few times when we meet Josh for lunch, he will be on the road beside us and she will point to his car and tell me it's his. If we are in a parking lot, she can point out my car to me!

We made the change to 2% milk.

I recently found out, she LOVES pork. Beef and turkey are hit or miss with her, but pork she LOVES!

She is currently wearing a size 5 diaper, most clothes are 24 months, some 18 month shorts/pants and size 7 shoes! My child has huge feet!

I absolutely love this age! Alex is sooo much fun and we have a blast every single day. We are keeping ourselves busy with activities every day. Typically we leave Monday and Friday open for play dates and errands. Tuesday is gymnastics, Wednesday is story time at the library then play time at Chickfila and lunch and Thursday is music class.

New Friends

Alex loves Kate! We met Kate and Candice in the Spring at the company fun run. Candice's husband works for the same company as Josh They had moved to College Station a few months prior and Alex and Kate seemed to hit it off. We talked about swim lessons and planned to sign the girls up for the same class. We didn't talk again until sign up started and we confirmed class dates and times. After the first swim lesson, Alex woke up every morning asking to see Kate! Since they were out of town for Alex's birthday party, we had them over for a play date last week so they could play with all of Alex's new toys. They played and had lunch. When they were about to leave, Kate opened the door to our coat closet and went in, shutting the door behind her, then popped out saying boo! Alex thought it was hilarious! Alex wanted her to keep doing it, so she would take Kate to the closet, close the door, then take off running and laughing! Kate would pop out, close the door and run after Alex. Then they would hold hands while walking back to the closet and do it all over again. I love seeing my baby girl so happy!

Elefun Party

Alex got an Elefun game for her birthday over the 4th of July weekend from Nomi and Popi. We put it away for a little while, mainly because I kept forgetting to pick up batteries for it! Last night after dinner, we took it out. Alex LOVED it! She can't quite catch the little butterflies yet, but she loves waiting for them to flutter out! This game was a HUGE hit!

**excuse the mess in her room...I was doing her laundry and changing her sheets before bed time!**

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Gymnastics

Alex had her first gymnastics class today. I signed her up a while ago, but she couldn't start until she turned 2. Lucky for us, they had a session starting the week after she turned 2. This was her first experience where she had to listen to someone other than a parent, wait her turn and follow directions. The parents have a viewing room on the 2nd floor and also have the option to go on the floor with their kid. Miss Summer came up to get the kiddos and Alex didn't even look back so I stayed in the viewing room. I poked my head out a few times to snap some pics, but I didn't want to distract her too much. They started in a circle on squares and they went around and said their favorite food and did a lap around the circle. I'm pretty sure Alex said her favortie food was "yum!" Then Miss Summer took her and her friend Helen on their lap around the circle. From there, they split up in age groups. Alex and the other 2 year olds went to the rings first. Alex had no idea what to do, so she would touch the rings and push them away. Then she went to the wedge mat where she was supposed to try a forward roll, instead she chose to slide down it. The second station was bars, where they tried to hang, then a tunnel to crawl through and the bars again. Alex liked the tunnel the best. The last station was a wedge mat again where they would do another roll, a bar on the floor they held onto and tried to kick their feet up and a spring board they got to bounce on and jump off. She finally tried a forward roll at the last station.

Considering it was her first time in any type of organized activity, she did great! She has problems waiting her turn and actually staying on her mat when it isn't her turn, but other than that she did good. She stayed on her mat more that I thought she would. She got a stamp at the end of class!

getting ready to leave the house

sitting on her mat beside Helen

Miss Summer taking Alex and Helen on their lap around the circlethe bars

being directed to her mat for about the 30th time