4 Months Later...

As everyone probably knows, I have been so busy working 2 jobs that I barely have any free time. Lately, I've just been trying to get through each day. But this is one hobby of mine that I deeply regret neglecting for so long. The same lesson where I realize yet again how fast children grow up. I need to take the time to slow down. Herby's death has taught me that -- to appreciate others in your life each and everyday. You don't know how long you have with them. And yet, I fall into the routine of trying to just make it through the day. I know things will change soon, in God's time -- not mine. Until then, I can only pray, have faith, and watch my son grow up while sitting at a computer working every evening that I get home from the 8-5 job.

Since the last time I blogged, you'd think Alex would be driving by now considering how much he has grown and how much he has learned. I'm vowing to NEVER let this happen again because I know that I will inevitably miss countless milestones and memories.

Onward to whatever I can possibly remember in 4 months:

Eating:
Obviously, Alex has been off of baby food as of the exact week during the last time I blogged. He will pretty much eat anything we give him as long as we cut it up into small pieces. For breakfast, he usually eats either his cereal or a waffle or mini bagel with some fruit, usually applesauce, jarred fruit, mandarin oranges, or a banana. Lunch is usually leftovers from dinner the night before, or a mini pizza, or mac & cheese, or quesadillas, or fish sticks, and then a Yo Baby yogurt. For his afternoon snack, he likes the Gerber cereal bars or arrowroot cookies with some juice. Dinner is whatever we eat, and we also try to give him a vegetable, but veggies are tricky. He likes corn, carrots, green beans (sometimes), sweet potatoes, and maybe a few more. He is especially partial to anything Italian (hmmm...go figure?) He loves spaghetti, pizza, cheese tortellini, and garlic breadsticks. Amazing how much things have changed since my last post. I think it was my goal to get him eating more regular foods, and he would balk now at any baby jarred food if presented to him for dinner! He has done really well with eating a variety of foods, but he can sometimes be quite difficult to feed. His attention span is short, and his teeth bother him a lot during meal time. (He has about 8 front teeth with 2 more side teeth coming in, and at least 4-5 molars poking through!!) We try not to force him to eat, and he is still growing, so he must be doing OK. Although at his last Well Baby visit, he was in the 14th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. Wish I knew how to fatten him up! Ice cream and cookies aren't working for him the way they work for me. :-)

Routines:
We've finally established a bedtime routine that I enjoy very much. Alex usually gets his teeth brushed, a nighttime diaper, jammies, and then we lay down on the couch to watch about a 1/2 hour of cartoons before bed. Usually, we watch Blue's Clues, Olivia, or the Wonder Pets. I love this time together so much because he is a sweet little cuddler. I wish we could implement a story at bedtime instead, but Alex doesn't really like to listen to stories yet. He would rather turn the book pages really fast and maybe look at some of the pictures. Maybe when he is older, he will like to listen to Mommy and Daddy read him stories.

No More Bottle!!:
Yes, that's right! It's been over a week since he has used a bottle. It has been quite a struggle to wean him. It's been a crutch for him. We've tried countless sippy cups, and sometimes all of the them work fine, and sometimes none of them will work at all. This week, he certainly hasn't had his daily 3 milk servings, but he has also had a cold for the past 2 weeks. This weekend, he has been sleeping a lot more than usual, running the occassional fever, and eating much less. Although, he has been drinking lots of juice and water and always seems quite thirsty. I hope he starts taking an interest in food again soon because he needs some nutrition.

Clothing:
Related to the weight issues, Alex cannot even wear some brands of size 12 month jeans. A sales lady at Kohl's told me once that jeans can be really hard to fit on children. We struggle to find any pants that fit on his waist AND are long enough for his legs. I think we have 3-4 pair that work for now, but they are lounge pants. I need to find some dress pants that will work for Christmas pictures next weekend...

Talking:
"Mommy", "Daddy", "Nana", "Pepaw", "Yellow", "Apple", "Ba Ba", "Choo Choo", "Thomas", "Elmo", "Ernie", "Bert", "Down", "Bubble", "All Done", "On", "Off", "Tookie" (cookie), "A Bana" (banana), "Tandle" (candle), "Window", "Moon", "Guitar", and "Wow" with a long drawn out "ow" at the end. I'm sure there are a hundred more. Alex's vocabulary is growing every day. He picks up words so easily. We can ask him to say something, and he usually will. He is in a replicating stage where he wants to copy whatever you're doing. I taught him how to raise both hands in the air when I say "touchdown". (It's so cute...) I also ask him "Where's your belly?" and he will lift up his shirt to look down at his belly. We can also tell him to dance, and he will squat up & down and shake his bottom.

Fall Events:
Last month, we took Alex to Patterson's Farm in Chesterland where he walked along all the pumpkins, and we took home apples, kettle corn, and some donuts. I always like visiting Fall Festivals each year, and since we don't live near Mapleside Farms anymore, we went to this place (even though it was still a 45 minute drive.)

Then, a few weekends later, we met up at Patterson's again with Mark's friends Todd & Debbie and their twin boys after learning there was a whole different section at Patterson's -- and specifically made for children's activities! There were slides built into trees, tire swings, pony rides, wagon rides, corn mazes, etc. Alex had a good time, and I think we did too.

We also had a busy Halloween weekend. Alex was Darth Vadar this year. We went with "cute" last year when he was a monkey, and this year we went with "scary". The first Halloween event was the city of Hudson's Merchant trick or treat. It was on Thursday evening, and all the retail stores in the square passed out candy. It was cute to see all the little kids dressed up in their costumes, but it was cold and some of the older kids were a bit pushy. Alex didn't walk very fast at the pace of the other children, and it made Mark feel a bit rushed. So, we "kind of" enjoyed this event.

Friday night was Boo at the Zoo. The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo holds this event each year. We only had about 3 hours to see as many of the features as we could, and we were in a big group of people from 4 families (ours included), so it was also a bit hurried & rushed. After the zoo, we went to have a late dinner where I was positive Alex would be grouchy and ready for bed since it was 9 pm. As soon as we got to the restaurant, a Thomas the Tank Engine train set next to our booth saved the day. Alex was more interested in playing than eating (as usual.) But we certainly started thinking about Christmas ideas as a result of this toy.

In October, we also joined the Little Gym in Twinsburg. Every Wednesday night, there is a 45-minute session where Alex is learning how to develop his social & physical skills, and there are also language and singing sessions. There are bubbles, a basketball goal with dozens of balls to play with, monkey bars, balance beams, running, singing, and many more activities. Alex seems to like the smaller balance beam the best. It sits about 4-6 inches off the ground, and he will count to ten while he walks across the beam. He counts 1-5, and then skips the number 6 and says "Seben", then says 8 and 10. So, we need to work on the numbers 6 & 9.

The only other fall activity that we did a lot was visiting Hudson Springs Park. They have a great little playground that Alex loves to explore. There are 2 Little Tikes climbing towers with a little door at the bottom that he loves to peek through. We run around the tower and play a sneaky game where Alex squeals as we surprise him. He also loves the giant jungle gym where there are many colored shapes. This is where he picked up the word yellow, which he says ALL THE TIME. Yellow might be his favorite word.

Upcoming Events:
Well, I cannot believe the holidays are right around the corner. This Thursday is Thanksgiving, and on Friday -- Alex will be 19 months old. Then, we are getting his pictures taken on Saturday at JCPenney, and then over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for their family Christmas photos. We also had Nana take a family picture up at Hudson's gazebo a few weeks ago. Wouldn't you know they put up their Christmas tree the Monday after!?!? Oh well, I'm sure we will have a few good ones to send on Christmas cards. :-)