We have been quite busy over the past few months. The holidays have came and gone. This year, Santa Claus visited Alex! Some of the things he got for Christmas are: Thomas the Train Table, a toolbox, Crayola musical drawing tablet, Riding Race Car from Aunt Diane, Lego Duplo Blocks, Zu Zu Pet, a Snow Sled, many books, clothes, and jammies. He also received some cash that has since been deposited into his college fund. I'm sure I'm forgetting more... We stayed in Ohio for Christmas Eve & Christmas day, and then drove to Indiana and stayed through Pepaw's birthday, which was Dec. 29. It was a really nice holiday season. Here we are at Christmas time:
Here are some of his recent developments:
Eating:
He still has a very short attention span when it comes to eating. We continue to feed him a variety of the same meals that we know he will eat. I would like for him to start eating different kinds of foods, but I know that might be asking for a bit much. A few weeks ago, we noticed that sometimes he does not want to sit in his high chair, so I bought this little toddler table & chair set at Big Lots. It has four different colored chairs, and he likes it. He does eat at it occasionally, but lately he would rather take all the chairs one by one and put them in the middle of the living room. If he is having trouble sitting still to eat, we sometimes have to "feed on the fly", but I've been trying to keep even that at a minimum since he's typically done eating completely at this point. I have had better success with him just sitting on my knee while he eats if he starts to boycott his high chair. Everyone says "He will eat when he is hungry", but it's really hard for me to accept that because of course Mommy & Daddy want him to be well nourished.
Talking:
I am especially enjoying Alex's language development. It simply amazes me how many words and phrases he has started saying. He says: "Bless You", "Turn it on", "Downstairs", "And That One Too", "I'll Get It", "Thank You" and "You're Welcome" (which he says back-to-back), and he also says "Hi" quite frequently to inanimate objects like food or a tree. Hahahaha! Also, every question you ask him is met with an "OK". Unless it is "Alex, do you want to go night night?" To which he replies: "No".
He also knows 9 animal sounds. We will ask him: "What does a [cat, dog, chicken, frog, pig, cow, sheep, horse, bird] say?" And he responds correctly!
He has also learned how to sing some songs like "Happy Birthday to You", "Everywhere I Go", and most recently he is singing the alphabet A through G. This one in particular is really hard to swallow. I cannot believe my child is learning his ABC's. He is growing up ever so quickly. *sigh*
Technology:
Nearly all of our friends and family think that Alex needs to submit a video to Steve Jobs with his iPad playing ability. In all seriousness, Alex thinks the iPad is his iPad. He has more games and videos on there than Mark or I do. His games include Bust a Marble, Simon, Elmo Monster Maker, Taking John, Paper Toss, Misty Island Adventure, Angry Birds, Monkey Preschool Lunchbox, Cut the Rope, and Vegetable Samuri. Videos include his favorite Presto (a Disney cartoon with a magician and rabbit), Elmo's World, Bob Saves the Day, Yo Gabba Gabba, Olivia, and Blue's Clues. These have actually been quite a lifesaver in the car when we travel to Indiana.
We have also been Skyping quite often with Nana and Pepaw on the computer. However, Alex doesn't last very long... again it's that short attention span!
Little Gym:
We signed Alex up for another semester at Little Gym, which runs January through June. I think he really enjoys attending every Wednesday night. We have noticed his progress since we first started taking him. He is now more confident about exploring the different stations within the big room and much more skilled at taking steps down off of the mats. For quite some time, he was pretty scared to step down. Within the room itself, he especially likes the pull-up rings, the circular plastic tubes that he can crawl through, and the taller balance beam. He is also quite familiar with the structure of the class including the warm-up where we run in a circle with the whole group, the weekly "Skill of Focus", baby sign language, a review of the physical activity from the week before, ball time, bubble time, and finally the good-bye song.
At Little Gym, he understands when it's time to put things away after group activities, but he hasn't mastered the concept of sharing just yet. He will sometimes take away toys from other children when they are playing with them. But I take comfort in the fact that all of the other children also behave this way, so we will eventually start taking steps to help him understand how you don't grab something from someone's hands when they are using it.
Upcoming Events and Milestones:
As we are awaiting warmer/Spring weather, we are still hoping to take Alex sledding before the end of winter a few times. He still needs to try out his new sled from Nana and Pepaw, and I know of the perfect little hill about 10 minutes from our house in Silver Springs park.
We are also planning a trip to Indiana for Easter weekend, which also happens to be Alex's 2nd birthday weekend. It will be nice to celebrate his birthday with my family. I've already started thinking about his birthday theme and cake, and I'm excited about either Blues Clues, Thomas the Train, Bob the Builder, or Elmo. I've really got it narrowed down, huh?
We are going to buy Alex a toddler bed soon as well. He is getting really big in his crib, and the convertible bed that his crib converts to is a regular full-sized bed. We thought that perhaps a bed that was lower to the ground would be better suited for now. He rolls around A LOT while he sleeps.
And finally, we are going to begin potty training soon! We bought Alex a 3-in-1 potty chair a few weeks ago, and he says "Potty!" This will definitely be a learning experience with ups & downs.
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