Our grown-up little girl!

It seems like an oxymoron to call our little one “grown-up” but it definitely seems time is flying by with Alexa Hope. She celebrated 20 months of life on Sunday. I can’t believe she’s closer to two than one!! The next thing we’ll know she’ll be learning to drive a car (actually, she likes to do that now – without keys – of course).

It’s late so Mommy’s going to do her best to make this post short & sweet. Here’s a top ten glimpse into the life of our sweet pea this month . . .

1. HANGING OUT Alexa’s a little monkey. She will hang on anything with a ledge – like the kitchen table or the kitchen counter. She loves going to the park to play on the “monkeys.”




2. TAKING BIG GIRL BATHS
It’s a major accomplishment to get her out of the tub. Even the drain doesn’t scare her. She just says “goodbye” to the water and stays in the tub until it’s empty.



3. PARTICIPATING IN A JDRF WALK
Alexa’s cousin, Connor, has type 1 diabetes so we joined “Connor’s Crew” in Tulsa for a walk to support Connor & the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.


Alexa walking with Rylen, Kylie Hammack & Ilene Hammack.


Taking a drink break from the arduous one mile walk.


Alexa enjoyed checking out the informational signs posted along the walk.


And . . . here’s the man of the hour, Connor Hammack, with his cousin, Layton.

4. SPENDING HER FIRST WEEKEND AWAY
Alexa spent her first weekend away from Mommy & Daddy. She did so well. She enjoyed special time with Mimi, Pop, Aunt Hol, Rylen & Layton. She also received a visit from a very special friend, David P.



5. CELEBRATING LIBERTY’S 1ST BIRTHDAY We had the privilege of celebrating the precious life of a very sweet girl.


Liberty Westerman opening up the stacking toys Alexa gave her. Alexa also has this toy and really enjoys playing with it (thanks Ama & Opa). It was a hit with Liberty too!


You know Mommy was a big fan of this birthday treat!


Yep  . . . Liberty was too!

6. TALKING, TALKING & MORE TALKING
Alexa’s vocabulary continues to grow. She enjoys talking on the phone, reading books, especially her Bible, and singing songs like “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”

Her current favorites sayings . . .
-- “Mere” – for “come here” (clearly we need to enunciate better)
-- “hold you” – of course, this means she wants us to hold her but it’s far more precious when she wants to hold us
-- “Lexa” – she normally shouts her name when we’re playing peek-a-boo and she wants us to find her.
-- adding “it” to any verb – like it, need it, ride it, hang it, hold it, swing it, do it, etc.
-- saying opposites – light/dark, stop/go, open/close (She thinks closing doors is great entertainment until she’s in a room & the light’s are off).
-- unfortunately, “no, no, no” has become a new catch phrase (we’re working on it)

7. WEARING HATS
This girl loves her hats. Here she is modeling a bit-too-small beanie – such a ham!





8. DRIVING CARS Okay, so not yet, but she can spend a long time in the car “driving” as she tells me. There are no keys in the ignition and she is supervised but she thinks she is Miss Independent. Here she is rocking out to some music with Mimi & Pop. Mommy wasn’t invited in the car.



9. INDEPENDENT PLAY
Alexa’s begun to entertain herself more and more. It’s great fun watching her imagination at work. Here she is playing with her cars. By the way, they are awesome. They are called Automoblox (thanks Mimi & Pop).



10. WATCHING “BIDEOS”
Although reading is probably her favorite activity, she still enjoys watching a video . . . be it a home video or Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

Whew!! Ten things took me a lot longer than I expected. Can’t wait to see what she’ll be up to next.