The countdown to one’s begun!

On Sunday, February 13th Alexa upped her status to 11-month-old and began her countdown to one! It’s hard to believe we’ll be celebrating her 1st birthday in less than four weeks! Alexa continues to bring us immeasurable joy each day especially as she develops new skills and always seems to be discovering something new. I told Chris, I don’t think I’ve ever smiled or laughed this much in my entire life. We’re in a sweet place and the sweetest part is Miss Alexa herself.

Latest developments . . . - We spotted a lil’ tooth on her bottom gum poking through. I suppose this is a sign of more to come but she’s handled the teething process like a champ.
- She’s added sweet potato puffs & Cheerios to her daily diet. In fact, she’d live on Cheerios if we’d let her. They are her new best friend & we take them everywhere. She’s also tried steamed broccoli, bananas & pears but nothing compares to the Cheerios.
- We’ve introduced 3 different sippee cups but she still prefers biting on the lids rather than sipping on them.
- She’s added the “oh” to “uh-oh” and she uses the phrase often as she loves to drop things anytime, anywhere. Giving her plenty of opportunities to say “uh-oh” I suppose.
- She enjoys walking with her new walker toy. She walks the length of our little home several times a day. She has also balanced standing on her own a few times.
- When you ask her what a doggy says, she’ll pant. This is because I’ll make a doggy noise (like ruf ruf) and then pant. I guess she only picked up on the panting part. She also sleeps with a stuffed puppy dog. We’ll often hear her panting as she plays with her puppy dog when she wakes up in the morning or after a nap.
- She has a pillow she loves to fall on with reckless abandon. It’s so cute – we just hope she doesn’t confuse the stained cement for the pillow because that will hurt. It was Chris’ old pillow we had planned on throwing away but she enjoys it so much we’ll probably keep it.
- She enjoys giving “forehead loving” where she will gently tap her forehead against yours as many times as you can handle the bonking.
- She is getting quite adept at waving “hi” and “goodbye.” Her wave resembles a tipsy Miss America’s. On occasion, she’ll also say “hi.” Her tone is very light and sweet.
- If it has a button or touch screen, Alexa is attracted to it and she can generally figure it out. She’s a techie just like her Daddy. She loves electronics – be it an iPhone, a timer, the microwave, the camera or computer. She’ll know more about “hand-held” devices at two than her Mommy does at 32!!  

Big events this past month . . . - Alexa’s baby dedication
- Alexa’s 1st snow storm and many “snow days” with Daddy.
- Getting closer to walking
- Eating big girl food

I’ve tried to do a better job of consistently updating the blog so there aren’t as many photos this time. Here’s a glimpse of what Alexa’s been up to with some videos too.

Alexa and her walker . . .
Alexa tried one of these out in the church nursery and loved it so we got her one. Here she’s trying it out for the 1st time. Don’t you love her concentration face!?

Hey Mommy, I’m getting the hang of it!

Off she goes . . .

Yes . . . we’re still watching you.

Reverting back to her old crawling ways.

Now it doubles as a push toy and a walker.

Alexa trying out her walker for the 1st time.

Alexa walking back down the hall.

The walker also converts into a riding toy. Alexa’s 1st time for a spin.

Here’s Alexa’s infamous pillow fall. She loves to rest her head on it.

Chilling on the pillow while playing with Mommy’s phone.

Alexa enjoys playing with her broccoli as much as eating it. Here she is balancing broccoli on the pepper. And no, we don’t feed her pepper but she likes to shake the bottle during dinner.

Shaking her sweet potato puffs. So exciting and delicious!

Hear Alexa’s doggy pants & watch her eat puffs.

Alexa decided she’d like to be in the toy box rather than her toys. What fun!

She discovered a flower paci clip in her toy box. We never used it because she didn’t like it but we decided to let her try it out again.

Hmmm – that’s peculiar! The flower came off the paci soon after this photo.

Well, Mommy’s got to post this blog and get back to 1st birthday preparations. It’s going to be here before we know it. Happy eleven months sweet baby!