Alex the Party Animal

OK, finally time to update this old blogitty blog. Here are some pictures from a birthday party we went to about two weeks ago. Alex had a great time! The grass in this park is lovely, soft golf-course-type grass, so he could just crawl and crawl. And there were birds to chase, other kids to watch, and some kalua pork to eat. It was a great day to be a baby.

Hey! Is there room in there for one more?


Don't worry, I have one of these at home. You just pull on this rope and the doggy will follow you wherever you go! (Actually, this was very cute. Alex just crawled right up and pet this dog--after Mommy asked if it was OK, of course--he has no fear of dogs after living with the gentle beast known as Syndey.)


This started out as a cute picture of two little boys both eating bottles of bubbles. By the time I found my camera, of course, Dylan decided he'd had enough and was not going to stick around. So, here is Alex and Dylan's booty.


Alex is still working on his cup skills. Good thing his real cups all have lids.

Dan is off to Boston for a few days. So, Alex, Sydney and I have to hold down the fort here in Honolulu again.

We started off with a great time at the park today! We met for a BBQ with our play group. The best part was that it was a family gathering, so we got to meet the "other parent" in each family (mostly dads, of course, but we have one stay-at-hom dad in our group, so we got to meet that working mama as well today). What a nice way to start off these lonely days :-)

And I am on count down to going back to work! I start on June 13th, so a little over a week. I had to turn in my lesson plan overview last week, so I had to actually sit down and figure out what I planned to do with these munchkins for the 6 weeks I had them. It was strange at first, to try to think about teaching 8 year olds, when my mind has been on talking slowly and carefully, and pointing out single words to Alex for 9 months now! I am pretty sure that 8 year olds know what a "ball" or a "bird" is, so my thinking had to speed up a little to keep up with my new charges. But, once I got going, I was excited...so many fun activities and games and books to share. And I don't have to worry about anyone trying to eat the books...I hope.

Yes, I am a little sad to be going back to work, but it will only make me appreciate the time I have with Alex more.

Speaking of Alex, I have to post a few pictures of him for his long distance Daddy.

I love relaxing in my high chair, leaning back, putting my feet up....

Wow. Have you guys noticed the fan in this kitchen lately? I still love fans.

Like Music to My Ears

Alex has been "talking" for quite a while now. But this talking is nothing like the baby books all say he's "supposed" to be talking. He has had only one sound, "Ah." And this sound is mighty versitile. He can express frustration, anger, impatience, joy, excitement, or make it almost conversational. He will look at a person and say, looking like he is explaining something very important, "Ahhhhh ah, ah-ah-ah, ah, ahhhh. Ah?" This really almost sounds like talking, as his voice goes up and down and he even makes "questioning" ah's sometimes. But this is not the babbling that we have been lead to belive he should be doing right now.

Yesterday morning, as we were all in the waking up stage, Alex surprised us with his first babbling. He just started saying "mamamamamama." We were both totally shocked. Where did that come from? But I guess that's how it happens. "Ah, ahhh, ah-ah" one day, and "mamamma" the next.

Now he has a list of consonant+a combos he uses: "lalalalala" and "yayayayaya."

I was excited because it was "mama" first. But Dan has already shared his plans to use this to his advantage:

"Alex, who do you want to change your diaper? Oh? Mamamama? The baby has spoken"

Yeah. I think he's just jealous :-)

Alex: "Yayayayayaya...mamamamamama.....lalalalalalala"