Gymboree and More Birthday Fun!

Alex had his first class at Gymboree Play and Learn on Saturday, and he LOVED it! We've been looking around for awhile now for a program for him to participate in, and finally after taking him to a Gymnastics class that was way too structured and looking into another toddler gym that was way too early in the morning (8:15--Yikes! Alex is a late sleeper, like his parents:) and kind of far, we settled on Gymboree in Nottingham which is about 15 minutes from us. He is a Level 4, which is the age range of 16 mos-23 mos. The teacher allowed a lot of time for free play and tried to do some little songs and bubbles and parachute time, but with kids that age, they would run away and do what they wanted to most of the time! Alex actually did sit on my lap for the songs and the parachute game. His favorite part was their ball collection and basketball hoop. He loved playing with all of the different balls. He also really liked climbing up and down some of the structures too, and we were amazed at how well he could actually do that. He surprised us! We also attended a birthday party for a friend of mine's daughter Natalia. She turned 1 on July 10. She and Alex played well together, though she was so much more social than him! He was so shy at first, as usual, but warmed up after a little bit and played with her. She looked so cute in her little dress and hair bow, and it reminded Abe and I of how fun a girl is going to be for us, although I think  Abe is a little concerned about the hair bows and putting them in right..LOL. Enjoy the pics from this week!

Climbing at Gymboree

Climbing to the top with Daddy's help...he could do it by himself by the end!

Big smile with Daddy

He was being a "big  helper" and helping me wrap Natalia's gift--by sitting on it of course!

Alex and Natalia playing together with one of her toys

The cute little birthday girl

We have a little drummer on our hands

Using a fork to eat his scrambled eggs..he's starting to use utensils now!

 

We're having a baby GIRL!

Okay, so I know we said we'd try not to find out the sex, but the key word there is try. We tried and it didn't happen! LOL. We just had to know, and we are so excited to announce that Alex is going to have a baby sister! We have absolutely no names picked out, since we were really convinced it would be another boy, so we'll probably be deciding that much later. I am almost halfway through my pregnancy though! I'll be 20 weeks on Sunday. This pregnancy has gone by so much faster than my pregnancy with Alex, probably because I have him to chase after! Speaking of Alex, he's doing great! Turned 16 months old on Sunday and is into everything. He's getting much better at communicating with us, though he still isn't saying many decipherable words. He's definitely using gestures and grunting a lot more often to get his point across. I call him my little caveman, because when he grunts and points that what he reminds me of. We had a wonderful 4th of July! We were hoping to go home to visit my family, but since Alex and I were both congested and he was kind of cranky because of it, we decided it would be best not to take him. We also didn't want to risk making my Dad sick, since he is recovering from lung surgery still. On Sunday, we took Alex to Tristan's 5th b-day Party at Pump It Up in Elkridge. It's a place where they have tons of inflatables for kids to jump around and slide down. Alex is still a bit young for most of the inflatables they have there, but he still had a ton of fun just walking around in the bouncy houses and falling down. He giggled everytime he fell. It was funny to watch. Abe also was able to climb with Alex in one hand up some of the slides and take him down. God bless Abe! I know he slept well that night. It was hard for me to watch him play and not be able to go in and roll around with him.I usually go right in with him, but for the safety of the baby, I had to sit this one out. We can't wait until our daughter gets here, so we can meet her and see who she looks like. Enjoy the pics of the baby's ultrasound and Alex!

Playing on his WonderPets Ride-on

Dressed in red, white and blue for July 4th

We spent all day Friday removing the slate from in front of our house and replacing it with a retaining wall, but doesn't it look so much better?!

Alex and Julia playing together in the baby pool

Jumping around in the bouncy house at Tristan's b-day party

Playing with his uncle Aaron

Julia will be 1 on July 16!

 

OC trip!

I do realize it's been forever since my last post, but I've been so busy recently, I just haven't had the spare time! My grad class is finally winding down--thank god. It's been a crazy two weeks with a paper to write every night, but when it's all said and done, I will have 3 credits towards my Masters Degree! So that's very exciting for me. I did want to update everyone on our recent family vacation to Ocean City. We went from June 18-21, and had an amazing time! Alex especially ejoyed the beach, the boardwalk, the sights, the sounds--everything. I'm sure his little toddler brain was on complete sensory overload! It was definitely exciting for him. He really enjoyed the sand and the ocean. He's defintely a water lover! He really likes textures right now, so he would pick the and up, squish it in his hands and drop it into his bucket. He also loved sitting in my lap and letting the waves hit us. He giggled everytime one made it's way to us. It was very interesting to watch his reactions to everything and wonder what he was thinking. I can't believe he'll be 16 months old on Sunday! Our little man is growing so much everyday and I am really starting to notice his thinking process. It's cool to watch him "figure things out" for the first time. I am posting the beach pics on facebook and walmart.com if you want to see the entire album, but below are a few to look at now. Enjoy!

Abe, Alex and Medy resting on the boardwalk

Alex playing with his toys on the beach

Alex playing with his Lola

Alex with his "edgy" mohawk

Big smile--you can see his molars that just came in!

He had a lot to stare at on the beach!

Alex throwing sand and Abe wearing his sun shirt! LOL.

Abe, me and Baby #2!

 

Almost 15 Months and Big News!

Let me start by saying, sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything! As you can see form the above picture, there's been good reason. And that reason has mainly been due to sleeping very early every night instead of staying up and typing! We are expecting our 2nd baby, and we are so excited to be welcoming a new member into our family! The little one should arrive sometime around Thanksgiving! The due date is November 29th. We had the ultrasound above at about 12 weeks, 3 days, and the baby looked good and healthy. He/She had a heartrate of 171 bpm. We've decided not to find out the sex this time around, so we'll see how that goes! LOL. We can technically find out around the 2nd week of July, but we're going to try and hold off until delivery day. Both of us feel like it's a boy, though, and we're perfectly fine with that. Alex is too young to really grasp what's happening, but we know he'll be a great big brother! The babies will be about 20/21 months apart. Speaking of Alex, he's getting bigger everyday, and is developing new skills to go along with that. He's no longer just walking, he's running! And tantrums have started early with this one. He gets mad and throws his back out and kicks like a 2 year old. That's so fun. He's also gotten a lot better at communicating with us. He still doesn't say much aside from a few words some of the time--Momma, Dad, this, go, yay, done and mmm when he sees food. But he is gesturing very well and pointing to what he wants us to get for him. He has also starting "meowing" at the cats, which is hilarious, and the confuses them so much! LOL. Anyway, I am looking so forward to summer and having a break from work. Only 3 weeks of school, and they will drag by, but summer is almost here. Yay!

Alex with Daddy before playing outside in the sprinkler

Alex got the play in our sprinkler a couple of weeks ago

Eating his cheerios in the morning

Drinking our of his straw sippy sup!

Alex with his Pappy

Playing in the yard this weekend

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates! We celebrated Easter today with baskets, suave new clothes, candy, presents, food, family, and even an Easter egg hunt, which we could finally do outside!! Alex celebrated his 2nd Easter by waking up to two Easter baskets. One from Mommy and Daddy and one from Nana and Pap. He is starting to sort of notice presents now and at least starting picking things out of the basket and throwing them! Then we dressed him up in his handsome Easter outfit (linen khaki pin-striped pants, a coral colored sweater vest over a white linen button down, and a pastel colored neck tie--I give all my credit to CP!). We traveled down to Dundalk to eat breakfast and spend the morning with Alex's Lola, Aunties, Uncles, and Cousins. First we ate a delicious breakfast of potato casserole, ham, sausage and egg casserole. cinnamon rolls, and a sausage and egg ball. Then, we took the party outside for a fun Easter egg hunt for the kids! Dylan, Daniel and Matthew took off and had a ton of fun. Julia watched form his Daddy's arms, and Alex, since he's only 13 months, just kind of stood in one spot with his basket and picked his eggs up and threw them back down. We then went in and exchanged some Easter presents, and all of the kids got some really nice stuff-- Cute clothes and cool summer toys! We then ran about a million errands with Abe's mom. We were really excited to get a lawn mower. It's the manual push kind, no gas or electric, but at least we're going GREEN. We also are grasping at straws trying to get Alex to graduate out of our bed, so we bought his own toddler bed. I know he's barely 1, but he hates his crib, with a passion, and since he already sleeps in our adult bed, which is like 4 feet off the floor, we figured it couldn't hurt to try! We're going to start by putting the bed in our room, but at least getting him out of our bed and into his own. I'll post some pics of it when it gets put together. Bless Abe--he's working on it now and the curse words are starting to fly. With that being said, I better go and help him! Hope everyone had a great Easter and spring break for those of you who had yours this week!

This morning hair is the main reason he got a 2nd haircut this week

It was so nice to have my Grandma with us this week--this is her and Alex outside of Dock of the Bay

Ms. Medy with Matthew, Julia, and Alex

A nice family Easter pic

                                     The Chauncey's, Dove's and Alex--this was the best shot of the bunch, believe it or not!

Spring is Finally Making an Appearance!

I am so excited that the weather has been nicer lately.I HATE winter with a passion. In fact, if my family didn't live in Maryland, I would have been gone to Florida or California a long time ago. That's how much I hate cold weather. We've defintely had some nice days recent;y, and today turned out to be better than I thought it was going to be too. We were able to get out and take Alex for a walk around the neighborhood,which he loves. He's getting so much bigger now! He's almost 13 months, and he's walking, dancing, clapping and saying a few words already. He's developed quite  little personality of his own lately, and certainly lets us know his likes and dislikes. He's very playful and likes to explore. He especially likes to pet the cats and chase them all over the house. Oscar wants no part of it, but Lexie has actually started to let him pet and she even rubs herself against him in return. It's too cute to watch them play together. We took him to his first gym class at Gymboree Play and Music in Nottingham, and he had a blast. He really enjoyed the ball pit they had and sliding the balls down the swirly slide they had. He also loved the bubble games they played. They sang one song where at the end they blew bubbles in each kids face and sang his/her name, and he loved that part! Okay, so one more week and it's Spring Break time!!! Can't wait! Enjoy your week and the new photos!

Me, Abe and Alex bundled up at Dylan and Daniel's football game

Alex loves pasta and carrots! Don't worry Melinda--the shirt you got him did come clean after this!

Alex playing with Lexie!

            We had a little party for Alex at home in W.MD, but I didn't get to post      any pics, so here's one of him enjoying his second cake!

                      Playing on his new couch we just bought him yesterday!

This is too funny--he's just lounging around with his ninny!

And he's out..in our bed of course...*sigh*

Announcement: Alex started walking!