Halloween and the first "bang cut"

Halloween already?! Alexander was being a ornery all day, so he was appropriately dressed for the day with a "Mommy's little Monster" outfit. (Notice his bangs in his eyes in the picture above.)

We decided to dress Alexander in his Halloween costume from last year. The, "Oatmeal Bear," was packaged as an outfit for 0-6 month olds... Yeah, right. This thing was HUGE...surely big enough for a 9-12 month old! There was NO WAY poor 1.5 month old Alexander was going to fit in that thing. So...off into the closet it went. (Halloween has never been a really big deal to me, so I didn't care about getting him another one.) Just as I suspected, it was big enough for him to wear this year. (I'm sure the fact that my baby is tiny helped considerably.)




We didn't think it was necessary to go "Trick or Treating"...so instead we packed Alexander into his stroller and in the midst of all the masquerading neighborhood kids, took a walk over to Leonard's parents house. (They only live a couple of blocks away.) He was too cute...and got a few looks on the way.



The next day, we took Alexander to get his first hair cut...well, more so a "bang cut." We don't have the heart to cut into his beautiful curls...and the main goal was to get his bangs out of eyes. It was totally becoming a nuisance, to say the least. So here he is sitting on his Daddy's lap just after the careful snip of his bangs had occurred:



They gave us the curls in a little bag as a keepsake:



And here is Alexander at a birthday party eating cake later that same day. It's amazing how much better his face looks with his bangs out of his eyes!

Alexander Walks!

So, we took a little family outing on Saturday to visit my aunts and my grandmother and then to my good friend Peter's house. Leonard rarely goes with Alexander and me on such excursions, but decided he would join us this day. Was he ever glad he tagged along! At my grandmother's, Alexander was walking around like he's been doing it for weeks. He would just stand up on his own (from the ground) and take many steps until he got to where he was going. If he stopped, or sat down, most of the time it was intentional...to pick something up or if he saw something that interested him. We were over there for about an hour and a half and he was walking around nearly the entire time.

Here is Alexander on one of his longest promenades:



Since then, he has made conscious decisions about whether to walk or to crawl. It's really about 50/50 at the moment...whatever suits his mood.

We're such proud parents. Alexander gets his teeth and starts walking all at 13 months. :)

Alexander Taking a Few Steps

So, Alexander has been walking around the house lately with his toys, cruising on just about everything that he can hold on to and standing by himself for prolonged periods of time... As of late, he has been taking little steps by himself. The first time was about 2 weeks ago, he was playing with his Daddy and took 3 steps...I was at the grocery store. The next, I got to witness at a bridal shower for Leonard's cousin last weekend. (He took 3 steps in between two of the cousins.) Last night, while at dinner at our friends' house, he took TONS of steps.

Alexander was on fire! He actually took about 8-10 at the max once while I was crawling on the floor beside him. (I think he somehow thought I was supporting him...) lol Of course, that didn't get filmed because I was crawling and Leonard never got the camera out himself.

Here is a video of 1 of the times I was actually able to catch him taking a few steps:



This was at the end of the night... Tired as can be from all the walking around:

Playing "Catch-up"

It's been a busy 2 weeks.


Leonard surprised me one day and sent me flowers at work! It was the sweetest thing ever. Really made my eyes water... I was truly shocked. He literally sent them "just because..." The card said he had been thinking about us a lot lately and realized how happy he was and that he was truly blessed to have such a wonderful life.

Leonard's Birthday was October 10th. We had an evening away, a lovely stay in the Nearby Hilton and dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House. (It was amazing!) I also presented him with the birthday present of his dreams...AC/DC tickets! I, however, will not be going... Not really a big AC/DC fan. Fortunately for Leonard, he has a friend who is almost as excited as he is... And we later discovered that Alexander has a innate affection for the band, as well.

Here are a few pictures from the night... And a video of Alexander dancing to "Rock n' Roll Train", AC/DC's latest release.







And so that brings me to the events of the past 2 weeks. I had the pleasure of choreographing 2 period pieces for a play from my dear director friend, Todd Decker. The dances were set in the 1800's, basic couple and contra dancing. We only rehearsed for a week before opening night...and the cast impressed me with their eagerness to learn and their ability to discipline themselves to "get it right." The play was "Thurston & The Legend of Cherry Hill". It was an original production, written by Todd himself, to tell a few ghost stories and the history of the residents in Green Lawn Cemetery here in Columbus, Ohio. The show was a hit! The cast of Marion-Franklin high school, although most inexperienced, pulled it off successfully. I was very proud. And I actually learned a few things about some famous Columbus natives!




Oh, and my mother-in-law, recently started a blog... She created a slide-show of Alexander's first visit to the library. To view it, click on this link: Alexander's 1st Trip To the Library (Once there, hit the F11 key to view the show.) It's too cute.

And lastly, a quick update on Alexander and my pregnancy:

The biggest Alexander news is thathe cut 2 teeth last week. (FINALLY!) You can only see them when he's eating, though. Alexander will be walking any day now! He cruises on everything and when he runs out of things to hold on to, you can tell he could keep going, but he chooses to crawl to his next destination. At this point, his babbling has become more "sentence-like" but with not many clear words. He points at everything and changes his facically expressions as he speaks. He's growing up so quickly.

I will be 16 weeks pregnant on Monday. Everything is going really well, so much so that at times I often forget I am pregnant until a mood swing occurs or I forget to eat in a timely fashion and end up feeling ill. We have our next prenatal appointment on Tuesday the 21st. We went to Babies R Us today to get Alexander some more season-appropriate clothing and ended up checking out the dual strollers. It will defintiely be an adventure having 2 children so close together! But, we are up for the challenge.

Ta-ta for now!

Happy Birthday, Alexander!

September 18, 2008 marked the anniversary of Alexander's birth! What a wonderful day. We just had a intimate family get together on Thursday, but we plan to have a big birthday bash in a few days.

Alexander was really not very into the whole cake thing... Maybe this is practice for the party on Saturday. (very poor light in this video...I used the wrong camera.)



He had his year well-check today. The stats at 1 year:

18 lbs 1oz
27 inches long (tall)
18 1/4 inches = head circum.

He is in less than the 5th percentile for height and weight.

Alexander had a pretty traumatic experience at the doctor's office...

They ended up sticking my poor, tiny, baby with 6 needles! He got a toe prick for his hematocrit and hemoglobin before the examination even started. Then after the pediatrican saw him, he got 4 shots and an injection to test for TB. I was devastated. I ended up taking the rest of the day off because the poor thing was so hysterical.

Thank goodness, he ended up calming down...after a while and ate pretty well, shortly there after.

Crazy. He is right on point for all of his milestones, though. Still no teeth, though! Doc said they will come soon... He wants me to wait another month before putting him on whole milk. He wants to see if the breast milk and formula will give him some more vitamins and help him reach 20 lbs.

It's amazing how fast this year went. I still can't believe he is a year old... And that he is going to be a big brother before he's 2! ;D

The Happenings of Alexander

So I've been a bit delinquent in posting about my son. In about 3 weeks he will be a year old. Unreal.

Milestones:

-Finally started to crawl! (August 21st) This video is from the 23rd. (Daddy was mean at the end...)



-He also has been pulling himself to standing on nearly EVERYTHING.



-He can say doggie, duck and Da-Da, deliberately when the objects are in front of him. (Still no Mama! :( )

-He has developed new "tricks." This is what you call resourceful:



-He loves to splash in the bath...and the pool:



-He has been sleeping in his own bed for over 3 weeks now. We can put him down in the crib for a nap or even the night and he whimpers for a brief moment, and then he's out. I think he likes his new room... I think he likes his walls. :) I finally finished it at the end of July.





(The last pan shot is a little crooked, but you get the idea.)

Needless to say, the kid has totally developed his own personality and is really good at mimicking. (The new one is getting him to squint... I've got to get this on video!) Alexander waves to everything, when we wakes up, leaves a room, or truly goes bye-bye, it's so funny. He also gives kisses. Dancing and singing along to music is still one of his favorite past times. Not to mention he can always be caught reading his books...

It's the End of An Era...

After working 11 years and 8 months at the same place of business, I have decided to move on. Ultimately, my decision is based on the fact that my position was heading towards a direction that I could not see myself working through.










I accepted a job as a telecommunications analyst for the 3rd largest financial institution in the world. It will be a totally "different world than where I come from..."

I turned in my resignation on a Monday, and to my surprise they actually had me work the entire 2 weeks!

My friends were really sweet and got me a going away gift. A lovely framed, montage of my name with cut outs of words they feel emulate me. It made me cry. They took me to lunch at El Vaquero and later that evening we did a farewell Happy Hour at the usual spot, the Inn Between.

I sure will miss my friends and co-workers...and even the remnants of my company before we got acquired, but definitely won't miss the "company."

(after opening my gift)
(my gift)
(the girls...)
(Alexander @ the farewell party)

Alexander Reads

Alexander Dancing to Diego

So I spent a night of capturing my baby on film dancing to his favorite theme songs...

This was the Diego theme song when it is reprised in the beginning of the show:

Bouncy Alexander

This is Alexander in his bouncy seat, from Mary Ann's (his babysitter.) And while I'm on that subject. Alexander has the best daytime care in the world! We were blessed enough to be able to use a long time friend's mother and it is one of the best decisions we have made when it comes to Alexander. It's like he has another set of grandparents and he loves them dearly. I never worry...not even when I first left him. It's perfect.

(June 7, 2008)

My Baby is 9 Months Old

I know it's been a long time. Work is hectic, (that's an understatement.) Still settling into the new home...and being a Mom is an entirely separate occupation...

So, thought I would report on how fast my little Alexander is growing. There are 2 new babies at church. I genuinely told the parents of one of them that I really don't even remember him being that small. How can I say that after only 9 months? It's so real.

He's a little off with the timing of his well-check, so we don't go to the doctor until later this week. My prediction is that he is about 19 lbs and 27 inches long. (I'd be happy if I were wrong and he ends up more!)

As far as the milestone check:

• Alexander rolled over from his front to his back the other day...mainly to get off of his tummy...but nonetheless, it happened.
  
• Still no crawling... Although he's making progress. His "want" is outweighing his discomfort and overall disgust with "tummy time." He's starting to prop himself up on his hands (almost like an ape, lol) while sitting on the bed to reach for things he wants.


• Alexander has totally grasped the "cause and effect" concept... Hence, he is spoiled. He is all about dropping things and watching you pick them up. He screams and whines for things because he has a good feeling he'll get it. (We have actually recently become successfull at ignoring him for periods of time and coming to him when he takes a "break" in the midst of a tantrum.)


• He can wave "bye-bye." (will get on film soon...)


• He dances to music, especially Noggin show theme songs, (will get on film soon...) and can be found singing in church.


• We have started to make his baby food and he has moved to eating more advanced food. (Foods mixed together, meats we eat, etc.)

Will report on the well-check stats soon...and add some videos!

End of May Already

Time flies when you're having fun... We've been busy getting the house together...and well...with life in general. I thought it was time I got back on here and blogged a few things.

The month in review:

Mother's Day was interesting. Not quite my favorite day as a mother, I can admit, but I was shown I was appreciated by the ones I love. Alexander modeled a new look for us right before heading out to visit our mothers:




Our 1 year anniversary was Monday, the 26th. Unfortunately, Alexander was sick and we didn't feel it was fair to anyone (including Alexander) to leave him with someone. So, we got carryout from Max and Erma's and watched a movie. Leonard was too sweet and sent me a dozen roses on Saturday. It was actually a surprise. We're going to try to raincheck the our day, some day soon...

Now, I am sick. I went to the Urgent Care today and was diagnosed with Bronchitis, although it could still possibly be something viral. We'll see. I am feeling a little better, with the occasional coughing fit. Hopefully I'll be better by the weekend...

((Sigh)) I hear Alexander crying... The call of motherhood...

The move of my life...

So we got moved and pretty much unpacked in a week's time. Nothing like taking a week off of work to "work." Leonard says it was the most productive week of his life.

The move went better than expected...aside from a few setbacks I encountered while packing due to my husband's wonderful packing jobs. I came to the conclusion that he genuinely didn't know very much about packing. There were quite a few HUGE DELL computer boxes packed full of books. And not just any books, but college textbooks and binders. I had to repack about 2 boxes and did some reorganizing, but I got it done. Here is a before and after picture of one of the repacking jobs I had to do:



And believe it or not, with the exception of an argument early on (about packing, of course) we really didn't argue nor disagree about anything else. It was a blessing.

The house was pretty much "move-in" ready. But, the sad thing is we need to redo Alexander's nursery. I took more pictures to remember how cool it was. This was the infamous wall...



It's such a wonderful sense of accomplishment. When I get a new camera (mine is not working at the moment) I will be sure to post pictures of our new place!

Alexander... "Da Da"

Alexander just recently began practicing his syllables... "Da Da" is of course the first. Followed at times by "ba ba." And you know I had to get it on camera:

We are now officially homeowners!

It's official. We closed on our first home on Friday, April 25th. It was such a great feeling. We plan on moving next weekend. We still have quite a lot of packing to do (which explains my absence from my blog) but I had to run on here to post the latest, greatest news. It's really exciting.

So here's the low down:

It has 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, (of which the master has a jacuzzi tub!) We have a finished basement, 2-car garage and a lovely backyard with deck and a swing set. The house is totally move-in ready, with the exception of having to redo Alexander's Disney nursery...which I'm more than willing to do. It obviously has plenty of room to grow.

Needless to say, the hardest part is packing. I'm so glad we won't have to do this again for a LONG time. :)

Alexander Eats Green Beans

This was Alexander on Sunday, April 6th eating green beans for the first time. He's too funny. We're in for a ride, for sure. Enjoy!

And you're his...MOTHER?

So Alexander had his 6 month appointment on Thursday. We were actually there about 2 weeks late because of scheduling conflicts with our home inspection and other things... I took the day off because Leonard had to go to Ashtabula for a mediation and I wasn't trying to do all of the toting to and from the sitter's by myself. Not to mention that the poor baby was to get 3 shots with anticipated discomfort following. We get to the doctor's office early (for once) and sat in the waiting room with about 4 other pairs of folks there to see a doctor. We waited for about 5-10 minutes, all while Alexander was getting his normal, "Oh he's so cute" looks and comments. We're called back to the room and I put his stuff down and immediately get to undressing him. (We've got this routine down.) We had a new (different) nurse than the other 2 that we usually see and as I'm undressing him she's starting her customary developmental interview... She confirmed he was there for his 6 month well-check and the question that followed, said with uncertainty, was, "And you're his....mother?" Without a second thought I said, "YEP!" and continued to undress Alexander. It wasn't until she left the room that I realized what she asked me... I looked down at Alexander with a chuckle and said, "She asked me if I was your mommy..." Understandably so... But, still. It's kind of disheartening to hear. I always joke about how when I'm out with Alexander by myself that some folks would mistaken me for the nanny. But, for some reason it actually bothered me a little... Because I AM his mommy and I want people to know it! :) Then I thought of all of those people in the waiting room...what they must have thought. ((SIGH)) Oh, well... I guess I've got to get used it.

Here are the stats:

16 lbs 13 oz (25th - 50th for age)
25.5 inches long 25th (10th - 25th for age)
17.5 head circumference (50th - 75th for age)

Alexander on the Cover of Jet?

So Leonard went to the grocery store yesterday and calls me as he is loading the car with the groceries to tell me that this actress, Garcelle Beauvais, was on the cover of Jet with her babies and one of them looks like Alexander. He said he was checking out and thought "What the heck?" Called me and said, "Alexander is on the cover of Jet!" The funny thing was that he was telling me that she and I are about the same complexion...yet both have such bright babies. He couldn't believe it. I was cracking up. So, I got online to see if I could find the cover. Well here it is folks:

So the other obviously funny thing is, is that the babies are twins. lol (But according to Leonard, the one on the left looks like Alexander...) Of course I had to do some surfing to see what her husband looks like...







Makes sense huh?







My baby, on the cover of Jet. ;)

Just had to share...

March Holidays

So tell me how on earth I missed posting this precious picture of my Alexander on St. Patrick's Day? We called off work that day but I had to come in the office to return something. Well, it was "Crazy Hat Day" and one of the women I work with decided that Alexander needed to be in the photo to send to corporate office for the contest... Alexander ended up getting honorable mention...as the youngest participant. I didn't even get the poor boy dressed for the day. So sad. He's wearing his Dylan's Candy Store sleeper is uncle Dan got for him at the store in New York.

Here's one of the 2 of us, that didn't get sent to corporate. :)

And would you believe I missed photographing Alexander's first Easter??? :( We drove to Lisbon for the day and I left my camera at home... I ended up taking a few with Leonard's aunt's camera, so hopefully I will see them again some day. :)

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day and Easter!

My Fair Hamentashen

Purium is coming! Purium is a Jewish Holiday celebrating the triumph of the Jews as told in the Book of Esther. This year it falls on Friday, March 21st. I found this excerpt online...thought it was a good synopsis:

The Purim Story is for all ages
Indeed, the Book of Esther reads much like a play. The Divine Name is not mentioned openly once in the text. All the miracles appear as natural occurrences coordinated by the Ultimate Producer and Director. The main plot revolves around the wicked Haman advising King Ahashverosh to annihilate his Jewish subjects. Many intertwining subplots include the rise of Esther to the throne, a plot to kill the King overheard by Mordechai and reported to the palace security, the sincere repentance of the Jews upon hearing that their fate has been given over to the sword, and a chain of drinking parties. Read all about it!(- http://www.jewishbyte.com/purim.php)

Once again, I choreographed the Congreagation Tifereth Isarel's Purium celebration production. This year, the play was a spoof of My Fair Lady, (My Fair Hamentashen.) Hamentashen is a traditional food of Purium. (Also called Haman Pockets.) They are triangle-shaped pastries (cookies) with a center filling of fruit. The rehearsals were fun and the production was a grand crowd pleaser. I was so happy with the performance of the cast.


Here they are, mostly still dressed in the elaborate costumes from the "Ascot" scene...



Here's another with Esther ("Eliza") and Mordechai (Esther's cousin) Their duets stole the show:



I definitely plan on joining in on some Purium fun next year!