Halloween and Fall Fun

Things are getting a bit crazy around here! I type this from the MacBook, as our computers got hastily packed up yesterday when someone unexpectedly replied to my Craigslist post to buy our computer cabinet. We'll be wireless only until the big move. Thank goodness I remembered to leave out the camera and connection cord so I could post these pictures!


We are definitely well into fall here. I know Lexi is missing her daily walks and visits to the park. We did manage a picnic dinner at a park on Capitol Hill back in September and we got some lovely shots that night (back when we didn't have to eat dinner in the dark like now!)



Halloween was a lot of fun this year. I was a total bah-humbug last year and didn't even so much as buy Halloween themed onesie or pjs, let alone a costume. This year we went all out on the cute factor and got an adorable costume from the Children's Place. We had music class that morning and both Doug and I went with Lexi dressed up in her costume. Later in the day we met up with our friends and neighbors Kim, Sean and Abby to go trick or treating at the nearby mall. We figured it's safe, dry and warm, and a good spot for a child's first time. Doug even got in the spirit and dressed up (if anyone asked, I was dressed as a 'desperate housewife'). It was mass freakin chaos. It was supposed to go from 4-5pm, but by 4:30 parents and children alike were done and DONE. Buy boy, were the kiddies ever cute!

Change is A-Coming

Different people define adulthood in different ways. For some, your 19th birthday marks your passage into the adult world (and the liquor store of course). For others, it's marriage, or having children. For me, I think having Lexi certainly was a harsh reminder (especially harsh at 3am) that the carefree and leisure days of my young adulthood were over. Next on my list would be paying a mortgage and being a homeowner.

Yup, I'm officially all grown up now.

We have finally found a house of our own. I would say the house and property itself is more than we could have hoped for. I knew the second we walked up the driveway and saw the ravine and stream at the back of the property that Doug would be completely sold. I won't bore you with all the details of the place, but it's on the Coquitlam/Burnaby border, is 2400 square feet and backs onto Burnaby Mountain. We are in love. We get possession the beginning of December, just in time to spend Christmas in our new home. I can't wait!

There's Music in the Air...

After feeling like a neglectful mother for a while, I decided to get off my lazy butt and register Lexi in a class. Doug and I figure that since Lexi is not in daycare, the socialization and the opportunity to meet other children her age will be beneficial for her. I've got 2 mommy friends that have taken a music class with their children before, and after seeing Lexi get her groove on whenever a song comes on the radio, I decided a music class would be great for her (and me, inspired by the new TV show 'Glee', as now I can let the choir nerd I was in junior high resurface).

We went to a free demo class last weekend at Staccato Music Studios called 'Music Together' and Lexi just loved it. The age range was from brand spanking newborn to around 4 years, and they got the chance to use instruments, sing, do actions and dance. I had a blast. We'll be going every Saturday morning before naptime (and Daddy's are always welcome too).

16 Months - A Report Card

With school on the brain, I thought I would provide a copy of Lexi's 16 month "report card:"

Weight - 20 pounds (birth weight 8 pounds)
Height - 77 cm (birth height 52cm)
Head circum - 47 cm (birth head circ 35.5cm)
Teeth - 12
Shoe size - 5
Bed time - 8pm
Wake up time - just after 7am
Nap time - once a day from 12 noon to around 1:30pm

Favorite activities - coloring with (and eating) crayons, reading books (especially about animals), going to the park and picking up sticks and rocks, going for walks in the stroller, terrorizing the "woof woof" at Oma and Grandpa's house, loitering on our balcony, hugging her stuffed animals, watching Big Comfy Couch, causing tidal waves in the bathtub, singing songs and dancing

Favorite foods - peaches, blueberries, bananas, toast, cheese, yogurt, crackers, grapes, oranges, apricots, pears, pancakes, pasta, Oma's cookies

Has a major hate on for - diaper changes, going to bed too early, meat in general, you not doing exactly what she wants when she wants it, strange men, Mommy throwing away her sticks and rocks, getting hands and face washed

Words spoken - Momma, Dadda, down, up, yogurt, bye-bye, hi, night night, juice, that, thank you, two, three (but no "one"), done, nana (banana), uh oh, starting to say milk (just "Mmm" for now)

New tricks - gives high fives, can point to her eyes, nose, ears, hair, mouth and toes, tells you what sound a cat or dog makes, dials random people on Mommy's cell phone, gives kisses (or blows kisses) and hugs, will try to put on own socks and shoes if asked, understands "stop," "no," "sit down," "come here," "are you done?"

Lexi amazes us every day with how much she knows and understands. She continues to make great progress in her fine motor and language skills. We look forward to watching her grow and learn as she sneaks up on the 1.5 year mark. Love you sweet pea!

Adventures in Real Estate

I have been terrible at updating the blog lately - I was really trying hard to enjoy my last days of freedom - I mean summer - and time just slipped away. I am back to work 4 days a week now with Fridays off. I think I will really enjoy my assignments this year and I hope they will turn into permanent positions for me, which they will unless I get laid off for the 4th time at the end of the year.

As most of you know, Doug and I are working with a real estate agent now and have become very serious about buying a home. We are thrilled with our agent - she's a working mom with 2 kids who shares many of our values. If anyone in the Vancouver area needs a referral, let me know!!! We have seen about a dozen or so open houses and have been privately shown about 8 homes now. We saw a wonderful home on Tuesday that backed onto an elementary school that had a great layout for us. It needed some work on a couple of the bathrooms and the kitchen, but we loved it (and mostly loved the neighborhood and proximity to a school). We decided to put in an offer on the home knowing we were going up against some fierce competition. In total, the house was shown 21 times in 2 days, and 11 offers were put in on it. Long story short, they did not accept our offer, however we were called back in and asked if we were willing to pony up more money. Our agent tells us this likely meant that we put in the second highest offer (which I will tell you was over the asking price), but had more attractive components to our offer (ie less subjects) than our competition. In the end, we chose not to offer much more, and we lost.

The competition for an affordable house in this town blows me away. Doug and I will have to be prepared to put on our boxing gloves and get tough if we want to secure the house of our dreams in this crazy Vancouver market.

That's my Girl!

There is no doubt about it, Lexi is my child. Tonight as we were eating homemade mac and cheese for dinner, Lexi started clamoring for the ketchup, as I always put ketchup on my mac and cheese. She was happy to eat it before, but mac and cheese + ketchup = DOUBLE YUM

Lexi's Toy Box

Lexi got a belated birthday gift last weekend from her Grandpa Bob and Grandma Gail. He made her a toy box/bench engraved with the alphabet and her name. We had seen it before in Victoria, but unfortunately we couldn't bring it back with us when we visited earlier in the month as we had no room in our packed car (babies sure do need a LOT of gear when you travel away from home). Many thanks to Grandpa for bringing it over last weekend. It's her new favorite jungle gym - I mean plaything!

Done

Lexi's newest word...

Nana's Visit

It's been a busy (and blessedly a COOLER) past couple of weeks here chez Johnson. Lexi's Nana came to visit us for a week from her summer home in Nova Scotia. Doug took the week off work and I was giddy with excitement at the prospect of having not 1 but 2 extra pairs of hands. I managed to sneak off for a haircut (had not been touched in 9 months) and do a bit of shopping.

Of course Lexi got spoiled rotten with books, clothes, toys and attention. We got over to the Island for a couple of nights, and Lexi was able to visit with her Great Grandpa, and meet her cousin Henry who is just a wee three months old. Nana's house was full of fun undiscovered territory, including the novelty of stairs, which we must have traveled about 3,452 times.

Back in Vancouver, we managed a trip downtown to shop on a very crowded Robson Street (and Mommy squeezed in a much wanted shop at Kiehls). Mommy and Daddy had a date (a WHAT?) and caught the new Harry Potter movie and dinner. Nana and Doug took Lexi to the Aquarium and she loved watching all the creatures swim around.


We had a wonderful time with Nana and look forward to her return to BC in the fall.

The countdown in on until I return to work. School starts a bit late this year so I've still got 3 weeks. My teaching assignment for next year (and beyond hopefully, if I do not get laid off yet again next year) will be 0.6 Learning Assistance on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at one school, and 0.2 library on Wednesday at a different school. This leaves me off on Fridays to be at home with Lexi. I am thrilled. Now I've just got to cram in all the things I said I would do this summer that I haven't done yet!

Beating the Heat

Holy Hannah is it ever hot in Vancouver. We have apparently broken temperature records here in the Lower Mainland over the last couple of days. While Doug steals off to his lovely air-conditioned office, Lexi and I have been forced to find some ways to beat the heat here at home. Here's what we've been up to:

-visit every major mall in the vicinity. Never mind that we don't actually need to buy anything! I've been treating myself to too many Passion Lemonaid Shaken Iced Teas at Starbucks and buying too many pastries at Cob's. Lexi loves the raspberry ones! OK, I'll admit I did enjoy my second visit to Sephora today at Coquitlam Centre.

-swim in our outdoor pool (with a generous dose of SPF). Afterwards we come upstairs and run a cool bath and hang out in there for a while too.

-retreat to Mommy and Daddy's bedroom (seems to be the coolest room in the apartment as we have black out blinds and keep them shut 24-7), lie on their bed with the fan pointed at us, and watch Treehouse TV.

-drive around in our air-conditioned car - bad for the environment, good for Mommy and Lexi's grumpy factor.

-linger in air-conditioned Save-On juuuust a little longer even though I've already picked up my milk.

-peruse the aisles at one of my favorite craft stores in North Vancouver - did I mention the air-conditioned drive there in my car?

-visit Oma and sit out on her deck on the 20th floor early in the morning - it's got a nice breeze (not to mention a great view!) going on up there

-visit Dairy Queen and enjoy soft serve ice cream cones - Lexi's first ice cream. I brought a bib - boy am I glad. Verdict - Ice Cream GOOOOOOOOOD.

-sleep in as little clothes as possible with at least 1 out of 4 fans in our apartment pointed at you at all times.

OK, time to go get Lexi another cool drink of water... if it's raining in your part of the world, PUHLEEZE send some this way!

Sharing a bit of beauty...

Had to take a picture of the sunset last night...

I'm getting tired of...

PINK girl's clothes. I mean, Lexi looks good in pink and all, but some other cute choices for girls in colors other than pink would be nice. I heard from a friend there were some good baby sales going on right now, and since I haven't had a chance to get down to the Carter's Outlet like I had planned this summer, I ventured out to Metrotown last week and got Lexi a few things. These jeans are not her first pair that I have bought, but they are the first pair that actually fit her (long legs aside). I have not 1, but 2 pairs from Joe Fresh in the 6-12 month size that STILL don't fit her around the waist. These are 12-18 months from Old Navy and were half price! I also couldn't resist this cute poppy print dress from Old Navy for next summer (size 2T) - another great deal at 8 bucks.


I am somewhat busted though, as I did buy her a pink onesie from Baby Gap too - I couldn't resist as it said "The Apple of Mommy's Eye." So true!

Moving on Up!

The time has finally come for Lexi to move on up to her big girl car seat. After some research and rave reviews from three friends who have the same seat, we went with the Britax Marathon. It can be used both rear facing (to 30 pounds) and forward facing up to a 65 pound weight limit - although I have a feeling she will outgrow the height restriction LONG before she reaches 65 pounds, and realistically will not want to be sitting in this seat at that weight anyways!

Safety restrictions state that a baby must rear face until they reach 1 year AND weigh 20 pounds. After a growth spurt over the last month, Lexi has finally hit the 20 pound mark over the last couple of weeks at 14 months. She is still within the height and weight restrictions for her infant car seat, which is good til 30 pounds and 32 inches, but she is getting close to the height limit, and her legs are getting scrunched up against the back of the seat rear facing.

Doug installed our seat forward facing today in about 5 minutes flat. The seat is secured with both a Universal Anchorage System and a tether, and it fits like a dream. We took a quick spin around the parking garage to see how Lexi likes facing forward, and I think she's going to enjoy it. Time to put the infant seat in storage for now, but I'm sure it will make an appearance again some day ;)

A Work in Progress

I hang my head in shame as I type this post, as although my dear darling daughter is now almost 14 months old, I have yet to finish her scrapbook that I started almost a year ago. I guess I had intended it to be a "Baby's First Year" book, but I found that I had so many great pictures of Lexi (hmm, can you tell I'm a first time parent?) I'd probably only be able to do up to 6 months. As any of you first time (or any time) parent out there can attest to, the amount of free time you have after you have kids plummets; therefore the book sits half (well maybe three fifths) completed on our miscellaneous craft/junk/games shelf.

This will be the 4th scrapbook I've done - my first was for my parents as a thank you gift for our wedding 4 years ago. After that came my masterpiece - our wedding album. Since we did not have a professional photographer at our wedding (although we did have 2 very awesome semi-pro family members with camera equipment more expensive than all our current household furniture combined), I put a lot of time and effort into it, and whip it out any chance I get when we have company over. My third was a bridal shower/bachelorette combo book, which was a lot of fun to do (and one Lexi won't be able to see until at least the age of 19).

Anyhow, I digress. I wanted to preview a few of the completed layouts from Lexi's book, and put here in writing that I WILL finish this one before I go back to work in September. I've just got to sneak away for a few baby free hours to Making Memories to use their Cricut machine.

A Rite of Passage

It's a rite of passage in every child's life - her first box of Crayola. Several months ago, being the over-eager Mommy that I am, I bought Lexi some of these Crayola First Marks Markers, but after letting her try them a couple of times, I have to say I'm NOT a fan, and they went into the garbage. The ink literally pours out of them, and you have to hold them just so in order for them to work, so not a good tool for a toddler. Yesterday, I picked up a box of good ol' Crayons, and opted for the chubbier triangular kind. They were a big hit! She got the hang of them right away. Enjoy her first masterpiece, I'm sure it will be hanging on our fridge for months to come. (Yes, she ripped the top off the page and tried to eat it, I didn't save that part).

Craftiness and Such

The glorious sunshine we have been enjoying for a while now disappeared today, forcing me to come up with some new and exciting indoor activities for Lexi. I decided to go check out my favourite scrapbook store Making Memories on Hastings, as they have recently expanded and redone their store. Unfortunately taking a baby shopping at a craft store was not a well thought out plan on my part (I should have brought the sling!). I did get to have a wistful look around, but no shopping for me today. I'll have to return to take advantage of my birthday discount when I am baby free. (FYI they will give you a 25% discount on your purchases during a visit in the month you were born).

As the rain continued this afternoon, I decided to borrow an idea from my friend Kim and make some homemade playdough for Lexi. After a quick trip to the Fairmarket to buy some cream of tartar (6 bucks for a little spice bottle, holy jeepers), we were home and cooking up a big ol' pot of playdough. Being the girly girl I am, I had to bring out the red food coloring to make it pink. Lexi wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first, but really got into it after a while. In total, it provided about 30 minutes of entertainment for us both (that's got to be a record in this house!)

Tomorrow I'm planning on heading down to Briers Home Decor to sell some of my latest card creations. It's always nice to bring in a bit of cash in the lean summer months when you're a teacher. Here's a peak at what I'm selling:

My Little Book Lover

There are so many things you as a parent can be grateful for - that your child is healthy, thriving, happy. I'm also grateful that Lexi LOVES books. I will admit that sometimes this love of hers goes a little too far and she bites the corners off her board books, but hey, I'll take it.

Books have been part of our daily routine since Lexi was just a few weeks old. We would lie on our backs together on my bed and I would read Lexi Dr. Seuss, Little Critters, Robert Munch, and her favorite, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Books were also part of our bedtime and nap routines for as long as I can remember. She gets several stories before nap time and bedtime. Now she likes to take a book or two into her crib with her when she goes down. Mommy has learned that cloth books are better as you can't bite the corners off (and library books in the crib are a definite no-no. As a librarian myself I could only imagine the looks of digust I would get bringing back a chewed up copy of Whose Knees are These?)

I had Lexi to the library this morning to pick out a few "new" books. As much as I love "Yummy Yucky" it's getting a bit old. I always have a few library books on the go so I figured it would be a good time to start getting some books for her too. Our local library has a decent selection of board books for kids and lots of comfy places to sit. We got a few gems including "Grumpy Bird" and a board copy of our old favorite "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." Starting in a couple of weeks, they will be doing a weekly story time for toddlers. It's half an hour and at the perfect time for a morning activity - 10:30am (and it's FREE). Hope to see some of my fellow local mommy friends there!

My new talent of the day is...

Blowing kisses!




These kids sure do figure out the quickest way to melt our hearts don't they? Can you tell it's almost nap time here with the eye rub at the end?

Spooning

.

More evidence that Lexi's independence is growing every day.

By the way, did you know that spooning leads to forking? (Sorry, bad joke that I saw on an apron once).

Smarty Pants

A sample of Lexi's latest talents...

New Tricks and Such

Only 2 weeks left until summer vacation! I can't wait to be done. My class is a bit of a challenge, and I found it hard to step into a teaching job so late in the year. I'm still uncertain what next year will bring in terms of an assignment because I was laid off yet AGAIN (3rd year and counting), but I have been approved for my 0.2 leave of absence which guarantees me a 4 day a week job next year.

Lexi is walking and talking up a storm these days. As of the first week of June, she weighs in at 19 pounds, 1 ounce, and 73cm tall. She's still in her infant car seat, but we'll be looking at moving her into a convertible (the Britax Marathon) towards the end of the summer. I discovered just this morning that she is cutting tooth #9 on her lower left side. She has been sleeping pretty well since I went back to work and loves spending time with her Oma.

New words include "duce" for juice and "mmmm" when she likes her food (OK, not REALLY a word, but communication none the less). She can point to all the animal and object stencils that decorate her change table area (I'm trying to get this on video) and LOVES going outside. We took her swimming again today and she seems to really enjoy the water. She can get off the couch by herself and for the most part sleeps through the night.

I'm really looking forward to the adventures that this summer will bring. Now that she's down to 1 nap a day, we should be able to get out more and enjoy what Vancouver has to offer. Stay tuned, once I'm off work, I should be able to post more often...

Lexi's First Swim

I'm sorry, I know I have been terrible at posting lately. I've certainly got a lot less free time these days. Doug and I managed to get Lexi down to our outdoor pool today to enjoy her first swim in this gorgeous weather we've been having. It was a tad chilly and we didn't stay long, but I think we definitely have a little tadpole in the making!

It's my party!

It was a gorgeous day for Lexi's birthday party yesterday. We rented out the Penthouse party room in our building to give us some more room.


Lexi enjoyed all the visitors (especially her little friends), attention, and helium balloons (she apparently wasn't the only one!)




Her birthday cake was made by my mom, and I had the exact same bunny cake for my first birthday.


I almost shed a tear as we sang Happy Birthday and helped her blow out her candle. Time is passing so quickly, and as I look at these pictures I no longer see a baby - she is a little girl now.

She wasn't too sure what to do with her cake, although she was pretty sure that she didn't want Hayden stealing it right off her tray. I guess she wasn't used to having a chunk of food plunked down on her tray. She seemed to like the icing though!


It was no surprise that when it came time to open gifts she was more interested in the bows and boxes than what was actually inside them. Thanks to everyone for coming and for all the lovely gifts she received. We three are so lucky to have so many wonderful friends and family who love us so much.

She's One!

I can't believe our baby girl will be a year old tomorrow. It's been the most exciting year of my life, and I can't begin to describe the joy Lexi brings to our lives. Please enjoy the slide show I put together to remember her first year (don't forget to turn up the sound), and feel free to leave a comment! Please do not forward or copy the link to the slide show without our permission - thanks!



Alexandra's First Year

Working Moms - The Good, the Bad, and the UGLY

Well, I survived my first week back to work (barely).

The Good:

- Lexi loves spending time with her Oma. She hasn't cried when I hand her off and doesn't appear to miss me too much while I'm at work (she does carry around a T-shirt I have worn to put in her crib, and apparently likes to sniff it though).

- Doug will get to do some Daddy days with her, and had her my first day back to work. I'm sure some wonderful bonding time will happen over iPods, and a shared loved of beef and remote controls

- it's been nice to turn that part of your brain on again, and I've been reminded that I do love teaching

- yay, a real paycheque again!


The Bad:

- I feel like I there are never enough hours in the day anymore (for things like laundry, making babyfood, showering, and brushing ones teeth)

- My house in a MESS

- I'm not there to see every little thing Lexi does


The Ugly:

- I REALLY miss Lexi during the day. A lot.

- my commute, especially coming home. I hate sitting in my car wasting time on the Lougheed Highway when I'd rather be playing or reading with my family.

I'm sure things will get better as the days go by and time ticks down to summer. As for right now, I'm going to enjoy a cup of coffee and some bacon, and relish every moment of being able to put my baby down for her nap today!

Choo Choo!

On the advice from my good friend Lindsay, we took Lexi to Confederation Park on Saturday to ride on the Burnaby Central Railway. I highly recommend this activity to anyone with kids around 1 year or older, and heck, it's fun for adults too! Children under 3 ride free, and it's just $2.50 per adult. It was actually fairly busy, and the ride itself took about 5 minutes. It was a beautiful day, and I think Lexi really enjoyed it.

First Birthday Prep

Doug brought it to my attention today that I'm not getting many new entries out these days. I'm really trying to cherish the week of mat leave that I have left. I am leaving Lexi with my mom for a few hours a couple times a week so she can get used to napping there. Today I managed to spend 1.5 hours baby free and uninterrupted in Superstore, where I got myself and Lexi some cute Joe Clothes, as well as one of Lexi's birthday presents. Doug and I decided to each give her an individual gift, and a couple joint things. I'm not big on spoiling kids, and I don't think Lexi owns a single toy that we have bought her - it's all come from grandparents, aunts and uncles. However, for her first birthday, I figure we could get her a few nice things. My gift to Lexi are these super cute See Kai Run shoes which I ordered from the States. I got the size 4s which are still a bit big, but that just means she'll have lots of time to wear them.

For our joint gift, we decided on the Little People Farm set. I've heard many good things about the Little People toys from other moms and grandmas, so I hope Lexi likes it.

To my adoring public...

It's rough being so well loved I tell ya. My Mommy and Daddy dote on me all day long, I have multitudes of grandparents, aunts, and uncles to spoil me and come to visit me, so it's rare I get a moment alone. Sometimes a girl just wants some privacy you know? I'd like to be able to shake my bum in private without Daddy capturing it on video. But I'm a smart cookie, I know how those darn camera things work you see. Take that Daddy.

Tonight's dinner...

Ah yes, the joys of finger food. On the one hand, it occupies baby while Mommy/Daddy can scarf down a few tidbits of a meal. On the other, it's MESSY. But how can I complain when stuffing one's face full of macaroni and meatsauce brings such happiness...

Our little walking machine

Nobody knows... the trouble I've seen...

We've had a rough week here chez Johnson. Lexi started running a fever early last week, which meant precious little sleep and one overtired clingy little girl. By Thursday Nurse Oma decided since she was still running a temperature, Lexi should take her first visit to the emergency room. One thing I will say is that it pays to have connections - toting one of the ER nurses' granddaughters through the door certainly gets you quicker treatment (that being said, it did seem to be a slow day). We spent 3 hours in the pediatric room, 30 minutes of which Lexi had to suffer the indignity of having a U bag strapped to her "who ha", but we did discover she did not have any kidney/urinary track problems, and the doctor told us she probably had a virus. I was skeptical as she had no other symptoms besides the fever and the trouble sleeping. While playing on the floor with her on Friday, I discovered the source of our problems - 2 more new teeth poking through! We know from past experience in this house that teething = trouble for all parties, as sleep seems to go out the window. We had been spoiled last week as she had slept through the night 3 times (which she hasn't done since she was about 3 months old!!) so now that the teeth have made their appearance, we're hoping to get back on track and get some rest again.

We've got a walker!!!

She finally did it - Lexi took several steps together yesterday for the first time. She did it a couple of different times just after dinner yesterday. Doug tried to capture it with the camera, but she didn't feel like performing for us. We'll keep trying.

Yup, that's my girl...

I've definitely become a "price conscious" shopper in recent years (OK, some might even refer to me as frugal). I buy no name over the counter medicines, french fries, toilet paper, canned and frozen goods. There are some things that are sacred though - Tampax, Coca Cola, Aunt Jemima, Tim Hortons, and of course, Heniz ketchup. Looks like Lexi agrees...

Weekend Update

OK, it's not the weekend yet, but I thought I would give a quick update on what's been going on around here lately.

The official tooth count is now 6. Lexi seems to like to cut her teeth in pairs (which probably isn't such a bad thing), and when Daddy isn't around (which in my opinion, IS). She's now got 4 across the top, and the lonely 2 on the bottom.

The official "steps taken on my own" count is now 3-4. Lexi took her first unassisted step on Thursday last week (I know, I'm a bad mommy for not posting it sooner), and took a couple more yesterday after watching her little buddy Hayden show her how it's done. I will try to get her walking on vid and post it.

Lexi is growing like a weed and I'm having to put away some of her 6-12 month and 9 month size clothes. FYI if you have a baby - Old Navy sizes run small and Joe Fresh from Superstore run HUGE. I'd guess she's up to around 18 pounds now, which I think is on the low end of average for her age. She's been eating like it's going out of style lately, so she must be burning off all those calories cruising around the coffee table. She's definitely long in the torso like her Auntie Cat though.

We've been busy with visitors, and will be doing a quick trip to the Island for Easter. Lexi's Uncle John came to visit with his girlfriend Stephanie last weekend, so we had fun going out for dinner and walking around Deer Lake. This weekend we've got some friends visiting from the Island with their kids, who haven't had a chance to meet Lexi yet, and I think we'll be visiting the Aquarium on Saturday.

I'm definitely feeling the countdown is on until I go back to work May 5th. I know Lexi's Oma is excited to start her babysitting duties, and it will certainly make the transition back to work easier on me knowing she is in good hands.

Now if only the sun would shine for a day or two we could get back out in the stroller and get some good old natural Vitamin D!!

Keeping it Clean

Before you all point and whisper "child labor, child labor" I'll have you all know that Lexi wanted to vacuum.

Gadget Girl

I'm not sure if it's an innate thing, or just her Daddy's genes making themselves known, but Lexi has proved to be a girl obsessed with gadgets. She loves the telephone, remote controls, cell phones, iPods, and most of all, her Daddy's Crackberry (opps, I mean Blackberry). Whenever she sees it, she starts panting, kicking and shouting a chorus of "dat, dat, dat" - which we are counting as her second official word (baby translation 'that'). Her first was 'up', and we aren't counting mum mum, dadda, or more recently nana. Thank goodness for locking mechanisms is all I can say. I'm sure she'll be learning to text in no time. Oh, and if you get a random phone call and it says our number on the caller ID and no one appears to be there, it's just Lexi calling to say hi (AKA - hit the redial button when Mommy or Daddy wasn't looking).

Don't believe the extent of Lexi's addiction? Check out this video:

Mmm, pasta

The dilemma, pasta and tomato sauce as finger food or spoon food? I decided to be wild and crazy and let Lexi go for it herself. She sure had fun!

Check me Out!

Nana came to visit me this past weekend and bought me a new toy - a walker! I learned to use it pretty quickly.

Mommy's Little Helper

I'm so glad to see that Lexi will follow in Mommy's footsteps and enjoy doing laundry (one of the few household chores I actually enjoy).

Standing room only

We finally caught Lexi standing unassisted.




Also got a rare good shot of Mommy and baby. And yes, between the time we shot this video this morning and the time of this picture, she bumped her face on the coffee table and has a mini shiner (BAD parents, BAD parents).

New Tricks and such

One of my latest tricks (which I've been doing for at least a few weeks now) is turning on the Xbox. I figured out if you press the round button, it lights up and the disc drive slides out. It's such a fun game to play with Mommy, I turn it on, she says "no" and turns it off. Repeat. Repeat.

I think Lexi will be an accessories girl. She often walks on her tip toes (practicing for heels I suppose), and always grabs at earrings and necklaces. She has now figured out that she can tote around her little purse from her exersaucer (complete with keys and money, of course!)