Doing QA for Mommy

I managed to get the baby swing together again the other day, and Lexi, of course, had to test it out for her baby brother. I cannot believe how BIG she looks in this picture - I will have to find one of her in the swing as an infant to post for comparison!

In other big girl news, Lexi is officially fully day and night potty trained! We are very proud of our big girl (and mommy is thrilled she gets a few month hiatus from diapers before #2 comes along). We are making a trip on Sunday to Build-a-Bear for Lexi to choose a special reward for her big achievement.

TWO!

Two years ago today, Lexi made her way into the world on her due date (a true punctual teacher's child). It's been non-stop fun ever since. We started the day with presents. We decided to get her the Tag Junior Reader on the recommendation from a couple of friends, and she seems to like it. It's basically a little hand held wand that you can pass over special board books that reads them and makes sounds. She got to spend the day with Oma while Mommy and Daddy worked, and of course she got spoiled with cupcakes, helium balloons and gifts galore. Her party will be on Saturday here at the house.

The Two Year Progress Report:

Height: 82 cm (52 at birth)

Weight: about 24 pounds (we'll find out Friday at the doctor's for sure) (8 pounds at birth)

Teeth: 16 - still waiting on her molars (gee, won't that be fun)

Hair: Yes, she finally has some (as evidenced by the pigtails in the video above)

Words: way too many to list but my current favorite is "hippo-thomas" for hippopotamus. She is speaking in sentences and can even use pronouns.

Potty Training: we're working on it, going hard core in the summer when I'm off work

Favorite foods: rice noodles, cookies (opps), spaghetti and meatballs, yogurt, fruit, toast, cheerios and milk

For fun we: look for squirrels and birds in our backyard, read, read, read, play paperdolls (color), go for walks, help Mommy cook, play with "Bruce" (Brutus, Oma's dog)

Can't wait to see what the next year brings. I'll post some pics of the birthday party next weekend!

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 ;)

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:

We did it!

Our new 2009 Mazda 5 GS sits in our parking spot as we speak. We're still trying to figure out a name (apparently the name I chose is already the name of my friend's Mazda - great minds think alike - is stealing a car name like stealing a baby name?) We'll get a picture soon!

Taking the Plunge...

No, I'm not going swimming (I hate public pools after all). Doug and I are F-I-N-A-L-L-Y buying a new car. This week. Really, we are.

We test drove a couple of cars in December and decided on the Mazda 5 for it's similarities to a mini-van (sliding side doors), yet it still has a sporty look. Not that I would mind being a mini-van driving Mom, heck, I drove my parents Ford Aerostar when I was a teenager. We decided to wait until February to purchase, as historically it's the slowest month for car sales. We sent out emails to several dealerships, and were quoted a price at least $3000 lower than the price we were quoted in December. We hope to purchase and bring it home on Friday (if it's currently on the lot). Stay tuned!

The day we had to lower the crib mattress...

We knew this day would come. Lexi has been rocking back and forth on her hands and knees for over a week now, and this morning she took several paces. Our baby girl can finally crawl. She's smart enough to realize that if she needs speed (like when she wants a sip of Mom's water or to fondle her shiny slippers) she reverts to commando crawl.

We put Lexi down for her afternoon nap today (she's able to pretty much put herself to sleep these days, a big accomplishment). I checked in on her about 10 minutes after putting her down. I found her on her knees hanging off her Rainforest Mobile. Yikes. She was so darn proud of herself. It would have been very cute aside from the fact that she could have really hurt herself. Needless to say Doug and I lowered her crib mattress down before she got her nap. Oh, my back is NOT looking forward to this new development!

How to have fun on a rainy Vancouver Day

- play with a new toy. It was supposed to be a Christmas present from Oma and Opa, but I figured it wouldn't do any good sitting in the box for another month...


Yes, that's our toilet in the background. The bathroom doorway is the only functional place we could put the Bumper Jumper - that way I can keep an eye on her while doing chores in the kitchen, which today involved baking chocolate chip cookies.

- play with our old favorites. We're just learning to use them in new ways.



- learn to crawl. She's been rocking back and forth on her hands and knees all day for the past 2 days. It's coming SOON...

- take a nice long nap (a pleasure Mommy hopes to indulge in this afternoon too).

Win a new Ergo carrier!

OK, I won't lie. The Baby Bjorn kills my back. I totally covet an Ergo Baby carrier, but we can't really afford one. I found this contest to enter to win a new organic cotton Ergo, so I had to enter.

Win a Ergo

Tea Party anyone?

After visiting a couple of other mommy friends who have various cool baby gadgets and playthings like Jumpers and Exersaucers, we decided it was high time that Lexi have some stationary entertainment. These days it's a guarantee that when you put her down on one spot on the floor, when you turn back she won't be in the same place now that she has mastered the art of rolling.

We ponied up for the 1-2-3 Tea for Me Exersaucer. It's very girly, but Daddy approves. I put it together all by myself! (so proud) and Lexi just loves it. She has figured out how to turn on the music (hitting the top of the teapot), and it has lots of things for her to stick in her mouth - her favorite pasttime these days! Check out how she's displaying her new purse like a "Price is Right" model in training!