An Artist's Hands

The {first ever} masterpiece.

Pure

 Pure happiness.

 Pure silliness.

Pure love.

Sudsy Stud

Fourteen Months

Fourteen months old.

Each month is a celebration of something new.

New words, new signs, new movements.

Chattering is incessant - and incredible.

{And what he comprehends is even more amazing!}

Alekzander talks to the dogs, to the cat, to his Daddy,

and calls Mama! Mama! Mama!

when he needs something.

"Nana" is his favorite food and he requests it, passionately, at each meal.

Grilled cheese, spaghetti, and multigrain toast are new foods ...

all of which can be chewed better with his eight teeth!

Four on top, two on the bottom, and a top and bottom left molar.

His newest sign is "please." 

It is the sweetest thing when he rubs his little palm on his chest.

It is nearly impossible to say no to his request when he "says" please.

"Milk" is also a favorite, frequent, and often fervent sign.

Walking is quickly being replaced with running.

Hands in the air, full steam ahead!

Alekzander can also now climb into his great grandma Ann's rocker.

One foot on the stepstool, the other knee hiked up on the seat.

Two seconds later and he's up! 

Proud , smiling, precious.

Rare but sweet nonetheless

Happy fourteen months, Alekzander!

Fourteen months ago, these sweet little piggies were kicking inside of me.

Now they're running, walking, and climbing.

GO, feet, GO!

Heart Steeler

This little guy steals my heart. 

A Steeler fan in the making :: wearing his knit 'helmet' 

 :: taking a break from playing :: staring as the Steelers secure their spot

in Superbowl XLV.

A New Friend Named Thomas

We were lucky enough to be given tickets to Thomas and Friends Live! this weekend.  Alekzander hasn't ever sat in front of the TV to watch any show nor does he know who Thomas the Train is, but we decided to indulge his little cultural senses.  It could have been an utter disaster, but it  he was absolutely amazing.

He was enthralled with the actors, the songs, and of course, the moving, talking trains.  A few moms around us missed part of the show as they were blatantly watching him sit perfectly still, eyes locked on the action.  I was as shocked and impressed as they were - and uber-proud of my little 14 month old theater go-er.

 

We tried to get some wiggles out during intermission.  A walk around the coliseum turned into a run for our cutie who did make it through the second half without a problem.  He hopped from lap to lap, spilled some food on himself, and said "Hi!" to some of the kids around him, but especially loved the singing and clapping.  He clapped his little hands like crazy and looked at us to make sure we were participating.  We absolutely were - with smiles on our faces and joy in our hearts that is best taught and modeled by a child. 

Without a doubt, Thomas {and his friends} will be a friend of the family for years to come!

Gold Digger

{{Mad at mama for trying to get yuck out of my nose 

:: so I went digging for gold myself}}

Life Saver

Our world changed this week. 

I went back to work part-time as a middle school tutor at a private school.  My heart was broken, but Andrew kept reminding me that this change is for the good of our future, family-wise and financially.  As if it weren't hard enough to leave my little man, even for a few hours a day, we hadn't yet found the perfect person to care for Alekzander by my start date ...  a somewhat frantic call to my mom ensued and about 18 hours later, Mia was here.  

She was our life saver this week.  She entertained, sang, bathed, fed, played, walked, and taught.

One day I left them playing this game:

He got it right every single time ... whether it was with apples, grapes, pears, or oranges.  He is so, so smart!

And I came home to this another day:

We got to see her patience, her spunk, her creativity, and her love unfold as she got a lot of one-on-one time with Alekzander.  We also saw the fruits of her organizational finesse {we now have a clean garage and organized closets} and the remnants of her 30 year teaching career {Alekzander learned to wink, wash his hands, and probably knows the alphabet!}.

Alekzander was well cared for and well loved this week.  

We were so lucky to have our Mia come and save us.

Here We Go

Here we go, Steelers.

Here we go.

Let's go to the Superbowl.

[Check out this Steelers stud exactly 5 months ago.]

Through Our Eyes

"Momma!"

Alekzander shouted and pointed at my new issue of Runners World after our trip to the mailbox.  Again he shouted... "Momma!  Momma!"
  

This isn't just the ramblings of a toddler saying 'Momma' in relation to any dark haired woman he sees.  Alekzander (normally) reserves the use of 'Momma' for Ashley and Ashley alone.

I can tell Ashley she's beautiful every day but sometimes it may take the honesty of a child to help her see how she looks through our eyes.

What Do You Wear?

Today, Alekzander wore no pants.  

And when we did put pants on him, 

he stood in his pack-and-play and took them off, 

threw them over the edge, 

and said, "Uh oh!"  

In lieu of pants, 

he did wear many expressions 

while playing this afternoon. 

Mischievous. 

Concentration.

 Cute.

 Happy.

Snow Day

We awoke to a winter wonderland today.  Snow fell all night and all day and blanketed Charlotte in a white, cold, fluffy blanket.  The city essentially shuts down whenever it snows, so there was nothing left to do except stay home, cuddle, play in the snow, and eat yummy food!  While the snow wasn't perfect for snowmen, it was the perfect snow day.

Kaila leaping off of the back deck

Making snow angels ...

 ... or powdered sugar dinos!

 

 Catching 'snowflakes'

Dream Big

Camouflage

Camouflage ... doing it quite well, actually.

Alekzander's Resolutions

In 2011, I want to ...

Learn to walk

Be a good eater

Sleep through the night

Learn sign language & increase verbal vocabulary

Be sweet to Mama & Dada

Love, Alekzander

Strong Arms

Whose arms are stronger?

Sunday Funday

another future career?!

 so handsome

our favorite game

PS - our stiff-legged little zombie walker 

can make it from one end of the room to the other!

Up Close with Animals

 Checking out a gorilla.  

His friend literally charged at the window seconds later!

 Feeding the giraffe with Daddy and Kyrie and Caitlin

Sophie's relative

Uh, Dada?!  Do you see this thing?

Penguin Alekzander texting his feathered friends