Alexis at 9 Months

Time continues to fly by. Alexis is doing so many new things.

*She is now crawling everywhere. She is super curious and loves to play with everything that is not actually a toy. This includes cords, her diaper basket and all of it's contents, shoes, papers, balloons and their strings, cords, cords oh and did I say cords? That makes us the most nervous as she likes to stick them in her mouth...even when they are plugged in at the other end! Definitely have to keep a close watch on her.

*She does love to pull herself up on everything. The coffee table, entertainment center, her crib, toy bins, bath tubs...but she also often ends up falling into those objects...with her head! Poor baby always has a bruise on her forehead and usually multiple bruises. She's tough though and if she actually cries, you know it's going to leave a huge mark!

*She is only nursing four times a day now and eating solids with us at meals 3 times a day. She now loves her food and eats happily. She does easily get distracted...both when nursing and eating. If Craig walks up and starts talking while I am feeding her she will stop nursing, jerk her head towards him and grin. And then will repeat that over and over...cute at first but starts to get old! ;0) She adorable and no one can resist that smile! Just yesterday she tried little bits of Macaroni and Cheese and Panera for the first time. She really liked it! She also got to try some watermelon and peaches and thought those were great as well!

*She still only has two perfect little bottom teeth so we are limited on starting real solids with her. I am super thankful that she has not bit me yet. As crazy as she is when she eats I am surprised about that...but very, very happy! Hopefully that will last!

*She has still been in her 3-6 month sleepers! We finally just tried a 6-9 month one last night and it was huge! Her legs kept coming out and getting stuck...she is just so short! Her 9 month appointment is coming up so it will be interesting to see what her stats are this month!

*She makes A LOT of noise!! She is super loud and gets louder as the day goes on. She gets so much attention and everyone looks at her and thinks she's so cute...even though we are apologizing for how loud she is...people don't seem to care. She loves to just hear her own voice, growling, screeching, yelling and she will do it non stop for an hour at times!

*She likes to jump. If you are holding her in your lap she will stand up and bounce and bounce and bounce...while making said loud noises. It's a sight to see!

*She does not like to sleep. Definitely a pattern since birth. The only way to get her to sleep is by nursing her. I have tried and tried to lay her down for a nap and she will just scream, stand up and scream some more. She sleeps through most nights but will often be up super early. This morning she was up and ready to go at 5. No lounging around. She stands right up and waits for someone to get her.

*She loves to be carried around the house with you. We call her our "Traveling Buddy".

*Nicknames for her at this point are: Lexy, Lexis, Lexy-Loo, Loo-Loo, Puppy (I call her and Jacob this for some reason), Joy Bear, and Baby Gwirl (Don't know why but we add the w sound in there! =0))I'm sure there are more but that's all that is coming to mind!

And that is our sweetie at 9 months in a nutshell! ;0)

First 5k!!!

This morning I ran my first 5k! I have been working up to this for over a month now. Starting with 1.3, working up to 2 mile runs and then two days ago I tried 2.3. This morning about half way through my run I decided to go for it. The sun had fully come out and it was pretty miserable...but I DID IT!! In about 12 runs I worked my way up to 3.1 miles! I was pretty happy with my time of 32 minutes and 27 seconds which averaged out to about 10 minutes 27 seconds a mile. I feel happy to have accomplished something like this and am proud of myself for pushing myself to go further. I tell ya, watching Biggest Loser is such a huge motivator. I constantly think, "A much bigger person then I can run 5 miles, I can do this!" Or, "Jillian would so be yelling at me to go faster right now...I need to speed up!" I love that show!!

And I will keep hitting the pavement and pushing myself further!

Zachary is 6!

Yesterday my Zachary turned six years old. I always tell people, "He's my Cinco De Mayo baby". While getting his birthday button yesterday at Disneyland, I was once again saying that to a cast member. Zachary was nodding along but then for the first time in 6 years looked up and said, "Wait. What does that mean exactly?" Hilarious! That's our Zachey James. Full of funny things to say, many which are way beyond his years. He is my baby that walked the day he turned 10 months old. Who often tells us he thinks we are going the wrong way or that he knows better. Yesterday he woke up and came to cuddle with me. We were talking about when he was born and he was saying how he didn't want to come out. (We have told him his birth story many times which includes the fact that he took two days of labor and 2 hours of pushing to get out...) He thought for a minute after saying that and then came up with, "Maybe I was just trying to find another way out!!"

Our "Zoo Bear" is a unique one. We used to say he doesn't much care what others think. And this still holds true in many instances. But lately he has become much more sensitive. He has always been super aware of what's going on around him. Picking up on things you are trying to get past him, knowing just the right moment to start listening in. So I think this awareness is making him more sensitive. He will go from not caring that you are upset to crumbling because he all of a sudden realizes that he has really upset us. He is nurturing and gets really concerned if one of us are hurt. These past few weeks he has been sick on and off. Last week I joined him and was sick with a cold/flu something or other. He was so sweet and kept asking how I felt, if I was still sick. Such a sweetie!

Zachary has many loves that include Star Wars, Spiderman, video games, drawing, Souplantation, his family (especially his baby sister), riding his bike and scooter, going to Disneyland and Sea World, water animals, waffles, yogurt (especially vanilla) treats, using a fan to sleep, Olive Garden, Taco Bell, Sonic, his green blanket, giving huge hugs, making "books"...the list goes on. He is one that will often say he doesn't want to grow up. He dearly wanted a baby sister and couldn't have been more excited to find out he had one on the way. He is a sweet, funny, witty, loving, smart, cunning, artistic, energetic, clever, and happy little boy. We thank God for who he is, and who he will grow up to be!

I love you Zachey, and I always will!