Whistling?

Lexi has started doing something that I have NEVER heard a baby do before. She is actually whistling. She puckers her lips and blows a soft whistle. The first time I heard it, I thought it was a fluke, but she keeps doing it over and over again. I don't know where she got it. We aren't big whistlers and I can't see her teacher doing it, but you never know. Perhaps, she accidentally discovered it and likes the sound or our reaction.

By the way, her top left tooth finally cut through the day before yesterday. It looks like the other one isn't far behind.

Eight Months Old Today

I am not quite sure how it happened, but Lexi is actually eight months old today. Time flies too quickly. She has changed a lot in the last month. She went from learning how to scoot around the floor to pulling herself up and climbing on everything. This makes Steve very nervous. He is always trying to protect her from falling or banging her head.

Lexi has become really attached to one of the teachers at school (the one that doesn't speak any English). I know because the lady often leaves minutes before I get there in the evening and Lexi is crying every time. When I walk in, she kicks her legs and flaps her arms and looks at me like she wants to say, "WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?" I am really relieved to know she feels very comfortable with her.

Verbally, Lexi is still mainly sticking to saying mama, mama, mama, especially when she is trying to crawl after me so I'll picked her up. She plays around with other sounds too and her language comprehension has grown. I still get the feeling that being surrounded with Spanish during the days and English the rest of the time is a little confusing right now. After a while, it will be great for her though.

Unfortunately, she has been sick for about a week and a half, so I am not exactly sure if some of her new characteristics are part of a new phase or just her not feeling well. For instance, she wants to be held more. During her night time wakenings (part of being sick), I find her half asleep holding on to the rail and whimpering. She often cries until I hold her and she can go right back to sleep.

Lexi is also less patient during our long commutes. I completely understand that facing the back seat for 45 minutes in the morning and the evening is grueling. Toys and pacifiers are just not enough to make the trips bearable. The only thing that seems to appease her is me singing acapella. Hopefully, other commuters think I am talking on headphones instead of breaking out in song. Her two favorite seem to be Old MacDonald and The Alphabet. The Wheels on the Bus isn't bad either. There are countless others as well. Good thing I learned a million kids songs in my life.

While I hate to see her grow up so quickly, I love watching her develop. More and more, I see a little girl with a wonderful personality, strong opinions, and a great sense of humor. Her little laugh, always brings a rush of joy to both her parents.

Daddy's Girl

Lexi is on her 8th week of daycare & can you guess how many times she has made it through a full week there? ...the answer is zero. It is always something & usually she is just not feeling well like today. She has been suffering from cold symptoms for a week and a half, so I took her to the doc today. She is suffering from an earache and a cough. Me? I am suffering from sick baby at work. I think mine's worse.

Mini-Toy Room

Lexi has already started getting into everything. She especially likes our closet, but she finds the pantry and other closets interesting too. We have to watch her closely though because she loves to bite shoe laces (yuck). I should probably buy a brand new pair of tennis shoes for her to play with.

Older Man

When I dropped Lexi off at daycare, there was a cute little four year old boy that was very excited to see her. He had dark hair and big beautiful brown eyes. He stood up to greet her and said, "Hello Alexis!" Then he turned to his buddy, and said, "Her name is Alexis." I smiled and walked away thinking her dad is NOT going to like this.

Cranky Pants

Lexi is still recovering from her cold and is moments away from getting her top left tooth. This has caused her mini-tantrums and mood swings to increase, but so has her sense of humor and moments of sheer joy. She laughs and laughs when we play peek-a-boo, but starts flapping her arms, scrunching her brow and shreaking when it is over. That is when I always laugh, which confuses her.

Driving Me Crazy

Last night, Lexi was fighting sleep more than usual. She wasn't feeling well (another cold thanks to daycare). Every time I got her to sleep and laid her in her crib, she would force herself to wake up. After doing this three times, I just left her there for a while. I went in the next room to play on the computer so I could listen to her. At first, she was just babbling. That turned into whining then whimpers. When I went to check on her, the above picture is how I found her. She was standing there with a big smile, so I grabbed the camera.

She is still not feeling well today and I can already tell it is going to be one of those days. Between madly cleaning the house for the appraiser (oh yeah - we have a contract!) and taking her to work with some very tight deadlines approaching, I'm sure I'll be pulling my hair out by the end of the day.

Standing Photos

Standing Up In This World

Last night, Steve and I were sitting on the love seat and Lexi was playing on her mat. She scooted over to the edge of the couch between us to see what we were doing. She gracefully reached up and grabbed the cushion with one hand and then the next. Slowly but surely, she pulled herself up to stand. I kept telling myself it was just a fluke, but she did it again five minutes later. What happened to my little baby?

Pile of Pacifiers

For the past few months, Lexi's pacifiers have been disappearing into a black hole. I had no idea where they were going. Between work, the car, my office, and her new found mobility, I thought we would just find them here or there and did not make a huge effort to search. A few times during the night, I would hear what I though was her tossing one out of her crib.

On Saturday, I decided to look around her room for them. The last place I looked was under her crib, figuring that they could have bounced under there. I was surprised to find a pile of about 6 near the post by the wall. The sneaky little devil likes to snuggle her face into the crib bumper in that corner. She probably spits the pacifiers out and then rolls on them until they squeeze between the mattress and the post. Now every night, I put 3 pacifiers in her bed so that when she wakes up, she can quickly put one in and go back to sleep. Guess what... every morning there are at least 2 of them in the pile spot. One black hole mystery has been solved. Next on this list is finding out what happens to the lids of her bottles.

Enjoying the Play Mat

Our tile floor has been a real problem since Lexi got a little more mobile. We hate the idea of her falling and smacking her head or anything else on it. We have been looking for a play mat for a while. It isn't as easy as you would think since the ones in toy stores are too small. While shopping at Walmart in PSL, I checked out the exercise area and found the perfect solution. We bought two sets of these interlocking rubber mats and it took Steve less than 5 minutes to put it together. It encompasses a good portion of our family room, so she has lots of freedom. As you can see from the photos and video, she has really enjoyed playing on it this week.

Dada's Big Feet

While at Cousin Barb's house on Sunday, Lexi crawled over and sat up between Steve's feet. We all laughed when we noticed how big they are compared to her.

Started Puckering for Kisses and Saying Mamama

This weekend, Lexi started puckering up to make kissing sounds. Her face is so cute. Just like everything else, she refuses to do it on cue. When you try to get her to do it or do it yourself, she just smiles. She also started saying Mamama this weekend. I thought it was supposed to be a heartwarming experience. The problem is that she only says it when she is really upset and crying. I would rather see the kisses.

Our Son ...Alex

Steve & Alex

Alex with Party at My Crib Shirt

Cousin Barb & Alex

What a cute boy, right? You caught me, it is Lexi. I dressed her up in her University of Miami Hurricanes' outfit. I don't have a green bow, so she spent the day looking like a boy. When we were out & about, everyone asked questions about him. Two women even called her a future ball player. I just kept saying that she is a Tom Boy. Unfortunately, we put in all that effort to be fans, and the Canes lost to their big rivals, FSU.

Perfect Daycare Mom

After today (probably), Lexi will have exactly 4 full days in daycare in the 4 weeks she has been going there. The first week, I was trying to slowly ease her into it. The second and third weeks, she was ill. This week, there was the so called Tropical Storm.

While, I am happy to keep her out of daycare as much as possible and have to admit that I am lucky to work in a place that loves babies so much. I have been thinking about the fact that I have to pay whether or not she goes. If all of the moms were like me (which I know they aren't), it would be the perfect business to go into. Just think about this: 4 babies, charging $150 every week for each, and only a 20% chance of keeping them all day. If you throw in tax free, benefits, and free toys, I'll quit tomorrow and run my own daycare out of my house! Sounds fun for Lexi and me.