Lexi's daycare is closed for Veterans Day, so she gets to spend the day at work with me. Fortunately, she is feeling much better today. She is also getting better at entertaining herself, but it will still be difficult trying to get work done and keep her relatively quiet. The plug (pacifier) only helps so much.
Looking back on my life, I realize that I have been completely fortunate to have a family that has strong values. I guess that was deeply instilled within me because all of my friends have been amazing people too. Teenagers often experiment and try to find independence through partying, but I didn't. My group of friends in
With Lexi in my life, I feel an overpowering need to only surround her with positive people. I want her to have the best influences, great experiences, and fun friends. I hope Steve and I can instill only wonderful values in her so that later she makes wise decisions about friends and her life.
I believe something crazy and amazing happens to parents, but especially women when they have a baby/child. Nice girls become exactly like momma bears. They are fiercely protective of their cubs and quite weary of others. We all know how momma bears react when they are trying to protect their young. It is just part of the love that comes from being a parent.This week, Lexi has started the feeding others/sharing phase. She tries to feed me her Gerber Wagon Wheels and Cheerios. She is also showing her kindness by trying to share her pacifier. Oh, how thoughtful.
Steve is one of those fans that want his team to completely obliterate the opponents every second of the game. His team has to execute every play perfectly or he gets frustrated. Lexi and I watched the Dolphins vs the Bears game with him on Sunday. It was a miracle that the Dolphins were actually winning, but Steve still took a moment to goof around with Lexi's teasing frustrated reaction. She does this quite often and we finally captured it on camera.
A few weeks ago, someone I work with asked me how you can tell what your baby is feeling. I just laughed and said babies are very expressive. In fact, these photos were taken in a matter of 5 minutes. She lets me know exactly how she feels.
Things are crazy around here, but I decided to post a few photos of our MetroBoo experience (Photos of us with Lexi as Aunt Angie likes). The place was packed, especially near the candy stations, but weren't interested in those anyway. We had fun looking at all the interesting costumes and seeing the animals. It was definitely a hit.
Lexi attended her first sporting event last night. She was lucky enough to attend the only good professional team in Miami (sorry Dolphins & Marlins, but you just didn't cut it this year). She loved the lights and commotion, but nothing compared to the attention she got from everyone. Even the camera man decided to spot light us twice by making us stars of the jumbotron. The fun didn't last long though, we left at half time because little eyes were fighting tired. We all know that bedtimes must be met. Unfortunately for the Heat, their tiny fan took the luck with her. The Rockets ended up stomping them 96 to 71, but who really cares about pre-season scores?
When Lexi was born, Grandma Margie (my mom), made a little Dolphin dress for her. She made it the right size for a 9 month old, so that Lexi would be able to wear it during football season. Yesterday, we took her to get photos with the BIG Dolph-Fan in her life, aka Dadda. We admit that they are having a horrible season, but the fanship is still there. So Go Dolphins!
Sunday, Steve was playing with Lexi and he picked up a little row of stuffed ducks. He held it out to her and said duck, which is probably the first time she ever heard that word and guess what...she followed in Camille's foot steps. The funny thing is that Steve had no idea that Camille was saying that. Duck has now become her third favorite word, right after a million mamas and several daddas. I tried to catch it on video here:
As a girl who NEVER likes to do anything on queue, this is when I finally captured it:
It is Friday the 13th & so far things are going well. I don't want to jinx us though, so I'll just post pictures today.
Last week, Lexi became a full blown professional peek-a-boo player when she took control of the blanket. Of course, she doesn't hold it up for very long. She flips it up and flips it right back down and spends most of the time laughing at the attention she gets. We went to an Italian restaurant last night (Fratelli la Bufala) that had several tables with men but no women. The table next to us had a group right out of the Godfather. I was a little worried that they would be bothered by a baby, but she used the cloth napkin to play peek-a-boo with them and they were hooked. One of the guys told me that she was cute, but that I shouldn't let her look at one of the other guys because she would surely start crying from his ugly face (pretty funny). Good thing, this little social butterfly doesn't mind as long as there is a smile directed at her.
Moving was an ordeal (as all moves are), but Lexi faired well. Saturday, I took her over to a friend's house (Sonja) where she was provided undivided attention all day long. She loved every minute of it and got some of the best naps ever. It was much better than packing and moving things to the new place.
Sunday she got to participate in the moving fun. I dragged her to the house and she tried to play with everything while I was trying to pack. Her dad and Uncle Jeff took things to storage and then we all loaded up and went back to SOBE. That evening, Jeff headed back to PSL and we went for a walk. Lexi fell asleep on the way home and had a great night.
Starting this weekend, Lexi is going to be a South Beach baby. We found out yesterday that the buyer for our house has secured financing. Yippee!! This weekend is going to be very hectic. One of my friends agreed to come over on Saturday to hold and play with Lexi while we pack and move. I think she will be the biggest life saver (even more than the guys helping with the move).
October is here and Lexi is getting ready for Halloween. We already have a cute costume for her. In fact, I need to make an appointment to get pictures taken of her in it. We just have to figure out what we are going to do to celebrate.
By the way, her top left tooth finally cut through the day before yesterday. It looks like the other one isn't far behind.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
Steve & Alex
Alex with Party at My Crib Shirt
Cousin Barb & AlexWhat a cute boy, right? You caught me, it is Lexi. I dressed her up in her
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.
