9 Months Old!

Alexa has officially been alive longer than I was pregnant. Every month I say it, I cannot believe how old she is.

We had our first trip to Chicago this month. We left after work/school on Friday. Alexa did great on the plane. Grandma & Grandpa McKinney picked us up at the airport. I think we surprised them on how much stuff we brought. When we made it back to their house Alexa was exhausted. Grandma rocked her to sleep. It is a great feeling to see my Grandparents love my daughter as much as I do. On Saturday we went to my 2nd cousins house to visit. We were able to see a bunch of family that we do not normally get to. Alexa did not have much interest in her cousin's Matthew or Ethan. Her independent personality comes out when she is in group settings.

On Sunday we went to Brookfield Zoo. To our surprise it rained on us. Not the normal rain but the storm, flooding cold rain. Even though it rained and we all got colds as a result, it was nice. I am glad we had the opportunity to go. Alexa and I had to go home on Monday (Memorial Day). Alexa did a good job traveling once again. She even made a friend on the airplane :)

When we got home from Chicago, Alexa was a little off. She ended up getting an ear infection. This is her first one. We had to find out in a tough way. Her school called me saying she had a fever and needed to be picked up. I took her to work with me for 2 hour. We then went to urgent care since I could not get her into the doctors that day. Urgent care took her temp and it read 104.5 I about fell over. They sent us straight to the ER. They told me they were afraid if it went any higher she could seize. I did my best to stay within the speed limit but got to the hospital quickly. They took us back right away. Alexa was given Motrin & some medicine for her ears. We left with an antibiotics prescription. She recovered in just a few days. She then went on as though nothing happened.

A few days before Jackie's wedding I started feeling guilt about not going. Luckily we were able to get it worked out for us to be able to go. We had a lay over on each leg of the trip. Although Alexa did OK, the lay overs made it tough. She was not able to get on the ground and play for several hours. Charlotte was a lot of fun. Alexa was able to meet her Great-Great Aunt's & Uncle as well as many other family members. Alexa embraced them all with smiles & giggles. She went to anyone who wanted to hold her. Alexa was able to do a little bit of swimming with Matthew. She was a bit shy but enjoyed the water. During the wedding Alexa stayed with Matthew. He is a 13 year old 3rd cousin of mine that has very minimal babysitting experience. They had a rough few hours but once I put Alexa to bed there was no more issues. I am certain Matthew will not be babysitting by choice anytime soon :)

It was finally time for Alexa's swim lessons. We did them here on post. The pool water was freezing. This made the classes a little tough on both of us. We did the condensed version of class. We had class Monday through Thursday for two weeks. It made our schedule a bit challenging but well worth it. Alexa had a lot of fun with her friends. Her class was made up for 5 kids aging 9 months (Alexa being the youngest) to 18 months. Alexa's "boyfriend" Nathan was also in the class. Alexa did really good with humpty dumpty. The kids sit on the low ledge as we sing the humpty dumpty song. They then fall in (only to their chest) & then turn and reach for safety. Alexa totally understood this. I would help her turn & she would grab the wall. It was actually a joke because she would not let go. She also really enjoyed playing with the pool toys. She held the ducks in her hand during most of the classes. I took the teachers advice of not putting Alexa's face under water. She said although most children do not have problems with it, it can cause ear infections. Since we were just getting over one I decided not to risk it. Alexa "graduated" swim lessons. We are planning on doing the August session as well.

Alexa started crawling this month. It is not a mastered skill but she has certainly made huge progress. I do not believe she will ever use crawling as a way to get around but at least she knows how. She turns her butt and scoots around. She seems to prefer this over crawling. She has also started pulling up on tables & couches. She has a hard time with the glass table. Its as if she cannot fully focus on it & then her hands slide. This is very new to her but she works on it each day. I am certain it will not be long before she starts inching her way around things. I guess I need to start thinking about child proofing the house.

Alexa has grasped the concept of talking. She does not say a lot of words but she makes a lot of sounds. When she has the cell phone in her hand she will babble. She also talks to her toys at home and in the car. It is great to hear her voice. I am afraid she is going to be a chatterbox like her Momma.

Alexa also had her 9 month well baby appointment. She is 27 1/4 inches long, 16lbs 10oz & her head measured 17 1/2 inches. So she is doing great. She is average in height, a little low on her weight & has a big head. I could not be more proud :) I have really stopped worry about her weight. She eats until she is full & seems happy. I am sure she will be just fine. If she happens to be over 5ft tall then she is lucky.

One of Alexa's favorite things to do is video chat with Justin. She gets sooo excited when she sees him. She crawls over to the screen and tries to type. Sometimes I have to pull her back because she gets so close all Justin can see is the top of her head. I love watching the two of them interact. I cant wait for Justin to come home so our family can be back together. Though the technology is making it a bit easier.

8 Months Old

So much has happened in the last month. We started the month off with Easter Egg Hunts. When we arrived at the first post hunt Alexa was sound asleep. I ended up driving back home and letting her sleep. The next day we had the neighborhood egg hunt. I took a blanket with us. I would put Alexa on the blanket next to an egg and encourage her to find the egg. I learned very quickly that it was not going to happen. I ended up putting a few eggs on her blanket and she was happy.

Alexa started at the CDC full time. She is the butterfly room. Her teachers are great. I really like her lead teacher, Ms Carolyn. Her classroom has 4 infants (6months-12 months) and 5 pre-tots (12months- 18 months). It is a very interesting dynamic. The first few days Alexa was over stimulated and had a lot of trouble sleeping. I am told she really enjoys going outside, which they do every day weather permitting. Since she has started there she has learned to wave. Its not the traditional wave but more of a flapping of her arms. On her second day Ms. Carolyn told me Alexa had a great time all day but when she put her on her stomach she gave her attitude.

We have had Ariel over for three play dates recently. Alexa and Ariel have a good time playing together. Alexa loves that Ariel brings her toys. We did some finger paint & lots of playing. We even had one sleep over. The girls slept in separate rooms but enjoyed their breakfast together. Alexa sleeps really well after her play dates. I think we will need to have Ariel over more often ;)

Easter weekend we flew to Cincinnati. The flight there was wonderful. The plane was less than half full. Alexa played in the seat next to me and was very happy. Everyone complimented me on how well behaved Alexa was. It is a great feeling when people compliment your child. Our weekend in Cincinnati was brief. We spent Saturday with my Dad. We took Alexa to see the Easter bunny & out to lunch with Megan & Matthew. In the evening we saw Maggie, Jeff & David. Alexa slept on the car ride to my Mom's but woke up to play for a few minutes before going to bed. Sunday morning we were about to see Heather, Jan and her children. We spent the afternoon at Megan's with the rest of the family. I am glad Alexa and Matt were able to have some time together. I am sure they will not remember it, but we took pictures.

Sunday night we were scheduled to fly home at 8:40pm. The flight was delayed a few times and we did not take off until after 10pm. Alexa was TERRIBLE on the plane. She was overly tired and was not happy. She screamed for a few minutes straight. It was not a normal cry, instead it was a high pitched yell. The man who was sitting next to me was someone I was talking to while waiting at the airport. He offered to try calming Alexa and out of desperation I handed her over. She went to sleep after a minute of him rocking her. He has 4 boys at home, two of which were 1 year old twins. Clearly his experience was appreciated by our full plane. Alexa slept the rest of the flight in my arms. After a lot of small delays we made it home just after midnight.

The next week was all about catching up on sleep, chores & FRG obligations. Alexa continued to thrive in her new daycare. It is very relieving to pick up a happy baby & hear all the great things she did that day. Alexa's teachers took pictures of her playing and napping for me. I was pleasantly surprised with Alexa's first piece of artwork. It was a cloth that was painted & colored on. That Friday was Military Child Appreciate Day. Alexa's class was participating in the parade. I walked with her class for the entire thing. Alexa was asleep during most of it, but it was still adorable. Who does not love a baby parade?

Alexa continues to get the hiccups fairly regularly. Recently she has started making the sound of "ut oh" while she hiccups. I did get a few minutes of it on video. I have not been able to get her to say "ut oh" outside of the hiccups.

Last Wednesday I received a phone call at 11am from Alexa's daycare. They told me she had a 101 fever & was lethargic. I told her to the doctor and was given an antibiotics for her eyes & told to give her Tylenol for the fever. We stayed home on Thursday and tried to go back on Friday. I made it 2 hours at work before getting called again. We spent the weekend taking medicine every 4 hours and trying to rest. For some reason Alexa did not want to be on her back. She slept on me for her naps and woke up every few hours during the night.

I also hit a huge milestone this month. I moved Alexa's crib back into her bedroom. When Justin left for basic training over two years ago I really struggled living alone. I slept with the TV on and the bedroom door locked. Over the 5 months he was gone I got to the point where I was able to shut the tv off but still kept the bedroom door locked. We he deployed I knew I would have some trouble but gave myself the goal of putting Alexa in her room before he returned. Alexa has been in our room since she was born. Even though she is a great sleeper I have always enjoyed her being in there. I liked being able to check on her whenever I needed to. On Mother's Day I felt ready to make the transition. It did feel good to final get her nursery put together.

The last week Alexa has returned to her normal self. We jumped right back into our routine. We both made it a full week at work/school. The weather was in the 90's and then down to the 50's. We had very few days were it was not too hot or too cold to go outside.

This month we are looking forward to our weekend trip to Chicago as well as Alexa's swim lessons.