A Few More Steps

Alex decided to take some more steps this weekend. I don't think he realized what he was doing the first time he walked on his own. He was standing next to his rocking chair, saw his ball so he walked about five steps to it, stood there, picked it up and dropped it. Then he decided to sit down. I tried to get video of him and after a couple of attempts, I got a few steps.

He's Growing Up

Alex is becoming such a big boy. This past weekend my parents were in town and Alex took his first steps! Alex was holding my mom's hands and he took unassisted steps to me! We were both shocked! Alex looked so proud! I'm a little sad that Bill missed them but Alex walked (took two to three steps) to him multiple times last night. Each time Alex had a big grin on his face when he reached his dad. He has been walking around furniture for the past three or four months but has never had the balance or confidence to give it a go on his own. I have a feeling he will most likely be walking on his own by the end of the week...but we'll see!

I have been signing to Alex for a while. Sometimes I forget but I try to be consistent. I sign hungry (eat), more, sleep, milk and thank you. Yesterday we were at Target and I did my "funny dance" for Alex. (I shake my head from side to side and make a funny noise.) Well, Alex is at the stage when he mimics what I do, so he did his funny dance. Then he looked at me and signed "more". I was really surprised that he made the connection that I would do it again if he signed "more." I bet the other shoppers thought we were nuts...but I don't care because we were having fun! I love my sweet baby! (Alex has signed "more" before but it wasn't clear that he knew the real meaning behind it...like he did yesterday.)

Beach

We just got back from a family trip to the beach. Bill and I loaded up Alex and Tyler and headed down to South Padre Island. This was the first trip for both boys to go to the beach and needless to say, they both loved it! We got Tyler a boogie board so he spent lots of time trying to figure it out and Alex crawled EVERYWHERE! Tyler and I worked on building sandcastles but Alex just tore them apart. We spent many busy days at the beach and I'm glad to say that nobody got sunburned!! Yea!

We also went bay fishing and I'm happy to say that my legacy continues...I once again out-fished my husband! Bill knows that I love bay fishing and that I'm much better at it then him...and he's OK with that! We had 4 keepers and I caught three of them. We had numerous other catches but they were just under 15 inches, which is the minimum length for Speckled Trout.

Overall, everyone had a great time and we look forward to our family trip to SPI in 2012!

1st Birthday!

Alex turned one and we had a little birthday celebration at our house a couple weekends ago. We had family and friends over to help celebrate...the kids stayed cool by playing on the slip n slide and in the baby pool and the grown ups tried to stay cool by drinking some adult beverages. I was amazed at the number of Bill's single friends who voluntarily attended a one year old's birthday...what great guys!

Alex had a 3D duck cake as his smash cake. I will have to upload a picture of the cake before he "smashed" it but here's a picture of the after. (He didn't really understand to smash the cake. He kept grabbing handfuls of icing until I tore it apart...then he started eating the cake.)

Houston

This past weekend we went to Houston for my Aunt Kathy's wedding. She looked beautiful and we had a great time! This was Alex's first time to attend a wedding and I was surprised that he did an amazing job! I was sweating during the reception, waiting for him to cry out or yell but he never did. He did a great job!

We had fun spending time with Paw Paw and Gandmom as well as with my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew. Bill mentioned that we should remember to get a picture of Jack, Ivy and Alex (all the grand babies) but of course we managed to leave Houston without one. Hopefully we will be able to get one in the coming week!

Practice

Alex decided that he knew how to use his walker this weekend. He crawled over to it, stood up and started walking with it. I was amazed! He may be walking without the help of his walker by his birthday...

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July, nothing eventful but a good time. The majority of the weekend was spent on inside and outside house chores. Bill grilled a lot and we enjoyed relaxing outside. Yes, it was a bit hot but it wasn't unbearably hot. Each year our neighborhood has a 4th of July parade. We told Tyler that he could decorate his bike and ride in the parade but he was a bit hesitant to decorate his bike. We got up and found a shady spot to watch the parade. Bill and I weren't sure what to expect since this was our first time to attend it. It was an All American neighborhood parade. Kids decorated their bikes, Hot Wheels, scooters, wagons and some adults decorated their cars. It was actually pretty cute! Before we left the house, we threw Tyler's bike in the back so he could ride his bike around before the parade. He surprised us by joining the parade as it went by! It was pretty cute to see him riding his bike with the parade. The parade even had a police escort. Here's a picture of one of my favorite "floats".

We watched fireworks on Sunday night as well as last night. There's a small park not far from our house that overlooks downtown so we were able to see fireworks both nights. I felt bad that we work Alex up two nights in a row to see fireworks but he didn't seem too bothered by it. Last night he was pretty animated while we were watching the fireworks! He "talked" the entire time. It was like he was describing the fireworks to the people behind us. He was blabbering away and moving his arms around. It was pretty entertaining. Too bad that I didn't get video of him.

One last photo for this post...one of the events of the weekend was killing a GIANT wasp nest that has been buzzing behind one of our outdoor speakers. Bill thought he would get rid of the nest by setting it on fire with a grilling lighter. Well, I have to say that the wasp got Bill...a couple of times. He got stung on his chest and a couple of times on his wrist. He wrist was really swollen the next day so he was resourceful and made an ice pack to help with the swelling. I couldn't help but take a picture! Ha Ha Ha!