15 months

Alex is well into his 15th month now and WOW does he have a lot of energy!! He is the sweetest baby (er, toddler) ever but he NEVER slows down! :) The only time he stops is for nap time (a peaceful 2 hours everyday!) and when he wants to 'read' a book, which thankfully is quite frequently. He had his 15-month check up and everything's good. He weighs 24 pounds and is 32 inches tall. He's cutting three molars right now (ouch!!!) so that will put his tooth-count up to 11--keep your fingers and all loose objects away from his mouth! He even likes to end his kisses with a little bite. Yow!

He's done lots better with preschool--even stayed awake the whole time last week! We've been busy with a weekly playgroup and have been going to 'baby gym' every week to let him run, climb and jump to his heart's content.

Here are two recent videos...

Alex feeding himself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCk53PyXzxA

Alex running around being silly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhIe9Tlh5xg

There is a slideshow of recent pics. I'll add more as they come. Photosite is shutting down (boo) so I'm going to have to keep the pictures on this blog until I can figure out how to upload them to my new website (http://www.natalieshivers.com/ --launching later this week!!!).

Have a great day!
:)

Alex - 15 months

Alex - 8/07

Alex's First Day of Preschool

Alex had his first day of "preschool" on Wednesday! He is enrolled at Bethany Baptist Preschool for their Wednesday morning class for 1-yr-olds. We both did quite well with only a handful of tears between us. :) His teachers must have given him lots of love because when I picked him up he smelled just like them (in a good way)! He was sound asleep (two others were too) when I picked him up--too much excitement for one morning.
Here are some pictures I took that morning. The one of him sitting down is because his backpack was so heavy for him that it pulled him down backwards!

He's Walking!

Alex is officially a toddler now! For about 2-3 weeks now he's been cruising around the house and getting faster every day! If you are wondering why I'm just now sending this news, it's because during the time I've tried to work on this today Alex has: torn off a huge strip of wallpaper border in his room, emptied out a whole cup of water on the floor, unrolled a new roll of papertowels, thrown away a sippy cup and a computer cable, and tipped over a stack of newly-folded towels. Isn't he precious!? Haha!

Anyway, to see videos of Mr.-Into-Everything, click on the links below. By the way, I couldn't figure out how to add captions to the slideshow below "Our Summer", so if you really can't understand a picture you can refer to the same pics (with captions) at www.shivers.photosite.com under "Alexander James". I have to change websites in the next month because Photosite is shutting down, so I'll update you on that when it happens.

Video of Alex first walking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25vWOsOZ9RM
2nd try of Alex first walking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUPymPd51qU
Really cruising now (most current): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpf8HE_4PFk

Our Summer

Free MySpace slideshows, photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Charleston

We went to Charleston a couple of weeks ago to visit my college roomate Morgan and her husband Andy. We had a fabulous time and enjoyed ourselves so much! While we were there, Alex had his first visit to the beach (loved it!) and we took family portraits on the beach as well. All those pics are uploaded at http://www.shivers.photosite.com/. Look under "Alexander James".

Happy July!

:)

We're all CRAWLING

I knew that crawling was a natural stage for babies to go through....but I had no idea that I would find MYSELF on all fours during the process. Let me explain... Alex used to be a fabulous sleeper. I bragged about his naps and his nights--and a few months ago that all came to a screeching halt. He is still a good napper, but his nights have been really difficult. It's come to the point that if he's only up once or twice, it's a "good" night. Yikes!! So after a few months of waiting for him to grow out of it, Kevin and I realize that he's getting settled into a habit that may haunt us for years to come. SO, we've entered into week 1 of SLEEP TRAINING. I've read a couple of books, searched online for miracle cures, and talked it to death with anyone I know that has a baby who sleeps. We gave the "crying" method a shot....and two hours later decided we needed Method #2. And then that method has holes, and then the next wasn't perfect either.....
So last night I sat on the floor next to Alex's crib and repeated "shh, mommy's here, shh, lay down, shh, please go to sleep...." for about three hours (okay, more like 15 minutes, but it SEEMED like 3 hours) and then, for fear of him seeing me sneak out, I crawled on all fours out of his room. I stopped outside his room, gently closed the door and had a good laugh at myself. I couldn't help but wonder how many other moms and dads had ever found themselves in the same predicament--probably quite a few!!
Today he only slept for 30 minutes in the car so we set his bedtime for 5:00. He peacefully fell asleep after his night-time bottle (we're only fighting one battle at a time here, so no comments on the fact that he's still using a bottle, please!! :)). He's in his bed and we are about to have a nice quiet dinner. Hopefully he won't smell the food and decide it's time for Round 2.
:)

Bees, Trees, and Sugarsnap Peas

Well, the first year has officially come and gone. I think I've said it in every single post so far, but I CANNOT believe how fast the time has flown by. When I started this blog, Alex was just a tiny bump that gave me an excuse to by a new wardrobe. Now I'm writing this while he's standing next to me and stealing corn off my dinner plate and then "walking" his way around the room to play with all his toys. One of his new favorites is a Leap Frog musical activity station, hence the "bees, trees, and sugarsnap peas" reference--just one verse of a million syrupy baby jingles it plays. :)

We've had a wonderful year filled with lots and lots of happy memories and thankfully only a few bumps along the way. Alex has been very healthy and happy and though he tends to be nocturnal, a really easy baby. (Kevin says I have to stop calling him "baby" now, but I just can't do it.) He weighed a whopping 22 pounds at his 12-month check-up and is 30.5" tall. He's got 6 teeth now and getting new ones all the time. He's started to eat table foods and loves chicken and goldfish (the cracker variety, not as sushi). He took a few steps the other day but has yet to repeat the performance. Video cameras are standing by, just in case. But he crawls like crazy and pulls up, opens, and/or climbs on everything he can. Our house has turned into its own gated community and resembles a mini-obstacle course for grown-ups and toddlers alike. Need to open a drawer or cabinet, go down stairs, or plug something in? Good luck!!

Alex can say "da-da" and "no-no" and every once in a while will give a "ma-ma". The intensive tutoring lessons did not work and it looks like "da-da" is going to have to go down as his first word. Sigh.

Thanks again to those of you who made it to his 1st Birthday bash, and for those who missed it, pictures are up at http://www.shivers.photosite.com/, under Alexander James. There are also new pics from months 10 and 11 too (hey, it's hard to work at a computer now that he's into EVERYTHING!!).

We're looking forward to another exciting year, especially as so many friends are having new babies of their own and joining us on this crazy ride (congrats to the newest mommies, Kristen, Christine and Christy and their new babies!).

Have a great summer!

Oops...Seven, Eight and Nine Months...

Time flies when you're having fun, er, I mean chasing a baby!! :) Alex is now TEN months old (crazy, isn't it!) and is doing great. At his 9 month check-up he weighed 20 lbs, 7 oz and was 29.5" tall. He looks like a little toddler now and people are always suprised that he's not as old as he looks. He is now getting into everything--he rolls, scoots, crawls, and this week has learned to pull-up to standing. We were so used to being able to just leave him in one spot and those days are SO over now! He has been quite healthy except for last month when we almost earned our own parking spot at the doctor's office. I'll blame it on being a 'nervous new mom'--but it seemed like we were there every day. Nothing too serious--apparently the doctor's office was doing a fundraiser and needed our co-payment more than usual. Haha.

Kevin has had a great season of soccer with his team at Jackson High. They are actually one game away from the state play-offs. Alex has been a good fan and usually makes it through most of a game before getting bored. He is a very curious and active baby--thank goodness for Cheerios! A handful of those and he's at least content for a little while.

I'm still enjoying being a stay-at-home mom, and thankfully I've been able to do lots of photography work as well. Alex and I have joined a playgroup and it's been fun for him to be around other children. We also did a mommy-and-baby swim class in February and that was really fun too--Alex is quite a fish in the water!

Anyway, I could go on and on (I usually do) but I think that's a good update for now. There are lots of new pictures on my website at www.shivers.photosite.com, under "Alexander James". I have several new videos too, but they take longer than a nap-time to upload. :)

Hope you are all doing well and having a great Spring!

Six Months and the Holidays...

Let's see... Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season--ours was great and especially nice as we shared lots of "firsts" with Alex.

Alex is doing very well. At his 6 month check-up he weighed 17lbs and was 26 1/2 inches long. He's got two teeth, can sit on his own, and he rolls all over the place. He's dangerously close to saying "da-da", but mommy is adding in extra tutoring lessons, haha. He still likes to growl when he's not getting his way--which can totally surprise strangers whenever we're out in public! :)

Pictures from his sixth month, Thanksgiving & Christmas are all at www.shivers.photosite.com under "Alexander James".

There are a few videos as well...

"Where's Alex?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX8UoAyUKgE

"Feeding Oscar" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDC50JPnGEE

"Bouncing Baby 1" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Nr5KZNs15U

"Bouncing Baby 2" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8gAGzOCPM8

More next month!
:)