Alex has her first loose tooth. It’s almost ready to come out but she didn’t want to yank it out tonight. She didn’t say anything about it and I didn’t notice it until I was brushing her teeth. After school today she was complaining that she was tired and that she had a headache - I think it was must of been the new tooth that was coming in that was making her head hurt.

She got the little tooth box ready that she made in daycare a couple of years ago. Now I just have to figure out what the going rate for a tooth is…

Last night Alex read a book to me!!! It was part of her homework and it was a fairly basic book called On Stage . It had sentences like - “He is a musician. He plays the violin. He is on stage.” She stumbled over a couple of works such as, magician and musician, but otherwise read it perfectly. I had no idea that she could read so well - I think she’s been keeping it a secret so I will keep reading to her.

Alexandra is 5 years old today!!! She had a birthday party on Saturday but is going to have another party at school today with a pinata and cupcakes. After work the three of us are going to go out to dinner.

I hope to post the pictures of her birthday party soon.

Alex is 2.5 today!!! Just six months ago on her birthday she was barely talking and now she speaks in full sentences - just yesterday she said, “Look Daddy! I did it all by myself.” She is getting very excited about Christmas. We got our tree yesterday and decorated it last night. We also set up the children’s Nativity Set, which she loves!! We didn’t use it last year because she was too little and would have chewed on it but now she loves it and has been playing with it ever since we set it up. She is having so much fun arranging the characters and especially likes playing with the baby and the little animals.

And the tree seems to have caused a “Christmas miracle” this morning. Usually Alex gets up between 6am-7am (usually closer to 6) and comes into our room and wakes us up. This morning I woke up at 7:20am and Alex wasn’t in my room - I was laying there thinking that I should check on her when I heard her door open. I waited but she still didn’t come into our room. So then I thought I better get up and see what she is doing - she always comes and gets me up in the morning. I got up and she was in the living room looking at the tree and playing with the Nativity Set - she just loves it. It is now an hour later and she is still playing (well, she had some breakfast in between). If I had known I would have set up the Nativity Set months ago

Alex will say she is two when you ask her old she is - now I am trying to get her to say that she is 2.5. It’s amazing how much she has changed since she turned 2.

I guess after this one I don’t really count months anymore - Alex will be 2 then 2.5 etc. I remember when I stopped counting days and then weeks. We are having a heat wave and are getting a new refrigerator today so I don’t think Alex and I are going to do anything too exciting. We will probably go to the park before it gets too hot. Plus Alex is still recovering from her stomach virus (she’s much better but doesn’t really have an appetite, which could also be from the heat) and Marc and I still recovering from what we think was food poisoning. We were both so sick on Monday that we could barely take care of Alex. Ugh!!

Alexandra is 21 months old today!!! And she is feeling so much better. Yesterday I took her to the park and hopefully we will be able to go out later - either to playgroup or the park.

Wow - Alex is 20 months old today. Unfortunately I’ve been sick with some sort of stomach thing since last night. Marc is staying home today to take care of her so hopefully they will have fun.

Wow, Alexandra is already 19 months old! It seems like I was just writing that she was 18 months. I have to try to remember to take a picture. It’s been really cold lately but today is a lot warmer so we are going to go out and do something - I’m not sure what - I don’t have any Monday activitites for her so we will probably go to the park for a little while. Not too exciting but I’m sure it will be for her since she has been stuck in the house for 3 days.

Yesterday afternoon I stayed home from an afternoon of work to be with Alex so Kim could keep her doctor’s appointment. It was very nice being home for a few hours and to kick back while Alex took her usual 3 hour nap. When she woke, Daddy gave her a nice little snack which included a banana and some blueberry toaster cakes. She went wild with glee, licking her fingers and making little happy noises (Thanks Grandma).

Anyhow, we decided to go to the store nearby to get some tofu and look around at all the goodies. I let her walk the entire way there and back, and while holding her tiny hand in mine, I looked down to watch her toddle along, struck with awe over how much she has grown up. I remember a time when all I had to do was nestle her in a sling to get around. Needless to say, her teeny legs require a snail pace from Daddy to make the journey, which lasts quite a bit longer than one would expect. I noticed her looking around at all the sights and tried to imagine what she must feel with all the excitement going on in the neighborhood. Everything must be so new and interesting to her, including all the things we adults take for granted. Strangers would stop in their tracks to say how adorable she is to be such a good walker despite her tiny stature. I was so proud. My darling daughter is growing up too fast.

Alexandra is 17 months old today - unfortunately I don’t think it is going to be a very exciting day for us. She is just getting over a bad cold and her latest new tooth trauma. If she had been feeling well enough we would have gone to music class today but she is still really congested and it is pouring out and I don’t want to take her out in the rain when she isn’t feeling well. It seems like it is always pouring on the day that we have music.

She still doesn’t talk too much but can say a lot more words - she’s stubborn though - she’ll say a word once and then we can’t get her to repeat it. Recently she has said horse, ok, and something that sounded like dinosaur (she is obsessed with pictures of dinosaurs). She seems to say more to Marc - our theory is that since she is with me all of the time I anticipate what she wants and she doesn’t need to say anything.

Lately her favorite activities are reading books, playing instruments while listening to kid’s music, climbing on the furniture and eating. She still LOVES to eat and even being sick she has had a really good appetite.