There are new photos from June 2008. Most are from Alex’s birthday and birthday party. The photos on the tv are from the Wii slideshow I made of photos of Alex from the first 6 years of her life.

I added pictures from Alex’s 4th birthday party.

Alex is going to have her 4th birthday party today. She is excited - I don’t know how she is going to make until noon. She is going to have family and 4 of her friends from school. It’s going to have a Little Mermaid theme - that’s what she told me that she wanted. It’s strange - this is the first birthday that she has really been aware of - she’s been talking about it since Easter.

We’ll take pictures during the party.

Alex’s 2nd birthday party was a lot of fun - Alex had a great time and I think her guests did too. Both Grandmothers were there, Alex’s friends Amy and Jonathan and their parents, and Natalie, John and David came all the way from NYC for the party. Marc’s friends Greg, the downstairs neighbors and Ben also stopped by. We had yummy food, Alex got wonderful gifts and we had a Pooh Bear cake. Alex got a lot of Pooh Bear stuff since that was the theme of her party. I can’t believe Alex is two - we can get her to say that she is two but when we ask her what her name is she says Me - too funny.

I think Alex and the other kids were tired and overwhelmed but they all did great. Alex didn’t have a nap that entire day (although she did rest in her room for an hour) and was really worn out by the time her party was over. She started getting really whiney and would cry at the littlest thing. To help her relax we let her watch her Pooh Bear video for a little while, which she loves.

Overall I think it was a really good party and I think everyone had a really good time. Soon I hope to write more about Grandma’s visit.

Alex is finally feeling better - what a rough week. I, on the other hand, still don’t feel well at all and can’t get rid of this congestion and sore throat. Everyday I keep hoping I’ll feel better tomorrow.

We had fun yesterday for Marc’s birthday. Alex and Marc both slept in until 8 and after they work up a little Marc opened his gifts, which he really liked. We did some chores and then went out for lunch at a Thai restaurant called Pattaya Grill near UPenn. The food was great but Alex was fussy - I don’t think she was feeling 100% and was getting tired. We did discover, however, that she really likes oranges. We got a couple of things at the grocery store, some mochas and then we headed home. After we got home Alex went right to bed and napped for almost 3 hours so she was definately worn out. The rest of the day was quiet and fun - kind of just like any other day. The party continues today - Marc’s Mom and sister and Jon are coming over for a birthday party. Alex should have fun - she always has a good time with her Grandma and Aunt. We were going to go over to Alma’s but Alex never naps when we go there and since she is just starting to feel better and I don’t want her to go all day without getting rest.

Alex’s friend Amy turned one yesterday and we went to her birthday party. This was the first kid’s birthday party that Alex has been to and she had a lot of fun. There were 5 kids there and we had great food and birthday cake. Amy got a bunch of great presents and we saw a computer slide show of photos from Amy’s first year. Alex was really good and had a great time - she loves parties since she is Miss Outgoing Social Butterfly. We got home after her bedtime so she had a quick bath and went right to bed - she was SO tired. And she got a balloon to take home which she is having fun playing with. I can’t believe how fast our babies are growing up.

Alexandra was 13 months old on Saturday July 12th. We had a lot of fun that day because we went to Emily’s graduation party (Marc’s cousin). We saw a lot of Marc’s relatives, who had never met Alex, and had a good time eating yummy food and talking to people. Marc and I wanted to stay longer but had to leave a little after 7pm because the drive home was about an hour and we didn’t want Alex to get to bed too terribly late. Alex was so good and seemed to have a lot of fun - she’s just so social and loves to be around crowds of people - especially people who keep telling her how cute she is.

We had a lot of fun on the 4th of July even though it was hot. Jon and Lisa picked us up at 11:30am to take us over to Grandma’s house. Marc grilled veggie burgers and corn and Jon made veggie kebabs. Alma also made an American flag cake, which Alex loved. Alex also really liked the pasta salad. Are you getting the idea here that we ate a lot of food?

Alex was really good and had a lot of fun - she knows Lisa, Jon and Alma now so she is really comfortable around them. She even let Jon pick her up, which I don’t think she has done before. She also spent a lot of the day showing off her new walking skills. Alex was really tired and didn’t have much of a nap - Alma took her for a stroller ride, which put Alex to sleep, but before Alma made it in the house with her someone let off some firecrackers so Alex only slept for about 20 minutes - we were all a little annoyed (I’m sure Alex was too). We didn’t leave til kind of late so by the time we got home Alex had a bath and went right to bed. We didn’t go to any fireworks or anything because Alex is too little and it was really too hot to go. Jon and Lisa went back to Alma’s later on and they all went to the fireworks. It seems to always be really hot here on the 4th of July.

We had a birthday party for Alex on Saturday June 14th - I wanted to write about it earlier but we were on vacation last week, which I also need to write about and have been really busy since we got back. So, I will try to remember everything that happened … June 14th was flag day, a full moon and two days after Alex’s actual birthday. In the morning we did some cleaning, played with Alex, and got ready for the party, which was at 2pm. Alex took a good nap and got up around one. I was feeding her lunch when Marc’s friend, Chris, stopped by with his wife and son. They were going to come to the party but something came up so they stopped by to drop off Alex’s gift. For some reason all of this upset Alex and she was in a strange mood - even when her party started. She was like what are all these people doing in my house and it took her awhile to become her outgoing self.

Even though quite a few people couldn’t make it we still had a good crowd and there was about 15 people here. We hung out and ate and talked (I think the food I made turned out ok) had cake and opened gifts. Alex got some really nice things - new clothes, books and toys. She also loved having more cake - Alma picked it up and it was beautiful - vanilla with pink roses and it said Happy First Birthday Alexandra. We really had a good time - the only downside was that a couple people couldn’t be here - Ben, my family and Natalie.

By the time the party was over Alex was exhausted and went to bed really early - I think first birthdays are more for the parents and are just too overwhelming for the baby. I should have pictures of her real birthday and her birthday party in a couple of days.

On Saturday June 7th we went to Lisa and Jon’s engagement party. Alex was SO good and seemed to have a really good time (she’s so social and loves to be around a lot of people). I was a little worried because Alex was still a little worn out from her cold and she wouldn’t take a nap before we went to the party. By the time she left she was getting cranky because she was so tired. I thought she would take a nap when we got home but she didn’t so she was a little out of sorts all evening and ended up going to bed an hour early.

Alex loves people but doesn’t like being held by people that she isn’t familiar with. Alma and Lisa can hold her because she is used to them (they are her babysitters). She cries, however, when Uncle Ben holds her. Everyone was teasing him that Alex doesn’t like him. It was really funny, especially since Ben is so fun to tease.

We also got to meet Jon’s family - his parents, brother and sister. They were very nice and it is good to know more about Jon.

It was a nice party and we had a good time - I hope Lisa and Jon pick a date soon because I want to know when this wedding is going to be