Alex the Toddler

Alex is growing so fast. He skipped over size 4 shoes entirely. Everything he does is adorable. It is hard for me to discipline him because I am too busy trying to hide my laughing. He is such a joy in my life. I love when I pick him up for bed/nap time and he rests his head on my shoulder. I love his kisses. I love hearing him say prayers. He is always reminding us to pray. Sometimes we pray twice for breakfast and twice for lunch. Is it possible to tell a child that we can't pray again?

Alex and Edison make each other crack up. I love watching them play together. Edison is really good about letting Alex climb all over him, which is good because it is one of Alex's favorite things to do.

If Edison is sad, Alex will say, "Nuh-Nuh [Nugget - Edison's nickname] happy!"
His favorite letter is W. Or as he says, "Dubba-dee." His favorite color is yellow.
When Alex is in trouble and I count to five, he starts counting with me.

Anything small is "Baby [name of thing]." Then the big one is "Momma [name of thing]."

If Edison does something Alex doesn't  think he should be doing then Alex will say to Edison, "No more monkeys!" This is how we tell Alex to stop jumping on the bed, so Alex has redirected  it to telling Edison to stop doing something.

He has a sweet tooth and is always asking for cookies. We almost never have cookies.

Alex threw a poopy diaper in the Diaper Champ and then closed the lid while saying, "Oh sick."

If a TV show goes to commercials, he says, "Uh oh. 'Mote (remote)." He has been spoiled by DVR.

Sam and I had a good laugh about these pictures. I am not sure why he makes this face. Crazy kid.

Alex really likes bundling up with blankets. Every time we get in the car, he asks for a blanket. I will give him my nursing cover and he drapes it over his legs so content. Sometimes he wants to play in his bed in the middle of the day. He still takes a nap every day (at least two hours long). He actually gets excited about nap time. If I tell him it is almost nap time, he will gather up toys and go into his room and wait for me to lift him into bed. He still has not attempted to climb out of his crib, although he tries climbing into it.

This kid loves playing outside. If the weather is really nice, we let him eat outside, too. He loves it. If I come inside before he is ready, he will stand outside the door pointing to the ground and saying, "Outside!"

Alex is always reading letters to us. When he sees a stop sign during our walks, he stops, points to the sign, and says, "S. T. O. P." Then continues on his walk like his mission there is complete and onto the next thing.
He still loves fire hydrants. He kisses them every time we pass one on our walks. Sometimes we will go on a walk right before Sam gets home from work. We will meet him by our mailbox, and then Alex will climb in the front seat and drive home with Daddy while Edison and I walk home. Alex is delighted by being in the front seat.

Alex loves his cars, trucks, trains, and animals. We have a lot of those toys though so it works. He wants to watch Cars all day, every day. He pushes me out of the room so he can play with his cars in peace.

I have done a few crafts with Alex by tracing his hands recently. One day, I noticed he had pen all over his fingers and then I saw him doing this. He is such a smart kid. Right handed?

We went out to dinner a few weeks ago. Alex had his own little seat while we were waiting for a table. He loved being in there. Everyone who walked by was commenting on it. I admit it was really cute.

Alex is my sidekick. I can't make a decision without him. I have realized that everything is easier if we are on the same side. Every time we are going to do something, I ask him if he wants to go. He helps motivate me to go to the gym. I ask, "Alex, do you want to go to the gym?" He says, "Yim! Horsey!" (They have a plastic horse that he runs in and plays with immediately.) If he sees someone is sad he will say, "[Their name] sad."

Alex is very opinionated these days. It is really difficult to get him to sit in his high chair. He wants to sit at the table with us. Most of the time, he is pretty good so we let him.

He has started calling me "Mom." I miss Mommy, but he still says Mommy if he is sad and needs comfort. He is turning into a kid. A real, live kid, who calls his mother Mom.

Alex's speech makes me laugh. He is putting so many words together but some words don't sound at all like what he is trying to say. For example, "police car" sounds like, "Do daw daw." Every time. I just know that if he says that, then he saw a police car. "Potty" sounds exactly like "Party."

If something leaves, he thinks it is taking a nap. If I bus drives by and goes out of sight, he says, "Bus nap, too." If we ask him where something is, he will say, "Umm, the room."

This is a small example of Alex's talking:

Alex wanted to play with Edison's toy:

Alex telling us he's poopy. And walking funny.


Last, but not least, some brotherly love: