Abby Cadabby

I had no plans of making Alexa's costume this year, but we just couldn't find anything that we liked/that was in our price range, so I decided to attempt it. It turned out way better than I thought it would! I'm really quite proud of myself. Mike was Cookie Monster and I was Elmo to complete the theme.

Pumkyyyyns?

It's amazing how at this age kids pronunciations change so quickly. But, it's getting closer, so that's good. Mike and I carved our pumpkins Sunday night, finally. We like doing themed jack-o-lanterns.
We had Alexa paint her pumpkin after her nap on Sunday, figuring that she was a little young to carve her own :) She had a grand time.

And got so into it that one paint brush just wasn't enough.

And once the paint was about 3 inches thick all the way around the pumpkin, I took it away and let her paint on the 'drop cloths'.

This is a picture of the paint right after she started, it was a brand new set when we started, and there was no paint left by the time I made her stop.

My 4 pumpkins:

And Mike deserves a shout out for cleaning both out pumpkins, since I can't do my own. Thanks, hun!

Pumpky Picking

Typo? Nope, just Alexa language. Picking pumpkins was quite the project between Alexa and Daddy. Mommy picked hers quickly, and Alexa consented to let Baby watch the pumpkin in the wagon.
Alexa and Daddy wandered the whole pumpkin patch looking for a likely bunch...

When they spotted one they went closer to inspect them...

And considered carefully the pros and cons of each...

Until the very best was found!

Sweet success!

Of course...

... one of her favorite parts of the new potty is the box it came in....

Maybe we need to buy a new fridge or something to get her a box she can fit in...

The newest addition...

Lately Alexa's been wanting to sit on the potty, but as I have to hold her on it to keep her from falling in, we decided it was time to get her a mini potty. She hasn't gone in it yet- I'm not sure she's figured out how to know she needs to go before going. She does, however, always announce when she is going and then wants to sit on the potty. I figure it's a good start seeing that she's not even 2 yet. Hopefully this bodes well for the future months!

Current Loves

Playing in water while Mommy does dishes
Tutus ( I converted her!)

Her entourage- Cookie, Baby, and Doggy (we're not creative with names yet) go eveeerrrywhere with her!

"Sharing" food, ie eating everyone's food.

Elmo AND balloons. Daddy hit the jackpot with this one.

'Winging!

Eating breakfast with Daddy before he goes to work

Ranch!

And hamming it up for the camera. That's right folks, she looooves pictures now. The only difficulty now is getting a picture of whatever she was doing before she sees the camera and comes to smile for it!

Trip to VA

In August Alexa and I went to visit my family in VA. Sadly, I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures, so maybe more will come if I can get copies of the ones my parents took. Alexa had a great time helping Grandma make dinner.
She also liked watching Grandpa cook on the grill.

She did not like the baby gates banning her from going upstairs by herself. Luckily, they were only needed the last day or so when she figured out that she didn't need to wait for anyone to come up with her.

She looooved playing with the cars and trucks. Apparently we need to get her some of those!

She also loved having a chair that was her size, although she still hasn't figured out that she can just turn and sit rather than climbing up onto it and turning while on it to sit. We're working on that.

Last, she discovered her love of jelly beans. She'd go pick up the container and bring it to someone, then follow them around pushing it until they gave her some.

We got her some here, and they are certainly her treat of choice, although she calls them stars for some reason. Her talking has gotten so much better lately, and it is so awesome when she suddenly says something that I've been trying to teach her for days. The latest example of this is "thank you". I've been trying to teach her please and thank you for a couple of weeks now, and we're still working on please, but she's a champ at saying thank you. Babies are so amazing at this age!