Approaching the Big 2!

Once again, it seems I'm starting with an apology for such a long time between updates....

At any rate, Lexie is now 23 months old. She seems to have grown at least an inch in the past week. She can reach things now that she couldn't just last week (note to self - clean off countertops...). She has learned how to jump, and one of her favorite things in the world is a trampoline.

She is now the oldest toddler in her class at school, and she's getting ready to move up to the Toddler Room after her birthday. She's still doing very well in school, and has even managed to give up the paci at nap time (at school....not so much at home!). She still loves to have her teacher paint her finger and toe nails (I have pretty nails, Momma!), but at the same time, doesn't mind a bit being yucky dirty. I think we may have a girly tomboy on our hands.

She talks non-stop. We are actually having conversations with her now. She's got some favorite expressions: What's that?; It's OK, Momma; Don't talk about me!; and, of course, NO! We hear her chattering to herself over the monitor in the mornings most days. She loves to read books, and she gets very excited when we go to the bookstore (Ooooooh! New books!!).

She has started to take Kung Fu lessons. She gets one-on-one lessons with her sifu (teacher) every other week. Most of the time it's just playing with Sifu, but she has actually started to pick up on some of the movements. Our goal is to get her acclimated to the environment so that, when she starts to take real lessons, she'll be comfortable there. It has actually really helped with some behaviors at home that we were trying to change...namely, hitting and kicking. When she does it now, we can remind her that we only kick/hit with Sifu, and it stops.

Her temper has definitely shown itself in the past few months. We had our first kicking/screaming/punching/had-to-leave-the-store meltdown a few weeks ago. It was pretty impressive. I didn't really know someone so little could get SO mad! She has her own opinions about the way things should be and is not shy about expressing them.

She's been working on her 2 year molars for a few months now (all 4 of them!). Every week or so she'll have a spurt of teething pain that lasts a few days. Poor thing. When I brush her teeth I pray that we'll see a new tooth, but so far nothing. It's really during these days that we see the temper come out. But I can't really blame her. Cutting 4 molars at once must be really hard!

We had a weeklong visit from my family, which Lexie absolutely loved! She had her Grandma and Grandpa, her Uncle Sean and Aunt Carly, and her cousins Jessica, Kyle, Maddison, and Kane for a whole week! She also had her Uncle Mike and three more cousins - Zack, Logan, and Dylan - for a few days. AND one day we had a cook out where her Nana and PopPop, Aunt Dre and Uncle Terry, and SIX more cousins - Kylee, Sierra, Reagan, Davis, Peyton, and Caleb - came. She was in seventh heaven!! It was quite the adjustment when everyone left (including Doug - he was gone for a week on business) and it was just the two of us!

She is really turning into Daddy's girl. She gets so excited when she hears the door open when he gets home from work. I think it must be the highlight of her day. She likes to pounce on him in the bed in the morning when he's still sleeping (which he's a trooper about!) and shout, "Wake up, Daddy!". She loves to play in her playroom with him..."Gonin' in the playroom, Daddy?" It really is sweet to watch them together.

Developing her own sense of style...

This is what happens when you leave the bulk pack of napkins within reach....

Sprinkler time!

Helping with the laundry

Expressing her displeasure at being asked to get out of the cabinet

Beach baby! In the Outer Banks for Memorial Day

Putting our toes in the surf...it was COLD!

Bunny ears, short shorts, and high heels....thinking we may want to encourage different fashion choices in the future....

Not thrilled with posing with the stuffed alligator at the aquarium

Playing in the playroom with Daddy

Modeling her new Kung Fu outfit


Our favorite Mommy-Daughter date....Getting Smoothies!!

Just another day at the office

COUSINS!!!

Kyle, Kane, Zack, Jessica

Kylee, Sierra, Reagan, Logan

Maddison, Davis, Peyton, Dylan

Caleb, Lexie

Dancing Queen

Toddlerhood

I'm so bad at this whole blogging thing. There are people who manage to post something every day. I'm lucky to do something every few months!

At any rate....Lexie is now 17 months old. She's a very active, funny, smart little girl (if I do say so.....). She is running around the house at will now, and we are learning to let her go out of our sight for a bit at a time. She will play contentedly in her playroom for a few minutes before coming to find us. She is talking SO much. She'll pick up a new word without either one of us realizing that she knows it until it comes out of her mouth. And, yes, she has uttered her first 4-letter word. At 16 months old. We're so very proud.... I'll leave it to you to guess which one it was.

She is now in the Junior Toddler room at daycare. It was a slower adjustment than we had hoped, but she's finally settling in. It helps that there's a real live bunny right outside her room. (BUNNY, Momma, BUNNY!!) Her classroom fronts onto the street side of the building, and the walls are made of one-way glass, so she's able to see outside all day. (CAR, Momma, CAR!!!) She says Hi and Bye to everyone she sees, unless of course we ask her to say Hi or Bye, in which case she is silent. She has started asking for hugs, but only from both Momma and Daddy at the same time. She has also mastered the word No, much to our dismay. And she uses it liberally.

We had Christmas at Lexie's Aunt Dre and Uncle Terry's house this past year (I'm not sure we'll be invited back anytime soon :). She wasn't quite as into it as I had hoped. In fact, we came home with several wrapped presents, because she was so much more interested in what everyone else was doing. But, as always, she LOVED seeing all of the cousins on Doug's side of the family. And they are always just great with Lexie.

In January, we went to California to visit Gramma and Grampa for two weeks, who hadn't seen Lexie since she was a week old. She also got to meet her Aunt Susan, Great Grampa Jack, Great Gramma Deana, and her cousins Kalina and Farrah. And Thor and Circe, the dogs. (DOGS, Momma, DOGS!!! D-D-D-D-DOGS!!!) She did better than anticipated on the plane rides, which was a blessing. I learned the art of changing a diaper in an airplane bathroom, which is something I don't want to repeat. Ever.

In the last two weeks, we've had three snowstorms...big ones (with another one predicted for this weekend....). She's decided she likes the snow this year, as opposed to last year. Actually, she likes anything that gets her outside. And woe unto the one who decides it's time to go inside (which is usually me...). She doesn't like that. At all.

She's got 11.5 teeth (that last molar still isn't all the way through!) and is working on at least one more. She and I had dentist appointments today. She cried all the way through my appointment, so the dentist decided it might not be the best idea to subject Lexie to an exam. I could hear her chatting with the staff (Light! Door! Car! Ball! Meow!) as they took her through the office so that the dentist could actually finish my exam (and subsequent lecture).

She's developed a love of her baby dolls. She will feed them, put them night-night, kiss them, hug them, and carry them around. Until something catches her eye, when she will promptly drop said baby doll on its head without looking back. Hopefully she'll grow out of that before she's old enough to babysit.....


On to the pictures.....


All dressed up for Nana's Christmas Eve party



















She loves the computer that Mr. Don and Ms. Patsy got her for Christmas!














Daddy and PopPop went to the Dallas-Skins game after Christmas, and Lexie was helping cheer them on. Too bad it didn't work......















First snowfall of the season....



















Second snowfall of the season.....















Third snowfall of the season....



















Cozy little nest for a snowday from work and school...














The best thing Santa brought her...her very own ball pit!















Thor and Circe...her new bestest pals. She wasn't the least bit afraid of them.














She got tired of reaching all.the.way.in. the toybox, so she made it easy on herself....














As always....lots of love to you all! Come visit!!