Alexia is 20 Months 01.22.10

We have ourselves a climber now. Alexia can be found scaling cribs, climbing chairs, standing on toys and boxes, and announcing to everyone, "Look!" She's big into Naiya these days, too. The first word out of her mouth when she gets up from naps is, "Naiya!" She has learned to say, "Shh!", while putting her finger to her nose (instead of her mouth), and whispers Naiya's name if we walk past her door while she's napping. Alexia is saying so many words these days, it's hard to keep track. But here are a few of the words or phrases that I hear on a daily basis:

• "Naiya" (she probably says this one the most); naming things that are Naiya's, asking for Naiya to sit down by her, saying hello to her
• "Back" - she has learned to say this whenever anyone leaves, because I'll tell her they'll be back (it's really sad when Ryan leaves for work though, and she just cries "Dada back..."
• "Papa" (with the accent on the first "a") - she has been obsessed with Grandpa ever since he did work on our house, she'll talk about him in the car, while we're out, but then gets shy when she actually gets to see him
• "Mommy" - she's been starting to say this, which is funny because Ryan and I always refer to myself as Mama. But I love that I have made the list of words! She'll actually call out to me when she gets up from naps with, "Mommyyyyyyyyyy, mommyyyyyyyyy" and I eat it up.
• "Go?" - as in, "where did {blank} go?" She'll say this about her blanket, people, cookies that we've hidden from her after her taking a bite
• "Bankie" - her beloved blanket
• "Knot" - one corner of her blanket has a knot tied and she plays with the knot while sucking her thumb to go to sleep
• "Nuck" - means "stuck", usually because she can't get up onto or out of something, or if she can't get her blanket out from between the crib bars, pretty funny to see her use it in context though
• "Me!" - she says this at the top of the stairs with her hands held out if we go downstairs or outside without her

Scary thing is she is definitely watching us. It's really made me be accountable for my reaction to certain things throughout the day. As well as making me feel ashamed for my lack of self control, when my reaction is the very thing that Ryan and I discipline Alexia for. (Am I too old for a timeout?)

One of the first things Alexia does when she gets up and out of the crib, is sprints to the dining room table and pulls herself up onto a chair. I think she sprints in order to avoid me putting her in the high chair. I haven't quite figured out where "her" seat at the table is in this new phase, because she is a little too short to eat at the table directly, and tends to eat better when she's in the highchair. But she LOVES being seated at the table like the adults. Her standing at the table combined with the temptation for her to climb onto the table starts to stress me out after a {short} while though.

Alexia has still been taking two naps a day, though this last week they have been at different lengths or not at all. The time in between the naps has been a lot more demanding, too. She definitely gets bored much quicker at home. So I've started to get out once a day, or have a structured activity for her. A recent visit to a montessori school open house also motivated me to be more intentional with my time with her during the day. I feel much more responsible for her learning process. And was able to get some ideas from the montessori visit.

Alexia's personality has revealed itself as very emotional. Dramatic really. Ryan and I are trying to walk the fine line of allowing her to express her feelings of sadness or disappointment if it is in a controlled manner (not throwing things or kicking us), while also making sure she is not manipulating us. But the girl has got one big cry for such a little body. It's funny that she still cries exactly the way she did when she was a newborn. It's this drawn out wail, her lips turn purple and it is just plain loud. A while back, she cried so hard and held her breath so long, that Ryan witnessed her pass out for a second. She has also recently learned to furrow her brows. I can't help but laugh every time, because she just seems too young to be able to have that kind of facial expression.

She seems to enjoy being around people, and large crowds don't really intimidate her. She just sort of does her own thing and plays. She's not afraid to grab a book and crawl into anyone's lap. She cries every time someone leaves our house. And when we have people over in the evenings, we usually cave and let her stay up late. (The alternative is having her cry in her crib, which she ends up staying up just as late.)

She's accepted her role as big sister well. She's pretty good about making sure Naiya has a toy to play with, or if Naiya drops something, Alexia is quick to give it back to Naiya. Alexia seems to be saying "no" less and less. We are trying to encourage her to not tell other people "no", unless it's an answer of preference or her limit of feeling safe. On the topic of safety, she is a pretty cautious girl. She takes after her Mama.

Some of my favorite things about Alexia right now: she literally sprints everywhere, she LOVES "no" (snow) - she'll grab handfuls of it and eat it 'til her fingers are blue, she'll sit down with a book or a toy and point down to the ground next to her and say "Mama?" for me to sit with her, she gets up in Naiya's face and says "Hiiiii, Naiiiiiiiiya!", she makes Naiya laugh (they now make each other laugh in the back of the van - I think this is my favorite!), she prefers Daddy, she HATES getting her diaper changed right after waking up, she refers to her lovey as "bankie" (her beloved blanket that she sleeps with and ALWAYS goes in the car with us), she waves goodbye to "pee-pee" being flushed, I've caught her doing construction-type things (like sanding the walls) around the house since PaPa (her coined version of grandpa) has been helping with remodeling, blueberries are the cure-all, she loves coffee (I can't count how many times I've turned around and she's chugging my coffee), she has chocolate radar, she still takes two naps during the day and sleeps 12 hours at night, she's wearing 18-24 months clothing, I love her big brown eyes and eyebrows full of expression, she loves to draw and prefers Sharpie permanent pens (go figure), she holds my hand in public places, and I really should stop now. There's just so much going on at this age! I love it!

Below is her recent sledding experience with Grandma at our neighborhood high school:

Grossman Reunion 2009

We rang in the New Year in Indiana with Ryan's dad's side of the family. At the end of each year, Ryan's paternal grandparents, their six kids and their families, and their family's families, all gather together for a weekend reunion to celebrate Christmas and fellowship.

Ryan and I committed to going BEFORE we knew we would end up taking our first road trip with the girls (we initially intended to fly) and BEFORE we knew we would be in ONE room with the four of us, Ryan's parents AND Ty & Jenna. Yes. One room, all eight of us. I truly believe our lack of this info ahead of time was God's way of getting us there.

Here's Alexia before she knew what she was in for (a 10+ hour drive):

The first day we drove only halfway and spent the night in a hotel. Both girls slept the first three hours of the trip (10am-1pm). We ate lunch, then they were up for the second leg of the trip. Cranky, tired of being confined to a car seat, and just plain bored.

Ryan and I attempted to put the girls down at their normal bedtimes that first night in the hotel.

Mistake.

Alexia was so hysterical, Ryan and I looked at each other and had a serious debate about turning around. The funny thing is that we had set up the baby monitor in our room and so his family could see us via video from their room, and guessed that we were re-thinking our plans to go on. Alexia won and we let her stay up with us. We continued on with the trip. And from there on out, we chose to back off the normal routine and she took one big nap each day and her bedtime was moved from 8pm to 11pm. Oh, and she slept in our bed the whole time we were away, too.

Our time with family was so nice. There were definitely times where I vowed I would never do it again with babies. But it was a blessing to introduce Naiya and to have everyone get to know both of our girls. One of my favorite things of the weekend was the after-dinner sharing times, where each family had the chance to tell what had been going on for this last year. It was so sweet to see some of the younger cousins speak for themselves with such maturity and unveil their impressive perspectives and outlooks on life. And I admired some of the family's vulnerability of some of the really hard stuff going on. I feel like Jesus really allowed there to be a sense of connection through the times of sharing.

Being in such a large group magnified one of the biggest adjustments I've struggled with now being a mom of two. And that is the lack of deep, meaningful conversations for me. It is something I so look forward to when reunited with family or friends. But often I am disappointed it doesn't happen or they are few and far between, because of distractions from kids or being just plain drained when the opportunity arises to have that conversation. I would rather just sit and observe. I joke that I'm becoming more introvert as I get older. Hopefully it is just a season.

Our first night we had dinner at Ryan's grandparents' home. Here is Grandma Grossman meeting Naiya (7 months) for the first time:

Here's a view of Grandma & Grandpa's home, because I love to remember people's dining room. The place that we usually spend the most time in:

{Please also take notice of the blue, old school bicycle exercise machine in the middle of the photo. It never fails that someone hops on it and rides it for entertainment. Naiya was even subjected to its un-ergonomic self.}

Somehow wigs got brought out the next night at dinner at the Benz':

We were so thankful to be able to make a last minute decision to invite ourselves to stay with friends of the family the first couple of nights before the reunion began. So the four of us made ourselves at home with the Boyd family and were so blessed to have our own "space" there. Alexia was befriended by a more-than excited pint size friend:

Here are more photos from the weekend. Sunday worship:

Alexia decided she wanted to play the recorder. I almost fell out of my chair laughing so hard when I saw this:

Great-grandbabies Alexia and Drew (both 19 months):

We had a wonderful, snowy weekend. And a beautiful view of it all from the main room. The food was amazing. We ended up getting more sleep than I thought we would with the girls. There's just something to say about one weekend a year that intentionally brings family together and passes on a rich heritage to each generation.

Rocking Chair Times

I just put Alexia down for her morning nap as usual, 10am. Times like this morning are the type of experiences I want to remember about being a mom. I was just telling Ryan this morning at breakfast how I am sad that there are days where I am so preoccupied with my own agenda, or Alexia gives me a run for my money, that I realize I have not stopped to take joy in her by the end of the day. But morning like today make up for all those "lost" times.

Alexia was chatty at breakfast, saying a few new words: "donkey" (there is currently a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey up from a birthday party we hosted over the weekend) and "donut" (she is a true Grossman now). When it was time to put her down, we did our normal routine: get her blanket, hold her in my lap and read a book. I've started getting in the habit of holding her a little while before putting her in her crib and asking the questions: "Do you want to go in your bed?" Her response, "no". I just think this is so funny because she has learned to communicate her preferences. For a while I felt like she just said "no" to everything, not truly understanding the context of the word. I follow up with the question, "Do you want me to hold you and snuggle?" Her response, "yeah". But today, I sang to her (which I don't do much of). It was my own rendition of "Silent Night," which I hummed because I don't know the words. Laying in my lap and looking up at me she started singing with me. So there we were, looking at each other humming a song together. It was too much for me to handle that she was clearly singing with me, and I laughed hysterically. Which she laughed just as hard. This continued on a couple more times, singing followed by laughing, until it seemed like I was trying too hard to keep a good thing going.

Now both girls are down, I can take time to do my own thing, and I feel quite fulfilled with the joy of parenting. And it's only 11am.

Merry Christmas 2009

Our girls on Christmas Eve:

This year for Christmas Day, I asked Ryan if we could spend the first part of the morning with just us four. To enjoy a cup of coffee first thing, no hurrying around to set up for anything. To quietly open our gifts to one another, watch the girls open a gift for the first time (well, actually Alexia did the unwrapping for both), and empty our stockings together. Alexia didn't need much help to unwrap each of the CHRISTmas books they received from us.

A book! (Christmas in a Manger....quite the cute book for the record):

I love Christmas pajamas (gifts and hand-me-downs):

One of my stocking stuffers was a fly killer. I'm still not sure how it works exactly. But if you remember, I. hate.bugs. I cannot handle them in my home. One is never too young to be in insect-killing boot camp:

Our peaceful morning breakfast was some of my aunt's Christmas Coffee Cake. She has a tradition of hand delivering them on Christmas Eve. But since she is in California, she lovingly sent ours via mail. It doesn't get any better than this folks:

And for the gift finale....drumroll please. For the couple of weeks leading up to Christmas, Ryan would disappear at the most random times and come back with really lame excuses for where he had been. It's not common practice to leave without telling me, especially since it requires me to be on full-time baby duty. His gift was amazing! A hand crafted distressed mirror for our entryway. I had previously seen a mirror in a Pottery Barn catalog and asked him how hard it would be to construct one of our own. Ask and you shall receive. He was so excited to finally unveil the project he was so diligently working on:

Complete with intricate details:

As for the rest of the day, by 9:30am, Ryan's family came over for brunch and a gift exchange. This year Tim, Tanya and the boys are in northern Iraq and Logan made a trip out there as well to surprise Tanya for Christmas. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and hanging out and then enjoyed a fabulous dinner with our family, housemates and Ryan's aunt, uncle and cousins.

Alexia is 19 Months 12.22.09

If I had to describe Alexia this past month with one word, it would be "busy". That girl sprints around the house like it's nobody's business. I know that in every monthly post I write how Ryan and I are amazed with her, but watching how much she comprehends (and any baby her age) is truly amazing. Especially because of how little she is able to communicate in words. But the girls gets it. It has been scary to watch her begin to mimic us in what we say and do. I have succeeded in passing on my dramatic response to hurting myself. So now my little mini-me walks around and if the slightest thing brushes against her she says, "Ow!" She even does it in a partly comatose state of half asleep and half awake. I need to post a video of it because the way she says "ow" is too adult-like to be coming from her 19 month-old lips.

Her vocabulary keeps getting bigger. She's really into saying things that have a "k":

• book
• look (she's infamous for putting something on her finger, like a Cheerio or a cap to chapstick and holding it up for us to see and saying, "look")
• truck (grandma just taught her this on our roadtrip to Indiana)
• tick-uh (tickle) *she'll tickle any exposed skin
• guh-koo (cookie) *I thought she would have this one down pat much earlier considering her hawk eye for anything chocolate

She sprints across the room if she notices me drinking coffee. I try to hold her off as long as possible by telling her it's "hot". So now when she sees a coffee mug she points to it and either says, "hot" or "mama". Does that mean I have a problem if my child associates coffee to mama at 19 months?

Still taking two two-hour naps a day and sleeping 8am-8pm. She's a great eater and eats whatever is served for each meal, so that's kept it easy for me. She has all four incisors coming in right now. Almost all of her hair is able to fit in a ponytail. She's wearing 18-24 month clothing, but can still squeeze into 12-18 months. She just started climbing onto everything - chairs, coffee table, Naiya's crib - but gets stuck and needs help down. Her blanket is still the greatest thing on earth (for her and us) and goes with us for car rides and naps. She lets me know she's tired by going and stealing her blanket out of her crib and lying on the floor sucking her thumb. She has started to dance to music and my cell phone ringtone. She LOVES to grab fistfulls of "no" (snow) and eat it.

It has been so fun to watch Alexia interact with her sister by making sure Naiya has a toy to play with, picking up dropped toys, and shouting "Naiya" if she hears her crying. There have been a few times I realized Naiya was up from a nap because of Alexia shouting her name. This past month Alexia's annunciation of Naiya's name is as clear as a bell. No more "Nai-Nai". She loves to tickle Naiya and is now able to entertain Naiya and make her laugh. It's the sweetest thing as a parent to see your children laughing at one another for the first time.

Alexia is still a Daddy's girl and a Grandma's girl, preferring both of them to hold her over anyone else (even me). {wiping tear}. Ryan's dad (Alexia has named "Papa") and I are scheming how to make Naiya a Mama's girl and Grandpa's girl though.

Naiya is 7 Months 01.04.10

Comparison photos:

(Alexia 7 months)

(Naiya 7 months)