Alexa at 8 months...

Alexa is almost 8 1/2 months old now and I'm finally getting her 8 month pictures posted! Just a little bit behind these days... Ha! It's been a big month for Alexa as well! I finally started her on solid food (yes, she tasted her FIRST solid after her 8 month birthday...) and she is doing GREAT! So far she has tried peas, squash, sweet potatoes and apples.

She is also becoming more mobile these days... Alexa has definitely been our laid back baby. Not in too much of a hurry to go anywhere at all. Until this month, I could sit her down somewhere and know she would be in the exact same spot when I came back. Those days are quickly fading and she is starting to learn how to move from point A to point B... She still isn't really a roller. She rarely chooses to roll, though I know that she can if she wants to. If I put her to sleep on her belly, I will find her the same way the next morning... But she IS a scooter. More of a "swimmer" I would say. She looks like she is doing the breast stroke when she is laying on her belly on the ground! She is getting very close to crawling, I think! She is starting to get up on all fours, so I think it's just a matter of days! Then life will REALLY change. Ha!

Alexa is still our sweet, sweet cuddly baby! She LOVES to always be with you, cuddling and sleeping on you. She was just thrilled when all of her Grandparents were here visiting and she would take turns napping on each one of them. She definitely went through withdrawal when everyone had to go back home and she didn't get to be held all of the time. She makes you feel so so loved and needed and special. She will look at you with the most precious smile and it breaks her little heart if you walk away from her. She'll turn her head 180 degrees if it means being able to see you and watch what you're doing... She is definitely my little buddy and I (and her Daddy) absolutely ADORE our Alexa Joy...

Alexa and Ellie are getting to be pretty good friends these days too! No one can make Alexa smile like Ellie can. I really do hope that they will be the best of friends. Here are some other fun facts about our 8 month old...

• She is still not a huge sleeper. She takes little cat naps throughout the day and still wakes up at least once at night. I'm still holding out hope that this will change. Though I really don't mind waking up in the night cause I know i get to see her sweet little face...
• Alexa can definitely make her presence known! She has a very high pitched little scream that will get everyones attention! She makes sure she has a voice over her very talkative older sister...
• She is very content and happy. So fun to be around.
  
• We think that Alexa will be more of our introvert. She loves people, but gets a bit overwhelmed in groups and she seems to really check people out a little more intensely than her sister did.
• Alexa is an observer. She is so alert and watches everything that goes on around her...
  
• She is saying "Da Da" and other little babbles. She is SURE that she is having a conversation with you!

It's definitely a FUN season... I don't want my baby to grow up. This is really one of my favorite ages. Just wish the days would slow down a bit. Loving our Alexa Joy!

2 1/2 years old!

It's TRUE! Ellie Hope Johnson is now a very busy, VERY talkative 2 1/2 year old! It's been a BIG month for Ellie... She's moved to her BIG girl bed in her BIG girl room, she's now wearing BIG girl panties and doing really well with potty training (thus the "no pants" pictures!) - and she's definitely talking like a BIG girl these days... As her Poppa Barry said after riding in the car with her for close to 14 hours from Kentucky to Kansas... "that girl is never quiet unless she is sleeping!" He meant it in the kindest way... :)

I am loving these days of having a toddler. It's really fun to be able to have intelligible conversations with Ellie. She asks great questions and it's always so fun to see her little mind at work. She makes me laugh a lot and our house is definitely never boring! She wants to be a part of everything and loves to do everything "just like Mommy!". One of her famous questions these days that I hear about a zillion times a day is "What doin' Mommy?" which is quickly followed by "Ellie will help!" or "Ellie do it!" Yes...she always refers to herself in the third person. It's pretty cute.

Here are some other fun facts about our 2 1/2 year old princess...

• She is 35 inches tall and weighs about 28 lbs.
• She's FINALLY into her 2T pants... they just swallowed her until this month and her little legs finally took a growth spurt.
• She LOVES singing. Some of her favorites right now are "Deep and Wide", "Jesus Loves Me" "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "Please and Thank You are the Magic Words" (from Barney, in case you were wondering), and I am teaching her one of my favorites from when I was little... "I am a Promise". It's cute to hear her try to say "potentiality"
  
• We end most nights with a family dance party.
• Her favorite game is "Chase You" ...usually, Daddy Chase You!
• She loves Barney and Veggie Tales and would watch them ALL day if you would let her.
• She knows all of her numbers, letters, colors, and her address.
• She still ADORES her baby sister and wants to see her first thing every morning. She can hardly stand it when Alexa is sleeping and I have to make sure she doesn't sneak into her room and wake her up from naps.
• She is still our HUGE extrovert and makes friends with people pretty much everywhere she goes.
• While she is doing great in her big girl bed, she still can't seem to part with her cow and binky... I know, I know... I'll work on taking that binky away in the next few months. I just don't have the heart to do it right now...
• And the list goes on, but I will stop for now...

Loving life with our Ellie Hope Johnson.

Big Girl Bed

It can sure be tough to grow up... Today was a BIG day at our house! For several reasons... First, Ellie got home! Yay! She's been travelling since December 17th and has spent the last 12 days with Nana and Papa Johnson in Kentucky. We are excited to have her home and she just chattered up a storm from the moment she walked through the door... We decided while she was away that we would transition her straight into her "Big Girl Bed" when she got back home. We have been letting Alexa sleep in the crib for the last couple of weeks and she is LOVING it, so we knew that this was the time...

As I'm sure is true for any kid, the first night in your new bed is EXCITING, but also traumatic. Especially for a girl who LOVES her crib. She said several times this evening that she wanted to see her crib. We'd explain to her that it was Alexa's crib now and that she was a BIG girl and that now she got to sleep in her BIG GIRL BED. She'd be excited one minute and then the next would say "No, ELLIE'S crib..."

We made a huge deal out of it, hoping that she would think this was really special. Which she did...until we turned the lights out and walked out the door. She got her cow and binky (which will have to be the next thing we take away... ugh... it's going to be a hard few months with all these transitions!) and then we methodically put her blankets on her one at a time. She has an order that they have to go in...and there are 4 blankets. Ha! So we tried to keep all of that the same... She seemed all good with it, but then we walked out the door and the tears just started flowing... We went in her room a couple more times just to reassure her and then we let her cry it out. The bad news was she cried for 20-30 minutes straight which is NOT like Ellie. She loves to go to bed usually. The good news is, she didn't try to get out of bed (at least not yet... we told her that she couldn't or we'd have to discipline her, and so far she has obeyed)! And now it's all quiet, so I think she fell asleep.
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So goes the story of the first night in the big girl bed... I'll let you know how it goes! So far, so good...

Sweet Alexa...

Took these sweet pictures of Alexa Joy today and couldn't help but post them...
Look at that sweet face!

Mommy and Alexa have had some good bonding time over the last 10 days...
After Christmas, we left Ellie in Kentucky for a few days to play with Papa and Nana Johnson and Uncle Josh. She is having a great time, but we're missing her here in Kansas!

But we're making the most of our time, and I will say that I have thoroughly enjoyed these days with my baby... Alexa is already growing up SO quickly. I just want to savor every moment.

It was over 60 degrees today, so we bundled her up and went for a walk around the neighborhood!

Just last night we got home from a 5 day student conference in Oklahoma City. Alexa's first SMC!!! She was such a trooper and it was a blast having my little sidekick with me!

2011 is off to a great start! Now, just to get both of my chickies back in the nest... :)