14 Months

The other day someone asked me how old Alex was and I had to stop and think about it, then I answered 15 months, and Jason had to correct me. I know, I know, mom's are supposed to know these things without hesitation, but after the one year mark it's become harder to keep track. Maybe I should go back to taking a monthly picture just so I can remember!

The past month has been so full of progress and excitement. At Alex's 1 year birthday she wasn't even crawling. Now, she cruises all over on furniture, she climbs, she will take 1 step independently between pieces of furniture, and she will walk behind a walking toy. Phew, it's exhausting keeping up with her. I think physical therapy has A LOT to do with all of the progress. It's amazing how a few simple exercises and tricks, and she immediately picked up all of these new talents. A few weeks ago her therapist told us if she were to be evaluated today, she would no longer qualify because she is doing so well. Fortunately, she doesn't have to be evaluated for awhile, and our awesome PT is willing to keep coming for the time being. I'm worried that if we stop now, it could all come to a screeching halt!

Alex is our constant entertainment at home. She hasn't picked up many new words recently, but she has a handful that she uses often. Her favorite is without a doubt "daddy". She says it with an almost valley-girl drawl, which is hysterical. And she says it ALL THE TIME! Last night she was standing at the ottoman next to Jason and she literally said it rapid fire 10 times. Of course, "momma" is another story...she is saying it a bit more now, but it takes some serious prodding to get her to use it. Some other regulars are:
1) Papa (for Jason's dad - do you see a theme here?)
2) Belly (said a bit more like baallyy)
3) boom-boom for clock (because that's the sound it makes)
4) hi
5) bye (no more bye-bye, just a very matter-of-fact bye)
6) night-night
7) baby
8) Elmo (sounds like Elbow usually)
9) Yum (anytime we say it's time to eat)
10) Nana (most often for Banana, but sometimes in reference to Jason's mom)
11) woof-woof (for dog)
12) yay
13) no-no
14) toes

I'm pretty sure there's more, but that's all that's coming to mind right now. I'm always reminding myself that I need to write more of these things down, take more pictures, capture more video, because already I find myself forgetting everything she is doing and has done.

I have many favorite moments, almost on a daily basis, that revolve around my family. We are incredibly lucky because Alex is incredibly easy. Very few tantrums, very little fussy time, almost no sickness to speak of. Our evenings usually involve family dinner, which is wonderful now that Alex eats basically anything, feeds herself (mostly) and drinks from her sippy cup. We get to sit and talk, laugh and be silly. After dinner we usually play, read, take a bath if it's bath night, put on jammies, brush our teeth and end the night by snuggling on the couch while watching Wheel of Fortune (seriously, still the only show that will get Alex to sit still for snuggles). She still gets a bedtime bottle, more because it's our routine than anything. I love bottle time, because she and I sit alone in the rocking chair in her room. After she finishes the bottle we usually snuggle for a minute or two more, and often she will begin to push me away with her little hands, as her signal that she's ready to be put down. As I walk out the door and say "night-night" I almost always get a response back of "night-night". Can these days please never end, I can't imagine anything better in the world!