Just a year ago...
Look how much he has grown...

Our little tarheel!

When we started this blog, we first thought the world would be excited to read about "our lives". (That is funny!) However, when we first learned we were pregnant with out 1st child, it became the window to our world as a "pregnant couple" and then the window for family and friends to see us as "new parents". For the past year, you all, family and friends have watched Alexander grow from "our little chocolate chip" in mommy's belly to our "big boy"! I have decided to change the direction of our blog and it be more a "To Alexander" as I will write to our son, our thoughts and feelings as we go through the wonderful years of raising our child. So, here it goes....

To my little man, Alexander:

July was a special month for us as you turned 1! HUGE milestone for you and us as parents. We have managed to raise another human with no large "oops" moments for an entire year. :-) You have grown from such a teeny tiny baby (not really that tiny weighing in at 8lbs 1oz) to such a big boy!

You started walking right after your first birthday. Something both mommy & daddy had encouraged and spent hours in the family room trying to get you to do! When you took those 1st steps there with Mommy and Daddy present, you would have thought you won the Nobel Peace Prize! Hey, good enough for us! We were sooo happy you were walking. We forgot what this really meant for us! :-) You are cruising the town now. You are not only walking, but running! We see the back side of you quite often! You no longer want to be held, you want down, you want to explore the world. While that is so bitter sweet, I miss cuddling with my little man. You are definately into everything. We can't turn our backs for more than 10 seconds or you are into something!

You have been able to spend a lot of time with Daddy the past few weeks, which you have loved! You have become such a "Daddy's boy!" You love watching and even helping him cook, you love playing ball. You have learned to throw and kick. Daddy even lets you play in the cul-de-sac with the big kids and you enjoy every minute of it! His love of vaccuming has rubbed off as well!

We celebrated Daddy turning a year older! You loved helping open the presents and eating the cake!

You are such a great eater, devouring most of everything we put in front of you. We let you feed yourself, so meal times are definately messy times. We are introducing the fork and spoon. You love it, just not sure how to use it. You still enjoy your fruits and veggies. Meat is another story. Still kinda picky with that. We still love introducing new dishes to you and can't wait till you get more teeth to enjoy them with! You still only have 4!

You still hate sleeping! However, once we get you to sleep you sleep through the night and are a great napper. We finally gave up on swaddling you. It only took a year! :0)

You will be 14 months in just a week...not sure how much you weigh at this point but for sure you are growing! You have quickly grown out of your 12 month clothes and onto 18 months! You are surely showing your "2 year old" side with the small fits you pitch, but they give us a laugh every once and a while! It is funny to watch you run across the room and throw yourself on the floor when you don't get your way. I know, this too is a phase.

Little man, you are the joy of our life, for sure! Can't wait to see what you bring to us in the next few weeks as you surprise us daily in different words you say, different acts you perform! You have sure proved being parents is the BEST thing in the world! We love you!!

Alexander is 1!!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday Alexander! Happy Birthday to you!

Since we last blogged, lots of fun and exciting things have happened! Alexander is enjoying trying all kinds of foods now! He will eat just about anything! It is very nice to go out and not have to worry about bottles and formula, but more so what can we order for him. Daddy took him out the day before his birthday and they ordered his first happy meal! Alexander ate 1/2 the hamburger while Daddy ate all his fries! We have started giving him his bottles of formula in sippy cup to hopefully get rid of the bottle for good. That has been tough...only for mommy! We will stick with the formula for morning and night time bottles for now, but he is getting whole milk during the day.

We have started transitioning into the "Big Boy" Toddler classroom at school. Thankfully we have a full week of transitioning next week as well. I know he will do great, just a big change for ALL of us!

Daddy took Alexander to the zoo last weekend while Mommy had a girls weekend away! He loved seeing all the animals and I can't wait to go back with them!!

We have a new addition to our family. On July 10th, we welcomed Ariana Ryan Baker, Alexander's new cousin! Auntie Toni had her baby girl and she is beautiful. The only picture I have is from Alexander's birthday party....

She is sleeping and has NO clue!

Alexander is not too sure what to think. He likes her, wants her paci but surely doesn't like Mommy or Daddy holding her and not him! We are definitely not ready for siblings! :-) I know they will grow up to be just as close as Mommy & Auntie Toni are and they will have a blast together!

Speaking of birthdays....Alexander turned 1 on Friday!! I know...they grow up sooo fast, but celebrating his birthday has put that in perspective. A WHOLE year has past. He is no longer my baby. He is now my little boy! He has not yet took his first step, but I know it is just around the corner! Before I know it, I will be chasing him out the door to wish him luck before prom night! :-)

Alexander, Mommy & Daddy had a wonderful day spending time together on his birthday! We went shopping, got his very first haircut, had 1 year pictures taken and had Mexican for dinner to end the night! Here are some pictures from our day....

Pre-Haircut, playing in the lobby before our wonderful neighbor who owns her own Salon, Sharper Edge in Holly Springs, cut just a few of his curls off!

Surprisingly, Alexander did very well! He only fussed one time and held very still. Neither of us had the heart to cut off his curls off, as that is what makes "Alexander, Alexander". So, we just had a trim!

After we had pictures made, we went and rode the rides in the mall! Alexander loved the car, airplane, Clifford and Bob the Builder!

Saturday was THE BIG DAY! Party time!! We had a cook out pool party at Nanas and he had a blast! He is such a trooper...or should I say Energizer Bunny! With a very little nap in the AM, he just kept going, keeping people laughing and himself smiling all the way! Daddy was a wonderful "Master of The Grill" while Nana, Great Grandma Sally and Aunt Shirley did all the sides. Food was yummy and spending time with friends and family was awesome! Alexander loved all the attention! He completely devoured his cupcake and Boy! Talk about a mess! Good thing we had the pool to wash him off in! I really thought Alexander would enjoy tearing opening our gifts and he did until he opened the gift with the "Happy Birthday" Balloon and blue monkey ball! Then it was all over! That was all he wanted! So, Mommy & Daddy opened up the rest of the gifts. THANK YOU to all our friends a family that shared this special day! We all thoroughly enjoyed it!

Cupcake "Cake"--Look closely it says "Happy 1st Birthday Alexander!"

Taking time out to swim with Papa

The Girls hanging out by the pool

Fun in the pool!
Loving my Rody! Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!
Everyone is singing and Alexander is making his wish! Hope all your wishes come true!!

Just getting a taste of the icing!

Really starting to like this!

"Here Daddy, you can have some!"

YUM!

"So ready to have my hands cleaned!"

The ball and balloon...that's all she wrote!

The one & only time he would wear a birthday hat!

Playing with Jae & Isaac while Mommy & Daddy open his gifts!

Tearing down the streamers...Time to go, folks!

"Is my party really over??"

The BIG 1-year birthday is done! A very HAPPY and sad day for Mommy and Daddy! Our VERY tired little boy is having very sweet sweet dreams as I update the blog! Only to wake up and spend the day playing in his new sandbox that Nana & Papa bought him! I know he can't wait!!

Now, here we are.... onto BIG things as a BIG 1-year old!!~

11 months old

Busy, Busy, as a bee---that is what we have been! I just realized that it has been nearly 2 months since I blogged and there is so much to blog about! I was able to celebrate my very 1st Mothers Day with my little man and that was so nice. Now we are getting ready to do Fathers Day. I know Eric has a whole day planned, just him and his little guy!

Alexander is just about 11 months old and so much has changed in his little world in just 2 months! I cannot believe I am preparing to plan his 1 year old birthday party! Time flies!!

He is babbling up a storm! He says "ba-bah" for bye-bye and will wave. He stopped doing the cute little baby wave backwards and now just throws his hand up at you like his daddy does. I listen closely as he babbles to see if I can make out any other real words. I still cannot get him to say mama or dada. Each time I try, he laughs and ignores me! His new word today is "pu-peee" for puppy. That is what I call both of our dogs and he has been trying the pu pu pu sound for a little while. This AM, I had him on the changing table and one of the dogs walked in his room, he pulled out his paci and said "pu-pee" just as loud and clear as day! I know one day he will be talking up a storm!!

Alexander is much more mobile now! Probably why mommy and daddy stay so busy! He is crawling all over the place. Pulling up on everything, walking around holding on the furniture and your fingers! He loves walking! He is even testing my nerves by trying the stairs!!

We definitely have a performer on our hands! Anytime he hears music, whether it is a commercial on TV, music on the ipod or one of his toys singing "ABCs" he is dancing and singing right along!

He went swimming for the first time 2 weeks ago! The pool was quite cold, but mommy braved the cold waters with him. He loves the bath so much now, I knew he would look at the pool as a big ole' bathtub, and he did! He loves to float in his cool floats, splash and play with papa!

He finally has 3 teeth!! Once one came in, they all 3 came in back to back! So, now he can chew a little bit better! He eats everything! I mean everything he can get his hands on! His favorites right now are macaroni and cheese and cheerios. We have tried meats now, he is surely not crazy about them but will eat them. Trust me, if he doesn't like it, out it comes! He is getting very independent with wanting to feed himself. Some things we just let him go at it and he thinks he is so grown picking up his food, cramming it in his mouth. Some things, mommy and daddy still have spoon control! :-)

Health wise, we have been better. After being sick with a tummy bug and battling 2 ear infections back to back, we went to see a ENT doctor to have Alexander evaluated for tubes. Daddy is not a fan, so we are holding off through the summer. Next ear infection he gets, the ENT will take a look and see how bad his ears get once infected. So far, so good. He plays with his ears constantly, but we're holding out!

The next month comes with very big things...

We are all looking forward to Alexander's cousin's arrival. Auntie Toni is due in 3 weeks and we can't wait! We had her baby shower 2 weeks ago, so Alexander was able to see his Great Grandma Joyce and other wonderful family! Here are some pictures of that.

Also in the next month, preparing for Alexander's move up to the toddler room at daycare, we have lots of changes to be made. We are all very sad to leave the infant room as we love his teachers, but it is obvious he is a big boy now, no longer a baby when we see the other small babies that just started at the center. When he moves up right after his birthday, he will be in the toddler room. There, they no longer drink formula from bottles. So, we are weaning him off his formula onto whole milk and trying to get him to take it from a sippy cup instead of his bottle. That also means, adjusting his feeding schedule to not needing those 2 bottles in the middle of the day! So, we are obviously offering more "big boy food" and snacks to keep him full. In the toddler room, they also sleep on cots, no longer in a crib! Can't wait to see how they keep him on a cot! No more swaddling--he does great at daycare with this, not so much at home. He is doing well adjusting to less time with his pacifier. They put it away after he settles from arrival and then he doesn't have it again until naptime. Once nap is over, it is put away until we pick him up. When we pull it out of the bag, he acts as if he just found his long lost friend, but they say he does really well without it most days.

We have yet to travel down to the beach this summer but can't wait to do so. Dying to see his reaction to all the sand and water! Until next time--