Alex

I figured Kalen shouldn't get all the attention on this blog of mine, so here's what Alex has been up to.

His new obsession is switching the lights on and off. It drives Stephen and I bonkers. He'll go from one room to the next turning all the lights on, then all the lights off. We've been doing time outs for it, but it hasn't been working well. The reason I believe is because we would put him in the pack and play that he would nap in. He would laugh and play when we put in there, so it wasn't much of a punishment. Starting yesterday we have put him in a time out chair in the living room. He has to sit in it for one minute. The first time we put him in time out he got out, so we would put him back. He did this for about 15 minutes, then he caved. He hated being in it. Later he was getting close to the lights so I said if he touched them he would go into time out. He got a scared look in his face, and ran off. I'm thinking this will be a lot more effective.

Alex is more into puzzles, and is getting quite good at them. He also likes playing with his angry birds blocks, wood blocks, drum set, and of course Scampers.

We have been working really hard with him on the alphabet. He can say all the letters except "w", he says "doh". He can name all the letters except for some confusing ones like "M" and "W".

His vocabulary is rapidly expanding. All day he will point at different items and say "that one", until we tell him what it is called. His favorite thing to point out are lights. Everywhere we go he'll say "light,light". With many things that he points out and names he wants me to repeat him. If I don't he'll just say it louder and louder until he is screaming it.

Alex loves Kalen. He loves to pat him on the head and give him kisses. If Kalen is crying he'll ask "Are you okay baby?". He likes to hold his hand and smile at him. Today Alex was playing with Kalen by handing him his angry bird, then taking it back. It was very sweet.

Some days Alex drives me absolutely bonkers, and I think I've had enough of being his mother. But then there are other days where my heart is bursting with love for this sweet little boy that calls me Mama. He may be a trouble maker sometimes, but I love his so much, and am so glad I get to be his mom.