Earlier this week we went to The Hollow, a pumpkin farm-ish type of place near OCC. They have a bunch of "barnyard animals" (alpaca, pigs, mini pony, goats, etc.) and Alexander's face didn't change the whole time we were looking at them. They came up to the fence, pretty close to him, and he just watched. No smiles, no squeals, just looking. That seems to be his approach to most things. He takes the world in!
He's talking a ton and has a good list of words that I can understand, anyway:
mama, papa, nana, duck, on, water, car, tractor and cracker (which sound exactly the same coming from him) and a bunch of animal sounds. He's also really great at mimicking. I'm glad to know that all of the talking I do with/to him all day long seems to be paying off!
He is still doing the "cruising" bit, going all around the furniture and anything he can find to climb up on. The other day he was a regular old Spiderman, clinging to the walls and going from closed door to closed door. We've been saying for months that walking will be right around the corner, but who knows. There's something about letting go that seems to be a little too scary for him still.
He's had 4 teeth (2 top, 2 bottom) for a while and it's super cute now that you can really see them when he smiles. There's another one coming in and it's doing a number on him. Poor little man!
We're really enjoying the crisp weather and being outside. We're trying to take walks and just get outdoors to take in the beautiful colors of fall! We've also been going to a sing along/storytime at the Dewitt library every week for kids up to 18 months. That's been a nice outing and a really great chance for me to watch Alexander in action. We leave him in the church nursery each Sunday, but I don't get to see what and how he does, so I love this! He generally has no interest in any of the toys or books or other kids. He usually roams the perimeter of the room and examines things like the stack of metal chairs and the wheels on the strollers from all of the kids. And during the songs and stories, he still just takes it all in, not knowing what to think of the silliness!
Our (my) big question this month pertains to food. What can I feed this boy?! I've heard that toddlers go through stages of not having much of an appetite, but I really want to pack an at least semi-nutritional punch with what food he does eat. So I welcome your ideas. He seems to love toast and all things in the bread/cracker family, but I don't want to turn him into a carb addict like his mother. He does okay with yogurt, broccoli and most any fruit although...
...another issue. He mostly doesn't chew anything that doesn't slide down easily. He squirrels it away and then stuffs his mouth SO full that he ends up getting frustrated and whiny because he won't just spit it out. It's a battle for us to help him get the log jam out of there and then the process just starts over once his mouth is clear. Could it be that he doesn't want to chew with the new tooth coming through?
Anyway, I'd seriously love suggestions for the food situation.
I'll leave you with a "few" pictures (I should make it clear that I KNOW I always put too many pictures in these updates. I have a terrible time picking and choosing!).
a close up of Alexander's first fat lip!
and his first pony ride at the Apple Fest!
Lumberjack Alexander, all bundled up for a morning of work at our new land!
the boys, watching a Yankees game
not quite sure what to think of this goat.
or this gorilla, but I guess I'll shake his hand!
Yeah, this one looks good, Mom!
a new favorite "toy" (the stick vacuum)
and a new favorite pose (arms crossed - not sure where he got this one from!)
a view of the 2 top teeth (and the whole rest of the inside of his mouth, too!)
a very skeptical boy who doesn't know what to do with these crunchy leaves.
thinking on a rock.Thanks for caring enough about our son to read this!
