Turkey Day

Sadly, just like last year Brandon had to work all day on Thanksgiving. So Alex and I spent the majority of our day at my parents house. Alex was a little crazy from consuming sugar all day and not eating any Thanksgiving dinner. However, all in all it was a great day. Alex and I are so lucky to have so much wonderful family to spend the day with, even if Brandon couldn't be there.

Scott attempted a family football game. Unfortunately Boo and Alex were the only ones into it.

Other than a few bites of corn Alex didn't eat any dinner. He is usually such a good eater but had filled up on candy and juice during the day.

Brandon finally arrived just after 8:00 pm and got to eat.

I'm so grateful for Brandon and the wonderful husband that he is. He has been working so hard the past few months at work and is always helping around the house. Alex and I are so lucky to have him.

18 Months

This picture was taken today at lunch when Alex decided it would be a great idea to smash his lunch into his face rather than put it in his mouth.

Our darling boy is now 18 months old. I think I might have been more excited for him to reach this milestone than to reach one year. As always I cannot believe how quickly it has come. One reason I was so excited is now Alex gets to go to nursery. He went on Sunday for the first time and as we guessed, he loved it. Brandon and I took him and started introducing him to the teacher. As soon as he saw the toys and the other kids he squirmed in my arms until I finally put him down. He didn't even look back. Later on I came back to check on him and watched as he happily played toys. I was worried that if he saw me he might get upset and want to come with me. However, he did see me and acted as if he had never seen me before and went right back to playing. Although it makes me a little sad I am so glad he is a happy, independent kid.

We also had a check-up at the doctor this week. Here are Alex's stats:

Weight - 25.5lb (45th percentile)

Height - 32.5 in (58th percentile)

Head - 19.7 in (95 percentile)

It has been so much fun to watch Alex develop his personality and explore the world around him. He is a very active kid and this was one reason the doctor thought he might not be talking as much. He is too busy being crazy and active. He does say a few words. He regularly says: uh oh, please, Daddy, up, go, Boo, bye bye and all gone. And on occasion will say: thank you, Mommy, Amen, Grandpa, Yankees (we have been working hard on that one) and probably a few other words I can't think of right now. He will also roar when you ask him what a dinosaur says.

He is still an awesome sleeper. At night he usually sleeps from about 8:00 to 9:00 the next morning. He always takes at least one nap and will still occasionally take two.

His attention span has improved a ton in the last few months. He will now sit still and let us read a whole book to him. (It used to be just a few pages). He has also really gotten into watching tv, which I don't know how thrilled this makes me. When he first gets up in the morning the first thing he does is run into the tv room and wait for me to turn on the tv. We usually watch the Disney channel. He especially loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. After about a half hour or so he remembers he is hungry and runs to his high-chair. He will also sit and watch whole movies. He loves any of the Toy Story movies and Tangled. This is great for when I am trying to cook dinner and I need him to be distracted for a few minutes.

One of my favorite things about Alex is how sweet he is. He already plays really well with other kids. He loves to give kisses to all of his family members and will even give kisses to Boo on the mouth. I love having him with me throughout the day as I run errands. I love watching him learn and grow and see the kid he is becoming.

On the Dark Side

Halloween is the favorite holiday around our house and this year it did not disappoint. During October we had a night where we had each of our families come over and eat and play games. I was horrible at taking pictures of the actual parties but here are a few pictures of our goody spread. We had a lot of fun playing Halloween games at each party and eating yummy food. We are hoping to make it an annual thing.

On Sunday all the grand kids on the Hettinger side put on their costumes at Grandma's house. This was the best picture of them all together. Alex looks angry in all of them.

Alex got to go trick or treating with Mikah. They had lots of fun.

Mikah and Max

This was our best attempt to get them all in a picture together.

Out trick or treating!

Another awesome expression by Alex.

Brandon enjoyed picking Alex's costume again this year. We knew the mask wouldn't last but we tried anyway.

This was my best attempt to get a picture of Alex with his mask on. Oh well.

Tough guy faceAlex loves playing with his lightsaber. When we went to the store to buy it Brandon made sure we got the cooler (and more expensive) version. No five dollar lightsabers for us!

Definitely the cutest little Darth Vader I've ever seen.

Traditional Pumpkin Carving

It has been a Halloween tradition around our house to carve pumpkins. This year it took us until Halloween day to finally find some time to do it.

The finished products:

Zombies from some movie that Brandon will get mad at me for not remembering.

Perry the Platypus (this was mine)

And a very scary girl also from some movie that I can't remember.

My Birthday

I had another fabulous birthday this year. Although it was a little daunting to be turning 23 it was fun to do lots of celebrating. Brandon had the whole weekend off and worked most of the time to make it a perfect birthday for me. Once again Brandon made me another amazing cake. For those that remember it is reminiscent of our wedding cake. He did all the work himself, even attempting flowers for the first time. It turned out great as usual.

The nieces and nephews helped me open presents at my parents house.

This might be the first time I ever blew out all my candles in one breath. I am sure excited for my wish to come true.

This was the top of my cake. I just thought it looked cute.

Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point

As part of my birthday celebration this weekend we thought it would be fun to do something we could do with Alex. We decided to try Cornbelly's down at Thanksgiving Point because we knew they had a lot of things that catered to his age. It did not disappoint. We had so much fun and the weather was beautiful. Alex loved playing on all the slides, riding the train, and watching the pigs race. We are excited to take Alex back when he is older and can enjoy it even more.

They had giant "Lincoln Logs" scattered around. Alex probably could have played with them the whole time.

Alex started climbing this rope climb all on his own. I made Brandon follow him up because I was terrified he would fall off.

They had these giant jumping pillows and one even designated for little kids and their parents. Most of the time I just chased Alex from one end to the other. He wanted nothing to do with me.

Getting lost in the mini corn maze. Riding the train

Playing in the barn of corn

Driving the tractor