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January 12, 2009  |  March 3, 2009  |  August 5, 2009

Wednesday, August 5, 2009 So much has happened since my last post that I hardly know here to even begin! The delay in updating sooner has everything to do with how much busier life is now that there are two lovely children to care for in our family! Lexi has changed by leaps and bounds. When I last posted she was still very much a baby. Now she is in full fledged toddler mode! She’s been walking since March and is so proud of herself. Her preference is to walk everywhere she goes, although she still does enjoy riding in the carrier every once in a while. Oh, and she is my child I fully expect to find on top of the refrigerator one of these days. Yup, she’s a climber. If an object has a smooth surface above ground level, she is bound and determined to climb on it. She will move the stool to climb up and play in the sink, to get on top of a chair, to climb on top of the desk or table, atop my bed, even to check and see what is cooking on the stove. She actually taught herself to climb up and down the stairs without any help from the rest of the family. I cannot leave the child unattended … ever. She’s very curious, which is a wonderful, if sometimes dangerous, attribute to have. Rob and I have decided that Lexi is a mechanically minded child. If it has buttons, she’s passionate about pushing them. She LOVES the computer and I cannot count the number of times I have sat down only to discover random windows open on the computer screen thanks to Lexi’s exploration of the keyboard. Our computer mouse is wireless, and I have found it in the bottom of the toy box or under the couch many times. She can open and close the DVD player (mind you she’s not supposed to, but that’s beside the point). She can turn the TV on, and if the cable is off, she also knows what button to push in order to get the cable on. Before I know it, she’ll figure out how to turn the channel to Noggin. She’s a master at removing batteries from the remote control. And I’m pretty sure she has phoned China once or twice from both my cell phone and the home phone. Yup, we have our hands full here. Lexi is beginning to talk a little although she prefers to sign instead. She says Mama, Dada, thank you, ball, more, and hello. She has many more signs so she’s getting pretty good at letting you know what she wants. That said, hitting is still occasionally her way of letting you know you’re not doing what she wants you to do. At the moment, when she hits, we say, “Slap 5” in order to redirect her and that seems to work pretty well. Lexi eats like a tiny champ and she can do it herself! None of this Mommy holding the spoon business for her! She wants NO help when it comes to mealtime and the resulting mess is something to behold. It’s quite impressive! I’ve not yet mastered the removal of stains so she has ruined many an outfit. Oh well, her independence is well worth the sacrifice of a dress or two. :) She is an excellent sleeper. Lexi naps each day for anywhere from one to two and a half hours (and does so in her crib). At night, she only cries for a couple of minutes before drifting off into dreamland. The best purchase we ever made was our video monitor. It allows me to see what she is up to without disturbing her as she goes to sleep each afternoon and night. When she wakes up I can watch to see if she is going to lay back down, or if she is truly up and ready to get out of her crib. We’ve had a few incidences where she has tried to climb out of her crib, but so far she’s too petite to manage it. My hope is to keep her in the crib as long as we can. I don’t want to ruin a good sleep pattern with the freedom a big girl bed affords. After months of patience and hard work, Lexi has finally bonded to her Daddy. YEAH!!! She still cries when Mommy leaves the room, but she now quickly calms down and enjoys her time with Daddy. Last night Rob kept her up nearly an hour later than usual because the two of them were playing upstairs. The belly laughs coming from Lexi were priceless as her Daddy tickled her over and over again. He’s an awesome father and I’m so happy to see that Lexi has finally accepted love from him. Lexi and Zoe are also forging a strong sisterly bond. There is the typical sibling rivalry stuff. Zoe hugs too tightly or gets in her sister’s space to irritate her. And Lexi will sometimes scream out to see if she can get her sister in trouble. But more often than not, the two girls play together. Zoe is taking piano lessons now and will let her little sister sit beside her so they can make beautiful music together. Zoe “reads” books to Lexi and they enjoy listening to CDs together in Z’s room. They make a mean mess in the rec room several times a day. And when Lexi is upset about something, Zoe can usually figure it out. She’ll say things like, “Mommy, Lexi wants water now,” or “Mommy, Lexi wants you to pick her up.” The best is watching Lexi try to do what Zoe is doing. Z is in Tae Kwon Do, and L watches her sister intently. When Zoe punches, Lexi does to. When Zoe kicks, you see Lexi try to do the same. And I won’t even mention how cute it is when Lexi tries to do push-ups like her big sister. If Zoe is working on Kumon or a sticker book, you better believe her little sister is right there beside her, giving it the old college try. Despite the intense rivalry, these two are growing closer by the day. Having Zoe in camp helps because it gives her some big girl time with big kids, and it gives Lexi some one-on-one time. The bond between them has improved light years since we began this journey as a complete family. So that’s what is going on here. I will update again, I promise! It may be a little while, but check back.

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