Alex Turned 1!! Her Birthday and Birthday Party

Birthday:

Alex has sure had a busy week. First on Friday the 20th, she had her 1 year old photo shoot with the amazing Hannah Galli. Then on Saturday July 21st, my little baby turned 1!!! We had a pancake breakfast with Grandpa Prusso and Grandma Miller and then the birthday girl opened some presents (aided by her Mother). Once they were all opened, Alex got dressed in one of her new outfits and we had a relaxing morning while she had fun playing with her new toys. It was nice to be able to catch up with Grandma Miller who happened to be in town! After Alex's nap, we headed off to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. We hadn't taken Alex there before so, we thought that it would be a nice birthday activity. It was pretty hot, and Alex wasn't quite sure what to make of everything at first but, towards the end of the trip, she seemed to understand that we were here to see the animals and she started looking at them. When we got back home, we had dinner and cupcakes. Alex wasn't too sure about her cupcake until she tasted the frosting and then she dug right in. After she got all cleaned up, we opened presents from Grandma Prusso and we just talked and played with Alex for the rest of the evening. I think that it was a fun day and hopefully the birthday girl agreed.

Grandpa Prusso and the Birthday Girl

Daddy and Alex at the Zoo

Her hand is a little bit smaller than a Rhino's hand :)

Alex and Grandma Miller looking for the Polar Bear

Playing in the misters with Daddy

Alex is trying to figure out what we're doing here

Mmmm...Frositng

Alex's Birthday Party:

I wanted to do a pretty low-key birthday party for Alex so, Brittnee, Chris's cousin, made a beautiful cake for the birthday girl and we had more family over to celebrate. We opened more presents (what a lucky girl), ate cupcakes, talked, and watched all of the cute kids play. Alex really liked playing with the big girls Gracie and Chloe. I was really impressed that she stayed entertained and happy for the whole evening. Thank you everyone that was able to come and make this night so special for little Alex.

Brittnee's Masterpiece

Mmmm...cakes and cheese puffs

Having fun with the big girls

Week 53

Birthday Girl

Water Baby

Week 53 Updates:

1. ALEX TURNED 1!!! We celebrated her first birthday on Saturday July 21st (I'll write a post about it after her party tomorrow). We had a pretty fun day hanging out with family, opening presents, and going to the Zoo for the first time! She even got to blow out a candle and eat a cupcake! I can't believe that she has turned 1! My little newborn has made way to my busy toddler!

2. As mentioned above, Alex went to the Zoo for the first time and she didn't really understand what was going on for a while, but towards the end of our visit, she started looking for the animals and having fun.

3. She was the center of attention on Friday at her 1 year old photo shoot. She did so well and it was a lot of fun.

4. She is standing up much better and has started to stand on her flat feet rather than her toes. She is also starting to scoot around while she is standing. The only problem is that she is not sure how to get down again once she is standing and she gets frustrated. 

5. Alex had cupcakes for the first time (twice) and although it took her a while to figure out what to do with them, she seemed to like them.

6. Tomorrow is her birthday party and she will get to try cake for the first time :)

Week 52

Week 52 Updates:

1. Alex is becoming a great explorer and checks out EVERYTHING!!

2. She is standing up more and more although her favorite climbing gym is still Mommy :)

3. I am finding more and more ticklish spots on Alex...she has quite a few and she is so cute when she laughs!

4. She is very interested in the computer and has learned how to turn it on. She loves playing with the mouse and key boards (especially when Mommy and Daddy are trying to type).

5. This coming week we get to celebrate her first birthday which Mommy and Daddy are really excited about but Alex doesn't quite understand what is going on yet (which is nice since Mommy and Daddy took her birthday shopping and wrapped the presents in front of her).

Week 51

Week 51 Updates:

1. Alex is starting to stand! She has been pretty good about kneeling for the last month or so but, within the last couple of weeks, she has started to try to stand up. She actually stands more at my Parent's house since I think that they have more furniture the right height for standing but last night, she opened her bib drawer and stood up for probably 10 minutes as she explored the drawer. She likes to stand on her tippy toes though which I find to be super cute!

2. She has learned to open drawers and cupboards :)

3. We started giving her regular milk (whole milk) in the hopes that we can stop giving her formula soon and much to my surprise, she loves it! She will drink several small bottles of milk a day and she will almost finish the bottle in one attempt. I guess that we won't have to buy formula anymore and go to straight milk once we run out (of formula). Hurray!!

4. Her fourth tooth is still coming, but doesn't seem to want to break through the gums quite yet...I wish that it would hurry and come already!

Week 50

Week 50 Updates:

1. Alex got her new car seat nicknamed the Throne. She is doing better in it than when we first got it last Friday, but she still is not super fond of it. Hopefully she will grow to like it (especially since she'll be in it for a while).

2. We celebrated Alex's first Independence Day. We mostly relaxed during the day and went to a friend's house for dinner. We had gotten sparklers for Alex but since its been so dry here lately, we decided not to use them. Maybe next year...

3. Alex stood up by herself for the first time yesterday. It totally took me by surprise and I think that she was surprised too. She was able to stay up for about 30 seconds before collapsing onto her bum. Hopefully she will start doing it more and getting more practice. 

4. She did pretty well playing with some older kids yesterday although she sure lets them know where she is sitting and what she is playing with. She is a very feisty little girl!

5. She continues to be a good talker and she is now using her hands emphatically when she speaks, it is so cute!

Gates and Car Seats

We have made some recent baby improvements around our house lately. Now that little Alex is getting extremely active and curious, we have finally done some baby proofing. First we bought a gate to protect Alex from the stairs (or is it to protect the stairs from Alex?) and we got some covers for all of our outlets. She doesn't seem to mind the gate, although it bothers Gir, especially when he wants to go downstairs but finds himself blocked. We also have finally gotten a new car-seat for Alex. She was starting to get too long for  her infant car seat and she was getting too heavy for Mommy and Daddy to carry around in it. So, we ordered her a Recaro baby seat (which designs seats for race cars, can you think of who picked it out :) ) which is convertible and will be able to face forward when she is ready. She's not quite sure of what to think about it yet, but hopefully it will be more comfortable for her. We (mostly I) call it her throne because it is so big! She almost takes up the entire back seat of our Jeep now and when she waves her arms, it looks like she's giving blessings to her subjects :). I can't believe that my little baby is big enough for such a big car seat and I hope that she grows to enjoy it.