18 months

We had another reason to celebrate July 4th this year...Alex turned 18 months!  That means that he is finally in the nursery at church.  I knew that he would love it in there because he is so active and they have so many toys as well as snacks (and who doesn't love snacks.)  for the last few months I have felt like I was inactive at church because after the first hour at church I would just go home.  Alex would not sit still and I didn't want to keep chasing him for two hours so I would go home and put on Conference talks to listen to or read the Ensign while Alexander played.  I was counting down the weeks until he was 18 months old and it finaly came.  I was a little suprised when I went to leave him in there the first week.  I fully expected him to run to the toys and not even notice that I had left because he was having so much fun.  Instead he clung to me and screamed if I even hinted that I was going to leave.  I was able to leave during snack time because the food distracted him.  The next week I had to teach so I just droped him off and left.  He cried for a while then went to play but when they brought him to me because he needed to be changed he totally broke down like I had left him for weeks.  I do think it won't take long before he bonds with the nursery leaders and then I won't have to feel like a bad mom abandoning my crying child (his words, not mine.  I know he is just fine.)

Anyway, he has come so far in his short 18 months.  I went back and watched the videos of his first few weeks.  It was so fun to see my little Alex as a newborn.  It wasn't that long ago but I have already forgotten what it was like to watch him with wonder and amazement as he cooed and moved with no control over his limbs.  He is such a special little boy and we love him so much.  He loves balls, especially ones you can eat (like grapes, tomatoes, watermelon, etc.) Unfortunately he tries to eat his toy balls too and they don't fare so well against his sharp little teeth. 

The two things he loves most are being outside and being in the water.  Playing in the water outstide is total bliss for him.  He hates having to come back in side or get out of the water. 

He is still allergic to milk even though he can eat cheese.  I asked the doctor why he can't have anything with milk in it like ice cream (poor kid), pudding, yogurt, and even cottage cheese but he can eat sliced cheese, mac and cheese, and cheese sticks.  He said it was because he is probably allergic to the protien in milk and cheese doesn't have so much of that protien.  He also said he should start to outgrow this allergy after he turns 2.  I sure hope he does because I didn't realize how much dairy is in our family's everyday diet until I have a child that can't eat it. 

He is starting to talk and I am loving it!  He can say about 8 words without prompting and even more when prompted. I love it when he says his name, he pronounces it "Ow-licks".  The word he uses the most besides "mom" is "stuck".  He knows that word well.  And all food is "hot", even if it's ice cold he still says it's hot and blows on it.  He also knows all the animal sounds and can count to 3.  Even with all his new words he still gets frustrated easily when we don't understand what he wants.  He hates not being able to speak as much as he hated not being able to walk.

Here are a few pictures.  I keep forgetting to get out the camera so there aren't as many as there could be.  He is always doing funny things but I never have the camera out when he does them and by the time I get the camera out...well, you know the rest.

This picture was taken in May.  Instead of the April showers to bring May flowers we got snow showers that killed my flowers.  Alex is longing for the warmer days so he can spend more time outside.

By the end of  May the temps had finally reached 70.  My friend and I took the kids to the park because it was72 deg. with a cool breeze that made it feel 68. We only stayed there for an hour so I was shocked when I saw how badly burned Alex had gotten.  He had big blisters on each cheek and little ones on his nose.  The rest of us got a little pink but he crisped.  I feel so bad.  I have been very vigilant with sun screen ever since.

Normally when he finds the girl's lip gloss he eats it.  This time he decided he wanted to apply it to his face like he sees them do.  Not too bad for a first try without a mirror.

Two of the cutest little baby boy feet.

You know he's super tired when he goes back to using his thumb and his "monkey" to fall asleep.

That smile says it all.