Preschool

Due to daddy having a major schedule change at work, Alexis started preschool this week. Her first day on Monday was pretty scary for me. I was worried that she'd freak out when I left, cry all day, wouldn't eat, and wreak havoc at the school. However, my first fear was alleviated when I dropped off Alexis. She didn't even look at me when I left. It was surprising. I resisted the urge to visit the school on my planning period and impatiently waited for the day to be over. Once I was off the clock, I couldn't get out of the door quickly enough. When I got to the school, Alexis immediately saw me and started crying as if to say that she was mad I left her. However, Alexis' teacher told me that she had a good day, actually slept on her mat, and loved playing outside. After a mini-crisis due to a missing security blanket AKA Alexis' wubby, we made it home and Alexis enjoyed an afternoon nap which allowed me to get some work done with my new part-time job.

Day two at preschool also went well. Alexis again didn't care that I left her in the morning. After school, when I got to Alexis' classroom, I had to work very hard to get her attention. She was engrossed in story time. Apparently, after a brief fussy period in the morning, the teacher Ms. Heather said she was good. Alexis even made her first official school craft: a pink turtle painting made using cookie cutters. It's hanging on the fridge, of course.

I hope that Alexis continues to enjoy her preschool experience. We think that she'll definately enjoy Fridays which are pizza day. This Friday will be Alexis' first time having pizza; what a treat!

Alexis will be a year old on Monday; I know, it's hard to believe! We will all be taking the day off and having Alexis' pictures taken. So, look for those to be posted next week!

Potty time!

After three days of practicing, we finally have had success. Alexis went poop in the potty tonight!! We were sure to call Daddy at work and Maw Maw and Paw Paw to share the good news! Let's hope that the progress continues to move along!

I'm a big kid now!

This weekend was filled with big girl activity for Alexis! First of all, we all three went shopping and picked out Alexis' new car seat. It is convertible and will last until Alexis is 100 pounds. She looks so teeny in it! Also, we got Alexis her potty. For the past few weeks, Alexis has been removing her diaper and clothes; she sometimes even goes on the floor or in her bed. It is not uncommon for us to find Alexis naked after a nap or in the morning. So, we decided to try potty training. My biggest doubt was that Alexis would sit still on the potty for even a second. However, after playing with her potty to get used to it, we have been sitting Alexis on the potty after naps and meals. She sits still and "reads" a book very well. She has yet to actually go in the potty, but that's only a matter of time, I'm sure. Finally, Alexis is learning to climb stairs; anyone who has been to the house knows how important that skill will be. I've been trying to help her up the stairs, but it's been touch and go. This afternoon, Alexis walked out of the garage and went right up the stairs and started climbing. I followed very closely, of course; but she climbed all the way to the top by herself! She's come a long way in just a short year! She's definately Mommy and Daddy's big girl now!

Bye-bye bottles!

I am now proud to announce that bottles are a thing of history in our home! Over Christmas break, I started weaning Alexis from the bottle. I decided to start with the two bottles during the daytime. With multiple attempts and many a tear, we successfully got Alexis down to taking only one bottle a day right before bed. I was really scared to even tackle the bedtime bottle, because her bedtime routine is so successful. However, this weekend, I put a brave face on and attempted to give Alexis a very small amount of milk in her sippy before bed and laid her down to go to sleep. It worked like a charm. She was asleep in the same amount of time, if not less, than any other night. That was the first hurdle I wanted to jump, the second being if she'd still sleep through the night. She woke up at the same time as she usually does! So, I counted the attempt a success. However, I was slightly worried, because Saturday night was a very stressful night (it's a long story) and I was worried that Sunday night would not be as successful. Apparently, I have nothing to worry about; Alexis has had a very small amount of milk before bed and produced the same results for three days in a row! If this pattern continues, we will get to toss the bottles for good! It's hard to believe how much our baby girl is growing into a big girl! She'll be one year in just a few weeks! How time does fly :)