Kids are amazing!

Alexis is actively working on her verbal skills. She currently knows seven words ("ma ma", "da da", "yes", "no", "shoes", "juice", "duck", and "rock"). She has been saying the first five words for a while, and I understand why these were her first words. Duck and rock were added this weekend. On Friday, as I was sitting on the recliner, Alexis walked up to me and started poking me and saying "duck" repeatedly; she then handed me a stuffed duck and repeated her new word. It was very weird. I don't know where and when she picked up the word, but she definately knows what a duck is. She said "rock" on Easter when she was playing with Paw Paw's rocks which she loves. In addition to her "real" words, Alexis also has other words that she uses like "da" for dog. Hearing her talk is so much fun!

In addition to her budding speaking skills, Alexis has been working on other skills including learning body parts. She currently knows six body parts including belly, feet, hands, pee pee, head, and nose. She has known the first four for a while and added the last two in the past week. I just asked her where her head was one day, and she threw her hands on her head and started rubbing her hair. I asked her about her nose, and she immediately poked her nose. She also appears to know what her mouth is, because I can tell her to put food in her mouth and she can do it, but she does not identify it when I ask her. She also has learned how to build a block tower. She has been making a two block tower for months, but this weekend I was able to get her to build multiple four, five, and six block towers. Of course, she enjoyed destroying the towers more than building them.

While we are very excited about Alexis' development, we are also trying to teach Alexis to be more gentle. She has been pinching and pushing. I have seen her do this not only at home, but also at daycare. So we are trying to teach Alexis that it is not okay to hurt other people; "gentle" is becoming a common word in our home. Hopefully this phase will be short-lived. I guess we shall see!

Easter 2009

Alexis' second Easter was great. We went to Maw Maw and Paw Paw's to spent the day. Alexis got an Easter basket from Mommy and Daddy that had stickers, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, hair barrettes, a book, and of course, some candy. Alexis also received an Easter basket from Maw Maw and Paw Paw that had animal crackers and candy. Then, she hunted for Easter eggs. Once Alexis found the first Easter egg, she knew exactly what to do and was looking all around for the eggs. Mommy became the basket holder. After she found all of the eggs, she proceeded to dump them out and roll them around. She even stepped on one and squished it! After the egg hunt, Alexis got to eat a chocolate bunny; what fun! We had an awesome time celebrating Easter this year! We've posted pictures here: http://alexisswiggett.shutterfly.com. Check them out!

Raising a toddler is tough!

In the last month or so, Alexis has started to become much more independent. She is learning about manipulating her environment. For example, she will go to her little chair at the coffee table is she wants to eat. Also, yesterday, she went to the cabinet and took out the Froot Loops and brought them to me. It was shocking and funny. Since she has learned to say "juice," we definately know when she is thirtsty. In addition to the cute new habits she's picking up, she's also having more temper tantrums when she doesn't get her way, and she's pushing the limits on purpose. She was put in time out yesterday for the first time; she was pulling other girls' hair repeatedly until the other girls cried. When she was warned multiple times, she simply laughed at the teacher. To time out she went! When I went to pick her up today, all of the four girls there had pigtails. Her teacher, Ms. Heather, said that they were all pulling hair today and got pigtails as a result. Alexis was too cute in her new 'do! I hope that I can replicate it.

Alexis has also had her fair share of illnesses in the last few months; she's had sinusitis, an ear infection, and two bouts of tonsilitis. She has been well for the last two weeks; I'm hoping she'll be well for a while longer.

We're looking forward to Easter and Spring Break. Mommy and Daddy are planning an awesome Easter Egg hunt with Maw Maw and Paw Paw. Also, Mommy will be signing Alexis up for Kindermusik and swim lessons during Spring Break. Both of these will take place during the summer. Alexis and Ella, our neighbors' daughter, took Kindermusik last year and loved it even though they were four and three months respectively. I imagine they will have a fabulous time this summer. Alexis loves to dance and will even dance on command!

We hope you are all doing well! We love you all!