Got this after lunch today and had to post!

First boots. Lexi has this thing about wearing her boots all the time and has just recently figured out how to put them on herself. She used to stand them up and hold on to the wall and slip her feet in. Now she is just a pro!

I think we are at some kind of bossy stage now. For some reason Lexi decided Vegas should not be up on the bed. Good thing Vegas knows who the REAL boss is! Just nevermind the hockey pillow in the background.

Sometimes it’s tough when Old Man Winter comes a calling, but we don’t let him get us down. I made a small video of some of the things we do for fun.

Big thanks to Bo and Gary for the great sled, she really does love it. The snow? Not so much.

Music Credit: “It’s All Good” – Zeroleen

Dear Goose,

In so many ways it feels like a lifetime ago that you arrived and in so many others, it feels like only yesterday. One week ago it was your first birthday. In the days leading up to your birthday you could find me balling my eyes out everytime I got in the car by myself, thinking about you being a one year old. Every second it seemed I was thinking back to what I was doing at this or that time last year and remembering the dramatic way that you made your entrance into this world! I spent the week before your first birthday thinking about the first few, foggy days of having you at home with us, pulling out your tiny little onesies and comparing them to the ones you are into now, looking at pictures and videos of your homecoming, your first visitors, my swollen feet!!! We also took you to visit Dr. Hilderman and were placing bets on how heavy you were going to be! You continue to be a little peanut, weighing in at just 18. 7 and 29.5 inches. That’s still almost exactly what mommy was when she was one!

Then we were into birthday planning mode! Turning one is a big deal and we wanted to make sure that your first birthday was a celebration of the one and only you! We decided that we were going to make cupcakes for your first and then Jennifer offered to help make some fancy ones. It would be kitty cats and puppy dogs for you and I just couldn’t resist the table cloth and napkins to match! We bought a foamy crown that would be your party hat and ordered balloons. We sent out invitations to our nearest and dearest and waited for the big day. The guest list was large including grandmas and grandpas, aunties and uncles, cousins, and many friends. Jennifer and I spent the better part of Saturday creating the cupcakes and I topped off the evening by making you a kitty cat “smash it” cake while Daddy rode you around in your wagon! While I put you to bed that night, I couldn’t help but think that when you woke up the next day, you would be changed! You would be one!

The big day was extra special. You woke up at your usual time and we had a nice breakfast. Once the guests started arriving you were all over the place, playing with the cousins and checking out your cool gifts. The little girls helped to open your gifts and then they would show you what you got. You received quite a few clothes, a tea set from granny and grandpa, some new books and grandpa made you a cradle for your dollies while Nana knitted you a blanket for your new cradle. (That made mommy cry because her grandpa had made her a cradle when she was a little girl too!). Finally came time to sing you happy birthday. You sat in your seat and everyone gathered around. Mommy lit the candle on your kitty cat lemon cake and daddy almost dropped it! Then mommy re-lit the candle and we all started singing. The cousins all crowded around you and when it was time, everyone helped you to blow our your one candle. Mommy held it together through the song; probably because she cried so much before! Tristan wasted no time digging into your cake and all the little girls got in there too to show you how to do it! You kind of poked your fingers into it and watched them eat all the candy off it, but otherwise you were very clean! We took off a few pieces and fed them to you and you seemed to like it! It was your first time having cake, what a treat! You were so good all afternoon even though we had to push your nap back for a couple of hours!

Over the last week I have found myself at work feeling shocked and amazed that we now have a ONE year old! A toddling, laughing, curious, loving, sneaky, independent, goofy one year old! I am surprised by how caught off guard I feel about this! I have a one year old I would say outloud to try it on for size. Our baby turned one. The same baby that we made, delivered, brought home, fed, changed, bathed. From one day to the next, everything seemed to change  “What do you do with a one year old?” I keep asking! What do you do with a one year old who laughs at you when you, in your most serious teacher voice, ask her to sit down in the bath? What do you do with a one year old who wants to ride in the wagon and knows how to ask for it (or demand it), and won’t give up until you take her for a ride?

What do you do? You laugh and enjoy and make memories, just as we are doing! BIG Happy 1 Lexi! The last 372 days of my life with you have been the best of all.

Lovey, love, love,

Mommy xoxoxoxoxoxoox

Dear Lexi,

The biggest and best thing that has happened this last month is that you are now upright and mobile! About a week before you turned 11 months, you started walking! It happened on a Saturday night, just as mommy was running the bath. You were hanging onto the tub and walked a few steps towards me. Daddy and I were there and watched you in shock. We were so excited that we made you do it again and again! You were excited too and for the next couple of days after that you stepped gingerly between us and then off of the furniture that you used to stand yourself up. Now, only two short weeks later, you are walking more than crawling! You have no fear and your balance is growing stronger each day. I noticed today that you are walking faster already and I know that it won’t be long now and you will be RUNNING!!!

Oh boy, you are such a ham. You love to make us laugh, especially at the dinner table. You have this little glint in your eyes that sparkles so brightly when you are entertaining us! You are also becoming quite assertive! You know exactly what you want and you are becoming really good at communicating that to us. It is really cool to see you signing so much and when you don’t have a sign for something you will point us in the right direction. You are signing “drink/milk”, “bath”, “eat”, “more”, and “all done”. It makes feeding you so much easier! The other day when you were inspecting Holly the Cat’s food and you made the sign for eat. It was really cool to get a glimpse of what is going on in your head! We have also taught you to extend the “more” sign to things beyond food now. If you want us to play the music again, you will sign it. If you want another book, you will sign it!

We are beginning to get that you are understanding about 90% of what we are saying to you! You are a GENIUS! You will respond appropriately if we ask you if you are talking on the phone, to roll the ball, to put something in a cup or bucket, to go give Vegas a kiss, to blow kisses, look out the window, dance, and where your nose, ears, hair, toes, and belly button are. If we ask you if you are happy, you will clap. If we ask you if you want a drink or to eat, you will sign back to us!

You continue to love music and dance to any tune that comes on. You just got a drum for Christmas and you will dance with that thing for almost 30 minutes or more! The newest development is that now you are “singing” along to the music. You cock your head and hum while you are dancing and it is so sweet!

Last week you went to your very first hockey game. Cousin Jordan was playing and we took you out to watch. You sat mesmerized in the arena for the first half and then I took you to the observation area to walk around a bit. There was this little girl sitting beside us and you walked right up to her, patted her arm, waved and said hi! She smiled at you and then sat down on the floor. You went back up to her and cuddled into her a couple of times! You are so friendly and love having other kids around to play with! When we were at Grandpa’s lake on Boxing Day you went toe to toe with all the cousins for the entire day without a nap! You had so much fun watching them, playing with them and playing with their toys!

In just over 3 weeks you will be turning one years old. The day that you were born was a day filled with many emotions. Relief, joy, awe, love, and curiosity about who you were. Daddy and I were watching your first born videos yesterday and it was amazing to see how tiny and new you were. Daddy said that he wished he had known you better then and it made me think about just how much you have taught us these last 11 months. Love you SO much!

Lovey, love, love,

Mommy

Dear Lexi,

You are passed out in your bed, dreaming of little peoples dancing to the beat of your new drum!

This morning you woke up just before 9 after partying it up last night, first at Granny and Grandpa’s and then at the Nolans. Daddy and I came into your room and you were happy as always and ready to start your day. Daddy carried you out to the living room where he showed you the cookies, carrots and milk that Santa had sampled last night when he was dropping off your gifts! You got to open your stocking before breakfast and you loved the reindeer stuffy and the Weebles that were in there. It took pretty much all day to open all the beautiful gifts that you received! You were interested in each thing for a while, but not really until they were unwrapped. You got into taking the bows off of each present for a while and had quite a collection going! Then Vegas unwrapped her stack of green Frisbees and you went after those like white on rice! She was lying on all 5 of them trying to keep you away from them and when you would get a hold of one she would take it away, turn around, and then you would snatch another right out from under her!

You received so many cool, new toys on your first Christmas. You got a school bus from Santa, a sweatsuit and a Team Canada Olympic jersey from mommy and daddy, books and puzzles from Grandma, a purse and pj’s from Granny and Grandpa, and a musical drum from Auntie Marcy that you spent the better part of last night dancing to! You got some legos from Jennifer and Mike, a mail truck and cute outfit from Auntie Nancy and Uncle Ralph and Tara and Paul and some money to go shopping from Auntie Lori and Uncle Kerry. Mer got you the sweetest sweater and jeans and you got an alligator xylophone from the Nolans.

It was incredibly awesome to have you with us this Christmas season! I kept reminiscing about last year at this time when Daddy and I were preparing to have our little baby. It was our last Christmas, just the two of us and I can remember sitting around commenting about how at this time the following year we would have an 11 month old with us! It seemed so far away and so hard to imagine at the time and here we are, just like that! The best gifts that we received this Christmas were definitely not the ones that we unwrapped. It was the memories that we were able to make with you and the immeasurable joy and happiness that we felt watching you experience your very first Christmas with our family, putting your first ornament on the tree, sitting on Santa’s lap for a picture, and opening your gifts (or tearing the bows off). Only three weeks from now we will be celebrating your first birthday, another huge milestone. Before that happens, I need to get my butt in gear and do your 11 month writeup! Stay tuned!

I decided to just go ahead and post some of these videos up. Lexi is developing far faster than I ever imagined and although I would like to get everything up as it happens, I just can’t. She started walking 2 weeks ago and I am still posting dancing for crying out loud!

I know it’s been a long time since I made a post here but my new boss tends to frown upon internet use while I am on the clock so my access is limited. In all honesty I am enjoying my new Stay At Home Dad moniker and decided it was about time I share our routine.

Morning is the best. Lexi usually gets up somewhere between 530-700 depending on how her night went and how hungry she is when she wakes up. She usually lets out a little whining to let us know it’s go time. Shan takes care of that bottle before leaving for work and most times gets Lexi back to sleep for another hour or so. Sometimes not, but most times.

Then she is up sometime between 730-830, most days. This time she kinda says “MEH” in a growly voice until I get out of bed to come get her. When I walk into her room it’s instant happiness for us both. Her voice goes from growly grumpy pants, to this high pitched angel voice. I say “Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii baby girl…” and she says “Hi dad…” and points to me. I give her a hug and then pick her up and she notices Vegas over my shoulder and says “Hi Vegas…”. We are still working on “Hi Mom” but she can see the dog out in the yard and say “Hi Vegas!” much to Shan’s chagrin.

Next it’s a little bit of wake up play, some hockey highlights on TSN, and then right into breakfast. I have a no TV policy at breakfast so we listen to the radio. I start her off with a quick Cheerios or Puffs fix while I get the rest of her breakfast going. She dances a little in her chair and I tell her about the music playing, like how Wham fell apart right after “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” and that George Michael is perv. In among curling her hair while she eats Lexi sometimes likes to play games like “Eat The Bib” and “Fling Food At Dad”.

After breakfast we play. We do this throughout the day in between eating, pooping, and naps. Play can pretty much be anything from following me around watching me do man chores or sitting in front of the TV playing with all Lexi’s fun toys. For the last month or so I have been giving Lexi Race Car Rides in the laundry basket. She loved it but I was getting way to fatigued by this so I brought in the wagon and zoom all over the house in that with much less cardio. Lexi has a good imagination so we have fun with just about anything. It usually involves making a mess, terrorizing Vegas, chasing the cat, or touching something she isn’t supposed to.

By now it’s just about time for my shower so I set Lexi up in her exersaucer where spends the duration of my shower pulling apart my wallet and making noise with bottle full of vitamins. i sing to her while I am in the shower and I can tell when she likes the song because she will join in with some mumbling and jumping in the saucer. By the time I get out my wallet is spread out across the entire bathroom floor and she is chewing on my Visa. I take her out while I get dressed and she explores our closet, mostly just picking things up and dropping them somewhere else.

Once I am dressed we play it out again until Lexi starts to show some signs of being tired. She will yawn or roll on the ground with one of her dolls or blankie. Then I scoop her up and tell her it’s nap time and cuddle her all the way back to her crib. She immediately starts to suck on her blanket and usually goes to sleep without a peep. Usually.

Lexi usually sleeps for about an hour and I spend this time playing poker online, checking e-mail, and stalking people on Facebook. I also start getting Lexi’s lunch ready for when she gets up. We usually do lunch around noon so we can watch Judge Judy. One of Lexi’s early role models.

After lunch I usually get Lexi dressed. I know this seems a little late in the day but it saves me a change if lunch is a messy disaster. Most times I dress her in whatever seems most comfortable. Usually this means sweats and a t-shirt so she is sometimes mistaken for a little boy.

Usually in the afternoon I like to head out in the Lexi Van to get out of the house and break up the day. This is also good because it’s usually only about 130 or so when we head out and Lexi gets an extra nap in on the way to wherever we go. We’ve been hitting up the kiddie pool at Pan-Am, the Mall, visiting Great Grandma, and meeting Al for lunch. Lexi is a star in commute. She either falls asleep instantly or just looks around taking in the sights. It’s awesome to travel with her.

When we get home we usually cuddle up on the couch with a bottle and then play with Grandma until Mommy gets home and does dinner, bath, and bedtime fun. That’s when she tells Mommy all the fun we had.

Earlier this week I started prepping Lexi for the scary sights that come along every year on October 31. It started at my grandma’s house with a witches hat and finished at the mall talking to the scary lady who cleans up the food court. She gave me the heebie jeebies but Lexi still hasn’t developed that fight or flight reflex.

On Friday we went with grandma to mommy’s classroom to help her and her classroom carve pumpkins. Lexi really enjoyed the attention from all the kids and they were all very impressed with her. I also enjoyed hanging out with the kids and did a bang up job on their pumpkin. After it was carved we took all kinds of pictures and the kids all wanted to pick it up because it was massive. At one point it kinda fell and we lost a tooth but decided it added character. It was nice to see mommy at work and we were just in time to have a nice lunch at Subway. Uncle Paul would be proud.

Today is Halloween and we spent the day at Superstore. What? Lexi was wearing her skeleton PJ’s from Uncle Tim and everyone told us how cute she was. Like we don’t know. We popped in at Al and Larissa’s new house and even though they weren’t there Larissa’s mom offered to watch Lexi while we went shopping but we told her we would miss her too much.

It was already late when we got home and the trick or treaters started coming before dinner was ready. We put on the “Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” to set the mood and kept running to the door with Lexi to see all the costumes. i think the preparations we took paid off because she was all smiles at the door. Shan had some tears but the good kind.

In between kids coming to the door Lexi was starting to catch on that more were coming and kept pointing to the door. When the kids would come she would get all excited and start talking when door opened. At one point I decided to sneak out the garage without her seeing and came to the door and yelled “Halloween Apples”. Shan came with Lexi to the door and when she saw it was Vegas and I she gave me this surprised look. I guess you had to be there…

Once the older kids started coming around (without costumes) we turned the house lights out and made sure we had a little inventory left to snack on. Lexi is in bed dreaming of princesses, farm animals, transformers, and dad coming to the door. We on the other hand are watching the “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant” marathon. I have no idea how this is possible but apparently there are enough cases to warrant a friggin MARATHON. I am so tempted to air the male sequel I call “How I Knew My Wife Was Pregnant!”, but that’s another post!

I’m sure I do this every month, but this was the one where I sat back and went holy macaroni, she’s nine months old!

Next week we’ve got you enrolled in driving lessons because you just can’t seem to go a week without showing off and doing something new. Daddy and I went out for supper last week, just the two of us and we were talking about this fierce independence that is beginning to show up in you. It got my math brain working while I was trying to figure out just how high your level of independence would be when you multiply the level you are at right now by 16 years, throw in some adolescent hormones, new friends… argh… just never mind!

But, seriously, the things you are doing! Last week you finally popped your two upper teeth so that we can begin sleeping through the night again and today I observed as you tried to use those fancy new teeth to pull yourself up on the coffee table, hands free! Thank goodness, I pay for our dental plan every month!

Yesterday while I was giving you your night bottle, you began to sign milk while you were drinking. You did it for real again today during supper and you can add that one to the growing list of words that you are able to communicate now! We are up to “more”, “bath”, “milk”, “bye”, and you are working on “all done” and blowing kisses. As for spoken words, I am certain that you have a handle on the universal, “hi”. You never miss an opportunity to greet someone, whether it is to the fish, Vegas, the cat, or one of us.

You are beginning to share your food now, even with Vegas and it has become a fun game around the supper table. We discovered the other day that although you will pretty much eat anything, spaghetti sauce and noodles is not on that list, but perogies are! You love to feed yourself and will usually only let us put a spoon in your mouth if it has some sort of fruit on it. You even pick around the foods that are on your tray, letting us know what your favourites are and which ones you are done with.

You still have this happy go lucky personality, but you have developed some new looks. There is this one in particular where you look through your forehead at us, just like Bryton used to do and it really makes me laugh because it is how I look at you when I am trying to be serious and tell you to sit your bum down in the bathtub! Your smiles are huge and you love to play jokes on me by saying dada when I am trying to get you to say mom.

You are pulling yourself up on everything and anything that will stand still long enough, crawling faster than ever, and beginning to take some steps while we hold your hands! The other day you decided that it was time to show us that you could climb stairs and you were up 7 of them faster than we could believe!

Your look is changing everyday and although for months I have hung onto a shred of hope for some hint of red hair, I think I have to give it up already. Your hair is coming in thick and brown in the back and blond on top. You are a mini-me of your father… but, I think he’s cute too! One awesome thing is how curly your hair is getting over top of your ears and you are constantly styling it as you eat, using the stickiest foods to hold the curl! Also, your cheeks seem to come and go. The other day they were barely pinch-able and then a few days later they were back again. You definitely don’t seem to have the round headed look of your younger days, but you are still SO beautiful and your deep blue eyes are full of life and laughter daily.

You are the most special girl and you make daddy and I so proud that you are ours everyday!

Love you so much,

Mommy