Alex

I thought I would write a little bit about our 2 1/2 year old Alex.  Alex brings such joy and happiness to our lives.  He is our little comedian and dancer.  He even danced in the aisles at church in Cincinnati.  We have not figured out what music is his favorite but he definitely has an opinion in the car on what he would like to listen to.  He is a big fan of the drum set that we have in the basement too.

The most common phrase that we hear with Alex is "I do it."  Amazingly, Alex can put on his own sandels with multiple velcro slots and on the right feet.  I love that I can tell him to put on his shoes and he does it!  Alex also has taken the rule to take off his shoes to the "T."  He immediately plops down on the floor at any house and takes them off.  Alex also tries to put his clothes on - very unsuccessfully.  We have found him upstairs after Jack is asleep, trying on clothes.  He usually has his feet in the armholes of a shirt and socks on his hands.

Alex wants to do anything that his big brother is doing from riding a bike and scooter, putting a puzzle together, playing cars and trains, and putting his seatbelt on in the car.  He can buckle the top part.  He also would love to sleep on the top bunk.  We have found him trying to climb into the top bunk.  We had to take the ladder away because of Alex's tactics.

Alex's favorite movie is Wall-E.  He watched it multiples times on the trip to Cincinnati.  He also is a big fan of Playhouse Disney.

Alex is a big food critic.  He is not very good at eating his veggies but he loves fruit - bananas, grapes and apples.  He eats the apples but not the skin!  He calls bananas, "Nanas."  He loves hotdogs too.  When you hear "Good" from Alex, it makes your day.  You may also hear "Awww" at the dinner table and it could be a long night.  Most common phrases from Alex are Hacker - Cracker and Hacken "Ice Cream." 

Alex is in speech therapy but he has come a long way!  In the beginning, we only heard things that sounded very German.  Now Alex is putting two word phrases together such as "Need Help", "Big Plane." He calls every color Blue.  Austin is Doggie.  We have not heard him say his name or Austin's name.  We are waiting on those things.  Alex is a trooper and hopefully will become less frustrated with his speech as time goes on.

We think Alex will become an engineer.  He loves to see how things work and mimic them.  We have absolutely loved showing him several sports, some odd dance moves and juggling to see Alex mimic those things.  He will try!  Alex's love for all balls has not diminished.  He loves to play all sports.  He will even bring you the ball to play with him.  He is very coordinated at sports, riding his scooter and his little red bike.

Alex is scared of fireworks and Uncle Pat!  He will run up the stairs and say "I scared."  Uncle Pat loves to play monster and make the kids cry!  While Alex is scared of those things, he is our little protector.  If Alex sees Jack fall down, he will ask "Jack - ok?"  Jack is Alex's best friend.  He also tries to protect Jack from friends who are playing too rough.

One more thing about Alex - he loves to open all the mailboxes in the neighborhood.  Maybe he will work for the post office!

Alex, you bring such joy to our lives and laughter.  Your smile is contagious!  We love you!