Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year!


And a big "Happy Birthday" to Gigi!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Friday, December 24, 2010

Tradition

Walker Family Christmas Eve tradition?
New pajamas (that are matching, of course)!


Thursday, December 23, 2010

Ready and Waiting

Someone is ready for Santa to come . . .
 

Dancing Queen

 Today we decorated the Christmas tree and had some Christmas music playing in the background.  Alexis started dancing.  She's done her "bounce" dance many times before, but today she started spinning for the first time.  Enjoy:


Monday, December 20, 2010

Tooth #10

First molar, upper right.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Popcorn Popping

Alexis has always loved to sing songs.  Or at least to have us sing to her.  Singing has always helped to calm her down and it always gets the biggest smiles out of her too.  She particularly loves songs that have hand movements with them.  She gave me the biggest surprise last week when I started singing "Popcorn Popping" to her and she did the movements with me.  It was totally out of the blue.  I had to get it on video because 1. it is ridiculously cute and 2. how talented is my daughter? (she is only 13.5 months old!).


P.S.  Sorry about the lack of church blogs, but we have been majorly sick since we traveled to the States.  Especially Alexis, so we have been keeping her home a lot.  We are all on antibiotics now, so hopefully we'll be getting out more often.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Tooth #9

First molar, upper left.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Cousins

Alexis got to meet her cousin Zachary for the first time this week.  It was so fun to watch them get acquainted with each other.

Who are you?
 
Alexis (13 months) & Zachary (6 months)
 
Lessons in sharing . . .
 
Reading with Papi.
 

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Cat

Since we have been in Portland, Alexis has fallen in love with Persephone, the cat.  She has also learned how to say "cat" and "dog."  Alexis has fun chasing Persephone around the house and Persephone likes to steal Alexis' toys.

 

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Fashion Statements

If Alexis is in her room, you can be sure that she will go through drawers and then follow you around with random articles of clothing until you put them on her.  I can't wait to see what she will wear when she's old enough to pick out her own clothes.


Saturday, December 4, 2010

Friday, December 3, 2010

Party Girl

Our church Christmas party is tonight and Alexis is ready to go.

(Her ponytail lasted about 30 seconds before she got her hands on it.)

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Tropical Snow

I was switching out the laundry the other day and I noticed that Alexis was being awfully quiet.  This is what I found:



This is about as close to snow as you can get in the tropics.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Spoon

Alexis has become very interested in silverware. This is one of her first attempts to use a spoon. She is feeding herself yogurt. Well, I am holding the yogurt container and she dips her spoon in and then I kind-of guide it to her mouth (if she will let me).  So far, it hasn't been as messy as I was anticipating.  She is becoming such a big girl!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Video Blog

I have tons of video clips of Alexis that I've been meaning to post, but haven't.  So here they all are.  Be prepared for some cute video overload.

Tickle Torture
21 July 2010


Laughing
8 September 2010


Learning to climb up the stairs.
15 September 2010


At the beach.
(And don't worry, she didn't actually go under water.)
28 September 2010


Learning to go down the stairs.
21 October 2010


"Up" and "Down"
29 October 2010


Monday, November 22, 2010

Curly Q

Alexis has a little 'curly q' growing at the nap of her neck.  John calls it a 'rat tail' (mean Daddy).  We're just hoping that it stays cute and doesn't grow into a mullet.

Kitchen Help

Alexis decided that she wanted to help Mommy in the kitchen today.  Help make a mess that is!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Church #47

This is what I found when I went to get Alexis out of the car after church:


Needless to say, she must have been very tired, because it takes us less than five minutes to drive home!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Dress-up

Alexis loves to play dress-up. She will go through all of her drawers and bring me things to put on her.  Besides her onesie, Alexis chose everything she is wearing:
She has also discovered "bracelets" that she can put on and take off all by herself.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

More cuteness

I know I've said it before, am I'm sure I'll say it again, but Alexis is just so darn cute!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Church #46

Alexis has decided that she doesn't like to wear headbands in her hair anymore.  (Hopefully this stage will pass soon because she has so many cute ones.)  We were lucky to get the picture above where she is smiling and has her headband in.  This is what usually happens:

We have one cheeky monkey on our hands.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Updated

Well, even though my computer has been up and running for a few days, I have been slow in updating the posts.  But, they're all up now.  The new posts start on Alexis' birthday, 26 October.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Church #45

It's Party Time!

Today was Alexis' birthday party.  We had it at the kids area of the Riverway Pool (a free, public pool in Townsville).  So, first on the agenda was swimming of course!

Next, it was cupcake time.  Alexis loves bananas, so I made her banana cupcakes with a pineapple glaze and some fresh fruit on top.  They turned out great.  Eating one was like having a tropical party in your mouth!  Her cupcake was extra big and had some blueberries on top (another of her favourites), and of course her #1 candle.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Alexis:

When it came to eating her cupcake, Alexis was a little tentative at first; very typical behaviour when you give her something she's never eaten before.  But she got the hang of it.  She's such a dainty eater that she didn't really end up making that big of a mess.

Alexis eating her cupcake:

The last activity was opening presents.  Alexis loved taking all of the paper off.  She got a lot of different bath toys, which was perfect, because she loves to take baths.
It was fun to have a "summer" birthday.  I thought we better take advantage of living in the southern hemisphere.  As soon as we move back to the U.S. Alexis will have a fall birthday that is super close to Halloween.  Alexis loves swimming so much, so we're glad that we could celebrate with a pool party.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Tooth #8

Upper right lateral incisor.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Waiting

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am having computer problems again. So, all of posts about Alexis turning one will have to wait. John is working super hard on his thesis (even at night), so I can't really borrow his computer at the moment.  Just hold tight and hopefully sometime next week I'll have a fully functioning computer.

Numbers

We had Alexis' one year check-up today.  She is a healthy, growing girl.  Here are her all-important numbers:

Weight: 8.66 kg or 19 lbs (18%)
Height: 73 cm or 28.7 in (37%)
Head circumference: 44 cm or 17.3 in (25%)

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

First Birthday

Today was Alexis' first birthday.  We can't believe our baby girl is one year old!  This past year somehow managed to feel like the longest and shortest year ever.  We have loved watching Alexis grow and develop into a little person.  It seems like everyday she does something new.  We love her so much; we're so happy that we get to be her mommy and daddy.

Here are some things about Alexis at one year old:
  • Alexis loves water.  She loves to drink water, she loves to take baths and she loves to go swimming.  I've been taking her to 'Mommy and Me' swim classes since she was six months old and she is a natural.
  •  I hesitate to say it, and hopefully she'll outgrow it fast, but Alexis tends to be a picky eater.  She knows what she likes and she knows what she doesn't like.  And there is no tricking her.  It's partially my fault, because she also knows that if she fusses enough, she'll get something she likes.  She has this 'determined' look that is so cute.
  • Alexis is a very happy baby girl.  She is always smiling and laughing.  Her giggle is so funny sounding.  She is also very dramatic.  On the rare occasions when she is unhappy, it is a quick change.  There is nothing in-between happy and sad for her.
  • Alexis is very curious.  She is constantly pointing at things and asking "dis?" ("this?").
  • She never stops moving!  Alexis is very active and never really sits still (unless she's interested in the story you're reading).  She loves to climb up and down the stairs and cruise along the furniture.  If there's music on then she shakes her bum around in a cute little dance.
  • Alexis loves to be outside.  If she's not outside, then she loves to stand at the window and point at everything she can see.  She blows raspberries on the window too.
  • Besides swimming, Alexis' all-time favourite thing to do is read.  She is equally happy reading a book to herself (turning the pages and pointing at the pictures) or having you read to her.  She likes to pick out the book and then sit in your lap while you read to her.  She almost always wants to read the same book multiple times before she chooses a different story.
  • Alexis is very affectionate.  She loves to cuddle and give kisses, usually slobbery, open mouth ones.  We're trying to teach her how to blow kisses.  So far she has the "mmmmaaa" sound down, but not the hand part.
  • Alexis can now sleep through the night without me having to feed her, and in her own room too!  She has been doing this for about a month now.  We are loving the extra sleep and having our own room back.
The first thing we did to celebrate Alexis' birthday was to open up presents.  We skyped Nana so that she could watch Alexis open her present.  Nana gave her a baby doll.  It was love at first sight.  Alexis loves her doll and loves to cuddle it.  And no matter how many times I say "baby," Alexis says "Dada" (which is ok, because she usually calls John "Da").  So now the baby's name is Dada.  It's so cute.

    Alexis got to open all of her other presents too.  She loved ripping the paper and seemed to know exactly what to do.  She got so many fun gifts.
    Later that day we headed to the Strand for a birthday lunch.  Doesn't Alexis look adorable in her birthday dress?
    We met up with our friends Peter and Dorothy who were visiting from Perth.  We ate at Jamaica Joe's, a restaurant on the water that we have always wanted to try.  We were so happy to have Peter and Dorothy with us to celebrate.

    It was a pretty low-key birthday, but we have more celebrating planned for this weekend.  I know that I said it before, but we can't believe that Alexis is one!

    Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

    Monday, October 25, 2010

    Where is the Green Sheep?

    I've mentioned before that Alexis' favourite book is Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox.  She loves it so much, that she's practically loved our copy to death.  It is completely falling apart:

    So what is a good mommy to do?  Get her a new one, of course:
    Hopefully this copy will last until she no longer wants to eat the pages and she can progress from the board book to one with normal pages.  But by then of course, she may not love this particular book so much.  Happy reading!

    Sunday, October 24, 2010

    Tuesday, October 19, 2010

    Girls' Weekend

    Alexis and I recently got back from spending a few days in Brisbane with our friends the Hanns and the Atkinsons.  Rebecca, Steph and I became friends when we were all living in Townsville, but sadly they have both moved to Brisbane.  And since they've moved, Rebecca has had her first baby (Gabby), Steph had her second (Noah), and I had Alexis.  I was desperate to see them both and the babies.  I was lucky to find some cheap plane tickets, so Alexis and I headed off.  It was so fun to watch the babies interact with each other and for me to be able to relax and visit with old friends. 

    Rebecca and I taking the babies downtown.
    We saw the Valentino exhibit at the Gallery of Modern Art.  It was amazing to see so many vintage Valentino dresses.  Beautiful!

    Alexis and Gabriella.
    It was so cute to see these two girls together.  They didn't quite know what to make of each other.  It was Alexis' first attempt at sharing toys and I must admit that she didn't do so well.  She kept grabbing everything Gabby tried to play with.

    Alexis with Eliana and Noah.
    Alexis absolutely loved Eliana.  And Ellie was very nice about sharing her toys and playing with Alexis.  Noah is just so adorable; he has the most kissable little baby cheeks I've ever seen!

    We took the kids to a local park by Seth and Steph's house.  The girls had fun swinging and feeding the ducks, eels (!), and goldfish.

    Our trip went by so fast.  Next time I will definitely plan a longer visit.  We miss our friends already.

    Sunday, October 17, 2010

    Church #43

    Try number one:

    Try number two:
    Try number three: