Born:
Dec. 28, 2003
6 lbs. 7 oz.
20 inches

Timeline

December 28, 2003 - Alex is born!

December 31, 2003 - Alex comes home from the hospital.

January 4, 2004 - Alex's Bris and Hebrew naming.

January 5, 2004 - First pediatrician appointment, 1 week old. The dr. said everything looked good with Alex. He weighed 6 lbs 7.8 oz (back to his birth weight) and he was 20 1/2 inches long (already grew half an inch) and his head circumference was 35 cm. They also did another PKU test.

January 16, 2004 - Lost umbilical cord.

January 28, 2004 - Alex is 1 months old!

February 6, 2004 - Smiled for the first time (6 weeks old).

February 10, 2004 - 7 week check up appointment. He weighed 10 lbs 11 oz (50th percentile) and he was 22 1/2 inches long (55%) and his head circumference was 37 3/4 cm (15%). Dr. said he is doing wonderful. Perfectly healthy and developmentally right on schedule (even a little ahead with his upper body strength).

February 28, 2004 - Alex is 2 months old!

March 21, 2004 - Alex got his first cold at 13 weeks old :(

March 28, 2004 - Alex is 3 months old!

April 4, 2004 - Rolled from his belly to his back for the first time at 3 months old!

April 7, 2004 - Went to the Dr. because he has his SECOND cold! Its just a cold no infections. He weighed 14 lbs 6oz which is the 65th percentile.

April 28, 2004 - Alex is 4 months old!

April 29, 2004 - Had his first solid food. We tried a tablespoon of rice cereal and although he made some really funny faces, he ate it all up.

May 2, 2004 - Alex found his voice today. He started doing this high pitched happy squeal. It's very cute.

May 3, 2004 - Slept for 6 straight hours in his cradle that night!

May 4, 2004 - 4 month checkup appointment (19 Weeks). He weighed 14 lbs 15 oz (50th percentile) and he was 25 1/2 inches long (70%) and his head circumference was 41 cm (20%). He got his 4 month shots (4 of them). Dr. said he is doing really well and he has a great disposition. He's healthy and developmentally right on schedule. She said we could slowly start to try giving him some fruit or veggies, but that it was up to us and what we felt comfortable with.

May 7, 2004 - Laughed his first real laugh.

May 9, 2004 - Michelle's first Mother's Day..

May 14, 2004 - Had baby applesauce for the first time.

May 18, 2004 - Tried bananas for the first time and he loves them!

May 20, 2004 - Alex found his toes. He's so cute grabbing them and playing with them.

May 24, 2004 - Alex tried peaches- after a few funny faces, he seemed to enjoy them. Don't think his tummy is really ready for them, he ended up spitting up all the next day.

May 28, 2004 - Alex is 5 months old!

May 28, 2004 - Tried Prunes and didn't really like them, but they were necessary for some constipation issues due to to many bananas and rice cereal.

June 1, 2004 - Tried Pears and didn't seem to like these either. After a few days he started eating them right up and appeared to enjoy them.

June 6, 2004 - Rolled from his back to his tummy!

June 16, 2004 - Tried his first veggie, green beans. As with all the other foods he didn't seem to like it at first. But now he does just fine with them.

June 20, 2004 - Jamie's first Father's Day. Since Jamie has the chicken pox, I'm sure it will not be a day he will forget.

June 22, 2004 - Mommy's official last day of work. I will now be a stay at home mom, where I can watch and take care of my little munchkin all the time. Alex even came to work with me for my last day. Everyone loved him and thought he was just adorable.

June 25, 2004 - Alex tried butternut squash for the first time and ate it all up. Afterwards, he promptly sucked on his bib and wiped his hands all over his face despite mommy's strict orders.

June 28, 2004 - Alex is 6 months old!

June 29, 2004 - Alex tried sweet potatos for the first time. So far I don't think there is a food this child doesn't like.

June 30, 2004 - We went to our first gymbore class today. Alex loved the bubbles, parachute, and the Jimmy clown puppet. He seemed to look at everything and everyone, but mommy, even when she was singing and playing to him. We signed up for the 10 week summer session and now we'll go once a week. Alex and mommy made lots of new friends and even went to lunch after class.

July 4, 2004 - Alex's first 4th of July.

July 7, 2004 - Alex tried peas for the first time. As with all the other foods he's tried he ate the whole jar.

July 10, 2004 - Alex sat without any help for a minute for the first time.

July 11, 2004 - Well he found his toes a while back, and now he's managed to figure out that he can suck on them too. It's very cute, especially when he tries to put them both in his mouth at the same time.

July 21, 2004 - He's getting up on all fours (hands and knees) and rocking back and forth, won't be long now before he's crawling.

July 22, 2004 - Alex tried carrots for the first time. He ate them, but didn't seem as thrilled with them as with the other foods.

July 24, 2004 - Rolled into a sitting position for the first time. He looked so pleased with himself.

July 28, 2004 - Alex is 7 months old!

August 2, 2004 - Tried his first finger food, a cheerio. He made some very interesting faces and made some gagging sounds, but he didn't seem to have too much trouble eating it. Have to try again another day.

August 2, 2004 - He crawled forward for the first time! Of course mommy missed it and the little stinker waited to do it for daddy.

August 3, 2004 - Alex said his first word, mama.

August 3, 2004 - 7 month checkup appointment (supposed to be 6 month). He weighed 17 lbs 5.8 oz (37th percentile) and he was 28 inches long (80%) and his head circumference was 43 cm (17%). He got his 6 month shots (4 of them). Dr. said he is doing wonderfully and that he is right on schedule for everything. He is teething (she saw 2 trying to come through), but that it might take weeks before they broke through the skin. She said we can start feeding solids up to 3 times a day depending on how he does and its up to us when we want to start.

August 9, 2004 - Alex held onto his toy bin and pulled himself up to a standing position for the first time.

August 12, 2004 - Tried creamed spinach for the first time. It smelled gross to me, but he seemed to like it.

August 18, 2004 - Tried mango for the first time. Seemed to like it.

August 25, 2004 - Tried kiwi for the first time. Not sure if he liked it or not. Has been very fussy eating lately.

August 28, 2004 - Alex is 8 months old!

August 30, 2004 - Tried cantelope for the first time. Loved it! Gave him little pieces of it and he gobbled it up.

End of August, 2004 - Alex started furniture cruising. The dog started hanging out in the other room.

September 2, 2004 - Gave him pears with pineapple. Didn't even seem to notice I gave it to him.

September 3, 2004 - Tried his first meat- a savory chicken dish. He made a mess. Daddy discovered Alex is a chick magnet.

September 28, 2004 - Alex is 9 months old!

September 30, 2004 - Alex tried whole wheat waffles and picked up food and fed himself for the first time.

End of September, 2004 - Alex has now tried most meats and seems to like them all.

October 4, 2004 - 9 month checkup appointment. He weighed 19 lbs 12 oz (45th percentile) and he was 29 1/2 inches long (80%) and his head circumference was 44.25 cm (12%). He got his 9 month shots (2 of them), including the flu shot. He's still teething although nothing is poking through at the moment. She said to continue feeding him a variety of foods. She was happy with his progress and thinks he's doing great.

October 15, 2004 - Alex took his first steps!

October 28, 2004 - Alex is 10 months old!

November 8, 2004 - Alex's first tooth is starting to pop through.

November 9, 2004 - Alex's has learned to wave, but won't exactly do it on cue.

November 13, 2004 - Alex's has learned to clap. Its so cute!

November 25, 2004 - Alex's first Thanksgiving.

November 28, 2004 - Alex is 11 months old!

November 29, 2004 - Alex got his second tooth.

December 7, 2004 - Alex's first Hanukkah the first night of Hanukkah was celebrated at our house. Will celebrate with both families on the 11th and 12th.

December 10, 2004 - Alex stood for the first time without pulling himself up. He was anxiously waiting for his bath when he suddenly popped up and walked out the door!

December 14, 2004 - Tried whole milk for the first time. Didn't seem to mind it and didn't appear to have any reactions to it.

December 28, 2004 - Alex is 12 months old! Our little man is a whole year old!

January 2, 2005- Alex had his first birthday party. His Winnie the Pooh party was a blast. He had a great time and got many nice toys and clothes.

January 3, 2005- 12 month checkup appointment. He weighed 19 lbs 12 oz (11th percentile) and he was 31 1/4 inches long (90%) and his head circumference was 44.5 cm (8%). He got his 12 month shots, TB test, chicken pox, and MMR. Wants him to come back in a month to check his weight. Said she wasn't worried about him not gaining weight, that its normal for their weight gain to slow down at this age because they become more active.

January 28, 2005- Alex is 13 months old!

February 28, 2005- Alex is 14 months old!

March 10, 2005- Alex said doggie (well really it was more like oggie but we got the point). He also learned to point at things.

March 23, 2005- Alex is cutting his 3rd tooth (its about time).

March 28, 2005- Alex is 15 months old!

April 16, 2005 - Cutting his 5th tooth.

April 21, 2005 - His 6th tooth is coming through.

By the end of 15 months old Alex could say a bunch of words. He can say mama, mom mom, dada, daddy, hi, cheese, doggie (which actually sounds like gee, but he definitely says it for the dog), juice, bye, this, that, weeeee (when he's playing and excited), ishy (for fishy).

He can also now climb onto the couch without any help and looks so pleased with himeself everytime he climbs on. Also climbs onto the coffee table.

He can point to his nose when asked where's your nose.

Gives daddy a high five.

He now howls when the dog barks and everytime the dog walks by him he howls (very cute).

Sleeps through the whole night and lays down to go to sleep on his own in his crib for naps and at night.

He's learned to dance and wiggles with the wiggles everytime they come on the tv. He also twirls around and says weeeee.

To mommy and daddy's displeasure Alex has learned to sulk and pout when he doesn't get his way (terrible two's early? We hope not).

Loves to play outside and go to the playground. His favorite thing to do is go down the slide with daddy.

He became obsessed with one toy. A ball popper that for 2 days he didn't let go of. That's right, he ate in his high chair holding onto it and screamed and cried when it was taked away for bath time and night time.

April 28, 2005- Alex is 16 months old!

April 29, 2005- Alex nursed for the last time. He's now no longer breastfeeding.

May 27, 2005- Alex caught his first ball today. He (and daddy) were very excited. Daddy can't wait till he can buy Alex his first baseball glove. Alex can also now say ball, shoe, and what sounds like thank you.

May 28, 2005- Alex is 17 months old!

May 30, 2005- Alex took Mommy's hand and led her around the living room. He seemed quite proud of his newest 'trick'. Alex also put his head and hands on the floor and did a forward roll all on his own. Were pretty sure it was an accident, but it was still cute anyway.

June 2, 2005- Alex surprised Mom and Dad by quietly stacking blocks on his own today. He got up to 6 before they fell and he kept on stacking very intently for quite a while!

June 28, 2005- Alex is 18 months old!

June 28, 2005 - 18 month Dr. appt. Weight 22 lbs 6 oz (5% percentile), Height 33 1/2 in. (80% percentile). Only had to get one shot and she said at our next appt. when he's 2 he won't have to get any shots . Everything she said he was doing just fine, no concerns or issues. So it was a good appt. nothing too exciting.

July 1, 2005 - Alex is learning his body parts. I know for sure that he knows his nose, head, & belly button (he can point to them when you ask where they are) but I don't think he knows how to say the words (well maybe nose). If he knows any others I'm not aware of it. Alex now says about 15-20 words. mama, Mommy, dada, daddy, Maw (for my mom (grandma Rikon) think he shortened grandMA), ball, cheese, shoe, this, that, hi, ba-bye, doggie, fishy, juice, me, dog (for hotdog), uh-oh. And I swear as I'm typing this he just said "all done"! His first 2 word phrase.

July 2-9, 2005 - Our first family vacation to FL. We had a good trip for the most part. While we were away Alex cut a new tooth, learned how to say boo (he was climbing in and out of a cabinet at the hotel and I kept saying peekaboo, so he would open the door stick his head out and go boo and then giggle), red, plane, and Jamie swears he says blue and moon. He did awsome on the flight up. Five minutes after the plane took off he fell asleep and didn't wake up until we hit the ground in FL! On the way back is another story although I can say he was not the worst baby on the plane. He actually did alright, he got a little fussy and really just wanted to run around when he couldn't. We left FL just in time, before hurricane Dennis was headed our way (of course it missed FL, but we got some horrible weather our last day there and we were actually worried that they wouldn't let our plane take off). Other then that we had beautiful weather the rest of the week. The first couple of days we were there we spent with Jamie's entire family for his cousins wedding (Ben). Alex looked adorable in his little suit. We did get Alex to come down the aisle. Jamie stood at the top of the aisle and tried to kind of push him in the right direction and I was in the second row up front trying to get his attention to come forward. First he kind of just stood there looking at the rose petals in the grass. Finally I called his name and said come on baby and held out my arms and he came running towards me with a big ol smile on his face. It was I swear the cutest thing I've ever seen! He was a superstar!!! The rest of the week we spent on Lido Key in Sarasota. Alex loved the beach and pool. He was a little scared of the ocean at first but after about 10 minutes he kept trying to run in and got mad when we got out. The hotel we stayed at was really nice. Only complaint was that the food wasn't as great as I would expect for a nice hotel.

July 12, 2005 - Alex is finally getting all his teeth! Last week he got #9, I just felt and #10 came through over last night, and I feel #11 trying to come through the skin. Won't be long before that last molar pops through.

July 15, 2005 - Alex has learned to say "no". I think were in trouble now.

July 20, 2005 - Alex said hot today. He also learned how to say plane and when he hears one in the sky he points and looks up and says plane. He has also learned how to jump with both feet off the ground. His dancing is becoming more elaborate then just moving his hands around, he's using his body too. He will now give you a real hug when asked and also will give you a kiss when you say can I have a kiss.

July 23, 2005 - We are beginning to regret teaching him "uh-oh". Now that he's figured out how to say it he won't stop. At first he was using it in the right context now everything is uh-oh over and over again. You'd think with his 25-30 word vocabulary that this wouldn't be the only thing he's saying right now. He's is extremely cute when he's doing it though (except when he's throwing food to the dog and then looking at us and saying uh-oh).

July 28, 2005- Alex is 19 months old!

August 25, 2005- We took Alex to the Baltimore Zoo for the first time today. We had a blast! Alex loved it, it was so much fun. I was starting to think that he just wasn't getting it about what different animals say, but today he was making some of them all on his own! He went ooooaaaaa for the monkey's and roared for the lions, and even whoooo whooo for the owl! It was awsome, I'm so proud and he was so cute doing it.

August 28, 2005- Alex is 20 months old!

August 28, 2005- Alex was watching the wiggles (which he loves) and he started trying to sing along with one of the songs and doing the dances. He now does that to at least 4 songs that I've seen. One of them is the monkey dance and the other is Rock a bye your bear. He also learned how to say bat, car, toot-toot, and baby all within a week. If you ask him to bring you something like his shoes or sippy cup he will go look for them and then bring them right to you.

September 28, 2005- Alex is 21 months old!

October 28, 2005- Alex is 22 months old!

November 28, 2005- Alex is 23 months old!

December 4, 2005- Alex had his very first haircut today. He did so great! He looked like he was on the verge of tears the whole time, but he never did cry. Sat there and watched the wiggles and let her cut his hair. I got a little teary, but I held back from crying myself. He looks like such a big boy now, sniff sniff. He even got a little certificate and of course I got some of the hair in a tiny baggie.

December 19, 2005- Last night I was changing Alex and getting him in his pj's for bed. I have no idea why he started doing it but he was tickling HIMSELF under his arm and giggling. It was the cutest (and weirdest) thing I've ever seen. Then this morning he touched his belly button and giggled. I think he was trying to tickle himself again.

December 28, 2005- Alex is 24 months old!

We had a great day! First we went to the Baltimore Aquarium. As soon as we got out of the car in the city it was like sensory overload for Alex. He started pointing and saying car, bus, bird, water (we were in the inner Harbour) and wow and whoa. It was pretty cute. He loved the aquarium. He ran all over the place pointing at everything. He only got ornerany towards the end when he saw a kid with a bag of chips and then of course he wanted chips and the 4 different snacks I had brought with us was no substitute. So after Jamie ran to the cafe and bought our spoiled child a bag of chips, we left the aquarium and ate lunch at the Hard Rock cafe. That was a treat cause its pretty expensive and thats where all the tourist go. We headed home and Alex and Jamie took a nap. Then Alex had a cupcake (I was icing them and of course he threw a fit until I gave him one). Am I that same person who before Alex was born said my kid won't get whatever he wants when he wants it and especially won't eat a ton of sweets and junkfood? Then he got his presents and because his birthday is so close to Hanukkah he got a bonus gift and got to open one of his Hanukkah presents too. He loved the wiggles dolls we gave him and the big red car. Overall, it was a great day. I still can't believe my baby is 2, but I'll get over it.

January 2, 2006- This morning Alex threw his pacifier out of his crib when I came to get him. He then pointed and said a nuk a nuk. He's never actually said nuk before. Then later in the morning he was getting upset cause a sticker wasn't sticking to anything anymore so I pulled out a small sheet that had pumpkins on it. He pointed to one of the stickers and said pumpkin super clearly. Never said that before either. Then Jamie took him to Mcdonalds for lunch and there was some kind of lego type table and Jamie was trying to help him, he pushed Jamie away and said "I got it." I think that might be his very first 3 word sentence. He also said later in the day "sock off" and "let go." Yesterday at my parents house he pointed to elmo and actually said Elmo, and watching football with all the men said defense and a pretty close sounding touch down. I'm just so amazed at how quickly he is picking stuff up. And some stuff I didn't even know he knew and there he is just talking away. Alex walked into the bathroom and pulled down his pants (never done this before) and sat on his potty. After a few minutes he stood up and grabbed some toilet paper and took off his diaper, sat back down and started to wipe his butt. He didn't actually pee or poop while sitting on it, but it was just so cool that he was going through the motions. Looks like we might need to start potty training soon.

I decided to try and put him to bed without his pacifier tonight. He only uses it still while he's sleeping. I was pretty surprised when he didn't cry or whine for it. It took about 45 minutes of him playing, but he did great and finally went to sleep!

January 17, 2006- Went great and was pretty uneventful which is good. Weight is 25 3/4 (25%) he went up in weight but down in percentage, she wasn't concerned cause the weight still went up. Height was 35 3/4 (85%) went up in percentage. Developmentally she said he was perfect and right where he should be. Even said his language has always been a bit advanced for his age which surprised me cause I thought he might be a little behind. Especially with stuff like saying phrases and sentences and colors, letters, numbers. She also said that this bad cold he has hasn't turned into any infections so it just needs to run its course. No shots wooo hooo! And we don't need to come back for another year.

January 28, 2006- Alex is 25 months old!

Future Appointments / Events

36 month appt.