Today was Alex’s first birthday and we spent it doing all the things he likes best. He had pancakes for breakfast and then went to the Norfolk Botanical Gardens to play in the fountains. After a nap and lunch we went to the bounce house. Then after nap and a dinner of his favorite foods he opened all his presents. Not to bad for only a year old!
https://youtu.be/Muhgu5JxoIU
Laura’s friend Vicki from Stroller Strides invited Alex to be part of her smash cake celebration for CJ (her son). Their birthdays are two days apart so she invited us to do a joint party. Vicki brought all the decorations and Laura made the cakes for the boys and the cupcakes for all the kids. Here are the fun pictures and video from this morning, and both boys first experience with cake.
http://youtu.be/UpMPwN4mJ4s
This morning we had a family day and spent the morning getting out of the noise of the city to the country of Chesapeake at Northwest River Park. Both kids did great hiking, Brooke walking almost all of it (minus about a mile on Daddy’s shoulders), and Alex doing well being carried even taking a 20 minute cat nap. We hiked over 3.5 miles! It was good for everyone to get back into nature!
Recently, we have had 3 beach days. I attempted to take both kids on my own ‘just to play in the sand’ after running an errand for a friend. However, they both ended up in the water. Taking two children under 3 to the beach by yourself is not a good idea… a second parent is needed or one less child. Therefore, while Alex was taking his long nap one day Brittney stayed with Alex while I took Brooke to the beach by herself for a mother/daughter date where she could play in the water without stopping. We played in the water for two straight hours! She loved it. Then this weekend AJ was home and we attempted taking both kids to the beach again (after our failed first attempt). Alex made it about an hour before we had to head home, calling it the last beach day of the summer. He did a great job for being a baby at the beach, it’s just a hard place for little ones.
Alex has been crawling for a while now and getting into all sorts of things (i.e. trouble). He goes up and down on Brooke’s bed, the guest bed in the playroom and furniture walks everywhere. Just recently he has learned to sit in Brooke’s chairs, making for a very cute photo opportunity. And yes, he did this all by himself.
