• Weeks 1-4
• Weeks 5-8
• Weeks 9-12
• Weeks 13-16
• Weeks 17-20
• 5 Months
• 6 Months
• 7 months
• 8 months
• 9 months
• 10 months
• 11 months
• First Birthday
• 12 months
• 13 months
• 14 months
• 15 months
• 16 months
• 17 months
• 18 months
• 19 months
• 20 months
• 21 months
• 22 months
• 23 months
• Second Birthday
• 24 months
• 25 months
• 26 months
• 27 months
• 28 months
• 29 months
• 30 Months
• 31 Months
• 32 Months
• 33-34 Months
• 35 Months
• 36 Months
• Third Birthday
• March 2005
• April 2005
• May 2005
• June 2005
• July 2005
• August 2005
• September 2005
• October 2005
• November 2005
• December 2005
• January 2006
• February 2006
• Fourth Birthday
• March 2006
• April 2006
• May 2006
• June 2006

• Main Alec Page

15 Months

We went to the town parade the other night and you just loved it. You were up on your dad's shoulder's so you had a great view. You loved the dogs, the horses, the fire engines - all of it. And when the people would clap you would clap your hands and you just had the biggest grin on your face. It made me smile to see you so happy and excited.

Your vocabulary grows every day. You said apple, medicine (well what was supposed to be medicine) and your dad is convinced you brought a book to him and said "read book" which of course probably sounded more like "reee buh" Not that I don't believe him, but I think it is early for you to be stringing words together!

Poor Alec, you have your first ear infection! I guess in 15 months that is not a bad record! You were so whiny and clingy in the morning I knew something had to be wrong. Since we had your 15 month appointment that day I figured there was no point to call the doctor, we'd wait for your appointment. And your appointment went great - you are a huge boy! 30 pounds which is 97th percentile, and your are 34.5 inches tall - absolutely off the charts. Everything was good except your ear - infected. Poor baby. But you are on medicine which you love and ask for "moh" of, and doing much better.

Well it's happened. You are now a climber. You can now get up on to the couch by yourself. Your dad had to stop you from continuing to climb up over the back of the couch. You are going to be quite the risktaker I think. You also now get up onto your rocker and stand up on it and rock. My hair is getting grayer....

Alec you are such a ray of light and sunshine. I don't know how I got such a happy boy! You make me laugh and smile. Tonight you made up a game to play with me. I was in the kitchen doing the dinner dishes and your dad was running your bath. You ran into the kitchen, gave me a kiss, said bye bye and ran back to the bathroom. You then proceeded to do this over and over again. It is amazing to see how your mind works, see you devise a "game" and then to see your developing sense of humor.

For some reason you now "smile" for the camera. You have morphed your drama queen grimace into a squeezed eye shut open mouth smile for the camera face. I filmed you doing it tonight. Absolutely priceless.

Your bottom two canine teeth have popped through. They look painful! And today you smacked your mouth on a metal climbing bar at the park today and your one tooth bled a bit. You came over for a hug form me and then were good to go. You are quite resilient!

You LOVE the medicine you have to take for your ear infection. LOVE it. When it's medicine time, I ask you if you want medicine. Your whole face lights up and you say "A-Ha" which is your new yes. Then you scarf it down and when you are done you say "More". Love you.

Your vocabulary amazes and amazes me. You do say read! You brought me a book today and said "read this" I couldn't believe it, I felt bad for doubting your dad. Obviously we think you are brilliant now! Your speech is not crystal clear, but your intent is clear!

Alec I feel like I haven't written in your journal in ages. But you are still 15 months old (it's June 25th) so it can't have been that long! We have just been traveling fiends lately so I haven't had a chance to write much. But you have been such a good boy during all of our crazy travels! Literally plane train and automobiles here!

First we went off to find a place to live for the summer while your dad has his internship. Then we packed up and went to Florida for a week to visit your Rothenberg grandparents. Oh Alec did you have fun! You loved sitting on the couch reading with your Grammy. And only Grammy would do - no one else could read to yo if she was around. And you had to be sitting on the couch. It was so sweet!

One night we went out to dinner and we left in separate cars and Grammy went with Paw - you cried like there was no tomorrow. You were convinced you would never see your Grammy again. Your dad and I felt so bad for you - and rather like chopped liver for ourselves - you just didn't get that you would see her shortly. Poor guy - the tears were just streaming down your face.

We took you to the ocean. And you are your mother's son - you loved it. You loved the sand, the waves, the water, the air - everything. You didn't care if you were caked in sand, if a wave knocked you over - it was all wonderful to you. When the wave first came up and got your feet wet you laughed out loud from the joy of it - silly wave! And then a bigger wave came and got you wet up to your bottom. You laughed louder. So much fun! Then your dad and I took you in deep in the ocean and you "rode" the waves. You're a natural. We built sandcastles as well, which you did like to destroy! And we dug a hole to make you a pool but the waves just couldn't quite reach - we overestimated high tide. Oh well, you didn't mind :)

We went back to the beach at night to see the full moon rise. You weren't afraid at all even though it was so dark. You saw the big moon in the sky and you said "ooooohhhh".

Even better than the beach was the Safari park. You saw lions and elephants and giraffes and zebras - and many other truly amazing animals. You seemed to like the elephant best. The rhino came right up to our car - literally right up to it which was truly amazing to be so close to such a prehistoric animal.

Best of all was probably the pool. I think you could get used to the Florida life. We even cruised around in a golf cart! But having a pool right there to use everyday was so nice. You loved it. You do seem to have lost some of that natural swimming reflex you had in the fall though. I guess you are too long out of the womb. My baby is growing up! Regardless, you had fun going "splasha splasha splasha". We got you some arm floats and an inflatable turtle raft - you weren't that keen on them. You wanted to do it all yourself - kept trying to get free from us even though you can't swim! And you love to drink the water - YUCK! I think we need to find you a baby pool.

Oh and you love to clean the pool as well. You thought sweeping the pool was the coolest thing ever. Grammy and Paw gave you your own broom and you never let go of that thing. You had a mission!

You did so well on the plane rides - well except for liking to kick the person's chair in front of you. Your legs are just long enough to kick the chair perfectly. Hopefully as you grow they will reach down lower and you won't kick as much - it's awful! I feel bad for the person in front of you, though I do try to get you to stop!

Then we were back home for literally a day before we took off to Carrie's wedding in NH and stopped off at our new summer apartment on the way to drop some stuff off. You did pretty good on the car trip - probably better than your dad and I did. We were so tried and grumpy and it took forever to get there - the mountains were in the way!

Clio and her parents came to NH to watch you though and you had the best time with them! You went on a gondola ride up a mountain and you got to go swimming too. You are such a water baby!

After NH we were off to Boston and you went to the Aquarium with your dad and Uncle Bob and Aunt Sharry while I got to go have brunch with my college roomates. Unfortunately it was pouring rain so everyone else decided to go to the Aquarium. Your dad says there was no free space at all. Oh well :( We'll try again when you are bigger.

So after even more time in the car we are here now in our temporary home. It is fine, you and I go exploring every morning, come home for your nap and explore more in the afternoon. This afternoon we went to the pool here at our apartment complex. I think this is where we will spend a lot of our time this summer. You just love to swim.

So what have you been up to besides traveling.....here are some funny Alec stories:

You are fascinated by everything we do and you just soak it all up. The other day you went into the bathroom, took my deodorant off the counter, lifted your shirt and proceeded to "put" deodorant on your stomach. It was priceless. I tried to get a picture, but it just doesn't capture what a funny moment it was. Alec, you crack me up with your little adult ways.

Your favorite word is "more". I think you now finally understand that it doesn't just apply to food - it applies to everything. When we are driving I always point out trucks or "bob the builders" to you to help occupy you. Well now when I point to a truck and it goes by, you look at me and say "more" - as in "please show me more trucks now" - and the look on your face is just priceless. So earnest, so sincere - no doubt in your mind that I can just conjure some trucks up for your entertainment.

Today you used your favorite word for kisses though and I thought my heart would break it was so sweet. I gave you a big kiss and you said "more" so I gave you another and you kept asking for more, so I just smothered you all up with kisses. My sweet boy.

You really got used to having your dad around and now that he is back at work you really miss him. Every morning when you get up and see me the first thing you say is "dada?" and I say no he is at work and you look confused then say "dada?" and we repeat until you understand he isn't here. Then we go through the same thing when we come home for lunch and you aren't here. He missed his dad so much!

When you are eating something you like it is usually a big production. You will either put it in your mouth slowly and relish every bite and make lots of "ummmm" noises - or you will rapidly grab as much of the food as possible and shove it into your mouth as quick as possible. Silly boy!

You seem to have a new attachment object - or as close to one as you can get. You love this golf set I got at a yard sale. Love it You walk around with a club in your hand for most of the day (when you don't have a broom in your hand which is another story). When we went to pack the golf set to take on the road with us you were devastated when your dad took it out to the car - I think you thought he was taking it away for good. There was just no consoling you. You were pretty happy to see it once you got in the car :)

I was sitting on the floor getting ready to read you a book and you got up, grabbed me by the back of my shirt and literally pulled me over to the couch - you insisted we sit on the couch to read just like you and Grammy did, Trust me, despite your limited vocabulary, you have no trouble expressing your wishes!

You got hold of my camera today and put it to your face and pretended to take a picture. You knew exactly what to do. It's just so interesting b/c I don't know if you really associate the camera with the finished picture - I wonder what you think it does. I do love your cheesy "smile for the camera" smile though!

You say bye at least 1000 times a day. You say bye to everyone we meet, and you say bye to your books, toys, food, etc. Anything you are done wit gets a bye. And you just have the sweetest soft voice to say it with. I need to get a recording of it. So so sweet and soft. Mimi says you say "bye bye" just like I do - with the stress on the last bye. Cute :)

You say "there he is" - and while it sort of sounds like 1 word when you say it, you do say it! When we play games I'll say "where is Alec" and you'll pop up and say "thereheis". You do the same if we are looking for an animal in a book. This word thing is so cool! I can't believe that you will be talking, really talking, so soon!

You have gotten even taller, I swear. I look at you and I see a toddler boy. The baby is fading fast. You are slimming down, that great baby fat is going. You are climbing, exploring, you are speaking. You are a boy, a strong, handsome, independent boy whom I love like crazy. Kisses Alec, kisses.