Height: 40 inches (85th percentile)
Weight: 37.4 pounds (92nd percentile)
Overall a hair smaller than Ashton was.
Shoe size: tricky! His Bogs are an 8, his sneakers are a 9, his cool high tops are a 10. But since this is the official record I'm going to say a 9.
Clothes: 4T
Diapers: Size 6
Naps: 1, occasionally, but he can usually make it from wake up to bedtime with no real issues
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Hazel! A common misconception about Alex. His eyes are not blue.
Crib: Gone. He has been in a big boy bed since Thanksgiving.
Monitor: Gone. Can't remember the last time we used it. It's dead anyway.
High chair: Gone. He never really liked being confined. We've had this handy thing on the bottom of his seat for almost a year now and it works great.
Idol and hero: Jason. Obviously.
Best friend: Ashton
School: Miss Tammy's, 2 mornings a week
Current favorite toy: If you had asked me last week, I would have said his doctor kit. He got it for his birthday and freaking loves it. His is a huge Doc McStuffins fan so he goes around singing "Time for your check up! Time for your check up!" a la the theme song and asks you if you are sick.
Alex: Ahtee [Ashton] are you hick [sick]?
Ashton: No.
Alex: I hee [see] you burping.
Ashton: I'm not!
Alex: You're waying [laying] down. I fink [think] you hick [sick].
Ashton: Owex [Alex]! I am not sick!And on it goes until you admit you are not feeling well so he can take out all his doctor tools and cure you.
But that was last week. This week it's specifically Lego ninjas because that's what Ashton is in to. Oh and reusable stickers.
Poops on the potty: If I had to guess, a few dozen, and only when he decides he feels like it. I have not pushed the potty training so far. Ashton was 3.5 and I knew he wasn't ready until then. I'm not about to beat my head against the wall and clean up pee all day just for the sake of getting Alex out of diapers. It's not time yet and something I feel absolutely no urgency for.
Behavior: In turning 3, Alex is a toddler no more. Which is funny, because there are still an awful lot of toddler behaviors that do not magically melt away at 36 months. He can still scream like a little banshee if something isn't going his way. He loves a food one day and hates it the next. Juice in the red cup is preferable. Sometimes only Mommy can change his clothes, sometimes only Daddy can. There is really very little predictability and most 3 year olds aren't exactly easy going - Alex is no different there.
Speech: This, by far, is the biggest ongoing element of Alex's little life. All done with EI, we went through the extensive evaluation process at NPS. Observe the error chart that was included in the resulting 9 page report:
In addition to the substitutions, you'll note that most of the last column is just a zero/omittance. He just flat out doesn't say a lot of sounds and substitutes like crazy. For example, his favorite substitute letter is H. So:
"firefighter" is "hirehighter"
"family" is "hamily"
"so silly" is "ho hilly"
"song" is "hong"
"dinosaur" is "dinohoar"
He also hates the d's, s's and the z's. So he wont say "his", "snake" is "nake", "house" is "howe", "nice" is "nie" and "hold my hand" is "ho my heh". "Hatty birday" is "happy birthday", "You're welcome" is "you're weltum", and "I spilled milk" is "I pill mill."
That's probably enough examples but there are many, many more. The technical terms for his errors are Final Consonant Deletion, Stopping, Fronting and Gliding. He has a great vocabulary and speaks in long sentences but since his articulation is terrible, he qualified for one 30 minute speech therapy each week at Lilja, our local elementary school. I might push for two, we'll see how it goes. Hopefully his services will start in April.
Summing him up: Alex is a love. He just is. He smiles all the time, is goofy, silly and so endearing. He is liberal with his affection. The most common phrase I hear (and I swear, multiple people with no connections to each other have said this on separate occasions): "He's just so damn cute." If Alex has your attention, he shines in it. His quirky little voice and pronunciation combined with his spiky blonde hair and hugs really melt you. I almost feel awkward writing this glowing paragraph! People just respond to him. At the second evaluation at NPS, the speech pathologist (not immune to Alex's charms) said to me, "god he is just so cute" and I said "oh thanks, you don't have to say that!" She said "I really mean it" and I said "well thank you, yes Alex has quite the fan club actually" and she didn't miss a beat and replied "I'll be president."
A few of my favorite recent photos...
Summing him up: Alex is a love. He just is. He smiles all the time, is goofy, silly and so endearing. He is liberal with his affection. The most common phrase I hear (and I swear, multiple people with no connections to each other have said this on separate occasions): "He's just so damn cute." If Alex has your attention, he shines in it. His quirky little voice and pronunciation combined with his spiky blonde hair and hugs really melt you. I almost feel awkward writing this glowing paragraph! People just respond to him. At the second evaluation at NPS, the speech pathologist (not immune to Alex's charms) said to me, "god he is just so cute" and I said "oh thanks, you don't have to say that!" She said "I really mean it" and I said "well thank you, yes Alex has quite the fan club actually" and she didn't miss a beat and replied "I'll be president."
A few of my favorite recent photos...
In the last one, he is managing all his texts and emails. It's hard work to be so popular ;)
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