The Birthday Party

We had four toddlers over for Alex's first real birthday party. Alex was so excited and all morning told us that it was her birthday and now she was 3 years old!

During the actual party, Alex needed a few check-ins with Mom and Dad, but that aside, she and all the other little kids seemed to have a great time. Her face absolutely shone when we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her. All in all, very fun!

One-handed walking

Alex is getting better at walking holding onto just one of our hands. It is hard enough that we have to go someplace pretty motivating. We have rediscovered the pet store and have found several new ones to explore. Very fun!

Chimney birds

Every September thousands of swifts roost in the chimney of a local elementary school. It is a pretty cool event with birds swirling around in the sky and swooping into the chimney, so it attracts a crowd of picnickers and families who come around twilight to watch it. We took Grammy and Grandpa on a picnic while they were here and we all had a really fun time. The crowd loves it when the hawks come to pick off an unwary swift. :)http://www.audubonportland.org/local-birding/swiftwatch/swifts_landing

Pics from Grammy and Grandpa's visit

Alex and Elizabeth

Fun at PT

Some of the funner stuff we do at PT... :)

Independent Standing!!!

Something "clicked" for Alex last night (that, and we were watching a Toot and Puddle TV *SHOW* from the library that she was seeing for the first time and they are currently her most requested books) and she started standing unsupported. Her form was not perfect--definitely some crouching, with her knees a little close together, especially toward the end when I got the camera out. But she made lots of adjustments, and occassionally those adjustments included straightening her legs to where she had great form. Anyway, previously, Jim had seen one 20sec independent standing stretch, but couldn't reproduce it--this was a couple of days ago. Whereas last night, we had several 30+ sec, several 1-min stretches, and several 1min+ stretches, including a dangerously close to 2 minute stretch (yes, we had a timer!)!!! We were shocked and thrilled and there were a few happy tears. Very exciting!