Alexander is 4!

FOUR YEARS OLD! 

How I've actually managed to keep this one alive is a mystery to me. He is fun, full of giggles and the cuddliest. I must admit that him being 3cms from me at all times is not always my favourite thing, but we roll with it.

He loved opening his presents yesterday

 including this gorgeous personalised Alex blanket

and of course more Bluey clothes. Just for something different. Haha.

I love his whacky sense of humour and hearing his little laugh.

But most of all his little smile 😍

There are always plenty of Alex selfies on my camera roll, including this one which was definitely worth preserving.

He's our little nutter and we wouldn't change him for anything.

So, so loved by his big sister - and he would follow her anywhere she wanted to go.

The cutest little man. Our Alexander James. ❤

Happy birthday to my littlest love! 

Toilet training done right!

This little dude has finally mastered the toilet! Woohoo! No more nappies! I can't even tell you how happy I am. Thankfully my covid experience experience was very mild and I was not bed ridden, or even really sick at all, so on day 2, when I accepted I was home for at least a week, I decided I wasn't wasting the time and took the nappies away. Undies only. Honestly, the best possible time to toilet train is when you literally cannot leave the house.

Next step was making this chart (cause if Bluey isn't encouragement enough, what is? haha) with stickers, giving Alex a Kinder Surprise egg for poops 1, 5, 10 and 15 - then the Bluey garbage truck for poop 20. He was much more interested after that.

It was not easy - and it was not quick. We had poop after poop after poop in his little undies. Nearly every time, it would be about 5 minutes after I asked him if he needed to poop. It was so, so frustrating. But, eventually, after days of that, all of a sudden one morning, he called out to tell me he'd pooped! In the toilet, thank heavens.

We still had a few accidents after that, but thank goodness we got there eventually. We've been here and there since with no nappy on (although when he went over to Aunty's house midweek and had to go into the city with her and for church today, we used a pullup. I'm all about the just in case!) and it's all going well. He takes himself to the toilet regularly for poos and wees and I am so happy! Toilet training in this house is done, for good yo!

Look at that face! He is so proud of himself! That garbage truck was worth every cent! Yay for Alex!

alexander james is three!

somehow this adorable little minion made it to three years old and i am so proud of myself. my kids are now collectively 20 years old - and i feel 20 years older than i actually am as a result hahaha. alex had the best time at nanna and grandads for his party and was actually dead on his feet by the end and fell asleep fully dressed on the couch.

today he was super excited to open more presents, especially because they were wrapped in minion paper of course. highlight present for him was his new backpack - a minion one from smiggle and minion lego.

he has been my most difficult child by far, but i wouldn't change it... cause amongst the bad there is always good. even with the fact i've barely slept for 3 years, he loves to kiss me on the face 24/7 and cuddle, well force, his way into my personal space and just be 3cm from me at all times. but. i guess that means he loves me so i'll take it. i love his little face, the weird things he says, the way he loves to be with joseph even though he barely tolerates him, the way he constantly hands me things that aren't lost and says oh here's your xxxx mummy. i love that he still wants me, cause joseph sure as heck doesn't. 

i think i'll keep him. happy birthday little mate. welcome to your threenage years.

big boy bed

this little dude has finally got a big boy bed! we got him the exact same bed as joseph so he'd be keen on sleeping in it (and it just so happened that there was twin red beds at my parents which isaac had in his room when he was younger) and lovely aunty sam sent the hey duggee bedding from the uk. it's near impossible to find any duggee stuff here, so we were thrilled - and his little face when he saw it made it all worth it!

look at that smile. he was so stoked to be going to bed and went straight to sleep, only to wake up at midnight screaming. sigh. but the next night was better - and we are hoping it keeps going that way. fingers crossed. but how cute is he? i love that little face!

we had a win a few weeks ago when the child health nurse came to do his 2.5-3 year check. he was such a nice guy and loved alex. one of the questions was how their speech is - and they recommend that by this age they should be able to say a 4 word sentence. well. alex came rushing by us and and blurted out. mum. mum. i want to go pick maddie up from school now! well. his face was priceless. big tick for alex. he's leaps and bounds above where he should be and don't we know it! little gem. 

toilet training alex

this little rockstar is well on his way to being toilet trained. what whatttttt. he seems to be taking to it no problems at all and is rocking the jocks while we go about our day. of course there have been accidents, but we will get there... hopefully sooner than later.

here's to no more nappies in the kendall house!

**************

edited to add. it's now almost a year later and he is still not toilet trained. grandma died not long after this and although he was doing great, he had to go into nappies so we could take him here, there and everywhere while we sorted out the funeral and everything else involved in it. and after that, he was completely uninterested. what a fail. let's hope it happens soon so i don't lose my mind. 

 

no more thumb sucking

well that's the thumb sucking done for this unfortunate little one. upon scooping up something up a few days ago in madeline's room and playing with it, we quickly discovered it was broken glass! but he had already cut a huge gash in his thumb, there was blood everywhere and to the dr we went.

the dr cleaned it up again, checked there was no glass in it and then bandaged it up and said it's going to have to stay on for a few days... which he was so upset about. he'd keep trying to suck his thumb then getting upset that he couldn't and then of course didn't want to go to sleep, but eventually settled and drifted off. he made sure that we knew he was unimpressed though.

we got there eventually and when the bandage finally came off and he looked like he was going to go back to thumb sucking, we quickly shoved a bandaid on it and told him it was still sore - i figured if we were this far in, it wasn't time to give up - and sure enough we made it! we are thumb sucking free!

i really felt so sorry for the poor little dude, but i am so happy that we didn't have to do it when he was even older, maddie is 9 and still going strong sucking her fingers, i have no idea how we are going to get around that one. ugh.

alexander james: twenty-four months

oh my gosh. my baby is two! i am not at all ready for this!

but look at that little face. it's so lucky he is cute or i would have killed him a long time ago, because he is just such, hard, work.

during the last month he has:

- complained loudly if the song playing in the car isn't something he likes until you change it

- sings, yells and mumbles along with mana (moana)

calls nanna nan!

- says apple, happy!

- sings along with the song i'm so happy

- when you lay him on the change table to change him, he's always yelled and pointed for a book. but now he just says, book!

- loves the word kick!

- cutting his two year old molars

alexander is 2

i cannot believe it, but somehow we have managed to keep this adorable little human alive for two whole years! "baby" alexander turned two today! 

we got him some cute little gifts - as well as a try bike, which is a bike that grows with you... starting as a three wheeler run along trike, which can be upgraded to a two wheeler as time goes on.

he was all about the hey duggee show bag though and pulled each piece out lovingly to show them off. he was also a huge fan of the ball tower and put the balls through over and over and over.

he especially loved the little backpack that came in it!

doting big sister madeline was on hand to assist with the gift unwrapping, she is never far from his side.

my favourite gift was a little pamela allen book called "alexander's outing" about a little duckling. i bought it when was just small, ready for when he would be old enough to enjoy it.

alex spent the day being loved on by everyone, playing with bubbles and being cuddled...

the absolute perfect birthday!

but my favourite part of the day was watching his little eyes light up when i brought out a cake i had made for him. a real birthday cake. the kind our mums used to make for us as kids. baked from scratch, with yummy icing and lots of sprinkles.

he looooved it and proudly blew out his candles with maddie and joseph on hand to help.

saving yet another recipe here for future reference - i am baker white cake recipe. 

it was so fluffy and delicious.

        **************************************************

INGREDIENTS

113g butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. almond extract, optional

1 1/2 cups plain flour

2 tsp. baking powder

4 egg whites, room temperature 

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 160deg celcius (fan forced). Prepare 8x8 square pan.

Beat butter at medium speed until creamy, roughly 3-4 minutes.

Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.

Stir together milk and vanilla. (If you are adding almond extract, add it here)

Sift together flour and baking powder; add to butter mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition.

Beat egg whites at medium speed until stiff peaks form; gently fold into batter. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake at 350° for 35-38 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean.

Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.

Optional: Cover with white frosting.

(I used my favourite cream cheese icing from here)

frosting:

2 tbsp softened butter

55g softened cream cheese

1 cup icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

beat until well combined then spread on cake. delish!

 

 

alexander james: twenty-three months

somehow this kid has made it through to being twenty-three months old and is still alive. wow. look at me (i mean him haha) go!

during the past month he has

- screamed a lot 

- loved the absolute heck out of the movie moana, the toys we have and the maui hook that i bought doug in america

- drawn all over josephs wall with a permanent marker (aughhhhh)

- loves any word with the k sound: cookie, chicken, yucky...

- says rahhhhhhhh! (like a monster)

- stands on a chair and helps (hinders) me in the kitchen

- is constantly trying to escape his pram and car seat

- loves toast with butter

- calls maddie up! because she always says it to him when she wants to lift him up and give him a cuddle

- says dasssssss when he sees a hungry jacks or mcdonalds store

- stretches out his arms while wiggling his fingers saying tikka tikka tikka to make out he is tickling someone

- finally got a haircut!

he is so full of energy and so, so, so full on, but we just love him so much! ❤

alex got a haircut

alex finally had his first haircut! and now with his hair all smooth and sleek, it's hard to be believe that last week it looked like...

this. an actual birds nest on top of his head.

sticking out all over the place and driving me crazy. even messier in the morning, impossible to tame and enough was enough. i happened to walk past the local barbershop with him in a trolley while it was at his worst and couldn't take it anymore.

so in we went, the girl did some magic and i left the shop with this grown up child who looks like he's at least 2 years older than he is hahaha. but now i am kicking myself for not doing it sooner, cause every single photo of him for the last few months with the mop is killing me. 

i am loving it. hooray for a haircut!

alex is twenty-two months old

this little nugget is now officially twenty-two months old and for all you following along at home, you only have two more of these posts to sit through, congratulations.

during the last month he has...

- fiiiiiiinally started sleeping past 7am!

- says pees? (for please?)

- eaten so many of his teething beads that we eventually had to take them off. it made him unsettled for a few days because he used them as a comforter, but he quickly learned to deal and sleep without them.

- he can’t stand being carried anymore, wants to run everywhere

- has started to say oooh yucky when we change his pooey nappy.

-says cookie!

- chats away to us in baby language, then looks very offended when we respond in the same manner. just trying to help mate!

well, we must be doing something right, you're still alive ... somehow! haha

alexander, you are so loved!

alexander - twenty-one months

how is it possible that alexander is now twenty-one months old? are you for real? he will be two before we even know it.

this past month he has:

-become obsessed with dogs. he always wants to see them and pat them and is never frightenedof them. he cracks us up, because he always says ooof oof when he hears them barking.

-makes car noises as he drives all his things with wheels around

-ran towards his nanna calling nan nan nan

-he says hiiiiiii to people and bye bye. bye! bye! bye! bye! over and over while waving

until he can’t see anyone.

-he has started to ride his dinky bike properly

-keeps trying any abandoned shoes on and walking around the house in them

baby boy, you make us laugh so much!

alexander is 20 months

twenty months old. twenty. 

not too long until my month photos will cease and stop annoying my millions* of readers 

(*two at best)

this past month though... we have:

-starting saying hey duggee properly now

-broke 3 glasses in one week

-fell in love with bubbles and kept yelling bubble! bubble! bubble!

-races around, getting into everything

-kept saying mum for nanna when he could see her on facetime, maddie said no, thats mum's mum, so he started calling her mum-mum

-says hewo! bye bye bye bye bye bye!

-blows kisses. mwah!

-says hi! hi!

-when he can hear the bluey theme song, he yells mum! and dad! at the right time.

you crazy little dude, we love you so much.

alexander is nineteen months

another month has come and gone and this adorable orange nugget is now nineteen months old

during the last month he:

-walked up and down the table, climbed onto chairs and onto the table at any chance he got

-watched hey duggee non stop

-his favourite words were bup-iss, t-kss

-he started shouting amen! at the end of prayers

-scrunches eyes shut for prayer time

-now says hey ducka for hey duggee

-and still isn’t sleeping that well (send help!)

but he (and we) are still alive and somehow make it through the day. he might be full of mischief but he is certainly very cute.

alexander is eighteen months

eighteen months old! whatttt? our baby boy would be off to nursery now - if we even had church right now gah. not that we actually have a nursery leader right now anyway, cause... he's the only one! awkward. my guess is, that even when church goes back, we probably won't call one for one kid. what's the point? it's literally babysitting. he may as well hang out with me in primary, or dom or nannaleah in relief society or doug in his class! easy!

anyway - over the past month, this little nugget has:

-started saying heeeeyyyy da!!!! for hey duggee and doo doo doo’s along with the hey duggee song

-fallen in love with grapes. it's like he can sniff them out and would eat dozens of them if we would let him. he always pulls open the fridge and points at them.

-pulled peoples hands to take them to places when he wants them to come and play

-started climbing up on everything, tables, couches, stools... change table, his dresser! yikes!

-is saying, more! that! grapes! (very clearly) bop it and what i think was you're welcome.

-stopped having milk... a few days after this month started... but after 10 days was still coming in and trying to pull my shirt down with his mouth open.

-cut the two bottom teeth three from the middle

-made a truck noise when pushing his cement mixer around

-loves toast and can't get enough

-waves non stop, like allll the time

and he's still crazy cute. we love you little dude!

alexander james: seventeen months

i blinked and it happened again.. alexander is now seventeen months old!

during the past month he:

-started to do things when you ask

-cut two more top teeth... they are everywhere!!!

-pointed at things he wants and yells mum! mum!

-started to listen and act

-always brings his baby shark toy to everyone so we can press it and make it sing

-waves his hand up and down to music “like a chinese cat” the older kids say

-uses the laundry cupboard for a hidey hole

-closes himself in places and says bye bye. bye bye!

-grins, clenches his teeth and squints his eyes as if it makes him look cuter.

-constantly waves bye bye

-picks up the old mobiles that we use as toy phones and puts them to his ear and says bye bye bye bye!!!

-loves bluey and hey duggee and dances away to their songs

-loves his colour mixing cement truck toy. he always looks for it so he can bop away to the tune it plays

-loves having twinkle twinkle little star sang to him before bed. all three (with some possibly made up) verses hahaha

twinkle twinkle little star

how i wonder what you are

up above the world so high

like a diamond in the sky

twinkle twinkle little star

how i wonder what you are

when the blazing sun is gone,

when it nothing shines upon

when you shine your little light

twinkle twinkle through the night

twinkle twinkle little star

how i wonder what you are

alex i love you so much

that is why i sing as such

now it's time for you to sleep

i pray the lord your heart will keep

twinkle twinkle little star

how i wonder what you are

i love you my little twinkling star

*************