Alex is saying some new words this week.  He might have been saying them for awhile, but I didn't have my mom around to translate for me.  His new phrase is "tickle, tickle, tickle".  Sounds more like "pickle, pickle, pickle".  Sometimes when he says it he puts his hands up on his chest and makes a tickle motion - but he looks more like a monkey scratching his armpits.  It is really cute though.  He also has been saying "thank-you" after getting something handed to him.  However, it sounds like "dan-do".  Either way the kid is pretty smart.  And I'm not just saying that because I'm his mother.  If my kid was a few straws short of a picinic basket, I'd be the first to admit it.

Alex's favortie thing is grouping similar items together, and then throwing them around.  The other night at dinner, Alex had hotdog slices, banana slices and mini-mandarin oranges (the type that come in a can).  Yummy dinner, I know.  He proceeded to separate all three things into new piles: hotdog pile; banana pile & orange pile.  Then proceeded to stuff his face and throw the remaining items on the floor.  Typical.  He also likes to take items out of a basket or container and then once he has taken them all out, he starts putting them back in the container.  When he is done, he looks at us smiling and claps as if to say "Yeah for me, yeah for Alex!" 

While he is too young to be playing with puzzles, I think he might enjoy them as he gets older.  He has a very long attention span for a child his age.  He can sit and play with one toy, or watch one show (Oobi & Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids are his favorites) even if there are distractions.  For that time period all his focus is on the one task at hand.  I'm thinking this is a good thing for the future, if he can manage to sit for exended periods of time and study - like mommy had to do in law school. 

Before exams, I would sit in the library and study for the next day's exam for 12-15 hours straight, minus bathroom breaks and lunch/dinner breaks.  I would listen to 89.9 KBPS (all-classical channel broadcast online) via my laptop and read, read, read. Good times.

Alex is 16 months old now.  I can't believe it.  Time has flown by so quickly...which also means I am 16 months older than I was when he was born.  I can remember that day very vividly, as he was only 32 weeks when I had to have an emergency C-section.  He was 3 lbs. 4 oz. 17 1/4 inches long.  Even as a premie he exceeded the doctors expectations.  At first they thought he would have to be in NICU for 8 weeks, but after 10 days he was ready to come home.  And now he is doing great!  Mike and I are very lucky.