Alex's Accolade

On Wednesday of this week, Alex ran a 20 minute mile! Words cannot even begin to express how proud I am of her! Alex's determination is truly an inspiration. She doesn't for one second doubt herself, she just presses on to finish the task at hand. Alex began physical therapy at around 13 months of age. She was barely sitting on her own at that time and I was skeptical of the physical tasks she would be able to complete by herself. Not wanting to offer false hope, her therapists would not assure me that Alex would some day walk on her own. However, once she mastered sitting, she moved on to army crawling and rolling. It was quite comical to watch a 2 year old roll around to get where she wanted to go, but you couldn't help but cheer her on as she went about her merry way. By then she was walking with the assistance of one of those metal walkers with wheels. You know, the ones you see the old people with at Luby's. Alex's was a bit different and she relied on it for quite some time. But on Thanksgiving of 2003, Alex took her first independent steps. It was a miracle. Today she has surpassed what I ever thought possible for her as a baby, she ran a mile! Did I mention she did it in knee-high suede boots too! That's my girl. Running in style!

The picture is of a paper medal that a boy named Devon made for Alex. The teacher gave her a safety pin and she came home wearing it.

Preparing for the Future

Last night, while brushing Alex's teeth, she asked if she could do it all by herself. Her reasoning was so that, and I quote "I can know how to do it all by myself when you die." It's nice to know that once I am no longer on this earth, my child will carry on with all that I have taught her. However, I'm not too thrilled with the fact that she is already preparing for my departure. I have so much to teacher her in (according to her) so little time. : )

Alex's First Day of 4th Grade

We showed up on Monday for Alex's first day of 4th grade. She was excited and nervous at the same time. She started off the day in Mrs. Leslie's homeroom class and ended the day in Mrs. Phillip's language arts. I took her potato soup from Boo Boo's for lunch. At recess, she played tag with some friends and Piggy. All in all it was a good day and hopefully a predecessor to a great year!

Ready for 4th Grade?

I've been feeling a bit guilty that I haven't worked with Alex this summer on anything educational so when a math lesson presented itself, I jumped at the chance. Alex had some left-over chicken nuggets from (where else?) Chick-fil-A and she had already eaten two. I asked her if she started with eight and she had already eaten two the day before, how many she had eaten that night. She, being much smarter than me, looked at me and said "all of them!" I couldn't argue with that, she was absolutely right! But, I was hoping she would have said six.

Pet Peeves of Alex

Alex told me today that she doesn't like it when I laugh at her. (Even though she is quite comical most of the time.) She said "See mommy, that's why I don't like you! You always laugh at me. I only like non-laughing adults!" This only made me laugh harder.

The Little Mermaid

Old News: Alex's 9th Bday at Chuck's.

Alex's Sassy New Haircut

Deep Thoughts by Alex Holder

I was getting ready for a 30th birthday party last night when Alex interrupted to give me some profound advice. She said, rather seriously, "Mommy! You're not going to drink and drive tonight are you?" To which I replied "No, that is very dangerous!" Her logical response was "good, cause you could spill your drink." Oh children! It is pretty good logic though because I can't count the number of close encounters due to a spilled coke in the front seat! We both got our haircut on Friday and Alex got her hair layered for the first time. It makes her look so much older! : (

I'll try to get a pic of the new do on here ASAP.

Sweet Precious Child

Our day today began as any other normal day with a trip to Chick-fil-a for breakfast. To pass the time in the car Alex decided to humor me with the "Who Am I" game. It started with "I love Elvis and I wear headbands. Who Am I?" That of course was my mom, otherwise known to Alex as Ning-a-Ning. We then moved on to "I live in New York and I eat Pinkberry. Who Am I?" Obviously she was referring to my sister, Mushy Mush. The game went on until we covered everyone in the family. Come to think of it, she didn't do one describing me. That's probably a good thing though. After we ate dinner, Alex was "still hungry!" I had cut some strawberries and sprinkled them with sugar earlier in the afternoon for her and I told her to get them out of the fridge. You would have thought I was giving her her heart's most inner desire! "Thanks mommy" she exclaimed, "you are the sweetest mommy EVER!" These are the moments I treasure. At this age she is so genuine, sincere and honest. I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune when she turns into a teenager. (shudder) But for now, it's the little things that she is grateful for and in turn make me grateful as well.

New York Trip

I had a great time in New York. Lets see here. Mommy you don't have to copy everything I say. I saw Geoffrey the mascot. You need to type that in on google, ok mommy! Ok mommy! We saw Mrs. Liberty at Ellis island and um hmm ok um what else did we do mommy? Its hard to decide. OK, lets see here, I slept in the twin bed with Ning a Ning. I slept on the other side of her. And thats the end of my story. Good night everybody. Rock out yahoooo!