With Alex’s first birthday only a few days away, we’re truly realizing the meaning of “the days are slow, but the years are fast.” We still can’t believe that she’s almost a year old, although she has been racking up the milestones, big and small.

She:

• Is quite the walker, with only occasional “Frankenstein” moments.
• Has a solid handle on these words: Dada, Mama, dog, cat, bye-bye. She communicates much more, but those are actual words.
• “Reads” books on her own. (Flips the pages and, most of the time, the book is even right-side up. And for her favorite book, she’ll make some sounds. Unsurprisingly, her favorite book is Doggies: A Counting and Barking Book.)
• Interacts with books…for instance, she pats the bunny, puts her finger through Mummy’s ring, etc.
• Has mastered finger foods and is starting to use the spoon on her own.
• Waves bye-bye.
• Puts Mega Blocks together. And she can certainly take them apart.

We have pics of some of said milestones, and others are just for fun. Enjoy!

Mmmm…yogurt. I ate it all on my own! [Editor’s note: Some of it actually did make it into her mouth.] (July 7th)

Reading the Doggies book. And, yes, those are Christmas PJs. She’s already wearing her 18M clothes. (July 8th)

Future engineer. (June 26th)

Wonder Woman and her faithful dog. (At the neighborhood Fourth of July parade)

Swimming! (July 14th)

First time at the sandbox in the park. Yay sand! (July 9th)

Baby’s first mac-n-cheese. At Homeroom, of course. (June 26th)

First petting zoo. (At the San Mateo County Fair, June 16th)

Checking out a new ride. [Editor’s note: She does not have this car. She just was entranced by another kid’s car at the park. Thankfully, she did not try to hotwire it.] (July 7th)

Exploring the big-kid slide with Daddy. (July 9th)

Taking Myles’ new wagon out for a spin. (July 10th)

Beating the heat. (July 2nd)

Artsy shot. (June 26th)

I know this is a blurry pic, but the look on her face still cracks me up. (At Gymboree, July 2nd)

Can I help you with something? (At Gymboree, June 28th)

On our way to the county fair! (June 16th)

We’re very fortunate to have my parents so close by, as they see Alexandra on a regular basis. With Ian’s parents in Florida, it was a nice treat for Alexandra to see her Nana a few weeks ago. And we’re definitely looking forward to Alex’s birthday next week (!!!) when all of the grandparents will be together!

Post-brunch snuggle with Nana. (June 23rd)

Grandpa has brushed off his swing-pushing skills. (July 1st)

Whatcha gonna have for lunch, Grams? (May 23rd)

Good morning everyone!

Wheee!!!!

Editorial note: Yes. The cup is empty.

A small glimpse into the lives of the smaller McCulloughs. While Alex and Bo are the primary focus in the video, you can also see Bugsy in the background, ignoring both of them.

There’s a lot of cuteness in this video…enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvvXSOeQA78

As I’ve mentioned, we joined Gymboree last month. For the uninitiated, Gymboree “Play & Music” is basically a giant romper room. They have weekly “classes” which is more-or-less directed playtime (I suspect it becomes more directed as the kids get older). In addition to the weekly classes, we can also go to “open gym” which is basically a way to kill some time in an air-conditioned room where Alex can run around and tire herself out. Here are some of the highlights from the past few weeks:

Walking on the net for the first time. And, yes, that’s the Swedish Chef on her shirt. (May 28th)

Her continued love affair with bubbles. Note the one on the top of her head. (May 28th)

Pensive Alex. (June 4th)

Open Gym time with Grandpa. (June 7th)

It’s great. To be. A Michigan Wolverine. (June 11th)

Ha! My ball! (June 21st) 

Two weeks ago, we went out to a restaurant with tablecloths. (We’d forgotten it was such a ‘fancy’ place. We hadn’t been since before Alexandra was born.) At the end of the meal, Alex made up her own game, as you can see below.

Also, we posted all the pictures from last month’s photo shoot on Shutterfly. You should be able to order prints directly or you can just let us know which ones you’d like (they now have numbers, which makes it way easier than giving timecodes).

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZsmjNo3buGrnQ

Enjoy the video!

As you know, Ian is currently between consulting gigs. Which means we’ve essentially had a family staycation for the past four weeks. We’ve been having lots of fun with our (not so little anymore!) Alexandra. With many pictures to share, I’ll try to post more often but not overwhelm you all with too much cuteness at once.

We’re a little scared that she did this without prompting. (At Jack’s with Grandpa, May 15th)

Swim class with Mommy! (May 18th)

Makers Fair with Daddy. (May 18th)

The instant when Alex completely loses it upon seeing Jason in the giant cardboard robot suit. (May 18th)

Cardboard fingers are fun…and tasty! (May 19th)

Tunnel Day at Gymboree. (May 24th)

Now YOU pat the bunny! (At the humane society, May 26th)

As you know, Alex took her first step a few weeks ago. Yesterday, she progressed to actual walking…we were at Gymboree and she was following the bubbles. (She loves bubbles *almost* as much as she loves dogs.) Ian was able to capture her new skillz on video today:

Well, it’s official, though not all that surprising…Alexandra’s first word was “dog.” We were at the dog park on Monday (that’s May 27th, for those of you keeping track) and she said the full word after some prompting. “Dada” and “mama” have been around for a while, too, but we think “dog” counts as the first word since it’s all the different sounds coming together.

We don’t have video of the first word, so we hope these pictures keep you entertained in the meantime:

Cutey-patootie! (May 15th)

We joined Gymboree. (May 14th)

BUBBLES! Hopefully the resolution is good enough for you to note the bubble on her nose. (May 14th)

Dinner out with her buddy Myles. At Jack’s, of course. (May 14th)

Chillin’ at Target. (May 14th)

Hanging with Teacher Nicole at music class. (May 16th)

Playing the guitar with Daddy. (May 5th)