Kimler Adventure Pages (http://randsco.com)

We're now past the family "birthday season". It started Mom's birthday, in August, then Dad followed suit with his, in September. Alex tailed the pack, with her's in early October.

By the time October came around, Alex was well acquainted with cake, ice cream, candles, presents and, of course, birthday cards. Mom had even managed to get Alex to say, "Happy Birthday, Daddy," by the time his rolled around. She loves it all (especially the cake and ice cream).

When you look at your child, you see a reflection of your union, your personalities and genetic predispositions. Of course, we take great pride in the fact that Alex is a happy child and figure that we must've done something right. (It all makes us very afraid about having a second child ... a "devil" child ... one that reflects all of our bad traits, because Alex seems to reflect all of our GOOD traits!)

Maybe not....

First, thanks to everyone that sent Alex a birthday card! She has gotten more enjoyment from her birthday cards than you can imagine (and Dad's birthday cards, and our anniversary cards too, for that matter). She doesn't distinguish between them ... we've just given them to her, so she can have more to "enjoy".

Most people look at a birthday card, put it on the counter, only to be thrown away (eventually). Not Alex! She's fondled, organized, read and moved her cards a countless number of times! I think she's played with her cards MORE than she's played with her new "kitchen center" (it seems that way, anyway).

Our obsessive, compulsive ways are now manifesting themselves in our tiny, but very cute, daughter. She will contentedly sit and "organize" the cards, moving them from one pile, to the next, "reading" each one. One evening, while Rachel was doing dishes and Scott was off somewhere else, Alex sat all by herself, on the bathroom floor, looking through a small stack of cards. She picked each one up, sang a little "Happy Birthday" song, put them down in a new pile. She went through all the cards in this fashion and then repeated the whole process over again!

Hearing the "music" from the other room, Rachel grabbed the camera and captured the moment on video ... Alex's first "singing". Have a look at our little organizer and let us know: WHO do you think she's singing the song to?