Weblog Fall Down, Go Boom

The database required to run this blog up and died last month. We are taking these lemons and making some pretty amazing lemon meringue pie. When we bring the blog back, we will have made massive changes, some you'll see and some you won't. We hope to bring back comments, too, using a new system to prevent spam, and of course, we'll have ton of pictures and stories from the whole family.

Until then, enjoy the old blog.

Water Baby

Alex is really just amazing in the water. Today, Mike took a waterproof camera to the pool for swim class to try to capture the jumping, swimming, happy little fish boy we have spawned. And capture he did -- the pictures came out so much better than we thought they could! Alex apparently likes to open his eyes and smile while he is underwater, that's how happy he is about it. See for yourself!

Father's Day 2005

We had a very relaxing Father's Day today. We were lucky enough to have Pop Pop here to celebrate, too, and we enjoyed a relaxing brunch all together at home after sleeping in. And after that, Alex was very insistent that "Daddy play, get up, play!" And being a Daddy, Mike was happy to oblige. The two of them must have spent a good hour playing trains. And helicopters.

Big Boy Bed!

Alex slept in his big boy bed for the first time last night. He really likes it! The bed was a gift from Nani and Pop Pop for his second birthday, because two is, after all, a big boy age. The transition went smoother than I would have expected. He climbed into the bed and snuggled down to sleep (didn't even nurse!) and I stayed in the room until he was out, about 15 minutes or so. He woke once during the night, and I offered to nurse but he asked for and was happily given some water instead and he went right back to sleep. Still no dice for naps, but that was a problem in the crib, too. We moved the crib out completely today, and he went down for bed tonight pretty easily again. What a big boy!

This is my big boy bed!

See how I sleep in my big boy bed?

That's my crib. I don't need it anymore because I am two!

Two Years Old

Alex had a rainy but nonetheless fun second birthday today. It was low key, since his big party is next week, but we had a special Mickey Mouse waffle breakfast, and I did bake him a cake, which as you can see he enjoyed helping me with. He actually did help put things in the mixer before helping to "clean up" the mixer. The napless wonder crashed on the way to Grandma and Grandpa's house for dinner, but rebounded and managed to blow out the candle, open a few presents, and become completely enamoured of the balloons. All in all, a happy birthday.

Where did my little baby go??

Three words in one

Alex's newest "word" is something along the lines of "Iomo," which translates to " I want more." As you can imagine, having figured our that little phrase has set off a fire storm. He must have said it at least 10 times during dinner tonight as he plowed through two helpings of ravioli, polished off the remainder of the tomato sauce and shredded cheese, and plowed through the broccoli.

I have a good eater on my hands as well as a good talker.

Swim Class!

Alex had his first swim class tonight. Well, not exactly -- I messed up the dates and he showed up a week early. Still, the teacher let Alex and Mike participate, and Alex really loved it. Mike said he took to the class almost as good as the other kids there, who were making up missed classes from the previous week and had been taking lessons for several days already. We definitely have a little fishie on our hands!

Rough Transition

Alex is really not so happy about his transition to the older kids' class at day care. This morning when I brought him in, he walked immediately to the door of Class 1, and pitched a fit when I tried to bring him to Class 2. He kept pulling his hands out of mine and running back to the other class. He misses his old teachers. They tell me he is fine once I am gone, and I really hope that is true. I hope this gets easier soon!

Movin' on up!

We got a little note the other day from the day care center saying that as of today, Alex will be starting in Class #2 at day care. This means new teachers, a larger class, and most interestingly, time on the potty every day. Our little boy is growing up!

Tis a Puzzlement!

Lately, Alex is really into his wooden puzzles. You know the kind, with the peg handles on the pieces and the picture underneath under the shapes to help you out? He loves them. He has a rack that holds several, and they get progressively harder. We started with the animals, which have the biggest pegs. He can do that one lickety split, and loves to finish it and then turn the base over and start all over again. We do the annimal sounds as we go, and he newest favorite animal goes "cocka-dooooooo!" The car one has smaller pegs, and that one is also pretty easy for him now.

Last night, he asked for the alphabet puzzle, in lieu of a bedtime story. Well, he didn't ask for the alphabet per se, but he rejected annimals and cars, but eagerly snatched the alphabet one when I offered it. It's the hardest yet, because it has so many pieces, and he doesn't know the alphabet quite yet. But the pictures underneath the letters are of things that start with that letter, and so when he picks up the B, for example, I say "That's a B, buh, buh, B stands for Ball!" and then he scans for the appropriate picture and gets the letter in place. With that type of guidance, he can do the whole thing! Although I do wish they hadn't done a "Jet" for J, as he looks at that picture and shouts "airplane!"

It is just amazing to see how each time he does it, he gets the pieces in faster and lines them up quicker. You can just see him learning!

Fangs

Alex's top two fang teeth have just b-a-r-e-l-y popped through his gums. Poor little guy has been just miserable the past few nights, and I know teething is the culpret. I can also feel 2 year molars hard under the surface back there, especially on the bottom left, but those bumps have been there for a while and don't seem to be making progress.

Teething sucks. In hindsight, I am really glad it took a good long while for his first teeth to come in!