Aquarium Guy...

Today, the Aquarium guy came to Alexander's school with all sorts of sea creatures.

He brought all sorts of fishes, snails & starfish. Alexander liked checking out the snails but he was more excited that he got to hold a starfish all by himself!

Alexander loves sea creatures!

Our Garage Visitor...

Here's a picture of the not-so-friendly friend, Daddy found in the garage. They put him in a bucket but he would tip it over and climb out. He also snapped a bit so thankfully Alexander didn't want to get too close to him.

Big Day...

Alexander had a big day today! And of course I didn't capture one moment of it on camera - next time!

• Potty: Alexander has been practicing sitting on the potty both at school & at home. There seems to be a diaper change/potty break time where all the kids sit on the potty for practice. Well, today Alexander actually did something about it: he used the potty to go pee! Ms. Debbie was pretty excited about it when telling me & then Alexander got excited about it. He kept saying 'pee mama pee'! How exciting - Alexander is becoming a little boy very quickly!
  
• Haircut: After I picked him up at school, I decided to take my chances to see if his good mood would carry over to getting his haircut. At first he was all about going to "tahhhgit" for a hotdog, but once we pulled up to the haircut place, he was super excited. We went in, he wanted help climbing into the chair, and even giggled when the hairdresser put on the robe. We brought in Monkey and he kept telling Monkey he was going to get a 'aaihcut'. She told him that she was going to spray his hair and then tickle him with the comb. He was FANTASTIC. He giggled, smiled & kept trying to tell Monkey about his haircut. Figures the one time I decide to go without a camera he's so much fun & adorably cute! The whole haircut was great, he was very cooperative, listened to her when she gave him direction, and genuinely liked sitting there. He also didn't mind the buzzer when she went to clean up the edges. A perfect haircut! And now he looks so handsome once again...

So after two big events, we went to Target for our usual hotdog & milk but afterwards went to the toy section and he picked out a little prize, a Rocket bathtub toy from the Little Einsteins (his new favorite) that he got to play with in tonight's tubby!

Photo Recap...

Photo Recap (Monday, July 20th - Sunday, July 26th, 2009)

Photo Recap...

Photo Recap (Monday, July 20th - Sunday, July 26th, 2009)

Weekly Glance...

Weekly Glance (Monday, July 20th - Sunday, July 26th, 2009)

• Very slow/lowkey week - not a lot going on this week
• Did very well at school - played outside when not raining
• New favorite show is Little Einsteins - loves the song, music, characters!
• Made a get well picture for Auntie & then called her on the phone to say "da better" which is get better.
• Went to Target with Mommy Friday night after school & got a new Einsteins book
• Saturday morning, played with Mommy - went to playground & walked to grocery store. Loves to scan the food & eat a banana thru the store (thank goodness for this new scanner thingy)
• Saturday, after a nap, went to a cookout at a friends house. Got to see baby Marina again which he was very sweet with her. However he was a bit territorial if Mommy or Daddy was with Marina. He would say "my mommy/daddy".
• He played ping pong with Mommy and did pretty good keeping an eye on the ball - he even hit it with the raquet a few times
• Daddy & Alexander had the Sunday morning routine: Dunkin Donuts, gazebo & playground
• Mommy & Alexander went to swim class - loved kicking & jumping in. Didn't quite get the concept of blowing bubbles in the water with a closed mouth
• Went to Mimi & Papi's house after swim class to help keep Auntie company & take care of her for the afternoon (only a few moments where Auntie & I panicked thinking that Alexander would bump the leg...)
• Played trucks & colored while at Mimi's
• Due to no nap, Alexander had a meltdown around tubby time which lasted quite some time
• Finally fell asleep in the car ride home after singing a few songs

Hanging with Auntie...

After swim class, we went over Mimi & Papi's to hang out with Auntie. She has a tear in her meniscus so she's unable to do much of anything besides lie in bed until she finds out when her surgery is. So Alexander & I wanted to go over to visit, hang out, and cater to her.

We helped get Alyson her lunch & just provided some needed entertainment. We did have to make sure that Alexander didn't bump into her knee/leg so we had a few close calls but everything was just fine.

The cutest part was when we walked in he said to Auntie "Auntie, booboo on knee"...and he leaned over to give her a kiss.

Weekly Posting...

*Note*
Please note: the blog updating along with pictures will be delayed this week due to situations beyond my control. Plus, it was more important to hang out with my sister...

Pics & posts coming soon...thanks for your patience.

Swim Class...

This morning, Alexander & I went to swim class again. He loves going to class now unlike the first time. The whole way to class he kept saying 'jump in pool' as that is turning out to be his favorite thing.


Once we got to class, Alexander couldn't wait to jump right in. We got in and started kicking right away. We got a toy that they use to throw for kids to swim towards them - so that's what we did for a bit. We kicked around the pool for a bit. Then we jumped in several times - and he's getting less nervous about jumping in. A few times he would even jump off to the side instead of directly in front of me...so I would play around and twirl him.

I tried to teach him how to blow bubbles into the water but he couldn't understand the concept of closing his mouth...we'll try again next week!

No Pictures...

It's been a while but Friday was another day where I did not take a picture of Alexander. Friday morning was too crazy before school (trying to get him out the door during the downpours) and then bedtime came & went before I even realized it...

Oh man.

Monthly Update...

The latest Montly update is pretty consistent with the last one...not a whole lot has changed.

His eating, sleeping schedules have remained the same without any variation. Although I have done my share to get some veggies in...some nights it works better than others. I have been successful to pack carrots for lunch and he's eaten some.

His vocabulary & how he's saying his words is getting much clearer. His counting (in order) is improving and he's learning to say his alphabet on his own. One of the best things is when we read books at night, he'll finish the sentences for me and he gets it right almost every time.

He loves playing outside, paint, going to swim class (jumping in the water), playing at the playground & going for walks.

His favorite thing to watch on tv (which we don't let him watch a whole lot) is Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Curious George & Elmo. He also loves to watch golf.

Photo Recap...

Photo Recap (Monday, July 13th - Sunday, July 19th, 2009)

Photo Recap...

Photo Recap (Monday, July 13th - Sunday, July 19th, 2009)

Weekly Glance...

Weekly Glance (Monday, July 13th - Sunday, July 19th, 2009)

• Great week
• Sunday night had a sleep over with Mimi & Papi
• Went to the playground with Mimi & then to the beach with Mimi & Papi
• Loved the beach - digging in the sand & going into the water with Papi
• Out to dinner on Monday with Mimi, Papi & Auntie and met Mommy to go home
• Only went to school on Tuesday (had a good day)
• Played ball with Daddy after school - learning to hit the ball
• Headed down to Chatham for a mini-vacation where the beach was the main focus
• Went to Lighthouse Beach on Wednesday
• After a nap, went out to dinner & then to the Chatham As baseball game where Alexander became enamored with the announcer 'man'
• Went to bed late the whole time in Chatham
• Thursday morning, went to Dunkin Donuts & playground with Daddy then Mommy joined a bit later
• After the playground, we went to Harding Beach
• Alexander played in the sand & didn't mind taking his water shoes off and getting sand on his feet (normally he hates 'things' on his feet other than socks/shoes)
• Made castles with Daddy & then learned to throw rocks in the water - he has the cutest stance when he's about to throw with his right leg HIGH in the air
• Thursday night, we went out to dinner & then to the lighthouse (and another really late bedtime)
• Friday, went to the playground & lighthouse but Alexander was getting tired so we headed back for a nap
• On Saturday, went to Home Depot with Mommy & Daddy (loves sitting on the ride mowers) then to play mini-golf and did pretty well (no major tantrums or issues)
• Sunday morning, went to swim class with Mommy & loved the water - kicking & jumping in!
• Sunday afternoon, Daddy & Alexander went over to uncle Steven's house to hang out and play in the pool
• Daddy said Alexander loved the water (which is a huge improvement over last year) and played with his cousins all afternoon

Swim Class #3

Swimming class today went well. There were only 3 families there, including us, so it didn't feel as crowded as usual. Alexander had a ball and got into the water right away, he even let me put on the floaties without too much of a fuss.

We swam around and I tried to get him to kick to different places he wanted to go. We went to see the little baby (who's 7 months old) and the Daddy showed Alexander how the little girl goes under water by blowing on her face first. Alexander said he wanted to go under the water but didn't quite get the concept down of closing his mouth first.

We tried it a few times but I didn't fully put him under and then the time I was ready to and thought he understood the closing of his mouth, he opened it right as he was about to go under so he got a mouth-full. But he was good and kept right on kicking, jumping & swimming.

As we were getting changed, he even wanted to try out the shower. He didn't fully stand under but he got a lot further than he did last week. Baby Steps. He's all excited to go back next week which I think next week's lesson will be how to blow bubbles in the water.

Watch Out Tiger...

Today, we took Alexander to play mini-golf. Originally we were going to play while on the Cape but due to napping schedule & timing, we decided to hold off until we got home. Our first mini-golf outing was a pleasant surprise.

He loves golf so we figured this would be perfect for him to actually hit the ball into the hole. He didn't quite get the concept of how to hold the putter (which is odd because he can do it at home with his plastic one) and also didn't want to be shown how. He is, afterall, in the "I can do it myself" stage.

Most times he would hit the ball, scold one of us if we hit the ball for him, and then pick up his ball and place it in the hole. There were a few times he actually hit it in the hole.

He was pretty patient about waiting our turn (it was crowded) and he only attempted to throw the ball into the water a few times...not bad!

Chatham

We headed down to Chatham for a few days for a mini-vacation. We stayed at my aunt's house which is a perfect "Cape" house, close to the beach! We didn't really have any major plans besides going to the beach and potentially playing mini-golf.

We got down there Wednesday morning and once we dropped stuff off at the house & changed into bathing suits, we headed to the beach. Since Alexander had gone to the beach earlier in the week with Mimi & Papi, he was pretty excited to go. Once we got there, he couldn't wait to go down to the water. He loved putting his feet in & have Mommy or Daddy build castles that he would knock over. When Mommy went to get the car, Alexander would run into the water & let Daddy catch him!

Wednesday night after nap, we went out to dinner & then went to watch the Chatham As play baseball. Alexander was enthralled with the announcer as he made mention of "the man" all weekend!

Thursday morning, he woke up around 5:45am despite going to bed later than usual the night before. He & Daddy went to Dunkin' Donuts & the nearby playground which we saw at the stadium the night before. Mommy walked over and played at the playground too and we watched the young boys at baseball camp learn how to hit & catch. Alexander loved the playground & all the climbing he could do.

After the playground, we went back to get ready for the beach even though the weather was partly cloudy & windy. We tried a different beach from the day before but it was very small and not great for digging/swimming, so we went to Harding Beach which was nice. We stayed until Alexander told us he was done which was about the time clouds started rolling in.

We went back to the house & Alexander took a 3 hour nap! After his nap, we went out to dinner to the same place as before since it was too late to go driving around for a new place. After dinner, we drove to the lighthouse which Alexander thought was great with the spinning lights. That night, Alexander fought to go to bed which made for a very late bedtime - 10pm!!

Of course he woke at 5:40am the next morning too! He & Daddy went to the playground/Dunkin Donuts again however Alexander didn't want to stay there as long this time so Daddy was going to bring him to see the lighthouse again (I happened to be walking over to the playground as they were leaving).

We checked out the lighthouse & the beach and then headed back to the house for a nap before it was time to head home. Overall it was a very nice, relaxing mini-vacation! We'll have to plan to stay longer next time!

I'll post the Chatham pics in a separate post - it'll be easier that way!

Chatham Pics...

Alexander at the beach ready to dig...

Digging with Daddy...

Lighthouse Beach, Chatham

Alexander taking in his first baseball game, Chatham As (who won that night)

Alexander giving Mommy hugs at the baseball game

Alexander confiscating Mommy's glasses & making faces...

Alexander at Harding Beach

Alexander playing with Daddy...

Daddy showed Alexander how to throw rocks into the water...

He even brings his leg up to step just like a future hall-of-fame pitcher...

In the dunes on Cape Cod...

Mommy & Alexander in front of the lighthouse...