Month: May 2011

It amuses me that Alex can’t sit Indian-style (I’m not sure what the PC term is), but can sit like this for hours:

It’s always nice to get home after a vacation. (If only we could skip the 8 hours in a car.) We walked in the backdoor to a welcome gift from Tabit. Evidently she got lonely and decided to move Alex’s stuffed animals from his room to the kitchen floor.

We got unpacked and still had a little time before Alex needed a bath. I mowed the yard and Alex followed me around with his wheelbarrow. He was supposed to be picking up grass clippings, but didn’t quite manage that part. He did later help me load up his wheelbarrow and take a load to the composter.

That darn dog of mine had quite the adventure on this trip. The first night we spent with my Mom in KY, Madison managed to find and eat some rat poison. Wade realized it immediately and called his Dad (thank goodness my father-in-law is a vet). Jerry suggested a couple concoctions to make her throw it up. It worked, but Madison was not too happy and wouldn’t go near Wade afterwards. We assumed we had gotten most, if not all, of it out of her system. Wade did call the company to verify the type of poison for Jerry. Today Jerry checked Madison’s clotting time for a second time and it was a little off. She’s now on Vitamin K for a few weeks, but should be fine.

Traveling is always an adventure.

Today was HOT. We put Alex in his swimsuit and drove to the closest splash park. Alex had a blast and squealed the entire time he was running through the water.

After a nice long nap, Madison and Alex enjoyed the backyard waiting for everyone else to come home.

When Daddy and Pop got back from the farm, we decided to try out another splash park.

BBQ was on the menu for dinner and then some more playing in the yard.

Alex had a really busy day today. Granny and Pop were full of fun places to explore and games to play.
Before the rest of us were out of our pajamas, Pop was giving Alex tractor rides around the yard:

Then we played in the yard before walking to the elementary school playground a few blocks down the street. A dump truck and excavator just happened to be working on the parking lot and we were able to stop and watch.

After his nap, Alex discovered how much fun a wheel can be. (The last picture is Alex’s classic “Ta Da!” pose – words included)

Then we went out for a catfish dinner followed by fishing and exploring at Pop’s farm.

Wade talked up his childhood treehouse and Alex couldn’t wait to explore. The little monkey scampered right up the ladder and had a grand time throwing out all the sticks.

We spent the day playing and then the extended Burch family came for dinner. Alex immediately latched on to Tina and dragged her around to every room.

On a side note – Judy has kept all of Wade and Emily’s old toys and Alex loves to play with them. I had forgotten all about the “little people” I grew up with until I saw Alex playing with them.

Alex and Pop got outside early and put together Alex’s new wagon.

After nap Alex played in the yard; helped Granny in the kitchen; and then played in the park.

The day ended with a visit from my high school friend Jenny!

Alex started the day with Gram and Harper (while the rest of us slept). In the last picture Alex and Harper are comparing loveys.

After a ride in the car, we arrived in Collierville at Granny and Pop’s house. Alex was really excited by the train at the square.

It turns out Alex’s favorite activity of the day was washing dishes in Granny’s sink.

After driving all day, we finally arrived in Paducah. Alex found a whole new bin of toys waiting for him at Gram’s house. He was instantly fascinated with “little people” and even got Buddy to play too

While Alex was occupied, I loved on Harper. Only one more week till her cast comes off!

After dinner, I made a quick trip to see Amy’s new baby girl, Ali. What a gorgeous baby!

Today was awesome! We had warm weather and blue skies. Abram had his pool out and we went over for a short play after church. The boys had a great time splashing and squirting and jumping.

We haven’t been doing many large projects lately, but we have two I haven’t mentioned. The first was an indoor project – the back of my office door. We put cork board on the top for all the art work Alex brings home from school and painted the bottom panel with chalkboard paint.

The second is a soccer goal for Alex. We still need the netting, but Alex caught on and had fun kicking the soccer ball.

Alex loves having so many friends right next door. We started the morning at Chuck E. Cheese with Abram:

After nap, Alex and Pheonix played outside for a few hours:

My favorite picture is the last one on the right. Phoenix and Alex were having a lot of fun “crashing”. Alex has a look of pure joy and Phoenix appears to be saying, “What the heck?”

One day last week we had warm weather and I got out Alex’s sandals for the summer. He was a little hesitant about wearing them so we talked about “summer shoes” and how great they were. At the end of the day, I noticed one of the straps was unraveling. I took the shoes back and had to wait a week to get the replacements. During the past week, Alex has daily asked for his “summer shoes” (not that it would have been warm enough to wear them). We got the shoes yesterday and today it was warm! Summer shoes are back!

Alex wasn’t shy about talking about his “summer shoes” either. He told everyone he saw today and even the ladies at MDO commented on them when I picked him up.

Today’s adventure was to Kids in Motion. It was one of those places that could have been amazing but ended up being okay. Most of the themed areas were sparse on materials/toys. The exception was the construction zone full of beans. Although the conveyer was broken Alex loved digging and dumping.

Alex’s favorite lovey is Moose. However he tends to get attached to other stuffed animals for a few hours or days. We were playing outside today when he randomly requested “Peter Bear”. When I arrived with Peter Bear, Alex immediately grabbed him and started saying “Rock Peter Bear. Like Baby.” (I am pretty sure this is because I hold Alex like a baby and sing “rock a bye baby” to him.) Peter Bear went everywhere Alex did for the rest of the morning (including having a napkin in his lap and a chicken nugget for lunch.)

Alex was in rare form this morning. We were reading books when he suddenly needed “my Alex fire hat”. He put it on and then ran to the back door for “my Alex fire boots”. He managed to get the boots on by himself and then ran around putting out fires.

We have had yucky weather the past two days – rainy and windy. Today the wind was really strong and woke Alex up once from his nap (a polite request to go back to sleep worked for an additional 1.5 hour). When I went to get Alex from his nap, I glanced in the backyard and saw some huge limbs down. I can’t believe we didn’t hear them fall.

My birthday chairs arrived yesterday and today they have been assembled. It’s a little yucky outside, but I’m enjoying them anyway!

I was a little lazy today and let Alex swing himself. He thought it was great fun.

I was folding laundry on my bed and looked over to see Tabit in my closet. I find it really amusing that she isn’t curled up on the clothes, but on the hard shelf behind the clothes:

Wade again tried to get Alex interested in fake mustaches (see here and here). Alex would have none of it so Wade moved on to Madison (who tolerated it long enough for a picture).

These boys sure know how to have a good time!

This building set (Build It) was actually one of Wade’s Christmas presents. He and Alex have had a lot of fun building a huge assortment of things – shopping cart, wheelbarrow, robot, frog, dump truck, etc. Alex isn’t quite old enough to build by himself, but he loves to help find the necessary pieces.

Alex’s left-handed issues are already starting to appear. He seems doomed to turn the nuts the wrong way on the bolts – poor boy.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms! My boys let me sleep in this morning and took me out for lunch (Mexican, of course) after church. After everyone napped, we skyped with Judy, Jerry, and Emily

Then Alex and I played outside. We ended up at Damian’s house (our neighbor) and Alex loved playing with the new wheelchairs:

Wade spent the rest of the afternoon working. I now have shelves in my storage area under the stairs in the basemen – thanks Wade!

A few days after leaving Nashville, my sister called to let me know Wade had left a present. She found googly eyes strategically placed in the shower and in Harper’s room.

In the meantime, Wade found a kindred soul when it comes to googly eyes – see link here.