Let the trick-or-treating begin!
Month: October 2011
The pants to Alex’s costume are a little restricting for movement. I knew he wouldn’t wear them tonight for trick-or-treating, but I wanted a picture in full costume. With the bribe of two new cars and playing in the park, I finally got a picture. (The second one he is showing off his new cars.)
Then we hurried home for pizza at Amber’s house before group trick-or-treating (Group picture – Evan (pumpkin), Riley (pumpkin), Abram (fireman), and Alex(robot)). The baby pictured below is Riley’s new sister (Glenna – born just a few days ago). We met up with our neighbor,Sam (cowboy), along the way. The last picture of Abram and Alex is my favorite. Abram loved Alex’s costume and wanted to be a robot too. He put on Alex’s hat and would tell everyone at the door they were both robots!
Alex loved trick-or-treating. He walked the entire time and didn’t mind the trouble he had going up stairs (due to the costume – next year we are definitely going to have one he can run in!). He asked to take off the outfit once and was told that was fine but we would go home. He never said another word and complained when we finally called it a night. He definitely would have kept going!
Wade and I were answering the door for Trick-or-Treaters when we heard Alex call for “Mommy.” Wade went to get him up but came down shortly without Alex. He informed me Alex wasn’t really ready to get up and was now asleep in our bed. I didn’t believe Alex was actually asleep, so I went up to check.
Yup. He slept for another hour in our bed.
Halloween cupcakes (with sprinkles) – yum!
Our pumpkin carving party was this evening and Alex substituted all kinds of sweets for dinner. At least we were firm on brushing teeth before bed.
Wade’s work threw a children’s Halloween party today. Alex was really excited to go see Daddy’s friends, but wasn’t so sure about wearing his costume. We assured him that there would be lots of candy for “Robot Alex”. In the end, he gladly wore the top and hat (for a little while). Thank goodness the costume judging was the first event. Alex won first prize (a gift card to Barnes & Noble) in the “Under 5” category. I told him that he won and could use his gift card to buy a book. All day he was confused where his new book was and why I wouldn’t give it to him.
Then the entire building was open for trick or treating. Most of the guys recognized the parts from Alex’s costume (mag switch, etc) and all were impressed that it was powered by a M12 battery. Alex alternated between being shy and talking to everyone. When he did talk he was quick to say he was going to share his candy with Abram (and we did as soon as we got home).
With his pumpkin full of candy, Alex couldn’t wait to take off his costume and play all the games. His favorite was the balloon booth.
(Just in case you were worried – We did take Alex to pick out a new book. He chose “I Saw An Ant On The Railroad Track“.)
Alex “read” his first book today. Granted it’s an easy Baby book, but he pretty much repeated the right words on the right pages.
Cookie dough clean-up.
Alex had eaten a huge dinner (for him) and was keeping me company in the kitchen while I made cookie dough. I knew he was playing in the canned goods, but didn’t think much of it. He loves to stack them and reorganize all the cans. Suddenly he brings me a can of green beans and asks me to open them. I double checked that he really wanted them and promised to eat them. I opened the can and he carried it around munching on them until time for a shower. Crazy kid.
Having fun in the nursery at church – Wednesday night dinners started tonight!
Neither Wade nor I had a great idea for Alex’s Halloween Costume. When we asked him what he wanted to be, he responded with “A Snowman” which sometimes means snowman and sometimes means pumpkin. Then Alex was outside playing while Wade cleaned out the garage (a few weeks ago). He thought the gutter elbows made great robot arms. Suddenly a robot seemed like a fantastic idea for his Halloween costume.
Another trip to the dog park!
Exploring a box of Mom’s old stuff in the basement.
(Note the Trolls and Beanie Babies).
My friend, Amy, told me about Storytime at Yo Mama! What a great idea! Alex and Abby had a lot of fun making pumpkins, coloring, listening to a story, and then eating ice cream! (Note the “reading” glasses given to all the kids. Alex is so used to sunglasses he loved wearing them!)
Workin’
I thought Alex’s love of balloons (see here) was just a phase. Tonight Alex proved me wrong. He couldn’t wait till dinner was over and he got his balloon. Then he ran around the house screaming, laughing, and jumping with it for the 30 minutes before bedtime.
Our neighbor, Evan, got a new bike for his birthday. Alex was really excited to try it out, and I love the fierce expression on his face.
The Real Story – If you look closely you will see a stuffed puppy dog sitting behind Alex. He also had Moose and a giraffe. If any of them fell off (which happened quite frequently), he would get very concerned, stop, rearrange, and then get back on looking fierce.
Sharing powdered donuts with Riley!
(Note the googly eyes courtesy of Wade.)
Alex’s favorite “delaying” phrase as you are putting him to bed is, “Maybe….When I wake up….” and then insert pretty much anything. Tonight it was, “Maybe….When I wake up….There will be snow.” Alex has been fixated on snow lately and I’m not sure why. It’s really cute except he sincerely believes it’s going to snow soon. We’ve tried to explain, but he continues to believe. Today when I decided it was cold enough for a hat, he demanded a scarf too (and I just happened to have one Alex-size). I hope for Alex’s sake we get an early snow.
We’ve been reading lots of books about snow lately (at Alex’s request). The minute I pulled out a hat for him, he also requested a scarf!
I thought after almost a year that Tabit was settled into her routine. Her favorite place to sleep is in someone’s lap on the couch as long as they are using a preferred blanket (with a particular side up). When no one is on the couch she prefers the back of one green chair (the right one). Then today I found her in the kitchen on the windowseat. I immediately knew why – it gets lots of sun. Crazy cat. Now I have one more place with a little “extra” cat hair to clean.
Alex doesn’t see these as rainy days. He sees them as umbrella days!
Wade’s out of town on business so I decided to take Alex and Madison to the dog park after MDO. (Madison always goes with me to pick Alex up so she was in the car anyway.) They both ran and ran and ran. We made two laps before Alex was ready to go. There are two big hills, which he loved. As soon as he saw the path getting steep he would say, “I catching up to the hill.”
Alex and I took Madison to the dog park this afternoon.
(I knew it had been a while, but based on this picture it was 2009. Poor Madison.)
Alex and I had big plans today. We made pumpkin Rice Krispie treats! Alex loved helping stir the marshmallows and form balls for the pumpkins. It was also his job to add the green Dot on top.
Later in the day we were sweeping out the garage when Alex informed me of two things. 1.) The snow blower makes snow. (He never understood why I wouldn’t turn it on so we could have snow.) 2.) Santa is bringing Alex a snow blower. Who knew? Santa will have to get to work.
An indoor picnic makes left-overs taste much better!
Open for business!
We spent most of today outside. Wade is working on the garage and Alex loved having all the tools out for playing. (Second picture – Doesn’t every 2 year old “draw” with drill?)
A few weeks ago Alex was painting in the shower and I told him it was “gorgeous”. It was obviously an unfamiliar word to him and he thought I had named his picture. He even cried when “gorgeous went away”. Tonight he was painting and said, “I draw gorgeous.”
Entertaining himself while Mom cooks dinner.
I had a coupon for Monkey Joe’s that expired this month. Amber and Abram were happy to join us on our outing. Alex has been quite a few times with mixed results. The first time was okay (see here), the second time was awful (see here), the third time was much better (see here), but Alex still had to have help climbing to the top and refused to slide down by himself. Today he realized he could climb to the top and slide down by himself! Independence for him and an easier play time for Mom (of course my camera battery was dead so no pictures). Abram held his hand down the first two slides and then he was fine on his own.
The place wasn’t very crowded but there were quite a few “big” kids. We finally left after they ran over Alex and Abram one time too many. Amber invited us to lunch and I loved the place she took us – Jack’s Cafe. Yum! I can’t wait to go back for another chicken salad sandwich.
Books in front of the fire.
I have always loved Rice Krispie treats (see here), but I have been really impressed lately with their new recipe ideas. I can’t wait to try some of these with Alex!
Alex wakes up happy and ready to go in the mornings. After nap he is a mess – cranky, whinny, etc. Today was the exception. He woke up from his nap ready to play and his favorite game? Napping in his sleeping bag.
A perfect fall day ended in a walk to the park.
I think Wade’s only regret in moving to Milwaukee is no longer being able to watch GaTech football on local television. We decided that the type of cable package necessary to get the games was much more than we wanted to spend (because of that we haven’t had cable the entire time we’ve been here). Wade listens to the games and would occasionally hunt up a sports bar willing to show one. Then he cooked up a scheme using this HUGE antenna and our neighbor’s internet (Thanks Strouds!). Wade spent the entire evening adjusting the antenna just right to catch the best signal from across the street. Hopefully everything is set for Saturday’s game.
Today was Alex’s day. We had no prior plans and nothing that had to be accomplished. We started the day at the zoo. Lucky for us the newest additions (three lion cubs) were on display.
After nap Abram invited us to rake leaves and jump in the piles. (Alex has been wanting to do this for weeks, but we just now have enough leaves on the ground.) Sam joined in the fun and the boys played and played.
Amber invited us over for raking and leaf-pile jumping. Alex had a lot more fun throwing leaves on me!
Today our church (Transformation City Church) met in the new building! Renevations aren’t completely done, but enough that we could have service and a potluck afterwards. I wasn’t scheduled to work in the nursery, but I offered when I saw the number of kids. We had 16 kids in the 0-3 age group!
We rushed home to put Alex down for a nap and then I had to wake him up for our Seussical the Musical. We were going with Abram and Riley. (See intermission below – cookies and juice were had by all)
I wasn’t sure of Alex’s reaction to the musical. He watched the entire thing with a very serious expression on his face and sitting in my lap. However, he assured me he enjoyed it and when we got home I caught him “calling” Jojo (one of the characters). Note that he has plugged his “phone” into the radiator before making the call.
In the last few weeks I have noticed Alex making up new words. He currently uses the word “lawming” to replace mowing. My guess is a combination of “lawn” and “mowing”?
Today we tried out window markers!
(For anyone noting that my son is wearing winter pajamas in this crazy warm weather – we watched Cars last night and he had to wear the pajamas with Lighting McQueen)
Wade’s project for the weekend was a new roof on the garage (Thanks to Nick for helping!). Alex has loved being outside and occasionally “helping”. Damian and Justin (Phoenix’s Dad) are putting down new sod in the backyard. The boys played together most of the day, which keeps them nicely entertained. To make it an even better day, Alex had not one, but two outside picnics. The last one was a spontaneous neighborhood picnic (three families) with take-out from Balisteri’s (pizza) and Habanero’s (Mexican).
Today’s outing was a return to Green Meadows Farm. Alex enjoyed it just as much as last time. This time there were even baby bunnies and puppies to hold!
Alex got to hold a baby bunny and didn’t want to put it down!