Changes

When we found out we were expecting Alex I found an awesome crib on Craigslist that converts to a toddler bed. The thing is gorgeous. It has served our little family well.

Through a series of circumstances, mostly involving poor communication skills, we moved Alex to a real big girl bed. Alex and I went to Target and picked out her comforter and some stickers for her walls.

We then decorated her room with these new stickers.

There were tears and emotions as we took apart the crib turned toddler bed and assembled the new to us bed. And its strange even now to think that this is now the bed she'll have until she leaves for college.

So now I just give you before and after and during pictures.

Bald baby no more

Thanks to the fabulous Mrs Jesi Alex has learned what a braid is and we've learned that she can have a small one if done by Mrs Jesi's capable hands. So Alex asked for braids (yes plural) one night after bath. I'm not so good at small hair braids so I went with french braids. The braiding was easier then getting her to let me take pictures.

Anyway so this is exciting for the mere fact that she used to be so very bald. She's bald no more YAY!

As a bonus here's a pic of her with pigtails for church one week. So cute you just want to squeeze her really.

Goats!

Alex loves animals. She loves Keely and Slainte and all of the animals at the zoo. So whenever we have some stale bread and some time on our hands we like to go feed the goats that are on the way to White Marsh Mall. It really is great fun.

March 2nd aka Dr Suess day

Well we're big fans of Dr Seuss around here. Even if I wish I could rhyme this post like one of his books, I know I can't. Alex's current favorite is 'There's a Wocket in my pocket' although her favorite Seuss book, or book, or anything really, is prone to change daily.

So to celebrate the day that would have been his birthday... OK maybe we just like to have excuses to do weird things....anyway...we had green eggs and ham for dinner and a couple days later colored some Dr Seuss magnets.

After all why not celebrate the man who started as a political cartoonist, was dared to make childrens books and went forth to make some of the most difficult to read out loud books ever?*

Exactly I can't think of a reason. So here's to you Mr Geisel. May our childrens children get their tongues all twisted around your words.

*yes it's an over simplification, deal with it 

Swim Swim fishy

For a few weeks now Jason and Alex have gone to Kids First Swim School in Timonium for swim lessons (for Alex) on Wednesday mornings. It took us awhile to decide on swimming but the class timing is right and swimming is a very important skill to have.

Well they LOVE it. They sing songs and learn about kicking and blowing bubbles and floating. Basically it's a blast. Alex is still young enough that Jason has to be in the pool with her. But no matter they're bonding and having great fun.

I finally got to witness a class as I had a dentist appointment one Wednesday and the timing worked out perfectly. Alex had no idea I was there until the end but I got as good of pictures as I could given the glass in the way.

Don't they look like they're having fun? Just a few more weeks left of this rotation then we get to decide if we're they're going to continue.

She's just getting so big

The problem with children is that they grow up. And it turns out Alex does so astoundingly fast.

One weekend when the weather had started pretending to turn during the day we were playing outside, as we often do. Alex wanted to ride her bike. The one with the training wheels. I discouraged her and pointed her towards the scooter. She happily obliged.

Then the darnedest thing happened. She figured out all on her own how to make it go.

Obviously I had to get pictures of my big girl being big.

So cute and wonderful....and sad.

And now for something completely different; almost all pictures

The first time we went was littles day so there was a bunch of stuff geared toward toddlers

Here'e the thing. We got a family membership to Port Discovery and we LOVE it. Within the first month we went twice. Alex is in love, we're in love. Basically it's nothing but awesomeness. The only way to really share how much fun we have there is with a barrage of pictures, so here goes.

words can not describe how much this thing terrifies me but Alex loves it. Even at 3 stories above the ground.

What you can't tell from the picture is that this thing reacts to your movement. It's really cool

Free ice cream makes everything better

The second trip daddy got to come with us. Thank God b/c I was in pain AND he could do all the stuff that scares me. :)

It's an exhausting day to say the least but it's also a ton of fun! I highly recommend a morning spent at PD to anyone with kids.

Valentine's Day has come and gone but the post lingers

Jason and I aren't too big on Valentine's Day. It's a Hallmark holiday that happens to fall about 2 weeks after our wedding anniversary. But what I do like is themey things and that often translates into ridiculous things for Alex to do.

This year we started on Super Bowl Sunday, which happened to fall just before Valentine's day. As a quiet and contained activity, so mommy could see the commercials, Alex got to paint a heart picture frame. It wasn't as big a hit as I'd planned but she still had fun.

Oh and we learned that we should only ever paint on the linoleum as this ended up being pretty messy.

But the end result is cute, as always.

Then on the big day itself Alex got to have a party at Mrs Jesi's and had all sorts of goodies all day that she normally wouldn't be allowed. So when Mrs Jesi sent home this awesome make your own candy necklace kit, we had to be inventive.

Clearly it had to be made on Valentine's day but it was entirely too late for sugar even if she hadn't had the sweet stuff all day. So we told her that they were magic beads. The thing with these magic beads is that they all had to be put on necklaces and over night they would turn into candy.

She bought it and we made necklaces and she loved the candy in the morning. All in all a great Valentine's Day I would say.

cold weather craftiness

Isn't the painting outfit silly?

It's been wintery for awhile now and as much as we like to play outside most days it's just not a good idea. Not that we don't try but it winds up with our taking as long to bundle Alex and ourselves up as we spend outdoors. So we get inventive about the stuff we do inside. This often leads to random crafts

Also Alex is getting older and can do a bit more these days. This led to stealing some inspiration from Mrs Jesi and making egg carton critters. These start by cutting out a bit of egg carton (best done by the adult type person that's around).

Then the painting can begin. Of course we're both in painting clothes as nothing stays remotely clean in the vicinity when painting, which is why it's handy to have a big thing of paper towels handy. ;)

Paint is a tricky thing. It has to be doled out in small controllable amounts and in as few colors as you think you can get away with. All of this need be done in such a way that Alex thinks she's getting a ton of paint and colors so the joy of getting to paint isn't diminished. It also helps to use big girl paints and brushes instead of finger paints.

So with a little help she painted one piece red and one green. After the paint was dry we added puff ball heads and legs. Of course there was glitter. And some stickers for decoration.

Then voila! a ladybug and a turtle. We were all very proud of her creations. Still are actually. They're very cute and great fun to play with.

Now if only I could steal them away from her and hide them in her memory box....nah pictures of this one are probably enough.

All the way back in January

lamby and panguin were our special pals for the day

You may recall a post awhile ago about Alex's eye surgery. Well long overdue is an update.

We got to the hospital early on the 21st of January and started waiting. Alex thought it was an adventure although she didn't understand why she couldn't eat or drink. She got the cutest little hospital gown. It was purple with koalas in rocketships. That combined with her little trainers was just too adorable for words.

What seemed at once as right after we got there and a bit of forever it was time to go back for the procedure. So I suited up and we were off to the operating room. Originally I thought I'd stay back for the whole procedure but it turns out I only was allowed in the room until she was asleep. Time and time again they explained how it's harder for mom and dad then for her. After all, we know what's going on.

As they put her under she slowly then quickly went limp and was laid down. I was escorted back to our little room with the assurance that they would bring her to me as soon as possible. All of the research and talking to this person and that couldn't prepare us for our nerves day of.

The anesthesiologist(sp?) said that she'd likely be grumpy when she woke up then go back to sleep and sleep the effects off. Obviously they don't know my daughter because she's not realy a fan of sleep.

As procedures go it went well. Turns out the blockage was bone so she never would have grown out of it. And when she was broughtto us afterwards she was sad and confused and sleepy. We snuggled and bounced and swayed for quite awhile before we were able to get her dressed and take her home.

She had to be eased into real food and didn't feel like doing much. So as a family we just relaxed and watched silly things and waited for her to feel more like herself. After her eventual nap, which was shockingly short, she was more herself. By the next day she was 95% normal. The only lingering issue involving the potty.

By the end of the week she was completely back to normal and you couldn't tell she'd had anything done. Several weeks after the procedure she got a cold. It was the first time since she was born that a cold didn't involve mucus pouring out of her eyes. There really isn't a way to explain how amazing that is to us or what a wonderful change it has been. We laughed at ourselves when we were excited about her first ever 'normal' morning eye boogers.

Thank God for taking care of our little girl. And thank God for a fantastic bunch of doctors that took care of her and that she's all better now.

*PS should have more posts on the way now that our technology issues have been fixed
**PPS wow I really shouldn't write when tired sorry for the horribly inept writing y'all