Birthday at School

On October 27th Alex got to celebrate his birthday at school with his little friends. I brought in a cookie cake with Nemo on it to share with his friends. Grandma got to come too!! Alex was extremely excited to have us there and in fact was showing off a little in front of his friends. After teaching for ten years and celebrating many, many birthdays of students it was fun to have my turn to celebrate with my child.

What a 2 Year Old Can Do

Alex astonishes me everyday and relish in all the time that we spend together. Rapid changes are happening everyday with him. A few of the things that Alex can do now are:
1. Can sing Rock-a-Bye Baby
2. Says I Love You and knows what it means!!
3. Says cheese and smiles for the camera, even though he looks like his eyes are closed (see picture)
4. Can hold a conversation with mum and dad and also on the phone
5. Remembers what I tell him he can do even if it was two days ago (also remembers where I hide things)
6. Offer pretty good excuses as to why he shouldn't go to bed-the only kid I know that has to potty 3 times before bed
7. Operate the DVD player
8. Recite Dr. Suess books and finish the sentences when we read to him.
9. Identifies his name, mum and dad when written.
10. Brings me to my knees just by his precious smile and infectious giggle.

Happy Birthday

This year we had two birthday (so far) celebrations for Alexander. The first was a horse party, complete with a horse cake, but no horse (Jay wouldn't let me rent one) and the second was a Nemo Fish party, with the Nemo cake. We had lots of fun at both parties. We had pumpkin decorating and lots of sandbox playing. Alex is wiped out and so am I. He really got into the whole party thing this year.

Pumpkin Patch with Grandma Sandy

We stopped in Las Cruces on the way home from Fiesta and got to spend lots of time with Grandma and Stephanie. Unfortunately Grandpa Roger was away on a business trip, but we sat in his chair. These are pictures taken at the pumpkin festival in Mesilla.

Cousin Nat

Alex loves his cousin Nat, and talks about her all the time. We have been back almost a week and he keeps saying he wants to go to Uncle Phil's house to see cousin Nat, Aunt DeeDee and Uncle Phil!!

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

These are a few from Fiesta this year. This was Alex's second Fiesta and he had even more fun than he did last year. We managed to make it out to the field 4 out the 10 days, although it was really only 6 days as some were rained or winded out. Alex the official Beanie Baby got spoiled rotten by the crew and got to meet up with lots of old friends and even made some new ones. His favorite balloon was Nemo. He was so excited to see it in the sky and so was I-I had never seen it before. Every morning he would wake up saying COOL BEANS!! I think he thought the whole event was Cool Beans. He was a trooper waking at 4:30 in the morning and some days going all day without a nap but being cheerful as ever. This year we got to stay with Phil and Diana which was fun to see their new house and the critters.

Got Roots?

Showing our Canadian Roots!

Hanging at Debbie and Dan's

Debbie planned a little party for Alex's second birthday while we were in Albuturkey (as Alex says it), complete with cake and presents.

The Contents of My Pockets Lately

Every night after dinner we go and explore the neighborhood to see what we can find and guess where everything we find goes-my pockets. I am glad his heavy rock phase is done, now we are into acorns with hats!! He treats every one like some sort of lost treasure-it's so fun to watch.

Canadian Cowboy??

The Artist

Alex loves creating...anything. This includes painting, crayons, colored pencils, stickers, gluing-basically anything that is messy and stresses me out. I actually am really impressed that I allow him to paint freely in our house. He loves it so much it is hard to say no plus it keeps him busy for a long time. I am still trying to get orange paint out of the carpet and purple paint off of the concrete-and just for the record just because it says washable it doesn't necessarily mean that it really is.

Morris

Alex has made friends with the cat down the street who we named Morris. Alex is so gentle with him and loves petting him. I swear Morris waits on his front lawn every night for Alex. As soon as he sees us coming around the corner he runs to greet us. As we continue on our explorations Morris will follow us around the block and all the way back to our house. Needless to say Sydney is not to pleased with this furry friend of Alex's.

Splash Day at School

Wednesday Alex had Splash Day at is school. This entailed lots of shaving cream and lots of water. Alex got really into it and was probably the kid covered in the most cream. I couldn't pull him away from it.

Is this bad luck??

Potty Time

Alex and I started potty training three weeks ago. I say we both started because this was definitely a journey we both took together. I followed the three day potty training method which I wouldn't necessarily recommend but it helped us get on the right track. Well through many tears (mine) and much laugher (his) I think that he finally gets it. He did not have an accident at school this week or at the rec center and has gone two days accident free at home. I am so proud of him. Just when I was about to pull my hair out things finally fell together. As a mother I find myself always second guessing my decisions and questioning everything I do, however with the potty training I followed Alex (literally and figuratively) and my own instincts and never gave up on Alex. I think Alex thought I was going to break and when he knew that I wouldn't he thought he might as well do this potty thing. What a long strange trip it's been...truckin...I couldn't resist putting some pics up of his cute little toosh and his Elmo undies.

Haircut Time

This was Alex's second haircut. We went to a different place this time. The hairdresser was not very friendly but that didn't seem to bother Alex at all. He sat so well the whole time and followed every instruction the hairdresser gave him. He looks as cute as ever.

Daddy Time

Hummus Anyone??

This is Alex's favorite snack. He asks for it over anything else, even cookies. He is so cute when he says it, it sounds more like Hamas please. He loves to offer it to his friends when we have playdates over here.

Backyard Fun

Here's a couple cute ones of Alex in underwear!!! The second one he had just eaten some hot curry and was saying "too spicy".

First Day of School

Alex started at Creative Beginnings on Wednesday. He'll go two mornings a week for the school year. He was very excited to start school and carry his own backpack-it was all about the backpack. When we dropped him off in his classroom he went strait to work on a duck puzzle and playing with a pop-up toy. I took him to the potty and then took a few pictures and he was eager to get started. I had to beg him for a hug and kiss, which he reluctantly gave me and then he was off without looking back. I knew that he would be fine but a few tears for my sake would have been nice. When I picked him up after lunch he was sitting on the potty-too cute. He had a great day and the only thing he complained about was not getting anything to drink!! I think he is going to have a great year with his teacher Ms. Maxine.