Saturday, December 25, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
New House, New Job, New Daughter....
Elizabeth Lily is here! Seven pounds, twenty inches, delivered Monday (5 July). Everybody's home and happy now. I'll be adding new pictures directly to Picasa (aka Google Photos) for now, 'cause I just don't have time for the blog format!
Monday, February 15, 2010
November
Back around Halloween, we got some sun near the Des Plaines River. The weather cooled off the following weekend, but we still found time to play in the backyard leaves (two, three, four, five). The swing was a good spot for a break before shooting some hoops and watching a video.
The second weekend of November, it was warm enough to rake some leaves. Those bags of leaves were heavy, but Alex demanded we let him pull them himself. He even helped with the clean-up.
After a failed attempt at a professional haircut, we broke down and bought some trimmers at Target. Before picture here. (That $20 trimmer has already paid for itself!) After some screaming, a hug, and a bath, he was pretty happy with his new look. The Play-Doh probably helped, too. He got a bit concerned by linked rings of Play-Doh at first, but then figured out how to tear them apart.
The Christmas tree went up over Thanksgiving weekend. He liked looking for presents under the Elmo chair but was surprised to find none. Back in Iowa, he went nuts riding my (thirty-year-) old bus around the basement. The singing gorilla was not popular, and was quickly pushed away in favor of a quick jig.
Christmas came early with a large voice-controlled train set. The rest of us didn't get much time with that wireless mic/remote control! That wasn't the only train, of course -- here, Aunt Kendra helps him open a box of wooden trains. He enjoyed playing with them, especially the gravity-defying magnetic couplers until the "Shake Your Booty" truck appeared and ran around the kitchen. Family picture time, then a snack and off to bed.
The second weekend of November, it was warm enough to rake some leaves. Those bags of leaves were heavy, but Alex demanded we let him pull them himself. He even helped with the clean-up.
After a failed attempt at a professional haircut, we broke down and bought some trimmers at Target. Before picture here. (That $20 trimmer has already paid for itself!) After some screaming, a hug, and a bath, he was pretty happy with his new look. The Play-Doh probably helped, too. He got a bit concerned by linked rings of Play-Doh at first, but then figured out how to tear them apart.
The Christmas tree went up over Thanksgiving weekend. He liked looking for presents under the Elmo chair but was surprised to find none. Back in Iowa, he went nuts riding my (thirty-year-) old bus around the basement. The singing gorilla was not popular, and was quickly pushed away in favor of a quick jig.
Christmas came early with a large voice-controlled train set. The rest of us didn't get much time with that wireless mic/remote control! That wasn't the only train, of course -- here, Aunt Kendra helps him open a box of wooden trains. He enjoyed playing with them, especially the gravity-defying magnetic couplers until the "Shake Your Booty" truck appeared and ran around the kitchen. Family picture time, then a snack and off to bed.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Two Years Old
Alex is now two years old! We started off with a breakfast of Raisin Bran and oatmeal and a call from Aunt Mindy. This was followed by a trip to the Chicago Auto Show ("cars!") where he got to "drive" a Jeep and BMW and inspect the new Mustang 5.0 engine. He had no interest in crawling around in the back of a truck, however. Once home, it was nap time.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
More Trains!
Last week, Aunt Mindy sent me a link to a train table with trains & track on eBay. Long story short, Alex is very happy today. His days of wearing train hats while crawling around on the floor, using crayons to draw fake track on large pieces of paper, (fun though they may have been) are over! He's now got a giant train table, along with three sacks of trains and tracks. Once we had a basic loop in place, he was assembling the trains and pulling them around the track. He's learning about magnets and gravity, too. Thank you Aunt Mindy!
[November & December pics still to come....]
[November & December pics still to come....]
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Pumpkin Carving
Aunt Mindy spent a weekend taking pictures of Alex playing with his recorder and reviewing them with him. Granny Susan and Alex played catch with the big red ball while Mindy cut into the pumpkin.
Then, Alex went outside to check on her progress, finding it ready for carving. Before long, it was done, and everybody wanted to pose with it.
For dinner, spaghetti, followed by some quality time with his deck of alphabet flash cards while sitting on Elmo. Finally, one last shot by the couch.
Then, Alex went outside to check on her progress, finding it ready for carving. Before long, it was done, and everybody wanted to pose with it.
For dinner, spaghetti, followed by some quality time with his deck of alphabet flash cards while sitting on Elmo. Finally, one last shot by the couch.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
October (Yeah, still on last year....)
Wow, January already? This whole house-buying (or not) and house-selling (or not) is sure taking a lot of time. Anyway, Alex is home sick (had a fever yesterday, but just fine today) and happily planted in front of the TV. Not my choice, exactly, but he woke up saying "DVD", ate a little breakfast, and then ran into the family room and turned on the TV and DVD player all by himself (thanks a lot, Michele!).
Back in October, here he is sitting in my chair (w/Mommy). Left unattended, he will grab anything he can reach. Can't put his own socks on yet, but he's happy to help others.
One of those weekends, we took a trip to the Illinois Railway Museum. He loved riding on the electric rail car (an early Chicago 'L' train, IIRC). By the time we left, he was exhausted.
That weekend was also the Lake Zurich Fire Department open house. He did NOT want to sit in the engine (but I was determined to get the picture!). When we got to the ambulance, he quit screaming but just hugged me tightly. By the third vehicle, he was happy to look in. Inside, Sparky the fire dog was driving around talking with the children. For lunch, a rare treat -- a hot dog! They let him hold the fire hose, too.
Back home, Jasmine explored the ball pit before all the kids convened around the table (w/Elvie & Mike supervising).
The next weekend, Uncle Michael passed through town. We took him pumpkin shopping. Alex found a chair that was just right for him, had a sub for lunch, and went home to unload the pumpkins (err, drag them around the yard). He was happy to be outside, driving his car around the yard.
Back in October, here he is sitting in my chair (w/Mommy). Left unattended, he will grab anything he can reach. Can't put his own socks on yet, but he's happy to help others.
One of those weekends, we took a trip to the Illinois Railway Museum. He loved riding on the electric rail car (an early Chicago 'L' train, IIRC). By the time we left, he was exhausted.
That weekend was also the Lake Zurich Fire Department open house. He did NOT want to sit in the engine (but I was determined to get the picture!). When we got to the ambulance, he quit screaming but just hugged me tightly. By the third vehicle, he was happy to look in. Inside, Sparky the fire dog was driving around talking with the children. For lunch, a rare treat -- a hot dog! They let him hold the fire hose, too.
Back home, Jasmine explored the ball pit before all the kids convened around the table (w/Elvie & Mike supervising).
The next weekend, Uncle Michael passed through town. We took him pumpkin shopping. Alex found a chair that was just right for him, had a sub for lunch, and went home to unload the pumpkins (err, drag them around the yard). He was happy to be outside, driving his car around the yard.
Friday, January 1, 2010
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