Popcorn Hog

Alex did great at Family Dinner tonight. He even ate baked chicken! (BBQ sauce helped.) So Daddy suggested a little reward of a popcorn movie. Daddy heated up some popcorn and Mommy put on Alex's request of 'Harold and the Purple Crayon' for the movie. ('One Crayon Band') We all sat down in front of the TV to watch and enjoy our popcorn.

When we still had plenty left, but not a full bowl, Alex declared 'Don't finish it, Mommy! Don't finish it!'

Ok, OK! Have the rest of the popcorn you little hog! (He did too.)

Sunday, May 30

To Infinity...and Beyond!

Alex had an adventure with Daddy yesterday in which they took a trip to the Rye library for craft time. While playing with some of the puzzles in the children's room, Alex told Dan 'I like the space shuttle!'. Then he picked up the piece and 'flew' it around, informing Dan, 'I'm gonna be a pilot'. He didn't do that when he had the regular plane piece.

Sunday, May 30

Let Summer Begin!

The mall trip was in preparation of our Summer Kick Off day. I had seen a cool day coming up in the weather report and figured that would be an awesome day to take Alex to Playland. If timed right (which I didn't), the trip there is fairly short and we had a Fun Card left over from our trip 2 years ago.

The last time we took Alex to Playland, we had no clue what we were doing. He was far too young to understand any of it; far too young to ride any rides by himself or appreciate any prizes. Heck, he was far too young to appreciate the magic environment that surrounded him. I skipped Playland last year for this reason and we still had some 41 dollars' worth of ride tickets left on our Fun card.

What Alex lacked in appreciation when he was 1 year old in June of 2008, he MORE than made up for in excitement and appreciation now that he's 3 years old. He rode his first solo amusement ride yesterday on the Kiddy Whip in Kiddyland. It was a thrilling experience!

That day, Friday, was a magical day for him. He 'got' it. He understood the concept of an 'amusement park' - a phrase he got down cold before we even got there. He got the idea of the music playing on the boardwalk and the rides. He even got the idea of collecting tickets through arcade games, keeping his eye on a Volkswagen Beetle car that takes 350 pts. (We'd won a little over 70 on five dollars' worth of games. Mommy had a learning curve on maxing out tickets.)

He got the idea of souvenirs and "good" vs. "bad" rides. The grown up Ferris wheel was a "good" ride. (The Ferris wheel! Can you imagine??) The dark, tunnel based Olde Mill with its troll creatures was a "bad" ride, on which he was soon asking for the "new way out".

He was all about the hot dogs and ice cream. He was all about his prizes. He even really won a small rubber duck and bouncy duck through a rubber duck fishing game in Kiddyland. (Mommy and the operators helped a lot with the other games and prizes.)

Given that Playland is fewer than 3 miles away from us, I think it's time for season passes. Yay, Summer!

Saturday, May 29

Fashionista

Mommy took Alex to the mall today. It was high time that Mommy got some new summer clothing, since she practically has none that fits her. After a pleasant stroll to the bus stop, which involved many stops along the way, we hopped on the 60 headed to White Plains to shop at the Galleria.

Our first stop there was Macy's, where Alex was just thrilled to be riding the 'moving stairs' as he first called them. Squealing with glee he was!

I expected Alex to get bored with clothing shopping, so I tried to move as quickly as possible. I was on the hunt for shorts, casual capris and long summer tanks or tees. I grabbed two pair of jean shorts to get a good idea of my current size and Alex was quite patient with that. After establishing my size in Levis, I grabbed a few more shorts and pants. For matching purposes, had grabbed a long tunic top to try on with them. This top was a bold psychadelic floral, mostly in seashore/marine colors. I liked it, actually. It was just beyond my price tolerance, so I hadn't expected to buy it.

Now back in the changing room, Alex started to pay attention to what I was doing. First he told me that my underwear wasn't my underwear. 'Oh?' I said, 'Why isn't this Mommy's underwear?' 'It's red', Alex said, 'Your underwear is white.' That got a chuckle from some woman in a neighboring booth.
Then after I put on the floral tank, Alex told me that the shirt wasn't mine either. I said "No, I haven't bought it yet." "No, no!" he said, "Don't buy it!" I asked why not.

"That's for girls." he said. "Well Mommy is a girl, isn't she?" I asked. "No. Mommy is a woman." Alex declared. "That shirt is for girls."  I then asked him if he meant it was for little girls. "No", he said decisively, with all the certainty of a designer or professional dresser. "Big girls wear that shirt."

That's OK, Alex. It was 46 dollars and I didn't feel like spending that. I went out to look for more shirts. Alex took to pointing out all of the nearby shirts that weren't for me - which was most of them. I picked up a blue and white gauze shirt on sale and asked him if I could wear that one. He looked it up and down and said "Yes. That's Mommy's shirt." All others I looked at got the thumbs down. I asked him what shirts I CAN wear. He tapped my stomach, indicating the shirt I was already wearing. (Long sleeve, brown, jersey knit. No thanks for the summer, kiddo.)

Eventually, I suspected that Alex was vetoing all of the shirts because he wanted to ride the escalator again. I got him to be patient through my bathing suit and cover up shopping. (He was rewarded for that amazing patience with some chocolate covered pretzels and a new "punk car" later on.)

However, after the punk car, a diaper change, some toy browsing, lunch and a cool taxi shaped stroller rental, I set off for H&M now for a bunch of less expensive shirts. I really expected him to be out of patience now and want to be pushed in the cool taxi some more.

Instead, he had more opinions. H&M had a lot of striped light shirts around. I looked a few over. Alex had said something about "That's a man! That's a man!" and I hadn't really been paying attention. Finally he said more loudly, "That's a man shirt, Mommy! Put it back! Put it back!"
I thought maybe it was impatience, but he didn't say it for all of the shirts or for any of the shorts I looked at. I took a striped tee to try on; this one with pale PINK stripes. Indeed, Alex objected in the dressing room.

"That's a MAN shirt Mommy! Take it off!"

He begrudgingly approved of some floral long tanks when I showed him that they weren't AS loud as the other florals he'd nixed. A budding fashionista? Or maybe he just doesn't care to see Mommy in new styles. I'm leaning towards the latter.

Thursday, May 27

This garden has a shady spot...

A walk past F.E. Bellows school would not be complete without a visit to our special place. The year Alex was born, the school opened up its 'Life Garden', complete with a tree stump story corner, vegetable and herb garden, rain flow brook and recycled material totem pole.

Alex loves the place; especially the kid-sized bridge over a stylized drain-flow for rain water. We call it our 'Special place'. If Alex had his way, we would have spent all day there. As it was, our visit cost us a second bus missed.

Yeah, but it has a bridge!

Thursday, May 27

Never fear, Drains! Alex is here!

Before getting to the mall, we took our time strolling to the bus stop on Mamaroneck Avenue and Halstead. We strolled through the park, looking at the trees and plants, talking about things we'd learned in nature class. As always, Alex had to check out every drain and drain cover in the park, stopping to dump blades of grass or a leaf or two in them.

Once out of Florence Park, Alex asked me about the drain that had a lot of mud in it, and why it got that way and what do they do anyway? I explained what I could when Alex said 'I speak for the drains, Mama.'

You know, like Dr. Seuss' Lorax speaks for the trees. Drains have no tongues either.

He clarified himself within a half a block; it seems he WORKS for the drains. That's why he has to drop leaves and grass in them.

Thursday, May 27

Boldly Going Where He Has Not Gone Before

Alex has been making some large steps in conquering his fears lately. I saw lots of evidence of this at the Weinberg Nature Center's Eco-Fair last Sunday. Normally, Alex is afraid to ride ponies like he had at the Rye Methodist Nursery School Carnival. Yet, at the Stamford Nature Center last Monday, upon seeing a Shetland pony, he informed me that he 'needed' to ride that pony. I was thrilled to find out about the Eco-Fair and the presence of pony rides there.

At first, he told Dan that he wouldn't ride it. It took only a little coaxing. After he was on the pony, he was thrilled to be there and wanted to go again. We promised him that he'd ride the ponies again before we left.

Then, there was an exhibit of birds of prey, including even a flight show. I expected Alex to freak out about the flight show. The bird involved was a red-tailed hawk and Alex normally gets nervous if much smaller birds fly too close to him. This time, Alex was delighted to see the hawk speed through a line of people and dive bomb. He even wanted to be near the bird as it flew.

He's still not over his queasiness around reptiles and amphibians though. During the animal show, he was more than happy to walk right away from the snakes, frogs, lizards and turtles. He eventually checked out a red footed tortoise. (He would also surprised me a few days later by petting a corn snake in Nature Class.)

It seems my cautious little guy is getting bolder in his world.
 

Wednesday, May 26

Seeking: Adventures with Daddy

Last week, I had told Alex that he should start doing some local adventures with Daddy. I suggested to Dan that he take advantage of the Rye Free Reading Room's Saturday Storytime and Craft Time, after which he'd be able to take Alex to the colonial museum (Square House Museum) right next door to the library. After Dan agreed, I told Alex what sort of adventure he could go on with Daddy in the coming weeks.

After Nature Class yesterday, Alex asked if we could go to the 'Dress Up Museum'. I told him that we could go there after a snack. He declared 'A snack at the cafe!' (Poppy's Cafe on Purchase Street.) He informed me that he would go there with Daddy during their adventure. Then he wanted to see the toy store and asked when Daddy would see it too.

After our snack, we went to the 'Dress Up Museum' a/k/a The Square House Museum (c. 1730), which has colonial style clothing to try on and lots of hands on exhibits in the rooms, including a guest room set up like it would have been when it was a tavern. While we were there, Alex asked when Daddy would come there and if he could play there with Daddy. I told him that it would be quite soon and that he could show Daddy around.

He also got away from me there. While I was trying to talk him into wearing some of the clothing or hats, I ran into another Friend; this one who attends the Purchase Meeting. We talked for a few minutes while Alex had walked into a front room. I didn't chase after him, thinking he had nowhere far to go. I was wrong.


He took to walking to the upstairs hands-on bedroom exhibit by himself. When I got there, he said "I needed to see the beds. I'm going to show Daddy."

He even practiced taking the 18th century bedwarmer to the fireplace and then trying to insert it between the sheets. (I'd explained what it was and demonstrated it to him ONCE!) He's ALL set to show Daddy around the Dress Up Museum now.

Wednesday, May 26

Teacher's Pet

Yesterday was Alex's last Nature Class at the Rye Nature Center. We only made it to 3 of them, so naturally, it took this long for him to adjust to the idea at all.

We arrived very early for the class, having taken a cab there with Dan. We spent the early 15 minutes exploring while the teacher, Adam, set up for class at the benches outside. Alex saw Adam and wanted to tell him all about what's been going on with him, to inform Adam that Max the cockatoo was gone and to ask Adam what he was doing. Adam happened to be heading out to the class seats at that moment, so Alex reached up to take his hand and walk with him to the benches.

I'd never seen Alex take to a teacher like this. Not even Teacher Pete!

Unfortunately, Alex won't be able to take another class with Adam until the fall. They don't offer Preschooler Ecology classes in the summer, at least not on a drop-in basis like this one. I'll be sure to bring Alex by to see Adam during the summer though. He's just graduated from SUNY Purchase and has taken a full-time job with the Nature Center.

Wednesday, May 26

Trash Talking Moments

While trying to explain to Alex that he needed to learn how to tell us when he has to use the potty, I put on 'Elmo's Potty Time' to help him understand. In the beginning of the video, Elmo exits a bathroom and says that he was just using the potty. He asks the audience, 'Do you know how to use the potty?'

Alex responded, “Yup. I use the potty everyday. A long time ago.”

He's used the potty twice in a row in as many days. 'Long time', huh?

Monday, May 24

Thank You, Yo Gabba Gabba

Today at breakfast, Alex was thrilled to be using an adult soup spoon for his cereal and milk. I explained that with all of the potty successes going on, he might like to do some more Big Boy things. I guess the move emboldened him more. He had finished his cereal and asked for more.

'Can I have Daddy Os?' 'Daddy Os' are Honey Nut Cheerios, the sugar coated version of his regular Cheerios.

I told him that he could not have Daddy Os, but that I would order some Baby Os today. (That's what he calls Multigrain Cheerios - for the sample box size, not the persons eating them). He wanted to know why he couldn't have Daddy Os, so I explained that they have too much sugar. That wasn't good for little guys who are trying to grow.

'You don't like sugar?' he asked me, 'You can't give it a try?'

Shades of Tootie on Yo Gabba Gabba, being talked into trying yogurt for the first time.

Monday, May 24

And Another One!

Alex knew that he had other prizes waiting for new milestones in potty training. One that would win him either Sheriff or Doc Hudson was one of the hardest. He had to tell us that he had to go potty before he did.

It was a long day today. We tried to put him to bed earlier today after he kept trying to go in the potty again today. We explained about the big challenge, expecting it to take time to sink in. Once in bed, he fought sleep and told Dan that he had to use the potty. Dan doubted it once he took the diaper off, since it was already heavy.

Alex fooled us! He really did have to go potty - and he did go.

He won Sheriff tonight!

Sunday, May 23

Potty Successes!

Alex used the potty yesterday AND the first thing this morning. He won his 'green Guidos' for those successes. ('Green Gudios' are named after his favorite character in 'Cars', a forklift named 'Guido', who is usually blue.)

I knew some progress had to be due. Alex had ASKED to decorate his potty with stickers earlier. That came months after my having suggested it periodically. This time, he was all sorts of excited to do it.

Sunday, May 23

Recent Alexisms

Oooooh! Sunglasses!: A few weeks ago, I had taken Alex shopping for some shoes. We stopped at Miller's Toy Store, a Mexican restaurant for lunch and some other stores. I knew I had worn my new sunglasses home. Yet, a few days later I couldn't find them. They went missing for about two weeks until I took on rearranging Alex's room. Digging through his outdoor toy box, I found my sunglasses, buried at the bottom. I asked Alex how they got there. Matter-of-factly he said 'I may have put them in there.'

I see.

Friday, May 21

Alex Week

It may be because I was feeling so cramped and cooped-up during April. It may be because I wanted to act quickly before the really hot weather came in. It may be because I have so much to do indoors - such as cleaning, catching up on crafts and shopping for new clothing - that I wanted to spend as much time outdoors as possible while I'm unable to do much indoors.

Whatever it was, Alex had himself quite the week this past week. Our activities:

Monday: Trip to the Farm in Stamford, CT
Tuesday: Breakfast out with Daddy; Nature Class in Rye, Rye Library, Colonial Museum
Wednesday: Music Class; Harrison Library
Thursday: Treasure hunting in the Park; Lunch out with Mommy; Beach visit and Boat Yards visit
Friday: Breakfast out with Daddy; trip to CVS to get photos (and an Elmo balloon)

I think it turned into Alex Week before I knew it. It's currently 81 degrees and it's only noon. I think we'll stay in and take it easy today.

Right Alex?

Friday, May 21

Comparison Pic (May 2009)

This is a photo of Alex's brief pony ride at last year's carnival.

Sunday, May 16

Carnival Day!

Two weeks ago, during our loooong walk to the Rye Nature Center, I spotted a poster for the Children's Carnival at the Rye Methodist Nursery School. We'd had a pretty good time last year, so I asked Alex if he remembered riding a pony at the carnival the year before. After that, all he could talk about for the next week was the carnival and the ponies. A bunch of trash talk from him, of course. Back then, he wanted off the pony within 10 seconds of being placed on it.

Carnival Day was yesterday! We got there early to get the best pickin's at the Toy Sale. We wound up with a Little People Pirate Ship set - which is now discontinued by Fisher Price - a few 'Cars' books and Alex's favorite, a Tonka fire engine. When we were going to pay for the pirate ship, Alex told me 'One more thing! We're buying this!' and he lugged the fire engine over.

The whole purchase came to $4.50.

Then we hit the games and rides! Or, at least, we tried to. Alex was waaaaaay too into his new fire engine for that business. None of the prizes available at the games were as cool as the fire engine. And what good is a bouncy castle if he can't take his fire engine into it? So, we faced some competition, but we talked him into two fishing games, a smaller bouncy castle, some arts & crafts and a pony ride!

When we'd first arrived, one of the ponies was being rested. We brought Alex over to see her (named 'Sparkle'). He was hesitant at first. Even though Sparkle was a Shetland pony, she was still much bigger than he was. He giggled a little, but had declared earlier that he didn't need to do a pony ride because he was 'too big' now. It was hours later - after some fishing, beading and eating of cookies at the bake sale - that we got him on line to 'just see' the ponies.

We successfully talked him into sitting on a pony named "Jackpot". Daddy encouraged him to stay by reminding him that it was for fun and then he tickled Alex to make him laugh. I asked the handler to walk Jackpot only a few steps forward when Alex was laughing. We got it! Alex wanted to continue!

He did the pony ride all the way through! Daddy told him that he was a cowboy now.

It still didn't beat the fire engine.

Sunday, May 16

Starry, Starry Night

Alex has a set of books illustrated with prints of paintings by famous artists. Two of his favorites are 'A Picnic with Monet' and 'In the Garden with Van Gogh'. The Monet book contains the following line describing Monet's 'White Water Lilies', a painting of a thin bridge spanning a pond loaded with lilies:

'Cross a magical bridge to a place beyond'.

We were talking about the Van Gogh book before we headed out on our errands today. I played the song 'Vincent' for him on YouTube. That song begins with the lyrics 'Starry, starry night', referring to Van Gogh's famous painting, 'Starry Night over the Rhone'.

Our plant shopping didn't turn out as planned. It wound up being a trip to the Rye Corporate Center; a place with little rolling hills and a brook and even a stone bridge over the brook. When Alex saw the stone bridge, he declared it to be 'The Magical Bridge' from his Monet book. The park also contains willow trees like one can see in the paintings as well as many romantic looking trees hanging over the stony brook.

When we were leaving, I asked Alex what we should name this park. He thought about it for a few minutes and said, 'Starry, Starry Night'. I suppose it all reminded Alex of both of his favorite art books. It is a very dreamy and artistic looking place.

Friday, May 14

Jack the Ladybug

This morning, I told Alex that we might have some fun painting some flower pots. I'd seen a cool idea for putting a baby's footprint on a ceramic mug, so it made me think that getting Alex's paint handprint on the terra cotta pots might be cute. Alex had wanted to plant some new seeds yesterday.

I washed out two terra cotta pots and went out to the porch to place them in the sun to dry. When I moved my watering can, I spotted a ladybug hiding underneath. I dashed inside to get Alex's bug catcher and a piece of paper to scoop up the bug.

Alex was delighted at the surprise. He declared 'Hello, ladybug! How is your day going?!' (Not really well from her point of view.) He wanted to see her from all angles. I suggested that we take down his observations about the ladybug. He noted that she has spots and that she has lots of legs and that she crawls on them, among other things.

Finally, I asked him what he'd like to name her. He came up with 'Jack.'

Jack the ladybug.

After that, he wanted to see his new plants that we'd planted two weeks ago. He pulled a bunch of them out from the roots - oops!

'They're food. Food for the ladybug', he explained."

Oh, OK.


He also declared "I'm a scientist. I'm a Science Buddy." So, I should feel better about the new uprooted sprouts, I guess.

Friday, May 14

My Awesome Room

Yesterday I took up the big task of rearranging Alex's room with all of its contents AND Alex in it. Grandma McCann gave Alex a Pirate Cave for his birthday and he wanted to open it yesterday. I quickly found that if we wanted to leave the pirate cave open, I would have to find some space for it.

I changed Alex's bed around to the other side of the room, which allowed me to move his train table to its opposite side as well. It took some convincing, but I was able to talk Alex into allowing me to take down the play yard gates around his story corner.

While I was setting up the pirate cave as a comfy spot for him, I told him that maybe we would like some pillows to put in it. He declared 'I'll get them! One pillow, comin' up!'

I pointed out that there were two pillows on his bed.

'OK!' he corrected, 'Two pillows comin' up!'

He proceeded to be just as helpful through the whole process.

Friday, May 14

Fetch the Comfy Chair

Wednesday was an unusually chilly day for May. It was cold, rainy and showed no sign of stopping. I'm still a little shell shocked from my pneumonia, so I didn't relish the idea of walking to Alex's music class in Harrison. I was satisfied that I could bring him to a make-up class in Larchmont on some future Tuesday (after Nature Class ends, of course!). I decided to skip it.

Alex surprised me by being disappointed. Although, I think he was more disappointed that he couldn't show his new, red binoculars to Miss Jennifer and his classmate George.

After some oatmeal and play time in the morning, I still felt really chilly. I came up with an idea that I hadn't tried since Alex was 1 year old and safely stuck in his play yard. I thought that perhaps Alex can handle being out in the living room while I ran a fire in the fireplace. "Let's have Story time in front of the fire today.", I said.

Alex was well intrigued. "A fire? You're gonna put a fire on? In that fireplace?? Here??"

I took all of the necessary preschooler preparations and repeatedly warned him about staying away from the fire. I closed the wire gate in the well and we sat in front of the fireplace. I grabbed one of his new Little Einstein books and suggested that he grab his comfy chair (the denim armchair). He was delighted with the whole scene. He grabbed the book and told me that he would read it to me. When we got through the book, I put on his Music Class CD and we sang almost all of the songs on it, while Alex told me the "stories" that are in his music class book. (They're the sheet music for the songs with illustrations).
When it came time for nap time, there was some convincing that had to go on. But as I was covering the gel cans, I promised him that once he was done with his nap, we would light the fire again. That was a sure fire set up for no nap. I still took my break.

As promised though, I lit the fire again and asked him what new book he'd like to read. He pulled out his other Little Einsteins book (Hansel & Gretel) and I went to read it.

"Wait!" Alex exclaimed, "I need my comfy chair!"

He got up and went to his denim chair to pull it over to the fireplace. He also needed some help with it.

OK, so fire - check. Little Einsteins book - check. Comfy Chair - check. All is well. We spent the next hour just chatting in front of the fire. He had LOTS of questions about it.
While the fire continued (and warming up the living room), we did arts and crafts with his new craft kits that he got for his birthday. Then we also played some NickJr.com games. We also noted the growth of the sprouts from the seeds we'd planted two weeks ago. He happily suggested that we keep the plant journal in "his" kitchen instead of "my" kitchen.

Later that night over dinner while I was getting Alex to tell Daddy about our day. I asked Alex what his favorite part was - fully expecting it to have been either the spin art or the Max & Ruby game on NickJr.com.

"The FIRE!" he exclaimed!

Too bad it's going back to the 70s this week.

Thursday, May 13

Dragons and Sea Stars and Doves! Oh Yeah!

On Tuesday morning, we left in Diego Car with Daddy. We had a 10 AM Ecology Class at the Rye Nature Center. Like he usually does, Alex was all about the negativity when we first got to the room. 'Let's go home!' he cried. 'I want to go home!'

Oh how rude.

He wouldn't play with any of the animal puppets. He wouldn't sit in the small chairs set up for the students. It wasn't until Adam, the teacher, brought out a big ol' bucket of water taken from Long Island Sound that Alex was paying attention. Adam and another naturalist there had gone down to the beach and waded out with large nets, capturing small sea animals and plants to bring back to the center. Alex got to hold a sea star and seaweed and even a crab. He wasn't crazy about holding the mud snails though.

Then the most exciting part happened. Adam brought out Hercules, the Australian Bearded Dragon...and Hercules' breakfast; some crickets. Once the lizard got out of his shock and wariness of the tots around him, he lapped up a hopping cricket and Alex shrieked with laughter. (Sorry, cricket). A second one met a similar fate and Alex was loving it all. He also got to see a bird's nest, Jose the Chinchilla, and Paloma the dove.

Then it was time to spot some birds outside. Adam had made some paper roll binoculars for the students, which we colored with crayons. Alex had other ideas. He only wanted to use the real binoculars - and the red ones only at that. Since Alex showed so much real interest in using them and showed an apitude in it, I promised to get him a pair when we got back to the town center in Rye. I'd never seen Alex so anxious to leave the Nature Center before. He even asked me if we could call for Diego Car to get there. He tried to convince me that walking on the road out of the Center was dangerous, but I wasn't buying it. "Don't walk out on the road, Mommy! There are cars coming!"

That's OK, Alex. It's a wide enough road that we can stay away from the cars.

We got an additional treat at the end of the road just short of the bridge near the entrance. We saw two young female deer foraging near the road. We even got to walk down a path and get fairly close. Alex says he saw them. I hope he did.

But the new red binoculars we got at the toy store in town were the real star of the day. He was so excited about them, he couldn't wait to get to music class the next day to show them to Miss Jennifer. 

What a fun day. He says he wants to go back next week. Yay!

Thursday, May 13

Imagination

Today at lunch/snack, Alex picked up two pieces of tortilla and held them to his face.

'Moustache!', he said 'and a beard!'. The beard piece was small enough to be a goatee. Perhaps it was the painting this afternoon that led to this look.

Monday, May 10

Nature Boy

Earlier today, we also got to plant the seeds from our new plant set that we'd purchased a few weeks ago. Some of the soaked seeds (Sensitive Fern) had already sprouted, so planting them was a delicate matter.

Alex surprised me with how interested in it he was. I couldn't finish up with just our new seed and pot set. I continued through some new wildflower and butterfly plant seeds. 'We're still not done!' he told me while I was trying to clean up.

So we replanted the potted flowers we'd bought for Orquidea last week. I told him that we were out of pots and plants to use. It was half-true. I would have had to empty out pots from the currently soaked garden to repot my new flowering plant left in the kitchen.

Wow! So he liked gardening! Who knew? He kept telling me 'No' anytime I asked him if he wanted to plant our seeds.

'OK, seeds', he shouted at each new planting. 'Grow! Grow now!'

Those Sensitive Fern sprouts may have given a wrong impression.

Monday, May 3

Alex in Charge

Alex is getting quite comfortable with his surroundings and our regular errands. Today, he wanted to go outside to test out his new Lightning McQueen umbrella, but only after the heavy rain stopped. ('Too much rain', he agreed.) He took it with him on our walk to the supermarket today.

Once we got to the parking lot entrance, he told me 'No supermarket. Balloon store!' That's Alex's way of telling me that he wants to go to Trotta's drug store first, probably for their large selection of toys. We had some fun looking at all of the toys and Alex behaved himself in listening to my restrictions. (No.More.Cars.) We tried out a preschooler laptop and a guitar. We looked at the books and I settled on a 'Book About Me' drawn in Dr. Suess style. Leaving the store was another story. On one occasion he told me 'Wait! I forgot something!' while he darted back down the aisle, pretending to look at different toys. On another occasion, he scooted away from me while I looked at the books - dashing right back to the toy aisle. 'I had to see this computer', he told me when I came into the toy aisle. Then he told me about all of the things he 'needs', such as a new giant schoolbus, or another fire engine, or maybe another dump truck.

I found a discounted toy set with a Buzz Lightyear figure and Alex was happy. Then, with a happy Alex, we could finally set off to get our groceries.

We got to the cart island outside the supermarket and I asked Alex if he'd like to ride in the cart. 'No riding! I'm not riding! I'm a driver!'

Yes, I noticed.

Alex got to push the cart while Mommy helped steer. He did OK for a first time navigating
Monday, May 3