Let's Go Have Some Fun

I'm fed up with beating my head against a wall trying to get this place organized. I want to go out and play.

I took a couple of days' naptime to chew through the internet for things to do in this area. I started with a basic search on "children's activities" + the area name. I also took advantage of local advertising bulletins and local papers to find mention of places to go. I even opened up Yahoo Maps of my town and zoned in on anything within a 15 mile raidus that appeared green or labeled as a recreation place. Then I'd google the name of that area or park or whatever it was.

I found a TON of things to do that way. I was able to find two children's museums, a nearby aquarium, a community children's center, a commercial water park, a commercial amusement park, a county park with an awesome kiddie pool and water play stuff, a sprinkler park at a nearby beach - even a huge play area in a local MALL. (He LOVES it!) There's an amusement park/pool/beach/arcade place 3 miles away from me, but through the Yahoo Map perusing, I found another one in Connecticut that appears to have even more things geared towards toddlers. Of course, it's on the totally opposite side of Connecticut from me, so I haven't exactly made efforts to get there yet.

Then, because of the particular geography of this area, we also happen to have access to a ton of boatrides and ferries, intended for transportation, but inexpensive and short enough for Alex to just totally love going on them. Boats are cooler than standing still.


And as much as my gym babysitter service annoys me, I still always have that option since he loves the usual babysitter and the ton of toys they have there. It's $2.50 for a half hour.

Yup. Summer just got a lot more fun.

"Eeesh!"

Alex does the pointing thing with various sounds repeated. One sound he makes sounds like he's trying to say 'this'. It comes out as 'eesh'. The other sound he makes is like what you're describing your LO makes. It's an 'uhh, uhh' sound. I thought he was doing it only to engage in pointing. I figured that he gets so excited when he learns something new like that, he was only trying to say something while doing it, because that's what he always sees and hears us doing.

May 20, 2008

At the Doctor

Alex had a doctor's appointment today.  I swear I get more nervous about them than Alex does.  I'm always afraid that he's going to cry because he has to get a shot.   It kills both me and Dan to hold him in place while he gets stuck with needles.  There's no way to explain to a baby that it's a little discomfort now taken on for his own good later.

It started out with a cab ride.  Alex always likes those.

Car rides are always a favorite.

We schedule Alex's doctors' appointments for early in the morning so that Dan can go to them too.  (He just goes into work later that day.)

Alex is getting better about being at the doctor's office.  He's now intrigued by what's going on around him.   He used to cry when he was being measured, especially around his head.  Now he takes it in stride.

Being weighed without a diaper though? That one has become a little less predictable.

Does this diaper make me fat?

When it was time for him to be examined by Doctor Glassman, Alex was ALL sorts of into it.  Now he knows that he can actually grab at those cold instruments the guy uses.

Sounds good!

Looks good too!

All clear!

I took these photos in the hopes of making a book about why we go to the doctor and, especially, why we need shots.  That's just in case things go bad in the future, because they're not that bad now.  In fact, Alex surprised us with his composure over receiving a shot today.

Not happy, but not crying either.  Wow!

We both love Dr. Glassman.  He's so great with babies!!

See ya in a few months Dr. Glassman!!!

Playtime and a New Milestone

Alex got so many cool new toys from the family last week.  And I have some serious work ahead of me, trying to figure out where to fit them all!  We played with some as I tried to gather them all up in one place.

Then, this evening, I decided to play the new MagiQ DVD he got with the talking companion doll - a dog named Tiny.  He LOVES this DVD.

Alex laughing at the duck in the reeds

Then, something amazing happened.   I have to show the photos in sequence to let it really shine:

1)

Interest in the Riding Bus



2)

A keener interest compels a rise up on his knees

3) 

Wait.  I think I can go further

4)

I'm not sure how I wound up facing this way, but I guess I'll play with the Circus Tent instead.

Yup.  He sat up on his own. Right in front of me!

It was one of those rare moments in which he does something brand new AND I have my camera in hand.

Yes!!!

Daddy Love

Dan is often up pretty late, so he takes the late shift on care, if needed.  Sometimes, he just likes to peek in on our soundly sleeping boy.

Tonight was one such night.  Snapped at just shy of 4 AM

Experimentin' with Skillz

Most of the time, the milestones suggestions on Baby Center are right on or at least close to it.  Sometimes, the milestones posted make me scratch my head.  For example, it said that by one year, your child should be able to handle a spoon well enough to feed themselves. 

Are they sure about that?   This is a photo record of how well that experiment went this afternoon at Snack time.

Fingerpainting with carrots

This end, Mama?

Naughty Mommy

You're not supposed to put a baby down with a loose blanket.   It's a suffocation hazard.  That doesn't stop manufacturers from coming out with the most adorable baby blankets evah, of course. 

Since Alex can't bear to be swaddled, that leaves me with the only choice but to use a blanket on him while standing there. But, if I stand there, he won't nap unless he's absolutely exhausted.  So, it means allowing him his bottle while under a blanket, since I have to take the bottle away anyway.

Works for me.  At least his safari blanket will get some use: