Captain Salty Dog Sets Sail

[Transcribed from video]

Grandma and Grandpa have to go back to Florida tomorrow.  Today, they wanted to join Alex at the Marina Playground - one of his favoritest places in the world.  

Daddy captured the whole thing on video.  "Yay! A Camera!" Alex cheered as he was on the swings.  Then they quickly lost their appeal.  Where he really wanted to be was all the way at the top of the tall tower on the ship. There, he loved spinning the ship's wheel and seeing Grandma and Grandpa down below.  He was cheering out "Arrgh!" and "Treasure!" while looking out over the park.  There was no removing him from the bridge then.

Arrrgh!

April 5, 2009

The No Bail-Out Baby

[Transcribed from video]

Alex got a new Cars bank from Grandma McCann for his birthday.  It makes Vrooom! sounds when you put the money in the slot.  Alex loves the idea of having coins to drop into the bank. He's just not sure about letting go of the coin to place it in the bank.  

This afternoon, Grandpa gave him some coins to drop in the bank, but Alex just didn't want to go all the way with it. He laughed. He giggled. He showed us all the money he had. "Money!" he gushed as he clipped two coins together. He just didn't want to let go of it. When he was finally coaxed to drop a coin in, he was startled by the sounds the bank makes. He was sure he'd rather have the coins in his hands. "Money!" he gushed again when Grandpa gave him another one.  "No!" he declared to all other coaching to drop the coins into the bank.

Already not trusting banks, even piggy banks in his own home.

April 5, 2009

Awww, A Guy Could Get a Big Head

[Transcribed from video]
This afternoon as Alex playing with his hammer and ball tower while Grandma, Grandpa and Grandma Mery sat in the living room watching him.  When he got the last ball through the top of the tower, Daddy led everyone in cheering and clapping for Alex's accomplishment.

He wasn't sure why we were all clapping, since he'd done that plenty of times before, but he was sure flattered!

April 4, 2009 

Yay Bacon! At Dinner??

[Transcribed from video]

Tonight, we all headed out to dinner at IHOP. There, he learned how to blow kisses. Soon he was doing it to everyone.  He must have been really happy to be having pancakes and bacon at dinner. He cheered "Yay! Bacon! Yay! Pancakes!"

I was told that he also formed a fully correct sentence while I had gotten up from the table.  When I returned, Dan and Mery told me that he asked "Where is Mama?"

Soon enough, he'd had his fill of pancakes and bacon and was asking "Down!" He even tried to undo his own highchair straps.  Slow down there, little dude!

April 3, 2009

Serious Reader

[Transcribed from video]
Tonight, as Grandma and Grandpa got ready for bed, Alex laid down on his zoo blanket and held his own story time. He laid onto his back, crossed his legs and rested his Trucks book on his leg.  From there, he held forth about the "car" and the "truck" in the book. He wasn't very interested in going to bed himself.

We played his Lullaby Baby Einstein video and even tried to show him that Blink-Blink was drinking his milk.  It took a while to work.

April 3, 2009

A Visit to Stepping Stones

[Transcribed from video]

The week of adventure continued today with a visit to Stepping Stones Museum in Norwalk, Connecticut. The last time we were here, Alex didn't really get it.  This time around, though? Boy! Did he get it! There was so much to explore in the Toddler Room.  There were climby-spaces, soft couches with books and puzzles. There was a slide and Alex went down all by himself! (Well, grandma had to show him how to get back up to the top of it.)
But the best was yet to come. There was...the Water Room!

Running water that pushed boats through! Balls that went down a drain and down through a tube to a tub below. Pumps that pushed water out! He got so excited when he saw that he could make the water come out. There were even plastic animal toys that looked like Loki! Alex identified the "Crab!" in a "conch shell" too. 

What splashy, boaty, wavy, messy fun!

As fun as the water room was, it seemed to pale in comparison to the giant dig-digs outside. They were remodeling the Bubble Yard. We even got to watch the construction workers while we had lunch at the cafeteria. They looked just like Alex's construction magnet play book!

The best part was that he got to play with Grandma through it all. Wow!

April 2, 2009

A Visit to Earthplace

[transcribed from video]

Today Alex and I went with Abuela, Abuelo and Abuela Mery to Earthplace in Westport, Connecticut. This nature museum had a fantastic children's room where Alex had a ball. First, he played with Abuela and Mery at a magnet table at which they made spiders and insects move. They played with a pin impression board at which Alex was amazed each time Abuela pushed the pins back out from the other side. He was wise to it when he ran around to the other side, though. When we passed a playroom with a tree, Alex declared “What's that? Is that a tree??” Then he saw the fish tank. “Fish!” he cried. We had to keep pulling him back away from it to see more things.

He really loved the guinea pigs in their animal exhibits. “Guinea pig!” he laughed. The snake – not so much.

His real favorite spot was the playroom in which he'd spotted the tree. There were TOYS there! That was a bigger attraction than the fishtank, I think. Well, that and the sound shore exhibit with the stuffed birds.   Then there was the really BIG attraction of the playground outside.  See, Earthplace is also a nursery school. They had climby-places and kitchens and playhouses.  We needed luck getting him out of there.  Of course, we couldn't without a stop at the gift shop where Grandpa bought him a can that bleats like a goat.  It cracked Alex up!

We stopped at an Italian restaurant for some dinner and he got a free cookie from a nice man there who bought one from the bakery next door.   He conked out on the way home, but woke up just in time to see Daddy when we picked him up from work.
 
What a big day!  
 

April 1, 2009