Chatty Guy

Alex's vocabulary continues to grow by leaps and bounds.  Some of the things he liked to say in July of 2009 are:

- "All aboard!" - pretending he's on a boat or train
- "Watch the closing doors" - from Metro North and the subway
- "Thunder! Listen!" - It rained a lot in May and June
- "My ______" - he got the concept of "mine"
- "Hey guys!" - said to Mama and Daddy.  He got this from Elliot from "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything"
- "'ditioner cold!" - about the a/c unit in his room
- "Are you OK?" - he hears this one a lot from Mama. Alex tends to fall a lot these days.
- "Do you like it?" - he hears this one a lot from Mama too.  She likes to expose Alex to lots of new things.
- "____ like you!" - meaning, "[This thing] just like you." Alex loves to see when he's doing the same things and having the same things as Mama and Daddy.
- "Shaka body!" - singing along with Technotronic's "Move It"
- "The Robot Song - what he calls Lipps Inc.'s "Funkytown". He really likes dance music.
- Singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "Moon, Moon, Moon" (Laurie Berkner song), "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" and "Old McDonald"
 - "Thanks!", "'Scuse me!" and "You're Welcome" - he's getting quite polite
 -  "Ice Cold!" - the way he likes his water on a hot day

July 31, 2009

Nap Strike!

I'm right now in the middle of having to adjust my expectations again because Alex just left a two week period in which he suddenly napped again. This entire week, however, has been just like the previous ten months. So...I'm back to calling it 'Crib Time' from 1 - 3 PM and going about my business no matter what.

July 31, 2009

Disco Baby

Alex is now groovin' and movin' to his new fave 'The Robot Song' a/k/a 'Funkytown' by Lipps Inc. Dan is groaning over the return of Alex's love of Disco.

Hey, at least he lets some House/Techno get in there too. Alex also frequently requests 'Shaka Body' a/k/a 'Move This' by Technotronic. I also just downloaded me some "Bertner" on iTunes last night. I figured I should get on the ball in making Alex's playlist since we're letting him listen to the iTouch in his room.

Perhaps I should include "Bunnytown"* in it.
*Lyrics:
"Won't you take me to...
Bunnytown!?!
Won't you take me to...
BUN-nee town.
Won't you take me to..
Bun-e-ee-to-owwwn.
Won't you take me to...
BUN-UN-NEE-TOWN!"

July 31, 2009

Veggie Tricks - Bleu Cheese Dressing

Alex used to be a bad eater and bad sleeper. He's been just a bad sleeper for a long time now, so I lost my head in even contemplating limiting his food. I won't be worrying if he goes up to an adult serving of meat again as he's been doing in the past week. I'll just count my blessings.

I did find a way around veggie blues, though. The secret was to serve them raw and with 'dip' (salad dressing). I use only about 1-2 tsps of the stuff, but it goes a long way in getting him to eat all of his carrots, broccoli, snow peas and whatever diced fruit I toss in there too.

July 29, 2009

7:40 PM

Alex's New Room

[From Alex's journal]

Mommy told Alex that she and Daddy are almost finished with Alex's new room.  Mommy just needs to finish the art for the walls.  Alex seems to feel it is finished. He wants to have fun!  He loves playing with his new train set all the time!

Today was the first time Alex and Mommy did art in Alex's new room. Mommy wants to hang it on the walls too!

July 29, 2009

Cruise to Nowhere

I spent nearly all day out today. I had an appointment in Manhattan this morning. I had barely enough time to cool off before I packed our picnic dinner for our staycation plans tonight. A cruise to nowhere!

Alex loves, loves, LOVES boat rides. He asks for them nearly daily with the question 'Boat ride today?' and then he tries to plead his case by making boat engine noises and twirling his hands saying 'Look Mama! Spinning. Boat spinning!' (Imitating a ferry's turnaround at the dock.) So we treated him to a 'dinner' cruise around Long Island Sound from Greenwich Harbor to Stamford Harbor. He was thrilled! His favorite part was watching the captain steer the ferry (the cab had a giant wooden ship's wheel).

And, since it was so late by the time we got back, I spent the evening scrapping it. I needed this kind of quiet 'me' time, as if the 2 hour cooling cruise wasn't wonderful enough.

July 22, 2009

I Help! I Helping!

Yesterday, I boldly stepped into hanging the new metallic magnet boards I got for Alex's room. Aligning four metal boards in a straight line was quite a task and I was proud of myself for accomplishing it almost perfectly but I wasn't the only one proud of myself yesterday.

When Alex saw me hammering in the wall anchors, he ran and got his hammer from a wooden ball/puzzle toy, all prepared to help. And help, he did.

He proudly announced to Dan "I help! I helping!"

July 19, 2009