Alex, the Air Force boy!

One of these days I'll be all caught up and we can focus on current events! But to minimize confusion until then, we'll stick to a time line :)

So the big birthday party was over, but we still had over a week of vacation left! How better to spend time than to go to the playground? There is the coolest playground close to Gigi's house. It's pretty much a big fort with lots of slides and swings and areas to run around! I loved the swings (duh!), as well as just about everything else! Gigi and Aunt Chelsea both brought their super fancy cameras and took a TON of awesome pictures.



There was an awesome wooden car that I really enjoyed driving!



And I loved swinging with Gigi!





















Here's a good view of the main playground!



Even though Gigi brought plenty of toys for me to play with (that's why it's great to have a preschool teacher for a Gigi!), I found plenty of other ways to amuse myself, such as putting Ketu in a cooler and dragging him around the living room. Alas, he was not amused and wouldn't stay in the cooler for very long!



The next day, we hung out with Aunt Chelsea. We ran some errands that took us up to Monument. Rather than just go straight home, we decided to take the scenic route through the Air Force Academy! The guard at the gate was very friendly and pointed out where all the good planes were, as well as a few other things we shouldn't miss out. He even hooked us up with a map! I wasn't too excited about the planes, though. They have old bombers set up as stautes now, and I didn't even want to get out of the car to see the first one! So we got back in the car and headed to the chapel. For those of you who haven't seen it, it truly is a sight to behold. It soars 150 feet into the air, and is home to chapels for four different denominations, as well as an all-faiths room for everyone else. The courtyard leading up to it had a lot of small airplane statues that I really wasn't that impressed with on the way in.



We started out in the upper level, in the Protestant chapel. 99 foot high tetrahedrons form the walls, and stained glass links them. The glass gives the interior the most amazing coloring. It's simply a beautiful and peaceful chapel. Mommy and Aunt Chelsea were very glad I didn't figure out that it also has an amazing echo!

This is the view looking up at the ceiling. Beautiful, isn't it?





We strolled down the steps and made our way to see the Catholic, Buddhist, and Jewish chapels as well. While they aren't quite as impressive, they are still quite a sight to behold.



We took our time returning to the car. This time, I cared a bit more about the small planes! I pointed at them and ran around them, and even made some good airplane noises!





And I managed to steal a kiss from Aunt Chelsea on our way :)



I really felt at home at Gigi's house...so at home that I felt comfortable propping my foot up on the table after dinner! I'd put it up, then get told to take it down, giggle, then sneak it back up again!



We stopped by Gigi's school again. This time, we timed it perfectly so I got to sit on circle and sing with everyone! Gigi helped me with the motions because I didn't know them :)



We visited with Susan, a friend of Gigi's, who is a speech pathologist. Susan was very impressed with my speech - she'd been expecting me to barely be speaking at all! She showed us a few good exercises to do to help strengthen my mouth and tongue muscles, like blowing bubbles and playing with tongue depressors. I also practiced making faces!



And coming soon, in the next installment...the Butterfly Pavilion and Casa Bonita!

Alex, the Colorado boy...Volume 1!

The trip to visit Colorado for Gigi's 50th birthday started out nicely enough! I slept like a little angel while Mommy and Daddy finished preparations early in the morning.



Once I was roused, I got dressed and donned my monkey backpack. I was ready to go! I wore my awesome airplane shirt (it says, "Congratulations! You get to sit near me.")



I love airplanes. I had a grand old time, watching the planes and drinking my "coffee" (Mommy says it's coffee, but I have a feeling it's just water in a coffee cup!). I wore my monkey backpack leash around the airport, but insisted on holding the leash and walking myself.



Gigi and Aunt Chelsea were there to pick us up at the airport. We made our first of man stops at Giving Tree Montessori. What's the first thing I did when I walked in the door? Ran my arm the length of the shelf and tried to knock everything off, and stuck my dirty little paws in everything I could reach. But I was quickly shown the correct way to do these things! You put a mat on the table, then go pick out a work and bring it to the table, do the work, then put it away, then pick your next work! I got the hang of it and got really good at some of them!



Most of the other kids really wanted to help. They hung around and picked works for me and showed me how to do them. I generally had an audience no matter what I was doing!



We finally made it up to Woodland Park and were enthusiastically greeted by Shing and Ketu! They love me because I'm right at their level and tend to carry around food :) I really liked their crate too. It was the prefect size for me to sit in and have a little snack!



The following day, Mommy and Aunt Chelsea took me shopping to get party supplies to decorate for Gigi's party. They got a little distracted in the sunglasses department though! Silly girls!



One of my favorite parts of Gigi's house is the sky chair. I like to sit in it and swing the day away!



Aunt Chelsea decided it would be fun to put some makeup and jewelry on me. I really like it when Mommy lets me use some of her chapstick, and I'm usually very interested in Mommy's makeup, so Aunt Chelsea decided to give it a shot. I looked like such a pretty pretty prince(ss) when she was done! I even got to wear one of her beautiful necklaces :)



We all sat down to make some posters to welcome the guests. I helped by making my own special little poster! Gigi hung it on the TV for everyone to see.



We spent some quality time getting all the food organized. It looked sooo good (and it was incredibly tasty!) before everyone dug in.



Even though I ate a lot, I must have still been hungry...I started chewing on Stinky Dog! I carried him around in my mouth for a bit and was very silly. Of course, I was a big hit at the party and everyone loved me.



Gigi blew out her candles and then we played Mamma Mia! bingo, and did some Mamma Mia! karaoke. It was a good time!



And of course, Mommy and Aunt Chelsea had to do the obligatory picture of themselves :)



And then they played Boggle a bit, and then the party was over! Of course, I faded rather early and went to bed like a good boy.

So that's it for the first installment! Stay tuned for more...hopefully it won't be another month before y'all hear about the rest of our vacation!!

Alex, the updating boy!

So Mommy's been really slacking off in the update department here! We went on vacation, and never got back in the groove of things. So I'm thinking that I'm going to abandon her 365 idea and just keep y'all updated on me and my adventures!

Anyway...it's been a while! Like over a month...*sigh* But maybe if I take over, things will go a bit better!

I've gotten to be very very sneaky! When it's time for me to go to bed, I go down nice and quietly...but then I sneak out of my room and creep down the hallway and sit (or lay) in the hallway, and eventually make my way to the living room doorway. I'm very very sneaky! Then Mommy or Daddy have to take me back to bed.



The weather got really nice early on here, so we've been taking advantage by going to the park a lot. We went to a really nice park with a few friends. We had a lot of fun running around the slides and equipment. I'm getting braver and will even go down some slides on my own!



Gabe and I had a lot of fun just sitting and giggling at each other :)



I like to do Wii yoga with Mommy and Daddy. I'm really good at some of them!



My favorite party is when I get to hold my hands over my head.



And here's a video of me doing yoga!!



Next up...vacation in Colorado!

Days 44 and 45! Doggie "peticures" and pillow fights

Alas, I skipped yet another day. I was just so pooped when we got home from dinner that I went straight to bed. At 8:30 pm. On a Friday night. I'm so old.

At least I'm posting every other day! That's still better than I was hoping to be doing by now :)

So here are my lessons....

Uncle Matt went and bought a massive cookie for Alex (because he needed that much cookie!) and of course, Alex loved it. Well, he got bored with it after a while and started feeding it to Phoebe. So I guess even a little boy can have too much cookie from time to time!



We got a new duvet cover and were busy changing the sheets. Alex flung himself up on the bed and was piddling about when Eric decided he needed to start throwing pillows at him. It's been a while since we've had any pillow tossing in the house, so I suppose it was due. Alex, as before, just giggled and squealed with delight every time he was hit with one! I managed to capture one good picture of the pillow in mid-flight.



And perhaps the most important lesson I learned is that even dogs like to be pampered from time to time! We got a "peticure" from the "As Seen on TV" store at the mall, and Eric gave Phoebe a lovely pedicure. She was so good! It takes a while longer than clipping nails does, but she cooperated, plus her nails didn't come out all ragged and sharp - the edges are nice and smooth. Tomorrow: Penel's turn!

Days 42 and 43...Internet fail (and muddy buddies...)

Well, I was on a roll again, and then the internet went down! We came home from scrap day to find no internet or cable...the cable eventually came back on, but the internet never did. When we came home from the playdate, the cable was out again! But after a little while, everything came back on and life was again good :)

So the main thing I learned yesterday was that I can't survive without internet or cable!

I learned today just how nasty and dirty a child can get in the span of just a few minutes...Alex, Lindley, and Madison disappeared at the playdate and we found them around the corner, hanging out in a hole, writhing about in the dirt. They were all soooo dirty! But they had a good time, and that's what's important, right?

Day 41...diaper rash paste art

Today was chock full of lessons!

I woke up to an amazing lesson...a child and a tin of diaper rash paste can make a very big mess in a very small amount of time. I was laying in bed as Alex was romping around as usual. I smelled diaper paste but didn't think much other than "oh, how nice, Eric changed Alex's diaper before he left for work!" Alas, I was incorrect. A few minutes later, I awoke to find white paste all over everything...the sheets, Alex's face, hands, and pajamas, the tin (of course), and Phoebe. Yes, Phoebe. She had a nice glob on her back. It was incredible. The first of many such incidents, I'm sure...Then, while I was cleaning it up, he meandered off to the kitchen and tried to get into his fingerpaints. I managed to intercept him before he got them open, at least!





I also learned how much Alex enjoys see saws! He spent half the afternoon on one at Toni's house...he didn't seem to care if he was on it it by himself or with anyone else!

Day 40! Cranky children and headaches...

Today was a nice and relaxed day...but I did learn that it's pretty much impossible to have a cranky child unless you have a headache...it's like they know! Or maybe the headache comes from the cranky child...who knows!

Alex had a good time strutting around in my flip flops...



And I still think he looks so cute when he sleeps, even though he gets intensely sweaty!