Well, it's been absolutely -forever- since I posted last, but that's mostly because Alex was at Grammy-Grampy's house for vacation while we went to the beach. It would take forever to explain the extreme cuteness/cleverness/fabulousness that went on with Alex while we were away, so I'll just say she was her usual self. :)

While she was away, Mommy and Daddy bought her two stuffed animals. Two because they couldn't agree which they liked more, and also because there was a shocking lack of cute seahorses (or as she says, "seahearses"). So she is now the proud owner of one octopus - Mr. Octopus - and a whale shark - Mr. Big Shark. Her crib is now seriously overcrowded with it's new occupants and the old one - poor Knuffle Bunny.

We're still adjusting her to her new sleep schedule, but so far, even after a night filled with chocolate cake and rabble-rousing with Kai and Fredericka (self-proclaimed "Rick", apparently) she's been falling asleep a lot faster and skipping that whole two hour in the dark play session. Thus easing our guilt, but giving us a reason to set the darn alarm clock so she gets up on time.

Alex has also delved into the exciting world of popsicles lately, only she insists on calling them "popsikickles". Seriously, the girl talks about hydrangeas, dandelions, petunias and mugo pines but she can't say popsicle right? What the heck is up with that? I think she just likes the way her version sounds.

And somewhat related, why doesn't this spellcheck have popsicle in it's list of words? Seriously, is it not a word and I've been thinking it was a real word all these years? Really? Or have I spelled it so very wrongly that the spellcheck doesn't even register it? *sigh*

Yep, finally we got Alex her first ice cream cone. It was worth the wait for her and for us. Note the sprinkles - Daddy was anti-sprinkle, Mommy was pro-sprinkle, and Alex told us several times, "I like sprinkles." So of course the girls got their way. And Daddy was then covered with sprinkles too. Not all of them. For example, the yellow one on the ground that Alex ate, that didn't end up on him... XD

We had an action-packed day yesterday with our friends Anne, Andrew and Zekey. They visited the new house for the first time yesterday, which was very exciting for Zeke, as that tour included plenty of new toys he has never played with before. It was also exciting for Alex as hostess, because she got her show off her crazy-good sharing skills. Which will probably be abandoned at some point soon, but we enjoy the sharing while the sharing's good.

Before the house visit, though, we trotted off to the zoo. Which opened late - perhaps the tiger was eating a zoo keeper and they had to clean up? Anyway, there's a great playground right above the zoo, so we all got dizzy playing on the insane rides they have that are suspiciously large for kids but just right for adults. Once we regained our equilibrium, we trotted back to the now-open zoo for a little flower picking - way to go Alex, they didn't need that flower there anyway - and general animal admiration. Zeke got a soft pretzel, Alex didn't care. Zeke petted the goats, Alex cowered a bit with Daddy. (She's scared of their bleats, and hasn't petted them in weeks. But we'll get her over it sooner or later. Better than her fear of silk flowers...She ran into some, literally, at AC Moore, and is scared of anything in a vase now. Poor thing!)

The zoo was a hit, as far as we could tell. Then lunch - also a hit even if Alex pigged out, mostly on tiramisu, while Zeke picked at various things and never really ate much.

Back to our house for playing with the hose - Zeke sprayed Alex repeatedly and she loved it. When she reciprocated, it wasn't so well received...

Then inside when the storms rolled in. Alex napped, Zeke, not so much, but he played the heck out of her toys. I woke her up later to get ready for dinner, and she woke up proclaiming, "Binturong!" Dreaming of the zoo much?

Then it was off to dinner with two wiggly kids who spent more time in the restaurant's conveniently located garden than in their seats. But their ice cream sandwiches were a hit (duh) and all was well when we escaped. Left, whatever.

Alex stayed up uber-late, but in her crib, so Mommy and Daddy could recover in relative peace.

On the agenda for today. Nothing, sweet nothing. :D

Closing Eyes and a Visitor

Alex has been practicing her closing eyes on purpose skills lately, and as you can see, it takes a bit of effort to say the least. Also, yes, she fell and hurt her face this week. Also also, yes that is a Star Wars t-shirt. I want a pink one for her, but haven't seen any. I'm sure they're out there somewhere...

And yes, she hoards crayons.

And that last pic, that's our resident box turtle, who likes to sit on the driveway eating slugs and generally impeding our ability to leave the house by car. It hissed at me when I picked it up and moved it. Scary. :i

It's Too True

This was the fortune Alex got in her fortune cookie today at lunch.......... Not so much a fortune as it is stating the obvious, really.

Finally, a Pedicure.....

Hmmm, too bad Alex gave it to me. That's right, the multi-talented queen of all things decided yesterday that she really wanted the nail file I was using on a rather stubborn scraggly pinkie toenail, and once she got it (through a series of grabs, grunts and whines, I'm afraid) she started to file her own nails. By holding her feet up in the air and waving the nail file around her toes. Not, perhaps, productive, but definitely cute.

So, I asked her for a quick file of my own nails, and she scraped that nail file all over my feet. Ahhh, so...relaxing? Nope, but it was still fun, mostly for her because darn it, she used the extra-scratchy side on my cuticles, but still.

Her new-found generosity also gets extended to her stuffed animals now. She's been allowing Chocolate Sheep (the sheep Grammy got her for Easter that she subsequently covered in smears of brownie. Who gave her the brownie? I'll never reveal her brownie sources.) and also Puppy Dog to drink form her Princess Cups. Hey, stuffed animals get thirsty too!

Speaking of thirsty, I finally remembered to post a pic of her drinking from a straw. And yes, she is simultaneously trying to poke her eye out with a fork. She's great at multitasking. Make a note of the sad Princess Cup sitting next to her. But don't feel too badly, it's gotten much use after the straw drinking. We're not ditching the sippy cups for bendy color-changing straws just yet.

Something to be aware of...

Tonight, Alex yet again reminded us that her nose knows. She informed us that there were cookies - breakfast in the kitchen. She smelled them when they came out of the oven. She has also demonstrated her superpower by sniffing out beanies and weenies, brownies...I think that's it, but maybe she doesn't always announce what she smells. Probably only says something if she's actually interested.

I taught her what poison ivy looks like today, and I'm hoping that sunk in enough that she'll be looking for it. She can identify a dandelion by just a few mowed leaves, so I think we have a shot at her knowing poison ivy when she stumbles up to it.

She was deathly afraid of a moth on an iris today, which was a bit amusing and bemusing to me. I think she thought it was a bee. Even after I told her it was a "moff" she told me that we should be careful. I'll make a note to always be careful of moffs.