*sigh* I just told Alex she's pushing my buttons and she looked at her belly button...

We've had a fun day of birthday buying and general enspoilment (for her, of course) and she's decided that today is too much fun, and has gone for the no-nap option. I have gone for the slowly insane option.

Apparently Diesel and Alex have one love in common, fox-tails. Alex brought one home from tonight's walk, and Diesel chased her around the house until neither one could even stand up any more. Alex got one last burst of energy and tried to pay some more, but Diesel, well, she was all done.

Restaurant Adventure

Alex likes ice cubes. A lot. Especially at snobbish pizza restaurants. Pity she didn't like tripping the rude waitstaff "by accident" too. Oh well. Lesson learned - if they glare at you when you're entering the restaurant, it's best to turn around and leave, even if your kid behaves better than some adults...

(We were at a place that, despite the kid's menu, has not a single kid-friendly staff member. No offer of a booster seat - booster seats are for us low-brow folk and not the upper crust that usually eat at this restaurant, I'm guessing. They got our order wrong, blamed it on me for ordering the wrong thing, then tried to rush us out the door without offering desert. And here you can see Alex at her worst, fishing an ice cube out of Jeff's water. Goodness, how -do- we take her out? Needles to say, this will probably be our last visit at the Greenville's House of Overpriced Pizza. We make better pizza anyway. :P )

We went to Coverdale Farm today to see the cows, chickens, sheep and pigs (and their baby minions) and Alex had a fabulous personal tour. She liked the "sheeps" the best, but also loved their veggie garden. Oh, and the troughs that double as a sink to wash her "cow hands" off at the end of the tour. Very cool, and yes, actually for washing hands thank goodness.

We headed home, had a popsicle treat to celebrate a visit to the farm with no poop-eating or other horrible happenings, and now she's napping. And I got the grape vines out of the forsythia, and just to show them who's boss, wove them into a wreath for the garage. That'll teach you to eat my shrubs!

Alex just yesterday figured out how to play basketball on her play-date friend's basketball "court". In the basement of his grandmother's house, actually, and it's the tiny basketball set-up for toddlers of course, but she made every basket I watched her attempt! Super-cool, and I'm considering running out and getting her a set for herself. You know, so we can tell her to throw a ball in the house, but just for basketball. Riiiiiight. Well, I may still get it, just have to figure out where the court can be.

Valley Garden Park Adventure

Here are a few pics from our recent "park adventure" at Valley Garden Park. That's pollen on Alex's face, by the way. Bottle-brush buckeye pollen. :)

Hmm, I'm pretty sure Alex spends way too much time with me - she now refers to some things as simply "thingy things". Maybe the loss of verbal ability that I've experienced since becoming a mom is contagious? Oh well, at least I still always know what she's talking about, even if neither of us can put a name on it. :D

And this is what makes me think that perhaps she's more like Jeff most days. :D

A Few Plant Pics

Flower Arranging 101 (Toddler Version)

First, put the toddler on the deck with pots full of flowers, such as oh I don't know, pineapple lilies. Then, tell her repeatedly not to pick them. Watch her pick one anyway. Then place the maligned pineapple lily into a suitable container, in this case, an antique medicine bottle. Then, and this is the most important part of flower arranging for toddlers, put the pots of pineapple lilies on the deck table until they're done blooming.

And I forgot, here's Alex in her new cute-suit. Sorry about the picture quality - every othere pic I take looks like a Lock Ness Monster shot only Alex is the monster. XD

In this picture, you can she she's torn between banging on her bongos, finishing her puzzle (throwing the rest of the pieces into opposite corners of the room) drawing, or flinging herself off the edge of the coffee table to her doom. Decisions, decisions. Ultimately, crayons prevailed.

Overdoing It?

I kept forgetting to post a picture of Alex when she first got her "flowers for the hair-do", so here it is. She insisted on multiple flwoers, but stopped well short of having me put all the flowers in her hair. Because it is possible top over-accessorize.

And in not-at-all-related news, here are the finished curtains. She loves the polka dots so much she already pulled the tension rods out twice so she could roll in them. So definitely a worth-while investment.

Pretty Things

We start with Alex's curtains and move along to the passion flower and the double day-lilies, most of which have been eaten by the stupid buck that visits nightly. He comes closer when I talk to him, and should consider himself lucky that I don't have a permit to carry. I'll try to get a picture of him. I'm sure he'll pose for me if I ask nicely.

Alex's verbal triumph of the day - calling her purple dragon (who's a girl dragon and eats pine cones) a silly git.

Alex's physical triumphs of the day - getting the winged helm onto one of Jeff's old action figures, and wrapping herself into the super-cat sheet, making herself a "purrito".

And just for fun, this is what her knees look like after every trip to the zoo. Note the game show hostess at work pointing out the boo-boos on the knees.