Sunday, September 28, 2008

Lurkers check in

At the very bottom of this page, followers of our blog can check in...we know not everyone posts but check it out and let us know you're out there!

House plans!

This post has little to do with Alexander. It is exciting news we want to share with everyone and isn't that the purpose of the blog?

As most of you know, we can't buy a house without remodeling something. Eric and his father are very gifted when it comes to house "fix-it" stuff and have fantastic vision on how to make a space better. While our former home required an all-over do (over a ten year span), we didn't plan to do much to this house, other than a complete overhaul to the kitchen and cosmetic work here and there. All very well and good...until you add a baby to the equation. Despite the size of the home, there are only two rooms that function as bedrooms. Alexander's room is located on the main floor by the front door (not ideal, as you can imagine) and our room is above the living room, with half walls. Our bedroom is a fun, open floor concept loft/ playroom but not a very good bedroom on weekend mornings when one parent wants to sleep as the other plays with a baby down below.

So, with the project being bigger than originally anticipated, we've been in cahoots with an architect for almost a year and, this week, he sent us the final plans. If all goes well with gathering of permits and legal stuff, in the spring of '09, we will begin construction! Eventually when you pull up to the house, standing directly in front of you will be a 15oo sq ft addition that includes a two car garage, two additional bedrooms (one guest, one for Alexander) over the garage and a large, CLOSED OFF master bedroom in the back, with two GIGANTIC walk in closets off the master bath. I willingly gave up my jacuzzi tub to make one closet large enough for Eric to put his computer in so the guest room (Jodie's room) will actually be a functional guest room and not a messy computer room. Alexander and his friends will be able to hang out at one end of the house, with the living room, kitchen and the upstairs loft, and make all the noise they want, while Mom and Dad hibernate at the other end. The architect did an amazing job keeping the integrity of the open floor concept in tact and we're definitely pleased and exctied with the overall prorject. Thanks John!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Wave Bye-Bye

These days, Alexander waves bye-bye at the end of any event. It's hilarious because he is very determined that when he is waving, we are leaving RIGHT THAT INSTANT. When Mommy leaves in the morning, he waves out the window to her and gets very mad if she doesn't return the wave (and blow kisses). When we leave the house, he waves bye-bye to the house. When we get out of the truck, he waves bye-bye to the truck. When we get to the library/store/next location, he turns and waves to the truck again. When we walk past someone, he waves AFTER they've gone too far past us to see how cute he is waving (because he refuses to wave hello, most think he doesn't understand us). When we went to the birthday party of a one year old, after 5 minutes, Alexander decided he had enough and waved bye-bye emphatically for a good 20 minutes before I finally decided we better go or his arm might fall off. When I took him to the high school to watch a volleyball match, he sat on my lap, watched for a bit, clapped and yelled, then stood to face me...and began waving bye-bye - he'd seen enough. Like his father, when he is done - HE IS DONE.

So, if Alexander waves bye-bye to you while you are visiting, please don't take offense. He's just done with you. But he'll still walk you to the door and give you a kiss as you leave. And wave and wave and wave as you drive away.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Where is it?

There is a great picture window in Alexander's playroom. Very rarely does Naked Boy make an appearance but when he does, he certainly takes advantage of the moment. For some reason, Alexander really enjoyed standing in the picture window on this night. It's a bubble window with a foot wide frame for him to stand on and he has always been fascinated by this window. As I write this, I am flooded with memories of the past year and a half - from laying on the floor together and looking out the window when he was a baby, when he just began walking and would pull himself up to look out the window, piling toys on the frame once he could reach the window, and now he's tall enough to climb up to it. This window is our version of a growth chart.

If you look closely on Alexander's back, the light reflects like angel wings. This picture makes me wonder if he has seen his guardian angel and in this moment, Alexander is not aware that the angel sits on his shoulder.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Thank you, Melinda!

My wonderful, dearest, bestest friend babysat Alexander for us tonight. This is a milestone and worthy of posting because she is the first non-family member to watch him and I didn't think that would happen until the kid was in high school. Granted, we aren't exactly party people these days so we were only gone 2 hours. But that wasn't because we didn't trust her to do a good job; it's simply because I started falling asleep at the restaurant.

When Melinda and I first met (over 20 years ago!), she was the first non-family member that had permission to drive me in her car. (I was a lowly freshman and she was the cool junior with the car - that awesome brown Honda something). I'm sure watching Alexander tonight was similar to the same pressure she felt from my dad about driving around "his precious cargo".

Melinda got a baby fix, Alexander adored her, and we had a nice night out. Overall, I think it was a win-win situation for everyone.

Thanks Melinda!! XOXO

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

My Fair Adventure by Alexander


Today, my family took me to the State Fair.
(mommy made us take family photos - nobody else really wanted to do it - including me. But we smiled and pretended we were having fun, just to make her happy. I think she fell for it.)



Right away, I knew I was going to like this adventure. There were firetrucks and big tractor/loaders to play on! I LOVED playing on the firetruck and tractors.





I really liked being able to look and talk to all the animals.
I'm not ashamed to admit that in the beginning, I was pretty scared of those big animals. And who can blame me? I am still just a little guy, ya know.




Mommy and Daddy tell me there is an even better place for adventure than the State Fair.
Something about a big Mouse, flying elephants, and pirates.
I bet it's the happiest place on earth.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

And the school year begins...

A few weeks ago, I reprised my role of "working mom" and summer fun abruptly came to an end. Eric soon realized that his summer hiatus (as a result of his client going on strike and demanding Mommy-only time) had come to an end when he recieved his first early wake up call at 5AM. Last years' stint as a SAHD (stay at home dad) was such a success that Eric signed up for the sequel and the transition has gone much smoother this year for all of us. Alexander remains the star of the show, and as he turns 2 this winter, we are anticipating he will hire an agent to negotiate his toddler wants and needs with us. This year promises to bring daily walks with Grandma, trips to the park so our lead actor can flirt with older women who feed him raisins (once I learned they were 4 year old girls, the creepiness level of that statement diminished), hours of pretend play with Little People, and coming soon...playdates with Gypsy and Addy. As with every movie, the credits roll when Mommy pulls up to the house at the end of the work day, with her boys standing on the porch grinning, pointing, and yelling "Mama, Mama, Mama" to welcome her home.

Not a bad gig for any of us.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Happy Grandparent's Day!





I have the bestest Grandparents in the whole, wide world!!
XOXO, Zander

Alexander not being goofy.

Well, maybe a little goofy...

Michelle is offering a prize to the comment with the best guess of what he heck he was doing.

Friday, September 5, 2008

The airport and more shrimpin'

Yesterday we went to the airport with Grandma after the walk. I think Alex was a bit tired, we got lots of woahs! and wows, but the excitement levels were not as high as last time. Or maybe his airplane phase is ending.


Today after the walk we bought the kitties some food then Alex decided he needed some too. He also wanted the TV on. I'm an accommodating dad. So I turned it on, but couldn't find anything to watch, so I pulled out the Forrest Gump DVD to see if it was a fluke. (I was pretty sure it was)...It wasn't. He was signing more and got a bit upset at me when I said it was nap time twenty minutes later.



Maybe he'll like all my Batman, Superman and Justice League DVD's someday.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

I know what love is

Alex will watch about about 30 seconds of TV unless Ernie or Elmo are on the screen.

So yesterday was a bit odd for dad when a falling feather and a man talking to a woman on a bench captivated Alex.



I'm sure it wasn't him thinking, "that funny man on the screen is just like my dad." I'm sure it was the music.