Yesterday morning Alexa and I went to Shelburne Farms with some good friends, Jailee and Cameron and their lovely mommies, Lisa and Kathleen. We arrived just in time for the chicken parade...
and afterward it was time to explore the rest of the barnyard starting with the cows. Marigold and Marx are the most recent additions to the barn. At just 2 months old they are the cutest things!
We couldn't leave without a visit with the Farm's "e e's" so we wandered down to the pasture and watched as Kate and her fowl enjoyed their grass. As the wind grew stronger and colder and the sky grew darker we decided to return to the farm yard. We checked out the cheese making ( and did a little taste testing!) and then boarded the tractor back to the parking area!
Today we celebrated Mike's 3rd Father's Day! Together, with Minna and Ptah, we had a delicious brunch at Souza's Churrascaria, a Brazilian restaurant in downtown Burlington. Lots of Meat!!! Afterwards, we took a walk by the waterfront. It was a humid day, a little hard to breathe and the pollen was taking a toll on all of us. Alexa and I took a nap when we returned home. This means a very late night for everyone. Alexa has not been having naps and this pretty much assures us a bedtime of about 8:30 most nights. With a nap however, we will be up until around 10:30! We didn't have trouble finding something to do. Minna brought us some new watercolors and a really nice bird coloring book. Alexa spent nearly an hour painting! She is very precise and does an excellent job painting "inside" the lines! You can tell she's really into it! Nothing seems to distract her...she's very in the moment! Maybe she's the next Georgia O'Keefe! Happy Father's Day to Mike (a.k.a. Daddy), Ptah (a.k.a. Michael), Grandpa Stolarz and the many other wonderful dads we know!
It wasn't long ago that I was saying to Mike, "I can't wait to hear what she sounds like when she talks." Well, she talks alright! And she never ceases to amaze me with her new vocabulary and knowledge of the world around her. It used to be I would keep track of a new word here and there. I had so many questions at Alexa's two year appointment, "Was she saying enough phrases? Was she talking like other kids her age?" I was more than reassured by her pediatrician that she was well within average for her language development. But now it feels nearly impossible to keep a record of all her sentences. The bottom line is, she just talks! She talks and she's independent and she even surprises me sometimes....
Alexa: "Where Minna go?"
Me: "Minna had to go see the dentist."
Alexa: "To brush teeth."
I cannot think of a time that I made the connection between the words "dentist" and "teeth", but somewhere she picked that up!
There was a time in the not so distant past when I would have gotten amuch simpler response, such as a "Jes." or an "uh-huh." Not these days!
Me: "Do you want to stop at the store?"
Alexa: "No. I wan go back home."
Me: "What do yo want to do at home."
Alexa: "I wan go na-night."
No longer does she have to just go along with what I want. She can express her own opinions now. It's really not about me...Alexa has a say now!
"I do. I do. I do." These two little words are so incredibly huge to this 2 year old. You see, once she utters these words it would just be mean of me to not allow her to do whatever it was she insists she could do. For example, Alexa can now buckle her belt in her car seat and her booster seat. She can put her own shoes on (she's even gotten them on the correct feet on a few occasions). She can brush her teeth (okay, not exactly brush them). This "I do" attitude inevitably adds 5 minutes to any task, but once again it allows her independence and satisfaction!
She talks about her "e e's" (horses), she tells me now when she has gone potty (not on the potty, but we're still working on that). She tells me when she's hungry and what she wants to eat, and of course, what she doesn't want to eat. She tells me when she wants to read, "I read book." When she wants to paint, "Momma, I paint." When I ask her where Daddy is, she says, "He's working." She is so smart!
In many ways it's been wonderful to be able to communicate with Alexa as opposed to guessing. It is, however, an obvious reminder that she is growing up so fast! In the mean time she has a lot to learn and I will no doubt continue
Alexa spent the morning with Minna while I went to [another] dr. appointment. I've been told that Alexa used the potty successfully! YAY! We continue to work on this...
I arrived home to find Minna and Alexa in the backyard. With some prompting from Minna we decided to get out of the house!
It was a beautiful early summer day here in VT, 79 degrees, a slight breeze and a clear blue sky raining down sunshine! What to do? Go to the beach of course! Alexa, her momma and her Ptah packed the car and drove to North Beach in Burlington. There we met up with "the kids," Eva, Will and Isabel (and their mom, Tammy, of course). Alexa continues to be fascinated with anything horses, so the baby "e e's" tagged along and Alexa buried them in the sand over and over. She would subsequently squeal with delight when they were discovered! Alexa ventured into the water but it was short-lived as there were some pretty big waves and the temperature is still a bit on the cold side! We played some more in the sand and then headed home. After a bath, some "beans" (edemame beans are a recent fave!) and a book (tonight's choice: Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle), Alexa was off the dreamland!
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