"FIRST NIGHT" ARTS EVENTS AT BURLINGTON CITY ARTS - posted by Minna
Alexa had her first City Arts experience this afternoon with lots of local children at the
free afternoon in the Clay Studio. She took to it instantly! Alexa was polite in asking kids
to hand her some cutting tools and wires to remove her clay bowls as we produced --
literally a line up -- one after another and another [yes I and the staff were of great help to keep the wheel throwing exceedingly swift and productive]!
One "mug" was saved and brought home - but - technically that was against the rules! We used some of the cut-off clay from the cylinder as a handle and made a cup for Mommy. Alexa then made a piece for each person she could think of - naming them as she set the cylinders down on the wood surface between the wheels that all the
children sat working at. All that said, it must be noted that above all, Alexa adored sticking her hands in the bucket, squeezing the mushy clay and pulling the sponges in and out, onto the spinning wheel and watching the water squirt away or seeing the sponge fall and fly 'round and 'round - this plain and simple fun provided endless smiles and giggles!
She continually was investigating the other wheels for more sponges and buckets of water! She did stop and ocassionally look at the other kids busy making small bowls on the other wheels, but these were brief because she was so engaged in playing.
Needless to say, she didn't want to leave after only one hour of muddy pleasure, her first experience with clay. At cleanup over the sink, one of the older male instructors reached under the running water to wash as we were washing. Alexa washed off his hands with the big sponge she found in that sink and he was so friendly and thankful, and she seemed less shy and fine about him thanking her and joking with her. [Maybe she thought he looked a bit like Santa Claus... ?]
I hope she will have many, many other opportunities to make art and mushy fun for herself throughout her life and this was a special treat for me too! Introducing this precious little girl to clay!
Alexa told mommy about her cup she was bringing home and was so excited to present it to her.
I hope she remembers today.
 ‘Twas the night before Christmas and I had still had gifts to wrap! Alexa, Minna and I had baked fresh chocolate chip cookies intended for Santa, only to be quickly devoured by Alexa (and Mommy and Minna!)! Thankfully she (we) left a few and we set up a glass of cold milk and some cookies for Santa to enjoy while he stopped by and dropped off our gifts!
Early Christmas morning, Alexa, Mike and I got up to find “lots and lots” of presents waiting for us under the tree. Alexa was delighted to find that Santa had eaten the cookies we had left and even wrote her a thank you note!
 Alexa picked up each gift and checked the tag to make sure it was intended for her. I really think she is recognizing the letters that spell out her name!
One gift she picked and shook. She looked at Mike and I inquisitively and exclaimed, “Do you hear that noise?” It sounds like toys!” She received several Calico Critters, and A Baby Alive doll, complete with real food and juices. Alexa and I chose peas to feed her and quickly found out why she is called baby alive! I had no idea that while I was working so hard to get Alexa out of diapers, I’d be helping her to clean a doll’s diapers! She, on the other hand, thought it was fantastic. Tonight, as we were getting ready to go out for dinner, the baby doll, (whom I’ve affectionately named Penny, although it really doesn’t seem to be catching on with Alexa) suggested that Alexa play with her. Penny said, “Let’s play!” Alexa promptly responded, “No, I’m going out now.”Despite this, she has been incredibly attentive toward Penny. When Penny asks for a hug, Alexa is quick to oblige her. When Penny says she’s thirsty, Alexa asks me to fill her bottle. When she uses her potty successfully (I’m not kidding), Alexa cheers her on and says she need a treat! We put Penny to sleep tonight in her new pajamas and soothed her with a pacifier. She is currently lying next to another sound asleep baby in my bed!
 And a special thanks to the Colquhoun Family for allowing me a glimpse into a future where I don’t have to do all the dishes!!
Alexa fell asleep earlier than usual Christmas night, on the couch with Minna while watching “The Last Unicorn.”
Saturday we hit up the mall for some after Christmas deals. Today we went to the bridal store to find a dress for Alexa to wear at her Aunt Chrissy's wedding. She was happy to try on the three selections that we picked for her. For those of you unfamiliar with a bridal store, there are many, many mirrors and many women admiring themselves! Alexa stepped out of the dressing room to find some young women looking over their gowns, when she exclaimed, "Two ones? Two princesses?" Needless to say, the two customers were feeling flattered and found Alexa to be entirely too cute! For every adorable comment that comes from Alexa's mouth, there at, at times, some that are a little less comfortable for Mommy and Daddy. Today when she noticed a larger woman behind the counter at a store, she said, "That one has a big body."
Sunday night, Mike took Alexa bowling. I joined them a bit later and played one game. Alexa seemed to enjoy herself, but definitely looked distracted at times and eventually found the combination of hardwood floors and bowling shoes to be perfect for some dancing.  Today it snowed a fairly steady snow. Minna broke out the sled again and we pushed Alexa down the little hill in the front yard before we got too coldy and came back inside.
Alexa knows how to get what she wants. Whether it’s, “One more time.” Or “Okay, Mommy, just one more.” Or "Again." She knows that one more can be ten more as long as she asks in that sweet little voice and with that sweet little smile. All I do is remind her to say please and then give in, over and over!
Today in the car Alexa suddenly said, "Oh my God!" And last week when Ptah was telling her to get her slippers on, he referred to them as booties. Alexa quickly corrected Ptah, "Those not booties. Jesus!" I suppose it could be worse, but nonetheless, I don't want Alexa to offend people! That said, I can't help but giggle when she says these kind of things! After all, she learns them from me!
A few weeks back, Alexa asked me to put in a movie. When I turned on the tv, I suppose she was expecting it to begin immediately, but I hadn't switched it from tv to dvd so instead she saw whatever was playing on the tv station. As it turns out, the character on the screen was a young man she seemed to believe looked like Brian (my brother/her Uncle). In her frustration she said, "No, I don't want to watch the Uncle Brian show."
Alexa was recently educated about the body and bones through an episode of Curious George. She has been fascinated with playing doctor and especially giving shots, (which she does with a Motrin dispenser) and sending her patients home to rest. This may have been the influence for her comment about the woman at the register in the mall.
These are some of the things I want to always remember. Things that make me smile, make me laugh. Things that remind me of the innocence of children. The ways a toddler makes sense of the world around her. Creatively, inquisitively, enthusiastically. It's really amazing to watch as her vocabulary grows and her understanding and comprehension widens. Alexa makes connections between concepts on an advanced level. She is an utter joy to be with and I am so grateful she is mine!
The following was submitted by contributing editor, Minna, a.k.a. Louise...
Alexa and I set off to experience bowling the day after Thanksgiving. It was brisk outside and started to rain but we ventured forward undaunted!
We were told that there was one pair each of the shoes we needed and lucky for us,
Alexa could wear the smallest shoes in the place! Shelburne provided the alley, shoes,
and low weight bowling balls at Champlain Lanes... we brought our enthusiasm and
energy!
We got all set up with our shoes and gutter guards... then the gentlemen running the alley told us we could start and explained how to use the overhead tally sheet so we could put our names.  Alexa had no idea what we were getting ourselves into! She jumped in full hearted and ready for any challenge - as usual! With both hands and one of mine, we muscled the small child's bowling ball up to the ramp and placed it on top and Alexa was told to push it forward so it could roll its way down the alley and push over the 10 pins to knock them down.
Throughout our playing, she was a bit pre-occupied with the people to our left who ran up and down much faster than we did, and seemed to eject their bowling balls with a force of nature - slamming onto the wood and speeding past our slower moving attempts on their right.
Alexa managed to get 10 over - both spares - in at least two frames, as I recall. We played two games together and she was fascinated with how the balls returned and sprung up from the underground tunnel. She loved running back from her launch pad over to the tray to retrieve the bowling balls.
Observant as ever, she saw how others held the ball with a thumb and two fingers in the three open holes. She attempted to mimic what she saw - but - it was quite a spread for her tiny (yes / tiny ones!) fingers!
At the end, she had a pretty impressive score for a 2 1/2 + year old! On our way out we discovered that there's more to the bowling alley than just bowling and we played some of the electronic and other games just like the big kids! We even left and
got a few more quarters so we could ride the race car too.
We went back out to the car and Alexa decided she would drive us home... huh? "It's not a pickle!!"!! We joked about all the silly things we think of from time to time - like her recent favorite expression "it's not a pickle" - huh? and we laughed in the car together as we drove away from Champlain Lanes, vowing to return soon for some more fun with large heavy "bouncy" balls!
I added some new video clips to the videos page and I am beginning a new page entitled "Word of the Week." I'm amazed at some of the things that come out of Alexa's mouth and this is my attempt at recording some of them. Last week when Minna commented on Diego's (Go, Diego, Go) cat, Alexa promptly corrected her, "No Minna, that's not a cat, it's Baby Jaguar." She then continued to explain that Diego and Baby Jaguar were headed to the pyramids. For what? I haven't a clue, but now Alexa knows about pyramids! This morning she was demonstrating for me how a Humpback Whale dives into the ocean. She was certain to add that she, unlike the humpback whale, did not have a hole in her back. I believe she may have stated that she wanted a hole in her back! It is for this reason that I hope to add examples of her growing vocabulary to this blog. I wish I was able to remember everything, as it is all fairly miraculous, but that will simply never happen. So this is the best I can offer!
 I have no idea what she is telling me here! On Sunday, December 13th, Alexa experienced her first movie on the big screen! We took in a showing of the new Disney movie, "The Princess and the Frog." It is the first Disney movie to feature an African American princess in the over 80 years that Disney has been making films! Maybe it had something to do with the Obama election, nonetheless, it was a traditional tale, where in fact the black princess was only a princess for roughly 15 minutes in the entire film. Primarily, she was a frog!
When the lights went out and the trailors began, Alexa commented on the darkness. I reminded her that it was going to be dark throughout the movie and eventually she disregarded it.
It had some scary, really scary parts. Images that I was convinced would send us out of the theater and back home. Crocodiles and such! But Alexa persevered, albiet in my lap, until the end of the movie. Perhaps it was the comfort of my arms around her, or the popcorn, which she said, "tickled her tongue!"
Forgive the quality of the photos. They were taken with my cell phone in the dimly lit theater. I wasn't going to be that mom, the one with a camera to document every "first" that my daughter experiences. That said, I was secretly bummed that I didn't have my camera with me!!!
 she finished that whole bag of popcorn herself! So I guess this means I can finally go see movies again. Unfortunately they will be "G" rated for a while, but at least it gets me out of the house, right?
Just a few short weeks ago, Mike, Alexa and I drove to Bolton Valley to check out the fresh snow. Alexa was excited about the idea of building her first snowman. I promised her that once the snow began to fall at our house, we would build one. This past Wednesday (Dec. 9th), it finally snowed! Although we spent a large part of the day running errands and playing indoors, we managed to get bundled up and get outside before the sun went down.  Minna got the sled from last year out of the garage and Alexa was delighted to be pulled around the front yard. We even found just the right size embankment to push Alexa down a few times before the sun was gone for good!
Alexa was less excited about sledding last year…  Christmas 2008  With her opportunity finally available, Alexa began making her snowman. It was a group effort and despite not having all the correct materials on hand, our snowgirl was a sight to be seen! We improvised, using wood chips for the eyes and buttons, and a stem of a flower for her mouth. But one thing was certain; she was getting a carrot for her nose! Lastly, we found an old winter hat of Alexa’s to keep her warm!
 our snowgirl! Minna and I also gave Alexa her first lesson in creating the perfect snowball! I threw some Minna’s way and Alexa got a great big laugh out of it!  After running to the store for a few things, we were surprised to find Will and Eva in the front yard throwing snowballs when we returned home. Alexa visited for just a few minutes before concluded it was too “coldy” outside without gloves. We retreated back to the house and called it a night! I hope Alexa knows just how long a Vermont winter really is!
 Anna, Charlotte & Alexa at the UVM Royall Tyler Theater On Saturday, December 5th, Alexa and I joined several of our friends to see the Holiday presentation of "The Toys Take Over Christmas" at the UVM Royall Tyler Theater. The set was beautifully decorated and we entered the theater to the sound of Christmas caroles. The kids, Charlotte, Anna, Alexa, Jailee, Magnus and Cameron, seemed quite taken by the story, and it was perfectly timed. Just long enough for the kids to stay involved and manage to stay in, or near, their seats! Santa was a big hit! I'm never sure how Alexa will respond to him. Her first two holiday seasons she has been terrified and our photos speak for themselves! This year, she really seems to understand the icons and symbols of the holiday. She is looking forward to decorating our Christmas tree and she has been dielighted by the lights on the homes in our neighborhood, even asking me when we will put lights on our house!
 Jailee & Alexa  Jailee & Alexa We have broken from our annual tradition for the past two seasons. For Alexa's first Christmas, we decided she was too little to traipse about on a tree farm in Waterbury. That year, we chose to donate to a local charity, COTS (a housing organization for homeless families in Chittenden County) and purchased a fairly sad looking tree! Bt it was for a good cause, right? On her second Christmas, we returned to a local Christmas tree farm to find a tree. On December 13th, 2008, we stayed closer to home, Williston, and despite the FREEZING temperatures(the weather almanac states a temp. of between 5 and 7 degrees at the time we went ot!!!), we found an ideal tree for the holiday! These are some photos from that day...  This year, we returned to an old favorite, The Murray Hill Farm, in Waterbury, VT! Mike and I had been coming here for years before Alexa was born. It is a moderately sized farm set on the rolling hills of the Murray family's home with views of the Green Mountains, hot mulled cider and hot chocolate served for free on the porch overlooking the trees and a picturesque pond complete with a wooden bridge crossing it!
Weatherwise, it was a considerably different day this year. Not only were the temperatures, a balmy 32 degrees, there was no snow on the ground at all! Mike would soon discover that mud, rather than snow, makes dragging a six foot tree much more difficult! Despite the lackof snow, Alexa greatly enjoyed her ride in the sled throghot the tree farm. Yes, there were some muddy, wet knees when all was said and done, but it didn't put a damper on the experience for Alexa one bit!  fascinated with the tree wrapping machine!  wanting so badly to help Daddy cut down the tree! It was a nice surprise when the snow began to fall. It gave the day a real festive feeling! Alexa thought it was tons of fun to wipe the "now" off of my coat and hair! And she worked really hard to pull the sled back up the hill!  Daddy cutting down our tree!  Oh, and I almost forgot to add...we had a weekend visitor that came along for the adventure...Chippy, or Dippy as Alexa calls him!!
 Uh oh! Caught! These days Alexa is curios abot EVERYTHING! This means she will go to great measres to find out what she can about everything and anything. She's quite a dare devil! This week I found her here...
We continue to keep busy with lots of toys and the ocassional art project. We bought these plaster fish figurines several months ago. I found them in the closet and decided that it would make a great Sunday afternoon activity. Alexa had a terrific time coloring them all. I worked primarilly on one, the octopus.  Eva came over to visit one afternoon after school! It's so much fun to listen to them play. Today they spent some time playing hide n' seek. Alexa rode around on her bike yelling, "Eba, where are you?" while Eva found some really good hiding spots, including my shower!
On Thanksgiving morning, Alexa watched some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on tv before playing for the better part of the day. We made a small turkey and some potatoes and veggies for just the three of us.  The day after Thanksgiving, we went to Church Street to watch the Santa parade. There were reindeer as well, and a lot of kids eager to get their first glimpse of Santa. Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and even our local weatherman, Tom Messner were on hand for the festivities. We didn't do much shopping on this Black Friday, bt it was fn to be out and about for a bit in the crowds! The weather was miserable so we did not stick around for the tree lighting that evening.
Lately, Alexa enjoys being a "puppy." She and Minna made a leash last week and Alexa was thrilled to be taken for a walk and receive a treat when she was a "good boy!" Her puppy name is Grommet! Here she is "sitting like a good boy" waiting patiently for her treat!  playing puppy dog! On Monday afternoon, we picked up Jailee from daycare while her mom went to some doctor appointments. The girls played with playdoh for a while. Alexa said she was making a tree and Jailee told me she was making a tree house! It's so fun to watch them play together! Unfortunately, as the playdate wore on, Alexa was slightly less happy to share her belongings. Perhaps she was tired, but nonethe less, she responded, "Yes" when I asked her if she needed a time out. Not an easy thing to do, but sometimes it's necessary.
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