One of the special things Alexa and her Minna share together is their love of ceramics! Burlington City Arts holds a family pottery night and when we are lucky enough to make a trip to Vermont, Alexa and Minna take advantage of the time to make beautiful creations!    
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"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.  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.   In my last post, I mentioned how well Alexa was progressing in her potty use. Well the very next day, she called my name as I was straightening up in the kitchen. “Mommy, come here,” she called. I followed her voice into the bathroom where I found her standing, peering into the toilet. “Ick Mommy (Look Mommy), I went poopy.” I looked into the toilet and to my surprise, there it was. “It’s a big one,” Alexa exclaimed! I couldn’t help but laugh. I quickly praised her, “What a big girl you are. I’m so proud of you.” She had a BIG grin on her face. She is so proud of herself. As it turns out, she had pulled her step stool to the base of the toilet, carefully stepped up and sat down all by herself. Wow! That was quite a moment! Yesterday, Alexa saw an image of a little girl, wearing swimming goggles and diving into the ocean. An ad for Sandals Resort, if I recall correctly. She quickly stated that she wanted a pair of glasses and gestured that she wanted to dive into the ocean too. She then said, “I swim with the humpback whales.” Humpback Whales? Where does she get this stuff? Truth be told, Alexa has become greatly interested in Go, Diego, Go. I think she likes that Diego works at an animal rescue center and she learns about some very exotic animals. As much as she enjoys Dora, she seems to really connect with all things animal. Lately, she’s been insistent upon “being a puppy” almost everywhere we go! Some days I look at Alexa and can’t imagine how we’ve gotten this far in what feels like the blink of an eye. She has such a unique little personality. She’s so smart, creative and curious. She asks a lot of questions and her memory is phenomenal. She has this amazing way of expressing things through sound effects, something she certainly gets from her dad! For example, we stopped for gas the other day and she reminded me of a noise Minna’s car had made the week before when it was running low on gas (that’s what we think it was at least). Once I picked up on what she was describing I said, “Oh that noise. Did it sound like this, buzzzzzz? Her reply? “No mommy, not like a bee. It was like this, (and then she made the sound of a humming)! Again, I laughed. This week Alexa put herself on the scale and she’s finally gained a bit of weight. On that day, she weighed 27.8 lbs.! Alexa began a twice weekly morning (home) daycare in town that has been working out well. We continue to go to gymnastics and found a musical story group last week that we are hoping to make a weekly event. Playgroups are somewhat difficult to find and as the weather gets cooler it will become more important to find social activities.  Alexa loves her new duckie!  My little artist!  | Authormoth·er \ˈmə-thər\- noun 1. A woman who conceives, gives birth to, or raises and nurtures a child.    ArchivesJune 2012 CategoriesAll |
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