Busy, busy, busy!

12/10/2010

1 Comment

 
We kept ourselves busy this Fall and things will have officially begun to slow down a bit in the last week. Besides Preschool, which is going very well, Alexa participated in a gymnastics class. Despite the not so positive experience we had last winter in a ballet class at the Burlington Y, it was time to try another class on her own. Thankfully the staff at CS Gymnastics seemed both experienced and caring and paid close attention to Alexa's unique personality! With a different circuit each week, Alexa learned several gymnastics positions and had lots of fun on the tumbling shapes, low beams, trampoline, spring boards and low bars. I am so proud of her independence and her courage. She tries new things with excitement and anticipation! We met two mommies and two friends, Jess and Logan. We hope to keep in touch with them and arrange playdates this winter.
Additionally, we participated in a 5 week Mommy & Me class at the Turtleback Zoo in West Orange, NJ. Each week we learned about a different group of animals, colored pictures, made a craft and then had an opportunity to meet some of those animals up close! We learned about birds, farm animals, reptiles, and amphibians. We spent some time in the zoo afterwards. It was so beautiful as the leaves were changing. We even took the last train ride of the season and enjoyed views of the foliage at peak on the reservoir. It was a great experience and if the curriculum is different next fall we will likely attend again.
Lastly, there was our Music Together classes in Randolph. We had a wonderful time singing and playing instruments with a great group of kids, moms and nannies. Alexa adored our teacher, Miss Gen. We even made a friend, Lucas, who was excited each week when he arrived and saw Alexa! We hope to spend some time with Lucas and his mom outside of music class. 


So now we have to explore some new activities to get us through the cold winter months. In the meantime, Alexa and I have been keeping busy making crafts for the holidays and just relaxing a bit!
1 Comment

A busy start to the New Year

1/11/2010

0 Comments

 
Picture
I made a super special Christmas gift for Alexa this year. I worked on it for weeks, hoping it would come out perfect! I think she did and Alexa seems to lover her as well!
On the Tuesday after Christmas, we took advantage of the fact that all our favorite friends and their mommy’s were out of school for the holiday break and joined them for an afternoon of gymnastics and lunch.
Picture
Picture
Alexa and I rang in the New Year quietly at home…
Before traveling to NJ for Alexa’s big flower girl role in her Aunt Chrissy’s wedding. (see previous post)
Ptah had surgery on his shoulder on January 4th. Alexa has been by his side assuring a smooth recovery…
Picture
January 5, 2010
Picture
our back deck
While we were in NJ, Vermont got its first snowstorm of the 09/10 winter season…24-30 inches!
Picture
icicles, January 10, 2010
The start of the New Year brought the start of some new activities for Alexa as well. I decided to enroll Alexa in Beginner Ballet at the local YMCA, despite the suggested age range being 3-5 years old. When I called to register her, I had boasted about Alexa’s advanced understanding of group activities and her abilities to follow directions and participate equally with the other children. She was most certainly the youngest and smallest one in the class. I found it stressful when I was told parents leave the room. Alexa made a beeline for me, tears falling. It was difficult to encourage her to stay as it was a room full of strangers after all. I did manage to sneak out and for the next 20 minutes, Alexa vacillated between participating, in her own special way, and running to the door to escape to the safety of her mommy. At one point I heard her say, “I no like ballet,” from inside the dance studio. When the instructor brought out the ballet bar (looks like this)
Picture
to practice, Alexa promptly began hanging like this…
Picture
a move she mastered in gymnastics class! Needless to say, not what the others in the class were expecting! For the last 10 minutes parents were invited in to observe what the children had learned. It was then that Alexa appeared proud of what she had learned and eager to participate in the final activity with the group, emerging from under a cheese cloth type parachute and dance around the circle of dancers mimicking a butterfly. Alexa crawled under and came out excitedly, but was a bit shy about dancing this week. We’ll be back this week and hopefully, as the environment, the instructors and the others children grow more familiar with her; Alexa will grow more comfortable in the class.
Picture
Picture
Picture
January 7, 2010
Saturday, Alexa and I began a parent/toddler swim class at a local fitness center. Mostly infants, bringing back memories of when Alexa and I began swimming together at the YMCA two winters back.
Picture
January 9, 2008
There was one little girl and her mom, Eliza and Shelley, whom I thought looked familiar. Shelley and I began to chat and it turns out that Eliza will be three on March 26th. It was fun to meet someone with a toddler exactly the same age as Alexa! Alexa’s favorite part of the class was discovering a pair of goggles and swim wings! She really seems to be gaining confidence in her swimming abilities.
Picture
Picture
January 9, 2010
Yesterday Alexa confirmed what I had suspected for the past three weeks. At the mall with Minna and I, Alexa pointed to the large GAP sign and said, “It’s my name.” I asked her to go point to the letter in her name and sure enough she went directly to the letter A. Today as we placed alphabet stickers into her sticker book, I said each letter out loud as Alexa stuck them to the page. When I said “D,” Alexa said, “Like Dog.” And when I told her the “M” was for “Minna” she said, “and Mommy.”

Alexa has also begun speaking Spanish! Thanks to several episodes of Go, Diego, Go! She often says, “Ayudame.” In English this means, “Help me.” She also developed wonderful manners often telling me “No thank you, Mommy.” Unfortunately, it always seems to be when I am making suggestions for things to eat. Some days she can be quite picky!

There are so many other things that I find amazing and hysterical, yet all too quickly I forget or become too distracted to document. It makes me sad that my memory cannot retain all of this, all of her! Time seems to go by so quickly. As Alexa says more and more lately, “I getting big. I be a big girl and I do everything Mommy do.” This morning she told me she would drive us to the store and I could sit in her seat! Before I know it, she really will be driving!
0 Comments

A bit of what we've been up to this past week (Sept. 21-27)

9/27/2009

1 Comment

 
The week began with our Mommy and Me gymnastics class. A few new faces in the classes, including two girls. A few didn't return from last week. Circle time appeared far more structured too! Alexa enjoyed following along to the stretching and movement activities. The highlight of the day was giving the harness a try. Alexa watched a few kids use it and finally decided on giving it a go...
Picture
Picture
Alexa and I ran errands on Tuesday and then had a playdate with Eva. As always the girls had a blast!
Picture
Picture
Minna visited in the early evening and the to decided to go on a walk...this is what it looked like...
Picture
Picture
Tuesday was also Uncle Brian's 37th birthday! You can see a video of Alexa wishing him a Happy Birthday on the videos page!
Picture
Daddy came home early this week so we thought it would be fun to take him along during Open Gym so he could see Alexa's skills. With Daddy's help, Alexa mastered the balance beam! She was very proud of her accomplishment and so were we!
Picture
Picture
turns out she's pretty darn good on the bars too!
Thursday we decided to take a hike while the weather remains beautiful. I had a very early dental appointment and was feeling exhausted, but the brisk air did me good. Alexa had a great time. She especially enjoyed jumping over the tree roots!
Picture
Picture
Picture
Later that afternoon, Alexa helped Daddy clean Grandpa's car and then we had Jailee over for a playdate.
Picture
Friday morning I had "me" time and actually had my hair cut and colored for the first time in 5 1/2 months! Afterwards, I met Mike and Alexa for some Flatbread! YUMMY! Mike, Alexa and I took a bike ride to the park and metWe had dinner with Minna and Ptah and later that night I finished a new hat Iwas knitting for Alexa! 
Picture
Picture
Saturday was our annual trip to Stowe for Oktoberfest...but that's another post! It was a very LONG day! Today Alexa and I attended the first birthday of Maddie, our friend Sarah-Jane's daughter. Alexa wore both she and myself out in the ball pit/slide thingy! Little Emma was there as well, showing off her beautiful smaile as always!
Picture
patiently awaiting her cake!
Picture
Maddie the Birthday Girl!
Picture
Emma and Sarah
Picture
emerging from the ridiculously fast slide!

Tomorrow we have gymnastics and hopefull I'll get to post pics from O

1 Comment

A gymnast is born...

9/14/2009

0 Comments

 
Alexa started gymnastics today. To say it went well would be an understatement! She had a BLAST!!! The class is made up of 6 kids; Alexa is the oldest. And the ONLY girl! We began class with 15 minutes of free time, followed by circle time, including some stretching and movement activities with ribbons, and then an obstacle course around the gym floor (balance beams, mats, etc.). Alexa seemed to enjoy the large trampoline most, however she was the only student not to try the swing (a belt that wraps around the child's waist and hoists them up over the trampoline to do flips and what not). Alexa was certainly not shy. She interacted with most of the little boys, quite a change from our usual outings with all girls! The mommies were very nice too! I didn't snap too many pictures as I was busy running around responding to Alexa's every beck and call! As a member of the gymnastics center, Alexa and I can use the gym during open gym hours (1 hour each week day) in addition to our once per week class. What a great way to spend time indoors as the days grow cooler!
Picture
I'm ready to go, Momma!
Picture
C'mon Momma, let's go already!
Picture
Shelburne, VT
Picture
On the trampoline!
Picture
0 Comments