Well, the holidays are over and I can't say I miss them! It was a busy season and, although I always cherish the excitement that it brings to Alexa, it is all so exhausting! That said, we really enjoyed celebrating with friends and family and Alexa made out like a bandit in the presents category!
The best present by far, for all of us, has been our new home (blog to be posted shortly about that)! Although it is a work in progress, it's wonderful to have a place to call home and to finally begin settling into some kind of normalcy!
Here are a few highlights from the holiday season! Until next year...
July 4th weekend brought with it some unseasonably warm weather to our neck of the woods. Temperatures in the low 90's kept us seeking relief and the Waterbury Reservoir was just the spot to find it.  Minna, Ptah and Alexa  Building a castle with Daddy  The finished product We stayed cool in the water and built sandcastles on the beach. Several other kids joined in and Ptah helped explain to some of the local kids the art of digging moats in the heavy sand. Daddy joined us later in the day and, using his well honed sand castle building skills, completed the castle! Then "Hurricane Alexa" blew in and unfortunately destroyed many of the waterfront homes and businesses built aside the castle with her storm surge!  Yummm...Ice Cream! Having missed the fireworks the evening before, we were determined to find a display that evening. After a break at home, we went to Hinesburg, a nearby town, to watch fireworks. Alexa was growing tired and I cradled her in my arms as she closed her eyes to rest. It was short lived as the show began with an impressive amount of fireworks, DIRECTLY over our heads! Needless to say, nobody wants to wake up to that. Alexa was not happy and it didn't take long before we were scrambling for another vantage point...one that took us further away from the thunderous noise! Mike, Minna and Alexa went back to the car and watched from inside the hatchback! No amount of convincing could change Alexa's attitude about the fireworks this year. She DID NOT enjoy them!
 CRAZY faces!!  Her shirt says, 'Daddy's Little Firecracker'  This is how close we were!  Happy 4th! Here's a photo of Alexa and Eva last year! Glad I hung onto that headband...it was super cute!!  July 4, 2009
Alexa and I paid a visit to the Young's home this week. We were eager to see Baby Zoe again and I thought it might be nice for Jailee and Alexa to have a play date. I brought eggs to dye for Easter, hoping Lisa wouldn't want to kll me for bringing such a messy activity with us! I know Alexa has enjoyed her Easter baskets in years past, but I think this is the first year Alexa has dyed Easter eggs.  Jailee  Easter 2008 Alexa's first Easter was celebrated only days after she was born (April 8th)! She actually had 2 Easter's that first year of life, as Easter 2008 fell on the 23rd of March.
 Easter 2009  Easter 2009 Last year, Alexa was far less comfortable about the idea of sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap...so I joined her, somewhat reluctant myself! Santa pictures have gone much along these same lines, lots of tears and looks of terror!  This year, in lieu of an Easter Bunny picture, here are some shots of Alexa twirling this morning in the Spring sunshine! A few days back, I asked Alexa if she would like to get her picture taken with the Easter Bunny. She replied, "No. I don't like rabbits." As it turns out, she really doesn't like the Easter Bunny. Today, in my final attempt to pursuade her, she clung to Mike and cried intensly. So, no photo this year!
Happy Easter to all!
 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. 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…  January 5, 2010  our back deck While we were in NJ, Vermont got its first snowstorm of the 09/10 winter season…24-30 inches!
 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) to practice, Alexa promptly began hanging like this… 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.  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.  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.  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!
"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!
 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.
 Minna, Alexa and I carved out pumpkin masterpieces on Halloween afternoon. Minna grew her own pumpkin from a tiny seed planted back in the Spring. Strangely, it never turned orange, but that made for a great canvas for a spooky skeleton design. I carved a monster design and Alexa refreed to each cut out piece as cheese! We placed candles inside and they adorned the front porch fro trick-or-treaters to enjoy! Despite the rain earlier in the evening, we did get out for a bit of trick-or-treating ourselves, along with Eva.
We got together on Friday night for a pumpkin carving party at our friend Sara's house. Alexa, Anna and Charlotte, along with a friend of Anna's, colored pumpkins before the mom's carved them! We enjoyed seeing the girls in their costumes, although Alexa was not keen on the idea of dressing up!  Painting a pumpkin for Halloween 2008  Just as we finished carving our pumpkins, the skies opened up and it didn't look like we wold be trick-or-treating this year. We waited it out and at about 6 pm we put our costumes on and ventured out into the windy night. We met Eva at her house and headed up the road to Jane's house and then back down to Kathy's and a few more neighbors before heading back home to have pizza and check out the treats that Alexa had gotten! Despite lots of rehearsing, Alexa was a little reluctant to say "Trick or Treat" at the doors of our neighbors. Eva did a great job of taking Alexa by the hand and helping her up to each doorway!
 The 3 Witches of Shelburne!  Eva & Alexa  Ptah & Alexa
I knew September and October would be busy months. Most weekends offer festivals and family events that we just can't resist. On October 4th, we met up with some of our favorite (Or "fabrit") friends, Charlotte, Anna and Jailee to pick pumpkins at Sam Mazza's Harvest Festival in Colchester, VT. Despite overcast skies and dampness in the air, the girls appeared to enjoy themselves, riding ponies, jumping in the bouncy house and taking a hay ride to the pumpkin patch.  All smiles in the bounce house!  Jailee, Alexa, Charlotte & Anna  Once in the pumpkin patch the girls picked the perfect pumpkins while the mom's did their best papparazzi imitations trying to get the perfect shot, hoping the girls might end up in the newspaper again!
 Anna & Alexa and their pumpkins  this one went to the paper (minus the random kids in the background!)  Sara, Rachel, Me & Lisa We even managed to get a photo of all of us moms!
The day ended with a hay ride back to the festival and some cider donuts from the farm store. Alexa took one final pony ride and another turn in the bounce house. I took a quick look for some friends I was hoping might have come while Mike stayed with Alexa. I returned to the bounce house to see Alexa crying. I was told that she did not want to come out on her own and that Mike had to crawl in to try to retrieve her. What a sight that must have been!
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