(Delayed post...3/27/11) Winter just seems to want to hang around here for a while longer. I'm not thrilled with the idea, but after too many days cooped up inside (due in part to Alexa's strep throat), it seemed like a good idea to take advantage of the lingering snow outside.    Seems we've been missing out on a lot of fun this winter! Next year, we'll be sure to get out and enjoy sledding more often. But for now, we just want Spring to arrive and to enjoy some sunshine already!
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 This past Sunday, I turned 33! Hard to believe another year has come and gone! Alexa and I enjoyed dinner at Sarducci's in Montpelier on Saturday evening in the company of Minna and Ptah, as well as some new friends (well, an old friend for Minna!), Sandy and her husband. Sandy and my mom went to high school together in Fair Lawn, NJ and Sandy's family have made their home in Plainfield, VT for nearly 40 years! Following dinner, the staff brought out cake and sang "Happy Birthday" to me. Alexa began to cry and held tight to Minna until the singing came to an end. Fortunately, the cake made everything better! Before we left for dinner, Alexa made sure to grab the candles for Mommy's cake...    Anna, Alexa, Charlotte Sara and Rachel treated Alexa and I to lunch on Sunday. The girls, Anna, Alexa and Charlotte played with Silly Putty and Alexa taught the others about her favorite restaurant activity...shaking the salt and pepper into a napkin/plate to make "pizza." I don't recall exactly when this began, but Alexa seeks out the salt and pepper shakers almost immediately after we are seated and inevitably she sneezes about 3 minutes into her creation!  I just think this is such a cute shot!  On Wednesday, Mother Nature decided to remind us it actually is still Winter in Vermont! She did so with upwards of a foot of very wet snow! Alexa, along with her pony, ventured outdoors with me to shovel, eat snow (A LOT of it), and make a snow angel or two with the kids next door.       Take note of the fists full of snow. Alexa seems to enjoy eating lots of it. Too bad there is no nutritional value in it...I'd feed her snow morning, noon and night!  Eva & Alexa  'Cheese!'  my snow angel! I managed to keep a smile on my face, despite shoveling several inches of heavy, wet snow. Snow that actually had a hint of blue to it because of the water content in it. I really should have taken a minute to put a hat on....   After a long day, sometimes I want to do this too!! No day would be complete without a bit of silliness...  The things I let her do!   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!  ‘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! 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!!  For as many years I've known Mike, at each start to the winter season, I hear him utter a familiar sentence, "I'm going to look for snow." It's a long standing tradition that has captured Alexa's interest as well. Back in the day, Mike's snow hunting buddy was Scott MacNeill. It's hard to imagine that anything could break Mike away from Sim City, but as Fall grew to a close and the temperatures began to drop, the snow began to beckon him. As the stories go, Mike and Scott were all giddy about the prospect of discovering those first dustings of snow in Northern Jersey or along Rt. 80 toward Shawnee Ski Resort. Once we moved to Vermont, Mike would take night time rides to Stowe or Smuggler's Notch once the weather maps showed those first hues of blue. Today proved to be the right day to go "look for snow." After a rainy and windy Friday afternoon and evening in the Champlain Valley, we knew the mountains would be sure to please. So we set out for Bolton Valley Resort, Mike's former place of work and our most visited snowboarding spot.  Bailey's Restaurant & the Hotel at Bolton Valley Despite the ominous looking sky, it wasn't too cold. We certainly could have put more thought into our choice of clothing, but we knew we wouldn't be staying long. There were a few local kids testing out their boards and skis, and some dogs running on the trails, jumping to eat the snow as it fell off trees. It was quiet. I must admit I was feeling nostalgic. It has been 3 seasons since I last rode these trails. I was no expert, but I did have fun up here. Needless to say, Alexa was thrilled. She insisted that she get out to build a snowman. "I want carrot for carrot nose," she said over and over. I really wish we could have all built that snowman, but without gloves, and apparently a carrot, it just couldn't be done. As we were leaving Alexa said, "Let's get out of this cold place." I assured her the cold would be coming to our house in no time! I also reminded her that when it arrives, along with the snow, we would be outdoors, building that snowman. Carrot nose and all!   Getting her hands on the first snow fall of 2009  On the slopes at Bolton Valley, Nov. 28, 2009     | Authormoth·er \ˈmə-thər\- noun 1. 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