As the Summer weather makes its way to Vermont, we have made every effort to spend our time outdoors. Over the past few weekends, Alexa, Minna, Ptah and I worked hard in the yard, planting and watering in the garden, already enjoying the fruits (or vegetables!) of our labor! A few weekends back, we found two plant sales and both were supporting local charities so we purchased some unique additions for Minna's flower gardens. It was for a good cause after all! With all of the sunshine and warm weather, Minna's flowers are blooming beautifully!  Poppies We paid a visit to Eva, well all the Colquhons, upon our retrn home from Florida. Although it was difficult to see or old home for the first time since moving, it was wonderful to see great friends and catch up. Alexa and Eva played in this giant hole that Eva had dug! I especially love to see how these girls bring out one another's silliest sides!  Eva & Alexa in the hole!  Silliest Faces Ever! In recent weeks, we practiced our baseball skills and Minna even filled the pool for the first time this season! Daddy treated Alexa to her very own Bounce House too! On Saturday afternoon (May 22nd), Alexa and I went to Eva's house to share in her 7th birthday celebration. Alexa seemed to really enjoy the opportunity to play with the older girls. They played in the backyard, built a lean-to, ate pizza and watched "The Princess and the Frog! Alexa had a great time!  Eva & Alexa psuedo-twins!  Later that weekend, Alexa picked out her first tent while we were shopping. She has been eagerly awaiting her frist night "camping" in the yard! She and Minna promptly set it up and Alexa collected all of the camping essentials, two sleeping bags, pillows, a flashlight, and a bug net. She must have been excited because she didn't even give me a hard time when it came to tooth brushing! Upon my first "check-in," I found lots of giggling, but as much fun as she was having, Alexa wasn't fully ready to spend the entire night otside just yet! I carried her back inside and before I knew it, she was fast asleep in my bed!
 Alexa finished the music class she's been attending with Minna on Monday, the 24th. She participated in dancing and playing some of the instruments. She now has some new favorite songs to sing! She enjoyed dancing with some of the other children and she
Alexa continues to spend two mornings a week at her daycare, or school as we call it. She has made some wonderful friends there and often comes home with a special piece of artwork for me to display!
She also continues to love all things horse! She has made the Meadowsong Barn (Minna's neighbors) a home away from home, galloping around and feeding the horses their special treats! It is not uncommon to catch Alexa in her own horse play...She's Black Beauty and her sidekick, Penny, usually played by Minna, is always getting into trouble for something! "Penny, you go in your stall, Penny!" "Penny, quiet! I'm trying to sleep, Penny!" It's all in the expressions though...she keeps us laughing!
Alexa discovered a new favorite movie...about a horse, of course! Disney's "Spirit" has been all the rage here recently.
May 9, 2010
Alexa started to write in a journal today given to her for xmas by Ptah - a first! While she sat near me working on the computer - it was adorable. She was talking to herself, writing and drawing. She was making up a story - which she and Minna do constantly, anyway - she always says "make them talk, Minna" (the toys) and then she sings a song and Minna sings and they make up the words and it's always about stuff going on in real life... with a fun twist.
Like -
we ate Elephant noses for breakfast, spots on butterfly wings for lunch, and some bat and lady bug wings for dinner... but with real stuff mixed in too - today she mixed in that when she gets her new house, she's having a birthday party (I hope it's not that long) and she's having cake and cupcakes, no ice cream. She also said "no lady bug wings Minna, I like lady bugs!"
P.S. (from Liz) Alexa has mastered writing the letter "A" and she is recognizing several more letters, especially, M, D, and S.
March was a busy month for us...lots of birthdays to celebrate! Not only did we enjoy a wonderful party for Alexa (March 24) and Anna (March 6), but we celebrated Bridget's first birthday on the 27th (where we also had a chance to sing to Lisa whose birthday was the 28th and Rachel, whose birthday was the 25th!) and met baby Zoe only days after she arrived on the 14th! Ptah had a birthday this month too (9th)!  Celebrating Anna and Alexa's 3rd Birthday on 3/20/10  3/24/10 Alexa's Birthday!  Baby Zoe arrived on 3/14/10  Bridget turned 1 on 3/27/10  Alexa, Jailee, Charlotte, Bridget and Anna The girls had a great time at Bridget's party. Alexa not only stayed dry eyed during the "Birthday Song," she actually proudly joins in now that she knows the words!
Now we await the arrival of Baby Villeneuve and Jailee's 3rd birthday in June!
Although I did not accompany her, Alexa appeared to enjoy a day of skiing (her first time ever!) at Bolton Valley, on February 28, with Daddy! From what I've been told and from the evidence on video, Alexa had tons of fun! Here are some photos of the day...  We gave ice skating another try as well. Alexa showed improvement from her first time and managed to get around the ice at an impressive speed. She was motivated by the need to collect as many rubber duckies and/or tennis balls as she could before the other children had a chance to snatch them up! Once again we were joined by Jailee, only this time her Mommy, Lisa, bravely took to the ice at nearly 38 weeks PREGNANT!!!
Note the pretty cool helmet...Mommy didn't come prepared and this was a loaner!!!
 proudly displaying her tennis ball collection! The girls ended the morning by showing me some of their best funny faces... It's not all fun and games though. When we aren't out having fun with friends, we've been home packing for our upcoming move from 348 Juniper Ridge. Although most of the work has been mine, Alexa lends a helping hand from time to time...  Fragile! Handle with Care!!  But before long, we get back to the fun! The weather has been ever so slightly warmer and we have taken advantage of it by getting outside. This past weekend, Alexa took her bike down by the lake and rode with Minna before going to the Flynn Theater to catch a show. We watched "Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar." It was a puppet show using black lights and telling three of Eric Carle's stories. We sat up in the balcony and peered out over a full house. Unfortunately, Alexa wasn't that interested, often telling me, "Mommy, I no like this movie" or "I want to go home." Oh well, I tried! So we left and spent a little while longer in the park where Alexa slid down the granite stairs of City Hall.
 she made me proud by wearing the leg warmers that I knit for her!
 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!
 It's been a while since we've visited the farm. The winter keeps us indoors mostly and we figure the animals are indoors keeping warm too. We took a ride to the farm to see about advertised horse drawn sleigh rides this past Saturday. Unfortunately, Mother Nature hasn't provided us with much of the white stuff and the horses were busy doing errands in the fields. So instead we took a ride to the Children's Farm Yard and enjoyed a brief visit with some of the resident sheep, a rogue goat and some chickens!
During the winter the sheep take over the farm yard and eventually have their lambs (in a few weeks the first will arrive). The area is filled with hay and, this year, a goat was wandering the area snacking on a large mountain of hay! Apparently, the staff were unable to train this particular goat and he has had freedom the others only dream of! Here he is practicing yoga out near the chicken coup!  Ashleigh, her baby brother Blake, and her Mommy and Daddy (Heather & Matt) came along for the visit. Ashleigh, or the The Great Chicken Catcher as we can now call her, demonstrated her chicken catching skills! She makes it look so easy!
We saw some familiar faces... and as the weather began to grow colder, it seemed only appropriate to work up a sweat... We are hoping that this week's snow storm will have the horses busy pulling the sled at the Farm this Saturday...that is if we don't get rained on for the next 2 days! Ahhh, winter in Vermont!
What a personality this little girl has got! We haven't been up to anything exceptionally exciting in the past few weeks. Keeping busy with our regular routine: daycare, ballet class, swimming class and playdates with good friends from time to time. Alexa is really continuing to demonstrate the indepedent and intelligent little person that she is. She insists on helping in almost all circumstances, from preparing meals, to cleaning up a spill, brushing her own teeth and even driving the car (see previous post, she's not really driving)!
She really has a way with words too! This week as we were finishing up our evening routine, washing hands and face and brushing our teeth, Alexa snuck one last pump of the soap dispenser. I looked at her and firmly said, "No! That's enough soap for tonight." Alexa vehemently stated, "You can't say no to me. I Alexa Paige!" It was hard not to crack a smile. Where did this sassiness come from?
According to Alexa's daycare provider, Tammy, she has been using her words to express herself very effectively "at school." Tammy recently commented on the significant growth in her vocabulary over the few months that she has been attending daycare. Tonight she told me that her friend Rowan had "1,2,3,4,5 blueberries." I said, "Oh yeah. Then what?" She said, "He had a blue poop." I'm not sure that what Tammy meant when she said Alexa's been using her words!
This afternoon, Minna and I were tickling Alexa's belly button and she said, "You gonna poke holes in my belly." We then explored each other's belly buttons and had a really good giggle! We hid from dragons (a.k.a. Riley and Emma) and we got very nexcited over a game of Peek-a-Boo! We spent the evening swimming and had a great time playing horsies in the pool. Alexa likes topretend that we go na-night in the corner of the pool, a.k.a. the barn and then she shouts, "It's sunshine" which means we all wake up!
Alexa continues to develop confidence in the swimming pool. At the start of a recent class, I had just barely gotten the words of warning out of my mouth, "Alexa, you don't have your wings on..." when she dove right in, only to find she was less bouyant than she had anticipated. Needless to say, I was quickly pulling her back to the surface, fully anticipating choking and tears. To my surprise, she emerged just fine. In fact, she didn't appear all that phased by what had just happened. We finished class sans wings and afterward I put them on and we enjoyed about 45 minutes of swimming and playing together.
Alexa is already anticipating her 3rd birthday. It's hard to believe it's only 2 months away! She has been practicing holding three fingers up to indicate her new age. She's also very excited to light candles on her birthday cake! I'm not sure that she understands that I am having a birthday before hers, but I have a good feeling she's going to be really excited about it! I found some old photos of Brian and I when we were really little. I often have difficulty seeing any resemblence between Alexa and I despite some that have been pointed out by friends and family. Then I found this picture...  Liz & Brian and I thought "That little girl looks familiar!" Don't know exactly how old I am in this one, maybe 5. Again, I can really see similarities between Alexa and I here!  Liz
 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!
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