Tutu's, Toilets, and Table Talk

Alexis was all about showing off today, and luckily Mommy was close to a camera!

The Tutu

This red tutu, glamorously modeled by Lexi, is best accessorized with items that seem completely inappropriate, such as the kitten ears headband our lovely lady is displaying her tutu with in these photos. Fabulous, darling, simply fabulous!





Toilets

The aforementioned potty training got a little more exciting today! Alexis actually SAT on the potty. Yesterday she just wanted to look at it, point, and say "go potty." We weren't very successful in getting her to sit on it bare-bottomed, but there's always tomorrow!

Table Talk

Perhaps the most enjoyable time of day (when Alexis feels like cooperating) is dinner. If (I said IF) she can be coerced into eating, she likes to entertain us while she eats. Most often, she likes to run through her animal noises between bites, but there is other interesting chatter thrown in as well. One particular thing she says if she doesn't want to do or say something is "go away" and then names whatever it is (ex.: "Lexi, do you want some milk?" Lexi: "go away milk") - charming, I know; we're working on it.

This evening, she was just showing off for the video camera.

May update

OMG - May has been so busy! Lexi is a busy busy girl, and Mommy and Daddy have been trying to keep up with her this month. She says some pretty hilarious stuff, but never in front of the video camera. SHe still loves to make animal noises, and will often prompt us on which animal to ask her about. For example:

Lexi: "Momma, say kitty"
Momma: "Lexi, what's a kitty say?"
Lexi: "Mmmmeeeeeooooowwwww"

She loves to play outside, and we spend most evenings after dinner playing in the front yard with bubbles, her pail and shovel, bouncy balls, and other yard toys.

Alexis has always been willful, but lately she's become downright stubborn about getting her way. We're doing our best to stand firm, but she makes our lives pretty miserable when she's not getting what she wants, and she won't even be 2 until the end of June!

We've started introducing the idea of potty-training this past week. She likes to run up to us, take our hands, and say "go potty" (which is awesome) but when she gets to the bathroom she just wants to have her diaper taken off so she can run around pants-less (which is not awesome). Oh, it's going to be a fun summer!

Here are a few pictures taken with Judy, the horse that lives in Nana and Papa Dunaway's backyard. Lexi still thinks "Judy" is the name for horse.

I'm A Big Kid Now!

I don't know WHO told our Lulu that she was a big girl now, but she no longer thinks she needs to eat in her high chair. She wants to sit in a chair, just like Mommy and Daddy. We ordered a booster chair, but it won't be here for a few more days. In the meantime, we've gone high class and just stuck a phone book under her booty to get her up high enough to be able to eat!

Bubble Trouble

The Easter Bunny brought Lexi some bubbles in her Easter Basket (along with a lot of candy). We have spent a lot of time playing with the bubbles in the yard, and I can't get enough of her tiny little voice saying "Buh-bows" - it's too cute!

New York Sickly

Paul had to go to New Jersey and Long Island on business at the end of March, and we thought it would be a GREAT idea to go up the weekend before his business meetings and spend the weekend in New York City (BONUS: we were leaving on my birthday - so I would get to spend my birthday WEEKEND in New York!)!

we should have just stayed home.

I had been home with Lexi, who had the stomach flu, Wednesday and Thursday but we were still confident that she was well enough for us to leave town Friday afternoon. Lexi went to Nana and Papa Dunaway's and Mommy and Daddy were off for our first non-Lexi vacation!

when we got to the airport for our 1 pm flight we found out it had been delayed 2 hours, subsequently causing us to need to rebook flights so we could make another connecting flight into NYC from Atlanta. We waited in the Wichita airport for over 2 hours with NOTHING to do.

When we got to Atlanta, things starting going downhill - Paul got the stomach flu while we were on board our flight from Atlanta to New York. We made it, (with only minimal sickness and whole lot of tears) finally, to New York around 1 am. Happy Birthday, indeed.

After a speedy (wow, those cabbies drive fast!) trip across several boroughs, we made it to our hotel around 2 am.

The next morning, Paul was feeling a little better but I was starting to feel less than amazing. We still ventured out on a very cold windy morning to see what we could make of the big city! We were able to see Central Park, 5th Avenue, and Times Square before I admitted defeat and returned to our hotel, having come down with the stomach flu myself.

I was sick most of the day Saturday, and Sunday morning but was able to pull it together for one last attempt at sightseeing. We were able to wander around Manhattan (our hotel was in a great location on 6th Avenue) seeing much of what we did the previous day, including Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center.

I had a hard time with the air - it seemed like everyone smoked, the street vendor carts stunk, and there were too many different people who had not been introduced to deodorant yet. Other than that, we were overwhelmed by the building heights and number of languages we heard being spoken. We didn't shop because the heat in the stores made me sick (this is maybe the most tragic of all, I know!).

Coming home was even eventful - My flight home Monday got delayed for over an hour because there was GUM on a seat! Seriously???

Paul had it worse - his flight was supposed to arrive Tuesday evening, but continued to get delayed until it was finally canceled around 11 pm and re-booked and rerouted for Wednesday morning.

We doubt we will be vacationing again very soon, but here are the very few pictures we took while we were in NYC!

Times Square

In Lexi's honor, the giant Toys R' Us ferris wheel in Times Square

Times Square

Rockefeller Center (it's not as big as it seems on TV)

 

less than lovely - with the ice skaters

Radio City Music Hall

Catholic Cathedral on 5th Avenue

Atlas

New York Public Library

TIFFANY'S!!!

Because I'm a dork . . .

 

 

Bryant Park

Peek - A - Who?

Well, this week Lexi had the stomach flu, so Lexi and I got LOTS of time together. One of the little things that made her feel better was this board book, called 'Peek-a-who' - we read it so many times that she started saying the words.

Ummm . . . Just Dance

Alexis loves to look at her "look-and-find" books - especially the one with all the Disney Princesses. Yesterday, when we asked her to find the different things on the page, she would say, "Ummm . . ." before pointing them out. Not sure where she picked that up.

Lexi also LOVES to dance, she's just not quite got the hang of that whole balance and coordination thing yet.

Down in Fraggle Rock

For all of us who remember the 80's, Fraggle Rock was, I'm sure you'll agree, one rockin' show! Lexi's hair is finally long enough (at almost 20 months of age) to start styling and our current favorite 'do is straight up pig tails. She sort of reminds us of Red Fraggle with her wispy, flyaway hair!

In Finnish, it's pronounced ammuu

Lexi is learning her animal sounds! She can tell us what kitties, cows, and tigers say(meow, moo, and raa, of course)! When I asked Paul what animal sound we should work on next, he said giraffe.

Just for fun:

a link to the world's largest multi-lingual list of animal sounds

http://www.eleceng.adelaide.edu.au/personal/dabbott/animal.html

He's playing fetch . . . with my kid

Lexi and Roxy playing fetch with Daddy on a Sunday morning