St Pats Day Shout-Out

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!! Ok, so we didn't do much other than walk over to the park & play on the "big toys." We are still celebrating in our own little way though.

Beach Bunny

This morning, we woke up without any plans. We wanted to do something fun this weekend, but didn't know what. As we were looking through the newspaper, we noticed an article with ideas for keeping kids entertained during spring break. One of the suggestions was to take them to the beach. Since we had been longing to go, it didn't take much to motivate us. Within the hour, the truck was packed and we were headed out to Surfside.

As soon as we arrived, we realized that it had been far too long since we had a beach day (not since Miami). It was exactly what we all needed, especially since the temp got up to the mid 80s today. Lexi and Dad played in the sand and water. Jordan and I spent most of our time under the umbrella at least until Jordan fell asleep. Then, I joined in the fun too. We only stayed a few hours, but it was wonderful. We'll be going back.

Haunted House

Our house has a ghost, a silly purlple ghost that likes to giggle. It comes out quite often whether it is day or evening. We rarely see it at night though when a certain little person is sleeping. In fact, I have noticed that a small girl in our house always disappears whenever the ghost is visible. This morning, I decided to capture these super natural occurances on film. I was even lucky enough to solve this little mystery. Can you guess what I discovered?.... (scroll down)





















That is right!... It is really just Lexi playing tricks on us.

Another Cousin Blog

We are excited to announce that my brother's wife has started a blog for their family. Here is the link: Little Law Monkeys Now, we can watch their kids grow up too quickly.

Cabinet Climbing

This morning when I went into Lexi's room to get her up, I found her in her cabinet. It is nothing new, but I decided to grab my camera & make a post of it. As you can see, she is quite a silly girl. She clears out her books & just climbs in.

Just Rootin Tootin Fun

About this time every year, 13 groups of trail riders head into Houston to kick off the Houston Rodeo. This morning, we were lucky enough to find out that the Valley Lodge Trail Riders would be making a quick pit-stop near our house mid-morning. We rushed to meet up with some friends and ended up being the only ones there to greet the riders (the stops are not advertised). The riders were very friendly. The first cowboy we saw gave the kids orange juice and bandanas. Another guy offered to let the kids ride his old horse, Black Jack. A few others let the kids sit in their wagons. We all had a rootin tootin good time.

Sleeping Beauty

Last week, I was talking to a mom that has a nine month old. She told me that her daughter refuses to take naps during the day. She also said that it doesn’t bother her because her daughter sleeps from 7pm to 7 am. Being the nice person I am, I just smiled and said that it was great. I decided not to mention Lexi’s sleeping habits to her.

However, I will share this info on her blog so that all of you know that even when she is having an extremely bad "terrible two" day, I get a big break. Yes, this toddler girl naps/plays in her room from about 2pm to 5pm. Then, we put her down for the night at 8pm and usually don’t hear a peep until 7 am or a little after. She must have gotten the sleep gene from my mom, who until the last few years was convinced that she needed 10 hours to function. I am not like that and Steve isn’t like that, but we are happy that Lexi is.

Rodeo Queen

We went to the Katy Rodeo on Friday night and had a blast. There were two kids' events: stick horse racing and mutton bustin. Lexi participated in the stick horse race. Steve took her down to the arena and I video taped her from the stands. She has a purple stick horse and is wearing a white sweater, pink cowboy boots, and jeans like you can see in the picture below. It might not be easy to spot her in the beginning, but you can definitely see her in the end. Apparently, she was one of the youngest racers.





We went with friends and everyone had a good time. Unfortunately, the pictures on Steve's camera somehow got erased so I can't share more.

Fun at the Mall

It is a rainy day today, so we cut our time at the park short and headed to the mall to have fun in the play area. Lexi looks a little too at home in that convertable.

Captain Bunny

Quite often when Lexi's bath is almost over, Jordan starts whimpering from hunger. By the time I get her out of the tub, he is crying. I dry her off & put some panties on and then tend to him. She runs around upstairs having a ball. Today, she had her bunny towel. I managed to snap some pictures of her so we could all have a laugh.

Potty Time

Sunday night when I felt the stars lining up, I decided to start officially potty training Lexi. Ok, so I really just realized that she had been making a lot of progress on her own and it was time for me to catch up and bump it up a notch. Monday morning, we put on the big girl panties and haven't looked back even when going out in public for a couple of hours. She had a few accidents the first day, but none since except for one that was entirely my fault. I just couldn't act fast enough with Jordan and everything else going on at the time.

As impressed as I have been with her progress, I was more surprised about her willingness to go #2. She actually is even better about warning me that she must go caca (a little Spanish left in her). The idea of doing that in her panties just disturbs her more. Several moms I know have mentioned that potty training for BMs took longer.

She still has a few more hurtles like going in a toilet that isn't ours. She prefers to hold it, which I can't blame her. I am not fond of using other restrooms either. I have taken her many times this week, but she will not let loose. Other than that, I still put a pull-up on for nap time and a diaper for bedtime. Half the time it is just a safety procaution, because she doesn't use it.

As you can guess, I am thrilled with how well it has gone. I think procrastination worked on my side this time. Hopefully, we will continue to advance in this matter.

Valentines & Love

My goal this year is to take more family photos. It is so easy to snap millions of pictures of the kids without us, so I am trying to make an effort to get a few with us. Today, we had an excuse; Lexi wore her new Valentine dress to church. She was such an attention grabber in it. One of her older friends, Avery, showed her how to twirl. When we got home, we took a few minutes for pictures & videos.






Lexi loving on Jordan


Lexi Twirling

At the Park with Dad

Steve took Lexi to the park today to give me a breather. They laughed, played, walked, and enjoyed being together. Jordan and I loved have some quiet time. I used this break to clean the house.

2 Year Doctor Appt

Being a crazy mom that wants to get things over at once, I scheduled doctor appointments for Lexi and Jordan today knowing that they would both be getting shots. Needless to say, I wasn't really looking forward to this weekend.

Lexi weighed in at 28 lbs and is now 34" tall, which is in the 66th percentile for both. Her head measurement is actually in the 90th percentile. That made me laugh because she gets her big head from my side. My mom & brother both can't find hats that fit.

She easily performed all the tasks the doctor asked like jumping and touching her toes. Lexi even talked the doctors ear off so that when she got to the question about having a vocabulary of at least 50 words, there was no need to ask. Nobody could manage to talk non-stop with a small vocabulary. I doubt I could even count how many words she says.

When the appointment was winding down, I told her that the nurse was going to give her medicine in her leg and then it would be Jordan's turn. Lexi likes medicine for the most part, but she cried when they gave her the shot of course. She patted Jordan's head when he was getting his done. Then she cried with him until the nurse told her that she could have 2 stickers.

They both stopped crying rather quickly. That just reminded me that I am so glad to be away from the Miami doctors. They both did so well that we were even able to meet up with the Play Group at the new McDonalds. This story has a happy ending (so far).

Birthday Bash

Lexi's second birthday was a huge sucess despite the fact that we didn't end up taking many pictures and the kids got quite muddy. We also forgot to get out the ice cream and everyone left before the gifts were open. That is how much fun it was. No time for boredom or a break in the activities.

The kids had a blast on the moonwalk we rented and the adults (most of them were my friends from high school) were busy catching up. Time just flew by and the four hour party was over before we knew it.

We actually had 19 kids & 19 adults there. Steve cooked up a storm and we all enjoyed ourselves. Now, I have to track down everyone that brought their cameras & beg for more pictures. I also have to borrow a carpet cleaning machine from Gram because our white carpet is BLACK.


Video of Lexi blowing out the candle (on a cupcake rather than the big cake)

Transition to Big Girl Bed

Yesterday morning, I woke up with a plan to attack the house. We are planning a big birthday party for Lexi this Saturday and cleaning is on top of the To Do List. I had no intention of transitioning Lexi into her new room and toddler bed. I wanted to do that right after her party. In fact, I planned on calling Steve’s cousin, Emily, for ideas of what worked with Camille. However, once I started organizing, I realized that I was tired of thinking about doing it. I moved the rocking chair, her dresses, and her beloved piggy bank (another post about that). The most important thing I did was to build up her excitement about the transition.

Yesterday afternoon, we had our first test. I took her in for her nap. As usual, I rocked and sang a few songs to her. Then, I helped her say a prayer. I put her in bed with hugs and kisses, told her I loved her, and left. She was happy. I went into our room to play on the computer and wait for her to come running out. It did not take long. I took her back into her room and explained that she needed to stay in there until nap time was over. I also handed her a few books. To my amazement, she quietly played for an hour and a half before running out.

Since I knew we would not be so lucky again, I called Steve and asked him to pick up a door knob blocker on his way home. When he got home, he decided that he would set up the tent she got for Christmas in case she was going to play herself to sleep. She was very excited and helped him with it. I must say that it was funny watching a big guy play with a little girl in her tent. They both loved every minute of it.

Later, Lexi and I did the regular bed time ritual. I left with her feeling just fine. About 5 minutes later, we heard her try to open the door and then she started crying. I decided to give her 10 minutes and I would go in to rock her & sing another little song before sticking her back in bed, but she quieted down within 5 minutes. When I woke up at 1am to feed Jordan, I decided to sneak in to check on her. She was on the floor next to her bed snuggling with her favorite purple blankey. At 4am, she started crying. I went in and explained to her that it wasn’t time yet. I did the regular bed time ritual and left her without a peep.

This morning, I brought the camera in with me and took a few photos to commemorate this achievement. Now, we will work on potty training. Actually, it is going very well, but she still does not want to wear big girl panties. I decided not to mention it for a week or two. Then, I will probably have to force her to wear them once or twice before she is fine with it.

Just Because

I hate to admit this, but I haven't posted any videos lately because I lost/misplaced the memory card for my camera. I have been stuck using the little 16 mb one that came with the camera. Videos fill it up too quickly, so I didn't take any. Since Lexi's birthday is coming up, I realized that I could no longer just wait until it shows up. I had to buy a new one. Fortunately, I discovered that the prices have really come down and I got a 1 GB for about $20. There will be lots of videos now.

I am posting some of the photos & a video from this afternoon. We had fun messing around with the camera. I took lots of video clips of her singing. Here is Ring Around the Rosies & the ABCs:


Ring Around the Rosies


ABCs

*If you have problems with the videos, just double click on them & it will take you to YouTube to watch them there.

Pump It Up

This morning, we went to Pump-It-Up with Ms. Amy (one of my old high school friends) and her sons Joshua & Samuel. Joshua & Lexi climbed, jumped, laughed and played while Samuel & Jordan were just held by the moms. I wish I could have joined in because these places are fun! Lexi agrees. She runs around proclaiming, "That was fun!"

Pudding

Lexi has become a messy eater again, but mainly as artistic expression. I think it is her way of saying that I need to make time for arts & crafts again. Those are not as tasty though.

Potty Training Herself?

While I was changing Lexi's diaper first thing yesterday morning, I noticed that it was dry. I asked her if she wanted to use the potty & she said yes. She trotted it there & did her business right away. That was nice, but it has happened before so I didn't think much of it. That was until it happened 3 more times. She didn't wet her diaper at all yesterday. Each time, I asked her if she wanted to wear her "big girl panties" and she absolutely declared that she DID NOT! Not the panties or the pull-ups (both have princesses on them so you would think she would want to). She wanted her diapers. We haven't had the same success today, but then again I took her to the library and out for lunch.

We have several things we are going to work on in the next few months and potty training is one of them. It isn't high on the priority list for me, because she has regressed a little with a few things in the last month (like her desire for her pacifier during the day, her attachment to "purple blankey," and her drama queen attempts at getting attention). I am not sure that the regression is directly related to Jordan. Actually, I think it has more to do with changes in routine.

It started when I was in the hospital and suddenly her Dadda was doing everything for her. She certainly didn't mind that, but it wasn't normal. Next, Grandma Margie took over for a week while I was recovering. I had Lexi the next week and then Aunt Paige came. Routines were out the window for the most part and of course everyone else is prone to spoiling Lexi more than I do. I decided to be patient and let her twist them around her finger a little, but they are all gone and we are back to routines & no nonsense.

You can bet that she is improving. Right off, she stopped trying to get others to rescue her from timeout even though that never worked. To be honest, she has no choice, but to get back on track.

The New Years Resolutions Include:

1. Getting rid of the pacifier. We'll limit it back to nights for a few weeks. Then **puff**, it will magically disappear.
2. Being attached to the purple blankey only for nap & night time (back to how it was before Jordan).
3. Moving into the big girl bed, which she has NO interest in so far. She seems to LOVE her crib. I can't really figure out why because her toys are in the room with the big girl bed.
4. Potty Training - I actually have this priority lower than the big girl bed, but she seems more ready for this step, so we'll see if I can figure out the deal with the sudden dislike for big girl panties.

There are probably others, but these are the ones that come to mind. Wish me luck or give me ideas...

Goodbye Playmate

Lexi is losing her holiday playmate today. Yes, Aunt Paige is headed back to sunny California. Considering the fact that Lexi cried her eyes out when Paige left to spend New Years with a friend, this separation could be difficult. Who will spend hours playing with Legos and other fun toys? Next time they see each other (at our family reunion), Lexi will be two and a half.

Happy New Years

This year, Lexi was able to celebrate New Years with sparklers. For the most part, she liked them, but she had her moments of fear. It was a fun evening even though the party ended by 8pm for Lexi.