Merry Christmas Everyone

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Yup, it was a merry one at our house. The Lionel train under the tree became an obsession (and went back to the garage the day after Christmas) but My First Race Track and a Thomas the Train starter set appeared to take its place. Both much more age appropriate. He's even allowed to touch them!

Happy December

Alex loves all modes of transportation. Two weekends ago found us in Walnut Creek, where there is a free shuttle bus (built to look like a San Francisco trolley) that runs between BART and downtown. We parked at BART, and rode the bus the eight blocks to downtown. Alex and dad stayed on the bus while mom went shopping. He loved it so much he talked about it all the rest of the day. We went back the next day and just rode the bus.

Knowing how much he loves seeing the BART train, riding the bus, or taking a car trip, I had to get the old Lionel train out this year. This is the first time in all the years we've had it that it's been set up under the Christmas tree. The original track belonged to my brother many many many years ago. When Dan was a boy we added to the collection, and built a permanent track (cleverly designed to fold up when not in use) on a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood. The plywood stayed behind many moves ago, but the track and train have accompanied us, packed up in a small cardboard box, for the last 15 years. This year, it's out of its box and Alex is in heaven. At 2 yrs old he is much too young for a Lionel, but he's been incredibly good about not touching it and simply watching it chug around and around the track.

We're anxiously awaiting the holidays here at our house. We'll all be home between Christmas and New Years, so a nice stay-at-home vacation awaits us. Liz arrived back from college yesterday, Kerry and Mark will be here early next week. All we're missing is our Jill, who is three weeks away from having her baby....3000 miles away.

Happy Thanksgiving

It was a quiet one at our house this year. No company, not even all of the kids home. A bored toddler, tired college student and grumpy parents made for one of those days. Last year at Thanksgiving Alex had been home just 5 weeks. With a house full of company he was overwhelmed and over stimulated before the day was half over. This year we took the opposite approach - no excitement whatsoever. But still he was having a meltdown by the time Thanksgiving dinner hit the table mid-afternoon. Maybe he just doesn't like Thanksgiving? He certainly doesn't like eating dinner at 3:30. These photos capture the essence of our holiday.

Alex drives his cars down the piano keys

Liz does her chemistry homework

Dan and dad munch out while waiting for dinner

Travel Town

We were in LA for the weekend visiting our college student and her big sister during Parents Weekend at Oxy. After the campus festivities on Saturday we all headed over to the Travel Town Museum in Griffith Park - an amazing collection of retired locomotives. And for a third time in as many weeks we rode a miniature train around the park. Great fun!

Halloween

We got a second year out of the Dalmatian costume, though Alex was a wee bit too tall for it. Luckily it was still in the mid-sixties when we were out with two girls from the neighborhood, so all we needed underneath was a pair of light cotton pjs. Alex loved his first experience with Trick or Treating - he scampered along with the group, stood patiently with them at the door, and politely accepted treats that were offered. Until we got to the end of the street and started back. Then he didn't understand why we weren't heading up the same driveways we'd just come down. He lost it when I wouldn't let him visit the same house twice. So we called it a night and came home. Which was fine since none of us need the sugar.

What's wrong with this picture?

California Hayride
(note we are taking a hayride through a parking lot next to a strip mall)

It's Fall in California. We've had a couple of days of rain in the last few weeks (early this year; it's usually November before we start seeing rain again), the leaves on the oak trees are turning, the nights are requiring the winter blankets on the bed, and the baseball season is almost over.

We spent much of today at the Nut Tree pumpkin patch and amusement park. Alex had little interest in pumpkins, corn or hay....but there was the back end of a semi-tractor trailer parked next to the pumpkin patch and someone's camper parked next to the hay wagon tractor and those were pretty cool, in his opinion. He did eventually warm up to the corn bath - a gigantic "sandbox" filled with dried corn kernels. He had no interest in actually getting into the thing, but when he discovered you could pour kernels over yourself like water in the bathtub, he was pretty amazed.

Trucks vs Adoption

We're doing our best to set the stage for lots of discussions with Alex about growing your family through adoption. We've read all the 'talking with your child about adoption' books for parents. We've examined numerous picture books about adoption (many of which I felt were too specific to other situations to be helpful). I found one in particular that I think speaks to all children who have been adopted, Fred Rogers Let's Talk about Adoption. So I ordered it last week and it arrived in my mail today. It is a wonderful book that tells children how they needed a family and their parents needed a child and adoption made them all a family.

After dinner tonight I told Alex I had a new book to read with him.

Me: Alex, I have a new book about adoption we can read together.
Alex: Trucks?
Me: No, a book about adoption.
Alex: (without further discussion, hustles over to his My Big Truck Book, plops himself down and starts to point out the trucks)

So much for adoption parenting. Apparently not as important right now as finding that big yellow school bus in the big book of trucks.

Speaking of truck books, one of the books we took to Taiwan last year was Byron Barton's Planes. It has brightly colored pictures, few words, and is perfect for a one year old. And we knew we'd be spending hours and hours on, yes, a Plane. We have since added two others in this series, Trucks and Trains, to our collection, and Alex loves them all.

Putting the garden to bed

There's something about having a toddler in the house that made gardening a tad difficult this year. Years past I've started the new gardening year in January, sowing seeds in flats and transplanting to individual pots indoors while we waited for Spring. I can garden year round here and I enjoy having a summer garden, with all the heat loving vegis, then starting all over with a winter garden in September - carrots, kale, swiss chard, broccoli and cauliflower all thrive in the cool nights, warm days of 'winter' in California. This year was a tad different. All Spring I kept meaning to get out in the garden to double dig and sow some seed. Eventually, one weekend (right around Memorial Day) I dashed out to the garden center, bought a bunch of already-6-inches-high vegetables and thrust them into the ground. DH dutifully watered them for me throughout the summer, but I think I tended to them once. I even had a hard time getting out there to simply pick the ripe stuff. Despite beyond benign neglect, those vegetables just kept on growing and flowering and fruiting. We were rolling in yellow crook neck squash there for a while (although the zuccini faltered completed). For the last month I've been meaning to get out there and compost what remains...with the noble intention of sowing the winter garden seeds.

Today, seeing no free weekend days on the horizion, I put what passed for this years garden to bed. As I yanked each plant from the soil, I gathered up the remaining fruits - cucumbers, baby zuccini, summer squash, a couple of still green pumpkins, an already yellow acorn squash, and two half eaten red ripe tomotoes. (I'm glad somebody was enjoying them!) The new compost pile is started. And there is one less thing going unattended nagging at my conscience.

Happy Adoption Day!

Alex, October 2006 (age 13 months)

Alex, October, 2007 (age 25 months)
(Do you think he got some sun this summer???)

One year ago today we were at St. Lucy's in Tainan, Taiwan picking up Chien-Lu. We left San Francisco for Taipei on a 1a.m. flight. We arrived in Taipei around 6 a.m. Monday morning and boldly took the city bus from the international airport to the domestic airport ($1.50 instead of a $45 cab ride and just as efficient). A second quick flight from Taipei to Tainan, and before we knew it we were checked into the Evergreen Plaza hotel. We were treated to not one but two days of sight-seeing in Tainan by a St. Lucy's volunteer who provides translation services to adoptive families. She and her husband were so gracious! The second day (a day before we were to pick up Alex) we just happened to be near St. Lucy's and had the good fortune to be able to stop in and visit. It was wonderful to meet our son and made the next day a little less nerve wracking. This is not typical at St. Lucy's, but my earlier visit in July, to meet with the medical doctors concerning a vision issue that was discovered after referral made our whole 'gotcha' experience atypical. By the time Gotcha Day arrived both DH and I had previously met Alex and so it was 'gotcha' rather than 'metcha' day for us. Wednesday morning, first thing, we were back to St. Lucy's and this time we left with Alex in hand (actually, in arms) for our return flight to Taipei. By Friday night the three of us were back home in California. It was a whirlwind week!

It is hard to believe how quickly this year has past, until we look at our little boy and realize how very much he has grown in the last 365 days. He is a constant joy, even in the midst of being a very 'spirited' child with strong opinions about what he wants and how he should always get everything he wants. We are so glad he is a part of our family!

And since 'then' and 'now' photos may not be enough, here's the video of our Gotcha Day, which we had the good fortune to share with another Heartsent family. It still brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it. God is good.

More traveling

In the last week Alex added four more states to his 'states visited since arriving in the U.S.' tally. We flew to Boston, Massachusetts, then visited family in New Hampshire and Connecticut. On the way back to Logan airport we took a quick detour over the bridge into Maine. As we departed for home I wondered, 'Why didn't we scoot down through Rhode Island on our way back from Connecticut??' Oh well, another time.

We were back in New England for Alex's big sister's wedding celebration. Jill & Craig eloped in August of 2006 but also blessed us all with a traditional wedding ceremony and reception at the fabulous Castle in the Clouds in Moultonboro, New Hampshire on October 6th. The weather was perfect - unseasonably warm so the sleeveless dresses we all wore weren't an issue. It was overcast and perfect for pictures. Sadly, with a two year old in tow, I took a grand total of 6 (lame) photos. But the official photographer has posted a sneak peak on her blog. It was wonderful to spend time with all our family and friends - thank you all for making the trip! Some of you came great distances to celebrate with us, and we all appreciate it!

Alex is 2!

Friday, September 14th marked the one year anniversary of our final decree in Taiwan. Alex has been our son for a year. Last year on the 14th we were still agonizing over the length of time our case was taking in court. We wouldn't learn until the 28th that the final decree had been issued, and we wouldn't learn until late October that the actual day of the decree was one day before his first birthday. It taught me once again that you need to be very specific when you pray for things. I'd said "I want to have him by his first birthday." I had meant "have him home with us" but I didn't say that specifically, and technically we DID 'have' him before his first birthday...we just didn't know it at the time.

Yesterday was Alex's second birthday, and what a joyful day it was. We'd had a party during our visit in Pennsylvania, with family, balloons, gifts, cake, candles, and ice cream, so yesterday was a low-key day. More gifts, dinner out (Chinese food, of course), and more cake. But no party. (This may be the last year he's oblivious to the lack of a party, so we took advantage of that!) Alex's dad has been working with him on the 'Alex is 2' thing....so now when you say "How old is Alex", Alex will say 'two'. Here are some photos of Alex, age 2!

With his snazzy "My First Toolbelt"


Engrossed in a book about trains (which he says as "timi", which makes 'More go train' sound an awful lot like "Uncle Timmy"!)

Super Traveler

We are just back from a marathon trip to Pennsylvania and Ohio. Alex was a terrific traveler through two short plane rides, two long plane rides, 4 long car rides, 2 shorter car rides, and two bus trips around town. We visited family and more famiy during our week away. It was great to see everyone again!

4/5ths

It's not often we're all in one place anymore, but last weekend, I had the miraculous wisdom to grab the camera and capture the togetherness of four of my five.

Alex loves his big sibs, who can read to him, get the Elmo DVD playing properly, and take him for all kinds of outings. Big sis Liz is back to college this week. He'll miss her after her summer at home with us. Bye 'iz. :(

Fighting fifty

Apologies for this digression from the Alexfest that you usually find here, but I have to get this out of my system.

Some birthdays slip by ordinarily and without fanfare. Others insist on being noticed. Some people age gracefully. Others of us fight it tooth and nail. I had a SIGNIFICANT birthday storm through recently and I am still in denial. As proof that it couldn't possibly be, I've taken up a new sport: the triathlon. Yup, today my oldest daughter and I participated in a triathlon. Quarter mile swim, 11 mile bike, 3 mile run. Not the hugest tri around, but since it was a first for both of us, it was a good place to start. Technically this was my 2nd triathlon. I participated in the Emeryville "Shortest Triathlon in the World for the Smallest City in the World" last April, but that barely counts. I did nearly zero training for that one (ok, I didn't do much training for this one). And it was tiny - 100 yard swim, 2.5 mile bike and 1.5 mile run. I did it just to be able to say I'd done a triathlon (who needs to say exactly how long the course was??) But small as it was, I had so much fun, I was hooked. I immediately started looking for someone to 'do a tri' with me. DD took me up on the offer and immediately started a training regiment. She was pretty good at not ragging on me too much when I took more days off than I trained.

Once again, it was a terrifically fun time. My biggest fear was the swim - at every swim practice I became more and more nervous about breathing in when my face was in the water. It was almost as if training was making me a poorer swimmer. But today I did fine. I was torn between swimming in my assigned heat (women, 40 and older) and the last heat (children under 16 and anyone why didn't want to push it). In the end, I swam in my heat, but stayed toward the back where I found other like-minded women and kindred souls attacking the swim portion of the race in a more leisurely fashion than those in the previous heats. I didn't hurry, I loved being in a lake again - it's been ages since I've been in a lake - and I was through the course before I knew it. In fact, I completed the swim and bike portion in 1 hour 3 minutes. Way faster than any of my times during training. When I got to the run, my legs were dumbfounded. Honestly, I heard them say to me, 'You have GOT to be kidding.' I considered sitting out the run. But I feared the lecture DD would rain upon me and decided even if I walked the entire 3.1 miles, that was better than listening to a lecture about quitting. So I plodded on. Literally. My goal was to finish the course in (don't laugh) under 2 hours. I did it in 1 hour 44 minutes. Darn, I could have walked a whole lot more on that run course.

So now I've proved it- I can't possibly be fifty yet.

Uncle Al

Alex is going to be an uncle! One of our older daughters is expecting a baby in January. Last month they sent us the baby's first picture. DH said to her "Wow, what a cute baby!"

We can't wait! We're also imagining the day when we have to explain, yes they are all ours...these two are our children, and this one is our grand-child. This coming week DD has the sonogram appointment where they should be able to tell her the gender. I can't wait to find out if I'll be busy buying more baby boy clothes, or more baby girl things. What fun!

On the China adoption front, the CCAA (official government body in China that handles all the international adoptions) announced this week that they have completed the review of all dossiers received in June, 2006. That means our dossier went through review without a single question. Completing review means we've been approved for adoption. Next step is referral. We have six and a half months of other applicants in line in front of us, so referral is likely to be still some time away. We're still hoping that it will happen in 2008.

Something to smile about

A year ago we were in the throes of waiting for the court process in Taiwan to end. We had been receiving monthly updates about Alex for five months, and were anxious for a decree that would let us fly to Taiwan and bring him home. Month after month we received photos of a very serious baby.




We wanted to see him smile. DH said it best when he said that he was anxious to have him home so we could give him something to smile about.

What a difference a year makes!

The boy is in perpetual motion, a giggle and a grin accompanying just about everything he does.

Summertime Fun

We're having fun in the summer. Here are just a few random shots from the last couple of weeks. Alex modeling his new sunglasses, which much to our surprise he leaves on his face. Alex eating his first ice cream cone. And check out the new Tonka truck. This is the biggest dump truck Tonka makes. It wasn't home 24 hours and he'd figured out he could get in it and go for a ride. He was in heaven.

Sometimes haste sends the wrong message

I love shopping at thrift stores. You never know what you're going to stumble upon, and there are some great bargains to be had. Especially when it comes to little boys toys. I found the perfect car at a thrift store last winter - big, but not too big, with wonderful large black wheels. Yes, it's turquoise and pink. And it's a Barbie car.



But I have no worries that playing with dolls will make him less of a man in the end. So after the car had been traversing the house for a few days, devoid of occupants, I whipped myself out to the garage and pulled down the huge plastic container of Barbie paraphernalia we have been moving and storing for upwards of 20 years. I had to root around for a Barbie that had all her appendages (gotta love that dog), but finally found both a Barbie and a Ken. Two new occupants for the Barbie car in hand, I rushed back into the house to demonstrate the delight of having drivers in the car. In my haste, I paid no attention to their attire, or lack there of. The point was to have somebody in the front seats of the car. He's too young to manipulate Barbie clothing, so why worry about something as trivial as clothing? In the end, Alex was unimpressed, and promptly ejected them. I tried valiantly to demonstrate the coolness of drivers and passengers (and drivers who could put their arm around the passenger...ok, Ken was a little large for the car), but he was having none of it. The car had wheels and that was all it needed as far as Alex was concerned. So Barbie, in just her little white panties , and Ken, in his fleshcolored, molded plastic briefs, have been hanging out at the bottom of the toy box for some time.

That is, until last weekend, when apparently they were rediscovered. I was away on business and Alex's big sister was visiting for the weekend. Armed with her camera. Checking my email one day, the top picture is is what greeted me. Man I wish I'd taken 10 seconds to put a shirt on that doll all those weeks ago.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

I have just returned from a 10 day business trip. I knew it was going to be a long time away from home. DH knew it was going to be a long stint as a single parent. Alex didn't know what to think. Within 48 hours he was asking, "Momma go? Momma go?" Finally, late Thursday night, long after bedtime, I came home. I scooped him out of his crib and held him close. He stayed fast asleep through the entire homecoming.

He stirred at 5 am and I was there like a shot. I scooped him up again and brought him back to our bed. He slept through it all again. At 6:55 he finally woke up. I was up but in the room when he sat up. He scowled, threw his head back so he wouldn't have to look at me, and reached, whining, for his dad. He spent the first 10 minutes refusing to look at me. But I was patient. Eventually I took him from his dad and started down the hall with him. He wasn't happy with that at first, but by the time we got down to his room, he was grinning at me and holding me tight. I dressed him and we were back to normal - his anger was gone. His welcome home wasn't the huge happy smile I had hoped for, but it was exactly all Alex and I should have known that would be the reception I would get. And it was a delight to see how quickly he was able to move beyond the initial emotion...that is HUGE progress for him. Six months ago he got stuck in his initial reaction and could not move beyond that, no matter what.

While I was away he learned to play the piano. We have an electronic piano, and he's discovered not only the on/off button, but also all the tone buttons that convert it from grand piano to organ to harpsicord and choir. I haven't had a demonstration yet, but I understand many happy moments were spent at the piano with dad while I was away.

Progress

When Alex came home from Taiwan he had just started eating solid food and only then when someone else put it in his mouth. He preferred to keep his hands clean and wasn't interested in touching anything that was put on the highchair tray. We worked hard those first few months to encourage self-feeding and finally, after three months, he would gingerly grasp a cheerio between the tips of his thumb and forefinger and put it in his mouth. For a long time he pinched his food rather than grasping it. Gradually we worked our way up to bits of bread, bits of cheese, bits of dried fruit. But anything moist had to be spooned into his mouth by someone else. Hold a spoon? Fageddaboutit.

Over time he's become more comfortable with texture and moisture and willingly feeds himself strawberries, grapes, and banana, among other things. And lately he's even been interested in holding the spoon and stabbing it into the empty yogurt container when we're finished feeding it to him. But mostly he is happy to sit in his chair, and let us spoon breakfast, lunch and dinner into him. And to be honest, I have been happy to avoid the disaster area that is toddler self-feeding. Yes, it is a challenge to simultaneously feed myself and keep the food flowing into him at the pace he demands (and he is demanding, there should be no more than 10 seconds of empty mouth between bites). But we can get through a meal without even needing a bib when we're doing the spooning.

Today, however, we seemed to have turned a corner. He sat down to dinner and grabbed the spoon out of my hand. So tonight, Alex fed himself. As you can see he eventually tired of the spoon and went straight to the hand-to-mouth technique. No matter that there was little solid to hold onto.

In addition to the progress with self-feeding, his vocabulary is expanding by leaps and bounds. He's caught on to imitating sounds and will try to repeat many of the words we say. This morning 'sah-ine' followed my 'sunshine'. Not too shabby. He's added 'apple' to his 'juice', so we hear 'ap juice' now, and he regularly says 'hi dada'.

He's definitely no longer the baby we brought home and is every day more and more a little boy.

Phew, what a month

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted. We've been way too busy! Just after our trip to the ballpark we were off to Denver for four days, home for the week, then to Phoenix the following weekend. Gramma and Grandpa came for a visit and then last weekend we were at the ER with a sick little boy.

We visited Uncle M and Aunt K at their new house in Phoenix a couple of weekends ago. Couldn't pass up an unbelievable Southwest airfare ($25 one-way - wow!) Alex was a terrific traveler, as usual. He loves being in airplanes, trains, buses, cars, strollers. If it moves, he's happy.

Gramma and Grandpa were visiting Phoenix while we were there and flew home with us. They stayed for just a few days, then flew back to Pennsylvania. The next day, Alex suddenly had a fever. The Saturday before Mother's Day found us at the doctor getting treated for an ear infection. We started on antibiotics, but his fever just kept going up and up. Later that day we were back to the hospital, where he got an antibiotic injection in an effort to bring his temperature down. Mother's Day was spent holding a very sick little boy. Late Sunday night the fever finally broke and by Tuesday afternoon he was back to his happy little self. It was a hard weekend.

Today we rode the train into San Francisco for the Taiwanese-American Cultural Festival in Union Square. We ate yummy noodles and rice, watched some beautiful Taiwanese dancers who were from the same county Alex was born in and listened to great music. Alex loved the music, cheering throughout the performance.

Alex's vocabulary has taken off in the last month. Over the course of one week we heard, for the first time, Cheese, Shoes, and Juice. Later he added Socks with the shoes. And speaking of shoes and socks, he's become an expert at removing both shoes and socks from his feet. I'm going to need to get some shoes that buckle - he's onto the velcro and it's impossible to keep the shoes on his feet anymore. Good thing summer is around the corner. We'll be barefoot until winter, I think.

A night of firsts

Whenever the topic of baseball and babies came up, Alex's dad was adament that Alex would be five years old when he went to his first baseball game. "Old enough to appreciate it," he said. I think Alex's big brother was five when he accompanied dad to a game for the first time. Five is a nice age - definitely old enough to know it's a special event. I wholeheartedly agreed. How much of the game do you see while simultaneously entertaining a bored toddler, anyway? Not that I see much of a game anyhow...I have a very short attention span at the ballpark. By the fourth inning, I'm ready to go home. Thank goodness for things like beer runs, and expansive outfield sections to walk around. Last year I discovered that if I spend the fifth inning out and about, I can trick myself into believing I'm just starting a new game when I return for the last three innings. But I digress.

At four o'clock Friday afternoon a co-worker stopped by my desk to see if I'd be interested in two tickets to the Giants game that night. Foolishly, I called hubby to see if he wanted them. (Did I think he'd say no? What was I thinking? Obviously I wasn't thinking...) We weren't doing anything else, sure he'd like to go. So he grabbed some finger foods and warm clothes, and he and Alex picked me up at work and we were off. Alex was 19 months old when he attended his first baseball game. Alex was 19 months old when he had his first ballpark frank. (He LOVED it.) Alex lasted exactly one batter beyond the hotdog and was then ready to be out of his seat. Alex and mom did alot of walking around the park. By the third inning, Alex was done with walking around and ready to go home. Mom was ready to go home. Even Dad saw the wisdom of going home. By the time we actually got home, it was an hour past bedtime and Alex was tired tired tired.

Yup, Alex should have been five before he went to his first baseball game....but instead we didn't make it out of the first month of baseball season before making an evening of it at the ball park. You can convince yourself of just about anything (my 19 month old won't act like he's too young to be there) if you try hard enough.

Where's mom?

As you may have already figured out, I am usually the one behind the camera. Couple that with the fact that Alex can't get enough of his dad at the moment and the result is that nearly every picture of Alex these days is him in his dad's arms. I think Dad was feeling a bit guilty about that this morning. During breakfast he appeared with the camera in hand. Here are the stellar results. Hmmm.





Ok, so it isn't always that bad. Here's another one, taken last weekend.


And one where you can actually see Alex too.



And in other news, we've started potty training - check out the big boy pants. We spent a little time on Saturday being diaper free. Don't you love the expression?

"Must you?"

What's in a name?

It's probably time I explained this blog name, given the fact that our dear Alex, who joined his forever family last October, is our fifth child and thus the seventh member of our family....

When we decided to expand our family through international adoption, we jumped in with both feet. We figured if we're in for one, what's one more? So Alex will someday have a mei mei from China. We were logged in last June and are patiently waiting for China to work through the huge number of applications they received at the end of 2005. There are currently 7 months of families ahead of us in this long, slow moving, line. If we're lucky we only have another year to wait. If we're really lucky, I might be able to say we're half way there: 10 months down, 10 more to go.

And that's how this blog got it's name. Alex's mei mei is lucky number 8.

Here's to summer

Happy April! With March behind us and the 2007 baseball season officially underway, winter is officially over. Alex's dad is a big baseball fan. He's good at rooting for the hometown team, where ever we're living at the moment. In the 80's, when we lived in Sioux City, Iowa, he cheered for the Twins and the Cubs, in the 90's when we were in Pennsylvania he followed the Pirates, and in the 00's, here in San Francisco, he's had season tickets with the Giants and attended his share of A's games. But he was born and raised in New England, so the Red Sox will always be his first love (someday I hope to reconcile myself to my second place standing). It's only fitting that one of Alex's first gifts from the New England cousins is a cap that is identical to one his dad has had for decades, right down to the worn brim edge! I think they look pretty darn spiffy together!

Wagon

Another summer-like evening gave us an opportunity for our first ride in the wagon...a wagon we've had for 20 years. This little wagon has spent the last decade helping haul things around the garden and has been more reliable than the wheel barrow, which has a finicky front wheel. It's lost alot of its interior paint, but it cleaned up pretty good. After a few tenuous moments, Alex discovered the wagon is almost as much fun as a stroller ride. After his ride he had fun playing with Dad in the warm evening air. (Yes, once again he's trucking around in just his onsie. Honestly, we do own clothes for him. They just never seem to be on him when the camera is out.)

Eighteen months - time for a riding toy

Alex will be 18 months old this week, so I decided it's time for a bike. Well, sort of a bike. It has wheels and you sit on it. But he'd prefer to lay on the floor next to it and play with the wheels. The boy is obsessed with wheels. We had beautiful warm weather again this weekend, so I broke out the summer pajamas tonight. I bought these off the Nordstrom sales rack last summer. They didn't look quite so girly at the time. This is the first time I've put them on Alex....or should we call him Alexa when he's wearing them?