Orlando!

The final three days of my vacation I spent in Orlando.  It was awesome!  We stayed at a hotel where I got to ride an elevator up and down whenever I went somewhere.  I got to swim in a huge pool and a little kids pool everyday and the very best part was when I spent a whole day at SeaWorld. 

 

Mommy and my grandparents didnt know how I would do at SeaWorld but I surprised them!  I loved the shows they put on like the sea lion show, the killer whale show, the dolphin show and even a cirque du Soleil show.  I lasted 8 hours easy (with a small nap in my stroller during lunch)  I was fascinated by the roller coasters but I am too little to go on those yet.  Perhaps in a few more years :)

 

Gainesville

Here are some pictures of me around Gainesville. I love Florida!!

At a softball game - Go Gators!

With the new Tebow statue

With Albert and Alberta

At the Baughman Center where mommy and daddy got married

A movie of me meeting Alberta the mascot for all the female sports at Florida

Cow!

I went to a farm today that lets kids come by every Wednesday to help feed the animals. I fed a cow some hay, chickens and sheep some corn and pigs some vegetables.

The cow was very fun to see. 

Beach and Nanas

Today I went to visit my Great-nana Dotty and Great-grandfather Clint. They live in Amelia Island which is right on the beach. I got to play in the ocean (love to look at it, not a fan of it actually touching me), play in their pool and have lunch with them before returning back to Gainesville. Here are a couple pictures and video of my adventure today.

dexter's garden

On my first day in Gainesville my nana had a surprise for me. Nana and Grandfather have a big garden in their backyard full of watermelons, beans, cucumbers, squash and lots of flowers. Well nana made one section of her garden just for me! We went to the store and I picked out 4 flowers I wanted in my garden and then we went home and planted them and put up my special sign that says "Dexter's Garden" it was alot of fun to play in the dirt and with the pretty flowers.

Airplane!

I am waiting at the airport now, ready to fly to Florida!!

Potty

This photo is sooo embarrassing. When mommy came to pick me up yesterday I was sitting on the potty. Anytime we wet our diaper we sit on the potty and at set times we all sit on the potty. Today I did pee once in the potty. Its fun just to sit in the potty room or flush the toilet.

Sunglasses

I got super big crazy sunglasses at school. How do I look?

Dog Show

So this weekend I went to a dog show. It wasnt nearly as fancy as you see on TV, but it was fun to see all the different types of dogs. The basset hound group was very popular - I think 15 dogs in all for this type. The best part was seeing them before they went into the ring - they all had little ear sock things on to keep their ears clean!
This dog show also let people walk around in the staging areas - I saw lots of dogs get washed and combed and even blowdrys and last minute hair cuts. This row of golden retrievers looks very pretty to me.
This was all held at the county fairgrounds, so we walked around outside and found a fun mini farm area with a big tractor I could sit on and drive.

I am Batman

This is my awesome new batman car my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Joe gave me!

So long baby room

 My class sitting down for some writing practice.

Elizabeth, Nathanial and me playing.

 Me and Maddie, one of my closest friends.

 Me and Elizabeth sharing a hug.

My class, led by Miss Nitzia, playing ring around the rosie.

Today I started in the 2-3 year old room full time. There are a few kids I know in here from my old room that moved on ahead of me.  There are new toys, new routines and new teachers to get to know.  I already miss my old friends and Miss Nitzia but I know I can visit them whenever I need.  Elizabeth, Maddie, Nathanial, Miss Nitzia and I have been a group for 4 months and I love them all so much!

Dog wash

I got to help wash the dogs this morning and break in my new swim trunks. 

Cake

Today I had my birthday cake and went to the zoo.  It was a great day!

2 years!

Yesterday was my big birthday, but today I went to the doctor for all my official measurements so my blog post is a day late. 

Here is my big update on my many skills and likes over the past 6 months

Vital Stats: 
Weight: 27.8 pounds (49% percentile) Height: 36.2 inches (91% percentile) Head size 51.4cm (98% percentile) 
I am up to 12 teeth with #13 just starting to come out now.  
For clothes I wear size 2T shirts and pants, size 5 shoes
I had to get 1 booster shot today, but no more shots until I am 4!

Skills:
Physically: Gross motor:  I can run and climb really well.  I can pull 50 pound dogs in wagons.  I can throw a ball or kick a ball hard but not in any particular direction.
Fine Motor: I can use a spoon, fork and knife.  I can brush my teeth.  I can open any unlocked door.  I also paint well with my fingers, still working on using markers and crayons on the paper and not on the tables.

Verbally: I have a few 2 word sentances down - my favorites are "bye-bye dadda", "thank-you momma", "no momma" and "more wawa (water)".  My single word vocab is still fairly limited to around 20 words that non-mothers could understand (mama, dada, nana (which can mean nana or banana), dog, gaga (garbage truck), juice, water, cheese, cracker, ball, quack-quack(duck), more, hand, door, night-night etc)

Likes: Brooms. Water. Playgrounds. Balloons. Playing in the car.  I really like to drag people around the house showing them things.  I will ask for your hand and then bring you to my super awesome discovery or just bring you to a door I want you to unlock.  I like to sleep.  You say its bedtime and I will jump up, start running to my room while yelling bye-bye dada and climb into my big boy bed before you even turned around.  I like my new 2-3 year old room at school.  So much to see and new toys to play with - I have only been there 3 days, but I know I like it.    

Favorite Foods:  Smoothies, yogurt, blueberry, grapes, waffles, corn, cereal, baked beans, chicken nuggets, granola bars, goldfish, animal crackers. Favorite Drinks: I just recently switched from whole milk to 1% milk. I drink one capri-sun juice a day after school. I also enjoy water from water fountains or sports bottles. 

Dislikes: My only dislike is not getting what I want at the moment I want it.  That is all really..

What is to come: Now that I am in the 2 year old room at school I get to start potty training.  I already have a potty at home and like to sit on it on occasion.  At school all the kids sit on the potty at the same time (peer pressure!) and try to go. I am already trying to be like the bigger kids but first I need to get better at pulling my shorts or pants down - that is pretty tricky. 

 

In 2 weeks I fly to Florida to visit nana and grandfather.  I can't wait!   The rest of the summer should be filled with sunshine and play!

Here is a bonus video of me playing with the toy Cole & Luke picked out for me:

2 years later

2 years later, I still just want to hold Dexter tight and never let go.

18-24month slideshow

Here is a slideshow I made for Dexter's upcoming birthday. (I have no idea why youtube put an ad 10seconds in, but just x that off!)

more pictures

Here are some more pictures of Dexter and us from last weekend. There are more on my facebook page as well. I wanted to get some pictures of Dexter and the family prior to his second birthday and also get some pictures that capture a bit of Albuquerque. We went to west bluff park which overlooks the Rio Grand river, some of the city and the Sandia mountains. There was also a nice playground there for Dexter to play on while my photographer snapped pictures. Sometime next week I will put together another photoslide show of my little man, hard to believe he is two next week!