Allison & Daniel's Journey

Breakfast of Champions

2012-02-18T09:22:00.000-05:00

My favorite breakfast used to be waffles. Now it is a bagel with peanut butter. I dont know how I fit the whole thing in my tummy.

Who needs a napkin when you have a shirt to wipe off any extra peanut butter from my mouth?

Now if mommy would move so I could watch my TV show without her head in my way that would be great.

Heart

2012-02-14T23:43:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a nice Valentines Day. I made this card with mommy and ate little candies.

Puzzle walk

2012-02-11T11:57:00.000-05:00

Puzzles are fun to do and also walk on.

Ghetto Science

2012-02-08T22:08:00.001-05:00

This afternoon mommy and I went to the science center, ¡Explora!

It feels more like a workshop than a science center, but I enjoy it.

side note - this was the first time, outside of the house or daycare, that I wore big boy underwear for 3 hours straight. I actually used the potty at ¡Explora! twice and made poop!

2nd Diaper Free Weekend

2012-02-05T15:11:00.000-05:00

2nd weekend of potty training and it is going really well. Again when Dexter is wearing nothing from the waist down he is accident free. He has run off a few times without our prompting to sit on the potty and pee, he even pooped once! (to much info?)

School told us to show up on Monday with 5 pairs of pants and underwear and they will work with him on it more - we shall see how that goes. Today I put him in really loose underwear meant for a 5 year old just so he has something on but it isn't tight like a diaper or his normal underwear - so far no accidents, lets see how it goes after nap time.

Elmo has been helping out also with his video - Elmo's Potty time and wearing big boy underwear as a role model :)

Working out

2012-02-03T20:35:00.000-05:00

Working out my mouth muscles is so much fun!

Our dogs are terrified of this which makes it even more fun!

Speech update

2012-01-31T21:46:00.000-05:00

Today Dan met with the speech team again (Casey the coordinator, Deanna the Developmental Specialist and Jessica the Speech Language Pathologist). I was stuck at work but he recorded the whole thing on his phone for me to listen to when I came home.

They went over the observations from the previous meeting, gave us a print out of their assessment and set up some goals to work on over the next three months. I will repeat their summary for you:

Dexter is a very socially engaging child, and seems to enjoy the attention of adults. His strengths include relationships to inanimate objects (how he plays with toys) and his ability to work through small frustrations to learn new skills. Although he is not showing a delay in language skills, his speech intelligibility is reduced due to articulation errors. Many of Dexter's words were difficult to understand. Dexter is also displaying a 25% delay in self help, primarily because he is not able to say his name when asked and says "meh" instead of an approximation of his name. Dexter transitioned easily between tasks, even though he wanted to take more time with some items. For example he really liked the puzzle and did it over and over but was able to put it back in the bag without a tantrum. Gross motor - he is in the 27-30 month range, a slight delay - mostly balance delays. Fine motor - 33-36 range, age appropriate. Dexter was able to build a three piece tunnel structure, showing again his ability to focus and complete tasks. Relationship to inanimate objects - he is in the 36-42 month range, Again Dexter easily masted several puzzles. Language - he is in the 30-33 month range. He understood prepositions such as under, on top and in and was able to follow several verbal directions. His word production consisted mostly of vowel sounds. Emotions - he is in the 30-36 month range showing a wide range of feelings.

Goals:
1) Use more consonants. Dexter mostly says the vowels in words and skips over the consonants either at the beginning or the end or both. Consonants a 33 month old should be able to say are: P, B, M,K, G, W, H, N, T, D No magic stuff here, just try and say the words for him and try to encourage him to repeat stuff.
2) Improve oral motor tone - fun things to do here include blowing bubbles, drinking a think drink through a straw, mirror play put yogurt on upper or lower lip and then try to lick it off while watching yourself in the mirror (both parents and Dexter get to play this), blow into a straw - they suggested putting a drop of watercolor paint on paper and then blowing on it to make it spread.
3) Continue to work the large muscles on the playgrounds, stairs, etc.
4) Try to get him to repeat the names of things. If he wont say the word your trying to work on, try and trick him by saying to an alligator "what a nice dog" and hope he responds "no, gator"

Next event is Monday when he gets his hearing tested. I am sure it will be something like this:

48

2012-01-30T21:14:00.000-05:00

Today the mailman brought me a horse puzzle. It has 48 pieces! It took me about 10 minutes to do it for the first time without any help from mommy. I did my corners, then the edges and then the middle just like mommy and daddy taught me. I just love puzzles so much!

Potty Training Weekend

2012-01-29T21:44:00.000-05:00

This weekend we tried to focus on potty training more. The first half of Saturday Dexter ran around in underwear and continued to pee in his pants every 1-2 hours - It was not going well. After lunch time we decided to take a cue from his cousin Ben and go around with no pants or underwear at all. This was much more successful. Instead of peeing every 1-2 hours he could hold it 3+ hours. When he had to pee he would occasionally run to the potty and sit there for a minute but his real cue was asking to put underwear on, as if he couldn't pee without them on. We would sit on the potty instead and he was able to go twice Saturday afternoon in the potty with no accidents since lunch. Back in a diaper for nighttime. Sunday morning we started right off the bat with no pants and again he waited about 3-4 hours since he woke up before he peed - and this time he ran to the potty and peed all by himself. Then I got called into work and he had his nap with a diaper on so we called it a day for potty training. We will try again next weekend and see if we can build on these little successes.

Favorite Things

2012-01-27T22:14:00.000-05:00

Here are some of my favorite things: Blocks, Cars & Dinosaurs!

Puzzle Video # 2

2012-01-25T17:26:00.001-05:00

The exciting sequel to the first puzzle video! Dexter has recently upgraded from 12 piece puzzles to 24 piece puzzles. He also decided to share his old 12 piece with his classmates and it is now one of the puzzles in his classroom. His teacher mentioned to me the other day he does the hardest puzzle in the room all the time so I figured a new puzzle for the classroom would be nice for all the kids.

So here is his latest puzzle video, 5minutes long, enjoy!

Speech Pathologist

2012-01-23T18:32:00.000-05:00

Today was my second speech meeting. Three ladies came to my house and played with me for an hour. They asked me to do things while they also asked me, and mommy and daddy, questions. Various tasks I mastered - a shape puzzle (child's play compared to my 24 piece puzzle), stacking blocks, kicking a ball, threading a string through balls (the picture above), playing with a baby doll and a dog. Tasks I did ok with - drawing circles and lines on a paper, identifying pictures (I would point to each one correctly but could not say the name for most), jumping and standing on one leg.

Observations they made and stuff I need to work on: They think I have low muscle tone (Hypotonia - for the medical folk out there) - when I get excited I tend to jump around and stick out my tongue, I might even drool a bit. I really only eat soft foods (grapes over apples, beans over meat, etc) While I can walk and run fine now it was a bit delayed compared to my friends. I have always been cautious when jumping still preferring to hold on to something for balance. I also didn't even have a tooth out when I turned one so my mouth has been a bit slow to develop.

Reading up on Hypotonia: Speech difficulties can result from hypotonia. Low-tone children learn to speak later than their peers, even if they appear to understand a large vocabulary, or can obey simple commands. Difficulties with muscles in the mouth and jaw can inhibit proper pronunciation, and discourage experimentation with word combination and sentence-forming.

So the plan right now is to keep trying to encourage talking as much as possible and they suggested trying to get me to eat more mouth muscle challenging foods - like celery sticks, carrot sticks, smoothies from a straw, even twizzlers or gummies!

We meet again next Tuesday the 31st. At that meeting we are going to set up some goals and then working on meeting them!

Tummy Time

2012-01-20T22:13:00.001-05:00

It only took 2 years, 8 months and 2 weeks but I finally went on my tummy in the bathtub. I can't believe I waited this long, there is tons of fun to be had on your tummy!

Hi

2012-01-18T21:30:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to say hi to all my friends and monsters out there.

Daddy Time

2012-01-16T20:26:00.003-05:00

Today was a holiday so Daddy and I didn't have to go to work or school. Instead we went to the dentist and the dinosaur museum.

Here is me standing in the footprint of a T-Rex.

My new dinosaur issued a challenge to one of the dinosaurs outside of the museum. Under my command, I feel that we fared exceptionally well.

"You know the difference between you and me? I make dentistry look GOOOOD."

Comic Con

2012-01-14T21:12:00.000-05:00

Hanging with some storm troopers at the ABQ comic con - hosted at the Hard Rock Casino. One of the stormtroopers is our neighbor!

Dan, Dexter and the Hulk! Lou Ferrigno

Iron Man!

Mystique and Dan. Mystique is actually one of my co-workers at the hospital!

We had a fun time at the comic con. Lots of people were dressed up and Dexter really got a kick out of seeing everyone. There were also a few big name stars there like actors from True Blood, Walking Dead and Lt. Data from Star Trek.

Speech

2012-01-11T17:18:00.001-05:00

First off - what is a post without a picture of Dexter?

Last month Dexter was referred to Alta Mira - it is a company that works with the New Mexico Infant and Toddler program to help with early intervention needs on kids under 3 years old. He was referred because of his speech delay. Today my assigned program coordinator, Casey, came out to the house to check out his surroundings and ask several baseline questions about his health history, his physical skills, his verbal skills, how he deals with situations, how he does with normal day activities, his emotional responses to situations, what he likes to play with, etc.

Now that all the baseline information has been gathered, in two weeks (1/23/11) she will be returning to our house with a speech therapist to do a more in depth evaluation and run Dexter through some tests in various areas. If he looks like he needs assistance at that point we will begin speech therapy with him on a routine basis. I am sure he could use a little extra help with his speech. He certainly understands everything we tell him and he is very self sufficient doing things but he just doesn't talk much or when he does talk its not very clear.

Tricycle

2012-01-07T13:09:00.000-05:00

Today we all went outside while I practiced riding my tricycle. I have not ridden it in months so I was a bit rusty.

Dog Baths

2012-01-02T21:55:00.000-05:00

It might be cold outside but inside it is swimsuit weather!

Today I got to help give both dogs their bath. (Do you like the Christmas lights up behind the couch in the shape of a heart - daddy didn't want to hang them outside this year so he got creative inside)

Puzzle boy!

2012-01-01T10:00:00.002-05:00

I really love to do puzzles. I will do shape puzzles but I really love to do jigsaw puzzles! I got two for Christmas and when my box arrived yesterday with all my Maryland presents I got to do them. One is a farm and another is Cars.

2nd Christmas!

2011-12-31T22:07:00.000-05:00

Today my big box of Christmas presents arrived from Maryland. I forgot all about those toys and now they are here! Plus I got to open my presents that stayed behind. I can't get enough of my Yo Gabba Gabba book and stuffed animals (thanks Aunt Heather!) and I love my Cars PJs and the quilt my Gram made me.

2nd Christmas is fun!

So long Christmas

2011-12-29T10:05:00.000-05:00

Today all the decorations are coming down. Christmas might be over but that doesn't mean I have to stop wearing my Christmas shirts or Pajamas! Thanks Gram for making me this great shirt!

So Long Maryland!

2011-12-27T20:46:00.001-05:00

So long Maryland. Today I spent my last day visiting my family. I had tons of fun (despite the look on my face in these pictures) with my cousins, my Aunt Debbie, Uncle Joe, Gram and all the dogs and even the cat when I could find him.

More Fun

2011-12-26T18:51:00.003-05:00

Fun times today playing with my cousins. Only one more day in Maryland and then I fly on an airplane back to New Mexico. I sure will miss them.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T21:24:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas to my blog followers! I had a wonderful Christmas with my family in Maryland. So many wonderful toys and food. Thank you to everyone who mailed me presents. I opened most of my presents today but still have some back in New Mexico to open later. I love all my new puzzles, books, new quilt my Gram made me, clothes and toys.

Trouble x2

2011-12-24T19:46:00.002-05:00

Nothing to see here...just playing behind the Christmas tree and with all the presents.

Fun with cousins

2011-12-23T21:33:00.000-05:00

Today I went to a playground with Ben and Nikki. It was fun to swing and slide with them.

At night they got dressed up and went to their other cousins house for a family photo. Doesnt my cousin Nikki look pretty!

But before they left we made sure to play in their room. Farm and tractor toys are the best!

Storytime

2011-12-22T20:49:00.001-05:00

Tonight I had storytime with my cousins Nikki and Ben. It has been a lot of fun playing with them.

Superheros!

2011-12-18T21:04:00.000-05:00

Mommy let me open one Christmas present today before we leave for vacation on Tuesday. It was a Sipderman Pajama from my Aunt Heather (I think my cousin Cole had input)

I loved it and ran around the house shooting webs with my hands. Daddy was even wearing his Flash shirt - we are a superhero family!

Orderly

2011-12-15T00:11:00.000-05:00

I like to line up my blocks in a big row to prevent Bosley from moving. If that doesnt work I also can put the blocks around him in a circle.

School photo time

2011-12-13T21:53:00.000-05:00

Seems like two or three times a year they do school photos. Here is my latest photos. I am working the blue background and the Christmas scene. To bad they didnt give this to us a month ago so I could have used it in the Christmas card.

Antibiotics

2011-12-11T14:40:00.001-05:00

Saturday morning - 103 Fever, rash over chest & back, generally feeling crummy.

Sunday morning after two doses of antibiotics - No fever, eating great, dancing and laughing.

Thank you modern medicine!!

Reading

2011-12-07T22:36:00.000-05:00

Every night before bed I read books for about 30 minutes. My current favorite book is "the Pout-Pout Fish in the Big Big Dark" It is a very exciting book about a fish who is trying to help his friend the clam find her missing pearl.

snow

2011-12-05T18:56:00.000-05:00

I took the day off from school today to stay home and shovel snow. It's not easy being a working man.

Cold outside

2011-12-03T14:21:00.000-05:00

Thursday night we had 50-70 mile an hour winds all night long. Friday the winds stopped but it got really cold. Today it snowed. I guess it is officially winter here in Albuquerque.

So what is a boy to do that has energy to burn but it is too cold outside to play?

Visit the aquarium!

Family Photo time

2011-11-29T22:56:00.000-05:00

Its that time of year - Christmas card time! We all put on nice clothes and then set up the camera on the tripod and just kept snapping pictures until we finally had one where we are all looking at the camera and smiling.

Expect your card in the mail in a few weeks.

Happy Holidays from Dexter!

Christmas Decorating

2011-11-27T10:24:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I helped set up the Christmas tree and put on the ornaments. I read some Christmas books and wore my Christmas pajamas to bed. Today we are going to decorate the outside of the house.

Colorado Trip

2011-11-25T21:33:00.000-05:00

I spent Thanksgiving in Colorado with my friends Duncan and Aine McCall. Duncan is 5 and Aine is 2. We had tons of fun playing together and eating together.

Since mommy and daddy slept in Duncan's room I got to sleep in the play room with Duncan in a tent! This was hard to do because I would rather play with all the stuff than sleep so I ended up sleeping with mommy and daddy. Still it was fun to play inside the tent.

Aine and I had fun doing puzzles together and having tea parties.

We went to a playground both days I was there. Thanksgiving it was 70 and sunny and I played in shorts the next day it was 40 and windy and we had to bundle up.

Here is the whole family that I visited - Jon, Kristin, Duncan and Aine. I had so much fun playing with them, I am glad they live only 6 hours away. Kristin is getting deployed next year so I volunteered to visit them several times while she is gone to play with my friends.

Dressing myself

2011-11-20T19:14:00.000-05:00

I am getting very good at dressing myself. I can take off my shirt and put on a new shirt. I can take off my pants and put on a shirt.... ok I need to keep working on the lower part.

Outdoorsman

2011-11-19T20:59:00.000-05:00

Camping in tents (inside REI) or rock climbing around Albuquerque - I am a true outdoorsman.

Bored

2011-11-16T20:27:00.000-05:00

Grandfather left on Monday and it has been back to school since then. Not to much going on here. It is getting colder and darker at night so I have not been on many dog walks lately.

Grandfather is here!

2011-11-11T20:30:00.000-05:00

I love visitors. This weekend my Grandfather is here to visit me. He brought me a present also, a train puzzle! I really love to do puzzles. Here I am solving it for only the second time.

iPad

2011-11-09T21:19:00.000-05:00

I love my iPad. I have so many fun games and movies on it. I think apple designed it for a 2 year old because it is so simple to move things around or open up any game/movie I want. I even know how to take pictures on it.

Christmas Shopping

2011-11-07T08:46:00.000-05:00

I have been getting several toy magazines in the mail lately and several people have asked me what I want for Christmas. So I thought I would go through the magazine with my markers and select all the toys I want for Christmas.

Two and a Half!

2011-11-05T17:57:00.002-04:00

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

Vital Stats:
Weight: 31 pounds Height: 36 inches
I am up to 18 teeth out of 20
For clothes I wear size 2-3T shirts and pants, size 5 shoes

Skills:
Physically: I am great at pulling all my clothes and diaper off. I can pull my pants back up, put on socks and zip my coat. I can run well and can jump with both feet off the ground if I am holding onto something. I can brush my teeth and wash my hands pretty well. Potty training has improved recently. Although I am not using the potty much I really like to take off my diaper right after I peed or pooped and then sit on the potty. I prefer to pee in the bathtub than the potty.

Verbally: My speaking has improved lately as well. I am speaking more multiple word sentences like "what's that momma" or "no go home" (I say this after school when I want to go to the playground) I call things by the noise they make instead of their real name, like meow is cat, roar is lion or tiger, etc. I also babble and talk way more than I used to, so hopefully more words will be coming soon.

Mentally: I know most of the colors and shapes. I can point out several letters, my favorite is O. I understand a lot of what is said to me.

Likes: I like to pick out my own clothes. I often will not like your first few choices for me so I will end up in shorts, a coat, a winter hat and sunglasses when you take me to the supermarket. I like to watch SuperWhy and play on my iPad. I like to go for walks with my dogs and have been walking either dog on my own for a while now. If I dont want to walk my dog, I like to pull an empty wagon during the walk. I like to ask nicely for things by signing "please" - it works great for getting whatever I want!

Favorite Foods: Beans, Waffles, Grapes, Blueberry, Banana Bread, Bagels, Mac & Cheese, Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Chicken Nuggets, Fruit smoothies. Favorite Drink is Chocolate Milk.

Dislikes:Being put in time out. Nap time. I don't like someone doing something for me - I have a plan in my mind for what I want to do or wear so dont mess with it!

What is to come: Holiday season is coming soon so I get to go on lots more trips in the next 6 months. Next week Grandfather is coming to visit. For Thanksgiving I am going to Colorado to have turkey with Duncan and Aine McCall. For Christmas I am going to Gram's house in Maryland to visit Gram, my cousins Ben & NIkki and my aunt Deb and uncle Joe. Then next March I am going to Gainesville to visit my nana and grandfather while mom and dad buy another rental house in Florida. I am going to be so busy!

At school I have 6 more months to master potty training. You can't move into the 3-4 year old room until you are fully potty trained!

Winter hat

2011-11-02T12:01:00.000-04:00

I love wearing hats. I have a great summer floppy hat that I wear all the time but today it got really cold outside so I had to get out my winter hat. The winter hat is nice but it doesn't block the sun, good thing I also enjoy wearing my sunglasses.

Happy Halloween!!

2011-10-30T21:24:00.000-04:00

This is my third Halloween. First Halloween I was Spiderman, second Halloween I was a Pirate and now this Halloween I am Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba! I was not very happy putting on my Brobee costume until I went outside and saw lots of other kids in costumes. Then it was tons of fun! I went to many people's houses and said "Boo!" to get candy and "Thank you" when they gave me a piece.

Ziplines

2011-10-29T14:15:00.000-04:00

The doctor told me to be in the cool air to help with my croup. So I went to the playground in the 50 degree weather and played. I love going on the zipline.

Sneak Peak

2011-10-27T08:29:00.000-04:00

Here is a sneak peak at my Halloween costume. I am going as Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba! This is just the hat on backwards, I have a whole outfit that I will share with you on Sunday when I get to walk around the neighborhood and hand out candy.

Wheezy

2011-10-26T10:13:00.000-04:00

Yesterday and today I have been breathing a bit wheezy and have barky cough. Mommy says I have mild croup. I don't seem to bothered by the whole thing but this morning I got a breathing treatment just to help. I haven't seen my nebulizer since I was 9 months old, it is a fun toy!

Big Boy Underwear

2011-10-23T18:37:00.000-04:00

Although I am not even close to being potty trained I have some Toy Story underwear. So far I have been afraid to wear the underwear, I just feel safer in my pullups. But today I put on the underwear with Rex the dinosaur on it and ran around rawring for a good five minutes before I wanted to put a diaper on.

McCall's Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-22T16:06:00.000-04:00

Today we ventured out to Moriarty, NM to visit McCall's Pumpkin patch (no relation to our good friends Jon & Kristin McCall) We went here when nana was visiting but we arrived right when it was closing that time and it looked so cool we came back today. This place had hayrides, corn mazes, pumpkin launchers, bouncy houses, animals to pet like goats & bunnies, slides and best of all a cow train.

The cow train was so amazing I would go for my ride then run back in line to go again. The whole time I am waiting I am jumping up and down and signing the word please.

Super fun day! Plus I was so tired after all this fun I actually took a nap which is rare for me on the weekends. Later today I am going to carve my pumpkin and tomorrow I am off to the Halloween store to find a costume! This holiday is fun :)

My couch

2011-10-20T10:06:00.000-04:00

My couch is a wonderful place. I can play there, eat there, read books there and sleep there. Why do I need to go anywhere else? When I get home from school or wake up in the morning I run to my couch to claim it as mine. (really everything I see is mine, I am a little possessive)

Daddy and Dexter

2011-10-17T21:10:00.000-04:00

I like to dress like my daddy and hang out with my daddy watching football.

I am Batman

2011-10-15T15:38:00.000-04:00

When I don't feel like playing outside I can always just push my car around the living room.

Locks

2011-10-13T23:34:00.000-04:00

I am very good at unlocking doors and then opening them. I can go outside whenever I want to or play in the garage whenever I want to.

But now there are strange chains that stop the door from opening more than a few inches and I can't escape to play outside!

Bubble Fun

2011-10-11T22:31:00.000-04:00

Just a boy and his bubble gun

Airshow

2011-10-09T21:53:00.000-04:00

Today I went to an airshow on base featuring the Thunderbird's. The best part of the airshow were the helicopters I got to go inside and play with. These are amazing machines. I always love sitting in the car playing with all the buttons and steering wheel but this was so much better. There was so much to play with I never wanted to leave. I sat in two different helicopter cockpits and in the cargo bay of another. The pictures below are of UH-1N Iroquois. I also was in a blackhawk and a small helicopter.

I also got to sit in the back of a firetruck and got a cool fireman helmet.

This is me an hour later exhausted, I fell asleep while playing my iPad.

I miss nana already

2011-10-06T23:33:00.001-04:00

Nana made me laugh

Nana made me think

And Nana gave me good hugs and kisses.

I love my nana so much! I dont know what I will do when she has to leave tomorrow!

Zoo Time

2011-10-05T18:13:00.000-04:00

Today we all went to the zoo. We were supposed to look at hot air balloons today but it rained all night long so it was canceled. This did give me lots of puddles to play in, so I guess it wasn't so bad.

Santa Fe

2011-10-04T23:31:00.000-04:00

Today mommy and nana explored Santa Fe, New Mexico. Land of adobe buildings, red & green chilli peppers and tons of art galleries & museums. The city is small and you can easily walk around the city for a few hours just checking out the buildings, churches and sculptures that are everywhere you look.

It looks like they had tons of fun while I was at pre-school having naps and playing with my friends and toys!

Swings

2011-10-03T23:09:00.000-04:00

I like to swing. But I don't like to have my picture taken so I am trying to kick the camera.

Poor Gators

2011-10-02T21:53:00.000-04:00

Despite my cheering on the gators in my new #1 Gator jersey they lost last night. And now with the starting quarterback out I think it will be a long year for my favorite team.

Sandia Mountains

2011-10-01T16:50:00.000-04:00

Today we drove up to the top of the Sandia Mountains (10,678 feet) and then walked around the crest. Mommy and I had fun but Daddy and Nana were not too sure about being so high up and so close to the edge.

Nana

2011-09-29T22:17:00.000-04:00

Today I had fun with nana. We went to the playground and the aquarium. I also had a huge temper tantrum this morning about taking my PJs off in order to go to the playground. It is a bit stressful for me to be out of my routine even if it does involve fun things like playgrounds.

Nana presents

2011-09-28T23:10:00.000-04:00

Tonight I picked my nana up at the airport. It was all very exciting! She brought me tons of new gator stuff like a hat, jersey, gator pillowpet, pants and a jacket.

Go Gators!

Helper

2011-09-25T17:07:00.000-04:00

I get to hand daddy the tools when he fixes things.

pizza

2011-09-24T17:20:00.000-04:00

The best part of college football saturdays is the pizza.

So Funny

2011-09-21T14:44:00.002-04:00

Cutting your nails is soooo funny.

Yo Gabba Gabba

2011-09-20T20:41:00.000-04:00

I recently got these new Yo Gabba Gabba bath toys. I played with them at my cousins house and loved them so mommy got them for me! They are great fun in the bath since they stick on the walls with water. They are also nice to chew on since I have 4 teeth coming in right now.

Workout ball

2011-09-18T22:53:00.000-04:00

It is important to work the core on your exercise ball, although the beach ball is more my size.

Go Gators!

2011-09-17T10:37:00.000-04:00

I am finally old enough to cheer for the gators and do the gator chomp! Go Gators!!!

Ka-chow!

2011-09-14T11:35:00.000-04:00

My TV obsessions come and go every few weeks it seems. Right now I am on a Cars kick. I want to watch it every night before bedtime. I just love Lightning McQueen, Mater and the whole gang!

books

2011-09-10T10:32:00.000-04:00

I like to start my mornings with a glass of milk and some nice books.

Ohio slideshow

2011-09-06T01:48:00.000-04:00

I meant to do this earlier, but I finally found the time to do it over the holiday weekend. Hope you enjoy my latest slideshow.

Played out

2011-09-05T20:52:00.000-04:00

It was a beautiful day here in Albuquerque since a cold front came in and dropped our temperatures into the 80s. We even got some rain this weekend for a change.

Yesterday I went to a park in town and today I went to the big base playground and the little one behind my house (the one in the pictures)

Now back to school tomorrow!

Potty Training

2011-09-03T23:41:00.000-04:00

Potty training round 2! I peed in the potty two nights ago after my bath. I peed while sitting on the potty (but it all went on the tile) before my bath last night. Today I was not interested at all to sit on the potty or pee in the potty. My teachers at preschool said they will start having me sit on the potty every 30minutes while at school once I start to get a little better at it, so perhaps this is the start of some actual potty training success! Until then I will just run around with my pull-ups on my head.

Bonus Photo - our dogs are excited about football starting up. This year they don't have to sit on the couch in order for the Florida football gods to shine on us, they just need to have their orange and blue rally towels nearby. Mommy is so superstitious.

School library

2011-09-02T19:36:00.000-04:00

I love to sit in this blue chair and read books in the library section of preschool. Mommy found me here when she came to pick me up today.

Back to regular life

2011-08-31T20:37:00.000-04:00

Not much has happened since I returned to New Mexico. I have been going to day care every day and playing with my dogs. I miss my cousins and point out their pictures whenever I see them. We had my 6 month parent/teacher conference yesterday at school. They said I am doing great with physical skills and helping around the class, I am good with colors and love to sit and read books. Things I need to work on for the next 6 months are dressing myself, potty training and talking more. My vocab is fairly limited compared to other 2 year olds - I understand what your saying but I can't say it back yet. They said if it doesn't pick up they could recommend me to a speech therapist but today a speech therapist watched me in class for a while and said I was trying to say things it just didn't sound like things we could understand and to just keep encouraging me to talk more and if I don't improve over the next 6 months we can evaluate me again.

Last day in Ohio

2011-08-25T23:14:00.000-04:00

Here are some photos from my final day in Ohio. It was such a great 2 weeks spending time with my cousins and Aunt Heather and Uncle Jeff! I cant wait to visit them again sometime next year.

T-ball

2011-08-22T22:01:00.000-04:00

Tball is cool. (really anything my older cousin Cole does is cool). I have been to two practices and two games now and today after practice I even ran the bases with all the older kids. At home I have practiced hitting the ball off the tee and I like to wear the batting helmet around the house and outside, although I like to wear it backwards.

Perhaps I can start playing sports in another year or two!

Parks & Playgrounds

2011-08-21T22:58:00.000-04:00

It seems that everyday we have gone to a different park. I like running around in the grass, playing on the playgrounds and having picnic lunches. Here is a video of me and my cousins playing.

COSI and Cousins

2011-08-20T20:34:00.000-04:00

Today my cousins from Medina came down to spend the day with me. We went to the COSI science center and then hung around the house.

Luke (2), Cole (4), Grace (5), Jason (3), Dexter (2), Genna (1)

Cole, Luke and I walking into the center from the car

Here I am in the water section of the science center

Everyone having lunch. The 6 kids plus 5 adults.

If only daddy was here we could have had one adult for every kid!

Farm life

2011-08-17T22:11:00.000-04:00

Today we went to another metro park, this time instead of just a playground (which they also had) there was a historic farm. I got to meet farmers, go in an old farm house and go inside a barn. I saw cows, horses, pigs, chickens, roosters, turkeys and sheep. I touched a baby cow, but a more daring Cole also touched a pig and a sheep.

It was tons of fun!

World of Bounce

2011-08-16T22:43:00.001-04:00

Today I went to World of Bounce. It is a large warehouse with several large bouncy houses and slides inside. It took me just a couple minutes to figure out what to do and then I played for 3 hours straight. Bouncing, Sliding, Climbing, Running - all very fun.

Baseball and Grandfather

2011-08-15T22:44:00.000-04:00

I have now been to Cole's T-ball game and practices. I think I know how to wear the batting helmet and I know for sure that I want to play when I get bigger as well. It looks like fun!

Today was my last day with my Grandfather - it sure was nice having him on my vacation. He pushed me in the swing and went on walks with me.

Nature Park

2011-08-14T22:15:00.000-04:00

Today the whole family went to the nature park to look at butterflies, ducks, turtles and any bug we could find. It was tons of fun to run around in the park. Can't wait to see what fun happens next.

Max's Birthday Party

2011-08-13T21:38:00.000-04:00

Dexter eating 1/4 of the watermelon

Dexter(2), Luke(2), Cole(4) and Max(5) having Spiderman birthday cake

Baby Corwin (1) enjoying a puzzle game.

Today I went to my cousin Max's 5th birthday party up in Oberlin, Ohio. It was fun to eat the watermelon and cake. I also played outside a little with light sabers and sprinklers. Most of my time was spent inside making sure all the doors were closed and playing with two dogs. (My obsession with brooms shifted a few months ago to doors) There was also a fun bubble machine outside that I liked playing with as well. Lucky for me the trip takes 2 hours so I finally got a nap today- it is very hard for me to nap on vacation, there is far to much going on and I am not in my own room so the long car trip was nice for sleep.

Water play

2011-08-12T21:08:00.000-04:00

Today we played in the pool. Well they all did and I stayed outside of the pool. But I did have fun shooting the water gun.

Dexter & Luke

2011-08-11T21:28:00.000-04:00

I love my cousin Luke. He is really good at sharing food and books and movies. It is nice to have someone to play with at all times that is your size.

Cousins!

2011-08-10T23:26:00.001-04:00

Dexter, Cole and Luke out for a ride. I love my vacation!

Broken Hand

2011-08-09T22:47:00.000-04:00

I have no picture of this thankfully but today at school Dexter closed a door on a little girl's hand! She was one of the newer members of the class so she must have just turned 2 years old. Dexter is fairly obsessed with having doors closed all the time and I can easily see how he would have shut the door without looking. So sad, I hope it is not broken but the staff seemed to think it was! We leave tomorrow for Ohio but Dan is going to check up on the situation this week to see how the little girl, Aspen, is doing.

All better

2011-08-08T21:05:00.000-04:00

Fever is gone. I am feeling better. Just in time for my airplane ride on Wednesday.

Now if the stock market could stop falling so my college savings stops dropping my stomach will feel better.

fever

2011-08-06T18:59:00.000-04:00

Mommy and I are sick. We have 4 days to get better before we fly to Ohio. I am pretty sure sleeping on the couch watching my favorite movies will get me better in time.

Mischief

2011-08-06T11:33:00.000-04:00

Crawling under a car, getting my own chocolate milk.

I like that I can do whatever I want.

Night Night

2011-08-02T00:15:00.000-04:00

I used to sleep with George and just put my night time book on the shelf next to my bed.

Now I sleep with George and my Toy Story books.

Night night all my blog followers!

Sunday Mornings

2011-07-31T12:57:00.000-04:00

Sunday mornings are all about sitting on the couch eating pancakes and watching movies. Today I am watching "how to train my dragon". That movie is my cousin Luke's favorite.
In the top picture I am sitting on mommy and daddy's new bedsheet set they bought yesterday - it is fun to climb on!

Giraffe

2011-07-28T00:04:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I went to the zoo after it was closed. Mommy's work was having a party there. Going to the zoo after hours is awesome! The animals are much more playful when it is cooler out and I didn't have to fight the crowds to see the animals. My favorite was the gorilla because I like to beat my chest and make gorilla noises.

Monkey

2011-07-25T21:12:00.000-04:00

Fun times at the base playground. Swinging is my favorite. I did it for 30minutes non-stop on Saturday (thanks Daddy for pushing me). Mommy made me stop after 10 minutes today.

Borders & Water

2011-07-23T15:44:00.001-04:00

Borders bookstore is out of business so we went there today to get some books. We walked out with every Curious George book they sold plus a couple toy story books.

After the bookstore I got to play in the water splashpad thing at the outdoor mall. (not sure who the boy is who hugged me - the ladies love me and the boys want to be me)