First day of "pre-pre-school"

Alex went to his first day of preschool or mom's day out or whatever you want to call it this past Wednesday, Nov 18th. We took some pictures of him with his little backpack with "Mo" (Elmo) on it and his Cars lunchbox. He wasn't too happy that mom left, but he did great playing outside. He goes only once a week and with the holiday this coming week, he doesn't go back til Dec 2nd.

It was nice to have some "free" time for mom. Andy was home working on a paper for school and I made some homemade pumpkin ravioli in hazelnut cream sauce for my cooking club. Not too bad for my first attempt making pasta by hand (well, with the help of my friend's pasta roller and ravioli cutter). Also discovered that hazelnuts are not only hard to find, but you also need to crack them with a mallet instead of a nutcracker. What an adventure...it took all day.

Here's the pictures from his first day of school plus some others from walking and the park. Next up--Thanksgiving here with Andy's mom and some friends, then Andy leaves for Germany for 2 weeks and I've got moms and friends visiting the whole time.

Future pilot

We were going to fly today, but timing didn't work out for it. We thought we'd bring Alex's little headset to see if he would start wearing it...up til now he wouldn't and we just put earplugs in his ears. Anyway, he decided at home when he saw the headset that he would wear it and fly his little airplane...this is definitely my son!!

Alex and his friend Kostaki (13 months) did a good job playing on Monday. I couldn't get any good shots of them facing forward, but they had a good time playing and watching each other eat lunch.

Alex will go to "preschool"--really moms morning out--starting in 2 weeks, just Wednesdays 9-1 at a church close by our house. Should be fun!

Here's just a couple pictures of the headset wearing and playtime!

Happy Halloween from Our Little Cookie!!

There was only one logical thing to dress Alex up as for Halloween (he didn't have any suggestions). Since I think about them all day and dream about them at night, there really wasn't anything else for him to be other than a chocolate chip cookie. You can't really buy a cookie costume very easily so I dusted off the sewing machine and enlisted my friend Yiotula's help to put together his costume. It required some minor adjustments after its trial run at the ACSC fall festival last weekend before the big trick or treating event on Halloween. He made the sweetest little cookie you could ever imagine and didn't even mind wearing it at all...just so long as the candy kept getting into his pumpkin (and his belly).

We spent Halloween morning at the pumpkin patch where he loved the inflatable park, twactor train (their spelling), hayride, and teepees despite the cold and damp weather. Halloween night, Dad took him trick or treating in the neighborhood while mom stayed home to hand out candy to the handful of kids who made it to our dark little street. Alex had a good time and he was a joy to watch in his costume saying "mooore" (candy) and holding out his pumpkin bucket.

Congrats to my friends Lisa and Kelly who both had their newest sons (Charlie and Liam) last Friday and Monday respectively!

We aren't quite ready for actual potty training yet, but we got Alex a little seat you put on the toilet and he loves to sit on there before his bath, get some TP, and flush (though not actually going). The following was NOT a setup...this was all Alex after I put him on the potty on Friday night as usual. He got up there and immediately pointed and showed that he wanted a magazine from the bin in the bathroom, so I handed one to him. The rest was his idea...I had to show daddy and he took some pictures because it's just one of those things you can't help but think is cute.

I've been working on a nursery for our little girl and I've got all the furniture together, but had to take apart and repaint the crib to a brighter white to match the other pieces. Not too bad for my first real attempt at furniture painting.

We started swim lessons with Alex last week at the YMCA. I take him on Tuesdays and dad takes him on Thursdays for 4 weeks. He has done pretty well. He likes to get in the water, blow bubbles, and kick, but doesn't like being on his back to float.

Here's the rest of the pictures from Halloween 09.