Hot, Hot, Hot

Not much of a break from the heat wave, a few days of mid 80's and then right back to the high 90's with today's temp topping out at 101. Needless to say we've been spending most of our time indoors. We did take advantage of the "cool" weather though when Da got home from Canada and we went to the park. Alex had a blast, lots of slides and swings and a little clubhouse, plus lots of water to play in. Tuesday we tried Storytime again and she listened a little better this time and danced to most of the songs. Wednesday Da got off work a little early and joined us at Gymboree. Her new favorite thing is the monkey bars, she can hang on really long. She had all the kids wanting to try. Friday we went to Art class at Gymboree. Alex didnt find it very exciting, the projecting was a construction paper robot which consisted of glueing 8 precut squares onto a piece of paper and one black marker to draw a face, not real stimulating. Then the rest of class time was spent playing with shovels in a table full of pasta, didnt real see how that related to art and neither did Alex. She kept giving me a look like "I don't get it". Later, sinceit was too hot to play outside, we went up to the mall so she could play around with other kids. She liked riding the safari jeep the best. She use to be afraid of the rides if you started them, but now she likes them. Saturday it was back to Gymboree for music class which was full of really loud, really active boys. She really wasnt into it at all. Sunday we did some work around the house. Monday it was back to Gymboree for playtime. She's been a busy little girl.

FYI

Alex's site got hit with a bit of spam so I've changed the process for leaving comments a little. Now when leaving comments you'll have to do a word verification and the comment won't show up immediately, it will wait for me to approve it to post to the site. Sorry for the little bit of extra work, but please keep those (legit) comments coming.

Outdoor Fun

As you can tell from the photos, its been a little steamy. But we've had fun, even outdoors in the heat, disaster area and all. We're some of the lucky ones, we've had power the whole time and no damage, a few downed branches, thats it. We were suppose to go to Gymboree on Friday for our first art class, but they were still without power from Wednesdays storms and got hit again pretty hard with Fridays storm. We had our own art class with the sidewalk chalk on the patio. Alex loves for me to draw suns and flowers and then she dances around in them. We played in the sprinkler to cool off, that was lots of fun. We worked on learning to ride the tricycle. She's almost got it. I think if she had some pedal straps that would help, I'll have to keep an eye out for them.

We went to the ice rink (with hundreds of other people looking to stay cool) where MacInnis was holding a camp for the Blues prospects. Like a true hockey fan, Alex was yelling for a fight. She had fun watching them skating back and forth, banging against the glass. We've had a good week, but can't wait for Da to be home.

18-Month Check-Up

She weighs 24 pounds which is 6 oz more than at 15 months and still in the 50% for weight. She is growing like a beanstalk coming in at a tall 331/4 inches which is a whole 2 inches taller than just 3 months ago and boosts her back up into the 90% for height. Alex got a little impatient while waiting for the doctor but otherwise the appointment went well. Doc says she's right on track and like a lot of first born girls is asserting her independence early and advancing quickly.
With the heat wave we've been spending most of our time inside, usually playing either Castle or Farm shich are her two favorites. She's also really enjoying playing with her big drum full of musical instruments, especially the maracas and her wooden shape pattern puzzles. We did get outside for a little bit so Alex could swing. She would be very happy swinging for hours on end. Evertime I stopped the swing and reached to take her out, I got a big NO head shake. Here's some photos showing off Da's handywork on the deck.

Catch Up

Alex has been keeping us very busy lately so no time or energy to write, but I'll try to play catch up while she naps. Here's her new little farm reading nook in the living room. I picked up a few things garage sailing that were just too cute plus she just loves her farm animals.
As you saw from her 4th of July photo, she definetly is Miss Independence. She knows exactly what she wants, even when she doesnt know how to tell us, though she is very good and very emphatic about shaking her head yes and no, especially no. Even Mallorie, the Gymboree instructor mentioned how independent she was getting at the last class. Alex is really enjoying Gymboree. Moving up to the older class seems to be working really well. There's usually about 10 kids in the class (unlike the last class which was lucky to have 5) so its much more stimulating and its a good mix of boys and girls. Now that swim class is over (more on that later) and her ability to sit quietly seems to have gone out the window (we may have to skip Storytime for awhile, didnt go so good last week), we're going to go to more gymboree classes. I'm going to try and hit at least 2 gym classes a week and a music and art class as well. She really loves music, shes such a little dancer. We're pretty excited (OK probably more so me than her) but when we go to Disney, she's going to get to see one of her favorite Playhouse Disney Tot Rock dudes-Dan Zanes. I can't wait for that trip. She's also going to her first concert (well actually her first concert was Black-Eyed Peas last 4th of July, but I'm not counting fairs) next month-The Wiggles! 2 years ago I would have said you were crazy if you said I would ever be caught dead at a Wiggles concert, now I'm actually looking forward to it. I cant wait to watch her dance. We just went to the Garden Wednesday night and saw Vargas, our favorite local band. There was a couple who show up at all their shows who can really swing dance, I think Alex wanted to join them. Instead she danced with Dad and it was adorable.
Back to Swim class briefly. We had our last class last Friday. Alex and Trevor (the one who comes with his Dad and seems to be about the only kid who got something out of the class) were the only 2 kids to show up. I was really disappointed in the class, it just was not geared towards its age brackets. Most of the kids ended up more frightened of the water than when it began. Alex really didn't enjoy the last couple of classes (she just screamed at the instructor if she approached us at all), but luckily she still loves the water. In fact she turned her water table into a mini pool the other day. We have it up on the deck now which Kudos to Dad he fixed. Its reattached to the house, all new floorboards, new ballisters so Alex can't crawl thru and the whole thing covered in stain. I'm really starting to hate painting, but unfortunatly theres still the garage to paint-ugh. That will have to wait a little while though cause I'm finally getting around to doing the interior of Alex's dollhouse. Thats about all the painting I want to do for a while. I've got that project going, and retiling the downstairs bathroom floor, the halloween costumes for Disney, some oudoor pillows and slipcovers for out on the deck and some scrapbooks to catch up on. That should keep me busy while Dads in Canada, especially since its still taking awhile to get Alex to sleep. Some nights are better than others but we're getting there. I just wish it was as exhausting for her as it is for me.
Its really amazing to see her grow, she's absolutly precious. Though during some temper tantrums I think she's possessed and on some days the bad moments seem to outnumber the good. Even still on most days one little hug can make everything better and a "nose" kiss is the best thing in the world.

Such a Big Girl

We did some of our usual things this week like storytime, gymboree and swim class, but we also worked alot on the house. We got the library floor done and then set to work on Alex's room. Since bedtime has been such a trial lately we decided to try the switch to the big girl bed and see if that improved the situation at all. Its been 2 nights and it hasnt been very successful so far which is why this blog will be short since my brains a little fuzzy from lack of sleep. Da also started work on the deck this weekend, but we took some time out to take Alex to the parade downtown on Saturday and cooled off with some swimming on Sunday.