Things that shouldnt be funny, but are

We're still working on the correct way to pick up a cat, but Chance really doesnt seem to mind. Alex has been squealing and chasing him most of the day though and he's now hiding under the bed, trying to get some rest.
Had a fun day a Gymboree but Alex decided it was time to leave early when the parachute came out today. I think she's a little tired since her sleep schedule is still a bit bumpy and might have a bit of the sniffles as well.
Tomorrow afternoon is the big day when Alex gets to see the PBR bull riding in person. We went today for a bit of preview to a bull riders meet and greet. My favorite rider was there, but apparently he's not a favorite of Alex. He even played peek-a-boo with her and rubbed her back and was very sweet to her when she started to cry. I'm sure she'll have a better reaction to the bulls.


And she did enjoy the bulls. Very fast moving and lots of good music. It was a long 2 1/2 hour show so we took a couple of breaks to walk around. She was very upset when we left, she stopped in the parking lot, trying to pull us back in to the building, "No-Bulls, Bulls, Bulls". We watched it on TV that night and the next and I'm sure we'll see it today. Whenever its time for a little TV its either "Beast" or "Bull"

New Addition

Just a quick post to announce a new addition to the family-Chance the Cat. Yes, Alex finally got her request for a cat granted and I dont think we could have found a better match. He came to us from a rescue group . They had named him Chandler but I refuse to have a pet with the name of a Friends character so we figured Chance was a good transition from Chandler and also told a little bit about him. You see, Chance was given a second chance on life. He and his siblings were left outside of Petco in a five gallon bucket when they were about 3 weeks old. It was a fight to keep them alive, but most made it. Since he was hand raised he is very people oriented and purrs at just the sight of you. He's very playful and loves to sit in your lap for long petting sessions. Since he was fostered in a house with dogs, Kylie and Rowan don't bother him at all and surprisingly he doesnt bother Rowan. Kylie on the other hand is being a scaredy dog, but she's coming around too and I can easily see the two of them playing together soon. Alex is so happy and Chance lets her do anything to him. I dont think it will be long before she tries dressing him up and having a tea party with him.

Tale as old as time..

Every parent thinks just about everything their kid does is adorable and we are no exception. Here is a rundown of some of Alex latest memorable moments. She is in love with, no obsessed with, Beauty and the Beast-and not the princess, but Beast Himself. I think its might be her first crush, she loves the big hairy fellow. She wants to watch the entire movie several times a day and sings along with the theme song and dances to it. Her most often said word lately after Momma and baba (dog) is beast. Dada has been forever linked with Bulldogs now, it seems his desire for one has made an impression on her. Whenever she sees a bulldog she says Dada. Da has even taught her to make a bulldog face which is quite comical as she juts out her lower jaw and tongue. Her other latest and greatest move is her "ooh, ooh, my baby" dance which involves her-what do you know-singing ooh ooh my baby, and shaking her tush and swinging her arms. She's got the moves! She's getting her shapes and colors down pat. If you ask her to point to a certain color she gets it right most of the time, but if you ask her what color it is she almost always says purple. We've been working on manners and she says yep, please as pretty much one word. She is talking more but maybe still not enough. Doc isn't concerned but has given her until Easter to turn into a chatterbug or we'll look into extra help then. Doc was also concerned about her weight and said to butter, batter and fry everything. We've been so careful about her eating healthy and now that's out the window. Unfortunately her favorite snack is the fat free gummy fruit snacks-go figure. The weaning process is getting there (not willingly, and with much screaming, but hey) and hopefully she'll start showing more interest in food. Sleep has also been an issue lately (we were just too lucky the first 18 months) She still protests going to bed, some nights more loudly and longer than others, but it has gotten better. She's also now waking in the middle of the night and that's a little harder to get her back to sleep but we're making headway. Our bedtime ritual is trashed at the moment since anything remotely connected to bedtime is met with nononono's. Getting her in PJ's was a battle for awhile but as long as they have doggies or disney on them, she's OK with it. Her favorite toys of late are still her puppy and her doll, loves to color and play with her felt books and boards, loves her puzzle blocks and other puzzles. A daily tea party is still a must do. We watch bull riding every weekend (and she and I are going to the PBR in a couple of weeks!) Instead of pony rides on the knee, she does bull rides, one hand holding my forearm like its the rope and the other up in the air, ready to go. She loves it! Its been pretty cold here and we got about 3 inches of snow which for her is considered a blizzard, so we haven't done much. Luckily the weather last weekend was good for the Krewe of Barkus Mardi Gras pet parade. There must have been more than a thousand dogs in all manner of costume, Alex was in baba heaven and she came home draped in beads-only 2 and already getting the mardi gras beads-blame it on the ooh, ooh dance.

I know, I know...

Its been way too long. Lets see if I can recap the holidays. We did all sorts of fun things for Christmas-We had a wooden tree advent calendar that we did every morning along with a chocolate one too. Alex was very quick to remind me of both of them if we didnt do it first thing in the morning. We baked cookies and made a gingerbread house. We took a horse drawn carriage ride downtown to see the lights. Alex slept the entire time we waited in line and luckily woke up when it was our turn. We went to Santa's Magical Kingdom which has about 2 million lights. She was pretty mesmerized by them all. We enjoyed a brisk day in Old Town St Charles and saw the Santa parade. Grants Farm was another Christmas highlight. They had a nice light display and Alex got to see real reindeers and penguins. We went to the Botanical Gardens and saw the holiday train show which she really enjoyed. It was a beautiful day so we walked around the grounds for the traditional sheep photo op and of course had to feed the koi fish in the japanese garden. We almost got a photo with Santa there but at the last minute Alex decided that just wasn't happening. Santa photos were not to be this year, we tried several places and far away he was great but no way was she sitting on his lap.









Alex got to open a new pair of PJ's and a new board game Christmas Eve. She did a pretty good job playing Pooh Candyland even if she doesn't follow the rules. Then it was setting out the magic reindeer food and carrot for Rudolph and milk and cookies for Santa and then off to bed.






The next morning brought an overflowing stocking and lots of presents under the tree. We made the mistake of letting her open her new doll and its accessories first and just about everything paled in comparision to it. Some other favorites were her new posable puppy dog, her tin top and keepsake felt name book I made her.







Then it was off for a few fun filled days with Grandpa & Grammy and Mimi & Poppa. Unfortuantly a case of strep throat marred the visit but after a visit to the doc she was soon feeling back to her old self.
That left just about enough time to get all the Christmas decorations taken down and the birthday decorations put up. She started her day following the golden ribbon to her Cherished Teddies for age 2. After that, we had a tea party for her birthday since its one of her favorite things to do of late. We all ended up with very sweet tea since Alex had so much fun with the sugar cubes. She got lots of Melissa and Doug wood beads and lacing cards and such, The Littlest PetShop house with lots of doggies and kitties(which she calls the bulldog one-Dada), some charms for her bracelet to commemorate the previous year, and probably the best-a mini trampoline with handle. She has a blast jumping on that thing.





Thats it for the holidays. I'll update on every day life very soon, promise