Super Sand Box

So, Tim has been planning a sand box/water fun area since before Alex was born. For those of you who visited our SC house, he had the perfect spot picked out at the end of the garden and between the garage and the neighbor's fence. It was strategically placed so it could be seen from the kitchen and was next to our patio. Leaving our backyard was one of the hardest parts of leaving SC, so I guess it makes sense we ended up renting a house on stilts with a huge play area underneath. I don't think we were in this house a week before Tim decided Alex's future sandbox would be created by boxing in 4 of the stilts, but we were waiting for Alex to get bigger and to see if we would stay in the house for another year. Now that we have resigned our lease and it's warm (almost too warm for March!) out, we have our super sand box!

We calculated that we would need about 2.5 cubic yards of sand ... that's 128 bags of sand from Lowes!!! Since we've already experienced carrying heavy things from Lowes to the car and from the car to the house way more times than we want to remember (think soil for our garden last year, tile for the entire downstairs of our SC house, and all those pavers for the patio and sidewalk), we opted for having a truck deliver sand from a nearby soil/rock store. The truck driver was not willing to drive through our yard to get the sand close to the sand box, so I had to have him dump it in the driveway. We then borrowed the neighbor's wheelbarrow and got to work. Thankfully, Alex helped!

The pile of sand (redneck sandbox)!	Whoa, Mommy brought the beach to our house!
Tim worked late the night the sand was delivered, so we just played in the driveway!	So what’s the deal with all this wood?
Alex helping Mommy fill the wheelbarrow.	Alex undoing Mommy’s progress. (That’s drool, not sweat!)
The next morning, Alex was a very happy boy!	Filling his bucket with sand.
He will put sand into anything!

Alex’s First Easter Egg Hunt

Today was Alex's first Easter Egg Hunt at our favorite play place, Fit For Fun. I love this place because it has all kinds of big play equipment we don't have room for, but is only for children under the age of 5. Alex and I have started going there more often, especially since he has this new found love for climbing.

 

At the hunt, they arranged the kids by age group, so we were only up against ages 6 months - 23 months. Alex and I had lots of fun picking out his Easter basket yesterday, and he has had lots of practice opening plastic eggs (especially when Grandma Murff filled them with Goldfish), but I guess I didn't think to practice picking up eggs and putting them into the basket until last night. Needless to say, Alex was way more into playing on the playground equipment than picking up eggs. We ended up with ... 2! I didn't want to gather eggs for him while he played, so I just followed him around pointing out eggs and hoping he'd pick one up. We also attempting posing with the Easter Bunny. Alex was not impressed ... at least he wasn't as scared as he was of Santa Claus, but he definitely didn't like sitting on the Bunny's lap. Oh well, there will be several more Easters!

If you want copies of the pictures, click this link: Easter 2012 Photo Album

Oh, and here are a few pictures of Alex from last Easter. He sure has grown up a lot!

Waterfront Dining

Alex and I went to eat at a great restaurant called The George in downtown Wilmington while Grandma and Grandpa Murff were in town. Alex loves any excuse to be outside, so he did great job being patient during lunch. Thank goodness for passing boats and people watching!! Of course, Grandma and Grandpa provide quite a bit of entertainment as well! Too bad they live 5 hours away, because Alex adores them!

I love this little guy!	Here, Mommy, have some bread.
Is there something on my face?	Chillin’ with the Grandparents.

Feeding Kovu & Playing With Trucks (Videos)

Please excuse the mess you see in these videos, as I was in the process of major packing and unpacking!! Watch how Alex has been keeping himself busy while I pack up the owner’s stuff and unpack all our stuff from storage.

 

Always Learning

I know I say it all the time, but it is so amazing to watch Alex learn new things. I used to find it amazing how much a 4th grader would learn over the course of the 180 day school year ... but watching a toddler learn multiple new things every day is just fascinating! Here are just a few examples and pictures of what Alex has learned or surprised us with over the past few days.

Daddy was washing the pollen off our cars while I was doing a few things upstairs. When I came down, I found Alex stomping around in a puddle (with a little encouragement from Daddy). While we were watching and about to take a few pictures, Alex just picked up the hose and started staring in amazement at the water. I managed to catch a brief video before he got himself completely soaked and cold.

 

I bought a little chair for Alex to practice sitting in since he loves climbing on the couch and trying to sit in his rocking chair. The problem with the rocking chair is that it rocks, and isn't stable enough for me to feel comfortable letting Alex play on it. Plus, he loves to knock it over and to climb on it sideways. So, it just figures that after 5 minutes of figuring out his new chair, I look from the kitchen and find Alex STANDING on the chair (no picture of that since I was running to grab him before he found a reason to tryout the emergency room). I guess he will always have to be very closely supervised no matter which chair he's figuring out!

Last night, Daddy was looking in the fridge for a bottle, but apparently wasn't looking quickly enough. Alex pushed his way in front of him, climbed into the fridge, and found the bottle. Unfortunately for Alex, the bottle was empty, but never fear ... Alex knows what container holds the milk! After dragging out the carton of milk, he continued looking for food to flavor his milk. What a goof!

OK, that bottle is empty.	I know that milk is here some where.
Maybe some Ranch will taste good?	Or Caribbean Jerk?
Please?	Daddy, I insist!

It’s Been a While!

Hey guys! Sorry for the break! Things just keep getting busier. I meant to post an update last week with Alex's new statistics from his 15 month check-up, but never got to it with all the preparations for my weekend of company. Grandma and Grandpa Murff came in Wednesday and Aunt Beth and Uncle Eric came in Friday to celebrate my big 3-0 and St. Patty's Day. Now that things are a little slower, I'm forcing myself to use nap time to make a few posts (bedtime will be for shoveling sand into Alex's new sandbox, but more about that later).

Alex went in for his 15 month wellness check-up on March 12th. He was a little grumpy since it was nap time, but overall, he was a good sport. Luckily, we only had to get 1 vaccination, so that was a relief! He seems like he's grown a ton since December, so we were pretty excited to see his new numbers - but to our surprise, there wasn't much of a change. I guess the full-time walking and running and climbing and general constant mischief is the reason for looking so much bigger! :-)

March Numbers:
Length: 31 inches ... 46%ile (gained 1/4 in)
Weight: 25 lbs, 12 oz ... 67%ile (gained almost 2 lbs)
Head: 49.25 cm ... 94%ile (gained 1/2 a cm)

I dressed my sweet Alex up a bit the other day in the hopes of getting some cute spring pictures. I managed to get a few, but it sure is hard!!

More Monkeying Around

OMG! (that's Oh My Gosh for those of you who don't know) Alex is officially a climber! It all started yesterday when he kept trying to throw his leg up on the couch and scurry up. Then all of a sudden, he was sitting proudly on the couch! It happened before I could even ready myself for it to happen. As Grandpa Art said, I'm in trouble now! Alex has been really good about getting down from the couch for about a week or so, so the challenge is really to make sure he doesn't try to catapult himself over the arms.

Then, as if climbing on the couch wasn't enough of an accomplishment for one week, Alex decided he also needed to climb on his box of diapers last night after dinner and the laundry basket today. I was literally looking at the pictures I had just taken of him playing with his new blocks, when I looked up and saw him sitting on top of the laundry basket. This monkey is bananas! :-)

Climbing on his diaper box.	Playing with his new Mega Bloks table.
Post Mega Block throwing party.	Maybe the basket will fit on top.
Pushing the laundry basket away.	Surprise!

Alex has become a constant source of laughter. He's always trying something new and getting himself into some pretty hysterical situations. I hope you enjoy the next two pictures and this video as much as I enjoyed taking them!

I can fit …

…see!

Nachos

I made nachos from leftover fajita filling for lunch Sunday while Alex was napping. Of course, he woke up in the middle of eating these nachos, so we figured we give him a taste. They were definitely a hit! It's taken a little while, but Alex is finally getting a little adventurous with food - especially if it's food I'm eating! So, for the first time in a long time, here are pictures of Alex ... with me! (I'm usually behind the camera, so it was nice to have some pictures taken of me, even if I hadn't showered!)

Hey Mommy, I love you. May I have some nachos?	Say cheese!
More!	Being silly.
Being sillier.	How do they eat with this thing?
But I really want that fork!	BUT I REALLY WANT THAT FORK!

I Can Do It By Myself

Alex has always been a pretty independent little boy, but this is bordering on crazy! A few weeks ago, he was "helping" me fold his laundry. I looked down, and saw that he'd pulled out a pair of socks from the laundry basket and was attempting to put the socks on. He hasn't figured out that he has to do more than just lay the sock on his foot, but goodness, when did he grow up so fast? He also tries to put his shoes on in the same way. I finally caught him in the act ...

Hmm, maybe Mom will take me outside if I put my shoes on.	First the left one …
…then the right one.	They have to go on somehow!
Wait a minute, you’re taking pictures!	If I look really cute and relaxed, will you help me?
Let me smell these shoes …	…yuck!