April 23, 2005
FYI
Dear World,
I'm going to be a cousin! When Mom told me this morning I said "Cool!"
Love,
Alexis
Posted by Sweet Pea at 8:06 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Comments
Hey, Alexis, which would you prefer, boy or girl cousin? Just think of all the thiings you can do with either one. Congratulations on your new cousin. Grandma
Posted by: Donna at April 25, 2005 5:56 AM
I don't think she cares. I'm not sure she even understand the concept, but she keeps saying "Cool!", but then again that's one of her favorite words!
Posted by: Dianne at April 25, 2005 12:56 PM
April 20, 2005
Sunny Day
It's a beautiful sunny day so Alexis and I just had to go out and play and go for a walk, because after all that is what beautiful, sunny days are made for!
Tiptoe through the grass
More lawnmower fun
Swing!
And after a long morning of playing outside you just have to come in and take a rest.
Posted by Daffodil at 12:30 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Comments
She must have hit a growth spurt. I swear she has grown so much this month. Big girls we have now. lol They don't look at all like toddlers any more. Of course I guess they aren't toddlers any more.
PJ
Posted by: Pat at April 20, 2005 9:24 PM
She's 33 1/2 inches tall. She keeps going through growth spurts and her legs are getting so long! Weight wise she's still wearing 18 month clothes, but for the length we have to go with 2T.
Posted by: Dianne at April 21, 2005 9:39 AM
Aww... Shes soo cute
Posted by: Taylor at January 11, 2006 4:34 PM
Thanks! We sure think so. :o)
Posted by: Dianne at January 11, 2006 4:42 PM
April 19, 2005
Tuesday Pictures
Grams sent Alexis a bubble mower via the help of my sister and Alexis loves it!
Alexis new favorite thing to do is pick dandelions and smell them.
And just because they are so pretty and they are blooming in my front flower beds here is a picture of some tulips!
Posted by Daffodil at 7:25 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Comments
what a cutie! I just love her outfit and hat! My monther always would dress me in matching outfits topped off with a hat. She looks like she has so much fun with you!
Posted by: island girl at April 20, 2005 5:21 AM
Alexis loves hats! She puts them on and takes them off many times during the day. Sometimes she'll wear multiple hats at once! And if we go out she has to have her hat and glasses. I'm just waiting for the day when the purse has to go too! LOL
Posted by: Dianne at April 20, 2005 9:13 AM
April 18, 2005
The Napkin Goes In Your Lap
Today Alexis and I went over to Columbia to eat lunch with Jamison. When the waitress laid a stack of napkins on the table I was cutting Alexis' chicken so I didn't get to them immediately. Before we moved them out of her reach Alexis picked up a napkin and spread it out on her lap, just like I do when we are eating. For those of you who have small children, or those of you who want to have children: YOUR CHILDREN DO WHAT YOU DO, SO DO THE RIGHT THING! That's my girl!
Posted by Daffodil at 1:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
April 16, 2005
Life
I've been thinking a lot lately about life. Watching Alexis makes me appreciate little things I've taken for granted over the years. She revels in being outside. The grass thrills her. A bug crawling on the ground can keep her occupied for eons. It's astounding to think about and breathtaking to watch.
It amazes me how her mind works. You can almost see the little wheels turning in her brain. She's so young and so full of potential. It's amazing. And she learns new things everyday. It's fascinating to watch and I'm enjoying every minute of it.
No matter how stressed out school makes me or how grumpy I get, all I have to do is stop and look at Alexis and in a moment none of that matters. She's such a little miracle and so wonderful to behold. She makes everything else just seem trivial. She's my little reality break in the midst of life. What ever did I do before she came?
Posted by Daffodil at 7:58 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Comments
awww! :)
Posted by: Monica at April 17, 2005 10:12 AM
April 13, 2005
Conversations With Alexis
Lately if Alexis doesn't want to do something she either ignores you, or she tells you "No!!", but she knows if you count to three you means business! Tonight Jamison was ready to take her upstairs for her bath as I was uploading pictures of Alexis to the blog. She was in the computer/craft room with me and Jamison told her it was time to go.
Jamison: Come on Alexis let's go take a bath.
Alexis: Hi Daddy!
J: Hi Alexis. Let's go.
A: No!!
J: Yes. It's time to go take a bath.
A: Hi Daddy!
J: Alexis now!
A: Hi Daddy!
J: One...
A: Two...
At that point Jamison and I just cracked up. Alexis was basically like, "Oh yeah...so what...I can count too!" Jamison picked her up and carried her upstairs while I was still laughing my head off. Sometimes parenting is just funny!
Posted by Daffodil at 7:08 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Comments
I have a cousin just like Alexis. ironically his name is Alex. he thinks its funny to count to 10. we laughed forever the first time he did it.
Posted by: Jennifer at April 20, 2005 1:01 PM
My Own Gardening Gear
Posted by Daffodil at 6:58 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Comments
Such a helper! I especially like the " water the flowers and then water Alexis" sequence. lol
Posted by: Pat at April 14, 2005 4:57 AM
Yeah apparently Alexis flowers need drinks too! :o)
I can't wait for it to get warm enough that I can just hand her the hose and let her water whatever she wants! LOL
Posted by: Dianne at April 14, 2005 3:03 PM
April 8, 2005
The Princess Will Take Your Call
Sidenote: Shortly after this picture was taken Alexis wanted me to put on her tiara, which I did and then promptly forgot about it. In fact I just recently discovered I'M STILL WEARING IT!!! This means I wore it OUTSIDE TO GET THE MAIL!! Oh well, if anyone asks I'll just tell them it's Princess Day! And besides it's not like I haven't forgotten I had her bunny ears on and walked to the mail box before, so the tiara should come as no surprise!
Oh and apparently the horse needs to make a call too!
Posted by Daffodil at 1:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Comments
There are people who would kill for that color blonde hair. I hope I am still around when the "twins" turn 16. lol
Posted by: Pat J. at April 8, 2005 4:58 PM
Oh...Did You Just Clean Up?
These should be on the floor...
I'm sorry...Did you just clean up?
How dare you clean up! I will make a mess!
Posted by Daffodil at 1:41 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Comments
Once upon a time I drove through McDonald's window, ordered breakfast and happened to glance in the rear view mirror. I had on a shiny tiara. No one said a word. lol Yes I was coming home from work at the VA Hospital in my scrubs. One Easter morning I walked into my patient's room wearing Bunny Ears, I had forgotten he was in with DT's and probably thought he was just seeing things. lol
Posted by: Pat at April 8, 2005 4:56 PM
April 5, 2005
Garden!
This afternoon when Alexis woke up from her nap we went outside and worked on the garden! I got my strawberry bed put in:
And I added another 8 feet to my garden:
If you'd like to see what it looked like last year you can do so here.
Alexis adores being outside so she had a blast! Unfortunately though she doesn't like to stay just in the back yard and since we don't have a fence this can cause issues. Luckily we are getting a fence soon so this will no longer be an issue, but we'll have to put a gate at the top of the stairs to the basement because those can be an issue too.
Today Alexis discovered the water hose again:
She would go around picking it up and if I had it on to water something she would come over and stick her hands in the spray. Cold water does not phase this kid. She loves it!
She also commandeered Katherine's grape juice:
And apparently the only way to drink grape juice is with your butt sticking out in the air!
As you can see grape juice is quite refreshing on a warm spring day, but it turns your face purple.
And if Aunt Katherine decides she wants a drink of her juice, since after all it is her cup, a fit must be pitched!
Rearranging Mom's plants is also great fun:
It's amazing how much time this can consume.
They look much better here!
And you're not a child if you don't get a little mud on yourself:
Because after all if you're playing with a water hose and dirt in a garden a little mud will be made!
As you can see we had a fun afternoon. I did however run out of compost and I need to get some more mulch, so Alexis and I will have to make another run to Home Depot soon.
I hope you had a fun afternoon too!
Posted by Daffodil at 7:51 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Comments
That was cute! thanks for sharing your day :). Your inspiring me to get out into my jungle and get it cleaned up.
Posted by: Monica at April 6, 2005 1:20 PM
You hear that Dianne, she's taunting you, she grew a jungle and all you've got is a garden and flower bed. Are you going to take that laying down. ;p
Posted by: ManDrake at April 6, 2005 2:24 PM
April 4, 2005
Beautiful Weather
When Alexis woke up from her nap this afternoon there was no question that we MUST go outside! After a quick stop at Home Depot to pick up compost, mulch, some flowers and the items to enlarge my garden we hit the back yard!
Posted by Daffodil at 9:11 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Comments
I am going to miss seeing Alexis' pictures for the month I am away! She just brings sunshine looking at her pictures. I'll miss you sweetie and your mom too!
Posted by: Cindi at April 4, 2005 9:36 PM
Looks as if spring has finally arrived. Our girls get cuter ever day. Check out the pix of Olivia and Ellen riding her bicycle.
Olivia's Grandma
Posted by: Pat at April 5, 2005 9:28 AM
Cin, we'll miss you too! Get well soon ok!
Pat, I saw those. It looks like Olivia was having so much fun!
Posted by: Dianne at April 5, 2005 12:17 PM
March 31, 2005
More Spring Cuteness!
Posted by Daffodil at 6:22 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Comments
Oh my! Hard to believe the "twins" will be two years old soon. They are both adorable.
Posted by: Pat at March 31, 2005 11:12 PM
It's hard to believe 2 years is right around the corner. Some days anyway! LOL
Posted by: Dianne at April 1, 2005 8:23 AM
March 30, 2005
Spring Cuteness
And in case you didn't know you should drink raisins and not eat them!
Posted by Daffodil at 4:46 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Comments
OK, your child has nice NEAT hair. My child looks like a firecracker exploded on her head! LOL:)
Posted by: ellen at March 30, 2005 8:45 PM
You should see her when she wakes up in the morning! LOL She definitely got Jamison's hair though. I had (and still have) some natural curl when I was little.
Posted by: Dianne at March 30, 2005 9:21 PM
March 28, 2005
Pictures From Last Week
My computer is still hosed, but I was able to download these pictures to another computer to share with everyone. Enjoy!
Tada!
Beads!
After months of dealing with the Britax people, and it becoming more and more clear that they had no intention of helping us out in any way or sending us a new car seat strap for the one that was recalled, we bought Alexis a couple of new ones. She likes them MUCH better! They sit up completely, where the Britax one always had a bit of a lean to it. A word of advice to any parents out there considering a Britax car seat: BUY ANOTHER BRAND!!
My New Car Seat
Bunny!
Taking pictures with Grams' camera
Princess
Posted by Daffodil at 1:49 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Comments
Oh my! Alexis has discovered beads, a tiara and a camera all at the same time. lol She is more adorable every day. Hope to meet all of you when I am visiting the end of April.
Olivia's Grandma
Posted by: Pat J. at March 29, 2005 6:21 AM
We'd love that! Just let us know when you're here and we would love to have you all over! :o)
Posted by: Dianne at March 29, 2005 4:05 PM
March 27, 2005
Happy Easter!
Posted by Daffodil at 5:03 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Comments
Happy Easter to you, too! Alexis looks so cute in her Easter outfit :)
Posted by: Monica at March 27, 2005 6:35 PM
Love the outfit and especially the Easter bonnet! Happy Easter to you all too!
Posted by: Cindi at March 27, 2005 7:13 PM
Thanks! She actually picked the dress herself. I found a yellow one with daffodils on it, but she liked the pink one with roses! :o)
Posted by: Dianne at March 28, 2005 9:24 AM
March 16, 2005
Picture Wednesday
Posted by Daffodil at 7:23 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Comments
Gosh how can she just keep getting cuter and cuter? I love the robe!
Posted by: Cindi at March 17, 2005 4:11 PM
Yeah, she looks like a female version of Yoda. Maybe I should give her my boken and see if she's figured out how to use it yet.
Posted by: ManDrake at March 18, 2005 11:00 AM
March 14, 2005
Sniffles, Sneezes and a Fever Oh My!
Ah the joys of being little. Yesterday when Alexis got up from her all to brief afternoon nap I noticed she was a bit warm so we, or I should say Jamison, tracked down the thermometer and it turns out she did have a fever. So we gave her some Tylenol and I went to the store and got her some frozen juice pops and some orange pineapple juice. Neither of those went over too big. She's just not a juice girl for the most part, but at least she still has an appetite. Too bad she won't eat soup either or I'd make her some chicken soup. This morning she still has a fever so I gave her some more Tylenol and also gave her some Dimetapp. She's a little droopy and slightly grumpy, but it's not too bad. Hopefully she'll feel better soon!
Posted by Daffodil at 8:31 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Comments
Hope she is feeling better soon! Matthew has had the flu for the past few days, which has not been fun. He had the flu shot and seems to be perking up today so hopefully it has at least made the duration shorter.
Posted by: Wendi at March 14, 2005 12:42 PM
She seems to be a bit better this afternoon. Hope Matthew is feeling better too!
Posted by: Dianne at March 14, 2005 2:20 PM
March 12, 2005
Barrettes
A few weeks ago I bought Alexis some cute, little, clip-on barrettes to use when she gets a little more hair. Tonight I decided to try one out to see how it would look. The only hitch to this little plan was when Alexis saw that there were more than one, she wanted them ALL in her hair!
Posted by Daffodil at 6:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
March 11, 2005
Easter Bunny
As you can see Alexis wasn't as thrilled with the Easter Bunny as she was with Santa, but it's a cute picture despite of that fact and even if she does look a little sad. What's really funny though is that she's been looking at the picture all afternoon and saying, "Hi Easter Bunny!!" If only she had been so thrilled with him when we were there!
Posted by Daffodil at 8:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
Friday Pictures
Who knew beach balls could be chairs?
My new chair
And I didn't want to mention it until I was sure it was true, but Alexis is actually drinking vanilla soy milk now! She loves the stuff!
Milk!
And when you're this cute, why not take your own picture?
Taking my own picture!
And when Alexis goes to sleep tonight I'll scan in the picture of Alexis with the Easter Bunny I had made today. Let's just say she wasn't as thrilled with him as she was with Santa, but it still a cute picture, even if she did get a bit upset.
Posted by Daffodil at 5:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
March 8, 2005
iTunes and My New Favorite Song
I decided last night to give iTunes a try and I have to say I love it! 99 cents per song and $9.99 for most albums, instantly downloaded to your computer! It's awesome!
A few weeks ago when Jamison's mom was here we were walking at Arundel Mills and I heard a Martina McBride song that I absolutely fell in love with! I you haven't heard In My Daughter's Eyes grab a tissue and check it out! It's the sweetest, most heartfelt song I've heard in a long time. It's especially poignant now that Alexis is in my life. Martina doesn't have a video out for the song yet, but check out the lyrics:
In My Daughter's EyesIn my daughter's eyes
I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyesIn my daughter's eyes
Everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light
And the world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me
Gives me strength when I am weak
I find reason to believe
In my daughter's eyesAnd when she wraps her hand around my finger
How it puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about
Is hanging on when your heart has had enough
Is giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light
In my daughter's eyesIn my daughter's eyes
I can see the future
A reflection of who I am
And what will be
And though she'll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you'll see
How happy she made me
And I'll be there
In my daughter's eyes
It's a great song!
Posted by Daffodil at 7:53 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
Comments
That is a great song. I also like Heaven by Live. "I don't need no one to tell me 'bout Heaven/I look at my daughter and I believe..."
Posted by: Moose/MoneyMan/Tom at March 9, 2005 9:08 AM
I just listened to a snipet of that song on iTunes and you're right...it's awesome too!
Posted by: Dianne at March 9, 2005 9:35 AM
Why, I'll have to go download that song on iTunes :). I love iTunes, too.
Posted by: Monica at March 9, 2005 1:10 PM
My only issue with iTunes is that the MP4 format isn't support by TiVo, so I can't share them. I need to put in an upgrade request.
Posted by: ManDrake at March 9, 2005 2:01 PM
Do you think TiVo will support MP4 format soon?
Posted by: Dianne at March 9, 2005 2:29 PM
I don't think it would be that big of a step. I would think that Apple would want people to use it more widely.
Posted by: ManDrake at March 9, 2005 3:26 PM
Monica, how long have you been using iTunes?
Posted by: Dianne at March 10, 2005 11:26 AM
It's been about a year exactly, actually!
Posted by: Monica at March 14, 2005 7:29 PM
March 5, 2005
Blue! Part Two
Posted by Daffodil at 6:33 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Comments
You made that?!? That's awesome!
Posted by: Monica at March 5, 2005 9:34 PM
It's really a paint by numbers sort of deal, but after making all those little stars to fill it in it sure feels like a major accomplishment! LOL
Posted by: Dianne at March 5, 2005 9:38 PM
WOW! No more "store bought" cakes for you my dear.Good job
Posted by: Pat at March 5, 2005 10:06 PM
My mom taught my sister and I how to decorate cakes as a children. I can't do flowers (although I'm going to get my best friend to show me how when she's here in a few weeks!), but other than that I can do pretty much anything, including basket weave (which I figured out myself.)
Last year for Alexis' birthday I bought a cake because school was hectic around her birthday and I was extremely disappointed in the cake. This year I'm making it myself! We're doing a lady bug theme and I'm going to make individual lady bug cupcakes for the guests and a small lady bug cake for Alexis. Jamison was harrassing me because I'm already planning her party but since I will still be in school in June I have to think ahead. Plus I reminded him that last year I started planning the one year bash in November so I waited later this year! LOL
Posted by: Dianne at March 6, 2005 7:39 AM
You are so talented Di!! It looks so cute! Great job! Love ya!
Posted by: Cindi at March 7, 2005 1:50 AM
Thanks Cin! I had fun doing it and Alexis loved the result! :o)
Posted by: Dianne at March 7, 2005 12:35 PM
Blue!
We went to Michael's this morning with Katherine and I was looking on the cake decorating isle for lady bug stuff, when Alexis laid eyes on a Blues Clues cake pan. "Blue! Blue! Blue!" she exclaimed, so of course we bought it. (Everything is said in threes when she's excited, happy or she thinks it's important!) I'm going to make her a "Blue!" cake. I was actually in the process of doing that just a few minutes ago. I turned on the the oven to preheat and it wasn't until it started getting warm that I remembered that the cake recipe I had tried the other day as a test run for Alexis birthday over baked and spilled over on to the bottom of the oven. So as soon as it cools back down I'll get that cleaned up and THEN make the cake. When I finish I'll of course post a picture or two with Alexis and her "Blue!" cake. Until then here's a picture of the "Blue!" pan itself.
Posted by Daffodil at 12:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
March 4, 2005
My New Toy
Today I got Alexis a Pooh tricycle and she even wanted to help put it together. It was cute and of course I took pictures.
And just because it's cute, here's a shot of Alexis when I told her no and wouldn't let her take her daddy's tools in the other room.
Posted by Daffodil at 6:31 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Comments
Every daddy needs a helper! Adorable! I enjoy Alexis' pictures almost as much as I do Olivia's
Posted by: Pat Johnson at March 4, 2005 11:25 PM
She's a big help. She likes to help me with the laundry. It's really cute.
Posted by: Dianne at March 5, 2005 2:26 PM
Oh those are too cute! I love the pouty face! I of course think you chose the best getting her a Pooh trike!
Posted by: Cindi at March 7, 2005 1:48 AM
I love Pooh as much as you do! And Alexis likes him too, but she likes "Blue" even more. They didn't have a "Blue" trike though.
Posted by: Dianne at March 7, 2005 12:37 PM
I'm just glad that she was wanting to help. I can turn anyone with that kind of interest and curiousity into an engineer. :) God knows she's got the bloodline for it!
Posted by: ManDrake at March 7, 2005 2:31 PM
March 3, 2005
Hat!
Posted by Daffodil at 9:22 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Comments
Hey Alexis, dig the hat! You are cool.
Posted by: Grandma at March 3, 2005 1:01 PM
Thank Heavens for Little Girls. Olivia got her first hair cut this weekend. Check out the picture over on amcgltd. Both girls are adorable! I never know what Alexis will have on her head. lol
PJ
Posted by: Pat Johnson at March 3, 2005 4:12 PM
I saw that Olivia had a haircut. They are growing up so fast aren't they? It's hard to believe the 2nd birthday is right around the corner!
Alexis loves hats! And as you saw with the purse if she can't find a hat she'll make one out of something else! LOL
Posted by: Dianne at March 3, 2005 8:05 PM
March 1, 2005
Blow Kisses
Posted by Daffodil at 9:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
February 28, 2005
"Nah-Ghi"
Alexis has a new "word". It's a "word" she started using for something she eats everyday, and used to call by a somewhat normal variation of the whole word. About a week ago she started asking me for a "Nah-Ghi". I finally had her show me what she wanted when I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the child was talking about. Can you guess what it is? It's a banana! So how did a "bana" become a "Nah-Ghi"? The mind reels.
Posted by Daffodil at 4:12 PM | Comments (4)
Comments
Interesting....I will have to tell my husband about this. He was a linguistics major in college.
Posted by: Monica at February 28, 2005 6:14 PM
Maybe it's the word for "banana" in a different language and she heard it somewhere. I know if isn't Spanish because plátano is banana in Spanish.
Posted by: Dianne at March 1, 2005 10:10 AM
I asked my husband about it and he said that she learned the second part of the word. He had a really good, technical, explanation and if I tried to repeat what he said it wouldn't sound right :). But, basically, she hasn't learned how to parse the first and second part of the word together yet.
Posted by: Monica at March 1, 2005 1:10 PM
Interesting! Thanks for getting back to me.
Posted by: Dianne at March 1, 2005 7:57 PM
February 26, 2005
A Fun Day
This afternoon Jamison, Alexis and I drove over to Great Falls, Virginia to have a late lunch with one of Jamison's coworkers, his wife and their 9 month old son. Yesterday I kept telling Alexis we were going to see Rob, Patty, Baby Sam and Sadie (their dog). She'd sit and say, "Baby Sam! Baby Sam!" Today however she just would point at him and say, "Baby!" and refused to actually say Sam.
Alexis amused me with Sam today because she would go along behind Sam as he was crawling and put her hands under his bottom like she was afraid he was going to fall down. It was cute! She also would show Sam how his toys worked as if they were hers and he had never seen them before. I think Sam thought she was invading his space, but he was pretty laid back about it! I meant to take my camera to get a picture of Alexis and Sam together, but I forgot to take it with me.
Lately Alexis has developed the new skill (I use the term skill very loosely!) of squealing in delight at the top of her lungs. She often stands in front of the fish tank in awe and shrieks with delight! (At first the fish were TERRIFIED of Alexis. Any time she got close to the tank they'd all hide. Now they just look at her in a fishy way as if to say, "Oh look, the loud, jumpy creature is back!) When she saw Sadie she went nuts! She started squealing, in that oh so annoying and not endearing way, and saying rapidly, "Dog! Dog! Dog!" She clearly loved Sadie, although she wasn't too keen on her licking her face, but she liked petting her.
Even though we didn't get there until 2:30 or so, around 4:15 we headed home. Alexis does not enjoy being in the car that much. Her tolerance for car trips is about 30 minutes at most. Sometimes you can stretch it out to around an hour if you're creative in distracting her, so we figured we couldn't stretch it much longer. We actually only spent a couple of hours at Patty and Rob's, but we had a lot of fun none the less.
Posted by Daffodil at 7:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
February 24, 2005
Snow!
Posted by Daffodil at 5:37 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Comments
She is adorable. More snow, yuck!
Posted by: Pat Johnson at February 24, 2005 9:57 PM
Thanks!
I actually like the snow. I wish we got more of it. :o)
Posted by: Dianne at February 25, 2005 9:13 AM
Purse Hat and Snow
Who knew? Apparently purses are all the rage in head gear!
And finally Alexis keeps going over to the sliding glass door to watch the snow fall. She'll stand there and say, "Snow!" When she gets up from her nap this afternoon we'll go out and play!
Posted by Daffodil at 9:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
Duck Game
Alexis was saying "Duck! Duck! Duck!" so I was looking for ducks online so she could look at them and we came across a duck game. You have to feed the ducks acorns. (Not sure who wrote this game but to my knowledge ducks don't eat acorns!!) Check it out, it's cute. Play the game here.
Posted by Daffodil at 9:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
February 23, 2005
Alexis Update
Alexis has been growing like a weed! She literally grew ONE WHOLE INCH last week alone! One inch in a week! Needless to say that hurts a little bit and she's been grumpy as all get out! We had a return of the stomach issues Monday night, but she appears to be ok now. Still grumpy, but ok. Here are a few pictures we took this morning and one we took last week. Enjoy!
Are you talking to me?
The return of the Drama Queen!
Ooh laa laa!
Posted by Daffodil at 11:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
February 19, 2005
Saturday Family Picture
Posted by Daffodil at 9:11 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Comments
awwwwwww ;)
Posted by: wormeyman at February 20, 2005 4:02 AM
Wormeyman took the words right out of my mouth :). Hope your having a great weekend!
Posted by: Monica at February 20, 2005 12:30 PM
Mandrake,
Smile and get another one taken.
Posted by: Lonepine at February 20, 2005 6:13 PM
To what end? We have plenty of pictures of us, but none were particularly blog worthy. As always with Neo-con demands for the blog, we run thing here, if you don't like it, move along.
Posted by: ManDrake at February 21, 2005 7:51 AM
You have a nice smile..The one shown looks like a barracuda sp.
Posted by: Lonepine at February 21, 2005 3:24 PM
I am what I am.
Posted by: ManDrake at February 22, 2005 12:49 PM
February 10, 2005
Fish Tank!
Daddy's "Gish"!
Hi "Gish"!
Posted by Daffodil at 9:03 AM | Comments (2)
Comments
Please post more pix of Alexis. I get such delight in watching the "twins" growing up. Scott and Ellen have posted lots of new pix of Olivia lately. I am retiring the end of April and perhaps I will get to meet all of you my next trip up.
Posted by: Pat at February 16, 2005 6:16 AM
I was just thinking yesterday I needed to post some more pictures of Alexis but couldn't find my camera. Now I found it so I'll try and take some today.
Let us know when you're going to be here. We'd love to have you, Scott, Ellen and Olivia over for lunch or an early dinner. That would be so much fun!
Posted by: Dianne at February 16, 2005 7:36 AM
February 7, 2005
Rotavirus Part Deux
What a weekend! Alexis is doing much better except for some lingering intestinal issues (isn't that a nice way of saying that?? :o) ), which she was nice enough to share with me!! Saturday was a very, very, very long day! Luckily Alexis was ok for the most part on Saturday so I laid on the couch and watched Alexis and Jamison play. I feel better now too and luckily (knock on wood!) Jamison has avoided the whole thing all together! We're on the road to recovery, but still not to 100%, but we'll take the step forward!
Posted by Daffodil at 9:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
February 4, 2005
Rotavirus
As I suspected Alexis has Rotavirus. She had to get it eventually, and luckily she didn't have it so severely that she had to be hospitalized. Apparently we are on the home stretch of this thing, but who knows when it will actually be completely done.
Posted by Daffodil at 5:15 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Comments
Yikes! Get well soon, little one.
Posted by: Moose/MoneyMan/Tom at February 4, 2005 11:16 PM
aw! poor thing... I hope she feels better soon.
Posted by: Monica at February 5, 2005 2:12 PM
She's doing better. Still a little intestinal upset but other than that ok.
Posted by: Dianne at February 7, 2005 9:10 AM
Some Days You Just Want to Go Back to Bed
Some days you just want to go back to bed and the past three days have been those kinds of days for me! Wednesday went off with out a hitch for the most part, right up until the point that we ate dinner. Alexis, bless her heart, had something akin to diarrhea. She was wearing pull up training pants and it was a mess! (Although even in a diaper there would have been no stopping this little torrent!) So we got everything cleaned up and got her bathed and I prayed that that wouldn't happen again! See, I can handle throw up, but if it comes from the other end I don't do so well. In fact Alexis threw up all over me Saturday night and I didn't blink an eye, we just got in the shower and hosed off. No big deal!
Yesterday morning I woke up with a killer headache! I had all the signs of a sinus episode coming on and I felt like utter and complete crap. Alexis was in a mood all day and things were just generally bad. But luckily there was no repeat of the diaper from hell from the night before! We gave Alexis a bath after dinner, put her down to sleep around 7 and we settled in for the night...or so we thought.
I went to bed around 9 and Jamison watched The Terminal and then came to bed around 11. Around Midnight Alexis started whining. Jamison was on duty because I had taken Benadryl and it knocks me on my butt! So around 12:15 he went in to see what the issue was and then I heard her throw up through the baby monitor (which appears to have been a fluke in and of itself, even though at first I thought the stomach virus was rearing its ugly head again, it was only a few tablespoons). Knocked on my butt or not that gets a mother up and running. So I went in and picked her up and it turns out she had another nasty diaper to go along with it, but it wasn't leaky thank the Lord or runny, just poopy!
We got her cleaned up and let her watch an episode of Blue's Clues. Around 1 Alexis and I laid down in our room and Jamison retreated to the guest room. This lasted until about 1:45, when it was obvious that Alexis was not going to go to sleep in our room. So I put her back in her clean bed and Jamison came back to our room. This little scenario lasted for about 20 minutes since Alexis was screaming at the top of her lungs and I was afraid she was going to get herself so stirred up she threw up again. So I went to the guest room and took her with me.
Around 2:45 I decided yet again this wasn't going to work and I put her back in her bed. This last for another 30 minutes, of which Alexis was screaming at the top of her lungs. At this point I was furious. Yes, I was furious. Don't be so shocked. I am sick, Alexis and I both were exhausted and I was furious, it all goes hand in hand. So I went into Alexis room and I told her, "Look! You've got to go to sleep! You're not feeling well, I'm not feeling well and I'm over it! Do you hear me? I'm over it! You have two choices; you can either lay here, be quiet and go to sleep, or you can come lay down with Mommy, be quiet and go to sleep. Which is it?" She looked at me for a minute and pointed out the door, "Go with you?" I picked her up and told her, "Ok, you can go with me but I'm telling you now if you don't lay down, be quiet and go to sleep I'm putting you back in this bed and you can cry until morning!" She nodded, "Ok, Mama" and with that finally peace came. She didn't go to sleep immediately, but she laid down, was quiet and didn't squirm or move around. She finally fell asleep around 3:45. Who says you can't reason with a 19 month old?
There are days as a mother that you want to turn in your resignation and anyone that tells you differently is lying or has a nanny to pawn their child off on. This doesn't make you a bad mother, it makes you human and as a mother it is sometimes hard to be human. You don't have the liberty of taking a sick day, it just doesn't happen. You're a mother first and foremost no matter what. Days like these are what I call "Circus Days" (days when you want to sell your child to the circus!), but it doesn't mean you love your child any less, in fact it means you love them all the more.
Posted by Daffodil at 9:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
January 31, 2005
Fashion Statement
Alexis was determined to wear shorts this morning. It's warm inside and we weren't going anywhere so no big deal. As you can see it's quite the fashion statement.
But the ultimate fashion statement had to be when she added the hat and glasses.
I think the hat and the glasses really tie the ensemble together don't you?
Posted by Daffodil at 4:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
Things that annoy me about Medical people
Despite my wife's harsh reputation of my skills as a parent, I'm pretty good at it. Between Dianne and I, we share about 20 some odd years of child care experience. Dianne's knowledge is more extensive, because she worked in the professional side of child care, but between the two of us there are very few things that surprise us. So to make sure that we weren't dealing with something really weird when Alexis was sick, I called the Nurse helpline we have in our county. Basically I just wanted to see if this was some sort of pandemic strain of something, or it was just what it appeared to be. It's overly cautious, but it's my daughter so you can never be too cautious as far as I'm concerned. So I'm discussing the symptoms with the Nurse on the phone and she says that we shouldn't give her anything to drink for the next 2 hours. Dianne and I looked at each other like the lady had told us to give our baby crack or something equally as bad. The Nurse reasoned that that it should be 4 to 6 hours before dehydration would be a matter of concern. I've never heard anything like that before in my life. Even as a child I was given fluids continuously when ill to keep hydrated. I've used the same techniques myself in the past. I left out one detail, she made it sound like my wife be doing this because she was an overzealous mother. Excuse me? I've put my own life in Dianne's hands, I have absolute faith in her ability to do just about anything she puts her mind to. Then the implications of what she was trying to do started to sink in, she thinks we are in a moment of crisis, so she tries to set up mistrust? The ramifications of something like that are staggering. What if I had been some ignorant fool told to call in, to make sure we were on the wrong track and then I started a fight in the middle of our child's illness for the amusement of some nurse with a vendetta? Completely inappropriate, but the norm I've come to expect from medical type people. Which leads to another interesting comment that didn't make any sense to me. We were talking at about 9 PM and she says it's about time for your daughter to be ready for bed. I had to do a double take. I reminded her that my daughter was only 19 months old, that she is usually in bed at 6:30 or so and at this point she has been in bed for hours and she was completely exhausted. The nurse seem to disbelieve that her bedtime was not 9 PM. How does it profit me to lie? How does it harm me to tell the truth? I would need motivation to try and pull something over on her, I would need to gain something. If I have nothing to gain, why would I bother? Anyway, while the recommendations turned out to basically factual, the tone and attitude of the call left me very disheartened and displeased with the experience. Despite the recommendation of my doctor to call them first, I think from now on I'll just wake up the doctor on call so I won't get this kind of treatment going forward.
Posted by ManDrake at 12:40 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Comments
I didn't say you were a bad parent. LOL
I think the most important question as far as bed time goes is this; who the heck puts a toddler down to sleep that late period??!!??! That's not in the best interest of the child to say the least.
Posted by: Dianne at January 31, 2005 12:47 PM
January 30, 2005
You Know You're Completely In Love...
You know you're completely in love with a creature when you can sit and hold her little body while she empties the entire contents of her stomach not once, not twice, but 7 times in a four hour period. Jamison, bless his heart, falls to pieces when anything happens with Alexis. He can't stand for anything to be wrong with her, it breaks his heart, so I have to step up and make sure everything is how it should be. I get the honor of dealing with the problems and giving orders to him, which he follows to a tee and does what needs to be done after I point him in the right direction. We aren't sure where she got the stomach bug, but thank goodness she seems to be on the road to recovery! She hasn't thrown up since nine last night, although she did cough a bit around 1:30 this morning, and I thought we were going to have another go. Her appetite seems to be back today as well, although I've just been giving her light things. Let's hope this little bug doesn't hit Jamison or me and let's hope it's over for Alexis too. I hate to see her like that, it breaks my heart too.
Posted by Daffodil at 2:09 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Comments
Poor thing...it breaks my heart too. Get well soon Alexis!
Posted by: Moose at January 31, 2005 12:13 AM
She's doing much better. Still a little short on the appetite but she's rebounding nicely. Thanks for the good wishes! :o)
Posted by: Dianne at January 31, 2005 9:04 AM
I remember when Isabella went through something similar (except it had to do with her reaction to a certain formula). Inside, I was freaking out because this was happening to, as you say, her "little body". Jamison, I feel your pain - I'm glad I have direction from Lisa during times of baby stress too. It's probably pretty comical to see me run around like a chicken with its head cut off...although in my case, a moose... :)
Posted by: Moose at January 31, 2005 10:16 AM
Alexis had a similar issue with her formula the day we brought her home from the hospital. We switched to soy based ProSoBee Lipil and she was fine after that.
You know we women are just tougher than you guys! ;o) LOL
Posted by: Dianne at January 31, 2005 10:29 AM
January 29, 2005
Paparazzi!
Posted by Daffodil at 10:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
January 22, 2005
Snow!
Posted by Daffodil at 2:36 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Comments
hahah!!! olivia did not know what to do with the snow. She just kept saying COOL!!!
Posted by: ellen at January 23, 2005 10:08 AM
Alexis wasn't sure either. She kept raising her face and catching snow flakes on her tongue. And she kept saying, "Snow! Snow!"
Posted by: Dianne at January 23, 2005 12:20 PM
January 21, 2005
Why Spend Lots of Money on Toys...
When simple objects like cardboard boxes are so much fun??
My new car
Let's go!
Posted by Daffodil at 8:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
January 18, 2005
Loveable
Posted by Daffodil at 7:17 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Comments
She is so cute and of course lovable! You are so lucky! Good luck tomorrow morning Di!
Posted by: Cindi at January 18, 2005 11:47 PM
January 17, 2005
Ear Infection
Alexis started sneezing and coughing again yesterday so we took her to see Dr. West today. It turns out she has an ear infection in her right ear. She prescribed Omnicef and told us to keep doing what we've been doing. I'm glad we took her.
Posted by Daffodil at 1:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Comments
January 16, 2005
Blues Clues Reflections
Over the past few days, with Alexis being sick, we've seen A LOT of Blue's Clues! She hasn't felt much like playing which tells you right there she doesn't feel well at all. For those of you not familiar with the Blue's Clues story, Blue goes around leaving 3 clues that let you know what she'd like to do or eat or play or you get the picture.
When Blue's Clues started back in the latter half of the 90's they sent around videos to child care centers and preschools to promote the show. At the time I was working at this horrible little child care place in Knoxville, Tennessee and Blue is one of the few things that was positive from that experience but that's a story for another time.
Blue's Clues started with a host named "Steve" played by Steven Burns. "Steve" is usually the only "live action" portion of the show. He performs before a blue screen and then the animations are added later through the magic of post production. After several years Steven Burns got tired of this routine quite understandably so they wrote a brother into the show named "Joe" played by Donovan Patton. "Joe" comes to take care of Blue so "Steve" can go to college. "Steve" occasionally calls from college or in the case of the 100th episode he even made a guest appearance. In a recent Holiday episode they told a story when all the characters were babies and "Steve" was a child. This made it much easier than just writing him off and never mentioning him again being that kids have very long memories about such things.
Steven Burns made Blue's Clues in my opinion. He was charming and very talented. Kids loved him and parents thought he was funny and cute. He had a way of enchanting the children who were watching the show all while giving off the aura of humor to parents that he realized the whole endeavor was a bit silly but what could you do? In one particular episode where they were trying to figure out which story Blue wants to play, Blue and "Steve" skidoo into a story where a Rabbit is reading a story and Blue and "Steve" are acting it out. "Steve" is the King and Blue is the King's little sister. Steve Burns does the whole segment in an Elvis impersonation that is hilarious! "Joe" on the other hand just comes off as completely moronic! He's cute but bless his heart he's stupid! It's either very good acting or he's just plain dumb, I can't decide. But Donovan doesn't come off as charming, he just comes off as annoying and ignorant! I completely understand Steven Burns' reasons for leaving the show but I wish they could have found someone more "Steve" like although the folks at NickJr. swear that Donovan came across well on screen tests.
Now the creators of Blue's Clues have added a portion to the show and in some cases an entire show known as Blue's Room and let me tell you if you think "Joe" is annoying Blue's Room will make you want to climb a wall! The theory of Blue's Room is that Blue received a very special key which has the power to transform Blue into a puppet in her room where she can talk to you and you can play together. The theory was that it would be easier to learn language and other important skills if Blue could talk and could spend one on one time with the child watching the show. If possible Blue comes off as more ignorant than "Joe" which is hard to believe. The puppet characters are annoying as well. "Roary", a purple orange dinosaur (Barney anyone?) and "Fred", a girl puppet with orange yarn hair whose name I can only assume is short for Fredericka or something of that sort, don't speak in normal tones, they yell! Seriously, they scream the entire time you are in Blue's Room. Not only is it annoying but then people wonder why kids scream all the time? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out. The only redeeming quality of this little adventure is "Polka Dots" who is the puppet equivalent of Blue's teddy bear from Blue's Clues. He's adorable but unfortunately he can't carry the whole show!
The question that this bring up is this; why they couldn't just teach Blue to speak on Blue's Clues instead of spinning off this annoying counterpart is beyond me. Perhaps they needed more merchandise to pimp off on unsuspecting parents? Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe they just needed a little Hollywood magic (or in this case New York magic since the show, to my knowledge, is produced, acted and put together in the Big Apple or somewhere in the Metro area), but I don't think the magic is still there.
One thing that amuses me about Blue's Clues is how they try to twist gender stereotypes. For example, Blue and Green Puppy are girls, two colors that are usually associated with boys, while Purple Kangaroo and Periwinkle are boys and those colors are usually associated with girls. Another interesting aspect I have noticed, that I don't think they actually intended as significant but you could draw conclusions from, is the fact that all of the cats on the show have a voice and use real words, while all the dogs just mumble. One could argue that they are saying that dogs are dumb and cats are smart but again I don't think that was the intention.
Jamison also has remarked on several occasions about "Blue's devil like prehensile ears" which can pick things up and clap among other things. I never really noticed it until he brought it up but he's right. It's a bit odd. He cracks me up!
Overall Blue's Clues is a very good show, or at least the pre-"Joe" shows are excellent. Occasionally even "Joe" has an episode that is tolerable though those are few and far between. It teaches kids important skills too and let's face it, even with "Joe" at the helm it's infinitely more tolerable than