Christmas Coat

I thought I'd post a picture of Alexis in her new Christmas coat that her Nana bought her. She just looked so festive in front of the tree that I had to take a picture and send it on. If I don't blog before Christmas, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. We may get lucky and have a white Christmas.

Snow Angel

We had a semi-big snowstorm a couple of days ago and decided to put Alexis's snowsuit to use. We made snow angels and attempted a snowman, although unsuccessful. I was also able to get my exercise pulling her around on her saucer sled. Maybe next time we'll be ready to go and find a hill to attempt. I know I'd have a little more fun with that except I'll probably get just as much exercise carrying both Alexis and the sled to the top. I think that may be a good day for daddy to help.

Cheese!!!!!!!!

Here's a picture of Alexis, myself and her cousin Nicolas.
She definitely likes to "cheese" it up for the camera.

Alexis's Christmas Party

Alexis is the one covering her head on the far right in the top picture and with her finger in her mouth in the other. Makes it a little difficult to sing.






This past week at Alexis's daycare, they had a party with Christmas carols and even the big guy himself. Alexis was so excited all week practicing her songs and talking about Santa Claus coming to school. The night of the event was a different story. Alexis made it to her class fine without too much of a tear. She marched right up to the stage with her class fine. Once she reached the stage and turned around, her "arm shield" went up for protection. Let's just say this is her way of "hiding" when she's feeling a little uncomfortable. Needless to say, all the practice all week went down the drain because she was too terrified to sing. Hopefully her next performance will be a little better.

I love fall and I hate fall. It is a very beautiful time of year, however we have several trees and I really dread the days when we have to go outside and rake leaves. It feels like a punishment that my parents would have used. At least Alexis likes it enough to help. She usually will help pick up leaves and place them on the areas that have already been raked. We're really working hard to get her to put them on the tree lawn. It will be nice when Alexis can take over for me and help her daddy with this chore.

Gymnastics Pictures

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I know this is one of my favorite holidays, especially since I get to eat anything and everything I want. Well I was finally able to catch a few pictures of Alexis while at gymnastics on Saturday. I had to be quick with each snap since she runs around the gym like a wild banshee. She still seems to enjoy herself and really looks forward to it each week. Here are a few of the shots I was able to get.

Gymnastics

Alexis started her gymnastics class last weekend. I thought this would be a good way to let her run out some of her extra energy. There are about 12 kids in her class all between 2 and 3 years old. It was pretty neat. There was all the real equipment that you see on tv. I always wondered how the gymnasts were able to jump so high during the floor routine. It is really spongy and feels like some sort of trampoline. It made me feel like trying some flips and round offs. I opted not to since I didn't want to make a trip to the hospital. At first, Alexis was not too sure about this whole tumbling thing. Once she warmed up, it was hard to leave when it was time to go. She learned how to do somersaults and swing on the high bar. There was a trampoline and a balance beam too. I think I had as much fun as Alexis did and we are both looking forward to the next several weeks. I'll try and snap a few pictures at the next session.

Happy Halloween a Day Late!!!

Alexis and Tyler are waiting to get started.

This was too cute so I just had to take a picture.

Patiently awaiting the "messy" part.

EWWWWWW!!!!

These were our pumpkin creations.

We had a great time carving our pumpkins and trick or treating. Alexis loved playing in the shmootz from the pumpkins. She was our cleaner and Dean and I did the carving. I still think she's a little young to play with knives. On Halloween night, Alexis and I went out trick or treating with my neighbor and her son while Dean stayed home and passed out candy. They had lots of fun except Alexis was a little frightened from some of the costumes and I had to carry her almost the entire time. I guess I can figure that I got my exercise for the day.

Pecs

So you all know the story about Alexis feeding her babies from her pecs just like other mommies. Well we were able to catch a picture and couldn't help but pass it along. I just really hope that none of these feeding practices are being done at school.

Big girl bed

So we decided to make the jump from the toddler bed to a full size bed about a week ago. Alexis seems to have transitioned well. Instead of running into our room every night taking up half of the bed, she is actually staying put in her bed all night. The only thing that we need to do is leave her door open and every light on in the house. It's a small price to pay for a good night of sleep. I don't know what it was about the toddler bed, but she wasn't sleeping well. She seemed to have all of these night terrors about snakes and crocodiles and didn't want us to leave the room. It was pretty pitiful. The last thing she would usually say before we left was "protect me mommy". Talk about feeling guilty about leaving Alexis alone to sleep in her bed by herself. She sure knows how to make a point. Where do these kids learn these tactics. It's like they know exactly what buttons to push. Anyway, the nights are less painful and I seem a little more rested. Hopefully her excitement about her new bed will last for a while.

Pumpkin Patch

Today we decided to make our way to the pumpkin patch for our annual fall excursion. This place is pretty cool. They have hay rides, inflatable jumping games, hay mazes and painting. The weather cooperated today too with the sun out and only a cool breeze, not a frigid frost. Here are a few pictures of our fun day.

Obsession with babies

Alexis continues to be quite the lover of babies. My sister-in-law Lea recently had a new baby boy about 3 weeks ago and that is all Alexis talks about. "I want to hold the baby!", "I want to go and see baby Niko". Alexis is very observant too. Lea is feeding the baby and boy Alexis is right there, watching. Tonight, she and I were sitting on the couch watching a little tv when she takes her baby, pulls up her shirt, and says "I feed the baby with my peck". I really couldn't contain myself. I tried to pull it together but it did take a few minutes. I am really starting to worry about what she does at school. Hopefully she's not being too friendly with any classmates.

More recent pictures

The above pictures show Alexis and mommy at
the beach and her first excursion to the putt putt
course.

The pictures below show Alexis with her favorite
type of people---babies.

The others are of Alexis enjoying her time at
a playground while in Naples with Nana.

Another Trip South

This past weekend, the three of us made our way down to Naples to visit the folks. We had a great time and of course the weekend went too quickly. Mom and dad always enjoy playing with Alexis and it's quite nice because Dean and I get a little break. Alexis had a great time swimming, playing with Casey (the dog), playing with uncle Todd and reading books. Since my mom is a teacher, I think there are roughly 500 kids books in my parent's house. Alexis will read them but as of late she has been stacking all of her books as high as she can before they fall over. It keeps her entertained for quite a while. We made our way down to Olde Naples and took a stroll on the pier. We were able to see a few dolphins in the water. The weather held out most days until the afternoon when the thunderstorms would hit.
The trip home was another story. Dean had to leave and go directly to Houston for training which meant Alexis and I were on our own. We've done it several times before, however Alexis was much better behaved. I figured the time of the flight would be perfect. Right around nap time and that would mean Alexis would sleep, right? NO of course not. She fell asleep in the car on the way to the airport which meant once she has been woken up, there is no other sleep to be had. Once we made it through security, we made our way to the bathroom. Alexis did not want to use the potty and she did NOT want to be changed. She screamed so loudly that I think people thought I was beating her. I mean it was blood curdling. I didn't know what to do and I really wanted to stay in the stall until the bathroom emptied. But we didn't and I think we got a few looks. I wanted to say, What the ____ am I supposed to do? Anyway, we made our way onto the plane. It started out okay. We had a dvd player with The Wiggles movie so I thought we'd be set. 20 minutes into the movie, the video went out. So much for that. Now what. I have crayons but they wound up all over the plane. Then the bad behavior really started. I must say I can usually keep my child from hitting and biting when I have a corner to put her in for time out, but how are you supposed to discipline a child in a small seat with strangers staring at you wondering how you're letting your child get away with this. I really wanted to throw her out the window. Okay not really but I did want to pull my hair out and scream at the top of my lungs. Lets just say that was the longest 2 1/2 hours of my life for a while.
All things considered, we had a great trip and enjoyed our time. I know I am always ready for a vacation.

Learning my ABC's

We have a theory about learning ABC's in this house. It's called see how many letters you can place on your body and name them as you pull them off. Every day we get a little more accurate.

Potty training update

Well Alexis seems to be getting much better about going to the potty. She's been staying dry for a whole day at a time. The only problem is that she is now addicted to m&m's. She does not forget about her reward at any time during the day. At night before we go to bed, we use the potty before we take our bath and then we get ready for bed and brush our teeth. By this time, I figure she has forgotten about her treat. But NO she reminds me as we're running toward her room. Mommy, I get my 3 m&m's. I guess I can't complain, at least she's going!!!!

Busy Weekend

Mommy and Alexis smile for the camera

Alexis loves to be in the drivers seat

Catching a cat nap before the thunderbirds fly over

Sorry that I've been slow at updating my blog. We had a busy weekend this past week. Lots of things to do in Cleveland. On Saturday as you all know, college football got off to a bang. Since there is a new big ten channel that is going to be broadcasting several games this year, I (for some ungodly reason don't have that channel and I even live in the freakin state of Ohio) had to go and find the game at a bar. I wouldn't have been complaining as much a few years ago when I didn't have a toddler to entertain, especially near nap time. So we were able to take in the first three quarters and then had to leave before Alexis had a true melt down. We even made it home to hear the great news that Michigan had lost. My weekend was off to a great start by now. Later that evening, Dean and I went with some friends to the Indians game. The Tribe has been playing well and are in the hunt for a playoff spot, maybe even winning their division. We had a great time and the Indians won too.
On Sunday, the air show was in town and we decided to take Alexis since she loves looking for airplanes. She was great and seemed to really enjoy the day. She loved being able to sit in a few helicopters and pretend like she was flying/driving. She thinks sitting in the front seat and steering is better than sliced bread. We were smart enough to bring the stroller and let Alexis get a few zzzzzzz in between shows.
On Monday, we decided to try our luck with putt putt golf with Alexis and my nephew Andrew. We thought they would have a good time. Lets just say we won't be going back for a few years until they are a little older. All they wanted to do was run after the balls, pick them up and place them in the hole. It made it quite difficult to keep score.
We had a fun filled weekend that seemed to fly by but enjoyed it all the same. Once Monday comes, I find myself looking forward to the weekends for some quality time with the family; you know when work doesn't get in the way. Unfortunately we didn't take too many pictures but here's a couple from the air show.

Outside fun

Here are some recent pictures of Alexis playing outside. She's been riding her bike a little more, however she still would rather me push her. Hey who wouldn't rather be pushed than do all the work yourself. And yes I try and have her wear a helmet. If anyone didn't know, I am some what of a klutz and unfortunately my daughter has my gracefulness. She has fallen off her bike several times before so the helmet is likely to come in handy. We're looking forward to the upcoming fall but not necessarily the colder weather. It's been a pretty mild summer so hopefully the winter will be reasonable as well.

A night at the ballpark

Alexis, Dean and I went to the Indians vs. Tigers game this past Tuesday night. We had a great time. Alexis was very good, which is hard to believe because at other times of the day, she is not able to sit still for longer than 5 minutes. I have found the secret to keeping her entertained for this length of time. FOOD!!!!!! Most of the food that is served at the ballpark is not food that Alexis eats on a regular basis. So therefore, hot dogs, cracker jacks, peanuts (these kept her busy for a while since they were harder to crack open), and soda worked like a charm. She was asking for ice cream but we ran out of innings. Now that we know she can last a game, we'll have to save the ice cream for the next game. Luckily after all of this nutritious food, Alexis didn't get sick or even a bellyache. We were all happy about that.

Golf Outing

This past weekend was our 6th annual Titas golf outing. We all had a blast. Every year we round up as many family and friends as we can and play a scramble. This year we had 84 golfers and played at a course on the West side. My parents were able to come up and visit and my dad picked up his clubs after a few years and played too. Following the golf, we all head back to Dean's sister's house for a gyro party. Being gyro lovers that we are, Dean's whole family decided it would be a good idea to by a vertical broiler to cook the gyro meat. And let me tell you, I was skeptical at first but now I'm as big a fan as any. We've had this cooker for a few years now and it's always a big hit. I don't know what it is but the gyros are just soooo tasty. I'm already looking forward to another party next year.

A few new words

Well Alexis has become much more talkative lately. It's pretty neat to be able to carry on a conversation with her, well as much as you can with a 2 year old. It's quite funny to hear her explain her day at school. She loves to talk about playing with her friends and painting and playing outside. Recently, Alexis has taken on a few new words. She has become very interested in the female anatomy. She has been referring to ladies "boobs" as pillows now. It's really hard not to laugh as she's poking you in the chest and going "these are pillows mommy". I can thank Aunt Mary for that one. She now goes around trying to touch everyone's pillows and we have to keep on her about not touching people there. She's a little parrot--don't touch pillows mommy. I have to admit that this can be embarrassing while in public. Alexis does seem to understand a slight difference between men and women. Instead of having pillows, Daddy has pecs. I don't know what's better; having her run around with her shirt up saying "look at my pillows", or "look at my pecs". I must say I need to get this on video, you know for some blackmail when she's older.

Trip to Dallas

This past weekend, Dean, Pete, Alexis and I went down to Dallas. We were visiting Dean's sister Mary and her husband John. We had a great time. The weather was nice and hot and we were able to get a little swimming in at the pool. The Indians were in town playing the Rangers so we were able to take in a game. It's funny to think that I traveled 1200 miles to see the Tribe play for the first time this year. Alexis was actually very good. I was a little worried that we wouldn't be able to keep her entertained for three hours but she surprised us. The key to keeping her busy is to keep the food coming. She had an entire hot dog, a few handfuls of cracker jacks and some ice cream. That was Mimi and Nono's idea.
The next day we took a trolley ride around a cute little city downtown. Alexis has a big thing for trains lately so we thought she would really enjoy that. Being in Texas we felt like we had to eat some steak so that evening we went to a steak house for dinner. I'm normally not a big steak eater but as they say; When in Texas, do as they do. I did notice quite a few trucks and boots. We wanted to get to a boot store for Pete to find some boots but we didn't make it. Maybe next time. Needless to say, we had a wonderful time and thank John and Mary for their hospitality. We are definitely looking forward to our next trip to Dallas.

Alexis' best friend

Alexis and Andrew are best buds. I think Alexis
is going to be sad when she finds out they're related.

Catching a snooze before dinner.