The Ball Boat

Not bad for $8.00 - could use a few more balls, though! But it was a good distraction for Xander while I made dinner.

Oh, the snow!

We woke up to almost a foot of snow today. We knew we were going to get some, but it was still kind of a shock to see how much. It is taking a long time to get completely plowed out in our neighborhood. Chris stayed home from work and spent a lot of time running the snow blower and killing his back with the shovel. There was no way the car was going to get out of the alley until a plow came through. Xander was so excited that he couldn't sleep. We eventually gave up and Chris took him outside to play in the snow with his shovel. It was too cold to stay out long and there was lots of whining when it was time for him to come inside.

Xander trying on his new frog rain boots. They should be perfect for jumping in the puddles!

He is spending less time in the high chair and more time in his booster chair at the table. It depends on the meal, of course. Here he is trying out our new dining table that we just bought.

Coffee and hot chocolate

We didn't have plans today, but really needed to get out of the house. So, we hopped in the car and went to Riverview Cafe. It's nice for Chris to get to see some of the places that we go during the week. It was especially nice for me because I got to sit back and drink coffee and read the paper while Chris played with him. I get a break from chasing him around.

Later, Chris got to go play paintball with a group of guys. It was his first time playing and he had a blast! He came home with a few welts, but I think they were well worth it. He had a helmet on and layers of clothes to help protect him, but the balls hit really hard. He gets to play again in a couple of weeks for a friend's birthday, and I know he is excited about that.

Xander and I had a nice relaxing evening at home. We are having a heck of a time getting him to go to sleep at a decent time lately. He just never seems to be tired enough to go to sleep. Hopefully this phase will pass soon!

Xander and daddy taking turns talking on the phone

Xander loves wearing our any of our shoes, but especially daddy's slippers. Here he is helping out around the house by cleaning the rug.

Bathtime for Xander. He is getting good at climbing into the tub by himself.

Fun time at the MOA

I took Xander Uptown today for lunch and some time at the park. It was nice and warm again, so we parked the car and strolled around for a while. Surprisingly, there weren't any kids at the park, so he had the whole place to himself. After Chris got home from work, we left to meet Jimmy and Patti and the Mall of America. We ate dinner at Famous Dave's, played at Lego Land and took Xander on a few rides in the The Park (formerly known as Camp Snoopy). He wasn't too sure about the rides, but that is probably just because we don't him on them enough. He got so excited when he saw the merry-go-round, but he gets a bit nervous once you get him on it.

Eating crusty bread at French Meadow

Vroooooom!

Weeeeeee!!

Playing Legos with grandpa

Riding the bus with daddy. He really didn't know what to think about this ride! He looked petrified the entire time.

Xander picked out the giraffe to ride on. He kept talking about how giraffes eat leaves. He liked this ride better than the bus.

Xander and daddy going for a ride on the choo choo

Dinner at Famous Dave's made Xander very thirsty! Rather than risk an overflowing diaper in the morning, it is just easier to sit him on the pot and let him drink all the water he wants. It goes in one end and comes out the other! :)

The nicest day so far

We headed over to play at Ann, Ava & Lily's house today. It was so sunny and warm! Tami and Keegan and Pam and Daniel were there, too. Us moms are just as excited for Spring to come as the kids are. It is so good to get outside and get some fresh air. We we got there, the kids were mixing up a big bucket of mud. Xander did not know what the think about that. He is not too keen on getting messy, but it looked like so much fun that he tried to get into the action, at least a little bit. The kids sat at a picnic table and ate lunch in the sunshine. It was so beautiful, it was almost a shame to have to go home to take naps.

After naptime was over, Xander and I headed outside to walk around the block. It was already cooling off quite a bit, but we strolled down to the pond to look at the ducks.

Yep, the kids are digging up the yard to make a big tub of mud. Xander is looking on in amazement

The best he could do was dip this into the mud bucket. He was pretty proud of himself. Probably because he managed to not actually touch the mud!

What better way to wrap up play time than with a big bucket of bubbles?

Xander - Sqealing with excitement!

Sweet Lily, showing off her belly button. Xander is still feeling a bit shy about doing that, so eventually Lily lifted up his shirt to look at his!

Nothing better than a bath at the end of a long day and messy meal. Don't worry, the water isn't that dirty - we add oatmeal to it to help with his dry skin patches. It just looks gross!

Playing with finger paints in the tub seemed like a good idea. Wouldn't you know, first chance he got, he was cleaning it all off!

A fun-filled day

We had such a busy afternoon! I took Xander to Panera for lunch, which was delicious, as usual. He loves their soup! And I love their lattes! It was so packed when we got there that the line was all the way to the door. Thankfully, Xander is a patient little boy, so I decided to brave the line. The soup is just that good! After lunch, we drove across the street to check out the new Brookdale/Hennepin County Library. He went crazy when he saw all the books in the kids section - which is HUGE. It is really a neat library and I know we will be spending a lot of time there in the future.

When we got home, It was time for some fresh air! We went for a walk around the block and jumped in all the puddles we could find. By the time we got home, we had a big bouquet of leaves. I had to convince Xander to leave them outside. I only wish I would have had the camera with me! I am sure we will have more days like this and I will be sure to take lots of pictures.

Day two of the big boo-boo

Not sure what is going on with our little guy! He didn't sleep very well last night and Chris actually had to go in and rock him one time. He seemed tired all morning and was very clumsey. He actually gave himself a bloody lip on one of his trips. Very odd. He skipped lunch and went down for his nap about two hours early. He seems fine, just out of sorts.

We took him over to see his grandma this evening. She will be leaving on a trip to Costa Rica in a couple of days, so we want to spend as much time with her as possible. We went to Good Earth for dinner - yummy! Back home, we pay a lot of attention to the new owie on his face. We put the bubbles that fix owies (peroxide) on it and then the "special cream" (neosporin). Mommy even let him push the button on her "iBud Shovel" (iPod Shuffle) a couple of times. His face looks pretty bad, but we know it will look worse before it gets better. I just wish I knew why he is falling over so much. He is drooling buckets and says his mouth hurts in the way back, but I can't see any signs of his two year molars yet.

For those that don't get to see him very often, he is talking like crazy. Three to five word sentences. It is so nice that he is able to tell us what he wants and how he feels, so he doesn't get upset very often. My favorite is when he says "love you too, mommy". He also can sing a lot of his ABC song, can identify about 12 of the letters on his own, counts to twelve on his own (minus the number 7, for some reason). His favorite thing to do right now are to read Dr. Suess books. The Lorax is probably his favorite. Anyway, he is bunches of fun, full of energy and keeping us busy!

Eating pancakes. He loves when daddy makes breakfast for him. "Flip, daddy!"

Ugh, look at how scraped up he got from one little fall! We don't make a big deal out of it in front of him, but it breaks our heart to see it. Especially when he tells us that it hurts.

The Big Boo-Boo

While we were doing stuff upstairs, Xander was heading downstairs to play when we heard a series of loud thumps and then screams. Now, Xander doesn't usually cry unless he is really hurt, and he was crying A LOT. He had fallen down the last few stairs and had blood all over his nose. Thankfully, the blood wasn't coming from inside his nose, but all around it. When we got him cleaned up we found out that he had scraped off a lot of skin on the carpet. It must burn so badly and he cries when we try to put anything on it. Poor guy! It looks even worse as time goes by. This is his first big tumble, and even though it was minor and he is going to be fine, it is so hard to see his precious little face all scraped up and to know he is in pain.

Starting to calm down. Look at our sad little boy!

Hugs from daddy make everything better

Getting redder. Look, but don't touch!

Playing trains

Chris loves to set up the train sets for him and Xander to play with. I really think he enjoys them more right now! Xander is still getting the hang of it, but more than anything he just loves to play with his daddy.

Chris keeps playing, even after Xander has lost interest and moved on to other toys.

Trip to the zoo

We took Xander to the zoo this morning to see that animals and grandpa (who was working). It gets more fun to take him there as he gets older. He can get out of the stroller and walk around, and of course he loves the animals.

The wonder in his eyes...

He had the most fun banging on grandpa's computer

One pooped little boy!

Sleeping angel

There are just some times when I can't believe he is ours. This is one of those times! I love to watch him sleep

A day at home

We ended up staying home today, which was kind of nice. We have had such a busy week and it was good to just relax and hang out at home. I could tell that Xander really wanted to get out and run around, but it is good to have some down time.

Rather than sitting in his high chair, I let Xander eat his lunch at his little table. He watched his Baby McDonald video while he ate (I know, bad mommy). We are practicing eating at tables and he is getting better, but if it is a messy meal, he is back in his high chair!

Lunchtime in front of the tube

Feet on the table? We are still working on proper table etiquette.

Playdate at Noni & Lew's house!

What a turn out! Noni invited the playgroup over to play at their house today. Quite a number of little ones and mommys showed up. The kids had a great time and so did the mommys. Yummy coffee (thanks Noni!) and pastry (thanks Linda!) and terrific conversation. Everyone brought lunch for the kids, except me - I brought snacks, but thought it was too early in the day for him to want lunch. But of course, he wanted what everyone else had. Thankfully, everyone is so kind to share with him and he had a full tummy when we left.

Lewis - our gracious host!

Xander playing by Ava and Lily (two of the cutest girls I have ever seen!)

Xander and Lew in the playhouse

Giving himself kisses (sorry for muckin' up your mirror, Noni)

Xander, just finished raiding everyone's food

Playtime at the park. Brrrrrrrr!

We went to play at the park today with friends. The weather folk said it was going to be warmer than yesterday, but it sure didn't feel like it. The wind was a lot stronger today and it made a big difference. But we stayed out and played for a while anyway - we are so desperate to get outside. I think I have a harder time with it than Xander, but it is hard to see his little cheeks and nose get so red! After a while, we headed indoors to warm up for a bit before going home.

Oh yeah, and Xander is now 21 months old! Hard to believe we are only a few months away from his birthday...

Playing in the sand

Finally starting to like swinging. Last year, he was not impressed by them.

Running around and getting warm

Finally, warm enough to play outside!

It wasn't that warm, but warm and sunny enough to head outside. We'll take what we can get at this point! We headed over to play with our friends Ann, Ava and Lily. Pam, Daniel and Lydia came over, too. We went for a walk to a new coffee shop and then played in Ann's back yard. Xander was having so much fun being outside, I wasn't sure he was ever going to want to come inside. Even though his nose was pretty red, he seemed to be soaking up every moment in the fresh air he could get.

Later in the evening, after dinner, bath and PJs, we played downstairs in the playroom and had a fun, relaxing evening. We are hoping the weather is even better tomorrow. If it is, we are heading out to meet friends at the park. We can't wait for Spring!