I LOVE Trains!

As promised, we took Alex to the train show today. We had lots of fun. This was on the way in to the convention. The whole car ride we asked him if he wanted to go see trains. His answer was, of course, his sweet little "okay". We figure next year he'll be old enough to reason with and this will be worth a solid week of extra-good behavior.


There was a kids play area with electric Thomas trains and little track sets. Fun, but it didn't last for long. The fact that he didn't have to propel them meant he lost interest pretty quickly. So, he grabbed us by the fingers and we were off to the next thing...


A good old fashioned wooden set! One of the vendors had two tables set up with trains for the kids to play with. Alex really seemed to like that they were at his height and played for a long time. Did a decent job with the whole sharing thing too.
Add to Stan's to-do list: Build Alex a wooden train table.


Then we found a large model set up low to the ground. I think it was H scale, each car was about 12" long. They had 60 coal cars on 3 engines going around it one way, and another with an engine, baggage car and two passenger cars that went the opposite direction on an inner track - it went much faster. They were very neat and once Alex figured out that they weren't for touching, only looking, we did really well.


We watched for a while in one spot and then Alex would grab me by the finger and drag me a little further around to see it from a different view.


We had so much fun! We bought a new engine for Alex, it's a BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe). They are one of the lines that frequents the rails around here. We thought it would be a neat momento.
And Alex must have had a great time because he was asleep before we even hit the on-ramp! Life is good when you're 2!

Trains

We're taking Alex to a model train show this weekend!

Alex has no idea the joy he's in store for. They're advertising 100+ wooden Thomas trains for kids to play with - a ride on a miniature train - and over 50,000 sqft of model train displays!

We have a very active line near our house so we regularly get stopped at the tracks. Alex has come to love trains.

He'll hear a whistle in the distance and call out "tain". This happens both while he's asleep and in the most chaotic of atmospheres. It's quite amazing. When the weather's decent we'll crack the car windows so he can better hear all the sounds. He points and says "tain" and pumps his arm making "choo-choo" sounds. Sometimes the rail cars are shipping containers in bright colors so we call out "boo", "geen", "ed"... and when the train passes we wave "bye-bye, bye-bye tain".

We're going to have lots of fun and I promise we'll share a few pictures!

zombie

Ever have one of those days?

Peek-A-Boo!

So, you thought peek-a-boo had lost it's luster, huh?!

Boy, were you mistaken!!!

*we should also note that Alex takes great pride in the "pane" (aka airplane) t-shirt he's wearing.

Things are really speeding up!

So I was trying to figure out why it's become increasingly difficult to get in a good blog with a photo. It came to me the other day... Because Alex moves faster. We don't dote on a single accomplishment for days, it's new, it's conquered, and then we have 5 more new talents - all that quickly! There usually isn't a photo associated because we can't find the camera, turn it on, and take the picture before he's on to the next thing. And, because he's really growing up he will say "cheese" for the picture, but gets shy when you ask him to repeat the cute thing he was (happily) doing only moments before.

He really is growing up so quickly.

Here are the photos we managed to bank for all of January. Sad. We'll try to do better in February. Really

Here he is helping me make dinner. I'm still working on a non-lactose version of Chicken Pot Pie that's as good as with full dairy Campbells soup. This was attempt #1. (and he wouldn't even eat any of it) This is his "cheese" face!



Today - Turkey Dog. Next Year - Ribs!
I thought it was just hilarious that he started eating the hot dog in the middle, holding it like a BBQ rib. Very appropriate for a Kansas City kid too.




Alex refused to sit at the table for dinner, so dinner came to him. Daddy's little buddy!









Aunt Val gave him a ViewMaster, this is how he looks thru it - I always think he's going to tip over backward, but he has yet to! The Backyardigans are in there... we haven't changed it since Christmas and they haven't lost their allure! He makes oooh and aaah sounds and then points and hands it to one of us! Cute.



Alex likes to disappear into his new teepee. Note the car on his sweatshirt... he was so excited that he had a car on his shirt! He'd point and go cross-eyed and saying "caa" until we say "yes, caR". Cute. Now he only wants to wear shirts with cool things on them!


Coloring is one of our favorites. He likes for us to color with him sometimes and we can now draw things he knows and will name: car, apple, ball, balloon, train, plane, dog, bird, cat, triangle, house (and the door on the house), big stick man = Daddy, small stick man = Alex, and he recognizes his name now too!


It was also his birthday. We made it easy and took him to Red Robin (free balloon (ooooohh) and Alex can make all the noise he wants and no one cares). The whole family joined us! Alex got a tool set and a velcro-catch set and a package of goodies from Auntie Val, and from Uncle Scott & Aunt Kathy, and cards and goodies from Grandparents and Great-Grandparents! He called the cards "books". We displayed them on the side table in the livingroom and he'd pull them off, read them and put them back. Too cute!

We also had a freak day of warmth (60+F) so we went to the park to play a little. Granddad and GG came, so did Grammy. Alex thought he was a big boy (he is if Daddy's helping him).

So, there's January for you! Hope you enjoyed it - we sure did!

Merry Christmas!

It wasn't about the boxes or the wrapping paper this year - it was about the toys!

Alex got a fabulous teepee that Grammy & Grampa Nice built with the (tons) of camo fabric that Mom has on hand... it's just big enough for Stan or I and Alex to be in it. Alex can stand up in it and they gave him his own flashlight too. It was LOTS of fun! His own hiding place!

They also got him a magna-doodle that he loves (so do we, less mess than markers).

Auntie Valerie got him tons of goodies. Play Dough and crayons and a new pad of drawing paper. A spinning top and some books, and, and, and... a piggy bank. He's a smart kid. When he put in the few coins that were included he made the rounds to everyone else asking for change - and he's so cute that everyone obliged! He made out like a bandit, everyone in the family emptying their pockets for him! It was too funny.

GG and Granddad got him a shape sorter with tons of different shapes. He already figured out how to get the lid off and just dumps them all in the top! He'll get the hang of it soon enough though. It was lots of fun to shake and fill and dump! They also got him a little matchbox car that makes noise and lights up when you roll it! Alex drove it up one side of Mommy and down the other making vroom-vroom noises the whole time. It drove all over the house - and then we left it at Grammy & Grampa's to continue making noise there! :)

Uncle Scott & Aunt Kathy bought him a dune buggy that lights up, makes noise and drives 4WD when you shake it then put it down! It drove over Daddy's legs in the recliner!

Auntie Liz gave him one of her favorite books. The Clown of God, an italian Christmas story I'd never heard of. Alex loved the illustrations. I'm sure it will come to be a favorite for us too.

Stan & I learned Pinochle from Grandmother & Granddad. Granddad and I paired up against Stan & Grandmother. We actually tied at 700 points after 5 rounds and called it quits. It was lots of fun. Like 42 in dominoes that we've been playing with Mom & Dad. Then Alex woke up from his nap. Poor kid has a cough and is still cutting both bottom eye teeth!

We had lots of fun. A Merry Christmas for everyone!

Alex and I had fun this weekend. Stan had a job that took him out of town, so it was just the two of us. We spent lots of time together.

I finally got to catch up on some long overdue grocery shopping. Re-stocked the pantry. Alex helped. He thought he was big stuff standing in the pantry. I'd hand him a can, he'd put it away.


Funny thing was, when we got to the small cans of diced green chilis, he thought they were pears and asked to eat them!

I was nice and actually gave him pears. (I can't say I didn't think about popping open the chilis and letting him try...)