Yay, no cake man

A few weeks ago, Xander's school brought in Amy's ice cream for an ice cream social. We sat down in front of the door with a couple of scoops of strawberry ice cream. Since then, every time we leave school, Xander asks where the "cake" man is. I have to remind him that the "ice cream" man only comes once a year.

Today, he FINALLY didn't ask about the "cake" man. I think that he confuses cake and ice cream because of the Buckwheat Boyz song that we played for him.

Update on transition to transitions

So far so good on Xander's transition to the "transitions" class at school. He's already brought something that he learned from his new class home. On his very own, he put away his art supplies when he was done. Granted, he has generalized the skill yet, but I'll take what I can get. At school, the teacher is very big on the kids picking up after themselves. Maybe I need to spend some time in her class to learn this valuable life lesson.

His new teacher got some cute pictures of him on his first day. Unfortunately, she gave them to us as printouts and not digital so I don't have anything to share. In one picture, he has headphones on while sitting in a chair, listening to 10 little monkeys. The headphones are so huge compared to his little head.

Driving over bumps

On the way home today, we took a bit of a detour for our normal path and had the opportunity to drive on some older, bumpy roads.

Xander laughed hysterically after we went over some bumps.
Xander: "More bumps"
Mommy: "Get ready...we're about to go over a really BIG bump"
[We bounce as we go over some train tracks.]
Xander: "I like big bumps. More,more,more bumps"

Little kitchen helper

Xander and I spent a good hour in the kitchen cooking today. It was a challenge because he wants to do everything himself. As much as I would like to give him opportunity, somethings he just can't quite do yet.

First we made popsicles. We blended up some watermelon with a little sugar-free juice mix. We had a lot of popsicle mix leftover which we had as a smoothie. Xander was pretty much head to toe red at this point. Hopefully, the frozen popsicles will be as good as the smoothie was. While Xander was drinking his smoothie, he started stirring a spoon in it. Daddy asked him "what are you doing?" Xander replied "making".

Then, we tried to use up some brown bananas by making banana brownies. Xander is great a putting the ingredients into the bowl, mixing, and mashing. He added a layer of head to toe chocolate during this recipe. After all of our hard work though, the brownies just really weren't all that good. The banana flavor kind of overwhelmed in this recipe. Oh well, we'll have some more fun making something else another day.

Movin' on up...

To the East side. Ok, not really. Xander is moving up from the toddler class to the transitions class. We had a meeting with his current teacher, Ms. Danielle, as well as his new teacher Ms. Jill.

Ms. Danielle told how wonderful Xander was and some stories about his time in the toddler room. One story that I liked...Xander has taken a liking to the youngest member of the toddler class, Camden. Xander loves to hold Camden's hand so much so that he won't let anyone else do it. I can't blame him, Camden is a super sweet, cute kid. She went on an on about how Xander was so smart--you know, fluff the parental ego stuff.

In Xander's new class, there are big scary kids. I mean that was MY reaction. There were 3 year olds in there and they were SO much bigger. I remember there is some kind of growth spurt that happens at 3 years old, but geez! I'm sure Xander will love it though. He loves big kids, and will learn so much from them (until they move up to the preschool).

We were sad to see that Xander's friend, Auggie, wasn't in his class. Though, I have feeling that they will still get to hang out when they get all the transitions kids together.

The transitions room has some differences from the toddler room, but the changes are not as dramatic as infant to toddlers. One major difference is that they offer optional classes for the transition kids in certain specialties like music, sports, and computers. So, one he is settled, we may sign him up for some of those. They also seem to have a lot more outside time, active play time. I think Xander will enjoy that a lot. They also spend a little more effort on teaching cooperative play and circle time, which most toddlers just don't have the attention span for. The other big difference is a more effort on potty training.

Ms. Jill seems rather nice. She is married to a game developer so, of course, Dolphin and her hit it off. She also has eczema so she had lots of great tips for us to deal with Xander's.

So, all in all, I think we're excited about the move up. Just like when his time in the infant class was nearing and end, he seems bored with the same old stuff and needs a new challenge. Let's hope the transition goes well over the next 2 weeks.

Another Allergy

Well, it seems Xander may have inherited an allergy from Daddy. While visit our friends (who have an awesome blog, btw) and their super cute little boy, Xander got to meet one of their kitties, Pikachu. I think last time we visited, the kitties were upstairs.

While Xander thought the kitty was totally awesome (mutual feelings not totally reciprocated), by the time we were about to leave, his eczema was much worse than normal. By the time we got home, he had blotches all over his arms, legs, and face.

Just like his last allergic reaction, I gave him a bath to wash the allergen off. After that, a coating of baby oil, and a layer of Aquaphor, the blotches/hives started to fade. By morning, he just had the dry skin left where the hives had been.

I really hope that he grows out of this allergy or at least becomes more tolerant. Dolphin hasn't really grown out of his allergy, but at least he can control it with antihistamines if he plans far enough in advance.

A life without cat contact is no life at all. So, we'll have to find some way to cope. Maybe one of those giant bubble toys that I have seen at Target recent? Hmmmm....

'Nough said

Goodbye Ms. Izzy

Today, we learned that Xander's beloved teacher passed away due to a car accident. We all will really miss her. Xander really loved her and loved being in her class. She taught him some many wonderful things.

She had two sons of her own. I'm so sad for her family, for her son, for all of the kids who won't get to have her be a positive influence in their lives.

We love you, Ms. Izzy.

PS...Ms. Izzy is blue in the picture.

Hibachi

We haven't been to this hibachi restaurant since before Xander was born. While we were there, we saw tons of little kids screaming in terror as the cooks performed their fire tricks. It didn't seem like a good place to bring little kids.

That said, I was pretty sure that Xander could handle it. He's quite a brave boy. It worked out really well that he could watch some of the far away tables do the tricks first before the cooks performed at our table. He was a bit scared of the hot heat that comes out, but he got into the spirit of entertainment after a while. He even said "thank you" when the chef put his entry on his plate.

Here's Xander doing some pre-meal coloring.


Here's Xander and daddy watching the other table perform:


The was one bad thing out of the hibachi lunch. Xander really loved the fried rice A LOT, but he also made a huge mess. There was rice EVERYWHERE. We made sure to give a very good tip.

Oh Mickey You're So Fine

Some cute car things...

We were listening to the '80s hit "Mickey" in the car. All of a sudden, I hear Xander ask from the back "No Goofy in there?" We've recently read a little book about Disney's characters, Mickey and Goofy, going on a camping trip. No, no Goofy in that song.

In another car ride, we listed to "Found a Peanut". When the song was all over, Xander asked for "Copper song?" The only peanut that our Xander knows (due to allergy) is our dog. It's only fair that our other dog, Copper, have a song, too, right?

Fighting bedtime

The past few days, Xander has been totally fighting bed time. We've been pretty firm though that he still has to go bed no ifs, ands, or buts. Still, it kind of sucks to have the battle when he usually is so great about bed. Tonight, the battle wasn't so bad. I told him that Peanut was going to lay down, too. That was enough to settle him down. Maybe he was just worried Peanut was having a whole bunch of fun without him.

A lot of swaddling

I think I mentioned previously that Xander likes to play in his bed a lot since we put the toddler rail on. One of his games this week is to swaddle all of his stuffed animals. He picks out a blanket for each animal. After all the animals and dolls are wrapped, he announces that he's taking a nap and asks for help to be wrapped up in the last blanket. Of course, he doesn't actually take a nap but "pretends" for about 30s.

Cool things

So, what do you do with a restless toddler when its over 100 and you don't feel like swimming? You go to the toy store!

Sometimes, I think Xander is a little more wise than he lets on. Almost immediately after I told him that we were going to the toy store, he grabs this stack of cash that I had sitting on the counter from a craigslist sale. Hmmm...I think he knows how this whole toy store business works. I ended up giving him $2, which he was so excited to put in his pocket. Since he put his own pants on backwards, he had a nice big pocket to put the bills into. He kept pulling them out, showing off his $2, and putting the bills back in.

At the store, we didn't actually buy anything. Although we did see this pretty amazing toy.

It almost doesn't seem like a toy, right? With a $700 price tag, it REALLY doesn't seem like a toy. At the store, every little kid that walked by had to climb in it. Half of those kids had to be pulled away, screaming against their wills.

All in all, it was a good trip to have fun and stay cool.

Potty time is coming

Today, Xander informed me of his need to use the potty twice, and then actually used it both times. Yay Xander! This was kind of surprising and completely uninitiated by Dolphin and me.

We should be getting closer to serious potty training time. At the beginning of August, he is moving up at school to the "Transitions" class. It's in that class that potty training can start. Before 2, the school doesn't really focus on training the kids. They'll ask the kids if they want to sit on the potty in case there are any genius potty-trained kids out there under 2.

And the winner of the muddiest content...

We decided to take an early morning trip to the dog park today. I really wish I had my camera as Copper and Xander were competing for who could be the muddiest.

We started off by loading both dogs and the whole family into my car. Sometimes Peanut gets a little nervous in the car. When dogs are nervous, they pass gas. When we had almost arrived, Xander was calling out "Who farted?" It didn't take much to figure it out it was Peanut. (No, I'm not just blaming the dog).

After we arrived at the park, Peanut and Copper both took off running around the huge park. Xander immediately took off running after them at top speed through mud and all.

In the end, Copper ended up winning the muddiest title as she actually laid down in a huge muddle puddle multiple times. All the other dog owners were a bit horrified to see Copper do this. They immediately started to key a close eye on their own dogs to make sure they didn't do the same. I thought it was hilarious.

Fortunately, outside of the dog park, there was a nice creek. We let Copper take a swim in the creek to rinse off before heading home. Xander was SO upset that he couldn't go swimming in the creek also.

Strawberry Addict

This kid is an addict. We can't mention the "S" word or even look at a picture without him running into the kitchen asking for some.



On the other hand, the addiction comes in handy. We have survived many a grocery shopping trip by letting him eat strawberries in the cart.

A little chef

We bought a new frying pan this weekend because our old pan just died. I set it on a chair while I was unpacking other things from the store. Xander immediately pulled all the packaging off and started to cook. His choice of plastic food ingredients--well, it is a somewhat inventive combination.

Xander really enjoys cooking with me, but I think he really is interested in the kitchen tools more than the cooking itself. He absolutely loves to help me use the food processor, mixer, and blender.

He got very upset though when we had to use the new frying pan to cook real food. "My pan!" is what we heard over and over again.

Chip off the ole block #2

Who knew an old computer would be so interesting?

The Big Bounce

We visited The Big Bounce again. This place is so great. Until Xander is 2, he gets in free...even better!

Block Containment

When I bought this ottamon, I did have Xander in mind. Previously we had a very dangergous glass coffee table that had no place in a home with young children. So, I found this nice soft ottoman. I didn't image that Xander would play inside of it though.

The ottoman is great for keeping the blocks contained. There's nothing worse that stepping on a hard toy in the middle of the night.

Happy Independence Day

Happy 4th of July! It was, of course, very hot in Texas for the 4th. Our city hosted a celebration with fun, food, and fireworks. Due to the heat, we did not make it to the fireworks. Xander did get to tour a fire truck, which he thought was pretty cool.



We also had some traditional 4th of July food with WATERMELON. Xander gets to be benefit from living in the times of genetically selected seedless watermelon.

Planning for birthday

Dolphin and I have been trying to think about what to do for Xander's birthday in August. We had to decided whether we wanted to do a party or go some place special. I think Xander would enjoy either equally so we're the deciding vote.

Consequently, I think we've settled on going some place special. I found an indoor water park that is near where my brother lives, called the Great Wolf Lodge. One of my coworkers had told me about such a place. I was surprised to learn that one of the locations is in Texas. Everyone that we have asked said it is a really fun time. So, we'll have to get started on all of the planning right away for a short trip.

Survivors

Dolphin and I have been watching "Survivors" on BBCA. It's a little dark, but that's not too surprising for a series about 99% percent of the human population being wiped out by a virus. In many of the episodes, they show children on their own, whose parents were victims of the virus. In the most recent episode, there was a little boy just Xander's age whose Mommy was put in quarantine. It just tears me a part to watch this show.

On one hand, it's a cool sci-fi show with interesting plots and characters. On other hand, I simply cannot deal with all the poor children in the show without their parents. It makes me ill just to think about it. I guess Xander's really turned me into a softy.