Solving Bigger Puzzles

We all like puzzles in our household, and I recently found a "family puzzle," which is a 400 piece puzzle with regular-sized puzzle pieces and larger-than-normal pieces. I figured that Dave and I would enjoy it now and that in a few years Alex could do it with us too. Well, Alex saw the box, wanted to know what it was, and decided to dive right in. He liked sorting the edges from the rest of the pieces and did a great job helping us put together the outside of the puzzle. Now, every night before dinner we work on the puzzle a bit. Alex has taken to it really quickly and has amazed us with how well he can find and place pieces.

Alex and Dave working on the edge pieces.



Alex putting the last few outside pieces in place. The funny part is that he had all the pieces together but decided to take them apart and put them in one at a time rather than put the whole group in at once.

Alex's Imagination Story

At school, Alex's class made Imagination Stories. They each drew a picture and told the teacher their story, which the teacher wrote out. Here's Alex's story. I'm not quite sure what to make of it, but I'm glad it has a happy ending.

There was a monster. There was a butterfly. The monster hit the butterfly. The butterfly hit the monster. And then they were nice.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

This weekend Grandma C. came to visit so we could help her celebrate her 80th birthday! We had a lot of fun while she was here.

The birthday girl!

Grandma and Aunt Laura playing Candyland with Alex.

Cousins! Carolyn and Alex on the couch.

Putting candles on the cake.

Blowing out the candles. (Alex got to help since his half birthday was earlier in the week and because Grandma is very nice about things like that.)

Alex loves AJ's iPad.

Alex took this picture of Carolyn and me. What a great shot of us!

Goodbye hugs for Carolyn and AJ.

Big goodbye hug for Grandma.

3 1/2

Today is Alex's half birthday. We celebrated with a special dinner, half of a cake, an Elmo balloon, and some new books.

For those of you familiar with the They Might Be Giants song "Seven," Alex shouted "We want cake! Where's our cake!" while waiting for the cake.

Yum!

Our Little Journalist

Dave pulled out the recorder, amp, and microphone for some entertainment on one of our snow days. I thought I was going to record some singing but ended up getting interviewed.

There's a Wocket in My Pocket!

Alex got a copy of "There's a Wocket in My Pocket" for Christmas and became obsessed with it. Carol had the great idea to have Mom make him a Wocket that he could keep in his pocket. What a fun surprise to get in the mail!

Belated Valentine's Greetings

Because of our continuing computer issues, we are a bit behind on blogging. Most things are just fun to post without being time sensitive, but we did miss a big holiday -- Valentine's Day. There was a Hearts Party at school where Alex made cupcakes, exchanged Valentines, and Dave read to Alex and his friends.

This was the first year Alex gave away Valentines at School. He chose Toy Story Valentines that included a blue Buzz Lightyear lollypop with each one. Alex received several lollypops as well, which made him very happy.

This started off with Dave reading to Alex, but the kids flocked to him like he was the Pied Piper. At one point Alex wandered off, and Dave was just reading to his classmates.



So excited about my lollypop!

Happy Valentine's Day!