Alex Reads

I knew Alex could read more than he was letting on, and recently he decided to show us. He read Big Dog, Little Dog to Dave the other night. Dave said he thinks Alex even surprised himself with how many of the words he could read. He finally read it to me last night, and it was definitely one of my favorite moments as a parent. Tonight, we got him to read a bit for the camera. I was worried he'd ham it up and be goofy, but he just read for us. Click the link above and enjoy!

Happy 5th Birthday!

Alex turned 5 today. It's kind of hard to fathom. We had a great day, full of lots of love from family and friends. There will be more to come once I get a chance to comb through the 100+ pictures I took today, but I couldn't let the day pass without noting it on the blog.

Happy birthday Alex! Daddy and I love you very much!

With his pals who were able to come to the party

His Jake and the Neverland Pirates cake

Getting ready for the cake moment

Carrot Harvest

After an unsuccessful attempt last year (thanks to neighborhood bunnies), we managed to produce a pot full of carrots this year. The greens looked great, but I was still slightly nervous that there might not be any real carrots. Some were tiny, but we ended up with a decent crop. They were part of Alex's lunch this week.

We loosened the soil and
a little bit of orange came peeking through

Pulling out the first one

Showing off his crop

Seven little carrots

Washing off the dirt

Back to School

Today was the first day back to school for Alex, and it was Visiting Day, so Dave and I both went too. The first three days of this week are short -- just an hour and a half each. Thursday and Friday will be back to a normal schedule (although After School doesn't start until next week), and on those days all the returning kids (14) and the new kids (8) will get to be together. We are very excited to be back with the same teachers and in the same classroom. We'll have both of those things changing next year, but for now, the familiarity is quite helpful.

Ready to go! 

Wanting to talk

 

Climbing as high as he can

 

Sunday with Aunt Laura

Alex and I had a great day with Laura and Brian today. Their church was having a festival, which was lots of fun. Alex loved the bounce house, games, and music. I had to drag him away from the band when it was time to go. He didn't know anyone there, but jumped right in and, after a while, was navigating the activities on his own. It was fun to see him exploring so independently. After a while, his bossy side came out, and he decided to help run some of the games, telling people where to stand and helping with mini-golf. 

Making sure everyone does it right.

Then we spent a couple of hours at Aunt Laura's, chasing rabbits in the back yard, looking for cicadas and acorns, and being a huge helper with back yard tasks. It's days like these that make me really wish we had a yard!

Moving the patio furniture. He insisted on doing it all by himself.

Chasing a rabbit around the woodpile.

Helping with the first bird feeder.

Filling the second bird feeder.

Clearing the weeds.

Family Holiday Weekend

The Diamond Family got together for the holiday weekend, and fun was had by all. Alex is always ecstatic when he gets to spend time with his cousins, and this visit was no exception. He woke up at 3:00 a.m. the night before we were going down there because he was so excited. (Needless to say, Dave and I were less excited about that wake up time.)

The weekend was full of good company, yummy food, and fun experiences, including a trip to the Zoo and Alex's first bowling outing (video here).

Happy pose with Grandma

Cousins at the Zoo

Early morning family portrait

Ready to bowl!

Wanted to do it all by himself

Animal Show

There was an animal show at Alex's day care today. He was so excited for it. He talked about it all night and this morning. Luckily, they sent us some pictures. He definitely had more fun than his expressions would indicate. He also got to walk an anteater.

All night he claimed that his hands smelled like chicken

Holding very still because I have a chinchilla on my head