Two Holidays in One

We made our annual trek to Dave's sister's to celebrate Thanksgiving. A good time was had by all, and since Hanukkah is early this year and we were all together, we had Thanksgiving on Thursday and Hanukkah on Friday. Here's an assortment of pictures to enjoy.

Seth and Alex crushed the Oreos for dessert.



Alex loved playing with his cousins. One game was to hide behind the couch while Seth covered him in Beanie Babies.



This post at the bottom of the stairs provided a lot of entertainment. Alex visited it several times every day. Just proving how impossible it is to predict what kids will like.



Less challenging to predict is that the pinball machine was a huge attraction!



Foosball was also a big hit.



Three generations of Diamonds watching Thanksgiving day football.



Max managed to get all the way inside the trash cabinet, searching for some turkey.



Lighting the Hanukkah candles.



Helping Josh sort Legos.



Alex loves his new scooter. (And, boy, is his jacket reflective!)



Happy Hanukkah from the extended Diamond Family!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Alex had to help Dave blow out his candles. The best part was that we had cake for dinner -- what a treat!



Alex insisted on singing Happy Birthday to Dave by himself. That's just as well because I would not have consented to filming if I were singing.

Happy Birthday Dave!

Happy Halloween

We had a fun Halloween weekend with our little monkey. Here are some pictures.

He spent about 30 minutes playing in the leaves at the park on our way to the farmers' market.



Throwing them right at the camera!



Having so much fun!



Decorating our pumpkin.



Smile!



Tonight was his first time going Trick or Treating. He had a blast.

Even ringing the doorbell is fun.



Off to find more houses to visit.

A pretty good haul for a short trip around the block.

Yearly Checkup Report

Alex had his three year old checkup this past week. It was such a big kid appointment. The doctor asked him questions (which he answered), he had the option to be measured on the adult scale for weight and height (he didn't do it though), and he got stickers and was allowed to choose a treasure from the treasure chest after the appointment (of all the choices, he picked more stickers).

He is now 34 pounds and 38 1/2 inches tall.

Pirate Adventure

Today was a special Halloween, pirate-themed story time at Open Books. The puppeteers led the kids on a treasure hunt through the store to find the animals that had escaped from the pirate ship. Alex had a great time.

Our little monkey reading a book before the adventure began.



Searching for treasure. (You can see the adult reading the treasure map in the upper right corner of the picture.)



Alex got the tiger.



Two monkeys!



Coloring is fun, but he was mostly so excited here because there was a Curious George book on the table.

A-L-E-X

Dave and Alex were coloring the other day, and Dave decided to work on Alex's name with him. The highly legible version was written by Dave and Alex together as a model. The other letters (and scribbles) are by Alex. The A is at a 90 degree angle but still somewhat recognizable. The L and E are great, and the X is good too, although Alex had some assistance from Dad on that one.

Climbing the Wall

Alex had a lot of fun this weekend at a Pump It Up birthday party for his classmate Duncan. We didn't take a ton of pictures, but I had to share some of him trying the climbing wall. I climbed up and then he took a turn.

Getting the harness on.



On the wall with some help from Dad.