Zoo, Sprinkler, "Cookie" and Ow-ee

Again, I am without a cohesive post this week.  Life seems to pass by so quickly that I have difficulty blogging about daily events.  It seems to work best to lump all the week's events into one post each weekend.  Hence, my new approach.....

Lexi petting a goat at the zoo last weekend.  She seemed to like the goat but got very agitated when any other child came over to pet the same goat as she.  It was like she owned the place. 

Auntie Rachel and Uncle Bryan came over for a visit a few days ago.  As always, Lexi showed off like the best of them.  She decided during their visit that she wanted to play in the sprinkler. She in fact demanded it.  So...her daddy set the sprinkler up on the back deck and despite the cool temperature outside she dove right in.

Lexi is now completely IN LOVE with otter pops, but the funny thing is that she calls them "cookies".  No one can figure out why she calls them that or how the association was born.  It's just one of those things.  She points at the freezer and yells "Coooo-keeee" at which time daddy runs (not walks) to the freezer to fetch her one.  Naww, she doesn't have him wrapped around her finger.  :-)   But look at how happy she is when she gets one.

Lexi got her first knee scrapes a few days ago.  She was wearing her cute pink clogs down the path by our house and fell a total of three times.  The clogs are adorable but she's not all that stable in them.  Another example of fashion over function.  Anyhow, Lexi has spent the past two days pointing at her knees and saying "ow-ee".  She seems more fascinated by the scrapes than she does bothered by the discomfort.

Lexi Update

It's been a while since I've posted. Nothing too terribly exciting has happened in the past couple of weeks but Lexi has reached some new milestones....of course. She's now answering "yes" and "no" to questions in the proper context, which is wonderful. She's also very proud of herself when she accomplishes something and claps her hands and says "yay" with a big smile on her face. It's very cute. She's also very much into hats right now, which makes me VERY happy. I can't wait to dress her up in adorable head pieces this coming winter. How fun will that be??? Having a little girl is the best!!! Here are some cute photos of her taken over the past week and a half.

Lexi's great auntie Laurie came out from New Jersey for a visit last week and they shared some special moments.Lexi cuddling with her beloved froggie whom she has named "Big". She and Big are inseparable.

The past few weeks I've been experimenting with different headbands. She used to not let me put headbands in her hair but now she tolerates them and I think they look adorable on her.

And here's one of her cute hats. Like I said, I can hardly wait for the weather to change. :-)

More headband action.....our fifties baby.

She's loving crayons these days too. A budding artist perhaps???

Can a Working Mother Have it All?

Today I was thinking about the question "can a working mother have it all?" And you know what? I say, the answer is yes. It is indeed possible to succeed in both worlds, as long as you are willing to change your definition of "having it all.” I believe I'm a better mother because I work. Lexi is exposed to new and interesting things when I’m away and when we are together I do my best to make every minute count. My view is it’s about quality, not quantity, of minutes. By working I strive to show Lexi what women can accomplish and that she can do anything she puts her mind to. My biggest accomplishment since becoming a mom is coming to the realization that I can't be the best at everything I do, and being able to walk away and say 'I'm OK with that.' Instead, I’ve decided to focus my time and efforts on things that matter and give a little in areas that don’t matter all that much (in the grand scheme of things) such as keeping a clean home and preparing gourmet meals. I know that I’ll always have weeds in my garden, my bed will rarely be made, my clean clothes will sit in laundry baskets for weeks at a time and my meals will be simple, but you know what? That's OK!

Lexi's First Haircut!!!

Lexi officially graduated from baby to little girl today with the commencement of her first haircut. Her hair was getting really BIG and when worn down covered her eyes like Cousin It on the Adam's Family. It was time to take action.

She didn't have much cut off because ultimately it is our goal to grow her hair long. The hairstylist just cut her some side bangs and cleaned things up in the back. But even so...she looks so much different to us. I'm not sure why, but the whole experience brought tears to my eyes. I just can't believe how fast the time has gone.

Daddy memorialized the event by capturing the entire cut on tape. Ahhh....how sweet that will be to watch someday.



I was really worried that Lexi would NOT do well so I made a point to plan ahead. I made the appt for 11am, a time which Lexi is usually in a really good mood. We woke up early and made breakfast....complete with scrambled eggs and french toast. It was important that she had a full tummy. Then I gave her a bath, conditioned and combed out her hair and brought her to the salon with her hair already wet. I knew she would have a melt down if she had to have her tangles pulled on by the hairstylist. She normally HATES to have anyone touching her hair.

To my complete surprise she did GREAT!!!! She didn't mind the cut AT ALL. I think she was appropriately distracted by all the toys and fun stuff to look at. We were so proud of her. She was such a good girl! Here are some shots of her and her hairstylist, Alyssa.

The salon is called Little Clippers. I've never been in a place like that before. It was adorable. The place looked like an indoor playground. There were kids playing everywhere and all the cutting stations had TV's and VCR's. What a great idea! Lexi got to watch Elmo during her cut. As you can see in the below photo, each chair was a different kind of child's seat. So precious!After all was said and done, Lexi was awarded with a balloon and a sticker...two of Lexi's favorite things. Here are some photos of daddy giving her her sticker....so cute.And to make it truly official, Lexi got a 'Congratulations Certificate' complete with a lock of her hair.
Here's the finished product!It's experiences like these that make life great!

Concert in the Park

Tonight (at the suggestion of Nana) we took Lexi to her first Classical Summer Concert in the Park. It was held at the Cathedral Park underneath the St. John's bridge and the setting was gorgeous. Here is the view from where we were sitting.
I thought it was so random that this huge weeping willow tree was growing in between the supports of the bridge. It was quite beautiful though.

Lexi was highly entertained by all the people and dogs who were there and insisted on petting all the canines within our 20 foot radius. She also enjoyed getting in and out of the lawn chairs that Nancy and Rick brought as well as rolling herself up in her pretty rainbow blanket.


Nana brought a delicious picnic which we all enjoyed....especially Lexi. Lexi is now quite insistent on feeding herself and as you can imagine got nearly as much food on her clothing as she did in her mouth. This necessitated "a full wardrobe change" as one onlooker described it. Thankfully I try to plan ahead (the operative word is "try").

About half way through the concert Grandpa took Lexi for a walk down towards the stage and she stopped to say "Hi-ee" to almost everyone she passed. Here they are coming back from one of their walks.

Lexi is very much into sunglasses these days. Each time she sees grandpa's pair she pulls them off his head and tries to put them on hers. I took MANY photos of her taking them off and then putting them on again. Here are three which I think capture the moment nicely.

Lexi was a big hit today and she was SUCH a good girl (which was a huge relief as she's not done well recently in public settings). It was a very nice night. We'll certainly have to do more of these types of things with Lexi throughout the remainder of the summer. Thanks so much for the suggestion Nana!

To Answer "That" Question

For those of you who are wondering, curious, or just plain nosey :-) yes Seth and I are now officially "trying" for baby #2. You will be notified as soon as it's official.

NO we are not yet pregnant...and to be perfectly honest I'm NOT at all looking forward to being pregnant again. If I had the means I would certainly opt to hire a surrogate. Ugh...I'm so not kidding.

Gramma Dee

Today I captured a rare photograph of Lexi with Gramma Dee, Lexi's beloved caregiver on Tuesday's, Wednesday's and Thursday's. Dee is not a fan of photos and most times will not allow me to snap a shot of her...but today I snuck one in without her knowing. It's a special shot too! I'm so glad I got it!

Lexi was doing what she loves most...picking flowers and she wanted Dee to smell it.

Then she just plopped down in the middle of the sidewalk and inspected her flowers more closely.

Hmmm....is that a bug in there????

My Top Ten Favorite Things

My friend Rebecca just posted a "Top Ten Favorites Things" on her blog and in her post she asked her friends to do the same. I thought it was a cute idea so of course I will participate.

Below are my top 10 favorite things, in no particular order (family and friends are assumed of course!):

1. Sleep - I've always loved my sleep and thank goodness my child does too....she'll sleep until 10am if you let her...how did I get so lucky???

2. Popcicles and Olberman - Seth and I recently implemented a new evening pasttime. Each night after we put Lexi down we crawl into bed where we each enjoy an all fruit Dryer's popcicle (him, lime / me, strawberry) while watching Keith Olberman to catch up on today's political events....boy are we cool....NOT!!!

3. Shopping - this goes without saying...although I must say...I pretty much only shop sales.

4. Gardening - I absolutely love watching things grow. Even more I love driving up to my house each day greeted by color in the yard. I wish I had more time (and money) for landscaping and can hardly wait to get down and dirty in the the back yard....someday.

5. My Orange Honda Element - this was one of the best purchases I've ever made. Not only is it adorable, but it's incredibly practical and fun to drive. I only wish that cool green color was out when I bought my Element. I soooo would have purchased that one....but I do LOVE orange as well.

6. An authentic hot pastrami sandwich - Growing up Jewish in LA I grew accustomed to delicious, authentic pastrami sandwhiches. That was one of the things I missed most when I moved to the NW....there were NO good Jewish deli's. Well, the other day I FINALLY found one! There's a new deli downtown called Kenny and Zuke's. It's on SW Stark and 11th and there I had (and I'm not exaggerating) the absolute BEST hot pastrami sandwhich I have ever had in my life! You don't know how excited that makes me! :-)

7. My Nikon D50 Digital SLR - I can now never go back to a point n shoot...the delay drives me CRAZY. (Thank you SOOOO much Bill for the camera and accessories. You don't know just how appreciative I am!)

8. Reading - Again, I wish I had more time...but I do seem to fit a fair amount of reading in during my commuting to and from work. I just finished "Water for Elephants" and absolutely LOVED it!!! I would HIGHLY recommend reading it.

9. Eucerin Calming Creme - I have extremely dry skin and have tried every lotion on the market (including prescriptions). I'm the type of person who MUST lube up after each shower. Recently I found Eucerin Calming creme and it works fabulously well. I SWEAR by it and would never go without it again. I should buy stock in Eucerin, I really should.

10. Constant Learning - I've always been a person who craves knowledge and this drive has only gotten stronger as I've gotten older. I find myself becoming an information junkie. If I'm not reading CNN.com or surfing the web, I'm listening to NPR or watching CNBC. I just can't get enough. It can be burdensome at times. A few weeks ago when IndyMac went down I actually felt like I was overdosing on information and had to cut myself off from news for a few days because all the bad news was really stressing me out. I'm crazy, I know. :-)

So there you go....didn't that make for interesting reading? Perhaps not....but hey that's who I am...Sam I am. Much too much Doctor Suess for this Obama Mama. :-)

Do feel free to send me your top 10's as well. I'd love to know them!

Lexi's Lexicon at 16 Months

Seth and I were brainstorming today about how many words Lexi is saying now. Lately she's seems to be picking up several words a week. Since I am terrible about keeping a baby book I thought I would just post them on the blog. Not only will our blog serve to keep people informed, but it will also serve to memorialize Lexi's milestones.

(Disclaimer: We totally understand if most readers do not find these type of posts interesting. Please feel free to ignore them if you wish. These posts will serve mostly as reference guides for Seth and I.)

Lexi's list of words as of 7/28/08:

Penny P
Apple "Ah-pull"
Airplane "Eh-pane"
Home "Uh-om"
Uh oh
This "Dis"
That "Dat"
Yes
Pool
Ball
Bubble "Ba-bull"
Move "Moo"
Hat "Hut"
Mama
Dada
Nana
Bop
Barney "Bah-ni"
Dee
May May
Juice "Jis"
Pee Pee
Icky "Eee-key"
Cheese "Chis"
No
Mine
Hi
Bye bye
Up
Down "Dow"
Dog
Sneeze "Snees"
Balloon "Ba-woon"
Big
Duck "Dut"
Truck "Tut"
Please "Peese"
All done
Butterfly "Ba-wer-fy"
Mommy
Daddy
Help "Hep"
Ka ka
Night Night "Ny Ny"
Whoa
Hot "Hut"
Cold "Co"
More "Mo"
Noodle
Bath "Baf"
Cookie
Baba
Peach "Peet"
Open
Light "ot"
Two "Tee-oo"
I
In
Baby
Tank top "Tae tup"
Nice
Egg
Go
Eitan

Total Words (that we can think of) = 62

Monthly Gathering....at Jill's House

Recently "our group" decided to initiate monthly gatherings at alternating houses to help keep everyone better connected. Clearly our group dynamic has changed over the past 2 years. We've transitioned nearly overnight from Smirnoff to Gerber and now with all the little ones controlling our lives (and with the general hustle and bustle of the capitalistic world we live in) keeping in touch is progressively more difficult.

Yesterday was our second monthly gathering and this time it was at Jill's house. Jill has an awesome backyard and the idea was to hang out, eat, chat, etc. Seth and I were very much looking forward to spending a warm summer night outdoors catching up with our friends and watching the little ones play. We tried to plan ahead by giving Lexi and long nap right before the gathering. Naively we believed that would ensure her having a good mood during the event. Boy were we wrong!

Yesterday brought forth yet another parental lesson (well, I guess it's a recurring parental lesson) and that is.....I cannot control everything. I admit it...I'm a bit of a control freak, planner type of person and I must often remind myself that despite how much I plan I can never ensure my toddler's mood. I also must admit....that I was irritated with Lexi at times yesterday for not cooperating. I wanted her to be happy and cute and good...and at times she was none of those things. But I guess the most important lesson I learned yesterday is I MUST NOT expect my toddler to stay up past her bedtime and still be well behaved because she is only 16 months old and when she's tired she has no other way of telling me than through her behavior. That adorable little being really is making me a better person....one difficult situation at a time.

Non-Meltdown Lexi:

Jill and Trista having special moments with our sweetie:

This is how Lexi shows you the number "two". She puts up both her pointer fingers and proudly announces "teeeoooo".
And just plain cute shots:

Kissed by the Sun

I took these photos of Lexi today and loved the way her face looked kissed by the sun. Just had to share....

Nite Nite

For the past week Lexi has been voluntarily walking herself up the stairs to go "nite nite". We've simply been asking her to please get her froggy so we can go nite nite and she grabs him and starts heading up the stairs. It's absolutely precious. Here are some photos of her heading to bed tonight. Tonight when she got in her crib she grabbed froggy, hugged him, blew us a kiss and went straight to sleep.

I swear we were blessed with the world's greatest kid. A few weeks back at Rachel's wedding, Seth was watching her dance and he looked at me and said "gosh, how could you have a better kid than her?". It was such a sweet moment that it brought tears to my eyes. We are so very lucky to have her in our lives.


So, the other day I was driving home and I noticed a garage sale a few streets from our house. I glanced at the goods for sale and couldn't help but see that there was a bunch of baby clothes. I stopped thinking to myself that I'd just look and in no way expected to hit the jackpot. Well, I hit the jackpot alright! There were so many adorable articles of clothing, all in Lexi's size and in near perfect condition. I bought two bag loads and the woman only charged me 50 cents per item. It was incredible! The dress Lexi has on in these photos is one of the great finds. I just adore her in brown and this dress is so darn cute on her. I must say....I'm warming up to the whole concept of garage sales these days, especially with the economy in the state that it's in. This whole banking fiasco has really gotten me spooked!