May-July 2011

Yeah, yeah, I know...but, I have a good excuse! I'm a big brother now and boy is it a lot of work! It's got our whole house in a "tizzy" (G-ma Laura's word) and we're gradually adjusting to everything.
It's a lot of work being a big brother--there's lots to be aware of when you have a baby in the house. For example, you should try not to poke the baby's eyes because they will need them to see. Another thing I've learned is babies don't like it when you jump on the floor right near them when they sleep.
I was very excited to become a big brother and when my sister, Lily, came it took awhile for me to really believe I had a sister and not a little brother. My parents chose to wait to see what they were having, so my dad said I had a 50-50 chance of guessing correctly. It also took me awhile to call her by her name and not our cousin's name who was born a month earlier. By now, though, I think I've gotten it all down.
Prior to her arrival, we had some good adventures. I'll tell you about them when you see the pictures. Meanwhile, I hope you are enjoying your summer. I am!

That's me enjoying the view of the "zeppelin" nearby. I got a cool eraser from the Goodyear folks when we visited.

I finally got to meet my new sibling and see where mom and dad were hiding out while I entertained our guests at home.

Dad and I still keep our special time together. Here I am enjoying some flights coming into the local airport. I have to be careful of my ears because they are loud, so I plug them when a big plane takes off or lands.

Checking to make sure she's still there and not playing when she should be napping.

Helping dad put a chair together--I love using tools.

Got all my beach gear out to play with the sand but am "working" on the lawn in the backyard.

Another hard day of "work" in the backyard. Dirt + Sweat = Bath time for Alex

April 2011

Happy April to you. This month is my grandma Laura's birthday. Happy Birthday, Grandma! This month, I also got a new cousin in Switzerland. Yay, someone to play with when we go visit! Another thing that happened this month was we celebrated a wedding in our family. I was a ring bearer and got to carry the wedding bands for my uncle. It was fun until the actual ceremony started and I saw all the people. I did carry the rings all the way to the front, but I also held on to my dad's hand the entire way. So, I guess you could say, dad and I were the ring bearers.
It was fun seeing our family in New Mexico and getting time to spend with my cousins. We've also been working on some things around the house, but we try to make time for playing. This month was also Easter so I got a chance to hunt for some eggs with some friends. I have a lot of questions about the Easter Bunny, but for now I'm content with opening the remaining eggs to see what goodies were left inside.
I'm still full of questions for my parents and pretty much any adult who will give me the time of day. I am always asking, "What's that do's?" That way I can find out what it's called and how it's used. My mom says I sometimes ask that question all day long. We both agree that's my job for now.
I'm also preparing to be a big brother and lately I've been pretty adamant about my time with daddy and mommy. I want my dad to hold me all the time even though I can very well walk on my own. It's just nice to take a load off sometimes, you know? It's an exciting time.
The weather has been really warm lately, so we've gotten to play outside quite a bit and even get into the water at the pool or at the beach. I love playing in the water--especially when daddy comes with me to splash around. I hope it's warming up nicely where you are, too.

Back seat driver recommending the "fast" route to daddy.

Sporting my new Chucks with the tux at the wedding. Those are my favorite shoes.

Carefully putting eggs into my basket. I found so many!

Getting the room ready and helping my parents do some of the painting.

Having fun at a local play place with the pots and water.

March 2011

Happy March to you! I hope it's warming up where you are. Here, we've had a lot of rain this month and in the last couple of days it's gotten really sunny and beautifully warm. That's good because that's how I feel with my health. I'm feeling so much better these days and hope it continues. One of the things I won't miss is having to blow my nose, although I did have some fun with the tissue. (See picture below.) I recently started to brush my teeth with "Kids" toothpaste so I have to learn to spit out the foamy stuff and not swallow it. I have to admit, I enjoy spitting waaay more than blowing my nose.
Being sick off and on, plus having rainy weather led to quite a bit of time inside the house. Did I also mention we had to stay around the house anyway because there were some people helping to get our bathroom fixed up? Yeah, so, being inside all those hours allowed me to help with some of the cooking, baking, lots of naps, and playing with my "baby."
On a couple of occasions--when we all were feeling better--we got to go out. One of the places we got to go was to visit the Swiss Club for some fondue. I had a blast swirling around my bread in the delicious cheese fondue. I also got to start to learn to ride my scooter. It's a lot of work to get the helmet on, but it's been fun practicing.
So, here are some pictures from those adventures. Have a good one.
P.S. Happy Birthday, Grossi!

I told my mom I was going to get a tissue to blow my nose. It kept unrolling and unrolling and was so fun...until I got caught using more than my nose needed.

That's me putting an egg wash on my first rolled out zopf.

Doesn't that look so fun?! Swirl, swirl, swirl...

I take my job looking after my baby seriously and asked my mom to make a "pouch" so I could always keep the baby near me while I played and did stuff around the house. It's good practice for when I become a big brother.

Enjoying the nice day and testing out my scooter.

Feb. 2011

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you had a good time with your Valentines. I don't know what this day is really about, just that I gave out little cards to friends and some family, and I had the best time signing my name. The other cool part of this day was all the candy I got to eat. At this last parent class we had, there were two big bins of chocolate and peanut butter cups right within my reach. In total, I am not sure how many I ate, but with other parents checking with my mom if it was okay, she had already counted up to 6 pieces. Needless to say, I was wired on the drive home and running in circles when I should have been going to bed. Ahhh, Happy Valentine's Day indeed!
Things got a little hairy this month with me getting sick a couple of times, but they are all better now. I learned that when you get sick you have to cover your mouth when you cough and you can't go out as easily to play with friends. So, my mom and I did the best we could at home and did some straightening out in the back yard. When I got to feeling better we went to a local exhibit about Noah's Ark.
I'm learning a lot and talking a lot as well. I still ask a lot of questions because I want to know the name of things and how they are used. We had some nice, clear and starry nights lately and my dad has been showing me Orion. The other night I was excited to see it and yelled out, "Look, it's Oh-Rhino!" You get what I was trying to say, right? There's just so much to learn, and often things are harder to pronounce when you first try it. I'm enjoying myself though. Have a good rest of your month, Valentines.

Even though I wasn't feeling too well, I felt like being outside and decided my car needed a cleaning.

Watering our thirsty grass.

More yard work.

Feeling better and checking out a zebra at the Noah's Ark Exhibit.

We were asked to help "clean up" after the animals at the exhibit and that was me cleaning up after a zebra and putting its pretend poop in a box.

January 2011

Happy New Year, friends and family! We hope your year is off to a wonderful start. Ours is going just fine. The holidays were so wonderful. My parents and I feel like I've been opening presents since my birthday in October. Some presents arrived early, some a bit late, then it was time for Advent, then Christmas, and then some more presents that arrived a bit after Christmas again. Some days I catch myself asking my parents if I can open a "pakli" (small package) out of habit. :)
The month has been nice with us visiting some friends and using the BBQ whenever we get a chance. I can now saw "barbecue" and no longer say "barbecute." I'm also still quite full of questions. Besides asking what peoples' names are, I also ask, "What's this for?" or "What's this called?" Sometimes I ask these things as a way to make conversation, even though I already know what it is. My parents are catching on and ask me back the same question, "Alex, what IS that?"
Lately, we've been waking up to sunny, sunny weather. It's been so beautiful and we've been outside every chance we get. This included a recent trip to the beach where I got to play in a small tidepool my dad made me. It was so warm and full of mud. I had a blast!
Take care!

One of the packages I opened a bit late came from my grandpa Wilson. He gave me my first horse. I asked my mom what his name was but she said I would have to think of one for him. So, this is a picture of me and "Ted." He's a fast, nice horse.

Stretching our legs a bit before we get on the road to see friends. I love crunching leaves.

Playing blissfully in the mud at the beach!

December 2010

December has come and gone and boy was it fun! We made it to New Mexico after leaving California's wet, rainy weather and were greeted by a bunch of snow in Arizona. After some white-knuckled, quiet driving, we rolled into Grandma Laura's place tired but happy to have arrived and get out of the car.
It was all names, names and more names after that. Now, when I'm very curious to see who is who and learn names, I might ask, "What's that's names?" If I do this to you, please don't be offended--I'm still learning the difference between "Who is that?" and "What is that?"
Prior to that, we had our share of celebrations with friends locally and with the Swiss Club up north. I learned about the Samichlaus and was so scared when he called my name. Here's this big man in a red suit, who I've never seen before, and he knows my name! He told me of some nice things I did this year and then he gave me a small gunny sack full of nuts and fruit. That part was nice, but the rest was a bit too much and I had a good cry.
I think some of my favorite things were getting a real tree for Christmas and lighting it every morning. If my parents forgot, I was sure to remind them. It was also fun to bake lots and lots of cookies for our friends and family. Next year I'll try to help more and not eat as much. I also learned a bit about Advent as I received a calendar and got to open little goodies. That was a lot of fun--thanks Grossi & Opa! Then, of course, there were the actual presents. Thank you family for thinking of me and for the great gifts. I am insisting on carrying them with me in the car, to bed, and have them all over the living room, too. :)
I learned so much in 2010. Thank you. A'hee'hee. Merci.

That's me in front of our tree.

That's my gift from Samiclaus.

Wrapping presents is fun!

Isn't it also great to know someone thought of you and to open the present you received?

November 2010

Wow, things must be busy, because we're getting to November's blog well into December. The funny thing is we can't really remember what kept us so busy.
We hope you had a good Thanksgiving with your family and friends. We had a nice and small Thanksgiving celebration here in SoCal. We started our drive to New Mexico but my parents decided it was best to turn around after having to stop on the I-15 two times to clean me and my car seat up from...let's say, food that came back up and out. Between that, the cold weather, and the holiday traffic, it was a wise decision to turn around. We don't give up too easily, though, so we're going to try again in a couple of weeks. :)
My mom has been working hard to try to explain all these holidays to me and it's hard to keep up. It's hard to remember how turkeys and Thanksgiving go together, plus who Santa is, etc... She asked me what type of present I would like and I told her I wanted my "Uncle Chad." So, my mom's going to see if she can convince him to be wrapped up for me. I wonder what that's going to look like?
Well, since we're already pretty close, Seasons Greetings to you!

Trying out my "winter" gear in preparation for going to NM for Thanksgiving.

Dad and I making the crust for pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving Day. I was thankful to be feeling better!

We got to visit the Aquarium of the Pacific one evening and I loved it!

It's hard to see sea lions at night. Dad and I looked and looked. We finally saw them and even barked with them for awhile.