Block-tac-toe
2
Tag Archives: Lex
Thank you notes
It has been far too long, I know, but we are still working on Lex’s thank you notes. I’m a mean mommy and I make him do his own :) The other day I told him that he doesn’t have to make them fancy, he just has to get them done. He said, “But I want them to be nice. I want people to like them and be happy.” So the process continues. He worked from 3:30-5pm this afternoon and got two done.
I love this face, but really he was yelling at me for taking a picture before he was done writing :)
Now that he's smiling for the camera he likes to practice his smile and then look at the picture on the camera :)
This is a little flower Eve drew on an envelope. I think it's pretty.
For those of you waiting for a thank you note, your patience is appreciated and will be rewarded with some beautiful artwork.
Sports
Lex has taken a sudden interest in sports, which amuses me. I suspect it’s because of the other kids in school. We had an argument over a World Series t-shirt Mandy gave him many years ago (Mandy, it finally fits him!) His friend told him it was a “basketball shirt” and I told him those teams and the World Series are baseball. He finally decided to agree with me.
This weekend he told Grampy Don that “The Red Sox are my favorite baseball team!” Grampy Don was thrilled and I had to suppress giggles because I’m sure Lex is just repeating what classmates have said. This morning he made the statement again, adding “Yes, and the Boston Bruins are my favorite hockey team!” I didn’t suppress the giggle this time. Instead I asked him why and he said, “They just are.” I don’t think he would recognize a Bruins player if he hit him over the head… no, I take that back, he would read the jersey and know exactly who was hitting him! :)
I guess it’s time to start watching some sports around here. Or, better yet, playing some sports! Mom, he is excited to start getting his Sports Illustrated Kids subscription. Thanks!
A hike
I was lucky enough to get to go on a hike with the entire kindergarten class today. It took some coordination with a friend because Eve (and all other siblings) were not invited. My friend’s son is in Lex’s class and her daughter is Eve’s age so we shared a babysitter. This week at her house and next week, when the K class has another activity, we have a shared babysitter at my house. It works out really well!
The hike was fun. Each adult got a few students to be in charge of and we walked up the mountain and back down. The whole thing was maybe 40 minutes, not too bad, and the kids had a great time.
Posed smile
Real smile!
Crossword coins
I left the kids with a babysitter this afternoon and came home to find they had emptied out their “piggy banks” to play with the coins. Lex decided to make this…
Can you find all the names? There are five.
While we’re speaking of Lex and his genius, I mentioned earlier that he is finally willing to talk on the phone, right? At bedtime tonight we called Alan (who is at his dad’s house… more on that when I’m emotionally ready to write that post) and both kids happily chatted for a few minutes. When we hung up Lex said, “Phones really are amazing things. You can talk to people more than a mile away!” Then he asked how they worked and I did my best to explain. :)
Lex’s six year check up
We had an awesome visit to the doctor’s office today. Seriously. Lex had an appointment at 9:15 and he chose to go to school for an hour first instead of just going in late. The surprised me a bit, but it worked out well. He happily left with me when I came to pick him up. He did an awesome job at the appointment. He behaved well, he cooperated with the doctor and did everything she asked him to. It was just awesome. Then, to top it all off, he happily went back to school! He was chatting with everyone along the way, on the way out telling people where he was going and on the way back telling people that he was growing well and very healthy. It was adorable and by far the smoothest part of my day! How often can you say that about a doctor’s appointment.
His stats are all good: 50lbs (73rd percentile and up 8lbs from last year!) and 44 1/2″ (31st percentile). I, and the doctor, think there was a measurement error last year. His record said 44″ at his 5yr checkup, but we all agreed he’s grown more than 1/2″ this year. My oh-so-formal pencil on the wall measurement system had him at 42″ last year and 44 1/2″ this year. I think that’s more likely. She agreed.
Somewhat unrelated to the doctor visit, but very related to his turning six, Lex had a new milestone yesterday. He actually spoke on the phone!!! I had Alan on speaker phone and Eve was talking to him. Lex ran over to see what was going and then he started talking too! Right at the phone! :) I doubt Alan could understand what either of them were saying because they were both talking excitedly and over one another, but nonetheless Alan was excited to hear Lex’s voice over the phone! He is growing up.
I was just reading some posts from when he was three and four years old… I get lost in my own blog sometimes. I can spend hours, seriously, reading about what happened in my own life, in my own house, years ago. I mention this only to say that Lex really, truly, has come a long way. There are so many posts about struggles with him. Fighting. Yelling. Pure exhaustion. He is such a sweet, nice boy now. He was then too, but it’s different now. Minor issues still, but nothing, nothing!, like it was before. I feel like I’ve weathered (or conquered?) a storm and now have a beautiful, nearly calm sea to explore. I truly am fortunate.
Mr. Independent
Lex has entered a new phase of independence the past few days. Will it last? We shall see. He has been protesting bath a lot lately (gently, not forcefully, luckily for me) so a few days ago I told him he was dirty and needed to get clean and I gave him a few choices on how that could happen. When I mentioned a shower he jumped at the idea. Since then he has been taking showers on his own. He can do the whole thing without help. It’s pretty amazing. I wondered when the time would come to switch from bath to showers and it seems, like many things child-related, you just know when it’s time. Or they just tell you :) Yesterday was a super busy and exhausting day and Lex started to meltdown around 5pm when we were cleaning up outside and heading in. I gave him the option of helping us clean up, or heading in for a shower. He ran right in. By the time I got in (after more cleanup and chit-chatting with my friend who was visiting) he was done and stepping out of the shower.
He also has taken to making his own breakfast and dinner. As long as dinner means sandwiches, bagels, oatmeal, and/or yogurt. He still needs a bit of help in the kitchen and makes a bit of a mess, but he is motivated and learning! As part of our summer activities I’m going to have cooking or “kitchen” sessions and I think (hope!) he’ll enjoy them. I’m getting excited!
Love notes
Lex has been full of love lately and not afraid to show it. His love notes make me burst with happiness!
Love notes, by Lex
Party at the bowling alley!
We culminated a week-long birthday celebration with a “class party” at the bowling alley. Fortunately (for me and my wallet!) Lex was happy with just four classmates and not the whole class. Even still, four classmates, plus Lex and Eve made for a hectic party! To make it even more fun I lost my voice on the way in to the bowling alley (seriously!) and then, halfway through the party, a huge crowd of high schoolers came in and they turned on cosmic bowling, which means lights out, disco ball and music on. It was fun, but chaotic! Thankfully we were wrangling just six kids! I think Lex had a great time, but I’m ready to be done with birthday parties for awhile.
The bowling alley provides pizza and I brought some snacks. The kids were all hungry and polished off the snacks pretty quickly!
Alan doling out tokens for the arcade. All the kids say they love bowling, but I think they really mean they love the arcade. I'm pretty sure it's the only arcade in our area.
Lex and his master technique. It payed off for him though because he ended up with the highest score! His friend is trying to explain a better bowling technique.
Boys! Sometimes it hard to tell fighting from fun. I broke this up but they both insisted they were having fun.
Eve got a lot of help :)
The bowling alley also provides a t-shirt the kids can color and the birthday boy gets to keep. I don't expect to see Lex wearing it anytime soon.
They were laughing hysterically at a birthday card. His friend said, "It's a monkey with a cake wearing a hat!" and they both cracked up. Silly kids.
Cake time!
I think they liked it :)
Eve made fast friends with the one other girl there.
This isn't a great photo but I love it because lately Lex has switched from duck-and-hide when he sees the camera's orange glow, to smiling automatically. Here he was drinking and watching people bowl, but when the orange glow hit his face he smiled. I LOVE IT!
I had something else to say here, but I forgot! I’m hoping my voice returns quickly. The boy is throughly six now and has had enough partying and cake to last him through the year!
Today in photos
Lex rode his bike to school this morning. Alan ran along. I took pictures :)
Snack under the "club house"
Chillin' on the swing, waiting for someone to push her :)
We transplanted some flowers the kids brought home from school last week. Lex's is a sunflower and Eve's is unknown. She can't remember. I'm hoping they grow just so we can find out what she planted!
He was really interested (for a few minutes anyway) in learning how to properly transplant a flower.
We decided to decorate the club house with the plants. Lex carefully placed them and watered them.
Looks good to me.
Slide race!
Cake for tomorrow's bowling party!
I rock! :)