Growing Up Fast!

Little Miss Abby is growing up fast! Thinking back to what Alex was doing at age 2, I made a visit up to the local Y to sign Abby up for Creative Movement class. She started last Tuesday and I think it is right up her alley. It is similar to the little gym class she was taking through the park district, only without the downtime and crowds. They are active for the whole half hour and run off a lot of steam. She was a little shy last week but warmed up by the end of class. Abby enjoyed playing with the other kids and navigating the obstacle course. She might be the youngest in the class but the teacher was very good with her and made her feel right at home.

After Creative Movement, we get changed and have parent/child swim class. Given Abby's new found affinity for the pool, I thought I should really take the time to get in the water with her regularly. Our neighbors joined the class with us so she sees a familiar face in there. There are only three mom/toddler pairs so it is another fun class with a low teacher/student ratio. We do sing fun songs but we also focus on a fair number of swim basics. Abby's favorite is jumping in off the side, go figure. This will be our Tuesday routine probably until the end of the school year :)

Portrait of Lincoln

Photo credit: Alex Ross '10

Quite possibly the best drawing of Abe Lincoln that I've ever seen :)

Happy Birthday Brad!

Nice smile, Alex.

Yesterday was Brad's birthday and we all celebrated with presents and brownies at lunchtime, following Brad and Alex's visit to the driving range. Then, the boys broke out the electric putting green from Gigi and continued practicing. Brad and I had a nice, quiet dinner in Chicago at night and while it wasn't Vegas, we still had a great day!

Chuck E Cheese and Bowling

Alex and Grandma bowling using the ramp.
Riding the helicopter at Chuck E Cheese.

Brad helping Alex with the water gun game.

She loved it, can't you tell?

Air hockey, Alex was the champion!

Last weekend, Grandma Eileen came to visit and help us celebrate President's Day :) Alex had a three day weekend and we tried to make the most of it given that the weather was totally dreary, chilly, and wet. We went bowling, played at Chuck E Cheese, and went to the Children's Museum. Alex has really improved at bowling, even throwing the ball the "right" way by putting his fingers in the holes and letting it go. In fact, he knocked down the most pins once he started throwing the ball like a real bowler!

Golfing with Alex

Alex and I (Brad) went to an indoor driving range Saturday for my birthday. This is the first time we went to hit golf balls, and he was really excited. Unfortunately they didn't have junior clubs for him to borrow, so he had to choke down on my clubs. He started out holding them more like a hockey stick, but made pretty good contact the whole time we were there. He also liked practicing on the putting green. While I wouldn't call him the next golf prodigy quite yet, it was great to be able to take him, have fun together, and have him express an interest in going back!

Abby's Morning Out

Yesterday morning I took Abby to the Children's Museum as it was a little too windy for the zoo. I don't think I'd ever taken her there by herself and she loved exploring on her own for a change. We packed a small lunch and took a break to enjoy that mid-morning. The museum filled up fast with field trip groups so we were glad to have gotten there so early in the morning. Her favorite part may have been climbing up and down the steps between the first floor, second floor, and lower level snack areas :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is the only photo I managed to snap today. For Valentine's Day Alex received a watch, which he was pretty stoked about given its "Indiglo" feature and Abby "Pixar Queen" Lynn received Mike and Sulley from the movie Monsters, Inc. She is a Pixar Films addict. Funny, at Christmas Alex wanted to give these to Abby but the lady at the Disney Store told him "oh, we haven't carried anything from that movie in YEARS!". Then in January they were running a buy one, get one free promo online and sure enough, they had all the characters that they didn't offer at the holidays. Wierd.

The Great Thaw of 2011

Breaking out the scooter, despite the remaining snow.
Happy to have her own helmet.

"Thanks for putting together my scooter dad"

Trying to help out the mail lady

Abby likes us to push her around on her princess scooter (thanks Gigi).

With temps in the 40s today and expected to remain through the week, the great thaw has begun! We had the cars washed and almost instantly dirtied them again driving home through all the puddles of melted snow. I'm sure by the end of the week the river will be up pretty high, flooding the bike path. Abby and Alex played outside with friends this afternoon and Brad finished shoveling off the sidewalks so they could get through on their bikes and scooters. We were all so happy to get outside and soak up some Vitamin D! Alex is looking forward to having outdoor recess this week as well. As long as the wind chill is above 20, they will head back out to the playground again!

Just Dance!

The kids and I gave Brad the "Just Dance 2" Wii game for Christmas and it has brought all of us oodles of after dinner fun! Even Abby likes to get in on the action. You pick the song and just follow the moves as they show up on the screen. It is something all three of us can play at once and Abby plays without a remote :) Even the neighbors like to come over and play!

T

Squinkies!

Alex and Abby recently were introduced to the world of Squinkies. They are these itty bitty little toys. Anyway, Aunt Nicci sent a few to Alex for Valentine's Day and he's very protective of them. Little does he know that Abby carries the basket of Squinkies around during the day and plays very nicely with them. I may have to get her some Squinkies of her own because I know he won't want to share these little treasures much longer!

Where's Brother?

Even when Alex is at school, Abby sits in "Abby chair" and leaves Alex's chair empty. Too cute!

High Score

Studying the installation guide before Mark came over with the proper tools to mount the TV.
Modeling his high score on Just Dance 2, 8088! Go Alex! We are confident that the bigger TV made all the difference!! Practice makes perfect Alex, keep up the good work :)

Snow Days!

Alex had 2 snow days in a row following the Blizzard of 2011. The first snow day was spent shoveling and sledding but the sub zero temps on snow day #2 forced us to get more creative. Alex spent some time building Legos while Abby played Playdough...a creative adventure typically reserved for outdoor use. We stayed in our PJs all day long, finished Alex's Valentine box for school, and played a lot. After two days off school, Alex was excited to go back on Friday.

What a difference a day makes!

No need to use a gate when you can just jump over the fence!
Abby trying to tackle the wall of snow against the front door on her way out.

Who wants to go for a drive? Maybe another day.

Abby enjoyed eating snow, go figure!

All clear by 11am...all clear is a relative statement.

As the sun came out this morning, we piled on the layers and headed out front to survey the damage. The wind had stopped, the snow had stopped, the sun was shining...it was completely different from just 12 hours earlier! We never lost power like some of our friends in Columbus (and even Houston!) and with the help of friends, got shoveled out before lunch. That said, our street has not seen a plow, nor has it seen many cars successfully traverse the deep snow. The tire tracks made for a perfect sled path though and our friend Sherri was happy to pull Abby up and down the street. They've already called a snow day for tomorrow, Alex is beyond excited!

Blizzard 2011

I want so badly to go outside and take lots of blizzard action shots to share with friends and family, I really do. When my friend Becca suggested I just snap a photo with my phone and send it to her earlier tonight, I gently opened the front door and stuck my arm out only to have the wall of snow come pouring into the hallway. The wind is so strong, whipping around our house and taking Brad's nice Weber grill with it. Bummer.

What followed was a comedy of errors as we threw on our boots and coats to head out into the blizzard and relocate the grill to the garage. So much snow blew into the track of the sliding glass door that we had to dig it all out in order to get the door to close properly. When we reached the side of the house, the snow drifts were 2' in spots, including up against the front of the garage door. Wind-driven snow hurts and we were covered in snow head to toe...so was the cat as he was in the garage and when we put up the door the snow blew right in on him.

Needless to say, we would not recommend venturing out in the blizzard. Imagine a hurricane, but colder, and with snow. We have no plans to chase after anything else until the wind dies down. I wish I had more photos to share, but I've decided not to test the water-resistance of my camera any further.

Hunkered Down

When I checked the forecast on the evening of Jan.31...
When I checked the forecast this morning, Feb. 1...

No one wants to see a forecast with the word "Blizzard" as the sole prediction for the day. "Sunny", yes, "Cloudy", ok, even "Snow" or "Rain", are easy to conceptualize, but "Blizzard" we are not comfortable with. It takes a lot to rattle Chicagoans regarding extreme weather, but I would say everyone is on high alert here right now. Let's all hope for the best! Alex is certainly hoping for his first snow day.