The Birds.

Yesterday at the zoo, we went into the lorakeet aviary and got to feed the birds. I wasn't sure what to make of them, so Aunt Lisa held me and I got to see the birds. I wore a little cap just in case one of them decided to land in my hair, like they did to Aunt Tricia last time. But, they didn't, and it was fun. I wore my new frog outfit from Aunt Mandy and then we even SAW a big old frog in the Children's Zoo. How cool is that?

XOXO,
Alexis

More zoo fun!

Well, we're still having nice weather here, so we decided to go to the zoo today. (It will get hot again soon, I'm sure, so we might as well enjoy it while we can.) We started out our day in the Children's Zoo, where the highlight for Alexis was getting to brush and pet the goats. She loved it and was very gentle with them, and very excited to be hanging out there. Then, without any prompting from us, she went quickly from touching one goat's nose:



to giving him a big ol' kiss on the face.





Aw, isn't that sweet? And gross? Oh well, she's fine!

Other than that, she got to talk to Mommy twice today, we went to a local minor-league baseball game last night, she's been saying "Done," when she's finished eating, and if she's hungry, she walks to her high chair and begins pointing at the tray. She says "Uh-oh" all the time now, and is still enjoying having us read to her.

Her molar is coming in and it's really hurting her, so she's a bit crabby and not quite herself, but it's only supposed to take a few days for each tooth, so hopefully she'll be right as rain soon. Oh, one more thing: she's learned to arm wrestle. You might not believe me, but wait til she defeats YOU!

-Tricia

Bites, and biters.

Well, I'm finally cutting one of my molars, and I am CRANKY! Super-cranky, in fact. And to think, there are 3 more of these dumb teeth to come in the next little bit. Ugh. Also, I said "POOPY" today...yay!

Not much else to tell, more fun tomorrow!

Whew, I'm tired!

Wow, this heat's really getting to me! The "cold front" is supposed to come through tonight and get us below 80 degrees, so I might take a day or two off and gather my wits about me. (Also, Aunt Tricia has to go out of town for work for a night or two, so my secretary is unavailable.)

Mommy's working hard this week, and the hours are weird so we can't talk but I'm getting your messages, Mommy! I love you and I will talk to you soon!

Ah, I love the bathtub!

Here's me in the bathtub! I love this giant tub with the water jets in it, and I'm going to try to get Mommy & Daddy to get one whenever we can after they get home. I don't think it'll be hard to convince them once they rest their aching bones in it! Relaxation!




P.S. A birthday shout-out to my cousin Kris...29? That's the slippery slope to 30, for sure!

My nemesis, the Barbie chair.

So, Aunt Tricia told you how the Barbie chair messes with me. Well, here's a picture of it. If I try to get out on my own, I sort of pitch forward. I like to pick it up and yell at it or carry it around, but then I almost always end up setting it down on my own foot. Yikes!



Not much else to tell. It's still VERY hot, so I didn't even leave the house ALL DAY! It was a lazy, hazy day and I didn't even get dressed 'til like noon, hah! I love the life of leisure.

Today is my Grandmom Hunt's birthday and she's in the hospital, so Happy Birthday, GG, and Get Well Soon! I will come visit you soon when it's not so hot!

Saturday!

Hey everyone, it's me Aunt Tricia again. We're having a heat wave here in St. Louis (like everyone else in America, I guess, but not as hot as Iraq, thank heavens). So, we've been mostly just staying inside. Alexis was dressed like a summery princess today, and we went to the mall for a while (nice and cool there!) and then to Aunt Lisa's mom's house for dinner and to hang out for a bit.

Alexis is having lots of fun now that she can climb up on chairs, couches, etc. She loves to climb on the couch and just turn around, look at whoever's around, smile, and then roll onto her belly and climb back down. Her little Barbie chair is not so easy, though. She can get in it very easily, but if she tries to climb down, she gets twisted up and stuck, so we have to watch her like a hawk and help her when she's ready to get down. She has learned to say "uh-oh" and so she likes to get in the chair with one of her babies, throw it down and say "uh-oh" and point until someone gets it for her. It's a superfun game! She's more interested in having books read to her lately, too, so we'll get even more use out of the videos we have of Mommy & Daddy reading her books to her.

Also, I found my laser pointer, and while Joe the cat never cared much for it, Alexis loves it. She follows it all over and she likes to "catch" the beam in her hand, then smack her palms together to make it disappear. If Mommy & Daddy don't have one of these, we'll have to be sure to get them one for hours of Alexis fun!

Not much else to tell...just trying to stay cool!

Too cool for school.

School's out for...the weekend. Well, we didn't take any pictures today, sorry! It's just too darn hot, and so muggy, we all just look wilty and gross, so you wouldn't wanna look at it anyway. Here's one Aunt Mandy took last week, when I was cool as a cucumber.

We're mostly just going to stay inside this weekend, I think, maybe go to the library, but it might even be too hot to be outside at the pool. We'll see.

Talked to my Mommy tonight and she's fine...miss you bunches, Mama! You too, Pops!

Also, can't remember if I told you all or not, but my Aunt Tricia and I had a GREAT idea to change our last name. Nothing drastic...just add an apostrophe so it'll be P'Olley (pronounced "pee-ollie"). Just a little something new...whaddya think? Papaw Darrell said he'd join us and Aunt Mandy can't decide (but just between you and me, I think she should because she'll probably get a new last name relatively soon anyway). Now if I can just talk Mommy & Daddy into it....

Backseat driver.

Here's me, riding in the backseat of the car (in my Cardinals gear) shouting out directions to Aunt Lisa while she drives. I'm getting VERY good at that.

Guess what I did last night? I found some shower gel by the tub and it smelled like peaches, so it will taste like peaches, right? Right? WRONG!

It was yucky and I spit it all over Aunt Tricia and I don't guess I'll be trying THAT again.

Mmmm, spaghetti!

Look what we had for dinner tonight!

I had to go straight to the tub afterward, and the water was full of little floating noodles. So was my diaper! Ha ha ha, it was awesome.

See you later, alligator!

Travel safely, Aunt Mandy...it was fun to see you!

P.S. I know you took that Anheuser-Busch Brewery tour without me. I'll get you, somehow, someday, punk.

Let's go Cards!

It's Aunt Mandy's last day to visit, so we went to the Cardinals game tonight with the people from Aunt Tricia's work. It was fun, and the Cardinals won 11-4 against the Brewers. I've learned a new thing where I make a kind of spitting noise/motion with my mouth, and if I knew what I was doing, I'd definitely make it about the Brewers. They STINK.

Riding in style.

Here's me, with Aunt Tricia, in my styling new backpack. We went to the mall yesterday and I got to ride around on all three aunts, and I even fell asleep on Aunt Mandy. Now, if I can just get one of those little whips the jockeys use, I'll really be able to show 'em who's boss.

Shopping & fun in the sun.

It's me, Aunt Tricia! Yesterday, as Alexis mentioned, we had a dinner party. We had stopped on the way back from our trip to Mexico to buy some dinner items at Trader Joe's grocery. In this store, they have tiny little carts for tiny little people. Here's tiny little Alexis, shopping her heart out:



We loaded her cart up and she did a pretty good job of pushing it without injuring herself or anyone else.

This week she's getting more and more confident with her walking. She's pointing at things more, and wiggles her thumb and index finger when she wants you to hand her something. She says "ball" all the time, and has added a syllable to baby, so it sounds like "bay-bay-bee." She sings it a lot! She has been saying things that sound like Lisa, Tricia ("dee-da") and Mammy instead of Mandy. And we walked by a guy waiting for an elevator and she shouted something that, I swear, sounded just like "Push the button." I'm pretty sure it wasn't, but it was creepy anyway.

Today we went swimming and Aunt Mandy took some good pictures of Alexis, especially a nice one of her and Hannah. Here's a few snaps of our day at the pool:

Family Portrait

Today, after school, we went to do a little shopping and Aunt Mandy got me twin babies! Here's a family portrait of me with all three of my babies.

I also got a backpack so I can ride around on the backs of others without having to hang on, and when I do, I'm VERY tall and can see lots of stuff instead of just looking at people's legs and butts--which is all I could see from the seat of my stroller.

Woah, Mexico.

Well, today we made a run for the border. No, not Mexico the country, silly! Mexico, MISSOURI!

Daddy and Aunt Mandy and Aunt Tricia used to live there, and here's a picture of their old house! We drove down to visit some old friends and Aunt Mandy & Daddy's teachers. We had lots of fun, and we also saw Aunt Tricia's friend Kathi. Her kids are super-fun and they have a swimming pool, which they invited me to swim in the next time we visit. Greyson and Coleman caught a tiny little frog while I was visiting and showed it to me, and they had lots of baby kittens. Fun!

Then, tonight, Jeff and Mike and Susan came over for dinner and it was good, but I had to go to bed before the dinner party ended, darn it.

Aunt Mandy is here!

Hey hey hey! My Aunt Mandy came to visit me today, yahoo! This week we will do all kinds of fun things, including going swimming, one of my all-time fave activities.

Flying the flag.

As promised, here are the pictures I had taken last month to send to Mommy & Daddy. I know they both got theirs, and the grandparents did, too, so Aunt Tricia scanned 'em in so I could post them online, too. Hope you like them!


Love,
Alexis

Wanna see my pearly whites?

How 'bout these choppers? There are now 4 up top, and 4 on the bottom. The pediatrician says the next 4 will be along the sides, one on each side both top and bottom, about midway back, but as near as Aunt Tricia & Aunt Lisa can tell, none of them have broken the skin yet. (They have to be VERY careful when they check. I bite!)

Anyway, as the hockey players would say, I'm getting a pretty nice set of Chiclets!

Talked to my Daddy today, it was 4 in the a.m. his time and he was getting ready to go flying. Stay safe, Daddy, and get some sleep. We'll send some peanut butter ASAP...zap us a note to remind us if it's crunchy or creamy Jif you're needing.

Kisses!

Hi, everyone!

XOXO

Spoon fed.

Hi, it's me, Aunt Tricia! Just touching base to let you know that we heard from Emily and she is fine, and Alexis is happy that Mommy is ok!

Alexis is getting funner by the day. She said Cookie today and sat playing singing, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy." The singing is new, she also sings Baby over and over. No dancing yet, but we're working on it. She says School all the time (though it does sound more like "cool") and she's walking like a champ. And, she's learning to use a spoon!

She likes it SO much, though, that she won't let us help her very often, so we kind of have to limit spoon use to dinner time so she can go DIRECTLY into the tub afterward. It's a bit messy!


Hope you're all managing to get your food IN your mouth, instead of on it!

Happy Birthday, Nana!

Today is my Nana's birthday, so here's a big shout out to you! Also, there's a hurricane sweeping by my Mama, so cross your fingers and say your prayers.

Aunt Tricia came home today and I was a little glad to see her. Just a little, though. Had loads of fun in the tub, and stuck my face right in the Grins-N-Giggles baby wash suds:






I'm the Grins-N-Giggles Ghost!

In your face.

You wanna piece of me?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

Taking a survey in the interest of science.

Hey, go take this survey if you blog....



Meanwhile, I'm doing good. Yesterday, I blew Aunt Tricia off and waved bye-bye right in her face when she leaned in for a kiss at daycare. Today I sobbed when Aunt Lisa left me this morning. This separation anxiety is a cruddy stage to be going through...I never know when I'm going to be upset about something!

Boom!

Here's one of the fireworks we saw last night! They were so awesome and I wasn't even scared at all. We were right by the field where they were firing them off, so we were laying down on a blanket with all of Aunt Lisa's family with us, and the fireworks were right over our heads. I had my earplugs in to protect my little ears, but I just lay down with my head on Aunt Lisa's belly and watched and watched and was never startled even a little bit. I rock!

I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy!

Happy Fourth of July, everyone! Here I am, sitting on the front steps of our house with the flag that Daddy sent to Aunt Tricia and Aunt Lisa for a housewarming gift. This flag flew in Balad, over Daddy's "house," and now it flies over my house! We call it The Daddy Flag!

Yay, Mommy & Daddy, working hard for me!

Me and Nana.

My Nana came to visit me. Here's a picture of us chilling out on the couch Sunday afternoon.

Fashion show.

Isn't this outfit just so super-cute you can't stand it? I was feeling a little bad about taking the day off the other day, so I thought I'd slip in a little extra post for you today. I got dressed up 'cause we took Nana out for an early birthday dinner. Yay, food!

Before we left, though, I had to have a talk with my baby, and tell her to be good while I was gone. I can't afford a babysitter, after all:

What a grind.

Today Alexis played in the yard for a while on her Pooh toy, pushing Pooh ALL over the yard. Also, she learned to grind her teeth and sort of count to 3! She may be grinding her teeth in this picture:


As for counting to 3, we hold her just above her froggie beanbag and drop her onto it after saying 1-2-3. So today she started saying "Doo" and "Dee" instead of 2 and 3. One time it even sounded like she said "un" to start it off. Later, she decided she didn't need us so she just stands in front of her beanbag and yells "Doo" and "Dee" and throws herself face-first into the beanbag, laughing. Yay, Lex!

We had a VERY busy day. We got up early (Alexis' choice, of course), and so we went to Home Depot and Walgreen's to get some stuff for the house. Then we came home and Lex slept while I worked on house projects. (Lisa had to work today. Yuck.) Then we hung out and played with Nana, Lex took a nap, we went to lunch, visited Lisa's work, did the recycling, Lex took another nap, played more, ate dinner, played more, bath, played more, and off to bed. No wonder she's tired!

Tantrum, anyone?

So, the other day, I got really mad. I mean REALLY super-dupery mad, because I wasn't allowed to do any of the following:

• Hit Aunt Tricia
• Bite Aunt Lisa
• Pull Joe's tail
• Stick my finger in a light socket
• Climb up the stairs so I could fall down them
• Play in traffic
• Juggle knives

Basically, if you get the picture, I was not being allowed to do ANYTHING except be loved, cuddled and adored, sleep, eat and play with my 4,362 toys. Whew, these people are hateful to me sometimes. Anyway, I got so mad I cried and screamed. Here's what it looked like, for those of you who missed it:




Anyway, Nana's here today, YAY! I went to school and we had "Water Day," so we got to play in the sprinkler. Aunt Tricia worked half-day and then I went home and played and stuff and Aunt Lisa took us out to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. We went to the riverfront and I touched the Mississippi River for the first time. Silly Aunt Tricia forgot her camera, but Nana took some shots on her regular camera so when they're developed I'll try to post one.