November 24, 2011 Dear Lentil,

Dear Lentil,
Here's something on Thanksgiving that I'm thankful for.

We all wore name tags tonight listing what we're thankful for.

Alex chose:  stuffed animals.


I always believed stuffed animals were magical.  My Alex gives me more evidence every day.

I'm thankful Lentil, that I chose you to be his stuffed animal.

September 15, 2011 Dear Ted,

Dear Ted,
You didn't make the move to the new house right away.  Perhaps you stayed behind for awhile because you just weren't ready to leave Eat Nashville.  Perhaps it was because your getting older and just weren't quite up for the move.  Or perhaps this job of being a Bear to a boy's two sons has been a bit overwhelming and you just needed a break.

Today you came to our new house and you went right to work.

When we got there we found Alex upset about something.

"He Alex," I said.  "Look who I've got."  He ran over, smiled and said "Ted."

"Ted hasn't seen our new house.  Can you give him a tour?"

Alex forgot about what ever he was upset about and took you for a tour.

About a minute-and-a-half and one room later, Alex pronounced "He likes it."  He then put you down and went on to play something else.

Not sure what it is about stuffed animals in general and you, Ted, in particular.  There is some sort of magic that my boys -- especially Alex -- and I believe in.

Thanks Ted.

April 30, 2011 - Dear Alex,

Dear Alex,
Here's some April 2011 updates I've been meaning to write about. (I promise to get back to the spirit of this blog soon).

- You've been so tired at night that you don't participate in our ritual: "What's your favorite thing of the day?"

Instead you say "I'll tell you in the morning."




- We visited Chicago in mid April for our annual Opening Day baseball game. You took a liking to grandma's little stuffed red bird and carried him everywhere. You took "Birdie" to the train where we headed to the airport with the full intention of giving him to grandma before we got on the train. During the quick good byes, giving him back was forgotten. When we got on the train you cried because Birdie couldn't go back home.

- We had our first school review. They said that at first you were shy but after a bit you now talk and play with your school friends. They said you light up every time they talked about your brother Max.

- After we were home for a couple weeks with Birdie you told mama that Birdie wanted to go home. "How do you know that?" mama asked. "Birdie has a sad look in his eyes," you said.





- You and Max helped me shop for mother's day presents. At first you both insisted on getting her a gift card to Popo, a hip toy store. After looking around, you decided to get her a dinosaur building kit. Max got her a harmonica. You both asked continuosly whether mama would share her gifts with you.

March 30, 2011 - Dear Alex,

Dear Alex,
A random list of things I've made notes about but haven't blogged.

- Way back in January you surprised me and started singing along with the CDs in the car.

- In early March, you and Max were showing that you knew the difference between boys and girls. I asked whether your stuffed pigeon was a boy or girl. "Girl," you said. "How do you know?" I asked. "It doesn't have a pene."

- In March you said you wanted to go to ballet class. I'm guessing it came from seeing cousin Sofia do a dance recital. We signed you up for a movement class that you call ballet and thoroughly enjoy. On Class 1, you, me and mama all jumped liked frogs, stretched and jumped over imaginary puddles. Max joined us one Thursday when he was on school break. You loved the moving, the learning and the opportunity to express yourself.

- You and I have started our guy night out. You like to eat dinner in my office. We eat dinner on the floor and then you play with the stapler, paper shredder, ink stamps and calculator. One night we stopped at Smiling Elephant for me to get Thai food for our picnic. You saw a calculator near their cash register and wanted to play with it. "I have one in my office, you can use that one," I said. "You have two in your office," you corrected me. "Can I play with the blue one?" It amazed me that you knew I had a blue calculator. I didn't know that.

- Blue has become your color of choice. Sometimes it borders on obsession: "I want a blue one." (cry, cry). Mostly it's just your preference. Max usually likes red or green.

- You and I went to Target. We passed the woman's underwear section. You pointed to a manikin wearing a bra. "Mama has some of these." - You've started taking my teddy bear as your baby of choice to sleep with.

- You're now still requesting? demanding? a banana in the morning for your breakfast but typically you eat no more than half of it.