The Hunt Is On

Dexter had a blast searching for the eggs that the Easter Bunny had hidden for him. 

The Easter Bunny had to hide them inside because it was a little too damp outside.








 As usual, one egg remained unaccounted for. If we don't come across it soon, eventually our noses will lead us to it...

Easter Basket

Ben and I awoke to Dexter's "oooohs" and "ahhhhhs" over the goodies that the Easter Bunny left for him in his Easter basket.  Interestingly, the Easter Bunny had left the basket in front of Dexy's bedroom door before he had gotten up at 12:30am to go to the bathroom and he somehow did not step on it, knock it over, or (seemingly) notice it.

Fait Accompli!

Creative Process

Daddy, Dexter, and I started the Easter egg dying process around 9am.

Dexter and I continued for about another hour after Daddy left for work. Dexter insisted on writing "STP" on one of the eggs - he had seen it on something the other day. He was a also a master sticker-putter-onner.
 



Then I revisited the eggs, adding finishing touches throughout the day and evening. Somebody stop me!

Packed Lunch for Good Friday Play Date

We had a crazy busy day yesterday.  In the morning, I had to get downtown to give a presentation at a conference and Ben had to get to rehearsal for Good Friday's church service that evening. Luckily, the church's band leader said that Ben could drop Dexy off at his house to hang out with his wife and little one, Luca. Since he'd be there through noon, we packed him a lunch and he headed out for his Good Friday play date carrying his lunchbox.  My heart sunk as I realized that it wouldn't be too much longer before he's really heading off to big boy school with a lunch every day.

Easter Packages

Three packages arrived on Wednesday for Dexter with Happy Easter wishes from both sets of grandparents and his Aunt Steph, Uncle Randy, and cousins Amanda, Adam, and Aaron.

He had a blast opening them all on Thursday morning.  Thanks to our wonderful family for being so thoughtful and generous with Dexy.  We wish we could see you all at Easter. We will be thinking of you.

Of all the awesome gifts and candy he got, he was immediately obsessed with the cheap plastic little bunnies with suction cups on the bottom and springs that make them jump up in the air when the force of the spring wins out over the force of the suction.



After tiring of the jumping bunnies, Dexy moved on to an awesome car that does tricks and some brand new legos (he will never tire of playing with cars or making lego creations).

Working Off Hot Dogs and Ice Cream

Dodge

High Block

 Front Punch (with flair)

Front Kick

Fierce Ninja Face

Dexter was the star pupil when the karate instructor asked the kids to make a "fierce ninja face." I'm wondering if karate is the best thing for him...I had no idea that fierce ninja faces would be involved!

What Are These For?

Ben and I also took Dexter to karate on Wednesday (good thing he had so much to eat - plenty of energy!). We were a little bit early and Dexter discovered some weapons left on the floor by the prior class of older students.  He came up to his instructor, waving them around, saying, "What are these for?" I'm wondering if karate is the right thing for him...I had no idea weapons would be involved!

Visit with the Mall Easter Bunny

We also took Dexy to the mall to visit with the Easter Bunny. He tried chatting up the Easter Bunny but he didn't say a word.  Lucky for Dexy the photographer was a chatty Cathy.

 He is getting so big! Dexter, that is, not the Easter Bunny.

Of course, Dexter wanted to also ride the train while we were there. He almost forgot to give the train conductor his ticket but remembered at the last minute.

He is getting so big! Dexter, that is, not the train conductor.

Eating His Way Through Spring Break

Dexy (and Mommy and Daddy) enjoyed a special trip to Hot Doug's this week.

 Dexter ate as much as Mommy and was loving every bite.

We also went out for ice cream. I took 63 pictures of Dexter eating the whole ice cream cone. It is hysterical to scroll through the pictures like a stop-action movie!

I'm posting pictures 6 and 54 here (the last 6 pictures were of him wiping his mouth, and cheeks, and forehead with a napkin).

Spring Cleaning

Dexter and I were both off from school last week for spring break.  I had two things on my agenda for the week: 1) finish a presentation I was giving at a conference on Friday (OK, both start and finish); and 2) do a major spring cleaning.  I managed to get the presentation done and it went well (better than I had expected considering my exhaustion and low motivation) but we only got two of our major spring cleaning items out of the way: 1) dusting the ceiling fans; and 2) cleaning out our game cupboards. 

Dexter was thrilled to discover some new games - he really took to Bandu (of course, it's a building game!).  Today, it's all about coloring Easter eggs and making Easter cookies and cleaning the whole rest of the house in preparation for our Easter celebration tomorrow with Ian and his family.

Anywhere, Anytime

We had been encouraging Dexy to stop using his potty seat and just go on the big toilet but he had been resisting, insisting that it was too big and he would fall in. After our visit with Ian a week or so ago where we learned that Ian goes on the big toilet, I stepped up the encouragement.  Still, Dexy was resisting, insisting that Ian is bigger than he is (we explained that Ian is a year older but that they are about the same size). Last Friday, Dexter announced that he was going to go poop on the big potty - and he did!  He was very proud of himself and Ben and I were also very proud of him.  I excitedly told him, "Now you can go potty anywhere, anytime!"  Perhaps that wasn't the wisest thing to say because Dexy now insists on pooping almost everywhere we go.  Yesterday, I spent 25 minutes waiting for Ben and Dexter to come back from the bathroom at a local restaurant.  Dexter was determined to poop on that potty and he eventually did.

Reading to Quackers

Most mornings, Dexter is up before his alarm clock goes off at 7am.  Generally, he comes into our bedroom and announces that he has to go potty.  Usually, he takes our suggestion that he go all by himself and then comes back to announce that he's done going potty. When we suggest he go back to bed until his alarm goes off, he usually replies, "I'll just play quietly." And then he goes out to the living room and plays with cars or trains until his alarm goes off and we all get up. This morning, after the potty bit, he went back into his room.  Then I heard him reading, "Good. Night. Moon. This book is called Goodnight Moon." I nudged Ben, "Listen to this, he's reading in his room!" I couldn't stand not seeing what was going on so I tiptoed over to his open door and peeked.  I saw Dexy sitting on his bed, holding Quackers in his lap, reading Goodnight Moon. When I asked him about it later in the day, Dexy explained that Quackers had asked to read "three books, please".  I told Dexy I was impressed that Quackers had such good manners!

Light Reading

Dexter chose one of my academic journals to "read" while on the potty this morning. A few seconds after I took this picture, he was balancing the journal on his head.

Lesson of the Day: If You Think You Can't, Just Try

Dexter has been getting pretty good at self-care. The only obstacles to being able to undress and dress himself independently were buttons, zippers, and socks (go figure, you'd think socks would be the easiest!). Yesterday morning Dexter had jammies with buttons on and was insisting that he can't do the buttons by himself.  A meltdown was starting when I said, "Dexter, if you think you can't do something, you should just try and maybe you will surprise yourself."  He took that to heart and was so proud when he managed to unbutton his jammie buttons all by himself!  I told him that our lesson for the day was to try, even when you think you can't do something and he spent the rest of the day "discovering" all the things he could do when he tried including putting on his socks, zipping up his jacket, putting on his hat, and hopping on one foot over cracks in the sidewalk. 

Counting Cookies

 Dexter and I baked cookies after school one day this week. He enjoyed counting the cookies on the cookies sheet...

and enjoyed the fruits of our labor after the cookies were baked.

Where the Buffalo Roam

The buffalo loved the foggy, rainy weather at the zoo. 

Zoo patrons, not so much.

Zoo Detour

Last Sunday afternoon, Ben had planned to take Dexter to a train show.  It was a perfect rainy afternoon for it and I needed to work on a final paper for school.

When they returned soaking wet and announced that there was too much traffic to make it out to the train show so they decided to go to the zoo instead I prayed that they wouldn't get sick just in time for my final exams this quarter.

Ben claimed they spent much of their time at indoor exhibits and while the pictures bear that out, they also provide evidence of a wet-headed Dexter whose pant legs were soaked to the knees.

Dexter said it, "It was funny. It was silly. It was even exciting!" He definitely had a blast.

Fiddlesticks

We have got to get some of these for Dexter - he loved creating structures with Ian's fiddlesticks.

Ben and I had a fun time watching him - total concentration. It was also nice to reminisce about our own childhood experiences with tinker toys.

Dexy announced that this creation was a weather vane with spinning parts. Jason was impressed that he knew what a weather vane was.

Throwing Bones

Ben arrived after work to find Jason, Ian, and Dexter "throwing bones" in the hallway. Jason had taught Ian and Dexter a modified version of craps and they were loving it.

Smoothies

Jason helped Dexter get into the kitchen "tower" and pushed him over to the counter so he could watch Elissa's smoothie-making process.

Despite not liking the noise of the juicer or the blender, he was captivated.

Elissa explained every step and Dexter hung on her every word.  He loves Elissa.

Wiggly Wok

After I had a chance to catch up with Elissa (and Dexter had a chance to explore every last one of Ian's trains and tracks), Ian enjoyed teaching Dexter and me how to play the wiggly wok game.

The object of the game is to pick up your colored food bits from the wok with your chop sticks.  The kicker is that the wok wiggles and bounces the food bits around while you try to do it!  It was hilarious!

Dexter was curious to know how the wok "worked".

Pastry Case

Dexy and I took a trip to a super fancy market to pick up some treats for visit with friends. Frankly, I love any excuse to go to this fancy market. It's in a swanky neighborhood and is bright and clean, the food is fresh, and the staff is so nice. 

Of course, the prices are outrageous so we only go every once in a while.  Dexter is not as excited about the experience as Mommy is...until we get to the pastry case. Daddy and Elissa said the coconut macaroons we picked out were "to die for".