Get a Load of This Get-Up!

On occasion, Dexter takes his morning walk with Daddy and My Bologna in his jammies. This time, he chose to also wear a tractor hat and, right before they left, decided he also needed sunglasses. "I know just the ones!" he declared as he grabbed the ladies' rhinestone embedded shades that we bought for him (at his request) last summer. Ben said they ran into a neighbor who immediately pulled out her cell phone to get a picture of him to send to her sister (and his babysitter). I couldn't stop laughing when Ben pulled out the camera and said, "You're not going to believe what the Dude wore for our walk this morning. Get a load of this get-up."

Getting Lost, Found, and Stuck at the Arboretum

Can you find Dex in the castle?

He found his way out of the maze.

But needed help getting down from the tower, "Daddy, I'm stuck!"

Bugging Out at the Arboretum

The arboretum had an exciting display of hand-crafted giant bugs!

 Look out behind you! Ladybug!

 Don't get caught in that spider's web!

Turn around, Dex! Damselfly!





 


Don't get trampled by that praying mantis!

Crossing Bridges at the Arboretum

In addition to getting wet, Dexy also managed to get himself across some bridges...

A wooden bridge.

 A rope bridge.

A wooden and rope bridge.

Getting Wet at the Arboretum

Earlier this week, on a perfectly sunny, warm, and breezy day, Dexter and Ben made use of our newly acquired family passes to the arboretum. Dexter got to enjoy a variety of ways of getting wet...

A fountain where a marble ball is elevated by water making it possible to turn the ball around and around.

 Crossing a stream on stepping stones.

 Building a dam with rocks in a stream.

 Working a red water pump.

And working another red water pump.

First Swimming Lesson: Moving Through the Water

Towards the end of the lesson, the instructor took each child around on a floating barbell and wrapped in a noodle. Dexy worked on kicking behind him but wasn't quite ready to work on arm movements.

At the end of the lesson, he eagerly waited his turn to jump off the side of the pool into the instructor's arms. Despite a very disengaged instructor, Dexter did a wonderful job in his first swimming lesson - thanks Grandmama and Grampy for subsidizing this activity!

First Swimming Lesson: Moving In the Water

Dexter was an enthusiastic participant in his first swimming lesson. He got right in and followed all of the instructor's directions:

 Blowing bubbles.

 Putting his ear in the water.

Kicking (it took him a while to get the feel of kicking his legs behind him - he kept kicking each leg to the side).

 Moving each arm.

He was so happy until the bigger kid next to him started splashing water into his face and he began begging and pleading and crying to get out of the water. We managed to help him calm down without getting him out of the pool.

Getting to His First Swimming Lesson

We should have realized that asking Dexter to walk one block to the Y in his flip flops would be a problem.  Next time, he's wearing crocs!

On the other hand, we thought the required "shower before entering the pool" would be a problem but Dexy enjoyed it and came out of the locker room ready to get into the pool!

Sticking Close to Elissa

When it was announced that the first 8 rows at the Dolphin Show needed to be prepared to get splashed, Ian headed up a few rows on his own to get a "splash-likely" spot. Dexter didn't even think about moving away from Elissa.

Giving claps to the dolphins when they do tricks.

Cup and Cone

Dexy and Ian have some sort of ying yang thing going on. You can even see it in their choice of ice cream treat.

Ian preferred a vanilla/chocolate swirl in a cup while Dex preferred straight chocolate in a cone. What a couple of cuties!

Dinosaur Exhibit

Dexy, Ian, and family enjoyed exploring the special dinosaur exhibit. Say "Dinosaur"!

 The boys got to "dig up fossils" together.

Dexter will take ANY opportunity to hold Elissa's hand.  He LOVES holding her hand (he loves her!).

Waiting on a Friend with a Friend

Last Saturday, Dexy and I met up with Ian and his family at the zoo. Dexy and I arrived at the designated location before our friends so Dexter made friends with a "hamster named Buddy" who was neither a hamster nor named Buddy.




When I told Ben about it, he said, "He sees that guinea pig almost every time we visit the zoo and every time, he calls him a hamster and insists his name is Buddy. And I every time I tell him he's not a hamster, he's a guinea pig." I was just happy that Dexy was gentle and gave "nice pets" to his little furry friend.

Riding the Rails Home Again

We met up at Union Station for the ride home at the agreed upon time but Ben and Dexy were about 5 minutes late (considering the wait at the Sear's Tower, they did a good job staying on top of the time). As I was waiting and wondering, I could hear our friends' voices in my head telling me that we're crazy for not having cell phones and began rethinking our decision to have only one "emergency" cell phone. I was very relieved when I saw their faces headed down the escalator!

We rode "on top" on the way home and had a lovely three block walk home from the station.

The Slug in The Serious Tower

Ben and Dexter had a two hour wait to buy tickets to get into the Sears Tower and Ben said that Dexter did a wonderful job of waiting patiently (he really want to get up there!).

Once they were up there, the Sky Decks were full so they wandered around looking out at the city.

 But Dexter was determined to go on the Sky Deck.

They waited about 20 minutes and when it was Dexter's turn, he plopped himself down to look at the world  directly below him. Ben said Dexy wasn't going to leave - he was like "a slug" on the glass floor of the Sky Deck. Ben had to pick him up to get him out of there.

Taking the Train Into the City

Last Monday, I had to work downtown and took the train in.  Ben and Dexy decided to take the train in a little later in the day, have some city adventures and then we would all ride home together.

The train line ends at Union Station, right on the Chicago River so Dexy had an awesome city view immediately upon exiting the station.

The boys walked around a bit before heading over to the Sear's Tower.

The Big Production Turns Into a Big Game

He eventually was able to stand and walk but not until after providing some serious entertainment for Mommy and Daddy.

The Big Production Goes On

With lots of encouragement, he can get up but he can't stay up.

A Big Production

These days when Dexy gets overtired, he makes a big production out of little things like washing his hands or getting dressed or, as this video shows, standing up.

Sweet Tea Moon Sun

Lots of people have told us that we are crazy for not bringing some sort of video device to keep Dexter occupied during a 10 hour drive. I'm not saying we're not crazy but we find other ways to pass the time.  Dexy loves looking at and identifying different cars and trucks, looking for tractors and trains in the landscape, and finding shapes in the clouds.  On the ride home, he spent a good deal of time singing songs.  Most of the songs were originals (something about a pocket) so it made sense when he started singing, "sweet tea moon sun" that it was also his own creation.  It had a nice chant to it so I started singing along.  Dexy and I sang Sweet Tea Moon Sun for miles!  Then, Dexter started singing it again but with a different emphasis: Sweeeeet Tea Mooooooon Sun. Suddenly it hit me. "Dexter, are you singing Aerosmith?" I asked. "Yes!" he exclaimed. "Sweet Emotion?" I asked. "No. Sweet DE-motion". Then we all started singing, "Sweet Demotion."

Pit Stop

On our ride home from Mississippi, we had to pull off the highway for an emergency pit stop so Dexter could pee in the weeds on the side of the road (there was no hope of finding a bathroom - population 879 and Dexy was ready to burst).

He was reluctant at first but for the rest of the ride home, he kept saying he had to pee and was disappointed when we pulled off at a rest stop and insisted he use the potty inside.

Some Serious Ice Cream Cone Skills

The dude (accurately) brags that he can eat a whole ice cream cone without getting any ice cream drips on his hands.

"I Think He's Got It!"

Dexy was very excited when Daddy finally mastered getting pulled on the paddleboard without tipping over (it only took three tries). Listen for Dexy during the last 2 seconds of video.

You Don't Have to Be Psychic

To see how this is going to end.

Balancing Act

Grandma and Gunker bought a paddle board so, of course, the boys had to try it out.

 Dexter advised Daddy to "hold on tight."

Gunker provides a bumpy ride but everyone remained afloat.

My Little Guppy

Dexy, Daddy, and Gunker spent a good three hours in the lake! I sat on Sweetwater with my toes in the (warm) water taking pictures and encouraging Dexter's swimming efforts. Dexter was very proud of his new abilities and learned that there can be great rewards for facing your fears.