Designing Mazes

Ian, Elissa, and Jason gave Dexter a maze workbook and a hidden pictures workbook (he loves them both) and both workbooks came with a CD for loading puzzle designing software onto the computer. Dex gets very engrossed in designing his own mazes and I love seeing him use technology and begin to master the fingerpad on the laptop.

Helping (?) with Outdoor Chores

Ben and Dex took care of the leaf raking just before the temperatures plummeted. It started out promising with Dex ready to actually rake. But he quickly tired of the job.

Raking up the leaves was definitely not as much fun as playing in the leaves!

Not sure how much fun Daddy had getting them all raked up and put in bags but Dex had a blast "helping" with the outdoor chores.

Chug-a-Chug-a-Choo-Choo!

We took Dex out for a special birthday lunch but we kept the destination a surprise - he was so excited when he spotted the Choo-Choo Restaurant! 

Each year, we fill out a card with Dexter's name, birthday, and address and each year they send out the card as a coupon for a free birthday lunch. This year, Dexter wrote his own name on the card.

Cheeseburgers and fries were delivered by train and wolfed down by us all.

The train also delivered a special birthday cupcake while everyone sang the happy birthday song. Dex covered his ears because they also blow the train whistle ("too loud").






But the noise (and the burger and fries) didn't dampen Dex's enthusiastic consumption of that cupcake. And the train whistle that comes on top of the cupcake (that Dexter blew the whole car ride home) wasn't too loud for Dex (but Mommy and Daddy kept saying, "too loud!").

My Bologna's 9th Anniversary

This year, My Bologna's anniversary fell on Dexter's birthday. My Bologna also enjoyed opening his anniversary gift!Nine years ago, on the day after Thanksgiving, Ben and I went to meet this crazy-looking fuzzy dog that we found on the internet.

My Bologna (called "Rex" at the time) was outside in the yard with a bunch of other dogs that his foster mom was caring for and I spotted him right away. "That's him!" I exclaimed.

He was a nervous, skinny puppy of about one year old, scared of people in general and men in particular (probably some sort of abuse history). But he came to me immediately. Once we got him home, it took a while for him to warm up to Ben but now they are best friends. And My Bologna and Dexter also love playing together.

Actual Birthday

Dex had a wonderful actual birthday the day after Thanksgiving. He began the day by opening family presents.

 The excitement on his face as he opened cards and unwrapped gifts was very fun to watch.

Thanks to all our family who thought of Dex on his birthday - he enjoys everything and now has more building materials, crafts, and cars!  He also has a new little desk and chair for doing his mazes.