First Selfie

Dex takes many, many, many pictures of the structures and vehicles he builds every day. The other day, he turned the camera towards himself and took a selfie. Hopefully, it's both his first and last selfie.

Sparklers!

After dinner (and hamburger cake), we wrapped up our Fourth of July with sparklers in the backyard.

Dex was initially very cautious...

 Then very excited!

 Dex had the idea that we run around the yard propelled by our "rockets" (sparklers)

It was a happy 4th of July!

Bringing Back the Hamburger Cake

Ben and I spent our first Fourth of July together at an Improv Comdey performance in which he was playing guitar. On our way to the performance, we stopped at the grocery store and I saw, for the first time in my life, a hamburger cake!  I had to have it. I sat through the improv with the hamburger cake on my lap and we ate it in the middle of the night when we got home. The hamburger cake was always an inside joke for Ben and me but this year, when we saw it at the grocery store we decided to introduce Dexter to the hamburger cake. 

Dex was not impressed. "This hamburger cake is dry and doesn't taste very good." I know. But get used to it - now it's tradition.

Patriotic Fourth of July

My back was wrecked by standing and watching the parade that Ben was not in so the next day, on July 4th, Ben took Dex to Cantigny Park.

Dex (not quite fearlessly but enthusiastically) climbed on old army vehicles with a bunch of other kids.

 Only once did he need help to get back down.

And he ran around in the lush grounds.

Where's Daddy?

Dex and I found a prime spot for parade-watching and saw the 2 hour parade from start to finish. Highlights included all kinds of emergency vehicles with sirens blaring, 

 Shriners driving tiny cars (one broke down in front of us and had to be towed behind a regular sized car),

 A huge chicken handing out coupons,

And Uncle Sam on stilts handing out high-fives.









Throughout the parade, Dex would tell the other parade-watchers that his Daddy is playing banjo on the back of a flat-bed tow-truck. But as the last bit of the parade passed us by and we never saw Daddy, I knew something had happened. 

Dex and I headed back to the parking lot where we had dropped Daddy off a few hours earlier only to find that the tow-truck had never arrived, the other musicians left, and Ben spent most of that time playing banjo by himself in the empty parking lot. Poor Dex and Daddy - they both were so disappointed. Luckily, Dex had lots of other fun memories of the parade. Ben not so much.

Preparing for the Parade

Ben was hired to play banjo with a Dixieland band in a Fourth of July parade - sitting on the back of a flatbed tow truck! This was so exciting that Dex and I decided to watch him in the parade. We dropped Ben off in an elementary school parking lot where the truck was supposed to pick the musicians up. Dex got to meet the other musicians and he got to explore, up close, a tuba!

Competing with Critters

We have two strawberry plants growing in our garden this year. We have to compete with the yard critters to grab the ripe ones before they get nibbled.

Dex managed to get two full ones and a half-eaten one the other day. He said they were "delicioso"!

The Tree of Terror

We found a perfect climbing tree behind the petting zoo at White Fence Farm. Dexy couldn't get himself up and was consumed with fear of falling when we put him on the low branch.

We tried having him sit with Daddy on the medium branch. Initially Dex resisted facing his fear by screaming and crying and clinging.

 But eventually, he settled down and enjoyed the view and breeze.

So sweet that being in Daddy's arms makes him feel safe.

Not Much Petting Going On

White Fence Farm also promised a "petting zoo". However, it was as disappointing as the dry chicken. We purchased food pellets and headed back to the small enclosed cage containing a few goats.

We were able to do some feeding but there was not much petting going on.

But two of the goats had little babies - it was nice to see the interactions between Mommy and baby goats.

Who's That Rooster?

We took our first trip to White Fence Farm last weekend. The huge rooster in the parking lot was impressive. The dry chicken we had for lunch was not.

I got a shot of Dex as the White Fence Farm rooster and he took pictures of...

 me,

 almost Ben,

and Ben.

Honorary Big Brother

Last Saturday, Dex and I planned to go paint pottery. We decided to ask his friend Tabitha if she could join us. Turns out, Tabitha was at an Art Fair at a park a few blocks from the house when I called her Mom so we walked over and met her and her family there.

We explored the Children's Garden (tasting some Gooseberries, raspberries, and not-yet-ripe grapes pulled from the bushes).

Then Dex kicked into honorary "big brother" mode. He helped pull Tabitha's little sister, Libby, in the wagon

and held her hand when she wanted to be carried rather than walk

and helped supervise her painting at the Kid's Tent. Later, I took Tabitha and Dex to paint some pottery. I was so impressed with and proud of how well-behaved they were.

Bubble Slippers

We bought a new desk chair (to replace the donated one from Chapin Hall that was killing my back) and found a few bubble wrap bits in the packing. Dex asked me as he was going to bed if, in the morning, we could make them into bubble slippers and he could wake up Daddy with the pops they made while he walks.

I used rubber bands around his ankles to keep the bubble wrap on Dexy's feet. He stomped into the bedroom to wake up Daddy but it was his squeals rather than any pops that did the trick!

Signature Style

Last week, Dex insisted on wearing his shirts backwards - all shirts, including jammie shirts. Ben and I joked that he was developing his "signature style".




As quickly as it came, it was abandoned. He's back to wearing his shirts properly.

Train Restaurant Treat

It had been a while, and Dex kept asking to go to a train restaurant, so we decided to make it happen. As usual, Dex enjoyed playing with the electric train set with other kids before his food arrived.

When he heard the horn tooting, he ran to his spot at the counter to watch the train deliver his food.

 Anticipation is so exciting!

Afterwards, he played again - this time with the train table.

More Structures

Parking lot

 Traffic jam

 Line of cars waiting to go on road through building

CTA El and Amtrack tracks with multiple generators

Supporting the Cause

Dexy's friend Tabitha had a lemonade stand and all the money collected went to fighting childhood cancers. We were happy to support the cause (and hang out with good friends on a sunny summer afternoon).