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".

3 Foot 6

As measured at Steak n' Shake on March 9, 2013.