Dancing Machine

Once Dexy had had enough pumpkin viewing, he settled in to listen to the music and dance.  He danced with Mommy,

and Carolina.

He even got Daddy to dance with him while the singer did a solo number.

He danced with (near) a biker chick,

and even all by himself. The dude was a dancing machine - he was feeling those rockabilly tunes.







Jazz hands!

Design Festival Gig

Yesterday afternoon Dexy and I met Carolina at an outdoor design festival that Ben was playing.

There were lots of artisans and craftspeople hawking super expensive furniture and knick knacks and then there were haybales and pumpkins - lots of them.

As we walked the length of the festival, Dex pointed out every single pumpkin.

First Homework

Dexy's first homework assignment was completing a poster all about himself. We used different media to complete the poster but I especially like his painting of a dump truck (he wants to be a dump truck driver when he grows up), his depiction of Daddy with all the "prickles" coming out of his head, and the fact that his one wish would be for cake.

Incorporating Reality into Play

Dex: "Hurry Mommy, there is some traffic jam out here!"

Me: "Oh my, that IS some traffic jam!"

Celebrating Seven Years

Each year for our wedding anniversary, Ben and I incorporate something from our wedding into a celebration that includes Dexter. It gives Ben and me a chance to relive some of the early joys, excitement, and anticipation of our partnership as well as share with Dexter the story of his family.

This year, for our seventh anniversary, we took Dexter to Ignotz, the restaurant where we had dinner with our parents the night before our wedding.  Dexy enjoyed the meal but loved coming up the skinny alley to get into the restaurant!

We got the waitress to take a picture of all of us together before the meal (while Dexy still looked relatively clean).

That Frog's Name is Swelva

During orientation for school, I noticed a small frog in a glass container and pointed it out to Dexy, "Look, your new school has a pet frog!"  I then asked the teachers what the frog's name was and they said they were going to have the students decide on a name when school starts. At this point, Dexter declared, "That frog's name is Swelva." Ben, both teachers (Miss Jill and Miss Jenny), and I all turned to Dexy and simultaneously said, "What?" Dexy repeated, "That frog's name is Swelva." As we were all trying to make sure we heard him correctly (we did), Miss Jenny asked Dex how he came up with that name and he replied that he made it up in his head (OBVIOUSLY!).  So, we all had a chuckle and figured that would be the end of the Swelva discussion. 

However, over the weekend, as we were talking with Dex about starting school on Monday, he kept bringing up "Swelva the frog". We explained that the frog didn't yet have a name and that he would have a chance to decide with his classmates what they would call the frog.

At the end of the first day of school, Dexy came home with a slip of paper on which he was to write two suggested names for the frog - a first and last name. He trotted back to school on Tuesday with his choices of Swelva Amphibian written on his paper. When I arrived to pick him up, the teachers made a beeline to me while calling Dexter over, "Dexter, tell your mom what the frog's name is!" They were too excited to wait for Dex to make it over and Miss jenny spilled the beans. "I can't believe it! That frog's name is Swelva! We had a maintenance guy pull the names out of a hat and I almost died when he read out loud 'Swelva?'" She said she was laughing so hard no sound was coming out. Turns out the frog's last name, also chosen at random through a draw from the hat, is "Jackman". Sure enough, that frog's name is Swelva. Swelva Jackman.

First Day of Pre-K

Dexter was so excited to start school again. I took him with me to the parents' orientation one evening the week prior (Ben was working and we didn't have a sitter) and he got to meet his new teachers. Then, we all went to an open house to see the new school building and classroom. It was much bigger than his last school - he was thrilled to see a train table and played in the kitchen making "lunch" for the school superintendent (2 hamburger patties with a slice of cheese in the middle).

When the first day of school finally came, he put on his backpack and headed off cheerfully, promising Mommy that he would be kind to everybody and use his manners.

It warmed my heart to see Dexy and Ben holding hands in the parking lot. He's becoming more and more independent but is still willing to be close to Mommy and Daddy.

When I picked him up and couldn't fit his artwork into his backpack, we switched him to a larger backpack. Dexy said he had a great first day at school - he met some new friends and got to play with the trains!