Off From School

I had some non-instructional days (which is PC for furlough days), so I was off from school and I got to spend time with my favorite girl. Which was great because I was getting some major Lexie withdrawals this week at work.Of course, the 2 days that I'm off, it rained so we didn't get much outdoor time. We were planning to play in the pool, but Eric didn't want to set it up with the weather being so unpredictable. Instead, Lexie played with her water table and her slide. She still had lots of fun!Lexie's grandpa got her this cute little bikini from Gap. This girl is going to be a swimsuit model because she has a closet full of bathing suits. And she wears each and every one of them!The polar bear is her favorite of all the squirt toys. She thinks it's a dog and calls it "wow wow". She was screaming because I was rolling the bear down the slide.Lexie's "cheesey" smile.

Spoiled by Grandpa

Lexie is a lucky little girl because she has a Grandpa in Chicago who loves her so much. I'm an only child and Lexie is my dad's first grandchild. He has never met Lexie yet and has only seen her in pictures and videos. Almost every few weeks, Lexie gets a box in the mail with clothes, books and toys from her grandpa.Eric & I laugh about it because it's hard to imagine my dad going into these baby stores and shopping for a little girl. He told me that he's gotten better at the shopping part. He knows when there are sales and he makes sure that he uses his coupons to get extra discounts. He always calls us and says that he went a little crazy, but these clothes were on sale, so he couldn't help buying them.We are extremely grateful for everything he buys for Lexie. He's getting better at guessing at the sizes since Lexie is a hard toddler to shop for. She's long, but skinny, so she wears clothes from 3 months up to 12 months. So my dad always makes sure that he has her latest measurements.Grandpa is supposed to be coming for a visit in December. We can't wait for Lexie to finally meet him. We hope one day to visit Chicago so we can see where grandpa lives and maybe even meet some other Taiwan cuties who go to the dragon boat festival every summer.

Happy Birthday, Nana!

Thursday was Nana's birthday and Lexie got to spend the day with her. Even though Lexie makes Nana crazy by climbing on everything and taking out every container from her cabinets, Lexie is the love of Nana's life. She always tells me that Lexie makes her laugh and she just loves this little girl so much.

Lexie got Nana her favorite soaps and lotions from Bath & Body. Nana is excited because Hawaii is finally getting its first Bath & Body store. No more ordering online or having to travel out of state to get it. I also made a photo book for my mom, which made her cry. Then we celebrated with some ice cream cake because we know that Nana loves her ice cream. You can see little Yuri trying to pop her head into the picture. She was Nana's baby until Lexie came along.Lexie loves going to Nana's house and can't wait to celebrate more birthdays with her!

Grad Party Time

We went to Mikki's graduation party last weekend. It took Lexie a little while to warm up to everyone, but once she did, she had a great time. She also was such a great eater that night. We were so surprised. She ate chow fun, sushi, smoked pork, chicken, butter mochi, and brownies. Lexie loves Cameron because he always lets her play with his itouch.
Lexie was totally being spoiled by everyone. They all wanted to carry her.


Lexie watched Mikki's video show with Uncle Mo.
Lexie got a hug from the guest of honor.
Lexie tried on Mikki's lei.
During the karaoke, Lexie heard her favorite song, "Hey, Soul Sister." She knew the tune and started dancing, but when she heard the singing, there was total confusion on her face because it wasn't the person that usually sings the song. She finally believed that this was her song playing and then started to dance to it.
She knows exactly when to say "Hey, Hey" during the song. It's hilarious watching and listening to her whenever she hears this song.
Lexie is leaning towards a career as a gymnast or a figure skater. Eric was holding her up in the air and she was lifting up her chest and raising her arms. She was also bending her legs backwards. She kept doing this over and over again.
It was also a special day for Grandma Sharon. Lexie gave the birthday girl a big kiss! Happy birthday, grandma, I love you!
Everytime someone sang, Lexie went up to the stage and started dancing. I think in a few years, she'll be holding that microphone and singing.

Mommy's Little Helper

Well, not really. Lexie went with me to school. She was supposed to play while I cleaned my room. I set up the kitchen area with toys and she was content for a little while.
Then, she saw the toys on the carpet, so I gave her some math manipulatives to play with. Lexie was having the time of her life throwing links and cubes everywhere. With a face like that, it was hard to get mad at the little munchkin.
After a long nap and some pizza for lunch, Lexie wanted to ride on her swing. It's her favorite thing to do now and will usually run to it when we let her out of the house.
She likes to raise her arms up now when we say "Ta-da!" She doesn't like to stop swinging and gets mad if we stop pushing her. She will starting swinging her legs if we don't push her.
Maxx and Gohan have fun while Lexie is swinging.
They like when Lexie is swinging because it means that they can have the jungle gym all to themselves.

End of My Streak

I'm so disappointed in myself. My goal this summer was to post everyday, but it seemed like work just got in the way. I've been going to school this week to clean and set up my classroom and I just haven't had time to take pictures of the little lady. Why does work always have to ruin the fun?? Well, we did find a little time today to enjoy the sunny, summer weather. Eric was trying to get his sand to dry. He uses the sand to help weigh down his equipment, so Lexie had a big bucket of sand to play with.
I'm ready to play!
Waiting for daddy to make some sand castles.
Oh, no, I got some sand on me. I'll just rub it on my shirt.
Can I rake the sand now?
Knocking over daddy's sand castle.
Do it again, Daddy!! That was fun!
I like to play in the sand.
Lexie likes to say, "Cheese!" when I take her picture. I'm going to miss spending 24/7 with this cutie pie!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Lexie got to celebrate her daddy's birthday for the first time. Eric wanted to keep it low key and just spend time with his little darling. Which took a little stress off me because it's mind-boggling to find a present for someone who has very specific tastes. Eric always wants something that is photography related or very expensive. I know nothing about cameras and their accessories and I'm a teacher, so some of the things he wants are out of my price range. In the end, I told Eric that I would get him something from his Amazon wish list that is within reason.

I wanted Lexie's gift to be personal and special, but how do you get a toddler to tell you what she thinks her daddy would like. Also, it required me to do some sneaking around so Eric wouldn't find out about it. On one of our outings, Lexie and I went to a craft store and picked up a canvas frame and some paint. Then when Eric was at a wedding, I had Lexie create her masterpiece. I started by painting the canvas and once that dried, I put paint on some brushes and placed them in Lexie's hand and she went to town on it. Lexie was very focused and determined when she worked on Eric's present. She wanted to do it herself and didn't want me to touch the brush once I gave it to her. Her work of art is now hanging in Eric's office.

We spent most of the day just lounging around the house and in the yard. It was a perfect, relaxing day. Eric opted for grilling some steak and hot dogs instead of having a birthday dinner out. Daddy did do a little work on his birthday. He was able to get some beautiful pictures of his favorite model.Happy Birthday Daddy! I love you like the waking bear loves the smell of spring!

Nothing Gets Her Down!

Lexie visited the cardiologist today. Thank goodness for Barney because he was able to keep her in a trance while she was attached to wires that listened to her heart. She didn't do so well during the ultrasound and then when she had to be strapped to a torture device to take a chest x-ray. The tests found that she still has an opening in her heart and after our next appointment in a few months, her doctor will determine when Lexie has to have the surgery to close it up. Luckily it's an outpatient procedure, so she won't have to stay in the hospital. Except for this minor problem, Lexie is a healthy little girl who doesn't know there's anything that's supposed to be slowing her down.

Lexie continues to make us so proud of her. We always feared taking her to restaurants because we've sat by families with kids. We have seen parents leave the table with a crying child or we hear lots of yelling and screaming which kind of causes everyone to lose their appetites. Lexie has been pretty good so far (knock on wood). She sits at the table and is happy to feed herself and loves to people watch which keeps her occupied so mom and dad can sneak in a few bites. She even sat on a booster seat that had no straps, kind of scary since I thought she would slip under the table.
Lexie's bucket swing came in the mail and boy, did she love it!
Aunty Yvette and Taryn came for a visit. Lexie loved having Taryn push her on the swing.
Taryn tried to swing with Lexie. Sorry, ignore the pooping dog in the background!
Lexie loved playing with Taryn.

Daddy has a monkey on his back and he wouldn't have it any other way!