Lex LOVES playing in water, so recently I bought him a water table so he can play and splash out on our deck on sunny days.  It just arrived yesterday, so this morning he got to try it out for the first time.

The Weaver grandparents are here visiting this week, so grandpa got to help out with the new toy:

After soaking his pajamas, Lex eventually put on a swimsuit:

Playing on the new swing in the back yard:

This photo was taken a few days ago, before the water table arrived.  We had to make due with a plastic bowl and a measuring cup:

Lex is saying a few more words now.  He says “light, on, off, up, hot, ok, no, and yum.”  And he stumbles through the first syllables of the dog names “Ap” and “Kee.”  He still uses sign language for “all done” and “more.”

I’m currently mourning the loss of a close family friend who has been with us for a long time now.  There’s no need to send flowers, but please join me in my grief as I announce that Lex’s daily morning nap is no longer with us.  My toddler has become (gulp!) a once-a-day napper.  

Lex doesn’t feel the sense of loss quite as deeply, as shown in the smiling picture below (this photo was taken during our last attempt at morning napping).

On a positive note, now Lex and I can be involved in more morning activities like library story times and play groups.  But my days of watching taped tv shows during Lex’s morning nap seem to be over.  (I need to go grab a kleenex…)

Last night Tim and I played “Easter Bunny” and hid plastic eggs filled with Fisher Price Little People around the family room for Lex to find this morning. So when Lex came downstairs today he discovered all the Easter baskets waiting by the fireplace, ready for action.

Scenes from the great Weaver egg hunt:

And then of course Lex had to return to playing with his balloon from yesterday. (Sadly this afternoon he accidentally popped it.  But luckily he wasn’t scared…he just said “uh-oh!”)

We did intend to go to church this morning, but Lex ended up napping too long so unfortunately we couldn’t make it.  

In other news, we’re finally beginning to have some success with getting Lex to drink milk that doesn’t come from me!  He’s always shunned it before now, but for the past two days we’ve been offering him a mixture of whole milk and vanilla soy milk before naptime, and he seems to really like it.  Hopefully that will help the weaning process, especially when I stop nursing him before bed in the evening.

This morning we took Lex to an Easter egg hunt over at the Hillsboro fairgrounds.  It was utter chaos.  The ten o’clock hunt was for kids age 2 and under, but there were millions of children and the entire hunt lasted maybe 60 seconds.  Poor Lex only picked up one plastic egg, and even that was a gift.  One parent felt sorry for us and dragged her child away so Lex could get one.    

Here we’re waiting for the hunt to begin:

Our token egg:

Lex’s favorite part of the morning was getting a balloon:

Checking out the tires on a police car:

Lex’s least favorite part of the morning was meeting the “State Farm Insurance Bear” who was handing out pamphlets.  He instantly burst into tears.  (FYI - Lex was also terrified of the Little Caesars character walking around selling pizza.)

But since I can’t leave this blog entry with Lex being sad, here’s a picture of him from yesterday.  My parents sent us a gift basket of Easter cookies, and Lex really enjoyed playing with the basket stuffing.   

No, Lex doesn’t have a drug problem.  But he is obsessed with pots and pans currently.  All he wants to do is stand on  top of our kitchen island and play with the pots and pans dangling overhead.  He eventually gets them swinging and clanging together like some kind of crazy indoor wind chime.  

The game is fun for Lex but it certainly takes nonstop parental supervision and Tim and I tire quickly of the new favorite sport.

Finally I convinced Lex this afternoon to play with some pots on the ground for a while.  He does enjoy putting the lids on and then taking them off again.