This morning Lex and I met some friends at Magnolia Park again.  This time the sprinklers were even on, so my boy was in heaven.

And now for an update: I hate to even mention this on the blog for fear of jinxing things, but Lex has slept through the night for the last FOUR nights.  (Of course, when I say sleeping through the night, he’s still waking up at the ungodly hour of 5 am, but at least he’s quiet until then!)  It’s been an interesting transition for me so far.  I’ve had 19 months of interrupted sleep, so even though my son is now sleeping all night…I am not.  I’m still waking up at odd hours for no reason.  But hopefully that will soon cease.  And because Lex is up so early, we’ve been revisiting two naps a day.  Some days we get both in, and other days are just LOOOONG days with one nap.

I’m so grateful that Lex is sleeping better.  But I’m also noticing some other changes in his behavior lately and  I fear that the “terrible twos” might be encroaching.  He’s very opinionated and has mood swings like you wouldn’t believe.  Most of the time he’s still his happy self, but he also has his moments where he’s rolling around on the floor sobbing.  It’s tough to be a toddler…(and his mommy).

Tonight we had dinner with Aunt Winnie.  It’s interesting to watch Lex’s behavior change as he gets older.  He was much more reserved in the dining room this time, and he shyly clung to us rather than making his normal “rounds” from table to table.  But he still gave Aunt Winnie her kiss:

On Friday Loretta and I took the kids to the rose garden in Washington Park.  It’s in full bloom right now and is beautiful:

Predictably, Lex loved the rose garden’s fountain: 

Lex and Gabby:

One day last week the weather didn’t cooperate, so Lex and I couldn’t spend our normal time outside.  To stave off the “afternoon blues,” I brought the  water table inside and filled it with pinto beans.  Lex LOVED playing in the beans.  We just had to have a quick lesson about keeping them in the table and not dumping them on the kitchen floor:  

As for the sleeping situation, it’s definitely improving.  Yesterday Lex took another three-hour nap and then slept through the night (although he did wake up at 5 am ready to go!)

Yesterday Lex and I had a busy day.  He took a morning bath (because I can’t seem to get him out of the tub) and then we spent the rest of our morning playing in the water fountain at Magnolia park.  

We were at the park with a bunch of friends (most were from our past bible study group):

Apparently the time at the park tired out my little boy, because he came home and took a THREE hour nap (!) Then when Lex woke up that afternoon we went to the Beaverton farmer’s market to introduce ourselves to a possible new play group.  We met some nice people and played some more in the sun.  Lex’s sleeping trend continued through the evening, as he SLEPT THROUGH THE ENTIRE NIGHT.  Hallelujah.  Every once in a while he throws us a bone and proves that he can do it if he wants to.  Fingers crossed for a repeat performance tonight…

Lex’s favorite thing is still playing in any kind of water.  Here’s some pictures of him entertaining himself in the bathroom sink.  We just have to make sure he doesn’t switch the faucet over to hot.  

Lex and I spent this morning at the zoo.  I let him lead our tour and I just followed behind with the stroller in case he got tired of running.  We really enjoyed our stop in “Lorikeet Landing,” where I  bought a dollar’s worth of nectar and parrots actually landed on my hand to drink from the cup.  

Thankfully Lex’s recent bout with the flu only lasted a few days.  Not that Lex has ever been a good sleeper, but his sickness really put a kink into our nighttime routine.  For the last three nights he’s been waking up, completely inconsolable by our normal methods.  The only thing that would calm him was to carry him around in our arms, but fatigue sets in fast in the wee hours of the morning.  Putting him in his stroller and cruising around the bonus room got him to sleep one night.  Last night we revisited some hardcore “sleep training” techniques, which is certainly not pleasant but eventually seemed to work.