I don’t know why I didn’t discover this sooner, but I’ve recently found that I can blend anything into a smoothie and Lex will drink it happily.  It’s a great way to use up leftover fruit and yogurt.

Yesterday Lex and I went to a chocolate tasting at Jenkins Estates in preparation for Valentine’s Day.  There were tons of different vendors and we sampled our way through two buildings.  It was great!  (Lex still has some residual chocolate on his face in the picture below)

And finally, I just wanted to share my son’s special talent with the world.  Not all of us can do this!

Lex’s friend Siena had her 2nd birthday party on Sunday at the Children’s Museum.

After we finished in the party room, all of us got free access to the rest of the play areas.

Today Lex had a doctor’s appointment.  I wouldn’t normally take him to the doctor for just a cold, but I’ve been wanting to get established with a pediatrician closer to home anyway.  And while we were there I had his ears rechecked.  Apparently the left one is clear and the right one is still questionable.  So we’re just going to monitor him and make sure he doesn’t get another fever (or God forbid, further sleep disruption).

And I have to mention this before I forget, because it’s too cute not to repeat.  Yesterday Lex and I met Loretta and her kids at a nearby park for some playtime.  When I told Lex that he was going to see Baby Christopher, his eyes lit up and he said “Baby Cookie Monster!”  (I told Loretta that her son now has a new nickname.)

I had a wonderful birthday today, thanks to my two favorite guys.  Tim made me a “giant cupcake” cake covered in pink frosting and m&ms.  Yum!

Blowing out one candle is easier than blowing out 35!

Tim took the day off of work so we could spend the day as a family.  This morning I was served breakfast in bed, and this afternoon we took advantage of the sunshine and headed to the zoo.

The one downfall to this lovely story is that Lex is sick…again.  Last night he woke up with a horrible cough, and today his nose was pretty runny.  We can’t seem to catch a break around here!  I’m just hoping that this round ends quickly, before we all three come down with something.

Lex hasn’t really shown us many signs that he’s ready to be potty-trained quite yet, but we did buy him a potty chair and have it sitting out so he can become familiar with it.  He LOVES this one dvd called Potty Power, and he wants to watch it every morning (sometimes while sitting on his own potty).  It’s a cute show, but the songs…oh the songs.  They’re tuneful and catchy, but they won’t get out of my head!  Every night my dreams are haunted by songs like “Wipe your bottom” and “Bye bye diapers, bye bye.”  Aaaaack!  Make it stop!

One of Lex’s favorite indoor activities involves running across the play room and launching himself onto our big blue exercise ball.

He usually rolls off immediately and lands on the floor laughing.  We just try to clear the area around the ball so he doesn’t hit anything sharp.

And here he’s busy “texting” with Tim’s iPhone.

Lex usually prefers that Tim or I accompany him in his bus tent, but in this instance he was actually playing by himself:

Tonight we drove to Salem for a long overdue dinner with Aunt Winnie.  We’ve been so sick this past month that we haven’t gotten to see her in a while.  But (knock on wood) we’re all finally healthy.  And Aunt Winnie’s still doing remarkably well, considering she will be 95 in a few more weeks!

Another semi-sunny day = another fun outing at a park.

Running in the field with friend Samantha:

I hesitate once again to jinx this sleeping streak we’ve been on, but I have to mention that Lex has slept solidly through the night for the past four evenings.  This did not come easily, however.  After he was so sick with his cold and ear infection, he grew accustomed to frequent wake-ups (again), and was asking to be rocked multiple times a night.  So eventually Tim and I had a “talk” with him and told him that mommy and daddy wouldn’t be rocking him anymore in the middle of the night.  And after one hard night of him protesting our decision, he seemed to get the message.  We’re now just waiting for the next sickness to roll in and mess things up again.