Central Park & the Zoo

Day 3... for the second half of day three we headed uptown to Central Park and the Central Park Zoo. By this point in the trip, my pregnant body was tired, so we didn't make it to all of the stops we intended, but still had a great time. The kids got to run around and play, and even got balloon animals.

We stopped for lunch at a hotdog stand before we headed into the zoo. The hotdog stand is another page from Jay's book too.

Yummy! It was nice sitting at a bench in the park on this side of the city. Last year, we didn't make it up here.


The kids liked to crawl around as much as possible.

Jason in front of a playground.

At the zoo, by the sea lion exibit.

There were penguins and sea birds in here. Lexie just loved them!

The children's zoo portion was a big hit... Here, Jason is a rabbit.

Sitting on a big turtle.

Lexie is hatching out of a turtle egg!

Here is the big spider that belongs to the spider web in the next picture.

Jason LOVED jumping and climbing on this thing, and it got pretty crowded, but he didn't mind.


He is sometimes hesitant to pet the animals, but he loves sheep!

Lexie does too!

She loves piggies too!

We were all ready to go home and sleep at the end of this trip!

My Jason

My Jason has grown and changed so much this summer. He just turned 3 and is now calling us Mom, and Dad... I like Mommy, and miss it, and thought it would last a little longer :-(

In the beginning of the summer we got day passes to a campground and took the little guy swimming. He wa terrified, to say the least. He refused to go in the pool, and when we carried him in, he would cling to our necks, screaming, and clawing until we would let him out. Mind you, we never let go of him or put him under, or did anthing else that would provoke these feelings of terror, and he was wearing a life jacket the whole time. Anyway, we took him back to the same pool yesterday (just 2 months or so later) and it was a complete turnaround. At first he would come in being held, but not clinging to us, but still uneasy and scared we would let go. He started having fun kicking his feet while holding our necks still, and got much more comfortable in the water (wearing his life jacket still). Then I told him to try and put his feet down in the 3 foot end. He could reach, and after that didn't want anyone to touch him at all. That's all it took, and now he's a fish. He even swam through the deep (5ft) sections like a pro.

The little guy was also always afraid to ride on the horses in the carousel. He'd ride on the sleigh happily, but was just too scared of the horses. During our visit to the zoo last week, his fear went away, and he begged to ride on a horse... and sure enough he did it! And I have to say that particular carousel is pretty fast, I don't even like to go on it, but he did it, and wanted to go on again.

Another sign of how much he has grown in these past few months is his vocabulary. He has always loved to sing songs, but used to kind of mumble his way through them. He now can sing the whole alphabet, and other songs like Happy Birthday, and Old McDonald are favorites!

Jason has also started to LIKE his little sister, and plays with her, and teaches her how to do things like play with sidewalk chalk, play in the sand box and build towers out of can goods.

My little guy is getting so big!

Stats

Lexie stats at ONE year (08/16/10)

Weight: 24lbs 12oz (80th%)
Height: 32 inches (>97th%)

She actually lost 2 oz since her last apt at 10 months. We saw a different dr in the group (she was terrible and we'll only see our Dr from now on) and she made a giant fuss about the small loss.

*** As a side Jason has grown an inch in the last 2 months and is now 39.5 inches and 34lbs

Lexie's 1st birthday party

Our little girl is 1!!!

The party girl with her Grandma.

Friends!!

They ate dinner together so sweetly! Saying please and thank you to eachother!

again

Jason had a blast with his friends Hugh, Hayden and Tyson!

The big cake for everyone else... thank you Wegmans!

Getting ready to sing! She LOVED being sang to... she giggled and smiled in delight the whole time!

She wanted it!

Yummy?

Watching her eat her cake!

She didn't eat too much cake... but she did rub it all over her face... and went straight into the bath!

Opening her presents!

Although she loves all of her gifts... she wasn't too into opening them... she was pretty tired at that point.

These boys were up to the challenge though! Thanks everyone for making her day so great!

Lexie's 1st Birthday!

Waking up birthday morning! Bed head all around! ... 6am ish

Sitting with Daddy excited for her 1st birthday cake!!... for breakfast

Checking out her cake!

A new magnadoodle from her big brother... Jason calles it a magnadiggle!

After her second round of cake, after dinner! So cute!!

Presents after birthday dinner, and the 2nd round of cake. Lexie was very pleased that Dave gave her this one!


Lexie's Grandma, and Aunts watching the festivities.

Jason helping his little sister open her gifts. He was really sweet, and would tell her "look baby Lexie," in a cute little voice.

Foggy pic, but a pretty painting from Grandma!

Grandma even snuck in a little surprise for the big brother... a book he has been asking for!

Lexie is ONE!

We love this little peanut so much. She is truely the happiest, sweetest, cutest baby in the world. This past year has went by so fast, and I wish I could keep her at this age for just a little longer.



Lexie loves her Daddy, and when he is home, she won't let him out of her sight. The only word she really says is Da (and yeah), and she knows that means Daddy, and says it to him all day.

Lexie just learned to crawl at a little over 10 months, and has been pulling herself to standing a lot lately, and trying to climb too.

Lexie loves to eat fruit the most... Especially blueberries, strawberries, and grapes. She only ate baby food for a few months, and then quickly decided real food was better.

Lexie finally started to sleep through the night at around 10 months. Now she sleeps great, from about 7:30pm-7:00am, and she still prefers to take 2 naps/day too.

Lexie loves to play outside, especially in the pool (any pool)... she loves water.

Lexie loves to play with her big brother, even if he just tells her "no" all day... she doesn't seem to mind.

When Lexie gets cranky (rare) she throws her head back, and arches her back. This really scares us when we are holding her one armed on our hip, as she nearly flips out of our hands.

Lexie loves to pull hair, and other objects, like clothing, and skin... we're working on being more gentle.

Lexie has always loved to play peek a boo... she puts whatever she can find over her head, and rips it off happily, over and over again.

I usually find Lexie sleeping with her blanket balled up on top of her head, and sweaty from it when she wakes up.

Zoo

the 4 of us

...again

My boys

Jason with his Aunt Amy

Aunt Amy with the kids