Sleep tight...

Two nights ago I didn't get much sleep*. Alex got me up six separate times. She had to pee, she was thirsty, she tottered in to our room carrying a blanket and Mr. Dinosaur Head. But the big one, the one that lasted a while was weird. She was crying, wailing really, and pointing at her bed. "It's there Papa... it's there, get it!"... and I was lost. It was dark and I was recently roused from little slumber. After some soothing and some discussion, it ended up just being the cartoon frogs and ducks on her sheets freaking her out. Long night.

The night before last I didn't get much sleep. Alex got Michele and I up six separate times**. She was thirsty, she was singing, she fell out of bed. But the big one, the one that lasted a while was weird. She was screaming that she needed her other Mr. Dinosaur Head. "Mr. Dinosaur Head is right there honey." But she knew that... she was looking for the other Mr. Dinosaur Head. "There is only one Mr. Dinosaur Head honey." She didn't buy it. Long Night.

Last night Michele and I were talking. She asked me why I was so tired and/or grumpy. I told her I was tired and hadn't gotten much sleep the last two night because the monkey kept waking me up. Alex walked over, touched my knee, and said, "I won't wake you up tonight Papa." And she didn't. And I slept as well as I am capable.

She's the best.

* Michele was sicker than sick!
** Michel was only sick.

Ponies Papa...

This morning Michele had already left for work when Alex decided that she REALLY wanted "ponies"... that is pigtails. I have avoided this task so far, because my big fat fingers and lack of experience make it all but impossible. But, she really wanted them and we had time to kill, so I tried...

The first attempt, in addition to pulling out a bunch of her hair, was bad enough that I took it out. I then decided that it would be quicker and easier to just give her a ponytail in the back and call it a day. The result was somewhere between Kelly Kapowski with bedhead and the chick from Napoleon Dynamite... cocked to one side, frizzed out and lumpy. She loved it. She looked in the mirror and said, "I'm likin' it Papa!", and wouldn't let me take it out.

When we got to Tutor Time I pleaded with the teacher to please fix it so that Alex wasn't laughed at and summarily refused entrance to forthcoming reindeer games. I also asked her not to make fun of me. She promised to redo the do, and then made fun of me. One out of two ain't bad.

A good Friday...

On Good Friday we took Alex and her cousin Maxwell to the Toledo Zoo. It was a beautiful day, not that Alex noticed. I'm not sure she noticed many of the animals either. The thing is, Alex has a thing for her cousin. Not that type of thing (I hope), but an unending fascination. She whispers his name when she talks about him just to keep from screaming. She knows that Thursday is the day that he comes over to play and therefore lives life in anticipation of Thursday. She looks at him like some of you once looked at Frank Sinatra, or Jordan Knight, or Justin Bieber. She can stare at him for an hour while he plays with his cars. She can, and she does. He calls her "Baby". And, at least once a day, she stares off in the distance and says, "Max calls me baby all the time."

Which is all just a way of explaining why, instead of an album full of pictures of exotic animals to show for our day in the sun, I have these...

I get it...

Okay, so I have been slacking off on the blog for a while.

Does this, in any small way, make up for it?



This is the first day that she actually used the pedals to propel herself. I will follow her lead and attempt to, once again, propel the blog.