Not For Sale!

As stated before we had a garage sale this past weekend. The sale was a big success for us. We got rid of a lot of clutter and got some decent money for things that would have probably been thrown out anyway.


One item not for sale was Alyce's slide. This slide was a hand me down and probably one of Alyce's favorite toys. It usually resides in the garage and during the garage sale we had it on the sidewalk to keep it out of the way. Apparently these things are hot items as Mom continued to be asked what we were wanting for the slide. Mom put a sign on the slide stating that it wasn't for sale. This is when things get interesting. All of the signs we used for the garage sale looked just like the sign that Mom had put on Alyce's slide. And Alyce doesn't know how to read but she did try as she would get close to the sign looking at the letters. She mush have made the inference that her beloved slide was up for sale. Whenever a would be shopper would park in front of our house Alyce would protect her favorite toy by running up to her slide and putting her hand on it while giving the new arrival a mean look until they walked by.

We told Alyce that her slide was safe and after a while she eventually did get the message. She would no longer guard her slide like a bear with cubs but she didn't like it when other kids would play on or around it.

Garage Sale

This past weekend the family participated in the neighborhood garage sale. Every year around this time the neighborhood advertises in the local newspapers and online on our behalf. By ensuring that there are many sales going on at the same time it has the capability to bring in more shoppers. The theory is sound as we had a constant stream of people from 7:30 - 12:30.

Getting ready for the garage required Mom and I to spend a lot of time in the garage getting setup. We had both Alyce and Luke in the garage with us. Alyce had some freedom from our constant vigil so we could get things ready. Alyce did quite well for us. She didn't wander off, stayed out of trouble, and even helped a bit. At first she helped me sweep out the garage. She grabbed my push broom and proceed to push the big piles of dirt and leaves out onto the driveway. She was marginally effective as she drug dirt back into the garage when she walked the broom back.

Later on Alyce was watching Luke for us. Luke was in the stroller out of our field of view when Alyce ran up to us saying "Spit up, spit up" and pulled us towards Luke. Taking a look at Luke and sure enough he had spit up. We cleaned him up and praised Alyce for being a big helper.

Once the heavy lifting was done I played out front with Alyce on her slide, push toys, and tricycle. Her Little Einstein toy was a big hit. If you press a button on the front of it the Little Einstein theme song plays. Alyce would press the button then run up the driveway, around a car, into the garage, and back out with her arms outstretched pretending to be Rocket from the show.

Alyce was a sweetheart and well behaved the entire time. You can't ask for much better from a 2 year old.

Hi Down There

Alyce just rode the big pink slide at McDonalds. This is no small feat as this slide is two stories high and impossible for a parent to get to so Alyce did this all on her own. On her way back up to the top of the slide Alyce would say over and over again "hi down there." We would respond with "hi up there."

Return of an Old Friend

Yesterday Alyce had a return of an old friend. I brought her crib upstairs from the basement. In the past we took down her crib in efforts to push her into a Big Girl Bed. The crib is being brought back for use by Luke.

I had the crib 90% assembled when Alyce woke from her nap. Upon leaving her room she immediately fixated on her old pal and gleefully exclaimed "fixed it the crib!". I never told her that the crib was hers I just acknowledged that is was a crib and was for babies. I went on further to ask who's crib this was? She responded with "baby Luke crib". She moved over to the door of the crib and asked if she could get in. It didn't have mattress or box spring installed yet but I let her go in anyway and she proceeded to run around the crib, banging off the walls, and having a great time. Alyce must have grown quite a bit since we took her out of the crib; without the box spring and mattress Alyce was taller than the top of the crib. If those were installed I figure the crib would meet her at the abdomen.

To test the waters I asked Alyce where her bed was and she pointed to her new room rather than the crib. Based on that I think it is probably safe to move Luke into Alyce's old room as she has broken her ties to babydom. It is the close to another chapter of her life and yes it is kind of sad, but having her in a big bed is so nice it is hard to stay sad for long.

Trip to the Zoo

Yesterday the family took a trip to the zoo. We wanted to go last Friday but got rained out. The weather today was spectacular.

After lunch we visited the new stingray exhibit. Alyce never touched the stingrays but I think she enjoyed looking at them and watching me feed them. The exhibit was cool I'm glad that we were zoo friends so we could get in for a discount.

After the stingrays we took Alyce over to the sea lion tank for their afternoon feeding. While waiting for the zookeeper to arrive Alyce was busy watching a peacock that had free run of the place. We also took at look at the black tailed prairie dogs. They are great animals for kids. They move around quite a bit, play, and eat lots of stuff.


Following the sea lions we took Alyce to the reptile house. I was really surprised at how much she liked the snakes and lizards. There were lots of turtles too. I'm guessing that she is too young to find snakes icky.

After the reptiles we stopped off for some ice cream and Mom took Alyce for a ride on the carousel.

We had lots of fun at the zoo. Alyce behaved herself even though she didn't get her usual nap. She is getting to the point where she can miss the occasional nap and still keep it together.

First Boo Boo

Yesterday Alyce had her first kid boo boo. Before I got home from work Mom was outside with Alyce and Luke. Alyce was having fun running around doing kid stuff. At some point she was running up the driveway, fell, and scraped up her knee. By the time I got home Alyce had gotten over the initial pain and was back to playing.

Later on back inside the house Mom needed to clean Alyce's boo boo and put on a bandaid. Mom did very good with Alyce telling her that what she was going to do (alcohol) was going to hurt. Of course upon application of said alcohol Alyce started wailing again. After the cleanup Alyce got a Strawberry Shortcake bandaid and a kiss on the knee from Mommy. Following the kiss Mommy said "boo boo better" and it was. What was kind of funny was that Alyce didn't know what to think of the bandaid. She started walking around the house with a stiff leg not wanting to bend at the knee. After a while she got over the weirdness of the knee and the pain of the scrape. Alyce was then walking around the house announcing that her boo boo was better and would stop, bend over, and look at her bandaid.

So Alyce's first real kid boo boo ended without too much blood and no broken bones. It was really sweet seeing Mom kiss Alyces knee as it really is true that Mom's kisses make it all better.

Climbing a Ladder

Sitting on a bench eating lunch made me remember something Alyce did from a few weeks ago. We were out to dinner with Jeff and Liz. It was the first warm day in a long time and we thought KFC in the park would be great.

After dinner Alyce, Jeff, and I played on the playground equipment. Things went along as normal with Alyce taking laps on the slide. After a bit she walked up to one of the ladders and said "up". The playground was empty and we had the time so I decided to let her have a go; she did remarkably well. I was within an inch of her waist the whole time but didn't need to be except for the transition to the level surface. We tried the ladder a few more times before we left and Alyce never faltered.

Cross another physical milestone off the list. Pretty soon she will be on the monkey bars and climbing trees.

Pony Hair

I think Alyce's hair is getting long enough that it is starting to get in her face and bother her. I think this is the case as she on occasion asks Mom for some "Pony Hair" or a pony tail. Alyce used to fight any attempt at hair management and even know it is hard for her to hold still for the few minutes a pony tail takes. On top of that her hair is so fine that it is hard to get a pony tail to stay in for longer than an hour.

I am a big fan of Alyce's hair up in a pony tail. It really shows off her cheeks and it always seems like she is smiling

Soapy Water

It is amazing how easy it is to keep kids entertained. On Saturday I had parenting duties of both kids while Mom was off at a performance. Luke was demanding all of my attention so sadly I couldn't give Alyce very much of it. Alyce didn't seem to mind as she had something really cool to play with; Soapy Water.

Alyce was in the kitchen and she likes to stand on her bench that my dad made for her. She pushed this bench over to the sink and grabbed the scrub brush and pretended to was dishes in the sink. I filled up the sink about half way with some water and soap then dropped 5 or 6 plastic cups in the sink. This was the last interaction Alyce needed with me for a while. She played with the cups in all manner of ways. She would push them around the sink, fill them up, scrub them, and pour them into each other. After a few minutes I would have found it boring but Alyce could have played all day.

As nap time approached I pulled Alyce away with the promise of dry clothes. Through her playing in the sink her entire front half was soaking wet. I brought her upstairs and after a quick clothing change she was ready to get cozy. Funny how you could get any sort of expensive toy designed by experts and it won't provide the 2 solid hours of entertainment that some soapy water could. Not to mention the expensive toy doesn't have 5 clean cups when it's done.