Santa Love!!

We took Alex to see Santa on Saturday at one of our favorite shops in the neighborhood, April Glass. He was fine with Santa as long as he was standing beside him....waved, made animal noises, and even went "Ho!" (Alex only says one or two "Ho!!"s....we can't get him to do three.) However he was less than pleased when we placed him on Santa's lap. He didn't cry. He just dropped his brows (oooooh he is my child with that look!!!) and looked rather annoyed with Sean and me for not immediately taking him. All was well once we were done with pictures and he was off jolly old St. Nick's lap. He even blew him kisses when we were leaving.

Season's Greetings

Time flies by. It seems like just yesterday I was walking down the street with my little Spiderman on Halloween. And just last weekend we were picking out our Christmas tree. Under two weeks to go until Santa arrives and I still have a lot of shopping to do!!!

Our niece Marla came to visit us in NYC with her two kids Shana and Mason. It was the coldest weather we've had yet this year, but we still did our best to show them around Manhattan. Shana stayed a few extra days so she and I got to see the Rockettes at the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Her uncle Sean took her and Alex to the Statue of Liberty.

Then it was a whirlwind trip home to WV for the Thanksgiving weekend. We were busy traveling from Burnsville, to Webster Springs, to Sutton. Alex and his cousin Elizabeth are sure cute together...Aunt Jennie had bought them matching M & Ms shirts. (You can't have just one M was her excuse to buy a shirt for Alex too.)

We are all sad to see Patrick White's career with WVU coming to a close. We watched his final game at Mountaineer Field and wished we were there in the snow and cold to see it in person. We still haven't decided whether or not we'll be making the trip to Charlotte for the bowl game.

Alex helped Sean pick out our Christmas tree. We just got a small one that we could put up on an end table.....mostly out of Alex's reach. It's decorated with all our NON-breakable ornaments. Alex seems to be enjoying the lights. Santa is going to be at one of our favorite neighborhood stores "April Glass" this weekend. We're taking Alex and hoping to get a good picture.

Happy Halloween!!

The Wine family has been enjoying the autumn weather and all the festivities that go along with fall. Alex was a super cute Spiderman for Halloween. Cousin Elizabeth played along with the super hero theme and was Wonder Woman. They sure made a cute couple!! We thought it was appropriate that Alex be Spiderman since our street in NYC is the street where the opening scene to the first Spiderman movie was filmed....where Peter Parker is chasing the school bus up the street....that's our street. We celebrated in Burnsville with our families last weekend. Then on Halloween itself, Spiderman came to see me at PS/MS 194. We walked around the neighborhood too see the other kids, but didn't go trick-or-treating. Since Alex is too little to eat candy I would have felt like I was begging other grown-ups for a handout of free candy. We're not that poor yet!!!

Last weekend we had an excellent time in WV!! We loved visiting with all our family. We spent all day with the Wines making apple butter the old fashioned way. Everyone took turns stirring the big pot over an open fire....even Alex and Elizabeth. It was quite a scene watching the hustle and bustle as the apple butter came off the fire and everyone pitched in to pour and can it. What a great experience it was. We also had a lot of fun helping our great-nephew Mason celebrate his birthday. Family fun!!!!!!!!!!

The Mountaineers seem to be playing much better. That makes us a much happier house on the weekends!!

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE THIS WEEK!!!!!!

Hanging Around the House

We haven't been doing much. Just hangin' around the house being amused by Alex. I know that all kids play with regular house-hold objects and that all parents think the things their kid does is something special. But I swear, we just sit around and laugh at him all the time. He has spend hours playing in his Pampers box. And we love it when he puts on his "helmet" (a clear tupperwear bowl) to play who we call "Space Captain Stinky!" Sean and I are easily entertained by everything Alex does. He has really started to take an interest in his books lately. He will bring them to us to read to him or simply sit and look through them by himself. He loves selecting his bedtime story books for me to read.

We took him to the doctor for his checkup. He is now 33 inches tall and weighs 28 pounds 4 ounces putting him at the 88th percentile for his age. He is a big boy.

Today was a wonderful fall day perfect weather. After we watched the Mountaineers hold on to beat Rutgers we went to the park. Alex played on the swing and the slide...his favorites. The Red Sox are 2-0 in post season play. We are watching election news closely and pulling hard for Obama. So far it's a good fall. We miss all of our family back home in WV and can't wait until we get to see them at the end of the month!!!

Smile!!!!

Now when Alex smiles he will have a mouth full of new teeth. He has doubled the number of teeth in his little mouth this month. He used to have 8, now it's 16!!! He cut all of his top teeth ( 2 molars and 2 canine teeth) within 2 days of each other. Then it took about 2 1/2 weeks for the bottom ones to come through...the last canine tooth arrived yesterday. We have been lucky that he really hasn't been fussy at all. He loves eating chicken nuggets and has fun when I brush his teeth.

Last of Summer Fun

We are back in the Big Apple and enjoying the Labor Day weekend!!! Football season is finally upon us.....GO MOUNTAINEERS!!!!! We celebrated the very last day of summer break with a trip to Coney Island. Alex loved the small waves, and once he adjusted to the sand he liked it too. We are lucky we got to see Astroland....this was its last summer although the Cyclone and Wonder Wheel are supposed to still be operating next year. It was a terrific way to say farwell to summer!!!!

My college friend Jamie came to visit on a business trip to NYC in early August. Then, we spent the last two weeks of summer enjoying our families in West Virginia. We enjoyed visiting with Jenn, Reid, and Elizabeth in their new home in Wheeling. We brought fresh seafood from NYC and had a huge seafood boil...yummy!!!!! Sandra took me to Virginia Beach for a belated birthday celebration for both of us. However, neither one of us managed to take a camera so there is no photographic evidence to prove we were actually there. Sean was nice enough to indulge my obsession with the Olympics. I loved watching the gymnastics, Michael Phelps, and the sprinters (esp Bolt). We finally took Alex and Elizabeth to the Sutton Lake for a swim....had to get them in the water before summer was over.

Now it's back to a regular schedule and school this week. We will miss the summer fun almost as much as we miss our families back in WV. We'll be home for another visit before you know it!!

Babies for Obama!!

We just finished watching the Democratic Convention and we are psyched for the big election day!!! How exciting it is to watch history in the making....yes, my dad must have rubbed off on me. Alex even enjoyed watching...he likes to clap along with the crowd, even on TV. We'll watch the Republicans next week too, but we certainly won't be voting for them. Obama all the way!!!!!