Happy 2010!!!!!

Things have been crazy here. I was sick with the flu right before Christmas. Then we were off to Cleveland for Jordan Flynt's wedding. Jordan is Alex's Godfather and Alex was the ringbearer. He looks so grown up in his tux!! I was supposed to fly back to NYC but got caught in an East Coast snow storm and couldn't get here. Home to WV for a snowy and wonderful holiday. Alex loved everything! "I love you snowman!!" He really loved the train and train cars and tunnel and train tracks that Santa left for him!! Now we're back in the Big Apple where Alex proclaimed "It's Christmastime in Queens!!" We took the tree down (it was dry and DEAD!!) So now it's back to the grind!!!

Catching Up

OK, this should get my sister off my back. Just catching up....can't believe the June post with picture of Alex's May birthday is not current enough for her.

Went home to WV for the summer. Spent a lot of time at the Sutton Swimming Pool....big fun!! Alex loved the pool..."Pool Break! Kids Out!!!!!" He especially loved the days that cousin Elizabeth (or EP as he calls her) was in town to play too!

Back to NYC for fall. Sean's back was REALLY messed up! Had to go to neurologist then on for spinal surgery. His doctor said it was the largest herniation he had ever removed. Sean is doing fantastic now....recovering very nicely!!

Fall has been good too. The Mountaineers are doing well and that always makes mommy happy!!! If you ask Alex, "What makes mommy happy?" He'll tell you, "Go Mountaineers!" My friend Jeannie was here in late September to visit her cousin Jo. It is always great to see friends. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge (Ba Sue's Bridge) and back across the Manhattan Bridge.

Alex is excited for Halloween. He picked out his own costume. We were in Old Navy, not even really looking for costumes. He spied a stuffed banana in the pocket of the monkey costume and said, "Banana!!" I showed him the monkey costume and he said, "Put on mommy." So I put the top on him. Then he demanded, "Pay! Pay!!" HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Happy Birthday to Alex

We were all thrilled with Alex's Sesame Street second birthday party. Aunt Jenn Jenn worked so hard on the signs, decorations, cake and cupcakes that were all too cute. Aunt Jane was gracious enough to host all the maddness at her house. Alex arrived (without a nap) dressed in his Cookie Monster shirt and was ready to go!!! We enjoyed pizza (Alex's favorite food) and all the sweet treats!!!! He opened so many presents and was grateful for everything. Most of all we are all grateful for all of our family and close friends who came to help celebrate Alex's big day including Grandma and Granddad Wine, Grandma and Papi, Aunt Sonnie, Aunt Jane, Charlie and Clint, Aunt Carol and Bruce, Aunt Cheryl, Roy, Uncle Vernon, Aunt Jenn, Reid, and Elizabeth, Aunt CaCa and Caylin, Aunt Sarah, Evelyn, Pam and Harold, and Leroy. THANK YOU TO ALL!!!!

Way to Go Mike!!!!!

Congratulations to NASCAR driver Tony Stewart AND HIS FABULOUS PIT CREW for winning last night's All Star Challenge. Sean's nephew Mike Casto is the jack man for Stewart and the number 14 car. We are so proud of Mike!!! Here are a few pictures of Mike from Thursday night's pit crew challenge. The Old Spice/Office Depot crew made it to the semi-finals and Mike was the second fastest jack man in the entire competition!!!!!!

Hey Mike!!!! Alex likes tires too!!!! Do you think you could teach him a thing or two?

Spring Update

I can't believe what a slack mom I am. Here it is almost Alex's second birthday and it's been MONTHS since I've posted an update. Alex has been a busy growing boy. He can't wait for warm sunny days to go play at the park. He has also adjusted nicely to playing with "kids" at the gym daycare a few days a week. Winter break was spent in WV where it finally snowed!!!! Spring break it was back to WV where he and cousin Elizabeth had fun playing on the farm. Alex likes to feed chickens, help Granddad in the garden, and feed Uncle Charlie's horses. We got to go see the Mets play this spring with my school in the new Citi Field. He cheers "Go Mets!" and he has a Mets shopping bag that he puts his toys in and walks to the door and says "Mets!" as if he's leaving the apartment to go to the game. His Aunt Sonnie cut off his curls for us in February. Then he had his first "Big Boy" haircut this week at the barber shop around the corner where Sean goes. He cried at first but by the time they finished he was OK, except for the hairy lollipop he was trying to eat.

We are lucky to have a smart boy. He says well over 100 words (that doesn't count the 10+ animal sounds he makes). He can identify the letters in his name and mostly can tell you the correct order to put them in. He knows the letters in Mom, Dad, and Elmo too. He can identify the colors blue, green, and yellow. I think he knows red too, but refuses to say the word.

Aunt Jennie is busy planning his 2-Year Birthday party at his Aunt Jane's next weekend. We think he will like the Sesame Street theme!!!!

Summer will be here soon. We are excited to get a lot of time to spend with our family in WV!!!

Happy New Year!!

We are getting settled back into life in NYC after the new year. We all loved watching the inauguration of President Obama. How sweet that sounds!!! Speaking of sweet, Cousin Elizabeth has turned three years old. The most amazing invitation for her Candy Land themed birthday party arrived in the mail. As you can see from above, Alex really enjoyed the giant lollipop that was attached to the invite.

Sean and I made a list of all the "words" Alex says now.....well, OK a lot of them need mom and dad near by to translate, but he is talking more each day. Here's a list of what he says:
Bye-bye, hi, Dad, up, down, ball, bite (he's been saying these for a few months), toes, bath, kick, beep, sit, oops, boo-boo, open, duck, bunny, George (for his Curious George), blanket, book, balloon, hat, help, thanks, tree, eewww (for yucky things on his hands or high chair tray), spoon, bowl, apple, bread, egg, cheese, pizza, bomb (for playing "pillow bomb"), tent (played in mom and dad's bed with the sheets), Jane (for his Aunt Jane), ho-ho (for Santa), doh! (for Homer Simpson), and occasionally he will say mom. He also says and sings "A-B-B" when he sees letters or words (they are all A-B-B to him).

He also makes a variety of animal sounds: chicken (a silent bock-bock), dog/puppy (pants with tongue out), cat/kitty (beow), horse, cow (mmmmm), sheep (a-a-a-a), pig (grunts), baby chickens (peep), rooster (a high-pitched hum while throwing his head back), bear (grrrrr with his "paws" up), beaver (smacks teeth), elephant (uses arm for his trunk). We're working on a monkey (ooo-ooo while scratching his sides) and an owl (whooo-whooo). He also makes the "kssss" sound for Spiderman and will signal touchdown when we say it or he sees football on TV.

In addition he can identify his head, hair, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, ears, fingers, belly, penis, knees, and toes by pointing to them when asked. He also recognizes the flying WV and loves it when I sing "Hail West Virginia." He even knows when to pump his fist in the air for the "Rah! Rah!" part and again at the end for "Let's Gooo! Mountaineers!!!!"

Yes, sadly I've become one of those mothers obsessed with everything her son does and thinks he must be the cutest and smartest kid ever born. Leave me alone; I have no life!!!!!!

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!!!!!

Summer Fun

Since school has been out the Wines have been busy enjoying the summer. We were "summering in West Virginia" for most of the month of July. Alex had a blast playing in his new froggie pool. Alex and I went to Ohio for a few days to visit my best friend Sandra and her family. Then I spent a wonderful few days in the mountains of North Carolina catching up with my student council friends. We headed back to the Big Apple the last week of July to visit with our friends Jeannie and Buddy who were vacationing in NYC. We gave them the walking tour of lower Manhattan and went to the Central Park Zoo. Alex was a great tourguide!!! Then Jeannie and I headed to Washington, DC to attend the big fitness convention we go to every year. Suddenly I looked at the calendar and there are only about three weeks left in the summer.....oh no!!!!!!!! We have to hurry up and have more fun before I have to head back to work!!!!

Happy Birthday Alex!!

Yes, our "little" Alex has celebrated his first birthday. Thanks to Aunt Carol and Aunt Jennie who came to take wonderful pictures....I had about 500 to look through thanks to their great photography work. The Wines and the Mortons were out in full force bringing about 30 people to Mom and Dad's for his party.

Everything was going great until he grabbed his candle before I could blow it out. Granddad Wine came to the rescue with a cup of cold water. Then he had his first lesson in color mixing....yellow and blue make green....all over his face. I know that you all will be SHOCKED (not) that we had a WVU theme....to go along with his monthly pictures of course. Grandma Sue is visiting us in NY and school is almost out!!! YEAH!!!!!!!