Belated Happy Halloween

Xander started Preschool today!

Xander had his first day of preschool today! He completed “My Early School” at the Saint Louis Magic House (a children museum) last school year. His new school is a full-fledged Tuesday/Thursday Preschool with sessions in the morning hours. The school is associated with a Methodist Church here in Baldwinsville and is a inclusion-preschool (which I love!). His teacher has a masters in education and uses sign language when she speaks. Xander was very excited about starting school today so as soon as he woke up he wanted to get dressed, grab his new Hot Wheels backpack, and jump in the car to meet his teachers and classmates. As soon as we arrived, he immediately made himself at home and began to explore his new classroom. The first day was a short day (only an hour) and I got to come with him. He had a great time and looks forward to coming back again soon! Below are some pictures from his first day.

Ready for his 1st day!

He loves his new backpack that he picked out with Daddy!

playing at school

Family Day / Xander’s (early) birthday

Xander's cake & candles

Last Saturday was “Family Day” here at the Mills  household. The three of us spent the entire day together and even celebrated Xander’s 3rd birthday (a bit early).  Since Nick had to leave for his new job in New York on Monday, it was important to us to spend quality time together before being separated for 2 weeks (Xander and I fly up to Syracuse for a long weekend later this month).

it's like Christmas!

The day began with some presents! Xander got some new Thomas the Train toys to add to his collection. He’s a bit obsessed! Since it was a sunny day and in the upper 30s, we decided to venture out to the amazing (free) St. Louis Zoo. Xander had a ball riding the carousel with Daddy, listening to the penguins,  watching the hippos swim, and getting close and personal with the apes. After lunch and after checking out the elephants we were all frozen solid so we headed home. As soon as walked in the door we got a call from our realtor saying we received a contract on house. Unfortunately we couldn’t accept it due to the buyer’s contingency. Oh well….crossing our fingers!

loving on his Daddy

butterfly room!

hello, my name is Xander!

daydreaming?

Xander's silhouette

We rounded out the day with more presents and a little cake and ice cream. Xander loved hearing us sing him Happy Birthday and promptly blew his 3 candles out all by himself. No surprise that he inhaled his chocolate cake and Breyer’s ice cream!! Overall, I think he loved the attention and had a fabulous day!

he's a big boy now!

Xander’s First Day at “School”

Today Xander had his first day of “My First School” at the St. Louis Magic House. For those of you who don’t live in the area, it isn’t magician school but rather a nine-week, fun and creative preschool program for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 year-olds at the Magic House Children’s Museum. In the hour-long class, two teachers introduce the children to circle time, themed activities, free play, and songs/dances. In the beginning, the parents attend the class with the kids but by the end of the 9  weeks, the children attend parent-free. Xander appeared to really enjoy all the toys and activities in his classroom– he even liked sitting (on my lap) for circle time. He mostly played in the kitchen/make believe area but he did venture out to paint a beautiful abstract piece in the painting area. Here are a few pictures from his morning!

ready for his first day of "school"

playing with the teapot in the kitchen area

painting his triangle

Deer at the park

Xander and I went to Powder Valley Conservation Park in St. Louis yesterday on a whim. Xander loves looking at animals, and this park has a lovely informative nature center with live bees, birds, frogs, fish etc. to look at. But, on the way into the park we spotted 3 deer near the road munching on some grass! We sat in front of them for a long time watching them eat lunch! To say the least, “deer” is Xander’s latest favorite word!!

camera phone photo

Xander is potty-trained!!

Xander is a big boy now! He’s officially potty-trained! Overall, the experience was a positive one, much to my relief.  I’m so very proud of him!

Xander at the Butterfly House

This past weekend, we went to the Butterfly House, a division of the Missouri Botanical Garden, for their annual Bug Hunt festivities. Xander loved looking at all the pretty flowers, the ugly bugs/spiders, and the millions of colorful butterflies. Here’s a little video of Xander inside the Butterfly House.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Xander at the Butterfly House on Flic…“, posted with vodpod

My 2 ‘kids’

My son is prone to accidents!

Some kids never get hurt. They never get stitches. They never go to the ER. They never get sick. They never have an accident! My son is NOT one of those kids. He has to be watched extra carefully because accidents are bound to happen. Xander is crazy and has no fear! 🙂

His latest accident occurred on Sunday at the local grocery store. He got out of the shopping cart car and took off running to the automatic doors near the entrance. He zoomed out an open door (the entrance rather than the exit, mind you) and tripped. The automatic swing door then proceeded to close on him, but his feet stopped it from shutting all the way. He began to cry instantly. I noticed a little blood on his lip and assumed he had bit his lip. It wasn’t until I was strapping him into his carseat that I realized he had infact chipped his 2 front teeth!! The bottoms of the 2 teeth now had a small half moon piece missing.

So today we had an appointment with a local pediatric dentist. The experience was very painless and Xander cooperated. The dentist filed down the 2 teeth and now Xander doesn’t look like a vampire. In fact, his teeth look perfect! Better than before! I was amazed how well he stayed still during the procedure. The dentist doesn’t think the core of the tooth was injured so that’s good news. We’ll have to observe them to ensure they don’t change colors (indicating internal bleeding in the tooth). We also learned that our family dentist is dead wrong about Xander not needing teeth cleaning until he’s 3 or 4 years old. A pediatric dentist recommends a child be seen 6 months after his/her 1st tooth comes in. Whoops! So, Xander has his first teeth cleaning scheduled in June.

Let’s hope Xander stays accident-free for a few months or longer!!!

Xander is 2 years old!

On March 8, Xander turned 2 years old! Hard to believe. Where has all the time gone? This past weekend my parents came into town to help celebrate Xander’s big day. Unforunately, he woke up Friday morning with a cold and mild fever. On Saturday he developed a raspy cough. In short, it’s a good thing I did plan a big birthday party because I would have canceled it. However, my parents (and Xander) were good sports. We still did cake and ice cream and we still went to the zoo. Overall I think Xander had a wonderful time this past weekend– mainly because he was drugged up on Tylenol! I’m attempting to be a “recessionista” so instead of paying the local grocery store $30 to make a nice cake for my son, my mom and I made an $11 home-made Elmo cake. It turned out wonderfully and tasted even better! Gift-wise, Xander received a ton of new toys and gadgets. He now has a beautiful new swing/jungle jim in the yard, new books, various noise-making toys, a shopping cart, a guitar, and a new chalk wall in the basement painted by me. He’s one spoiled little boy. Thank you to both sets of grandparents for the amazing presents! He loves them and you!