Happy Birthday, Alex - a couple weeks late!

Alex turned 7 on the 7th of May. Seven!!! I just can't believe it. The time goes by so fast. He was my most difficult labor (and not just because I didn't have the epidural with him), but I've always said that it was because he is such a Mama's Boy that he didn't want to come out. He's kind of growing out of that a little bit, thankfully just a little, but he is such a mini-Dave that he can't help but gravitate toward him a little more as he gets older. I'm OK with it because I've got Zack, who still loves his Mama best : )

Alex is really a fun kid. He loves things so much and really gets into whatever he is doing. He has a real competitive sense about him, so he really gets motivated by competition. For now, it is completely in check and I love watching him push himself to do well (or at least better than everyone else). He just ran at school for an hour for their fundraiser. He ended up running 4.5 miles in a hour. I don't know how it compared to the other kids, but he was out there having a lot of fun and trying to keep running as much as possible. A lot of the kids were complaining or socializing and walking, but not Alex. He was in it to see how far he could run. I ran about a mile with him when he started to lose his motivation. He's fast (like I said, mini-Dave) and was hard for me to keep up with when he decided to kick it in. It was fun watching him!

Not too old to take a break to pose with Quackers, his school pet.

He had a laser tag birthday party that was right up his alley. He and his friends loved it and none of them wanted to leave. So, it was a huge success!

A New Order of Things

Coda is the perfect dog for our family. He is so gentle with the kids and pretty obedient to us. I attribute this to my choice of dog. I had read that you should not pick the alpha dog, so we chose Coda because he moved away from the food bowl to let his siblings eat. We made a good decision because he is so far from the alpha dog that I call him my omega dog. He is even a little scared of Jamie and Jonathan's 4-pound Yorkie.

But, we've hit a new low for him. For anyone that has been to our house, you know that Coda's place is on the middle step. Despite the fact that I make him move multiple times a day as I walk up and down the stairs, he chooses that place to sleep. I think it gives him a sense of security that he can watch the front and protect his family. Well, today, I caught Coda checking himself as he went to his favorite spot only to find it occupied by our 2-month old kitten. He looked at her and then just planted himself on a lower step to take in his watch of the front. It cracked me up. The kitten, Mittens by the way, wants desperately to play with Coda, but he just walks away. I'm hoping that they will one day get along because finding a playmate for Coda was part of my motivation for getting Rachel a kitten.

A close-up of Mittens. She is definitely well-loved!

New York Girls!

Mom, Rachel and I took our 2nd Mother's Day trip to New York. This year we wanted to do a little more sightseeing than last year, so we got tickets on the double decker tour bus. It was full of interesting commentary on the makeup of the neighborhoods and architecture of the city. I think Rachel was a little bored, but Mom and I found it quite fascinating.


We stopped off at the World Trade Center site (nothing there yet) and walked to Battery Park to look at the Statue of Liberty. Rachel wanted to ride the ferry over to her, but you can't go up in the Statue until later this summer, so we decided to save that for another trip.


We saw two shows - Mamma Mia! and Shrek. Both were just OK. Last year, we saw Wicked, and I think it will be impossible to top that one. We did discover a new find in New York. It's a bakery called Crumbs. They sell these enormous, delicious cupcakes. We enjoyed snacking on these anytime we were in our hotel room whether it was for breakfast or a late night snack after the show. Yum!

Mostly, we just enjoyed being with each other - shopping, talking, people watching (Mom saw Constantine Maroulis from American Idol), laughing as we walk out of another restaurant because we just didn't find something we wanted. It was a very fun and relaxing weekend. Thanks, Mom, for treating us to a very special weekend full of many memories. It was a wonderful present. And, thanks to Dave for making it through what sounded like a challenging weekend with the boys. It was quite a nice Mother's Day for me!