New photos have been added to August 2005 . The photos are from Grandmum’s birthday party.

Marc and Alex went to Grandmum’s house last weekend. While they were there they went to the park, did Play Doh, and played hopscotch. Marc got some really cute pictures of Alex. They are on April 2005.

Saturday night Alex stayed over at her Grandma’s house. Marc and I just had our 3rd anniversary and Marc’s birthday is coming up so since we don’t have much money right now we decided to have a weekend at home alone. We were a little worried because we didn’t know how Alex would handle a night away from us. She was fine and had a wonderful time. Grandma said Alex behaved perfectly and had a lot of fun. The only time she seemed to wonder where we were was when she went to bed - she said “Mommy Daddy come?” So, she was at Grandma’s from noon on Saturday and then Marc went to get her around 11am on Sunday.

Marc and I went to South Street, saw Garden State, and went out for really yummy Mexican food. It was a great weekend and a big step forward for Alex.

I finally posted the photos from Grandma’s birthday party. They are on August 2004. Now I get to work on the photos from our trip to Vermont.

Yesterday was Grandma’s 65th birthday and we had a surprise party for her at her favorite restaurant. I can’t believe we pulled it off because we aren’t very good at surprises. And I think she was bummed out all day because we all told her that we couldn’t get together until today. We got her to the restaurant by Ben saying her was taking her out to dinner and when they arrived everyone was already waiting for her - there was probably about 20 of us there.

Alex had a really good time. At first she was really shy and was overwhelmed by all of the people trying to get her attention but she ended up having fun and I think she really liked her dinner. We were out really late and didn’t get home until 11pm! She did really well considering how tired she was. She fell asleep on the car ride home and then went right to bed.

I’m so glad that Alma enjoyed her party and that we were actually able to surprise her.

I’ve been working on the entry about Lisa’s wedding but haven’t managed to complete it so I thought I would write about two cute things that Alex did at the wedding. The last thing they do before the ceremony starts is seat the mother of the bride. Alma was going to sit in the first row and Alex, Marc and I were in the third. As soon as Grandma walked by Alex had to be with her. She left our seats and walked up two rows to sit with her Grandmother. Alex sat there the entire ceremony and was so well behaved - she didn’t even fidget. Alma was so touched and it was so cute and sweet that she did that.

Alex and I decided to visit grandma’s house the Saturday before last and give Mommy some time to herself. She was very excited to hear we were going out, and in fact, any mention of the word “grandma” instantly gets her motor running.

The train ride was delightful and Alex was remarkably pleasant for the entire trip, resting her head on my shoulder as we embarked to the Frankford train station. There were lots of kids and babies on the train, and Alex kept making faces and exchanging baby talk with all of them. When we got down to the bus terminal, a monsoon instantly broke through the sky and we both rushed to catch our bus that was waiting and ready to depart. We got on with seconds to spare as the rain pounded down, and I think the excitement of running through the storm was fun for the both of us.

We arrived at the house early and made ourselves comfortable while Alma was returning from her hairdresser’s appointment. As soon as she walked through the door, Alex started beaming with excitement and started her screams of delight. We all had home-made macaroni and cheese for lunch and played together for awhile until it was time for a nap. Daddy went out to the mall for an hour or so, and when Grandma called on the cell phone, I was shocked to hear that Alex was actually sleeping (which is rare when in the company of her Grandma). We all had a wonderful time and Alma was so happy to have us as her guests. We are going to make the journey to Grandma’s house more often now.

Happy Birthday Grandma - see you at lunch today!!!

Last Saturday Grandma B went to Gymboree with Alex and Marc. I got off a couple of stops before them and went to the Central Library - I needed a little break from Alex and last week she was really clingy at Gymboree so I thought she would do better if I wasn’t there. And it sounds like the three of them had a wonderful time. Grandma B. loved it and had a lot of fun with Alex. And Alex really seemed to like the instructor a lot this time. She also did a lot of different activities and interacted quite a bit with the other baby who was there. Alex played in the tunnels, with the scarves and with the balls.

After Gymboree we all met up and went to Whole Foods Market for lunch. The food was really yummy and Alex had a great time sitting in her high chair and watching all the people. She was practically bouncing up and down. By the time we left Alex was pooped and passed out in my arms.

Grandma is going to come again this Saturday and I will probably go hang out at the library again.

Grandma came over today to watch Alex for a couple of hours while Marc and I went out for lunch and to do some shopping. And today was the first time she cried really hard when we leaving - it was so hard to go. But Grandma called us on the cell phone a little while later and said that after 10 minutes Alex was fine and was giggling and getting ready to have lunch.