November 2020

Due to a combination of Thanksgving plans, COVID at Alex's school, and an AirBnB cancellation, we spent a lot more time than usual together at the house this month, and less time at the apartment. With colder weather (but not much snow) and shorter days, we also spent less time outside. Photos and videos are linked here, and also on the photos above like usual.

This month we also celebrated Alex's fourth birthday with various presents and new toys throughout the month. He's getting the idea of unwrapping presents, and now has several new tractors and tractor-related items to add to his collection.  He's also shown interest in his tin dinosaur toy box (slightly expanding his interests beyond vehicles). You'll see a lot of Alex and his toys in the pictures and videos. For his birthday activity, we went to a bounce place in Poughkeepsie that had trampolines and foam blocks. Honestly we were surprised it was still open during the pandemic, but glad it was because it wasn't crowded, it wasn't expensive, and Alex had a great time.

Here are some things we know about Alex at the age of 4: Alex is now 37.5" tall and about 33 lbs. He has always loved cars, trucks, and especially tractors. He likes to pull all of his cars out of a box, one by one, and push them off the edge of the table. For the last year or so, he has usually had a favorite tractor in hand wherever he goes. Tractor Christmas tree ornaments are of particular interest for him lately, making it very difficult for us to walk past the Hallmark store at the mall. When he's excited, he likes to run as fast as he can, and so he enjoys open spaces and parking lots. When he's tired, he likes to snuggle up with a blanket and/or a parent and watch Baby Einstein, which he usually falls asleep to at bedtime.  He also likes some Pixar and other similarly animated cartoons, especially the parts of them that have music. Wall-E, all three Despicable Me movies, and Boss Baby have been favorites of his this year. He likes to stack blocks and knock them over, ensuring that all pieces are on the ground. Although he is not very verbal, he is very visual and knows his way around dozens of games on his iPad. This year he has learned his ABCs, counting to 10, and a lot of new words for telling us what he wants or for labeling things. He's also learned to sing one or two words in songs he knows, as you might see in some of the videos. He likes to clap and say "yay!", then look at everyone in the room until they do the same; he'll repeat that several times. He loves knocking on doors, and other surfaces.  He likes piggy backs, spins, and tickles most of the time. He loves to be carried or pushed in his stroller still.  Walking with him to a particular location can be a challenge. He likes bananas but not any other fruits except apples which he will only eat dehydrated. He has always liked bread and sandwiches. Like most toddlers, he also likes pizza, cheeseburgers, quesadillas, and chicken nuggets. Cookies and pies are favorite deserts. There are a few other things he'll eat, but everything else he won't touch. He grudgingly eats a fruit and veggie puree every morning for obvious nutritional reasons. He won't drink anything unless it looks like milk, so he mostly gets almond milk that is somewhat diluted with water. He loves hugs and snuggles, and is particularly affectionate toward mom who he loves to kiss (often gives her slobbery, open mouth kisses on her tightly closed lips) and hold on to.  He usually puts his hands on both sides of your face and stares meaningfully at you before laying one on you.  Or, he makes a lip sound that means he wants you to puff your cheeks so he can squish the air out of them.  Sometimes, while looking at his mom, he will pull the hair tie out of her hair because he likes her hair to be down.  Lastly, he likes to make up his own signs and words.  He spends much of his day speaking his own language, which is a combination of a regular set of made up words combined with made up signs.  (Reminds us of a chatty, little minion.)  We don't always know what he is thinking, but we know he is a playful, energetic, happy and imaginative little guy. So that's Alex in a nutshell.

For Thanksgiving, we were at the house. In the past, we've usually gone out to eat someplace that is open since it has been just the three of us out here in New York. This year though, it made more sense to cook, so cook we did. Rather than a turkey, we brined and baked a chicken which turned out pretty good. We also made a sweet potato pie, cranberry mango sauce, fancy stuffing, rolls, and glazed carrots mostly from scratch. All of this amounted to several hours of food prep and cleanup for about 15 minutes of eating, but it was delicious eating that provided several days of leftovers. 

Becky and I are leading up an effort to coordinate the ward Giving Tree this year, which we had to do virtually. We are asking people to sign up to purchase gifts for those in need, and hoping that we have enough participation to add to some people's Christmas who need it. We look forward to celebrating Christmas and ending a crazy year. And for the record, we are relieved that the election this month will result in a new, relatively normal and boring president for reasons that will be historically obvious years from now if they aren't already, and we are hoping for some leadership and action that will give our country some relief from the pandemic that is now taking a few thousand lives each day in the U.S. New vaccines are on the horizon, so that gives us another reason to hope for some return to normalcy next year.