The Great Blizzard of '09

It's been snowing for a few hours and will continue into the evening before melting away tomorrow. Here's the front of the house:

The pool is at 50f/10c, not recommended for swimming. Plantain trees with snow on their leaves is just wrong:

At least I don't need to mow the lawn this weekend:

Hermann Park

Hermann Park is an 8 mile bike ride from our house. Apart from a short stretch that is being rebuilt near the park, the Brays Bayou trail takes us all the way there without having to get on roads, so it was perfect for Alasdair's trailer. Alasdair doesn't mind the trailer, though he's not keen on his crash helmet and keeps trying to pull it off. Still, he managed to sleep most of the way there, ehich gave him plenty of energy for charging around the play park.

He started in the area aimed at kids 2-5, had a lot of fun climbing and sliding:

Then he went wandering off, looking for trouble:

And found the area aimed at kids younger than 2:

He pretty much had it to himself, so he flung himself around for ages:

Thoroughly worn out, he enjoyed a well earned cheeseburger slider at Little Bigs:

Then managed to somehow lie himself down in the trailer and slept all the way home.

Halloween

Alasdair got good value from his Halloween costume this year. Starting with an event at The Little Gym the Saturday before, we had the Willow Park parade on the Wednesday, his daycare concert on the Thursday and the annual Bromley/Cruse Halloween party on the day itself. Here's a selection of pics.

Look Out Michael Phelps

For the last 6 weeks Alasdair has been taking survival swimming lessons every day with Infant Swim Resource. Thursday was the last big test...floating in clothes and shoes.

He has cried for every lesson but mostly because he can't see what's going on while floating on his back and he likes to be nosy.

So here's a video of the result of getting up every morning for the last 6 weeks to take him to his 7am lesson. With the pool in the back garden this gives us another layer of safety, on top of the fence, alarmed doors, etc.

The training is one child at a time, for a 10 minute lesson, 5 days a week and the transformation has been amazing. Many thanks to the poor old ladies at the JCC who had their morning swim disrupted by Alasdair and 11 other screaming children. The peace of mind is worth it.

Commencing Countdown Engines On

Hi everyone, I know it's been a while since my last update, but I've been very busy. First I got a new pair of wellies, which is just what I need for exploring the far reaches of the garden. They make me very happy:

After exploring the garden I decided I wanted to venture further afield, luckily I found this handy space helmet in Mummy's cupboard:

To infinity, and beyond!

Alasdair's First Haircut

Alasdair had his first haircut today. The infinitely patient Miss Lucy at the Bellaire Barber Shop did the job. Alasdair was a little dubious at first:

But by the time she was done, he was very happy with the results:

Alasdair's Birthday Party

It took a week, but we've all recovered enough from the Sugar overload to post pictures of Alasdair's birthday party last weekend.

Alasdair's New Wheels

On Friday Alasdair turned 1. I know, we can't believe it either. For his birthday he got a cool new trike.

It was quite a hit, even though it was about 800 degrees outside we had lots of fun speeding up and down the street.

Alasdair managed to stay cool thanks to the handy sun shield.

Though Daddy's steering did cause a few nervous moments.

For once, the best present wasn't the box it came in, but it was a pretty close second.

Nearly There

The walking is coming along nicely. If he could stand up without using walls or furniture there would be no stopping him:

San Diego Slideshow

Here's a slideshow of our pics from San Diego. As ever, there are bigger versions over at the Picasa site:



Grandparents (or others), let me know if you want a copy of any of them and I'll be happy to oblige with the full size version.

Auntie Sam

While Daddy sorts out the San Diego photos, here's a picture of me with my Auntie Sam, taken when she came to visit me last month.

We're Back

San Diego was great fun, perfect weather and, for once, we didn't try to cram too much sight-seeing in. Alasdair had a good time too, we'll post more pictures when we've sorted through them, but I think whizzing about in this Surrey was a highlight for him.

Don't Look Down

Vacation is hard work

Summertime

It's too hot here, so I'm taking Mum and Dad to the coast, catch you all in a week.

Free Wheeling

I've got myself a cool car now. Still trying to figure out going straight, but at least I don't need to hitch a ride with Mummy or Daddy any more if there's no furniture to use on my way.



Wheeeeeee!

Now They're 6000 miles away...

...it's safe to post this:

A good time was had by all, despite a little stay at the Kemah jail.

Turned Out Nice Again

80f/26c. Clear blue skies, though we may get a thunderstorm or two later. As long as the weather's nice though, the gang's making the most of it.

The dude lounged around for a bit:

But then decided it would be a good day to break out the boat:

Waterboy

Alasdair goes swimming with Nikki every Thursday morning. I haven't been able to attend, but we got him in the pool at home over the weekend. It's mildly astonishing how comfortable this kid is in the water. Nikki says 'blow bubbles' puts his head all the way under and zooms him towards me and he comes up blinking and smiling.

 

Caught

At last it's safe to walk the streets again.

 

And Now...This

We dropped Alasdair's matress about 3 weeks ago when he started sitting up, looks like it's going to have to go down again already.

He's pulling himself up on pretty much everything. Attempts to cruise around furniture are so far being defeated by his feet refusing to follow his hands, resulting in about 700 falls per day, but there's a very determined look to this kid's mouth at the moment and we fear he's going to be off shortly.

Bookworm

Alasdair is starting to show quite an interest in the Scottish history section of our library. The fact that it's easier to reach than the Terry Pratchett section may be related

All that reading needs a lot of fuel. The sensible thing to do, as we all know, is to store bits of food above your eyes, so that when you get tired from reading you can grab a chunk when you go to rub them.

Not Napping!

I can sit myself up now, so good luck getting me down for a nap!

And...we're off!

The Best Defence

You know what they say...if you're trying to prevent a small child from falling in your pool, the best defence is a good old fence.

Rodeo Time

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo kicked off last night, with the World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest, which the 3 of us will visit tomorrow. Cowboy Al is looking forward to it:

6 Months

27.5 inches
15.5 lbs

Japanese Garden

Recently the 3 of us went for a walk round Houston's Hermann Park. We'd being intending to visit the Body Works exhibit at the Museum of Natural Science, but it was rammed with people. We took a stroll around the reflecting pool instead and came across the Japanese Garden. I knew it existed, and had even been in before, but could never remember where it was exactly. I had wandered around the park looking for it before (because using Google would be cheating), and was beginning to think I'd imagined the place. Anyway, now we know. It's a lovely, peaceful place and I look forward to going back in the summer when everything's in bloom.