At The Park

Minute Maid Park - Astros vs. Reds Septemeber 18, 2010. Alasdair's first baseball game.

It looks like 3rd base man Chris Johnson moved while I was snapping the shots that I combined into the panorama, the Astros weren't playing with 10 men. Though given how badly they got stuffed that night, it might have helped

Alasdair's Second Birthday

Saturday was Alasdair's Second birthday. We decided to have a fun day with all of his favourite foods. In the afternoon, when he took his new present outside, all the neighour kids came over to try it out. There wasn't too much fighting and crying, and luckily Nikki had baked some cupcakes which distracted them. There are some photos from the day below, or follow this link for larger size.

Holiday snaps

We got back from the UK last night. Thanks to continuous shooting mode, which seems to be the best way to capture my extremely mobile son, I had about 1800, but I'm down 750 already. They should be at a number where I can pass them to Nikki for final editorial approval soon. Meanwhile, here's one I had to share now.

On The Beach

Just another beautiful sunny day on the clean white sands of the beaches of the Isle of Lewis.

This is George Burley's Fault

If Burley had navigated Scotland through the easiest qualifying group we've seen in years, I would have had a leg to stand on when arguing against this sort of child abuse

Fruit and Flowers (and Blocks)

Happy Number 4

Spot The Bunny

If you're stuck, Alasdair is here to give you a clue:

A Busy Day

Alasdair had a very busy day yesterday. He started in the morning at William's birthday party. Things needed to be dug:

Then in the afternoon a little bit of swinging was in order, all, of course, while looking super cool:

Then it was time to jump into the pool:

And of course, put all that swimming training to good use:

And of course, there's always time to beat Daddy up:

Ahhhhhhhhh!

I bought a new camera in preparation for our holiday. It's a complicated beast, luckily I have a willing model who works for snacks.

Catching Up

Those of you who are on facebook may already have seen these pics. This is a catch up post for the people who are wise enough to have not joined there yet.

Let's start with Fireman Al, enjoying some yogurt. Everyone knows Firemen need to eat lots of yogurt to give them energy:

Next up, here's Prince Alasdair off to woo the Princesses at his daycare's Prince and Princess day:

Getting ready to go swimming. The lessons are going great and he loves being in the pool:

On Saturday he decided to climb from the back seat into the front, I better start being more careful about where I leave my keys or he'll be off: Finally, Nikki made a delicious rack of lamb on Sunday. Alasdair, as you can see, was in complete agreement:

Happy St. Paddy's Day

Alasdair had a busy day at school.

They even dyed his milk green. (I wish I was kidding)

And, of course, Happy Birthday Mr. Shanks

February Update

Howdy folks. I know it's been a while since we posted any pictures of Alasdair here, but today is Go Texan day, which seemed like a good time for Cowboy Al to put in a reappearance

He's also recently been trying, and failing, to kick the dummy habit. Here he is warning Mummy to step off!:

Spaceman Al had a few more adventures exploring Outer Space:

And Alasdair has taken to, uh, helping out, in the kitchen:

At the park

Christmas Trip

Here are some pics from our wee trip back to the UK over Christmas and New Year.

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: