Not Just Lip Service

Today's agenda initially included ice skating and The Butterfly House, but after the skating session, Alexa was pretty wiped out and opted not to go to The Butterfly House.  Thankfully, she has been there before, so she can still check that item off the "Goodnight St. Louis" bucket list.  

The skating lesson did not go according to Alexa's Olympic script, as she truly thought she would be doing jumps and spins on the ice today.  However, I think Alexa was more proud of herself when we left the rink than she would have been if she mastered a triple sow cow.  I have never been more impressed with her - she demonstrated a toughness and determination that exceeded all of my expectation.

When we arrived at the ice rink, we found that it was essentially empty - - just one man and a figure skater and her coach were on the ice.  I could not have asked for a more perfect scenario to teach Alexa to skate...no worries of other skaters and smooth, unblemished ice.  I am a pretty decent ice skater, but I am entirely self-taught, so I lack the formal 'how-to-skate' instructions to impart upon Alexa.  Despite this, she was doing a pretty good job for only her second time on skates and was getting the hang of things.  As one would expect, she did take a few tumbles onto the ice, so I'm sure her bottom will be a little sore tomorrow. 

A couple of Alexa's falls were attributed to her being distracted by the figure skater.  Alexa had a tough time concentrating when the figure skater was practicing her routine, even asking me, "Is that Gracie Gold?", a question that made the figure skater's day.  We were on the far end of the ice when the figure skater swooshed by, and Alexa completely lost focus and fell forward onto her face instead of the normal bottom drop.  I was skating backwards but ahead of her, so there was nothing I could do except watch as the side of her face banged against the ice, and she sat up covered in blood.  Uh oh.  I used my glove to wipe her face and figure out the source of the blood...thankfully it was just attributed to a split lip.  Naturally she was wailing as I guided her across the ice (with my glove stuffed in her mouth to catch the blood) and into the women's restroom to clean up; I figured our skating session was probably complete for the day.  Once I cleaned her up - the resulting war wounds were a huge open bump on her lip and bruise on the side of her face - I took her to the bench and prepared to take off her skates.  Just to be sure, I asked her if she wanted to try it again.

Before Alexa could answer, the figure skater, who had just wrapped for the day, apprached her and asked Alexa if she wanted to come out onto the ice and skate with her.  Without hesitation, Alexa immediately said "Yes", and she grabbed the figure skater's hand and went back onto the ice.  They skated together for about five minutes, as both the skater and coach were giving her pointers (I was taking mental notes for future sessions with Alexa and eventually Ani).  Both commented how impressed they were at Alexa's bravery to try skating again, and I saw Alexa's face beaming with pride.  The coach and skater left, but Alexa wanted to continue skating, and the two of us skated for another 45-minutes with the ice entirely to ourselves.  She was incorporating the tips that had been bestowed upon her, and coupled with her new found sense of confidence and determination, she was a skating machine.  She had a few more falls, but each time she simply declared, "I'm not going to quit; I just have to try again and practice." and got right back up on her skates.  I was so impressed; I truly (and understandably so) expected her to throw in the towel, but instead she tried harder than ever.  Atta girl!

When she recounted the skating experience for Damon, my parents and her Auntie Karen, she didn't talk too much about her actual skating.  Rather it became a story of "I busted my lip but I kept trying."...a huge accomplishment for girl with typical oldest child perfectionism.  She has already mentioned that she wants to go skating agiain.

I would not have expected that the one activity not on the "Goodnight St. Louis" bucket list would provide the most memorable experience of the trip.  However, the resulting grit, determination and perseverance (hmmm....very familiar qualities of her younger brother) could provide valuable reference for her lifetime.  Let's hope the emergence of black and blue bruises tomorrow don't change that! :)

Still smiling despite a busted lip!

One focused skater...practicing the newly taught, "March, March, Glide"

Goodnight St. Louis

My sister Karen sent us a copy of the book "Goodnight St. Louis," and Alexa was immediately captivated by the whimsical references and illustrations of key St. Louis landmarks.  She must have read the book 100 times before our trip to St. Louis, creating a bucket list of the must-do places in St. Louis.  The two of us, along with some help from friends and cousins, checked off quite a few boxes on her list today.

Alexa, Ani and I began the day at the St. Louis Zoo, meeting my friend Molly, her mother and three of her four kiddos...including her adorable daughter who is just two and a half weeks older than Ani (future BFF's?).  Although we didn't have the VIP tour of a previous visit - Alexa was really wishing we had the golf cart as we made our way up the hill to the giraffe exhibit - it was a fantastic day at the zoo.  The beautiful weather (in the seventies!) brought out the crowds, but we had a great time, especially in the Children's Zoo and on the zoo railroad.  Aside from the must-see giraffes, Alexa could not wait to see the naked mole rats.  Yep, my daughter couldn't get into the Children's Zoo to see these rather disgusting looking rodents.  Apparently she and NeNe were discussing rats, and NeNe mentioned these to her (thanks, Mom...lol).  Thankfully we did catch a few other animals too, even a baby elephant!

After a quick detour to check on Granty's giraffes, we enjoyed lunch at Alexa's beloved Steak-n-Shake (not a "Goodnight St. Louis" landmark).  It was torture for Alexa to bypass her customary M&M milkshake, but, with a little prodding, decided to save her sweet for tonight.  The day flew by, and before we knew it, Molly and her brood had to head out to be home when her first-grader came home from school.  Since Steak-n-Shake was close to downtown, I decided to take Alexa on a scenic tour of St. Louis so she could see some of the landmarks highlighted in the book.  Soon she was quickly checking items off her bucket list: the Science Center, Union Station, Busch Stadium, Old Cathedral and The Arch.  Although she's been to St. Louis many times, I had never taken Alexa downtown to see these sites, and she was most captivated by The Arch.  "It's pretty and glittery!"  It was an extra hour well-spent to add this driving tour to our afternoon - she's now a well-rounded St. Louis visitor.  

Tonight we headed out to Ted Drewes, a famous frozen custard place, to meet up with my cousin Emily, her husband Joe and their two kids.  It was a tough decision at the menu board, but Alexa finally settled upon a s'mores concrete with strawberries, an interesting combination, but she loved it.  She was even more impressed when she saw the bowl could be turned over without spilling any of the ice cream...a sign of a good concrete.  We tailgated in the parking lot as we ate our ice cream and watched the kids goof around with each other.  A quintessential St. Louis evening!

We called Damon on the drive home from Ted Drewes, and Alexa could not wait to tell him about the day.  She told him about the zoo, her s'mores concrete and all of the sites we had seen during our downtown tour.  She excitedly exclaimed, "I saw the Eiffel Tower today!"  Obviously, she meant The Arch but it looks like I may have to reiterate some of today's St. Louis immersion.  A visit to the top of The Arch is on the docket for Thursday morning :)

Granty's giraffes :)

A happy girl with a full stomach!

Frozen Girls (not Anna and Elsa)

Brrrr....we are definitely not in Arizona!  We touched down in St. Louis late last night and could not get to the car fast enough after collecting our luggage.  These three Arizona girls are not used to temperatures below 45-degrees, and it probably didn't help that we weren't exactly attired for cold weather.  Poor Ani has never been in the cold, and she let out a few disapproving squawks as we walked from baggage claim to the parking garage.  Thankfully our weekend plans are indoors.

Alexa took the cold weather in stride, as she tends to correlate the cold temperatures to snow.  It didn't take long for Alexa's desire for snow to be satisfied; her standards of snow are far lower than most people.  As we pulled into the driveway last night, she immediately exhibited her Arizona-based upbringing by exclaiming, "Snow!  There's snow!  I cannot wait to play in the snow!"  It was a little sad, if not pathetic, to see a girl so excited for four measly patches of residual snow and ice next to the driveway.  At 11:30pm, I wasn't in the mood to squelch her excitement so I let her indulge her winter-weather fix and jump on the tiny snow/ice patches before we headed into the house.  A ski trip is definitely on the docket for next winter; this girl needs to see a decent snowfall, as it's obvious she doesn't remember the winters we endured in New Jersey.

Alexa's seemingly endless fifth birthday celebration continued today, as we had a special family dinner tonight (along with my godparents) that featured a Frozen cake for dessert.  A perfect theme for the beginning of this trip ;)  I'm already looking forward to Monday and the planned warm-up into the 70's.

Hanging out with cousin Alana.  What a difference seven months makes!

A doting big cousin; Alexa had a blast playing with Alana.

Thank goodness for Schnucks and its bakery's Frozen cake (with Elsa!).

Making the Most of It

My harsh return to reality is just eleven days away....

It's hard to believe I am approaching my last week of my (extended) maternity leave.  In some ways it will be nice to return to the challenge of work, but it will be very difficult to depart from my new routine of spending the day with Ani.  She is an amazingly easy baby (knock on wood), and her clockwork four-hour daytime feeding routine has melded perfectly with my Type-A personality and associated desire for organization and time management.  My little peanut and I have quickly formed a dynamic duo when it comes to running errands and getting things done.  Earlier this week, while Alexa was at her Monday gymnastics lesson, Ani and I were able to go to Babies-R-Us, Michaels and Costco....all within the span of one hour and ten minutes.  Not too shabby, especially when you factor in the time spent for strangers fawning over her.  Young babies, particularly tiny ones like Ani, attract a lot of attention in stores; I think I respond to the question, "How old is she?" at least twenty times a day.  I'm going to miss running these daily errands with Ani, although I don't think my checkbook will miss the frequent Target jaunts.

I will be making the most of my last week of maternity leave, as it happens to coincide with Alexa's Spring Break.  Alexa, Ani and I will be flying to St. Louis tomorrow for nearly one week; unfortunately it's high season in Scottsdale, so Damon is working.  Thankfully the weather in St. Louis is projected to improve dramatically from the snow and ice of last weekend, so it won't be as hard to leave behind the 80-degree and sunny weather.  Alexa was bummed that I will not be able to take her to a Cardinals game, but she had no problem creating a laundry list of other must-do items in St. Louis: the Zoo (to see Granty's giraffes), Magic House, ice skating, etc...  I think it will be a great week, and I'm really looking forward to being back in St. Louis.  By Connie standards, I haven't been there in quite a while; the last time I was there was for the World Series I would rather forget.

I'm keeping my fingers cross that Ani maintains her 'easy baby' status for the flight tomorrow.  I'm pretty confident that everything will go smoothly.  Alexa flew cross-country from Orange County to New Jersey when she was ~10-weeks old, so Ani's St. Louis to Phoenix trip at 8-weeks old should be a piece of cake!

My happy little peanut & great errand-running partner.

Happy Birthday, Alexa!

Happy 5th Birthday, Alexa!!

Although it seems like we have been celebrating for weeks, today marked Alexa's actual birthday, and as with most days, it was chock-full of activities.  This morning was Morning with Mom (or Dad) at her school, so Alexa was able to bring me to school with early this morning (7:15am) and show me some of her favorite lessons at school.  She was so excited to have me there, and I just smiled as she bounced from lesson-to-lesson to try to show me everything she could in the 45 minutes I was there.  This afternoon I picked her up prior to Aftercare, so Alexa was thrilled that she was able to participate in afternoon carline...a very rare occurrence.  Shortly after her pick-up from school, I dropped her off for a two-hour gymnastics class.  Needless to say, by the time gymnastics ended, she was pretty wiped out.  She convinced me to indulge her on her birthday by letting her have a chicken nugget Happy Meal for dinner (at least it came with apples and milk!) in addition to her birthday cupcake....you only turn five once!  After the day of jam-packed activity, Alexa did not protest when I ushered her to bed tonight at 8 o'clock; she was sleeping soundly by 8:01.

I am truly blessed to have Alexa as a daughter and cherish the unique relationship we share.  In many ways, she's a mini-me, as I don't have to think too hard to imagine what I was like at her age.  I admire her spunk, vivacious personality, quick-wit and seemingly boundless energy.  She never ceases to entertain me - - like when we walked into Kohl's (a place we don't go too often), and Alexa sized-up the mannequins at the front of the store, something rather rare in retail these days.  Without skipping a beat, Alexa said in her phony prim & proper voice, "Oh, hello girls."  I could not stop laughing as we made our way to the back of the store; only Alexa would chat it up with mannequins.

For being only five years-old, Alexa seemingly has some life experiences well-beyond her years.  She's lived in three states (California, New Jersey and Arizona), amassed more frequent flier miles than I had in my first 25 years and endured an inconceivable loss that hopefully most people will never experience.  I don't think Alexa will ever be able to grasp the role that she has played in my life, especially during the past two years.  I truly do not know what I would have done without Alexa at my side.  She has been a consummate source of joy and helped me to attain a perspective upon life that I would never have conjured on my own.  Alexa has been my rock...quite an impressive role for a girl just turning five today.

Happy 5th Birthday to one remarkable little girl!

I had better save this post for the days when I get frustrated with her...lol.

Celebrating the momentous occasion (again).

Including little sister Ani in the celebration.

Date Night

It's not too often that Damon has a weekend off, especially one in which he stays in-town, so it was a nice treat to have him home on both Saturday and Sunday.  I could definitely get used to him having weekends off!

Damon and I had a rare date night yesterday, taking full-advantage of having free babysitters with my in-laws at the house, and headed out to the Blues-Coyotes hockey game.  I figure I have already converted Damon to a full-fledged St. Louis Cardinals fan, so I might as well start working on adding him to the Blues fan base.

I had not attended an NHL game since I lived in the hockey-crazed Detroit area (2005), and Damon had only been to one game (Anaheim) prior to last night, so it was a long-overdue event.  Phoenix is not exactly a hockey town - it's a little odd to attend a hockey game in the desert - so there was a large Blues contingency in the stands.  Our section was comprised of mostly Blues fans, so it did not have the typical feel of an away game...we were able to stand up and cheer openly for St. Louis.  I was even asked the classic St. Louis question of where I attended high school ;)

Since Damon has never followed hockey, I was able to impart some of my (limited) knowledge upon him through a quick synopsis of the rules and key Blues players.  After that, we were ready to enjoy the game.  I really like the sport of hockey; the precision and skill is mind-boggling to me.  The first two periods were a bit lackluster for St. Louis, but they came out blazing in the 3rd period, and Damon was on the edge of his seat taking in the action of the Blues 4-2 victory.  As we waited in traffic to head home, Damon mentioned that he needs to get a couple of Blues shirts.  It sounds like my conversion was a success, as he's embracing yet another St. Louis sports team.

Our lame attempt at a selfie...I don't think this one will crash Twitter.  lol

Pumped Up

"This was the best birthday ever!"  That simple statement reminded me why I spend an inordinate amount of time planning every last detail of parties.  When Alexa said exclaimed that as we drove home from Pump-It-Up this afternoon, it made every trip to Target (& Party City, Michaels, WalMart and Dollar Tree), every minute I spent assembling favors and every moment fretting over the most menial details (like a pizza order) worth it.

Alexa's 5th birthday party was a smashing success!  The weather was pretty miserable today - by Arizona standards - so it made Pump-It-Up the perfect venue for the kids to burn off some energy on a rainy day.  Alexa was giddy with excitement as each of her guests arrived, thrilled that so many of her friends (and cousin Luke) were there to celebrate with her.  All of the kids seemed to enjoy themselves...I don't think you can go wrong when inflatables are involved.  The two hours seemed to fly by!  Much to my delight (and relief!), the kids seemed to enjoy their goody bags - Doc McStuffins for the girls and Spiderman for the boys - that had been the bane of my existence for the past few weeks.  I cannot tell you how many times Damon reminded me, "Remember your audience..."  It truly was a fun party, and I had a great time watching the kids play and interacting with the parents.

Tonight Alexa was exhausted, not a big surprise since she woke up every 30 minutes after 5am to ask if it was morning yet, and she snuggled against me as I was tucking her into bed.  "I'm very grateful for everything you did for my birthday, Mommy."  That was all I needed to hear - - especially when her next sentence broached what I will plan for her birthday next year.  

Oy!  I have 365+ days to figure that one out....besides, I will have a 1st birthday to plan first :)

Some of today's party-goers.

Doc McHovey
(outfit courtesy of her friend Peyton :)