Mirror

I didn't want the first picture on Alena's blog to be her grumpy face. So here is one of her admiring herself in the mirror.

Happy birthday Daddy!

Sunday was Ben's birthday. Alena wasn't making any noise in her crib but I figured at 9 o'clock she would be ready to get up so I opened her door. Big mistake. Alena usually likes some quiet time in the morning to reflect on what she is going to do that day and I interrupted that. We had to deal with a grumpy baby all morning. Not even going down the slides at the park would cheer her. Fortunately she was in a better mood that afternoon.

As a birthday treat Ben and I went skiing in Dubuque on Monday. It was a lot of fun! The last time we had gone was in Aspen 9 years ago, so we thought we did pretty well. There was a slalom course with a timer set up in one section so we did time trials. That was my favorite part of the trip. Ben enjoyed going fast down the "mountain." We are currently a little Olympic crazy in our house and Ben thought that watching all of that tv helped him improve his skills. So the household results in the slalom: Melissa 23.54 sec, Ben 24.98 sec. Ben definitely won the downhill portion even though we don't have an official time. And I won the tie-breaker of most wipe-outs.

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the crib

But not too angry to open presents.

Sliding

Alena really likes going down slides. Unfortunately, the weather has been so cold and windy we don't get out as much as we would like. Saturday it warmed up to 25 degrees so we headed to the park. Alena will enjoy the playground much more when she doesn't have to wear a big snowsuit!

Monday was daddy daughter day. Alena and Dad went to the mall so they could play on the indoor playground. It is all about being healthy, so there is an apple chair, a toothbrush, a lizard in a shoe (we don't understand that one), and a broccoli slide. Alena liked the toothbrush when she was little, but now that she is big the broccoli slide is her favorite.

Valentine's day treat

We made the heart-shaped frozen yogurt treats from Angela's blog. Alena would shiver at every bite, but she refused to put it down.

Snow day!

The forecast was bad and all of the schools were closed today, so I decided to stay home. The weather ended up not being so bad, but we stayed inside all day anyhow. It was a day of fun playing with the kitties and relaxing in a comfy jogging suit. While she took a nap, I made pumpkin cookies for an afternoon snack!

Alena watching the neighbor snow blowing the driveway. This is as close as Ruby cares to get.

Jones will get much closer. He likes to sit and watch the bird feeder and Alena likes to sit next to him. When she gets too clingy he moves to the other window--unfortunately for him, he is usually followed.

Thirsty kitty

Ben's Mount Mercy art show

For those of you who weren't able to see it, Alena was gracious enough to get some pictures with Dad's art at his show reception at Mt Mercy. Alena loved feeling all of the textures of the clay and had fun walking between podiums. She was the baby of honor because she inspired Dad on the idea of the show. Good job, Dad! It looked great!

Alena liked standing against the wall and staring up at these platters. This gives you an idea of how big they really are.

Alena liked this exhibit the best. Is it because they look like baby bottles (they are supposed to resemble them.) She kept walking back to them and patting them. Dad's show was also a good opportunity to show off her skinny jeans and shiny shoes! Her shoes were a big hit with the art professors.

Celebrity cat

Jones is a star! We always knew he would be famous someday--we just didn't know it would be so soon. He is thinking of picking up some work on the side as a cat food model. Check out his picture with Aunt Kristina on her new job's website.

Gerber baby

We were told when Alena was younger that she looked like the Gerber baby. Well, apparently Alena agrees. Last night she was playing in just a diaper. I had her pajamas next to me on the couch. They are Gerber brand so there is a little picture of the baby on the inside. Alena crawled over to them and pointed to the baby and then herself. I asked her, "Where's Alena?" and she again pointed to the Gerber baby. So she either really thinks that is a picture of her, was pointing to them merely because they are her pajamas, or was joking around with me.

It was a fun weekend. We got to go to Pizza Hut with Grandma Dee, Grandpa Ed, and Aunt Kristina on Saturday night. Sunday we visited Mimi and then saw Alan, Sarah, and Emily's new house before eating at the Stone City General Store. And Monday we went ice skating at Bever park (Alena rode around in her sled and had fun because she could go really fast.) After skating, Alena went down the slide (repeatedly) at the park in her little red snowsuit.