Lexi's Grandparents Cope lived in Africa for 2 years. When they came home, they brought a doll made by the people there complete with an authentic African outfit. Lexi loves the braids & beads in the doll's hair and carries her all over the apartment. Grandma Cope also made this cute and colorful hat. Lexi loves to wear hats, scarves and gloves while inside as well.

All Clean!

Alexis in her bathrobe

Subway Adventures

Today we went downtown to play at the Toys R Us in Times Square. On the way home, we met up with Grandma Susan who had been to a job interview in the area and rode the subway home with her. When we first boarded the train, we sat next to a man with a guitar. After a stop or 2, he pulled out his guitar for Lexi to see and proceeded to serenade her. He wrote a song on the spot with lyrics along the lines of "I'm just a baby in my stroller eating my pretzals & grapes" etc. Then he broke into a version of Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman" altering the lyrics to something like "Pretty baby, sitting in your stroller..." As if that weren't enough attention for all the afternoon commuters, a roaming artist sat down across the car from us and began sketching a picture of me & Lexi. He asked what stop we were going to so he could have it done in time. In the past, I have seen people do this and hope for a tip from whoever they are drawing. I was a bit hesitant to "pay" for a sketch that was unsolicited and didn't even look like us, but figured at least he is trying to "work" for his money instead of just asking for it, so I gave him $2. Some days I love the subway, and some days it just can't get me home fast enough.

Subway Sketch

Snow Day!

This is the view from our living room window- so pretty with all the fresh snow! Although quite a bit of snow accumulated overnight, the NYC Dept. of Education didn't cancel school and Matt had to go to work after all. Bummer!

New York Botanical Gardens

Today we visited the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. We took Lexi to the Children's Discovery Garden. At the entrance all these beautiful colored ribbons were suspended and blowing in the wind. They looked so beautiful in the sunshine against the white snow backdrop.

Sitting on a Rock at the Botanical Gardens

Sitting with Dad on the back of a catepiller made from pine cones at the NYBG

Peeking out over the top of a hedge in a maze at the Botanical Gardens

Snow Day

We recently had another snowfall, so we decided to take Lexi to Central Park to see The Gates again and to play in the snow. This was her first time playing in the snow. She loved holding it in her hand and squeezing it and watching it fall back to the ground. I made a snowball for her to hold and she loved it. Of course, it eventually ended up in her mouth and she decided she did not like the taste of snow. But even though her hands were FROZEN, she still wanted to play with it and protested when we finally picked her up to move on...

Grandma Susan & Alexis in Central Park

Mom & Lexi under a Gate

Strolling Through The Gates

Today we went down to Central Park with Grandma Susan and Aunt Allie to see The Gates. Lexi got down from the stroller to walk under the billowing saffron-colored Gates alongside Grandma and Auntie.

The Gates in Central Park

The artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude have created an exhibit of installation art which consists of 7,500 gates in Central Park. "The Gates," as they are called, are festooned with saffron-colored fabric panels and line 23 miles of pedestrian paths for 2 weeks. The artists say they have been working on the project for 20 years. For more information, you can read what the artists had to say in their own words at http://www.nyc.gov/html/thegates/html/qanda.html

The Alien Hat

Lexi loves to find our hats, scarves and mittens and walk around the house wearing them. Here she is ready for a snack in her PJs and Dad's alien hat that he has had since high school.

FAO Schwartz

Today we took a trip to FAO Schwartz- the famous toy store on 5th Avenue. One of the things they are best known for is the huge floor piano that Tom Hanks dances on in the movie "BIG". We love to go there and run around and play with all the fun toys... the best part is that Lexi isn't old enough to be begging for every toy that she sees. The store was quite empty today, and so Lexi and her friend Jonathan got a lot of personal attention from the staff. Lexi was enchanted by the race car that zoomed around and flickered its lights and honked its horn at her. She chased it all across the floor and loved touching it!

She wasn't too excited to pose with the soldier, although she was very interested in his big hat!

Vvvrrrrrmmmmmm

FAO Schwartz

Yum!

One of Lexi's favorite things to eat is pasta with mom's homemade tomato sauce. But whenever she eats it, we have to strip her down to the diaper since she is still practicing her hand-mouth coordination. Most of the time, she heads straight to the bath after dinner to clean up and splash in the bubbles.