Mr. Potato Head has been looking for his glasses. Where could they be?

My silly silly boys! Love these two!

A Hard Day's Work

Going to pre-school is hard work! All the singing and dancing, learning and playing outside...by the time little Lennox gets home he needs a break just like mommy and daddy do at the end of the work day. There is nothing like cuddling up on the couch with a drink cup of chocolate milk, a blanket, and your faithful dog, settling in for some Little Bear or Go, Diego, Go. We hear you little buddy...you need your space too :-)

Churches, castles, and big houses.

Such a sweet little boy we have! On Monday we went to the Bank of America building downtown to see a financial planner about Lennox's colllege account. He got to ride all the way to the 37th floor in the elevator. It was going so fast, he got a little scared. During the meeting, he looked out the window at the river, boats, the "feefball" stadium, and all the churches. He pointed at Immaculate Conception and said "what's that mommy?" When I told him it was a church, he said "no castle." It does look like a castle. So now, in true Cross form, he is into castles. For him that means any big pretty building. We drove past IC so that he could see it up close and promised him a visit this weekend. When we got home we remembered that Mark's mom had accidently sent home her video of Munich in Lennox's bag one day. So we put the Munich movie on. It had lots of "castles" in it. Lennox was running around the house saying "German castles." So so so cute :-) Now that is his new favorite movie. I told Mark we made a mistake in not buying the video of Biltmore when we went there last summer. He would have loved that!

Lennox comes from a long line of "castle lovers." His great-grandfather was an architect in Germany. Daddy has been obsessed with big houses since his was little. When mommy was 10 she had a subscription to Victorian Homes magazine. Mommy and daddy did their photo shoot for their wedding at Jekyll Island around all the old Victorian homes. We live in a house that was built in 1893. And Lennox's cousin Jordan is in love with big buildings and castles and old homes. So Lennox comes by this new love very honestly. We are hoping he will be an architect :-)

A Haircut!

Lennox got his first real haircut last weekend. Daddy has been doing it because Lennox really didn't get too much hair until recently. He was our bald little boy for about a year and a half. Lennox was excited to go get a haircut. He waited perfectly, playing with toys. When we finally got back, he would not sit by himself in the chair. So Mark and I took turns holding him and the hairdresser did her best to work around us. Lennox played with a comb and watched himself in the mirror. His hair looks so nice now. And this is another instance where we watch our little boy growing up :-(

Valentine's Day

Both of my boys had big surprises waiting for them on V-day. Mommy did too! When I went to pick up Lennox, he had made a card for mommy and daddy that had an adorable picture of him. He had also decorated a picture frame with another pic of him in it. We ended up going home and adding the picture/frame and card into the gift that Lennox had for daddy. So when daddy opened it up he got a sweet surprise with his chocolate covered popcorn. Lennox was so excited to share his creation with daddy! This year, we got our little Valentine a book, a monster car, a Thomas the Train card, and a few Hot Wheels. He loved it all, especially screaming out "present, present."

On the same day we got quite a scare. Around lunchtime daddy called to tell me there had been an accident at school. Not exactly the way to keep mommy calm and cool. I jumped up and ran out of the classroom. Mark had gotten a phone call from his school that Lennox had been kicked in the face. I immediately called the school and found out that while he and a friend were playing with blocks, he was kicked on the cheek. His teacher said it was an accident and that he was fine once he calmed down, but mommy was upset she was not there with him. I raced to get him after school. When I got there I noticed that his right eye was bloodshot. But, he had been kicked on the left side. I called the doctor and as I was talking to her I remembered that Lennox's eye was a little crusty when he woke up in the morning. Turns out he had pink eye on top of his nasty bruise from the kick. He had a fun weekend planned with Den and Pop which had to be cancelled and he stayed home with Oma and Opa on the 15th. The pink eye is now gone and the bruise is getting better. Poor little Lennox. He is a tough baby though!

The World According to Lennox

Our little boy is a talker for sure. Sometimes he says the craziest things or says things in an unexpected, adorable, or silly way. Lately, instead of saying "no" he says "no-t", pronounced like note. This is when there is a really emphatic no! He also occasionally calls mommy and daddy by our first names with a -t on the end for emphasis. Mommy is "Jiillll-t" and daddy is "Mark-t" The Jill-t gets long and drawn out like a true southerner :-) He has two pairs of spaceship pajamas which are "spaceship Buzz" pajamas. A little combination of the spaceship and Buzz Lightyear. Last week when we went to Epcot, he cried when we left asking for "more Disney World." But his Disney World sounds more like "Sydney World." Lennox's new favorite thing to do is read to himself. Mommy comes to pick him from school and almost always he is reading to himself, making up words. Usually they take his class to the school common room at the end of the day and they dance to the Wiggles or the Doodlebops and Lennox choses to read, which makes mommy teary every time. I am so glad he likes to read. He has figured out the words to a lot of his favorite stories. One day in the car he was in the backseat reciting nursery rhymes with his Mother Goose book, the rhymes matched the pages and everything which was so amazing. Somehow even though we know he is growing up, it still amazes us when we see him do something like this. He continues to be such a sweet and loving little boy. Tonight he curled up on the couch with me under our "mommy Reese" blanket. That is the afghan Jill's great-grandmother made for us. Even though she is no longer with us, she can wrap her love around little Lennox and he cuddles up under it. He is a kissing fool. When he gets in a kissy mood, watch out. He won't stop. In the car he will ask to "hold my han" which is "hold my hand." Or he will say "my hug, my hug" which means he wants a hug. Last week he came home and wanted a hug from Dobby :-) We always seem to think that the age that Lennox is at is the best one, but these last few weeks have been priceless. We are so lucky to have such a sweet, smart, and affectionate little boy, and we hope he remains that way always.

On the Road

For Christmas, Lennox got a new tricycle. This one has a handle on it so we can help Lennox steer and push. He is still trying to figure out pedaling forward and not backwards. He loves his bike and takes it so seriously when he is riding it. He could ride forever if we let him. We try to go on hills and inclines to help him figure out how to go by himself.

At the Lake

Lennox loves going to visit Oma and Opa's lakehouse. He has a huge yard to play in, fruit to pick, and a dock to run on. Last week while he was there he got on the dock and said "Nemo, where are you?" Mommy and daddy are a little afraid we will have to get used to the outdoors with our little adventurer :-)

Circus Fun

In January we went to the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus with Lennox, my parents, and Lennox's cousins. We were not sure how Lennox would behave during the show, which we had heard was pretty long. Turns out, Lennox was the best behaved of all of us. He was so amazed with everything, from his first snowcone to the trapeze artists and the animals, especially the tigers and the elephants. Before the show, we were able to head down to the arena floor where we got to see some of the animals up close and Lennox got to ride on one of the mini-motorcycles. We loved watching Lennox's expression as he watched the show. Jill's parents bought him a circus light, which he is now obsessed with and has to cuddle with every night in bed. On some nights, we hear him wake and ask for it and then play with it a little. So cute....