Rainbows

After all this rain in NE a rainbow would have been nice to see - however this was a project Alex and I worked on last week when I was on spring break from work (yes academia rocks!).  I found this recipe in a magazine I randomly started getting - Rainbow Cupcakes!

Start with white cake mix

Add food coloring (yes I know its bad for you) and stir.

Layer one on top of each other and....

Voila - rainbow cupcakes!

Very Yummy and kid approved :)

My budding Marine Biologist

I have loved the NE Aquarium for as long as I can remember.  If there was one place I wanted to go as a kid it was there - the fish, the huge tank in the middle that my dad used to sit me on the edge of as the fish swam below, the penguins, the dophin and sea lion show.  I was in love.  The Aquarium and the beach fueled my desire to be a marine biologist - and technically my college degree is in marine biology however I am now a molecular biologist. 

The last time I was at the aquarium Alex was still "in the oven" per se.  We took our friend who was visiting on a cold, wet October afternoon.  It has been almost 2.5 years since then and I got to take Alex for the first time last Friday.  What a blast we had!

When you walk up the seals are swimming out front.  As you enter the first thing you see is the penguins - Alex LOVED them.  We spent A LOT of time watching them - jump off the rocks, swim, take a shower in the "rain".

This is Alex looking over the glass at the penguins.

His 2nd favorite thing was the tide pool area where you could touch starfish, urchins, crabs and other small animals.  He got to hold a starfish and an urchin.  There were LOTS of tears when we had to make room for other kids.

We had lunch at the cafe and spent some more time walking around after but Alex was very tired by that point.

Another favorite part was the walkway where his shirt glowed - anything white glows a kind of purple color.  He thought it was so funny - we had to go up and down the ramp lots of times just to see the polar bear on his shirt glow.

I love seeing things through his eyes!

Hanging out with the BIG kids

Over the last weekend we went to cousin B's birthday.  Alex loves to hang out with his 2 cousins (B and A).  B turned 7 so the party was mostly kids from 5 and up while Alex and his cousin A and one other little girl were the under 3 crowd.  Because of the big gym at daycare where we do drop off and pick up every day Alex did great - running around chasing all the balls at the basketball party.

To me Alex is such a big boy now - he is very talkative, very independent and overall a great kid.  And then someone passed a comment about how "little" he is.  I guess I dont think of him as a baby anymore and in comparison to the BIG kids at the party he really is.  Funny how our perceptions are so different.

Peanuts stink big time

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting to give Alex peanut butter. Here and there he has had TINY bites of a piece of english muffin with it on there or toast but never has he had a larger piece. Deep down I knew we were going to have issues and I was not ready to deal with it. Daddy got sick of waiting and Alex wanted some toast he was eating so we were both home so we went for it and this is the result:

Less than two bites later he was complaining his teeth hurt so I gave him a teether.  Less than 5 minutes later his face and hand were covered in hives!  I think his tongue was beginning to itch and thus he was telling me his teeth hurt!

And this....

Luckily Benadryl cut the reaction pretty quick and I had some in the house.  A trip to the Dr. and we now have Epi Pens and Alex is not allowed to eat ANY NUTS until we figure this out.  :(

I feel bad for him - he is now that kid who everyone has to be careful around.  I hope he is not ultra sensitive.  Daddy LOVES peanut everything.  Not anymore!