Alexa's First Baseball Game

On Saturday May 2nd, we took Alexa to her first baseball game. She seemed to love every minute of the action on and off the field. The night was a little cold and rainy, thankfully Safeco has a retractable roof. We sat in the cheap seats in center field and watch a pitchers duel. Final score was 3 - 2, the A's beat the Mariner's in the ninth inning. We left at the end of the 8th because it was already well past bedtime for Alexa and Laural and we beat traffic. On the left you can see the jersey that Ichiro wore for the game, we also loved the lack of modern music for an evening, and enjoyed the organ music. The game was in memory of the 1939 Seattle Rainiers, and their historic year in the Pacific Coast League.

We were sort of amazed that for 3 - 4 innings Alexa just camped in our laps watching the game and her fellow fans. Anytime something good happened she would laugh as I bounced her on my knee. When the Umps made a bad call and the crowd boo'd, she smiled and laughed too. I am excited to take her to her next game, when hopefully the weather is a little warmer and dryer; preferably a day game.

She was so wound up from the game that it took her 2 hours to fall asleep, well after 11 PM. That was not as much fun, especially because Laural had to sing Mendelssohn's Elijah in the morning. Though Alexa was up bright and early at 6:30 AM the next morning. We will post some pictures of her from the game soon.

Growing up so fast

This weekend was a major introduction to the amazing world of the Two's. Alexa's attention span continues to expand, and her vocabulary seems to grow exponentially; on the flip side she threw a number of temper tantrums when we tried to share her necklaces or end activities she was invested in. This is when her relation to an opera singer can get a little trying, boy can that girl make some noise.

Lately she has been less interested in eating, and more interested in playing with her bead necklaces. She likes to put them on, then take them off and put them in one of her many tupperware containers. We have been working on sharing the necklaces, we got a couple books with a sharing focus to try and reiterate it. More than once this weekend she would wrestle us to not get into the high chair because she wanted to play with her beads. Once we won the wrestling battle, she would scream, then realize the food was tasty and chow down.

On another brighter note she is able to drink from a straw, check out the cute picture.

The 2's Are Coming

Everyday Alexa learns to say a new word or two, and we see the Terrible 2's peeking out a little more as well. She now likes to stand at the top of the stairs and ask to be carried down the stairs, and will then throw a fit if you do not pick her up. To add to this new, slightly frustrating skill, is the ever sweet "Up Please" that she says before all hell breaks loose. I know the addition of a baby will be a challenge for Alexa, but I think she will adjust well. In addition to all the new words is a clear association to their meaning. When we read Goodnight Moon she likes to point out the cow, kittens, the moon, it makes bedtime reading fun.

It is an exciting time to see Alexa grow and change so rapidly.

The Words keep coming...

Alexa is learning new words at an amazing pace these last few weeks. Laural and I enjoy hearing her go through the process of pronunciation and association. Today she learned "girl" "little" "Dolly" (friend's dog) and "bike". We all made it through Movie Night at my office, I brought "So I Married an Axe Murderer". She did very well, though after almost an hour of eating and chatting she was ready to run around. So we tromped her around the office and when the movie was done headed for home.

Lately with Laural's overall exhaustion from work and pregnancy, I get the opportunity to give Alexa her nightly baths and then read to her. She has to say "Night Night" to Mommy and then it is off to bed with some mellow instrumental music. She usually sleeps until 1 or 2 AM, wakes up briefly, but is easily rocked back to sleep. We know we are really blessed to have a healthy, kind and happy child. I can gladly say that we all laugh at least once a day!

Hello

I decided that I should start a blog, a place for friends and family to find out what is going on with the Miller-Klein's.

In quick recap, Alexa will be getting a baby brother in June; projected due date around June 19th. Erik is still working hard with SSA Acoustics, as an acoustical consultant and Laural is currently teaching Pre-K through 8th grade music at St. Catherine School in Seattle.

We hope this blog finds you in good spirits and strong health.