Pictures

Don't let his expression fool you...he threw a fit when it was time to go.
He loved this shopping cart!

Waffles and blueberries in bed!

Graham cracker dessert

Dressing for School

Bill and Alex had fun getting ready for school last Thursday!

Alex used to hate wearing hats and sunglasses...times have changed!

Weekend Review

Alex was crashed out on Thursday night...I love how he sleeps with his bottom in the air.

Alex wore his new hat to school on Friday.


Alex enjoyed shredding the tissue paper...He thought wearing it was even more fun!

Here's a lighter photo of Alex all bundled up. Thanks Ganmom!

Baby, Its Cold Outside

Yesterday was really cold and wet. Alex was plenty warm!

Can you see him? He is in there, I promise!

Driving Home

Alex was a super happy boy when we were driving home from school yesterday. I couldn't resist taking a picture!

Mohawk

I have to post a cute picture of Alex the night before our little excursion to the ER.

Its crazy what the well water will do to your hair!

Update on Alex...he is doing much better. He fell asleep an hour early on our long ride (8 hour) home from the deer lease yesterday. Once we got home, I got him ready for bed, turned on his humidifier and he was out. He slept all night without coughing! I don't even think he moved an inch in his sleep because he was still in the same spot and under his blanket as when I put him to bed.

Eventful Thanksgiving

So, happy belated Thanksgiving to everyone who may read this. Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!

We went down to the deer lease for Thanksgiving which has been a tradition on Bill's side of the family for many years. We arrived on Tuesday evening got set up and all was good...until Alex woke up with dry cough. It sounded horrible so Bill asked his mom to bring a humidifier out with her on Wednesday night. Well, to make a long story short, the cough never got better and while we were in town (Rio Grande City...city is a strong word b/c its a tiny town) Alex was getting a a little wheezy. On our way out of town, I decided to get Alex checked out. We (my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, 5 yr old niece and a close family friend and I) stopped by a clinic that was recommended to us but the doctors had left for the day at 2 pm on Friday. The clinic told us that the only other place to go was the ER. What I expected to be a quick trip turned out to be a 5 hour long ordeal. After Triage decided that Alex needed to be admitted we waited 2 1/2 hours until we were called back. (Thank goodness I packed extra diapers, wipes, sippy cup and snacks!) The doctor wanted the nurse to swab for strep, flu a, flu b, take chest x-rays, draw blood and give Alex a breathing treatment. Because Alex wouldn't sit still, who would blame him, he had to get strapped down to a back board with mega Velcro straps...aka a baby straight jacket. Needless to say, he wasn't happy about this and we both cried. It was pretty sad because they drew blood, tried to give him an IV in one hand but didn't work so they had to put it in his other hand. My poor Little Man eventually sounded much better after his first breathing treatment. While we waited on the doctor to see us, Alex had fun jumping up and down on the table, whacking his splint on anything that made noise and playing Peek A Boo Barn on my phone. After the all the lab results and x-rays came back, it was determined that he had a viral infection which caused his throat to swell so he was given another breathing treatment, a steroid shot in his IV and prescription for more.

More pictures

We were out of town this weekend and Alex learned that he LOVED riding on the bell hop cart!

Bill and Alex made a couple trips up and down the hallway on this cart when we arrived and when we left.

Alex who used to hate wearing his hat now loves wearing hats. Two nights ago I looked down and Alex had put on two of Bill's hats. I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of him wearing both but he posed for me to take a picture of him wearing one.

Alex climbed in his toy basket...all by himself. He thought it was pretty funny!

Alex in his first pair of name brand tennis shoes. A good friend of mine at work forwarded a sale to me on 11/11/11. I scored a pair of Saucony tennis shoes for Alex for only $11 and free shipping. He Alex is modeling his new pair of tennis shoes. He actually posed for a couple pictures. He looks so big in this picture. Don't you love his big belly!!

We've been busy

Life has been really busy lately so I haven't had much time to post any updates. Most people don't really care too much about the updates, you all are more interested in pictures. So here you go!

Bill took both boys to IHOP when I had to work a couple of weekends ago. Alex LOVED pancakes!


Bed time!

Alex snoozing on the way down to the lease...only last about 30 minutes of the 8 hour drive.

15 Month Old Appointment

Alex had his 15 month old doctor's appointment yesterday. He is still growing close to the 50th percentile mark.
Weight: 22lbs 15oz
Height: 31 3/4 inches
Head: 47 inches

He was a little angry after the doctor looked in his mouth...which isn't a surprise because he always fusses with this part of the checkup. For about 20 minutes he yelled, screamed and banged his head on the floor. Yes, I know this sounds horrible and it was. You see, when Alex throws a fit, he bangs his head against the wall or the floor. When this happens, we distract him with something else or walk away. The doctor said that this is a phase and to ignore it. When he doesn't have an audience, he wont do it. I was so sad for Alex but decided to take a small little video of him throwing his fit at the doctor's office. I know it is a little evil of me to take this video...My little Sunshine was having a dark moment.

Video coming soon...Flickr is having difficulties right now...

Lions and Tigers and...a Giraffe

Alex was a giraffe this year for Halloween. His school has a costume parade around the neighborhood so Bill and I both went to hold Alex's hands. It was pretty entertaining and much like herding cats. Alex is in the "Walkers Room" which was at the back of the parade line. Alex did a good job following Piglet who was in front of him in line...until he saw a tree, or a parked car, or a piece of grass or the curb. He was wondering all over the place! He got lots of treats but most went to our trick or treaters later that night. Not real sure why they give candy to preschoolers. Oh well, he enjoyed the mini pack of goldfish that he received.

Later that afternoon, I took Alex up to Bill's office. Another co-worker has two kids so they arranged for us to all be up there at the same time. Alex was pretty busy, pushing chairs, running around in Bill's office and playing on Bill's computer.





You can click on the video to enlarge. When it opens up in Flickr.com, you can see the other video of Alex working hard at Bill's office.

Later that night, Bill, Tyler, Alex and I attended our neighborhood Halloween party. The party is right in front of our house, so there's no reason for us not to go. For some reason we didn't get any pictures of the boys. Tyler was one of four mobsters and Alex the only roaming giraffe. Bill and I had more trouble keeping up with Alex than with Tyler. Think of approximately 50 families with 2 kids each running screaming everywhere...now you get the picture. Even though it was Halloween, Alex still had his tubby and bedtime by 6:45 pm. Tyler is now 11 so he was able to trick or treat with other kids...without adult supervision. Which I have to give him credit because he didn't go far and was back about 10 minutes after dark. All in all, it was a busy Halloween but a good one!

New Best Friend

For Alex's 1st birthday, Nonnie (my mother-in-law) gave Alex a cute elephant scooter. Alex hasn't learned how to use the scooter just yet but he loves the little elephant that came with it. He just discovered it yesterday and took it with him everywhere! (by the way, yes, I feel bad that he isn't wearing pants in this video, but all Moms understand that these things happen sometimes.)

Here's a quick update on his mouthpiece...it is gone!

I think its a goner!

I think its a goner! By "it" I mean Alex's mouthpiece.

This past Friday one of Alex's teachers asked me if we were trying to wean Alex off his mouthpiece because he had been napping without it. She told me that he would hold it or throw it. So, I decided to see how he would do at home without it. He napped Saturday and Sunday just fine with it. Even the first night he didn't really fuss too much. OH Boy, but the second night wasn't good. I blame it on the fact that he only had a 20 minute nap all day and was overly tired. It took about an hour for him to fall asleep. I probably didn't help the situation by going back to his room three or four times to try to help soothe him to sleep. To make a long story short, I felt horrible but didn't give in. I was starting to second guess this decision after Bill wanted to give in after 10 minutes stating that "Alex is only 15 months old, its ok for him to have it." Bill looks like such a big tough guy but he is truly a softie! Last night was the third night for Alex to go without it and I truly think its a goner! He hardly fussed when he fell asleep. I guess I should throw them away tonight so we don't have the urge to give him one when he's fussy. I don't want to go through this again...even though it was actually pretty easy.

Laundry

Sundays are usually my day to tackle all the laundry baskets...and look what I found in Alex's!Or, as Bill described this picture...this is what I would look like if I were a kangaroo...

Tiger Hugs

Alex received a tiger backpack from my boss. The tiger roars so I wasn't sure if it was going to scare Alex or not. Well, he loved it! He carries it around and hugs it. He is such a sweet boy. Yesterday when I picked him up from school, Alex was very excited to show me around his classroom. He showed me a rocking horse, the curtains, all of the cubby holes. He even knew it was his turn to get his diaper changed. He walked over to the changing table without having to be told that it was his turn. I thought it was a by chance that this happened but the teachers told me that Alex knows when it is his turn to be changed...weird, right? Before we left, he hugged two of the girls in his class. I have such a sweet boy!

Alex's new favorite thing to say is "outside" but it sounds more like "side". He constantly wants to be outside.

Sneak Peek

Alex had school pictures taken on Wednesday and we were given a sneak peek of his session. Every time I sign him up for pictures, I'm amazed out how well they turn out! This photographer has a true talent of taking pictures of kids! Kristin says that Alex was a happy runner. Yes, I just said "runner". He just takes off and goes. He has been our busy little man from day one!

Happy Birthday Paw Paw

Happy Birthday Paw Paw! We hope you have a wonderful day!

What You Looking At?

For Paw Paw

We love you!

1 Year Old Pics

We had Alex's one year old portraits taken last month. It was hot as heck outside and past his bedtime but he did well. Here are just a few of my favorites! I'm not sure why they look so washed out...

Monkey

One of my good friends at work gave me this adorable monkey as part of a baby shower gift because he knew the nursery had a safari theme to it. Well for the past couple of months, this monkey has been in the book shelves in Alex's room. The other morning Alex kept looking up at the book shelves and "talking". I held him up to the shelves and he pulled this monkey down. He LOVES this monkey! Alex talks to him, he hugs him, he smiles at him...he head bumps him. Yes, I'm not sure why but if you lean towards Alex, he will bump you with his head. This is a new thing. He likes to bump things with his head...

Shake, Shake, Shake

For Alex's first birthday, my sister's family gave Alex a band set. It includes drumsticks, maracas, tambourine, flute, whistle and harmonica. (Yes, we are training Alex, Tyler, Jack (my nephew)and Ivy (my niece)to each play an instrument...we are hoping to be the next Partridge Family!) Well, Alex loves this set! He can't get enough of the maracas. He loves shaking one in one hand while his other hand is holding a drumstick. Yesterday he saw my playing the flute and gave it a try. He didn't know to blow in it but once he did, he wouldn't stop. He had Bill and I in stitches! I'll have to try to get video of him playing the flute...or is it a clarinet? I'm not sure the difference between the two...heck, it could be an oboe!

A Few More Steps

Alex decided to take some more steps this weekend. I don't think he realized what he was doing the first time he walked on his own. He was standing next to his rocking chair, saw his ball so he walked about five steps to it, stood there, picked it up and dropped it. Then he decided to sit down. I tried to get video of him and after a couple of attempts, I got a few steps.

He's Growing Up

Alex is becoming such a big boy. This past weekend my parents were in town and Alex took his first steps! Alex was holding my mom's hands and he took unassisted steps to me! We were both shocked! Alex looked so proud! I'm a little sad that Bill missed them but Alex walked (took two to three steps) to him multiple times last night. Each time Alex had a big grin on his face when he reached his dad. He has been walking around furniture for the past three or four months but has never had the balance or confidence to give it a go on his own. I have a feeling he will most likely be walking on his own by the end of the week...but we'll see!

I have been signing to Alex for a while. Sometimes I forget but I try to be consistent. I sign hungry (eat), more, sleep, milk and thank you. Yesterday we were at Target and I did my "funny dance" for Alex. (I shake my head from side to side and make a funny noise.) Well, Alex is at the stage when he mimics what I do, so he did his funny dance. Then he looked at me and signed "more". I was really surprised that he made the connection that I would do it again if he signed "more." I bet the other shoppers thought we were nuts...but I don't care because we were having fun! I love my sweet baby! (Alex has signed "more" before but it wasn't clear that he knew the real meaning behind it...like he did yesterday.)

Beach

We just got back from a family trip to the beach. Bill and I loaded up Alex and Tyler and headed down to South Padre Island. This was the first trip for both boys to go to the beach and needless to say, they both loved it! We got Tyler a boogie board so he spent lots of time trying to figure it out and Alex crawled EVERYWHERE! Tyler and I worked on building sandcastles but Alex just tore them apart. We spent many busy days at the beach and I'm glad to say that nobody got sunburned!! Yea!

We also went bay fishing and I'm happy to say that my legacy continues...I once again out-fished my husband! Bill knows that I love bay fishing and that I'm much better at it then him...and he's OK with that! We had 4 keepers and I caught three of them. We had numerous other catches but they were just under 15 inches, which is the minimum length for Speckled Trout.

Overall, everyone had a great time and we look forward to our family trip to SPI in 2012!

1st Birthday!

Alex turned one and we had a little birthday celebration at our house a couple weekends ago. We had family and friends over to help celebrate...the kids stayed cool by playing on the slip n slide and in the baby pool and the grown ups tried to stay cool by drinking some adult beverages. I was amazed at the number of Bill's single friends who voluntarily attended a one year old's birthday...what great guys!

Alex had a 3D duck cake as his smash cake. I will have to upload a picture of the cake before he "smashed" it but here's a picture of the after. (He didn't really understand to smash the cake. He kept grabbing handfuls of icing until I tore it apart...then he started eating the cake.)

Houston

This past weekend we went to Houston for my Aunt Kathy's wedding. She looked beautiful and we had a great time! This was Alex's first time to attend a wedding and I was surprised that he did an amazing job! I was sweating during the reception, waiting for him to cry out or yell but he never did. He did a great job!

We had fun spending time with Paw Paw and Gandmom as well as with my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew. Bill mentioned that we should remember to get a picture of Jack, Ivy and Alex (all the grand babies) but of course we managed to leave Houston without one. Hopefully we will be able to get one in the coming week!

Practice

Alex decided that he knew how to use his walker this weekend. He crawled over to it, stood up and started walking with it. I was amazed! He may be walking without the help of his walker by his birthday...

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July, nothing eventful but a good time. The majority of the weekend was spent on inside and outside house chores. Bill grilled a lot and we enjoyed relaxing outside. Yes, it was a bit hot but it wasn't unbearably hot. Each year our neighborhood has a 4th of July parade. We told Tyler that he could decorate his bike and ride in the parade but he was a bit hesitant to decorate his bike. We got up and found a shady spot to watch the parade. Bill and I weren't sure what to expect since this was our first time to attend it. It was an All American neighborhood parade. Kids decorated their bikes, Hot Wheels, scooters, wagons and some adults decorated their cars. It was actually pretty cute! Before we left the house, we threw Tyler's bike in the back so he could ride his bike around before the parade. He surprised us by joining the parade as it went by! It was pretty cute to see him riding his bike with the parade. The parade even had a police escort. Here's a picture of one of my favorite "floats".

We watched fireworks on Sunday night as well as last night. There's a small park not far from our house that overlooks downtown so we were able to see fireworks both nights. I felt bad that we work Alex up two nights in a row to see fireworks but he didn't seem too bothered by it. Last night he was pretty animated while we were watching the fireworks! He "talked" the entire time. It was like he was describing the fireworks to the people behind us. He was blabbering away and moving his arms around. It was pretty entertaining. Too bad that I didn't get video of him.

One last photo for this post...one of the events of the weekend was killing a GIANT wasp nest that has been buzzing behind one of our outdoor speakers. Bill thought he would get rid of the nest by setting it on fire with a grilling lighter. Well, I have to say that the wasp got Bill...a couple of times. He got stung on his chest and a couple of times on his wrist. He wrist was really swollen the next day so he was resourceful and made an ice pack to help with the swelling. I couldn't help but take a picture! Ha Ha Ha!

Hi

So, Market started last Wednesday and just ended yesterday. Since I worked the entire weekend, Bill and Alex had lots of quality time together. When I got home on Sunday, they were playing in our bedroom. I joined in on the fun and took a quick picture with my phone during a snack break.



For the past couple of weeks, I've been trying to teach Alex to wave. Sometimes he seemed to understand but he would move his arm like he was slapping his knee. Other times he just ignored me. I even got Bill involved in this task. Every time Bill got home from work or after kissing Alex goodnight, Bill would give Alex a big exaggerated wave. Well, I think it has paid off! Two nights ago, I was feeding Alex dinner in his highchair when Bill got home. Alex heard Bill and raised his arm and did a big wave! At first I wasn't sure what he was doing because he was moving his arm up and down in the air, but I figured it was his wave. We were both so surprised! Alex must have figured out that he did something good because as I was snuggling with him before putting him in bed, he still was waving at his bedroom door. It was so sweet! I will try to get a video of it. I love how we continues to surprise us!