Bugaboo

2/11/09 Tidbit

2009-02-11T12:47:00.001-07:00

Alex loves dogs. And he calls them "dobbies". I think he used to say "dog" but Dan was getting him to say Dobby, like in Harry Potter, and I guess Bug just liked how that sounded better. So, all pups are now dobbies.

Story for the day 2/10

2009-02-10T10:04:00.001-07:00

So did you know that the main character in Madagascar is a lion named Alex? Yes it's great! Now when I say "Alex do you want to watch a movie?" he roars. I say, Alex let's play with this puzzle! ROAR!!! (sometimes we even get the claw shaped hand motion). Yet when we see pictures of him (which of course are everywhere) he says in his sweet little man voice "Aleth!".

So... ROAR!!! Have a great day =)

We're back!

2009-02-10T08:11:00.002-07:00

So it's been a while, 6 months to be exact, but we're BACK! I've been working on uploading some photos, which is really taking a long time, so I'll slowly post them as I get them on here.

Before we get to the pics, here are a couple of recent tidbits about our little Bug. He's turning into a real chatterbox and will just go on and on and on about things. Occasionally you can pick out a word or two, but it's just so fun to hear him jabber away and we love it!

We're working on colors, his name and counting to 5. Here is how some of those conversations go:

M: What color is this?
B: Gween!
M: That's right! What about this one?
B: Gween!
M: Almost! It's BLUE.
B: Bwu.
M: Yes! Blue. And this one?
B: Bwu.
M: Yes! What about this one?
B: Gween!
M: Close, it is RED.
B: Wed.
M: Yes! Red. How about this one?
B: GWEEN!
(I think we really like Gween.)

M: What is your name? It's ALEX! A -L - E - X Alex!
B: Aleth!
M: A...
B: l - e - exth! Aleh!
(I don't know that he really knows what he's saying, but it's a start!)

M: Let's count! One
B: tooooo, treee, fiiiiieeee! Yay!!! (now when he says Yay! he pumps both fists in the air champion style) (he also holds one finger up while counting and loves to hold one finger up and say TOOOOOOO!!!!)

Last story, we've been watching a little Indiana Jones, Bug has sophisticated taste in movies. So now we sing the song. I start, Doo Doo Doot DOO, and he follows, doot doot doot. =)

Next post... pictures!

Pictures at last

2009-02-09T20:23:00.005-07:00

October 08 at May Farms visiting the pumpkin patch. Here we have conquered the straw bale maze and found all of the animals. My little explorer!!

Daddy and Bug during a rite of passage - the dunking of Oreos.

September 08 at Cherry Creek Res. Bug LOVES the water and could hardly believe that he could actually go into this giant puddle to play. Woo!!!

At cousin Kyle's soccer game in September. Bug is all decked out in his authentic England soccer garb. The "knee socks" went all the way up to his diaper! Thanks for the outfit Gillian and Bryan!

Bug loving on his Poppa John in August. Those two are peas in a pod.

September at GG and Poppa John's. Bug sure loves his GG - and the camera!

September 08 at the aquarium. Bug loves "pisses" as he calls fish.

Three of Mama's favorites. Bug, Daddy and Fisher's Peak!

Our Halloween costume. Puff the Magic Dragon!

Doing yard work with Daddy this last summer.

But wait - there's more!!

2008-07-03T21:12:00.007-06:00

Yes, yes it's TRUE! Two new blogs in TWO DAYS!!! Count them... One, two! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! (Yes, we've been watching a little Sesame Street in our house lately... LOVE the Sprout channel!)

So Bug has learned some new skills recently that I just have to share with everyone. First is he's learning to point to parts of his body or pictures of things when you ask him. He's awesome about point to his "nose" and picking up his feet when you say "foot" (which is really cute because sometimes he loses his balance and topples over!). He also knows that the hat goes on his "head" and we're working on "eye" and "ear" and "belly". He also pats his side for "diaper" or "stinky poopie". I'm so proud. :-) He will point to dogs, kitties and balls when he sees their pictures, and is learning to point to "Dada", "Mama", "Tucker" and "Alex" when asked. SO CLEVER!!

Another very recent skill is that he will put his clothes into his hamper when we are changing! So jam-jams go into the hamper in the morning, and socks (one at a time of course) and clothes go in before bath. I never really showed him, just one morning I handed him his jammies and said, "Alex, can you put your jam-jams in the hamper?" and pointed and away he went!!! I was so thrilled I clapped and cheered and hugged and kissed him. Now every time he does it he'll put something in and then turn and look at you and if you don't clap for him he gets a stern look on his face and claps to encourage you. Well of course then I clap like mad for dear Bug and he just beams! He will also put something in and if there is more than one piece he sometimes rushes to get it and doesn't quite get the first one all the way in. So he'll start to walk away, then turn and look and he has to go back to put the first piece ALL the way into the hamper. I honestly don't know where this child would have learned perfectionist anal tendencies... do you?

So here we go, some more pictures. A bit random in their subject, but well worth it!

First, a few from the zoo... we didn't take very many, but we sure had fun! Grandma Mary bought us all ice cream treats and WOW was that pink flamingo thingy awesome! Vanilla soft serve swirled with cherry icee... YUM. Alex was quite taken with it... until he got brain freeze from eating too quickly! Luckily a sip of water cured that and he dove right back in. Also do you see the peacock. Do you SEE IT? How CLOSE it is? Yes, pretty bird but dang those things are aggressive. We watched this particular jeweled terror snatch a cracker right out of a little girl's hand. Yeah, I wasn't too keen to linger around there much longer. I mean it's just a short hop from cracker to BUG TOES right?

Bug was also really interested in the elephants. We have some in his room with the safari theme, but seeing them in real life like that really captured his interest. So I've been doing the sign for elephant (using your arm to show how the trunk would go from your nose) and now he sorta does that sign and says "mmrrruuuu" whenever he sees an elephant. It's great!

Here are a couple pictures of our little eater. I believe one is bbq chicken, veggies and noodles with a side of Grandma Mary's famous frog eye salad for dessert. And then of course the first introduction to chocolate pudding. I think a picture is worth a thousand words on this one. I will take a second to point out that Alex is very good with a spoon and a fork. In fact he feeds himself a bowl of Cheerios and milk every morning with very minimal mess. However, the spoon was just not efficient enough for the pudding...

And lastly, the ever popular naked bath photos. I love bath time with Alex. He just loves to play and blow bubbles and "swim" and splash. He does try quite frequently to drink the bath water, so I had to take away all of the container toys for a bit, but I recently gave them back to him and now he just fills them up and dumps them all over his head. Yes, some still gets into his mouth when he gasps from the rush of water over his face, but not nearly as much as when he drank the shaving cap full. I'll take what I can get.

Alex has curly hair. Who would have guessed? Really curly hair. Especially when it's wet. But even dry it's beautiful and wavy the longer it gets. He is also really good about letting me brush his teeth, and really likes to "brush" his own. Here is is blowing bubbles for you, too.

Here is Bug after his most recent haircut. We love Julie!!!

Update from May and June 08

2008-07-02T21:11:00.007-06:00

SURPRISE!!

Yes, yes... I know there are many of you that are rubbing your eyes right now... is it true? Is this really a blog update? Am I dreaming? Should I buy a lottery ticket? (The answer to this last one is YES and if you win you must share the karma....) But yes - Here it is!!! Mostly just a lot of pictures of dear Bug, with stories here and there.

We've had a great spring/summer so far, taking trips to the zoo, the Children's Museum, Trinidad, the park and the swimming pool so far. We hope to be able to do all of that again and explore even more places.

Alex has been doing so great - he's really trying to talk and gibbers a LOT. He's getting very good about repeating "words" and we can get him to say a lot of things at least once. Duck is a pretty new word, and the usuals... dog, ball, book, Dada, Mama, hat, bubbles.... But he is doing the signs for a ton of words. He points to the sky when he hears an airplane, he makes a "beak" when we say bird, taps his head for hat, does bath and sleep every night for bed, shows us he wants to eat or drink, shows us milk, is starting to do the "I love you" hug sign... gosh there are so many! He's still a fantastic eater. New favorites are plums, chicken nuggets, bananas and cottage cheese with yogurt just like Mama and Dada eat.

One funny story and then on to the photos. I've always sung to Alex a lot... made up songs, silly songs, lullabies, "The Ants Go Marching" often enough to populate the entire Amazon rain forest with ants, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" en espanol, you name it, I can sing it! Now, luckily Alex is my biggest fan and thinks I have the most amazing voice in the world. Or so I thought. One recent morning on the way to daycare I was showering him with my rendition of Old McDonald when I turned to see how he was doing. He had his head turned and buried in the corner of the car seat with his face smooshed against the side and his finger in his ear. WELL! I'm sure it wasn't my singing... right? =)

Without further ado... I present - BUG.

Memorial Day in Trinidad:

Alex helped water Grandma Mary's flowers, and helped Papa John hang some cool lights for the bbq party! He also got to sample the piano at Nan's that will soon be living in our house. Hooray!

Children's Museum

Oh my gosh, we ALL had so much fun at the museum. Alex cracked up when Dan used the frog hand puppet. He had a blast with the Lincoln logs and exploring the little forest area. He was in and out of every little house they had, and of course loved the kitchen area, just like at home. He always has a bowl and a spoon nearby and loves to "cook" things with Mama.

Helping out in the Yard:

We've been doing a lot of work in the back yard this summer and Bug has loved helping. He knows though that if we're going to be outside he needs a hat, and will tap his head or yours and say "hat" when you start to head out the door if you've forgotten to put one on him or yourself!

A "Sign" of things to come!

2008-05-16T10:14:00.002-06:00

Well it's official - we have words! We've thought that Bug has been trying to tell us things for a while now, but we just couldn't quite understand his particular take on English. He's been very good about using the signs he knows and he's really starting to pick up more and use them correctly!

So last Saturday (the day before Mother's Day) little Bug was kind of wandering around looking like he needed a distraction. So I said, "Alex, go get a book and I'll read it to you!". He looks up at me, does the sign for book (hands together and then opening them like a book) and says "Buhk?" "YES! That's right! Book!" "Buhk? Buhk? Buhk?" saying it and doing the sign. He got so excited! He then picked one of his favorite books, handed it to me in that adorable way toddlers do - standing as far as possible while still leaning towards you - then he turned around and backed up across the 2 feet separating us until he felt my lap bump his legs and sat gingerly and expectantly on my lap for me to begin reading. Hooray Bug! Since then we've had "ball" (bah) and "bubbles" (bububs). All of these he's said a number of times so we're sure that they're the real deal! Notice the "B" theme? He doesn't say "dog" so much as we thought he would, but he uses the sign for it all the time (patting your leg).

Other fun sounds are him giggling which we adore, and anytime he sees a cat or a picture of a cat he says "maaaoowww". SO CUTE! He also puts his hands to his mouth when he does this, which is almost how the sign for cat is (using your fingers to draw whiskers from your mouth). So I'm 99% sure that's what he's doing!

April 2008 - Aquarium and Playing Around

2008-04-22T21:25:00.004-06:00

Well Spring has finally arrived here in Denver and we've taken advantage of it whenever we can. It started with a trip to the dog park with Tucker and our good friend Chris. Alex just loves to go "off roading" in his stroller and tries to get me to go faster by rocking back and forth and then throwing his hands in the air whenever it gets bumpy. I think we're going to have an adrenaline junkie on our hands.

Bug has always been great about keeping a hat on and he really likes his sunglasses, too. Here he is surveying all of the dogs and making sure everyone is getting along. He really gets a kick out of all the dogs and the kids at the park. He especially loves all the doggie kisses he gets!!

One Saturday in early April we had planned on going to the zoo with our friends Windi and Oz, but the weather forecast called for cooooold and windy, so we changed our plans and met at the aquarium instead. Bug had a fantastic time and really thought that the divers in the big tanks were so cool! He loved the bubbles coming out of their masks and waved back at them when they came close to the glass. I think we'll have to go back when it isn't so crowded though. He really liked walking around and checking things out, but there were so many people that we were afraid he get squashed like a... well... a Bug!

Alex still loves the Signing Times videos and we got him a few new ones recently. He's gotten very good about imitating the signs as they do them on the video and is starting to use them more consistently to communicate with us. We love it and get so excited when you can see on his face that he's told you something and you understand him! He's very good about eat, all done, bath, more and is getting better at milk and water. He'll imitate just about all of them and the sweetest are baby and bear. Here he is sitting in his duck chair watching a video. We try to pull the pacifier out as often as we can, but usually the pacifier and the blanket aren't far from where little Bug is. He just ADORES his blankets and gets so excited whenever he sees one of them. Luckily there isn't a specific one so we're safe for now. We have 6 all together, some made by both grandmas and some that were gifts.

Isn't this just the sweetest little face?

I came out of the kitchen the other evening to see this! Alex had climbed up onto the toy box we got him for his birthday and was kicking his toys off of the top of it while balancing on the other leg. Amazing! He just thought this was so cool. I snapped a bunch of pictures and just as I was going to show him a "safe" way to get down, he found the "quicker" way down and just fell off of it. At least it's only about 18 inches up! Luckily he was just fine and didn't cry so much as look at me in shock. He hasn't gone back up since so I guess that was a good lesson learned the hard way. Mama learned one too!!

March 2008 - Bugaboo Turns ONE! and Easter!

2008-04-22T21:10:00.008-06:00

March was a very busy and exciting month for us! With a walker in the house we really had to make sure that things were baby safe. Luckily the installation of a cool gate on one set of stairs and a removable gate on the other made the whole 1st floor Alex-proof. We put a lock on one cabinet but all the others are up for grabs, and boy does he know it! His favorite ones to get into are the pantry, the pots and pans, the measuring cups and spoons, but especially the appliances where the coffee pot and the food processor (sans blades of course) are still the highlight of his explorations.

The dishwasher also holds a high level of appeal
and when it's clean and almost empty is fair game for our little adventurer.

Another big adventure was getting his first haircut! Judging by this picture, he was really needing one. Bug doesn't have a lot of hair, but there were a few rouge pieces that were just insanely long, so he mostly needed a little trim to clean him up. Luckily our good friend and sometimes babysitter Julie is a professional hair wrangler and offered to come by to tame the tresses! Bug was awesome and sat very (ok sorta) still as she snip snip snipped away. Of course we saved every last little wisp and curl.

Here is the after, doesn't he look handsome?!? :)

The day after the haircut was St. Patrick's Day and was welcomed with a new t-shirt from GG.

By far the highlight of March was Bugaboo's 1st birthday. We had lots of friends and family come over to help celebrate, and we had a rubber ducky theme to complete the fun! There were lots of balloons and of course, cake - and one special little one for the Bug! I think that the actual cake and frosting were too sweet for Alex, but he really enjoyed mashing and smearing it everywhere as the pictures show.

Alex got TONS of cool things for his big day, but the runaway winner and still favorite to this day is the set of golf clubs from Uncle Steve. We showed him one time how to hold the club and hit the ball, and that's all it took. He's a natural! The clubs did not leave his hand for hours, and we literally had to distract him, take it away and hide it when it was time for bath and bed. The next morning that was the first thing he looked for when we went downstairs. After weeks now of practicing he's developed a multi-sport game of his own. It's a combination baseball, golf, hockey and soccer. He'll pick up the golf ball and throw it as far as he can (and he's got quite a little arm on him). Then he'll run over to it, gently tap it (a natural putter), then go up to it and smack it with both hands on the club as far as he can (Daddy calls this his slap shot). Once he catches up to the ball at last he'll kick it around with his feet then pick it up and start all over.

Here is Alex after getting the frosting all cleaned off of him snuggling with Grandma and Grandpa Wheeler. Notice the golf ball in his hand?

The next day was Easter Sunday! GG, Papa John and Uncle Steve were all here for a yummy lunch and of course the Easter Egg Hunt! We'd had the eggs out for weeks before hand so they had kind of lost their novelty by the time Easter rolled around. However, being outside and of course having the golf clubs was exciting enough for Alex!

February 2008 - Flying to Utah!

2008-04-22T21:00:00.006-06:00

We flew to Salt Lake City on Valentine's Day to visit Grandma and Grandpa Wheeler at their new home in Springville, Utah and help them celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary a little early. This was Alex's first plane trip and he did great! Unfortunately we forgot to take any pictures in the airport or on the plane. Alex was already fighting a little cold when we left so I think that the sleeping on the plane was partly due to Tylenol and Benadryl, but also because we were able to time most of the travel around his naps. He loved seeing all the people and pushing his stroller around and around and around. That little tyke is STRONG!!

We got to meet Cousin Tyler for the first time and he's such a cute little guy! The boys took to each other (and each others pacifiers) right away. Tyler was looking on in awe as Bug crawled around. Don't worry little guy, you'll be mobile soon, too!!!

Alex also got to meet his other cousins Hannah, Isaac, Allison, Stephanie, Jennifer, Jon, Andrew, Nastacia, Aaron and Tim (I think that's all we saw...). We had pizza night at Grandma and Grandpas and all the kids played together. Alex really got a kick out of Hannah while we were there and she was so helpful playing with Alex, helping to feed him and give him his bath.

Alex was trying SO HARD to walk while we were there and actually took his first series of steps with Grandma's help! First just two or three and then up to five or seven. That's all he wanted to do for the most part, but he did pause now and then to read and look out the window with Grandpa.

Unfortunately little Bug's cold grew into croup which landed us in the emergency care center while we were there. Fortunately there is one right across the street from Grandma and Grandpas as we were there for quite a while. Luckily the doctor was able to give Bug a shot of decadron steroid and it helped his cough right away and we didn't miss the big surprise Anniversary dinner that Aunt Karen and Aunt Deanna worked so hard on.

On our last day in Utah little Bug really didn't feel well. You can see in the picture with Grandma how red his cheeks are. We thought it was just the cold/croup still, but by the time we got back to Denver and home, little guy's fever peaked at 103.5 and he was just so limp and weak that he couldn't even cry. So at 4:30 am we bundled him up and whisked him away to the Children's ER in Parker. One very quick test revealed that he had Influenza A. So unfortunately there was nothing we could do for him other than to keep the fever down and give him lots of fluid. He also got another dose of the croup steroid as he was still wheezing a bit. It was a rough couple of days, but he pulled through it just in time for Mama to catch it. Oh my, my heart broke for him seeing him sick, but then after experiencing it myself I really felt bad for him - that was AWFUL. Luckily Daddy never caught it and was able to really take care of us both.

Out of bad comes some great thought! Time at home with Mommy and Tucker helped Bug feel better quickly and gave him lots of time to practice walking! Yup, sometime around the 20th he officially became a walker.

As you can see, Alex and Tucker are still the best of buds. Alex will go up to Tucker, "hug" him and say "awwwwww" because that's what we say whenever we hug him!

January 2008 - Visit to Trinidad

2008-04-22T20:46:00.008-06:00

After New Year's 2008 we finally put our new sleds to good use and went sledding with the Whites! We had a fantastically snowy December and thanks to the veeeerrrry cold weather we had that snow around for a long time. We waited for a day that wasn't too chilly, bundled Bug up in his new blue snowsuit and away we went!

Alex started eating table food at the beginning of January and took to it like a fish to water. We haven't found anything yet that he doesn't like, although he does have some stand out favorites - strawberries, blueberries, bananas, green beans, peas, chicken, ANYTHING pasta but especially spaghetti and mac-n-cheese, peaches, pears.... ok, so like I said... he loves it all!! He also decided that he was done nursing. I guess he decided that he was too busy to hold still long enough to drink. I was ok with it as my milk had started to decrease as he started eating more solid food. The funniest part was how he decided to let me know he wasn't interested anymore. One evening we were sitting on the couch, he'd just started to nurse when he pulled back, looked at me, looked at "it", grinned and PINCHED it! Then laughed and pushed away to go and play. Yep, that was the end of that!

Already a super-star crawler, Bug really started to try this walking thing in January. After watching him push the laundry basket, diaper boxes and activity table down the hall, we got him a little push toy to help him out and he just tears around with it! It took him a while to learn how to steer it, at first he would just go full steam in one direction until he rammed into something and then just keep ramming and ramming and ramming until either he shuffled it enough to go another direction or we moved it for him. He got to be an old pro with it in no time and even began to creep along the walls and furniture. We got him some big boy shoes too and that really seemed to help him take off.

We also went to Trinidad in January. Bug got lots of snuggles and stories from GG, Papa John, Nannie and Poppa. We had a great visit there, and Bug got his first taste of tea!

Catching Up Again.... The first of many long postings to come

2008-04-22T19:57:00.011-06:00

Ok, so it's been.... oh.... over 4 months since my last posting. This easy way to keep in touch with friends and family and share photos and stories is proving more difficult than I thought it would be! It's not that nothing happens, goodness no that isn't the case. And it isn't that I don't have oodles of stories and pictures to share, no that's definitely not it. What is it then? I think it's making myself sit down at the end of a long day and stare at tons of adorable images of my precious child and not just run back up the stairs to see the real thing sleeping peacefully. Or it's having my head swimming with all of the wonderful things I think about him and all of the amazing things he's done and wondering where to start. Or it's that sometimes I start to write and then realize that I am an unaccomplished word artist and my efforts will never do justice to the feelings and hopes and insights I have about dear Bug. So whatever the reason, and however meager my offering proves to be, here are some photos and stories of Bug over the last few months.....

Starting just after his ear surgery... Aside from going back a couple of times for a follow-up hearing test, only to learn that his tubes were clogged, first one side and then the other... things have gone really well. We go for another hearing test next Monday so I'll let you know how that goes. I think that the tubes have saved us from many ear infections as little Bug has had his share of colds this winter for sure.

Following an annual tradition we went with the Whites to see Zoolights for the 6th year in a row! It was around 15 degrees when we went so we had to REALLY bundle everyone up. The best way to do this for Bug was to dress him in about 3 layers and then zip him up into Daddy's jacket. It worked! He was toasty and snuggled and free to be amazed and fascinated by all of the beautiful lights from the warmth of his little cocoon.

We stopped to see Santa and Bug did really well! Thought that guy was kind of funny looking but didn't cry or fuss or struggle... just stared at him! He thought Frosty was pretty interesting to look at, too.

Christmas Day, 2007

Christmas morning dawned overcast with light flurries, and as the day wore on we got more and more snow... over 8 inches by the end of the day! A true White Christmas. GG and Papa John and Uncle Steve all spent the day at our house and we had a wonderfully relaxing time opening presents and having a big ham dinner. Here are some photos of Bug surrounded by the toy carnage - balls, tractors, sleds, cars, activity wall, more balls.... and what were dear Bug's favorite things about that day?......

Reading a book with Papa John and "catching" steam from the coffee pot with Uncle Steve!

Can you hear me now?

2007-12-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, December 12th Bugbaboo had tubes put into his ears. After 5 rounds of antibiotics over 5 months for ear infections, we and his doctors decided that it would be a good move. I've told you before about Dr. Fantastic. Well she just had a baby! So in her absence we've been seeing her partner, let's call her Dr. Wonderful. And she is just that. She's been so concerned about him that she even called us on Thanksgiving Day (the day after a particularly bad infection) to see how he was doing. She suggested we go see a pediatric ENT specialist asap, so that's what we did. We went to the Children's branch in Parker and met Dr. Chan, and all of his nice nurses were so kind and helpful.

And let me tell you what a little trooper this kid is. He's never minded all of the poking and prodding that goes with all of the ear checks he's had. He just leans against our chests and lets the doctors do whatever they need to. Last week he sat on Daddy's lap in the sound booth to check his hearing, and he was so attentive to what was going on and sat so still and quietly. He was just amazing. They did say that his hearing in the normal ranges was great considering how full of fluid his ears were, and that his eardrums weren't moving at all. But he did miss a few things in the outer edges, so we're hoping (and sure) that will all come back now with the fluid drained away.

Wednesday morning we checked in to Children's Hospital, got him all changed into his gown and then had visits from a series of nurses and doctors and the anesthesiologist all preparing us for what would happen. He wasn't afraid of anyone, charmed the nurse who gave him is little physical, checked out everything in the room, and then took a 45 minute nap in Mama's arms while we waited for our turn. When the anesthesiologist came to take him into surgery, he happily went with her, began playing with all the cool things hanging around her neck (stethoscope, goggles, name badge, etc) and away they went. He never even looked back, which I'm thankful for because I think I would have lost it, seeing someone else carry my baby away to surgery.

Less than 15 minutes later we were seated in the waiting room and out comes the doctor, "Everything went well...drained copious amounts of thick fluid...going to be a different baby!". Yippee!!! Although he was an amazing baby to begin with, so I hope the "different" part only refers to him feeling good all the time! Less than 5 minutes later we were back in recovery with him as he fussed off the affects of the anesthesia. After nursing and getting some Motrin, he was crawling and talking and playing up a storm within 30 minutes and they sent us home with some ear drops. We had a fantastic afternoon with him, he ate, slept and played like nothing happened. We still have to do the ear drops a few more days, and we have 2 more days left on his oral antibiotic from this last infection. But then hopefully we don't see a milky fruity bubble-gummy flavored goop for a long long time again.

So thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers! We felt so good about this decision and we know it's because of the support we had from the doctors and from all of our family and friends.

Here is a picture of Bugaboo in all of his hospital finery. It was taken with my camera phone so I apologize for the fuzziness, but isn't he just too cute?

8 Months Old

2007-11-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, more catching up to do! Something like 6 or 8 weeks worth. Doesn't sound like a lot of time really, but in baby time that's quite a bit... almost 2 months! Which is, sadly, 1/4 of Bugaboo's time so far. So yeah, we have a lot to share!

Alex is 8 months old now and he has 4 teeth and is crawling and pulling himself up onto things. He loves to "climb" on things, like me, Dan, pillows, Tucker and his toys. And he is just so proud of himself! He gets himself to standing and then starts to bounce and forgets he can't stand on his own yet and just... tumbles! And he laughs and gets right back up! He's trying to "cruise", too. He'll stand next to something and walk along it with his hands and then move his feet to catch up with himself. He is actually getting really good at balancing himself. I don't think it will be long before he's trying to walk on his own. Look out world!

Our friend Windi lent us a baby signing video and Alex just LOVES it. We've been doing the signs for water, eat, more, shoes, bird, fish, ball, milk and sleep and we think that he is trying to do some of them back to us, but we can't tell what they are yet. He definitely understands them, though, and when I ask him if he wants to eat and do the sign for it he grins and bounces! He still loves bath time and has a lot of toys that he splashes around with. I'm usually pretty soaked after a bath. Our bedtime routine has really helped with him going to sleep on his own, too. After the bath we do lotion and jammies and then a little snuggle. Then I wrap him up in his blanket, lay him in his crib and turn out the light. Sometimes he stays awake and talks to himself for a few minutes, but mostly he can hardly wait for me to lay him down before he drifts off to sleep. It's wonderful!

Speaking of talking to himself, Alex is really jabbering a lot now. He definitely says DaDa and MaMa, and he's even starting to use them at the right times which is very exciting for us! He usually says DaDa when he's "wrestling" with Dan, and MaMa when he's upset or hungry. I guess he's pretty clear on what our roles are!

We've struggled with ear infections and are currently on our 5th antibiotic. Poor little guy just can't seem to shake this last one. He's such a trooper though, and even though he doesn't feel good he is still a very happy and good baby. We're going to see an ENT soon and will talk about putting tubes in his ears. Everything we've heard about tubes has been very positive, so while we are sad that it has to happen, we are glad that it will help him.

Ok, here are a ton of pictures and captions. Enjoy!

Back in early October we went to a pumpkin farm with our friend Windi and her little guy Oz, and the Whites came with us, too. We had a great time even though it was super windy out. I love this picture becuase Alex is gazing up at Dan. Isn't that sweet?

Here are Oz and Alex discussing the qualities of pumpkins. Either that or talking about the current state of their diapers.

Here is the cutest litte pumpkin you've ever seen. You can see his bottom two teeth really well in this picture. He's really started to get a lot more hair now, too.

Alex and his big hairy brother Tucker. They play so well together, Tucker is so patient with Alex.

And there are always a lot of kisses exchanged between the two of them.

Grandma and Grandpa Garcia came to visit and Alex had some quality diaper time with them!

Alex had so much fun playing with them! Grandpa was giving Alex kisses on his back which just CRACKED him up, it was awesome!

I think someone was getting a lot of snuggles and kisses that weekend. Can you guess who that might be?

Alex just LOVES containers. Buckets, boxes... anything he can fill and empty and beat on.

Remember me saying he likes to climb things? Here's proof! Crawled right up onto his box of toys to get to the toys on the other side of it. He hung out on top of it for quite a while and was as happy as he could be!

Alex's daycare had a little Thanksgiving lunch for the kids and their parents. I went and had turkey and mashed potatoes with Alex, he loved them both!

It has been very cold here recently and so we've been bundling Bug up from head to toe. Here he is in his super cool tassle hat and matching mittens. Doesn't he look cozy? And the best part is that he doesn't mind either that hat or the mittens and will leave it all on so we don't have to worry about him getting cold!

Dan's sister Kathy and her family came out from California for Thanksgiving and stayed with the Whites. We went over a few times to visit and let the cousins all hang out together. Left to Right is Kyle (6), Zachary (7), Justin (11), Alex, and Kailey (5). That's Elly in the front, she LOVED having all those kids in her house!

Alex was hanging out with the boys, Cousin Zach and his Uncle Matt.

Kailey just adored Alex, and I think the adoration was mutual. Alex watched every move that Kailey made and was always looking for her in every room. Kailey was SO good with Alex, she played with him and all his toys, brought him stuffed animals to snuggle and even read all of his peek-a-boo books to him.

Well, that's it for now! We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

A lot of catching up to do....

2007-09-30T10:23:00.001-06:00

So, yes, it's been over a month since my last post... oops. So much going on, so little time to blog! I have been taking pictures though! Here is the story of what's been going on the last 6 weeks or so...

We've started feeding Alex veggies and fruits and he LOVES him some squash and oatmeal! He also really likes peas, bananas, applesauce and sweet potatoes. All the other flavors he'll eat (really he's not picky) but he just can't eat these fast enough!

Squash!!!

Very first time with a veggie, we had Squash. Mama even had a squash on hand and so Alex saw what he was eating. The significance was probably lost on him, but it makes a really cute picture!!!

Green beans - NOT a favorite. Maybe if I mix them with applesauce he'll eat a few bites, but these rank right down there with prunes in his book.

Alex just adores Tucker. He watches him, reaches for him and even sticks his tongue out like him when Tucker is trying to lick him! Whenever he's on the floor next to him he does anything he can to get closer to his Big Hairy Brother.

And now that Alex is eating some finger foods - teething biscuits and Gerber puffs - Tucker sticks pretty close to the high chair! Of course this just fascinates Alex and all thought of the food is gone from his mind.

It's that time of year again... football! Here is Alex in his Bronco themed attire. The whole family dressed up in orange and blue hasn't seemed to help our team much, but we're loyal to the end! We're in the market for some Avs gear, too. Haven't found much of that yet though.

Other new and exciting events.....

The sippie cup! How does this thing work???

So far Alex really likes playing with this new sippie cup thing, he grabs it, mouths it and even puts the spout in his mouth to suck on. But WHOA, watch out when the juice comes out... so far he does NOT like that part. Makes a face like "What the HECK?"

It's getting chilly in the mornings now, so Alex wears a hat and a jacket to daycare. Unfortunately we don't have any hats that fit him too well right now so he's been wearing this newborn cap which, as you can see, has a tendency to turn around and slip! Mama just finished knitting him the perfect fall cap, though. You'll see pictures of that soon!

We spent Labor Day weekend in Trinidad with Grandma and Grandpa Garcia and Uncle Steve. We had a cookout that Nan and Poppa came to.

It was beautiful and sunny weather all weekend! Thank goodness Alex had his shades and sun hat!!!

Uncle Steve brought his friend Jason to play in the Golf Tournament.

We visited the guys on the Golf Course.

And the latest news is that Alex sits up on his own so well and is now trying to crawl! He'll push up onto his hands and knees and rock back and forth, then PUSH!... backwards. He does wiggle and roll just about anywhere he wants to get, but we're not far from the army crawl either. And he's SO proud of himself, and only wants to be on the ground or bed where he can wiggle and figure out this motion deal.

Alex is such a good natured, happy and smiley baby. We are SO lucky and fall in love with him all over about 57.3 times a day.

Splish Spash

2007-08-19T18:05:00.000-06:00

Well we had a busy day today! We started the morning by checking out the Methodist Church by us. It was a special day there where they were kicking off the new school year so all the groups had displays set up, and there was a New Orleans style jazz band performing music. So, safe to say it was pretty different from how it normally would be! We'll go again next week to see what it's really like. On the plus side, though Alex LOVED the music! He was bouncing on our laps and even joined in the singing a few times. He was all grins! We'll definitely check this place out again, it seems to have a great focus on kids and is a really nice setting.

Then this afternoon we went to the Rec Center and went swimming! They have a great little splash area for the kids. It has a soft floor and lots of spraying, dumping, bubbling water toys. We hung out mostly on the outskirts of the water chaos and left all that fun to the bigger kids, but Alex did love sitting next to one of the little bubbling deals and feeling it on his hands and feet. He also loved just bobbing in the water with Mama and Daddy. I think we'll do this again! Plus he looks DARN CUTE in his little swim trunks, don't you think?

Finally - some new PICTURES!!

2007-08-13T20:12:00.001-06:00

I just love my baths.

And I look so cute in my hoodie towel!

I'll chew on anything these days.

Me and Daddy

Sitting by the pool with Mama.

I liked dangling my feet in the water!

Such a precious baby boy.

Is there anything sweeter?

Mmmmm. Oatmeal Baby.

I'm definitely getting the hang of this whole eating thing.

Catching Up

2007-08-13T08:31:00.000-06:00

Long time no post! Alex brought home a tummy bug the weekend before last, so all three of us were down for the count with that one. Dan and Alex were hit the hardest poor guys. But everyone started feeling better last Monday thank goodness. We go this Friday for a weight check for little guy so we weren't real happy that the tummy bug probably set him back a bit again, but we'll see. He looks bigger to Mama and Daddy!

Last night Alex ate a ton of oatmeal.... and actually ATE it! A few more weeks and we'll try some veggies... mmmmmm. We'll probably try rice cereal again to see if he likes it better this time around.

The Great Sleep Project continues. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and we're not sure when it will or why. Saturday night he slept from 8 until 4:30 and only stirred a few times, but didn't need anything from us. Then last night he woke up about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours! We're really trying to let him fuss and fall back asleep on his own, but we never know what's going to work. I guess it's just a process. We're doing our best to be consistent in our responses - like not picking him up, giving him a few minutes before we respond, etc. The problem is he's not consistent with what he needs! Friday night I went in to check on him when he was crying and he'd wet through his diaper, so I had to change him (luckily I've been smart and put puddle pads under him when he sleeps so I don't have to change the sheet in the middle of the night!). Then a few hours later when he was fussing I heard him fill his diaper and I can't let that sit, either, so another change of diaper and then rocking to sleep. Dan and I take turns checking on him unless I know it's time for him to eat. I thought that would help with us each taking turns getting some more sleep, but usually once we wake up we stay awake until Alex goes back to sleep regardless of whether we're the one with him or not! So we're ALL anxious for the full night's sleep to come soon.

Still no more progress on the tooth. Bugaboo gets fussy from time to time and attacks anything he can get near his mouth with the ferocity of a puppy! He's got some powerful little jaws, too! I'm guessing it'll take a few more weeks before we see a pearly white.

Little Man is REALLY trying to crawl now. He'll roll onto his tummy and then just start squirming like mad! He also loves turning around, so he'll wiggle himself in circles and arch his back and squirm. It's like a little baby break-dance. He's also almost sitting up on his own. He'll stay for 5-10 seconds if we get him balanced and prop him up on his hands. He loves sitting up and reaching for things, though, so as he reaches he topples over. It's really very funny because he'll topple and roll and then look like "WHOA, what the heck just happened?!?" and then grin. He also loves to stand, and will hold himself in a standing position if you put his hands on something. He looks so proud of himself when he's doing all these things, too, it's really hard not to just eat him up with a spoon he's so darn cute.

We took some more pictures this weekend so I'll post those tonight!

Could it be...?

2007-07-30T09:13:00.000-06:00

Mr Man was pretty fussy yesterday, and we think that Grandpa Wheeler spotted why... there's a TOOTH trying to come in. Yup, a nice little white nub pushing up through his bottom gum. We're pretty sure that's the culprit, Mama and Daddy and Grandma all saw it. No fever or runny nose, but lots of fussing and some major crying at 2:30 this morning. We hope it breaks through quickly, poor little guy does not look happy. :(

We'll keep you posted, and hopefully soon will post a picture of the TOOTH!

Bouncy Bouncy

2007-07-25T20:54:00.001-06:00

We got Bugaboo an "activity bouncer" this weekend... he LOVES to bounce and just chatters up a storm while he's playing!

Taking after Mama and Daddy already...

2007-07-25T20:43:00.000-06:00

So our little Mr Man is eating cereal now! Rice cereal wasn't a favorite so we've switched to oatmeal and that seems to be going down much better. I still can't say he's actually eaten a lot, but we try twice a day and I'm pretty confident that he gets at least one solid spoonful swallowed. We've also begun to use the highchair and oh boy do we have a big proud boy sitting up so straight and strong! He likes his new vantage point and thinks that the tray is just SO interesting. I had to give him his own spoon to hold while I feed him because he keeps trying to grab the one with the food on it. Since he loves to wiggle so much we've already had flying food as he's knocked my hand, but he doesn't seem to mind, even when a giant glob landed on his eye. True to Bugaboo temperament his eyes got HUGE and then he just grinned! So we're pretty sure that Alex is going to take to this eating thing just fine. The boy already loves his food, just like his parents!

And also just like his parents Alex loves to read! Or at least it

looks to us like he does :)

Roll-ey Poll-ey

2007-07-20T08:52:00.000-06:00

First, and update on the Great Sleep Project...

Night #3... dinner at the Grandparents Wheeler, or as Uncle Steve W proclaimed it, "The Last Supper on Danube". Morbid, huh? Bugaboo bounced his way happily through dinner and like a champ stayed awake and entertained us all (more on this later) as we hung out awaiting the arrival of the Lees from Utah. Unfortunately 8PM rolled in before the Lees did, and little man just couldn't fight the sleep monster any longer, so away we went for the 2 minute drive home. Two nights in a row of being out past bedtime also meant skipping the bath again because he was SO tired. (Yes, we have an UNCLEAN child... fear not, we'll soap him up extra good tonight). Fed, bundled and snuggled, down he went. And cried. But only for 5 minutes! I braved it out (forced myself into the kitchen to wash and prep bottles for today so I wouldn't be tempted to cave) and just as I was heading up to comfort him he faded off. I did pat him a bit as he sort of whimpered, but he was mostly asleep so does that really count? It was more for my comfort than his, really. We all know who the bigger baby in this duo is. :) He did wake up at 9:30, but all I had to do was pat him a bit and roll him back onto his side again and he was out like a light. Until 2:30, when he ate and then... cried. But only until we re-burritoed him and then he conked out and I had to wake him at 6:30. I can deal with the 2:30 waking for now. It's easier to get some good sleep after that one. The 4:30 waking came too close to my 5:15 alarm clock to really warrant going back to sleep. Of course the goal is NO waking until 6:30, but it's only day 3. We can do this! :)

Rice cereal is going, well, everywhere. He did swallow a few good spoonfuls last night. The majority of our efforts ended up on him, though. But he smelled yummy!

So Daddy was changing him out of the rice cereal soaked onesie and of course, being naked AND on his back Alex was in 7th heaven. He was talking and wiggling and... rolling! Now, he has rolled from his back to his front consistently, flopping over like a fish the instant you put him down, for some time now. His very first rolling performance was from front to back, but he only did that for a week before he decided the other direction was more fun. So, he'd flop onto his belly and... stay there. He'd get stuck. Well, sort of. Now he'll pull his little knees up under him and stick his tush in the air and propel himself forward (yes ALMOST crawling... more just scooting - which is still way too early in my opinion, but that's what happens when you're parent to Super Baby). However, last night, before our very eyes (and there were lots of eyes!) Mr. Man did back to front to back to front (yes, 3 rolls!!) in a split second. Yup, before we really knew what happened he had rolled himself right off the blanket! Yea Bugaboo!!! He was SO proud of himself and we all erupted in applause and laughter and it was wonderful :)

Uh-oh. He's mobile.

4 Months and Sawing Logs

2007-07-19T10:29:00.000-06:00

We had Alex's 4 month check up on Tuesday. Poor little bug got 3 shots again, but he is such a tough guy he hardly cried. OK, so he screamed, but it's less damaging to Mama if we all play along and say he hardly cried. OK? Thankyouverymuch. His legs were a little sore that night and the next morning, but he was totally fine by the next afternoon. What a trooper!

Our totally wonderful pediatrician (we'll call her Dr. Fantastic) also told us that it's time to put him to bed when he's not asleep. So, bath time, lotion rubdown, story and/or song as usual... but no more rocking to sleep. He has to learn to fall asleep on his own. Of course it makes sense, and sounds logical and right and all... but that means he'd have to CRY himself to sleep until he got the hang of it. We could comfort him and pat him but we couldn't pick him up. HA! I spring up like a jack-in-the-box if I even hear him sniffle over the monitor at night, how am I going to sit there and listen to him cry? Well, I'm not! That's where the super hero Daddy comes in. For example...

Night #1 - Tuesday night after our bedtime routine, I deposited little man in his crib with tons of kisses and bravely walked away as he started to whimper. Then I stood in our room and counted the seconds until the excruciatingly long 5 minutes I was instructed to wait was up. Well I got to like 3 minutes and was inching myself closer and closer to the door. Luckily at that point Dan came in, sent me to the basement and took over. He sat next to the crib and comforted Alex at the appropriate intervals... what nerves of steel he must have. But lo and behold, after less than 15 minutes Bugaboo was sound asleep! He did it! He went to sleep! Dr. Fantastic told us it usually takes about 4 nights before they go to sleep without crying. Four long nights.

Night #2 - Wednesday. We ran a few errands that took us past his usual bed time, so we weren't sure how he'd do. He was sooooo tired, and after nursing I figured he was so sleepy that we'd skip the bath because it would only wake him up at that point. So at 8 o'clock with jammie jams on, burritoed in the blanket down he goes. Silently. Not even a whimper. Super Dad stayed by the crib for a good 10 minutes just to make sure, but sure enough. No crying and sound asleep. Go figure, we have a super baby!!! AND he slept until.... 4:30. Yea Bugaboo!!!

Dr. Fantastic also told us it's OK to start giving him some rice cereal. We've gotten a few spoonfuls down in the evenings, and a couple more this morning, but not enough to really make a huge impact on his calorie intake. He mostly swishes it around in his mouth enjoying the texture of it, then grins and squooshes it all out. I do think he actually swallowed some this morning though! We'll keep trying. Once he gets the hang of this we're on to veggies... YUM!

More pictures to come. He's so proud of his new toy - the exerbouncer - he loves to bounce!

Weekend Fun

2007-07-17T10:10:00.000-06:00

This weekend we had all kinds of fun! Saturday morning we went to watch our friend Patrick Johnson play in a Little League baseball tournament. Alex got all decked out in his baseball gear and away we went! We got to play on the grass with Patrick's daddy Matt and we all had a great time. That evening we went to our friend Oz Padia's birthday party in Frederick and Alex got to watch the big kids splashing in the wading pool. Boy did he want to get in there with them! He was happy just bouncing with Daddy, though. He spent so much time outside on Saturday, Alex just LOVED it!

Getting so big

2007-07-16T16:32:00.000-06:00

So this coming Sunday Alex will be 4 months old - already! He's getting so big, and is such a GOOD baby. We keep telling ourselves over and over how lucky we are to have a child with such a sweet personality. Here is a recent picture of him with more to follow soon!