February 2008 - Flying to Utah!

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

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

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?

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

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!