Julia's 15 Month Appointment

Julia had her 15 month check-up today. She weighs 21 pounds on the nose (19th percentile), is 30 inches tall (30th percentile), and has a head circumference of 19 inches (95th percentile). She is a growing girl, but her percentiles in weight and height continue to drop. Her doctor is going to continue to keep an eye on her weight, but is happy that her head circumference is a good number. It is a good sign that, despite her low weight, she is growing at a healthy rate. Unfortunately, we did find out that she had a double-ear infection while at the doctor today. It kind of caught us off guard...probably a secondary symptom of her croup from a week ago. She had no temp and has been in a great mood...it was pretty surprising. We hope that this is not a sign of more ear infections yet to come!! 15 months is the age that Alex started having problems, so keep your fingers crossed that the warmer weather will help keep Julia free and clear for the next few months!!

Duke and Alex Singing the Blues

Fire, Croup, and Catastrophic Winds

Alex has become quite the little sports nut lately!! He is OBSESSED with playing soccer and football outside and basketball in the basement. The other night, when playing basketball with Daddy, Daddy said 'You're on Fire, Alex' after he had made several shots in a row. Alex responded by saying...'Yeah, Daddy, but not for real on fire!!' Alex has been excited to show off his new skills to both of his Meema and Papas and has enjoyed playing soccer against his Uncle Jeffy in the nice weather!

Last week was a busy week with the nice temperatures!! We hit the parks several times, went to the zoo on St. Patty's Day, and enjoyed agriculture week at the Children's Museum. Alex and Julia loved getting to see the baby chicks at the museum last week. Julia was especially enamored with the baby chicks and held her face right against the glass to get the closest possible look (I'm so bummed I didn't have my camera with me that day!). Unfortunately, all that fun came with a price. It seems as though Julia picked up a nasty cootie on one of our field trips...she came down with croup Friday night. This was our first experience with croup and it certainly wasn't a pleasant one...thank goodness her pediatrician has office hours Saturday morning. Mommy was a bit freaked out by her high temperature and labored breathing, but Julia was on medication by late Saturday morning and is feeling much better now!

Alex's other new obsession is riding his bicycle! He rides his bike everyday now when we take Duke out on a walk. Yesterday, just like always, he wanted to ride his bike, but I was a bit unsure given the windy weather. I figured he would get frustrated trying to ride against the wind and I would end up having to drag his bike back home with us!! Little did I know that I should have been leary just because of what the wind will do to a kid on a bike!! I let Alex talk me into riding it and everything seemed to be going fine...he was riding just fine and he wasn't whining at all about having to ride against the wind. Then, as we turned back to head North only for a block to our house, the trouble started. Alex took off and, since he was wearing his brand new Cardinals warm-up suit (parachute style fabric), the wind just caught him and took him sailing down the sidewalk in a speed that was definitely not appropriate for a three year old. I yelled for Alex to use his breaks, which ended up being a big mistake! I should have told him to steer into the grass instead. He slammed on his breaks and, with the combination of forward motion and crazy 60 mile per hour winds, Alex flew head first over the handlebars onto the sidewalk in front of him! I was scared to death, but fortunately, he was wearing his helmet (I certainly had thoughts of Natasha Richardson racing through my head) and the only casulties seemed to be a tiny scraped chin and a few scrapes on his new Cardinal outfit. Alex doesn't seem to have any emotional scars...he wanted to ride his bike again today when we took Duke out on a walk!

Updates

Daisy Dress Scenario

Papa bought Julia a new daisy dress the other day and we tried it on her to see how it fit...

Alex: Mommy, Julia looks so beautiful...she looks like she is going to dance with a prince!!

Ahhhhhhh!!!

Army Dress Scenario

Alex: Mommy, Julia looks like she is going to prom!

Where does he get this stuff??

Blowing Kisses and Peekaboo

Julia has been blowing kisses and playing peekaboo for awhile, but she has never made a 'mooch' noise while blowing kisses and always used a towel or a blanket to play peekaboo instead of her hands. Today, she blew me kisses with the mooch noise while I left to pick up Alex (Daddy was home today) and played peekaboo while using her hands to cover her eyes!!

Alex's Bracket Picks

Alex has Dayton, Cal. St. Northridge, Minnesota, and Radford in the Final Four with Dayton winning it all! Apparently, he was impressed with Dayton's win over ISU last year in the NIT...maybe even more impressed with their big drum!

An Early Sighting of the Easter Bunny

Checking out the bunny!!

Poor little bunny!!

Alex wanted to keep the little bunny as a pet...Having pets seems to be his new thing!! Anyways, I told him the bunny was wild and wouldn't like to be kept in a cage. Alex reluctantly agreed to let us let the bunny go, but only because he found out that the bunny might bite!!

A Beautiful Day!

Julia playing in her house!!

Duke sunbathing!!

Alex playing soccer!!

Happy Birthday Papa!!

Happy Birthday Papa!!

We celebrated Papa's birthday this past weekend with a special dinner at the Cracker Barrel and some cake and ice cream back at home!! Alex was excited to celebrate Papa's birthday at the Cracker Barrel and informed Mommy and Daddy that he wanted to celebrate his birthday there too this year!!

Fresh Air

As usual, things around here have been incredibly busy!! We have been enjoying the few nice days here and there that we have received! We are quick to not take anything for granted! Every ounce of free time is spent outdoors taking in the fresh air! It is now 3:39 PM and we have come in for the first time today...Julia certainly needs a nap and Alex could use a little down time in his room as well!!

Alex has developed a love for soccer in these past few weeks. Everytime we go outside to play he asks to play soccer. He has definitely been helping with mommy losing some weight by making me run back and forth across the backyard about a hundred times. We finally put together the soccer goal mommy found at Wal-Mart in the clearance aisle. It has become a big hit with Alex!! Who knew when I bought it that he would have become such a soccer feign these past few weeks!

Julia is loving the warmer weather as well! We visited the park yesterday while Alex was at preschool. It was a little windy, but she didn't mind. She still loves the slide and it doesn't necessarily matter to her if she goes down on her bum, head first on her belly, feet first on her belly, or even just walking down it. Luckily, mommy caught her when she tried that stunt! Unfortunately, she did get a pretty good bruise on her forehead when she fell and hit her head while trying to climb the stairs to the bridge. She cried at first, but dusted herself off and forged ahead!

Alex acquired a new pet this week...Haga, his 'dead' pet spider. We found Haga in the basement on Monday while playing basketball. Unfortunately, Haga was already dead when we found him, but Alex wasn't so convinced. Alex suggested that we give him some water and chicken in order to help him feel better. By Wednesday night, Alex realized that Haga was not going to make and allowed for us to have a toilet funeral. Alex clung to my side as he was brushing his teeth a few minutes later and said..."I really thought he was going to make it...sigh." Poor Alex!!

Julia has been attending lap sit at the library again for the last few weeks. She is once again enjoying the stories, songs, playtime, and bubbles. It is a true asset that we have such wonderful library programs in our community!

Here's Hoping for Some Nicer Weather

Here's to enjoying a unseasonably warm day in February!! We are looking forward to even more in March!