I cannot not believe that my new best friend has been in our lives for two whole months now. He’s a delight and really is full of personality. I always said I couldn’t imagine staying home; now I can’t fathom how I am going to go back to work. It helps a lot that Chris will be home with him an extra 6 weeks after I go back.

Some of his 0-3 clothes are getting too big, including this really great hat that went with an outfit (that still fits him) - I guess my kiddo has a big noggin. Makes sense, when you look at his parents ;P He’s also got quite the temper when he’s hungry, just like dad. I try to read to him every morning, and he loves looking at the pictures in the books. He also loves the little boy in the mirror - he’s one of his newest friends!

He was in the hospital from last Saturday to the Tuesday after - 3 days total. It was a long three days, let me tell you. He had a fever saturday afternoon, so we called the pediatrician who asked us to bring him to the ER based on his history. Loudoun actually has a pediatric ER which is very nice, and it just so happened that his nurse was one of the mom’s in my mom group. It really made me so much more comfortable to have a friendly face there. He ended up needing a spinal tap, which was sort of rough on all of us, but in the end he had a UTI and nothing more nasty, thankfully. 3 days of IV antibiotics and 10 days of a strong oral one will hopefully do the trick.

His surgery should be coming up soon as well - they wanted to do it after he was two months old, and that technically is tomorrow, or was last Thursday if you count 8 weeks as two months, and not the anniversary of his birth date.

A friend of ours came over with his daughter on Friday night, and he got his first international gifts. A really adorable t-shirt from Thailand, as well as a beautifully embroidered outfit. They have good taste! We also took him out for the first time since he came home to the Danforth’s. Fun was had by all.

Daddy read to him this morning. He reads to him a lot I am told, just not his kid books. I think the way daddy reads to him is much more creative and informative. Although Dr. Suess is fun too.

Finally, pictures

May 23rd Upload

Outting to the Danforth’s

Alex is doing fantastic, and is just a delightful little boy. We’re so lucky - he’s a good sleeper, a good eater, and my new best friend.

When he smiles at me it is honestly the brightest moment of my life. When the three of us cuddle, I want to be no where else.

Monday we had an appointment with a physiatrist, who looked over Alex for developmental progress. In his own words he’s doing fantastic - they don’t even know if he’ll have any issues stemming from the spinal issues he has. I’m not sure if I ever went into that - he’s missing 1% of the bottom of his spine/spinal cord. His feet move and respond, he has fantastic muscle tone, and they think it will have no bearing on his future best case. Heck, he’s already standing himself up! It may even be that the functionality that is normally in the last 2-3 segments was pushed up/developed in the last one. He weighed him as well, and he’s 10 and a half pounds!

Wednesday it was back to Inova Fairfax Children’s for a pre-surgical sonogram/x-rays. He didn’t need to be sedated or anything, which was good, and we could be with him the whole time (granted, in the really awesome lead vests). They put him in the tiniest hospital robe I’ve ever seen, and took lots of pictures. The surgeon should let us know next week when we can expect to bring him in. I am trying not to be apprehensive about it - but he’s strong.

He’s been out to eat a few times, hung out with the dog - even helped me raid Kara in WoW He loves his playmat, loves listening to music with daddy, and loves cuddling with mommy. He’s pushing himself up, holding his head steady on his own, and seems to like bathtime now! He smiles ALL the time! And now he’s awake. So before a meltdown happens, here’s links to the latest pictures

Uploaded May 8:
http://www.turnerhq.com/gallery/v/babyturner/May8th/

Uploaded May 13:
http://www.turnerhq.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=11964

Or a tired one.

We’re doing great - he’s so big! I promise pictures tonight, it’s just been so crazy around here. I’ve been sick for a few days and that really takes one out of commission I’ve found when you’re trying to keep up already!

Until pictures, let’s sum up what’s been going on in the life of Alex:

• Getting Bigger!
• Smiling!
• Cooing!
• Not sleeping at night!
• Sleeping all day!
• Exclusively Breastfeeding (Finally!!) except for his 2pm medicine bottle. Even that’s just an oz, and he gets the rest of his feeding from me. If I could figure out how to give him his meds without this bottle I would
• I estimate him to be about 9lb 6oz by my uneducated guess (put me on the scale, then put him on the scale with me :P)

He likes his carrier thankfully, and I love it too. I’m hoping we get a chance to get out this weekend so we can get even more great pictures of him. We all took a (short) walk the other night too, and it was so nice. He does really well when he’s moving (car, carrier, stroller, etc), so we’re lucky there. He likes his playmat, but he seems to have a low tolerance for it sometimes. He’s great with tummytime, and even though he goes noodle on me a lot his neck is pretty strog.

Now if he’ll stop rolling over on his side in his sleep and moving all the way to the side of the bassinet, I’d sleep better at night.