It has been a while

It has been a while since my last post. We have had a lot going on. I have had a chance to update our photos and videos as well, so check those out at the right. Alexander is just getting bigger by the minute. At his 18 month check he was in the 46% (32 1/4 inches) for height and 14% (24 1/4 lbs) for weight (which is great, at his 15 month he was only at 6%)! He is doing so well and I can't believe the vocabulary he has, he learns something new everyday. He has also started putting sentences together, not anything long but three or four words. He is running now and has learned how to play hide and seek (or hide as he calls it). The newest trick is telling us No! He must be getting closer to 2. It is amazing how fast they grow!

Turkey day is this week and Christmas is fast approaching. I can't believe the year is almost over! We are spending Thanksgiving with the Schmitt's, so AJ will have cousin Benjamin to play with. Christmas Eve with be spent with the Jankowski/Taufen side (Jen's dad and family). Then Christmas Day will be spent with the Wiederholt clan (Jen's mom and family). We will celebrate with the Schmitt's New Year weekend. We rotate every other year with the Wiederholt's and Schmitt's for Christmas Day. It's nice being able to spend a full day together celebrating.

We hope everything has a wonderful Thanksgiving and has many things to be thankful for this year!

What's new?

It has been a while since my last post and I have finally put the link to our videos at the right. I have a few of AJ's first time walking and one of him at the park with Oma and Opa (Jen's mom and stepdad). I have also updated our pictures too, so check those out as well.

He is just getting to be such a big boy. He says about 30 words, knows about 10 signs, can mimic about 10 animal noises and learns something new almost everyday. His favorite new word is No No. He is now starting to run and is very stable on his feet. He LOVES walking and is so proud of himself when he does it! We are feeling very good about his asthma. We seem to finally have it under control (knock on wood). So that is a big relief for us. He is just such a joy and are so blessed to have him!

We went to the State Fair yesterday with Oma, Opa, Auntie Katie, Uncle Todd, Cousin Lexi and meet Auntie Jessica, Uncle Mike and Cousin Benjamin out there. We had a blast. Oma took AJ and Lexi on the Sky Ride and they loved it. AJ also loved the animal barns, especially the horses. He learned to say moo when we were in the cow barn and said pig a few times too. It's just too bad that he can't have any cheese curds, but he will never know what he is missing.

Other then that we are just keeping busy with the usual everyday stuff. We hope every had a wonderful summer!

Watch out, here he comes!

AJ has begun to walk! He took a few steps last week, but really begun moving today! He stood up in the middle of the room and took off. I have some good video of it that I have posted to a new video site (thanks for the idea Jessica) so check that out at the right.

We had his 15 month check up last week and he is doing well. He is only in the 6th % for weight, but considering he doesn't get to eat much, he is doing well. And the nurse measured his height wrong (he shrunk half an inch since last time according to her), but the doctor says he looks tall for his age.

He seems to be learning something new everyday! He says about 20 words and knows signs for book, more, banana and his own version of fan. He can point to the sun, moon, his nose, ears, belly and when you ask him his name he points to himself. He knows what sound a bear and lion make (rarrr), a car makes (bep, bep), an elephant (he puts his hand in the air imitating the trunk but doesn't make the noise and a cat (mew, mew). He is just amazing and I enjoy my time home with him! He loves his pool and his sandbox and always wants to go!

We have had a pretty busy summer. AJ and I spent a week at the cabin over the 4th with my family while Joe was canoeing with Scott. AJ loves boat rides we found out. We spend time at the outdoor pool at the YMCA where AJ is learning to really enjoy the water. We are going to IL in 2 weeks for a party and then staying at a cabin in WI with the Schmitt's, so that should be a lot of fun. I can't believe it is already almost the end of July, where does the summer go.

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer!

We have been busy

I haven't been able to post for a while, things have been really busy around here. Two weekends ago we spent the night in Rochester at Mike, Jessica and Benjamin's house. It was a great time, but I unfortunately forgot my camera, but Jessica took some great pictures of the cousins playing together.

Then this weekend we had Joe's graduation party, which went great. And again like a dope, I forgot to take pictures. But we had a great time despite a little rain. Then on Sunday we celebrated Father's Day with the Schmitt's at Minnehaha Falls Park. Another beautiful day and I have a few pictures to prove it (althought the battery was low, so I couldn't take too many).

Also this last weekend on Friday, Alexander had his first big boy hair cut and boy does he look all grown up! It's amazing what a few inches of hair makes!

This weekend is another crazy weekend. We have a wedding on Friday night and our nephew Benjamin's First Birthday party in Rochester on Saturday. It should be another great weekend spent with family and friends!

Check out all of our new pictures at our photo site on the right and Mike and Jessica's as well if you want to see pictures of the cousins playing together!

Joe Graduates!

We had quite a weekend and are still recovering from it. Our good friends Chris and Amber were married this weekend. Friday night we had the rehearsal and groom's dinner. It was a beautiful night to be outside enjoying a BBQ and good friends. Then Saturday was the wedding. It was an all day affair so we are glad that AJ was able to stay with Oma and Opa(Jen's mom and stepdad) all day and overnight. He had a blast as did we! It was a wonderful wedding, but we were quite exhausted after all the festivities! Then Sunday we got up and had breakfast with the Schmitt clan. Jennifer's (Andy's girlfriend) mom and brother were in town, so we went to meet them.

After that we were off to JOE'S GRADUATION! Joe received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business/Information Technology. It was a wonderful ceremony and we are so proud of him! After the ceremony we took some pictures and then headed to dinner with the Schmitt's. Joe wanted ribs, so we headed to Famous Daves and it was good. After dinner we headed home and just relaxed. It was a busy weekend but full of joyous occasions! I have added all of the pictures to our yahoo account, please check them out.

Good news and bad news

It has been a while since I posted as we were waiting until we went to the doctor to let you all know what has been going on with Alexander. We saw the doctor 3 weeks ago after two urgent care visits in one week for his asthma and he suggested doing some allergy testing. He did the testing and it came back positive for dog, dust, dairy, egg, soy and peanut allergies. He then suggested seeing an allergist to try and get everything figured out.

I wasn't too concerned about the food allergies until I started trying to find things for him to eat! No more cottage cheese (his favorite) or milk and since he is allergic to soy as well, no soy milk either! But I did find some rice milk and he really seems to like it. And speaking of the soy, its in EVERYTHING, so that has been our real challenge. On the positive side though, Joe and I will be eating better as a result because we are doing more shopping in the health food section. It took a couple of weeks, but I think we finally have a handle on the things he can eat. The allergy we were really concerned about is the dog. He is such a part of our lives, we were really worried we would have to give him up. And it would have been hard on all of us, even AJ. He loves his doggie!

We saw the allergist on Wednesday and are as happy with the prognosis as we can be. The bad news, no dairy, soy, eggs or peanut products for at least 2 years, until we do more testing. The good news, we can keep the dog. The doctor feels the dog allergy is really mild and it was the food he was reacting too. He says he thinks his asthma will be much more manageable now that we know what he can't eat! And knock on wood, we haven't had an attack in a month!

Everyone asks, "Well what CAN he eat?" All the fruit and veggies he wants, meat and we found crackers that are safe and Joe is going to try making some bread with egg substitutes and rice milk, so hopefully that will be another to add. The rice milk has added calcium and eating the fruits and veggies will give him the rest of what he needs. We go back to the pediatrician in a month and will talk with him more about vitamins. We were also given an Epi Pen just in case he does come in contact with something he shouldn't. The allergist says that a lot of kids outgrow these allergies around 5 years old, so that is a possibly too. All and all not as bad as it could have been!

Other then that, he is doing amazing! He is really starting to talk up a storm. He can say about 15 words and is learning new ones very fast (Daddy has to learn to be careful of what he says around him). No walking yet, but boy can he crawl fast! He is such a joy and we are so lucky to have been blessed with a really good kid!

We have some big things going on in the next few weeks, the biggest being Joe graduates this Sunday! And his graduation party is on the 17th. We also have our nephew Benjamin's first birthday in a few weeks and will be spending some time in Rochester with them. Jen and AJ are headed to the cabin with her family to celebrate the 4th of July and Joe is off on his usual canoe trip that weekend. We hope you are doing well and enjoying this wonderful summer!

(I have also updated our pictures, so check that link out at the right)

Congrats Joe!

Just wanted to let you all know, Joe is done with school, he will be a college graduate soon!! His actual gradaution date is June 4th, but he has no more classes, which makes us all VERY happy. We will be have a graduation celebration the 17th of June, but I will be sending out invitations later in the mail. I just thought you would all like to know and I thought Joe deserved his own post!

Lots of new stuff happening

I finally have some time to update our blog and add all of our pictures to our Yahoo site (see the link on the right). We have had some new and exciting stuff happening in the last few weeks, so I will give you all an update on that.

Alexander is all better! It didn't take him long once he was released from the hospital. While in the hospital, his Oma gave him a baby to help him recover faster and in doing so he learned to say baby. That means he has three words in his vocabulary now. We had a second 1st birthday for him on the 15th so he could enjoy his cake and open a few presents and boy did he enjoy his cake!

That's all that was left of the big piece we gave him. Then on the 16th, we spent Easter at my sister Rachel's with my dad's family. He was so good and even got to go on an Easter egg hunt and enjoy his first taste of real ham.

We have also totally weaned him off of formula and baby food, he now eats what we eat (well within reason, I don't think Daddy's espresso would be a good idea). His favorite things are applesauce, cottage cheese and bananas. He even likes broccoli, cauliflower and asparagus. We are still experimenting and figuring out what he likes and dislikes, but so far he has not been to picky!

Then this last weekend we took a trip to Des Moines for my cousins wedding and AJ got to spend the weekend with his Great Aunt Jackie and Great Uncle Jim. I even bought him a little tux type outfit from Once Upon a Child (for $8 I couldn't pass it up). He has also learned to say the word Go and has developed his own sign language for Fan (he sakes his arm back and forth trying to copy mom when she said a fan goes around and around and made a circle motion with her hand). Now every time he sees a fan he shakes his arm back and forth. No walking yet, but he does move around the furniture really well. The last new thing is he has two more teeth. The two top ones have a new tooth on each side now, so that makes 6! Other then that, not much else is new with us. Here's one last picture of him from the wedding, check out all of our other pictures on Yahoo.

Not the best 1st birthday

Our weekend started out pretty good, AJ's actual birthday was nice and we got the house ready for the party, Grandma Schmitt even came and helped. But then by Friday evening things started to go down hill. He woke up screaming and could not go back to bed. We called the after hours care line and they said to give him a double dose of Tylenol and then head to urgent care in the morning, another ear infection they thought. At urgent care the next morning he was diagnosed with a double ear infection. They sent him home with antibiotics and said he sounded good otherwise. But by the time everyone showed up for the party, he was having a really hard time breathing and had 3 nebulizer treatments in the matter of 4 hours (not good). Talked to the care line and they said to head right in to urgent care. Once at urgent care, we were told he needed to be taken to the ER at Children's via an ambulance (not what you want to hear as a parent)! Once at the ER they diagnosed his problem as pneumonia, not just restricted airway disease (or asthma) like we thought. So we spent Saturday and Sunday night in the hospital! He was such a trooper and did such a good job. It helps that he hag lots of great visitors to keep his spirits up. We headed home today about 11 am and he is doing amazing! You would never even know anything was wrong with him.

He didn't get to enjoy much of his birthday, but he will have a great story to tell later on- I got to ride in an ambulance on my 1st birthday. Thanks to everyone who came and visited us at the hospital, you helped keep our spirits up! And thanks to everyone who made it to the party, we are sorry the man of the hour was not feeling so well.

He speaks again!

AJ has said his second word, ball. This time it was with recognition, he knew what he was saying! And of course, since we praised him so much, he says it all the time now! We also think he is on the verge of saying dog, but one never knows for sure. Another thing he found out he could do this week is crawl UP the stairs. He can go all the way to the top pretty quickly (of course mom is always standing right behine him in case he needs any help). He thinks he is king of the world now. He has also started "reading" to himself. He will pick up one of his books (upside down mind you) and start jabbering away as he turns the pages, it's just adorable! We are also taking swimming lessons every Tuesday night and AJ seems to be having a pretty good time (although I think mom's having more fun)! He likes to splash and float on his belly and he is even starting to kick a little and getting more and more comfortable on his back. And he loves the toys! Another big moment this week was, he learned So Big. It's really cute and he gets quite a kick out of it. Seems like he is learning something new everyday.

He is just growing up so fast, I don't know where the time has gone. He will be 1 year next Friday and it feels as if we just found out we were pregnant! He has been such a joy, it has be an amazing year. We ask ourselves every day what we did without him. We are so blessed that he has not had many health problems, or last not any serious health problems. And that he is a happy kid. We just hope we get as lucky with the next one;)

I will post again in a couple of weeks, after we have the big party so everyone can see him covered in cake!!

He speaks!

AJ has said his first word... Uh Oh (not sure if that really counts for a word, but we'll take it)! He was sitting in his highchair last week and I dropped something and said, "Uh Oh" and he repeated it. And now he says it all the time. He doesn't use it in the right context, but he is using it. We think he is saying Ma and Da too, but he uses those all the time too. And we have heard a boo a few times when he picks up his books, so that could be another one.

It's amazing how fast he can get around just by crawling. He has also been pulling himself up on things for a while, but is now starting to "walk" around while doing it. I am sure he will be walking soon (not sure mom is ready for that)! He is getting to be such an independent little boy and it makes me really sad! What happened to my little baby who needed me all the time. Oh well, we are just on to another phase of his life and I am sure it will be just as wonderful as the first year!

4 in 28 to go!

AJ has two more teeth! The two top ones popped out this last weekend. No wonder he has been fussy and not sleeping well!! He is also pulling himself up on everything. We think he can also say Hi, Ma and Da but we are not sure if they mean what we want them to mean or if he is still just babbling. But he is making progress. He had his check-up for his bronchial and ear infections and got a clean bill of health, something a mother always likes to hear! I can't believe in a little 6 weeks, he will be 1 year old! Where has the time all gone and I haven't even started his scrapbook yet!

Finally feeling better

AJ is finally on the mend. He is feeling much better and other then teething, he is a happy camper.

We spent the weekend with family. We had Katelyn and Heather's birthday party on Saturday and then on Sunday had the Schmitt clan over to celebrate Andy's birthday and Cindy's safe return from her mission trip in the Philippines. It was a great weekend (and I am really enjoying being home on the weekends!).

Our poor little man!

We found out yesterday that AJ has a nasty cold and an ear infection. After 45 minutes of solid crying and nothing working we headed to the doctors office and that's what our pediatrician found out. So after some ibuprofen and antibiotics he is a happy camper again. But then this morning we had to head back to the doctor. He woke up wheezing and about 10 am he was really having trouble breathing, so I called the nurse and she said to head in right away. He has a bronchial infection and they did a nebulizer treatment and sent us home with one. So every 4 hours we have to use the nebulizer (which he doesn't like). But they said it should clear up within a few days. He is being a trooper though. Despite being sick, he is still in pretty good spirits and still crawling all over the place.

I have added some new pictures to our Yahoo photos. I took some really good ones of his first taste of spaghetti, here's a sample.

Super Bowl Weekend

AJ has got this crawling thing mastered. Now we definitely can not turn our back on him for a second! He moves so quickly, seems like he has been doing it for ages, not just a week! He is also starting to pull himself up on things. He is going to be walking before we know it and then, look out. He is going to be 10 months old on Tuesday and I can't believe it.

We just got home from a Super Bowl party hosted by our friends Perry and Linsey from church. There were two "friends" of AJ's there to play with as well. Carson, who is 15 months and Evangeline, who is 18 months. Carson and AJ have had play dates before and were really excited to see each other. We had a nice time just relaxing, eating good food and hanging out with friends (this was my first official day not working at Marshall Fields)!

It finally happened...

...AJ is crawling! He still hasn't quite mastered it yet, but he is definitely getting around A LOT faster now! I can't take my eyes off of him for a second! It is quite humorous to watch, as he has his own style. One leg up on his knee and the other stretched out behind him pushing off! He is really proud of himself when he does it. Usually sits down to clap at himself! He is also now able to clap, give five and wave bye-bye. It's amazing how fast they pick up things. He is getting too big, his 1st birthday will be here before we know it!

We spent all day yesterday with Grandma Schmitt, as she is heading to the Philippines today on a Mission trip. She will be gone for 3 weeks and AJ says he is going to miss her terribly. We promised Grandpa Schmitt that we would have him over at least once for dinner so he can spend some time with us (and have a home cooked meal)!

Other then that not much else to report!

Some big news!

I have just started a new part time job! I am working at the YMCA in Member Services (which means I check people in, open new memberships, that type of thing). I am in charge of opening up the Y every morning at 4:30 am and then work until 9 am. It's a Monday thru Friday gig, so NO NIGHTS and WEEKENDS! Joe is able to start work a little later to watch AJ until I get home, so I think this is going to be great for us. Joe and I will be able to spend more time together during the week and have every weekend free to spend together as a family! Now if I could just get better about going to bed earlier, 3:30 wouldn't come so early! But I can take a nap during the day when AJ naps, so in the long run it will be good!

We have finally gotten AJ to drink formula from a bottle-we have been struggling with milk issues for a while (I won't give you any details), but he is now drinking formula and seems to really like it! I think it just took him being really hungry in the morning and no mom here to feed him(since I am at work so early). That's a big load off of my mind, at least now I know for sure he is getting everything he needs. Other then that, not much else is new with him. He's still SO close to crawling (but we have been saying that for weeks)! He will do it when he is ready, but he definitely knows how to get where he wants. He scoots and rolls and it's really fun to watch. He is such a joy and we love every minute with him!

Pictures are up at last

Well, I finally got all our pictures posted for December and a few of January. We also got his 9 month pictures back, so I will be sending those out to everyone soon.

We had a few developments this week, no crawling yet though! AJ is now able to shake his head no. He doesn't understand what it means, but if you say no, he shakes his head. He can also give 5, but is still not very consistent and he waved bye-bye (only once) as well. He is making some great progress!

He has started eating a lot more solids as well. Turkey dogs, noodles and peas are his favorite, but he likes bread, mandarin oranges, Cheerios, cottage cheese and yogurt too. He is a great eater and not too picky at all (so far)! He is growing so fast, I can hardly keep up. Where does the time go!

The last few days...

We celebrated Joe's 31st birthday this weekend. Went out to Dulono's Pizza with some friends and family and listened to a bluegrass band (of course this was Joe's choice) and ate some great pizza. Then Sunday we had the whole Schmitt clan over. AJ had so much fun playing with his cousin Benjamin as did every one else. It was a nice relaxing day at home with family! There is nothing better.

On Monday we had AJ's 9 month check up. Dr. Lenny (that's his pediatrician) said AJ looks great! He weighed in at 19lbs 1 3/4oz, which is in the 25th% for his age and was 28 1/2 inches long which is in the 50-75th% for his age. He gained 2 1/2lbs and grew 2 1/4 inches since his 6 month check up. Even though his percentages are not very high, the doctor said he is growing well and seems to be developing right on track! He is just a little peanut I guess.

He is getting so close to crawling! We thought he had it the other night, but just doesn't seem to want to. Oh well, I guess that's good for us, once he starts he will be into everything. Otherwise not much else is new. He loves eating and playing and is getting close to saying dada (we think).

I have a bunch of pictures to download to our picture site, but we unfortunately traded camera's with Mike and Jessica (our camera's are very similar), so I will not be able to download any until we get it back. I will update again when we get them downloaded.

We will give this a try

Hello all! Since it is very time consuming to update our webpage, I thought we would try this to see if it is a little easier (I stole the idea from my sister-in-law). I will update this at least once a week, so make sure and save the link so you can check back often (as I won't be emailing every time I update).

We had a wonderful 2005 and hope that 2006 is just as much fun! Alexander is growing by leaps and bounds and we have his 9 month check-up on Monday. I can't believe how time flies! We all had a great Christmas and AJ was spoiled by everyone. He is so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins!