First Happy Meal

In March, right after Alex's ear tube surgery, we decided it was time to take him to the mall for his first Happy Meal and to play on the rides.  So, we took a trip up to West Dundee to Spring Hill Mall.  We had a great time!  Here are some pics of Alex eating his Happy Meal (chicken nuggets and fries) and riding the rides throughout the mall.

Ear Surgery!!

In March, Alex had ear surgery.  Throughout January and February, he had about 5-6 ear infections, which was basically one every week.  It was truly awful to see our little guy so sick for so long.  So, when the ENT said he could put tubes in his ears, it was like I could hear the angels singing from the heavens!  It was wonderful news!  So, on March 18th, at around 7am, little Alex had tubes put in his ears.  The entire surgery took about 10 minutes and he was probably under anesthesia for about 7 minutes.  When they brought him out from surgery, they warned us that he may be screaming and kicking and flailing around.  He acted exactly that way.  He was very combative - kicking, screaming crying, and lurching his body around.  For a while, he still had his eyes shut and the nurse assured us he was acting very normal for coming out of anesthesia.  After about 40 minutes, he started acting more normal and was drinking water.  About 1 hour after surgery (about 8:15am), they released us and we went home.  Little Alex fell fast asleep on the way home and slept until noon.  When he got up, he was a happy little guy and was acting completely normal.  He ate a good lunch and then took a long afternoon nap as well.  All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better surgery day!  Here are some pictures I took of him after he ate his lunch - about 4 hours after surgery.

Priceless!

This morning, I came down into the family room and saw the cutest thing ever - Alex and Bubba sleeping together on the couch!  I couldn't pass up a photo opportunity!

I also attached some photos from the last month of Little Alex being silly (which happens often).

Saying goodbye to a wonderful friend

As most (or all) of you know, this past Tuesday was a very difficult day for us.  Our beloved pug, Wally, passed away at age 11.  He had been very sick fighting a massive inner ear infection and because of other health problems, his body just wasn't able to fight the infection and it ended up spreading throughout his body.  So, Alex and I made the decision along with the vet to put him down on Tuesday.  It was so hard to make that decision, but I know it was the right one.  Wally is no longer in pain and isn't suffering anymore.  The rest of this week has been a bit strange.  It feels like someone is missing.  I find myself walking around the house and looking in places that Wally would normally be and when I look and he's not there, it makes me sad.  Alex has had a harder time with it than I have.  Wally was "his" dog and he misses him so much!  He feels guilty because he had school on Tuesday in Milwaukee and wasn't able to be there for Wally's final hours/minutes.  I told him not to feel guilty and I know that Wally understands and still loves him so much!  I know the with time, everything will get easier and better.  Even though we had Wally for 9 short months, he was a wonderful pug!  He really made a great impression on everyone he met.  I actually think that most of our friends and family preferred Wally to our other dogs.  He was sweet and kind and very affectionate.  He was always sitting there waiting for you.  We'll miss you Walter!  You were a wonderful friend and companion and we'll never forget you!  I know we'll see you again some day!

Not a Baby Anymore!

Here's a video I found that Alex took of little Alex while he was just sitting watching TV.  I'm amazed how he just sat there and watched his show - so cute!  ENJOY!

Alex and His Dancing Moves!

So, now that little Alex knows how to walk, he has really shown us how much he LOVES to dance!  It's so cute and I just love how much he loves music!  Hopefully, he'll stay dancing into his teen years!  Here's 2 videos of Bubba and his dancing moves!

Snowmaggedon 2011

As all of you know, in early February 2011, Chicago got hit with a CRAZY BLIZZARD!  In Geneva, we ended up with around 2 feet of snow.  Here are some pictures from around our house and our street.

Alex Finally Walks!!

Last week, Alex FINALLY took his first steps unassisted!  I'm so happy since he's been walking while holding on since about 8 months.  YAY for Alex!  Here's little video we took of him once he got the hang of it!

Playing in the Water!

Alex and I had been at friend's house where they had 3 cats and this really cool water feature for them to drink out of.  We thought it would be a great thing for us to for the boys since we're constantly filling the water dishes in the kitchen.  So, we bought the same thing our friends had and as it turns out, only Gizmo liked it.  Sully and Wally were confused by it and Brodie just didn't understand it.  However, one person in our family LOVED to play in it - Little Alex!  We decided to remove it from the kitchen and give the boys their water dishes back, but Little Alex will be playing with it a lot this summer outside.  Here's a video of him playing with the water feature!

Chicken Pox!

In early January, we noticed Alex wasn't feeling too well and took him to the doctor.  As the doctor was examining him, he noticed he had just started getting these pink spots on his leg.  Confused, he asked us if we knew anything about these.  All of a sudden, it clicked.  There had been a little girl in Alex's class at daycare who had gotten the chicken pox vaccine (during her 15 month visit) and apparently her body rejected it and she ended up with chicken pox.  Because Alex isn't 15 months yet and hadn't had the vaccine, he was at great risk for it.  I had completely forgotten since he had been fine over the past week or so since it happened.  When I told the doctor this, he asked when Alex was exposed and I said, "2 weeks ago."  That is the exact exposure timeframe for it.  So, all in all, Little Alex got chicken pox.  I know it's a little weird, but since it's rare these days that kids get chicken pox, I decided to take some pictures of what he looked like during that time.  Fortunately, he had it in specific parts of his body and was so young that he really didn't itch much.  Good news is that the doctor said we can now forget about giving him the vaccine at his 15 month check up since he already has gotten chicken pox!