Monkeys!

Tonight was a good night - when I picked Alexander up from childcare, he was WIRED!! He was running laps, being EXTRA-goofy, and full of smiles. I worried about him the better part of today, and seeing him so happy made me feel much better.

Tonight we wanted to share one of Alex's favorite books with you - the 5 Little Monkeys story. Alex has learned some of the actions to the book, and "hammed" it up for the camera.

Enjoy!! :)

Thanks to all of you who have called or e-mailed about Alex - we certainly appreciate your thoughts and prayers. We'll see what happens when he goes back next Wednesday. Until then.....we play! :)

Whew!

Let's see - the past few days - - where to begin??

Well, Friday after work we headed to Lincoln. We met up with my parents and grandparents, and stayed up WAY past bedtime (it was okay, because Alex slept in the car on the way there).

Saturday we went to my cousin Elijah's 7th Birthday party. Alex seemed mesmerized by watching his relatives run back and forth. He tried to keep up, but his little legs just couldn't keep up! He had PLENTY of other attention, though! After the party we all went out to supper, and everyone was amazed at how much Alex ate! (For a little man, he sure can eat a LOT of food! He's a growing boy!) Then we had to say goodbye to my parents - Dad had to be at church Sunday morning. It was good to see them for a little while. :)

Sunday morning was church - and we went to Grandma and Grandpa's church. It was pretty crowded, and Alex had to sit on a lap, so he didn't last too long. So Alex and I spent most of the service pacing the halls and flirting (he flirted, not me) with passersby. After church we went out for brunch, and Alex ate even more - pancakes this time - his FAVORITE!!! :) We went back to Grandpa and Grandma's house - where this happened:



Grandpa was showing Alex the space heater (don't worry - it wasn't hot), and Alex and Grandpa were "beeping" each other's noses. Pretty cute!

That afternoon, I had a baby shower to attend for Amy Royuk, a college friend - while the boys had a "Guys Baby Shower" back at their house (Kyle was Andy's roommate for a couple of years). When Alex arrived, he was the "party pooper" - literally!!



Here's a picture of the "Guys Shower" - Tim is on the left, Andy and Alex in the middle, and Kyle on the right.

We didn't leave Lincoln until late in the afternoon - but it was so nice to sit and visit and catch up. Because we live so far away, we don't get to see them much....it was good to talk for a while - but the time flew by WAY too quickly - as usual!

On to Monday - volleyball day! We had a game last night, and WON! Our record now is 2-2. We were to play another team, but they couldn't make it. So we might be 3-2, I don't know.... Anyway, here's a shot of the little man on the way to the game....

Mmmmmm, zipper!

And then, not more than two minutes later, OUT!

And then today.....

We were to have Alex's 15-month checkup and shots....BUT (here's the STINKY part!!!) We got all checked in, took height (31 1/2 inches), weight (24 pounds), temp (normal), pulse (we were screaming - so they couldn't do this), and head measurement (I don't remember this one - sorry!). Then Dr. Julie came in, checked in his ears........and problems.....

Alex's ear infection looked WORSE than two weeks ago when we were in there!!! He finished all of his antibiotic on Saturday, and seemed to be doing fine - no temp, not pulling at his ears, eating and sleeping well. I guess he covers well, because Dr. Julie said that BOTH ear canals were BRIGHT red and looked like there was puss in both. She also said that there was "no light" (I don't know what that means - no reflection??) but I am guessing that it was a bad thing. She decided to give him a shot, since he had already been through one round of pretty strong antibiotics, and wants us to come back in one week. In the meantime, she suggested we keep our humidifier going to encourage drainage for his sinuses, vacuum frequently to collect the cat hair (in case that's aggravating it), not to wear any perfume or scented lotions, not to burn any scented candles, and to avoid second-hand smoke (which happens already - I can't think of anyone that Alex comes into contact with that smokes). SO.....please pray that the little man's ears heal - I feel so bad that he's in pain and doesn't show it at all! I guess it's good that he has a high pain tolerance, but I also wonder if his hearing is becoming affected by all of this. I don't think that he's delayed speech-wise, but I know that this is a definite possibility. So prayers, please.

Now you're all caught up - whew! That took a while. I'll try to stay on top of it, so that the posts are much smaller next time! :)

Busy Boy!

Wow - what a busy night! We had quite a few things to get done - and Alex helped us with ALL of them - and then even managed to keep us entertained in the process! Here's what we did tonight:

Alex read some of his books (in the middle of the dining room floor):

Alex found the grocery ads - he proceeded to try to housetrain himself by shredding the paper and putting it all over the kitchen floor. Luckily, he still had his diaper on, and apparently didn't want any of the sale items this week......

Andy was sorting out some of our tax stuff on the living room floor. Alex decided that he was going to "help"......

Here's a funny shot of Alex with his lawnmower. Although, there is a new use for the mower - notice the sippy cup conveniently located between the handlebars....in case you get thirsty while you're mowing on those hot summer days!

Alex also seemed to find my purse. I had to purposely buy a purse that had a zipper, otherwise he would empty the contents and I wouldn't be able to find anything! Here he is pulling my phone out of the front pocket.

And the smart little guy - knows how to call China! (Wait until Andy gets THAT phone bill!!!) :) Lucky for us, he hasn't figured out how to unlock the phones yet....

Here's a video of the Blind Man Walking - he must be able to see something - or else have a GREAT memory because he walked from the living room into the kitchen without hitting (or bumping into) anything!! He even passed the three barstools that always give him grief! :)

We're off to Lincoln tomorrow for the weekend. We have a birthday party as well as a baby shower to attend - plus seeing family is always on the agenda! :) Have a GREAT weekend!

$1250 and CPR

Okay, let's put on our Jeopardy thinking caps.....the "answer" is $1250 - let's see if you can guess the correct "question" - -

A. What is the amount that the average Nebraska teacher earns in one month?

B. What is two months of mortgage payments for a home in central Nebraska?

C. What is the total cost of fueling up a Chevy Trailblazer in January?

D. What is the amount it will cost you to fix a car THAT YOU HIT WITH A DEER??????

If you guessed "D", you are, unfortunately right. (Although B has some merit to it as well, D is the answer I was looking for - and since I am the Judge in this round, I say D.) Yeah - the only way that this could have cost more is if the thing actually took out the headlight.......ugh.....

Now to the highlight of my evening - Alexander. Andy was laying on the floor and had been reading some books to Alex. Andy laid on his back for a minute, and smacked his stomach. Alex thought that this was pretty funny, so he tried it too. HUGE GIGGLE!!! He then proceeded to continue smacking Andy's belly -- enjoy!

I especially LOVE the part where Alex "almost" hits a sensitive spot - Andy's bracing for that day! Also, it looks like Alex is practicing for CPR - only a bit too much on the stomach, and not enough over the heart - but FUNNY nonetheless!! :)

Blind Man Walking....

Once again, volleyball last night - and as we drove home at 9:45, guess what "wonderful" creatures we encountered - - Yep, DEER! And yes, I was driving.......thankfully, Alex was asleep and didn't wake up to my gasps and Andy's "DEER!!!!" comments - and we avoided them. The blasted things were crossing the road as we came over the top of a hill - therefore again, my blood pressure rises just thinking of the darned animal.....

Anyways, on to Alex (the reason you are all here anyways....) :)

Lately we've noticed that he likes to put things over his head - which is fine. Object permanance - great! But, what's not so great is that the little man decides to WALK around with this blanket over his head!

He's bumped into, fallen over, tripped onto, ricocheted off of furniture, and stumbled over the blanket so many times I am surprised that he hasn't learned his lesson. Most times it ends in tears - other times a HUGE grin!

Again, experienced parents - is this a stage? Or is this just the beginnings on ornery Alex? (and if it's orneryness, then I am going to blame Andy!!) :)

Happy the-week-is- half-over! I REALLY hope it's warmer where you are than where we are!!!!

Brrrrr!!!!

I don't know what it's like in your area of the world - but IT'S COLD here!! We are watching the Green Bay/New York game, and it's -2 F there, and we aren't too much behind them. Glad we are indoors with heat!!

Now, for the "goings-on" of the weekend - we went to the games in Sargent Friday night, and had a good time watching all of the teams win. Saturday we spent at home, catching up on bills, laundry, and naps! :) Alex was still feeling a bit crummy from his infection, so it was probably best that we stayed in.

Today we finished up on laundry (and naps!), and Alex is feeling MUCH better. He took about a 3 1/2 hour nap this afternoon - it's been a LONG time since he slept that long! It was his only nap for the day, so I guess it's just what his body needed.

Tonight for supper Chef Andy decided to prepare fajitas. We made them pretty mild so Alex could have some too. Recently we've noticed that he doesn't care to eat much meat - chicken, beef, fish, pork - anything! He will eat a hot dog (and we can all debate on the category of hot dogs - whether they are meat or not).....but he will eat anything fruit and veggie! Last night for supper, he ate some cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, applesauce, and mashed potatoes. But no meat. Tonight it was the peppers and onions from the fajitas, some bread, applesauce, and some rice. But from the picture you can see that the meat was left alone.....

Alex also fell off of one of his toys today and got quite the goosegg on his forehead. It's right by the hairline, almost directly between the eyes. Here's the best shot we could get of it.....

Hope everyone has a great week - and for you "experienced" parents out there (or anyone else who wants to comment) - is this "no meat" just another one of those phases? I think that he will be disowned by his father if he doesn't eat at least beef........ :)

Condors.....

Just kidding! :)

No wildlife events today - thankfully. However, we did have "excitement" of a different sort.....

Alex has had a temp the past few days - nothing too high - about 100.5ish, but it was staying down with tylenol. Today he still had a temp, so we called the doctor and they said to stop in to see if something was going on.

Ear infection - BOTH ears!!! I feel so sorry for this poor little boy - this is at least the 5th one he's had in his short 14 1/2 months....but after a dose of numbing drops to each ear and a dose of the antibiotics, he is beginning to be back to "normal" Alex. He's still a little cuddly and sleepy, but he at least wanted to get up and play tonight! Here are a few shots of him:

Top Five

This is like a "Top 10" list, but there are only 5 - because it's been that kind of day, and I'm not too creative tonight.

Top 5 Reasons I HATE DEER:

5. Deer always seem to think that they are the superior animal - they eat whatever they want, go wherever they want, stand wherever they want......

4. When faced with a terrifying situation - THEY JUST STAND THERE!! Hence the phrase "Deer in the headlights look."

3. Other people think that "They're so cute!" I just don't get it. What's cute about a nasty animal with buggy eyes that has these little stick legs? Babies are cute. Shoes are cute. Hairstyles are cute. Stuffed animals are cute. Deer are not.

2. Who would want to sit in a FREEZING tree-blind all day for the chance to take a shot at something that you can buy at the store? Buying a permit, a gun, the camo, setting up the blind, not talking or breathing all day....again, I don't get it. Just hit one with a car.

Wait! That brings me to #1!!

The #1 reason I HATE DEER:

Yep...on the way to work this morning. I was rounding one of the final curves, on a gravel road, about to enter the town of Sargent (where I work), an oncoming pickup (with his BRIGHTS on) had just passed me and I was going about 30 mph - when this DEER ran out from behind where the pickup had been. There was nothing that I could do. He hit the front fender, then spun around and hit the door, and then spun again and hit the back fender where the gas tank is. I stopped and got out to look at the car, but it was 7:20 AM and still very dark outside, so I couldn't see much. I got back in the car and began to drive to school. Luckily, the tires are okay, so I don't have to worry about a flat or turning or anything. And there's no damage to anything under the hood - - and I am fine.

The real kicker, though - - I get to school and tell a couple of people that I had hit a deer that morning, and their FIRST question was, "Was it a buck or a doe? How many points did it have?"

HOW SHOULD I KNOW?? I was worried about keeping my car on the road and not waking up the sleeping babies in Africa from my scream when I hit the blasted thing. Yes, it ran away - - only to taunt me tomorrow as I drive that same stretch. I'm ready to have someone ride with a rifle out of the sunroof. I know it's illegal, but at least I won't hit any more deer. I'll just have to swerve around the dead carcass in the road. But at least it won't be moving - I'll try my NASCAR skills - - (Kidding...)

Maybe God's just telling me not to drive in January.....last January is when I hit my first deer. This is a trend I'd LOVE to break.......

OK - enough about this....Andy's already hollering at me about "changing this nice family Blog into rants about wildlife...." He thinks that tomorrow I'll be commenting on "The Top 5 Reasons the California Condor should just go away..." Probably not - unless one decides to take a nosedive into my windshield...but we'll all pray that doesn't happen.

Pearly Whites!

Wow - it's already Tuesday night and where has the beginning of the week gone?

Sorry there was no post last night - Andy and I are on a Coed volleyball team, and the games have just started up on Monday nights. That means that we aren't getting home until 9:30ish - and there just isn't time to post.

But, Today's Tuesday - and here is your post! :)

Tonight, as we were getting Alex ready for bed, he REFUSED to go into his bedroom for the diaper change and pajamas....instead he kept going into the bathroom. When I finally followed him in there, he was pointing up at the medicine cabinet - where his toothbrush and toothpaste are kept.

He needed to brush his teeth NOW!!!

Yay for hygiene! :)

Here are a couple of shots as he brushed those teeth (all 4 of them).....

Clean Carpets - and Alex

Well, what a day we have had!! I got a carpet shampoo-er for Christmas, and we finally had a free weekend to clean!! We are going only one room at a time, because we are taking furniture out, giving it a real-good clean. Today's mission was the living room - probably the dirtiest of all of the rooms.

We hadn't shampooed since we moved in almost 4 years ago - and since Alex was born, there has been something spit up on almost every square inch of it.......so we NEEDED to have it cleaned. All of the stains came out, and it looks amazing. The house even smells so much "fresher" (is that a word??) It's wonderful. I can't wait to get the rest of the house done, now. Tomorrow we will tackle the kitchen, hallway, bathroom, and Alex's room. There isn't a lot of "big" furniture in those rooms, so moving it around should be easy.

Now to the shots of Alexander - he helped us carry everything back into the living room, and he especially loved the pile of pillows and blankets- -

Squiggles and Playing

We got home late tonight because Andy had an Open House - and Alex and I went to say hello to some of Andy's patients, and to eat some cookies (yum!) Then we went out to supper - Blanquita's - another yum! Cheryl (Andy's aide) and her husband, Chuck, joined us - it was nice to have some conversation with supper - and I think that they really enjoyed Alex's antics at the table (Alex LAUNCHED a corn chip across the table directly into Cheryl's burrito!)

When we got home, Squiggles was extra-social tonight! She normally doesn't appear until bedtime, but she decided to be upstairs....and Alex noticed! Here are some shots of her taunting her as she tries to hide under the chairs.

And a video of him taunting - - she actually hissed (I don't think that you can hear it....)

Yes, he had made a HUGE mess with my lids - and dishrags. Yes, that is also my shoe in the shot....nothing is safe with Alex around...... :)

Then the little man was SO SILLY and was trying to stand on his head. I think that he has seen some of the older kids try it at childcare, so he was showing off his gymnastic side tonight. Don't worry, we aren't going to buy the ballet shoes yet. :)

And a shot of our handsome man - with a silly face~

More Reading...

Tonight's book comes to you from "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" - - as read by Alexander.

We especially love the exaggerated grunting in the book.....

Enjoy!

Speechless....

Hello faithful Blog readers out there - I need your help with words for tonight's post. Andy and I only laugh, so your help is needed.

Let me set it up for you: Alex finished eating his supper, and was very MESSY once he finished. We decided to strip him, because we were only about an hour away from bedtime, etc. He grabbed his jacket and brought it to me to put on, so I put his jacket on. Then this happened.....

So, please, we'd love your words for this "experience" - - because we are STILL laughing!!!!

Reading Videos

There have been SEVERAL requests for an "updated" video of Alexander reading.....

Well, wait NO MORE! The little man was reading his "Belly Button Book" by Sandra Boynton (GREAT author, if you haven't heard of her - the rhythm in her books is outstanding - they're just awesome!)

There are two videos - enjoy!!

Pancakes and Snuggling!

Sorry it's been a while since we've posted - the first week of the new year was BUSY!!

We did snap a few cute shots of Alex the past couple of days.....

We have a new "corner" in our living room, where we have some blankets and such - and Alex noticed that Squiggles was snuggled up in that corner a few times, so I guess he wanted to see how comfy that corner actually is.....(he even has the baby monitor with him - don't know what he was listening for....)

We had chocolate chip pancakes this morning for breakfast (yum, yum!), along with some pears. In Alex's never-ending quest to remain the messiest baby during feeding times, here's a shot of the chocolate-chip pear man. :)

Read, Please

It's pretty cool when your kid has a room full of toys - Alexander certainly is blessed, and never without anything to do.

What's even cooler is that he chooses to read amidst all of these toys.....

His routine is that he grabs the book that he wants - and he doesn't want me to read it to him while he stands or sits nearby - he HAS to sit on a lap while being read to.

I think that it's pretty cool - and thought that all of you out there might think that it's as cool as I do. :)

Happy New Year!

We wish all of you a happy new year - with many blessings and happy times.....

It was an eventful day at the Bowin household - we got a LOT of running done yesterday so that we could spend all day at home today....Andy had a few games he wanted to be sure to catch. So we finished up Christmas shopping, returning, exchanging, and gift-card spending yesterday, and then the unpacking, putting together, washing, putting away, cleaning, and using began today. It's now 5:30 - and we are DONE!! :) A pizza is on it's way to celebrate a hard day of work.

Here are a few shots from today (and one from yesterday) - -

Alex barracading himself in the kitchen by using his high chair, and then playing with all of my Corningware lids.....

We also gave Alex ANOTHER haircut today - I don't know if this is five or six - I've lost track. But it needed to be done again, especially around the ears and neck. Here's the PRE-shot:

And the POST-shot:

It was a great day and we did get a LOT done! Now it's back to "normal" schedules tomorrow - yeah!! (sarcasm) It's okay though, only 3 days until the weekend! :)

Here's a video of Alex's snack this afternoon - he was done eating, so Andy was going to eat the rest, and tried a little role-reversal. Alex played right into it! Too funny! :)