Holidays!

Alex celebrated part of Christmas today before he started traveling. He is going to Minnesota and then to California to visit both sets of his grandparents. He opened his presents in Seattle.

First, a wooden train set from Santa:


Second, a band in a box from Santa:


Finally, some magnetic farm animals from his friends Ava and Harry in Michigan:


Thank you for the presents!

We also had another snow day today so we had more time to make home movies. Here are videos of Alex the proud stairclimber and Alex the airplane.

Proud Stairclimber:


Airplane:

Snow Day!

Alex seems to be completely recovered from RSV part II except for a minor cough. He got to skip school today (Thursday) because of snow in Seattle. He was really eager to go out and explore the snow. He brought Mommy his winter coat. After his coat was on he walked to the door and pounded.

Then, he got outside and found the snow very pretty but cold and hard to walk around in.

RSV Again

Alex was sent home from school on Friday with a fever. Joanna noticed a sign at school that said that one of the kids in Alex's class had been sent home with RSV. RSV is the virus Alex caught last year that hospitalized him for 4 days. His symptoms are nearly identical this year. There are many strains of RSV so kids can catch it many times, sometimes even in the same year.


http://babyalex07.blogspot.com/2008/01/back-home.html


Since Friday (it is now Sunday night), Alex has been fighting fever, tiredness, and vomiting. The difficulty breathing is the worst part. RSV causes bronchiolitis. But, Alex has not had to go to the hospital to fight RSV this time. He has been drinking fluids (he needed an IV last year) and eating mandarin oranges. Because he is sick, he has watched about 5 hours of Sesame Street even though he does not usually watch television.

He seems to be getting better. Tonight he was smiling and making his usual jokes about his belly-button and the 5 monkeys that fall off the bed.

Holidays are Coming!

Alex saw a doctor for his 18-month checkup on Friday. He is in great health and is now in the 50th percentile in height and weight for actual age.


So far, he likes the lights and music of the holiday season. He especially likes singing songs and dancing. But, he does not like the giant snowmen and reindeer walking around the mall. They are very frightening up close.

First Sentence

Alex said his first sentence sometime in the last two weeks. Many times now he has correctly used the sentence "What's that?". His teachers at school deserve credit for being the first to notice that he was saying this regularly and correctly. Usually he will be pointing at whatever he is asking about.


Alex is also now just past 18 months. The last few days he has been really happy at school and one of the little girls (also an 18 month old) runs up and gives him a kiss every morning when he gets there. But, he is also starting to get frustrated when he is not understood by adults. He wants to say a lot more than he can right now.