Almost July?!

A couple years ago I bought Eric these headphones, so he could watch TV in bed at night while I was sleeping. This week Evan found them on Eric's side of the bed and thought it was pretty cool that when the TV was turned on he could hear Handy Manny and they still worked when he walked to the bathroom to show Daddy:-) Then he decided to sit in Daddy's massage chair! His little legs don't quite reach the massagers.
Last Saturday we went down to Waterville, MN for a family picnic at my Mom's Cousin Drew's. He has some neat old cars, and Eric got a picture of Evan and my Mom with this cool car.

Before we know it he'll be old enough to drive this car!

Evan has fun raising a branch above his head!

My brother Greg

Cousins picnic group photo(minus marty who took the photo)

Evan looking out the doggie door!

The boys passed out on the ride home!

Happy Father's Day!

Saturday night Bob and Gay came and stayed with the boys so we could go out on the boat by ourselves. We headed to Maynard's for lunch and then out to the island. We had the top down and actually had to put on sunscreen. We slept in until 9:00! Sunday we had our parents over for a BBQ!

Not a care in the world! So comfortable with Daddy!

Hands Down Dad You Are The Best! Love Alex

Summer has arrived!

Last Thursday we took the day off and went up north. My Cousin Dave and his wife Danielle and their daughter Adrienne were in town from Florida. We got all the kids together for the famous picture on the couch! My Mom got matching shirts for all the kids, so they look so cute! Next time Alex will probably be sitting up a little better on his own instead of leaning on Evan. Left to right Ada, Adrienne, Olen, Evan and Alex. Try to say them all fast and you'll realize they all start with vowels and it becomes easy to say the wrong name!

We got tired of trying to blow bubbles in those little sticks and got Evan a bubble machine. For 12.99 at Toys R Us I definitely recommend it. The machine really puts out some serious bubbles and is great entertainment. Here I think Evan is trying to use the bubble machine as a car wash!

How do I get more bubbles to come out? He ends up tipping the thing over and spills bubbles all over the table. They make the bubbles smell like fruit, so I notice Evan's breath smells like the bubble solution from putting his fingers in his mouth! mmmummm

We bought this baby gate back in 2005 when we moved into the house so Fraiser and Eddie wouldn't escape on the deck. It has become brittle from being outside all winter and Evan started breaking pieces out of the gate. He would break off a piece and bring it to me and say "oh no"! I think this gate will no longer keep Eddie on the deck:-) Thanks Evan!


Alex is getting to be such a big boy. He is holding up his head really well and growing like a weed!

Eric even brought the bubble machine in the bathroom and Evan got a bubble shower! I think it was a bit too much ...even for him!

Bath Time...Clean Baby!

Nice Hair! Thanks Daddy! Someday I'll want to wear my hear like this and you won't let me:-)

Sleepy Boy....goodnight sweetheart!

Evan's latest fascination

Evan is fascinated with dogs. He calls them "puppa's". Watch how excited Evan gets watching this commercial for Cottonelle bath tissue.

Our Baby Alex

When Alex was 3 days old he was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. After arriving home from the hospital we took him to visit our pediatrician. She detected a significant heart murmur. She brought in another pediatrician to confirm what she was hearing. They got us an appointment at Children's Heart Clinic in Minneapolis that afternoon. Alex had an echocardiogram which is like an ultrasound of the heart. The tech was performing the ultrasound and the cardiologist Dr Wright came in and for about 25 mintues they were taking images of all angles of his heart. Alex has had 3 appointments with the cardiologist and his case is not very severe, but it will require him to have heart surgery to repair the defect at about 6 months of age. His oxygen levels have always been good, so there is not a need to do the surgery sooner. They want him to be about 17 lbs when he has the surgery. We anticipate the surgery will occur sometime after Labor Day.

Frequently asked questions

How long will Alex be in the hospital?

The Doctor said he will be in the hospital about a week with 2-3 weeks of aftercare at home before he can return to day care.

Will Alex have exercise limitations?
The Doctor said he might have some minor exercise restrictions. However, he expects that he should be able to live a full, nearly normal life. Alex will need to see a cardiologist for yearly check-ups. Olympic Snowboarder Shaun White has Tetralogy of Fallot.


What is Tetralogy of Fallot?

Tetralogy of Fallot / TOF is a cardiac anomaly that refers to a combination of four related heart defects that commonly occur together. The four defects include:

1. Pulmonary stenosis (narrowing of the pulmonary valve and outflow tract or area below the valve, that creates an obstruction (blockage) of blood flow from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery
   
2. Ventricular septal defect / VSD (a hole in his heart between the left and right ventricle)
   
3. Overriding aorta (the aortic valve is enlarged and appears to arise from both the left and right ventricles instead of the left ventricle as occurs in normal hearts)
   
4. Right ventricular hypertrophy (thickening of the muscular walls of the right ventricle, which occurs because the right ventricle is pumping at high pressure)

For more information on TOF

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11071

http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/health/heart-encyclopedia/anomalies/tof.htm

June 5th weekend

We didn't make it out on the boat this weekend, because the weather was like April. Hopefully by next weekend the weather will be nice again. Alex is getting to be such a big boy. I swear when I was feeding him tonight he seemed like he gained weight overnight! His 6th month clothes are going to be too short for him pretty soon. I'm wondering at what age he will pass Evan by! I predict he will be taller than Evan.

Friday night was pretty nice and Evan got to play some T-Ball in the backyard!

He went down the slide!

More fun on the Baby Einstein Mat!

Bob and Gay got Evan a picnic table. Last night while grilling Evan sat on it and ate some cheese. He's had a word explosion in the past week and has started saying words we can actually understand. He went to the cereal cupboard and said "syryal". I'm excited for him to say that word, because I can stop guessing what he wants. He does know the sign for "More" and does that frequently when he wants something. When he does the sign he says "Me" instead of "More"! Day care must've taught him this sign. One night he was eating some Strawberries and I was at the kitchen sink and I looked over and he was putting his fingers together and said "Me" and his Strawberries were all gone. I said "Eric he just signed that he wants more". This is "Big" when you are used to him pointing and whining when he wants something.

Alex

Take a look at this picture of my Dad when he was a baby. I think he looks a lot like Alex! Dad doesn't really like this picture, but it is the only picture we have when he is this small. We'll have to keep comparing pictures we have of Dad with Alex as he grows.
Yesterday day care took this picture of Alex and put it on his little clipboard for me. I'm going to print a copy and put it on my monitor at work. I can look at it and know he's happy while I'm working. Carmelita showed me pictures of him in the buggy today. He went on his first buggy ride and enjoyed a short adventure outside the building with his new friends!