That Tiny Little Thing....

Yep, that's it (where the arrow is pointing)....the tiny little thing that necessitated an all day visit to Children's Hospital for an MRI. It is called a Nasal Dermoid and is a rare little thing that can happen when a child is developing in the womb. It will need to be surgically removed and the MRI was ordered to let the doctor determine how complex the surgery would be...luckily Alex's case appears to be on the very simple end.

The MRI was quite an adventure. He had to be sedated under general anesthesia, so that meant no food after 5am for a 2pm scan. So, I woke up at 4:15am and gave Alex breakfast in bed. He was a little annoyed that I woke him up, but soon was awake and ready to play. We played and watched movies all morning until we left at 11am. After a quick nap in the car, we arrived at Arkansas Children's Hospital.

Alex played for a little while outside in the play yard:

Tired and hungry, Alex was not really interested in getting prepped for the MRI and on top of the that he was a little nervous.

But, the doctor came in and gave him some "happy juice" to calm his nerves and that did the trick. He has laughing and being silly in no time.

He even was asking for more:

He had a hard time waking up from anesthesia, so the nurses had to try a few tricks to force him to wake up, but by the time we got home he was ready to play and didn't want to go to bed. Things went well and Alex was quite the trooper. We hope to have the surgery done before the end of the year and hope Alex cooperates as well with that as he has with the MRI.

Haircut Bribery

Alex still has somewhat of a fear of loud noises, so a haircut that involves the use of clippers does not go over well with him. However, this past Saturday, we had to give him a haircut. He was getting a serious mullet and that's just not good in Arknasas.

So, we set out to find something to bribe him with. He loves mustaches, so I offered to draw a mustache on him before his haircut...which made him happy. To seal the deal, we mentioned that the next day was Sunday and he would be going to nursery. We suggested that his favorite little girlfriend in nursery would probably like to see his new haircut. He was in!

So, as he looked in the mirror and admired his mustache, Chad gave him a quick haircut.

No more mullets here!

My Little Photographer

A few days ago, Chad taught Alex how to take pictures with our digital camera. This sounds like a harmless thing, right? I thought so too, until he realized I was making a trip into the bathroom and he promptly came running in with the camera in hand and said "Mom, say cheese". Luckily, his pointing skills aren't that refined and he got more of a bathroom floor shot. He has mastered how to push the button to take the picture, but is lacking a bit in the pointing at a subject and waiting until the picture takes.

Just for fun and laughs, I'm posting a few of his best shots.

He caught the dog doing what she does...that is sleep!

Pacifiers...his favorite addiction.

A self portrait...now that takes talent.

Big Boy Bed, Uncle Sam and Other Random Alex Antics

About a month or so ago, we finally decided that it was time to move Alex from his crib to a big boy bed. I did so reluctanly (I knew it needed to be done before baby #2 comes, but I didn't want to deal with sleep issues)....I had visions of him running out of his room every few minutes and giving us a hard time about falling asleep. Well, the first night started out a little rough because he was so excited, but Chad just layed down on his floor next to the bed and in 5 minutes Alex was out. He's done great ever since and he even waits in bed until I come in to get him in the morning. I'm so proud of my BIG boy (he corrects me if I call him my baby).

Next, we're going to tackle the pacifier addiction!

One of our favorite local pizza places is called US Pizza Company. The pizza box has a picture of Uncle Sam on the top of it. The first time Alex noticed it, he asked who that was on the pizza box, so we told him. I've already established Alex has an affinity for facial hair, so of course, he loves that Uncle Sam has a beard. So, everytime he is in the bath tub he puts a handful of bubbles on his chin (and on mine) and says "Uncle Sam".

Alex spends lots of time, almost everyday arranging his matchbox cars. He loves to line them up precisely. Sometimes he groups them according to certain traits like type of car or color. Today, he had his cars from the movie Cars out and wanted to get all the cars with mustaches together, so we found all the little cars that appeared to have mustaches and put them in a row.


Alex has become quite the little question box. He constantly (and I mean constantly) says things like:

• Momma, what is that?
• Momma, who is that? (when I'm talking on the phone)
• Momma, what you cooking?
• Momma, what that sound is?
• Momma, what is daddy doing?
• and on and on....

He has also started imaginative play. It is so cute to watch him pretend....he has so much fun. A couple nights ago at dinner he got really into telling me a story about a pretend little boy who wrestles with his daddy and got in trouble because he was swinging from the lights. Then Sulley from Monster's Inc came in and broke his bed. I asked lots of questions and got some really funny answers.

We've found a way to make grocery shopping a lot more entertaining. Now that Alex has mastered the basic use of my iPhone, I sit him in the cart and hand him the phone. He turns it on and finds his favorite app and plays the entire time. He actually has learned a lot of his shapes that way.

Now for the last random thing...a sweet conversation at bedtime that melted my heart. I feel like I've been blessed with the best boy in the world:

Alex: Momma no shut my door tonight

Me: I'll leave it open a crack

Alex: Okay and Momma come check on me

Me: Of course, I'll check on you in a little bit

Alex: Me like my Momma! (in a voice that sounded like he really meant it)

Sorry for the really random and disjointed post...just a lot of random things that I wanted to include.