US Pro Cycling Challenge

While Hayley and Michael were going back to school, the rest of the family decided to see our favorite professional cyclists and announcers from around the world who came to meet me.  Mom and dad said they were here for a big bike race but I think that was just coincidence. I mean, look how happy Bob Roll is just because he got to hold me...

Here he is talking to the 2011 Tour de France winner, Cadel Evans, and he doesn't look near as happy. I will let you form your own opinion.

Here are a few more pictures from our week.

This was the finish line of stage 1 in Telluride. I wore my jersey in case any of the teams needed a last minute sub

Here are Drew and Brandon enjoying their day off school

Andy Scheck couldn't make it but he sent a 30 foot picture of himself to Boulder. That is me covering up his shin.

In other news, I am now sitting up on my own!

I am playing with a duck AND a cow

And I love, love, love my bath. I can get water to about 3/4 of the kitchen floor if I splash hard enough with my hands and feet

So that about sums up my week. I am in Indianapolis right now to see the metabolic doctor in the morning and get more information on the carnitine deficiency I was born with. Since I am doing new things on a weekly basis, I am going to try to update the blog every Sunday...unless I am in an airplane using slow wifi like last night. 

Cheers!

alexa

Saying goodbye to month 4

My bathtub in the RV. Look at the rolls on my arms

That's right, another month is in the record books. I am getting big at 13 pounds and 23.5 inches. As of now, I do not look destined to be an NCAA basketball star but that could change. Here is a look at my accomplishments as a 4 month old.

We tried changing my diet a bit this month...FAIL! I do not tolerate much more than my current special formula. My cousin Pier was nice enough to share some of her formula with me when mom left mine behind and I promptly gave it back in more ways than one. Thankfully Kristi Lee was with us in the Nordstrom bathroom to help mom get my clothes into the trash. They could not be saved. Together they have 8 kids and both claim they have never seen anything like it. A few days later mom was thought it would be a good idea to try some rice cereal in my bottle. She obviously is not a fast learner...So we will wait a little while to try anything new. I suggested steak but dad caught me. I didn't think anyone would notice me at the table.

I have started to take an interest in my toys and my feet. They are both equally entertaining. 

I tried to shake my giraffe's head off but its on there pretty good

Here we are watching food network while mom showered

This month I started moving around a bit. I am not fast but I get there eventually. It took me so long that mom had to break it up into 2 movies. Wait until next month, I will be faster. 

I am sleeping much better at night. My big growth spurt was because mom thought I was waking up every 2 hours to eat. The truth was that my stomach hurt from the last feeding. So when she stopped feeding me so often, I was able to sleep for 4-6 hours at a time again. Told you...slow learner.  However, that means my food intake has gone from 40-50 ounces a day to a normal baby amount of 25-30 oz. Hopefully my weight won't be affected too much. I have Dr. appointments in 2 weeks to learn more about my carnitine deficiency and my vomiting problem. That means I get to travel to Indianpolis and see my friends there again.

Sunday we are camping for a couple days to watch Andy Schleck and his pro cycling friends as they ride through Colorado. We will also watch the final stage in Denver before dad takes us to the airport.

Cheers!

Alexa

The California RV trip

Whew, what a trip. It was a lot of driving but couldn't have gone smoother and it was great to get to meet my cousins for the first time. Day 1 was the longest drive of the trip. We drove 14 hours from Grand Junction to Boca Resevoir in the Lake Tahoe forest. I did great sitting in my carseat for 13 hours and then I was DONE. The last 45 minutes was because we missed the turn for the campground and had to drive an extra 15 miles to find a place to turn the beast around. Mom was not a fan of the iPhone navigation before and had she been able to figure out a way to get the RV windows open, the phone would be at the bottom of the Boca Resevoir right now. Needless to say she will not forget the android charger again. 

Here we are pulling away from the house

Its a good idea to keep one hand on the call button at all times

The messy RV from trying to stay entertained all day

The view from our camp spot at the resevoir

 helping Brandon in the Phase 10 game

Our original plan for day 2 was to see the giant redwoods in Northern Ca.  But after so much driving already, we decided the extra 6 hour detour to San Francisco was not a good idea and we would all just pretend we could drive through the redwood tree in Grandma's backyard. So we stayed in Sonoma instead. The Hendersons met us there and stayed with us all week as we inched our way down the California coast. 

The pond at Cline Winery

Meeting Uncle Loyd and Pier for the first time. She was born 2 wks after me

Tai, Sydney, little D, and Brandon

Day 3-5 were our San Francisco and Santa Cruz beach days. Mom was right, there is just nothing like the ocean. Our RV spot was facing the Pacific Ocean.

Yes, that's me in the drivers seat

No doubt I will make a good wingman for dad

my version of playing in the cold water

Hayley is going to teach me how to do this on the next trip

Our first family beach photo

The Santa Cruz boardwalk

Roller coasters and a beach= kid heaven

Hanging with Aunt Angie

The rest of the trip was spent in Southern California where I met the Klines, Lees and Goldstines. I also visited mom's favorite beach, Zuma. I slept in my blue wrap the whole time but rumor has it the waves were huge that day. I will add body surfing to my bucket list for next trip.

At Grandma and Grandpa's house

And finally the 13 hour drive home

Stay tuned for the next post where you can see how much I grew during our trip (think adults on a 2 week cruise).