Halloween 2012

My first halloween was a success. The weather was perfect and mom and dad were both so excited to take me trick or treating that they hired my 15 year old neighbor to hand out candy (because who wants to live in the lame house with the lights off). I learned a few of our family traditions too. I guess for the first halloween, you only get to choose your own costume if you can talk. And while I am a pretty good writer, my spoken vocabulary to this point consists of "eeeeee" and  "ah-boo". What that means is that like my 3 brothers, I was wearing the Smith/Schulte/Keller costume that made its debut 31 years ago. Apparently Hayley chose to be a bunny instead. And if you know Hayley you will not be surprised that 1) she was talking by her first birthday and 2) she refused to wear the leopard costume. The second tradition is that after we choose a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, we get to tell dad how to carve it. I figured if I was dressing up as a big cat, my pumpkin should be a big cat too. So here we are

Mom knew I would want to be in the carrier while we walked around the neighborhood so she decided to put the carrier in costume too. And just like the pumpkin carving, she comes up with the idea and dad figures out the best way to make it happen. 

Not sure what the point of trick or treating is because from what I can tell, I go to the door and do all the work and they eat all the candy. Just wait till next year when I have teeth and eat the Reece's and leave them with Dots. After getting the candy, the kids all trade. Our house had the big kid trade and the Haftels had the little kid trade. This picture is like "where's waldo" because my costume matches the rug from a distance

So all in all, it was a great night. The costume officially made it through all willing Kellers. Next year the sky's the limit.

I am crawling/scooting/rolling a little faster now. Mom tried to video the action but once again my inches per minute pace which is currently about 2 inches in 1.5 minutes does not make the cut for allowable video footage. Mom and dad made this necessary rule because they claim to have approximately 25 minutes of video taken before Michael actually crawled to the binky 3 inches away. Maybe next week it will make the blog.

Food wise things are going better. We met with my local doctor and decided that since my weight is okay, nutrition is probably not the cause of my height woes and we can press on despite the reflux. At 24.7" I continue to be under the first percentile on the World Health chart and the bigger shock is that I am 2 inches shorter than tiny Brandon was at the same age. The good news is that I am getting the most out of the 0-3 month clothes that still fit. Since genetics doesn't play into height for a few more years we will blame the carnitine deficiency for a little while longer. The vomiting did improve when we cut down on the cereal. I do much better with smashed up pears and avocado. I will eat just about anything you can put on a spoon. 

My biggest weakness to date is my ability to sleep at night. Mom says I am still on a newborn sleep schedule and its causing her to double up on the anti aging creams. When we first learned of my fatty acid disorder mom was dreading the thought of having to set an alarm to feed me every 4 hours. Well she should be thanking me because I wake up to have her check her watch every 1-2 hours so no alarm is necessary!

And that about sums up the week and my current development. 

Did everyone watch the Broncos????

Cheers

alexa

Fall

Fall is here. While we have to deal with summer temps of 105 and winter temps of -15, we do get the most beautiful fall colors around. It doesn't take much to make a great size leaf pile for me. I tasted the leaves too. Just because they look nice, doesn't mean they taste any better than other times of the year. 

Also with fall, comes Halloween. I got to take my first trip to the pumpkin patch. The family rule is that you can only get a pumpkin as big as you can carry to the wagon. I filed an appeal and won. Big pumpkins are cool and I plan to appeal next year as well. Luckily, my parents are suckers so it was really quite easy.

The weather is supposed to be nice on Wednesday and dad traded his call shift- thank you Phil, so he can take me trick or treating. Can't wait to show everyone my costume. Or perhaps you have seen it many times before because everyone but Hayley has worn it before me. 

Finally, we all know fall at the Keller house means- all football, all the time. And with Peyton Manning following us to Colorado, life is even better.  Dad's birthday was  2 weeks ago so I bought him something I was sure he would love

Apparently he needed a bigger size. Good thing I know someone who can wear it

Last night I couldn't update because I was busy watching Peyton prove that he is not scared of a bounty program. In order to get invited to the Qualls party, I had to wear my Saints cheerleading uniform. But it brought Peyton such good luck, I kept it on the entire game!

Michael celebrated his 18th birthday the day after dad's. I helped with the candles

He had some cool sparkler candles on there that I proceeded to break before mom had a chance to light them. They really looked dangerous so I laid them on the cake instead. He can thank me later.

After a 3 month break, I am finally starting to make some progress in moving a few inches across the floor. I'm not super motivated because staying in one spot playing with toys is just fine with me but I could tell mom was getting stressed about what the developmental doctor would say when I go back in 3 weeks and nothing had changed since August. So between pushing forward with my toes and rolling, its progress. We'll take it. Mom also got brave and started solid food again. I love it as much as I did last month but it sure doesn't stay down well.  But while its messy and doesn't make too many people want to hold me, vomiting is something I am very good at and doesn't bother me one bit. I also got to taste apples in the "choking proof" net. It was okay but after about 3 minutes I was done with it

next time I hope I get to participate in the funnel cake party

And that concludes the week in review.

GO PEYTON! GO BRONCOS!!!

alexa

Blame Peyton Manning

He is just playing so well, I couldn't stop watching the Bronco game long enough to update the blog. Now it's time for bed. So I will do it as soon as I wake up in the morning. 

alexa

Government 101

Just in case you do not live in a swing state and are not reminded at every commercial break, this is an election year. Mom thought it would be a good opportunity to take a trip to Washington DC. So Drew and Brandon and I took her up on her offer and visited the popular sites of our nation's capital.  I seem to move up the comfort ladder on every flight. First I got my own seat, and this trip I got to look at something other than the back of a seat. Mom was going to make me sit rear facing as usual but I argued that in the event of a plane crash, whiplash wouldn't be as big of a concern as quickly getting out of my seat to make use of the seat cushion flotation device. It worked. I could really get used to this.

After we landed, Drew drove the train to the terminal

The trip was great and very informative. The time change was a little painful but we did it. I have never been so happy to be a non walker because I was carried around for several miles every day. Can you imagine how many steps that would be on 10" legs? Here are a few of the highlights from the trip.

Eternal flame at Arlington Cemetary

Changing of the guard at the tomb of unknown soldier. Can you believe they have been doing this 24 hours a day since 1937

my hotel set up

Too bad Brandon didn't have his top hat on for the picture. Its pretty cool

Getting ready to talk to the media at the Pentagon

Trying to spot the president. I'm sure he was watching me from in his house

I really wanted to swing on Sasha and Malia's playset but mom said uncle Mike's co workers may not like it

Honoring soldiers at the WWII memorial

And no trip to the city is complete without a hot dog from a street cart

We also toured the capitol building. No wonder nothing much gets done there. It is a very boring building. Congress is probably all asleep when they should be discussing legislation.

The air and space museum

Abe Lincoln, wearing an Italy shirt, standing in front of the Chinese lady's food truck...odd

The police line up at the crime museum. Can you tell which one is me?

We flew back to Colorado Monday at 3:15 but our government lesson wasn't over yet. Vice presidential candidate, Paul Ryan, was speaking in Grand Junction at 5 and we had the opportunity to see him up close in the VIP section thanks to a very nice secret service agent. The funny part was that of all the people Mitt Romney would have liked to see there front and center (literally), its a woman (whose name did not appear in a binder), a hispanic baby, and a first time voter. We fit the bill quite well. 

Our seats in front of the podium

Paul Ryan talking to me

Paul Ryan shaking my hand after the speech. Good thing he didn't know about the Ron Paul sign that mom refuses to take down or he may not have been so nice

So that's why I am late getting this post up. Now I need to get to bed and try to shake this jet lag.

Cheers!

alexa

7 Months Old

7 month facts:

Weight- 14.4 lbs. Doesn't sound huge but you've seen my rolls and double+ chin- I am not lacking in the body fat category.

Height- 24.25". height has been my second biggest challenge after feeding so we are counting to the quarter inch.

What I eat-  Neocate only. The great food experiment came to an abrupt end again when I started vomiting terribly. This is really a bummer because I loved solid food. I've read reviews on the web that claim neocate nutra tastes terrible but I thought it was quite delicious. Mom and dad tried to keep going despite my worsening stomach issues to see if I could adapt but dehydration became a concern so I am back to just neocate. After a week back on my liquid only diet, things are much better although the couch and everyone that holds me lately might say otherwise. 

Favorite activities- I continue to have no interest in moving around. I tried it a few months ago and love playing on the floor for hours but I'm not a fan of moving. I have embraced the American way and prefer to be driven around in my stroller or just sit on the floor and play with my toys. I do have mad skills in the bungee jumper. A trampoline could really help motivate me to work on my motor skills...and the holidays are right around the corner...just in case mom and dad are reading and need gift ideas. I am the happiest, most content baby ever- until about midnight.

Teeth- none. And thankfully, not anytime soon. Sounds painful and I have enough trouble with stomach pain at night as it is. I don't think mom could handle waking up more than the usual every 2 hours with my fussy self.  

Upcoming travel plans- We leave for a homeschool trip to Washington DC this Thursday for a long weekend. I can't wait. I hear the east coast in the fall is beautiful. Then next month is another RV trip. This time we are going all the way to Indiana with a couple stops to see cousins along the way. 

Other family members- I am occasionally reminded that I am not the only kid in the family so I will throw them a bone and dedicate one whole paragraph to them. Michael made varsity cross country and is ditching us in Washington DC to run in regionals. He is applying to colleges right now so I will let everyone know when he makes a decision. Hayley dances 6 days a week and would go 7 if someone would open the door for her. Her and Michael went to the homecoming dance last night.

With some superhero friends

Drew is getting ready for ski season. He plans on racing for Telluride again. Brandon is following in Grandpa Steve's footsteps and playing tennis quite a bit. They both still homeschool with me. They don't like pictures but every now and then mom can sneak one

Racing at the tower of Hanoi game

That's all I have for this week. Here are a couple pics 

Who needs teething toys when you have a USB cable

practicing my walk with Hayley

asleep on my chily morning walk

Cheers!

alexa

What $6012 got us

It's not a car
It's not a beach vacation
Did you guess it yet? 

It's lab results from Peyton's hospital. Back in August my metabolic doctor had some concerns and wanted to rule out a few things that could explain some of my health issues. So they took a ton of blood from me to make sure my chromosomes were all normal and that I did not have one type of mitochondrial disease. This week, along with a hefty bill, we got the results we were hoping for. Both tests were normal. Mom and dad say this is a huge relief because it would have meant that vomiting and low carnitine were the least of my worries. So since they put it that way, I will be happy too. Next month we will be back in Indianapolis to see the specialist again and if everything is still going well, I get to stop taking my medicine for a month and we see what my levels do. 

In other medical news, Brandon was back in the spotlight again. For the past several years he has broken an arm during every even year. So mom suggested we bubble wrap him for 2012 just to be on the safe side. Well instead of a broken arm, he went for something more unusual. Dad was driving him back from tennis Tuesday and a rock hit their windshield. Its not unusual living in Colorado which ranks #1 for this type of thing. But this time the glass broke

The glass broke into tiny pieces and went into Brandon's face and eye. Thankfully, after a quick emergency trip to the opthamologist, he only had a corneal abrasion and there were no other pieces of glass in there. Needless to say it was quite scary and we hope this counts as his bad luck for 2012 and the rest of the year will be boring. In our house, health insurance is something that will never be under appreciated.

Fall is definitely here and winter won't be far behind. We were in Denver for a couple days and camped. We were quite comfy in our 65 degree RV while Deb slept in a 32 degree tent. For the record, we invited her into the RV but she doesn't think that's real camping.  I slept so soundly that my hair looked like this in the morning

Here are a few more pictures from my last week of being 6 months

I love my jumper

 still not moving but I have looked close for months now

mom asked me to hold the cap while she took pictures

Until next week

alexa