California 2013- High highs and Low lows

We try to get to California every year and 2013 was no exception. Last year we drove in the RV and had a great time.  Since dad and Hayley were in Peru on a medical mission trip and unable to make the trip, mom thought it would be best to fly this year to avoid the 806 miles in the car. Sounds relaxing, right? Just fly to LAX, spend a couple days visiting grandparents and the Lee Family, then drop Brandon off at tennis camp in Carmel, relax in northern california for 2 weeks and pick up Brandon on our way back to LAX. What could possibly go wrong with that plan? Um, maybe EVERYTHING!  

The first 72 hours started out just fine. But clearly grandma and grandpa didn't want us to leave. Grandpa tried to keep us there indefinitely by hiding our car keys in his pocket. He quietly did yard work as we tore apart the packed up car looking for them. Only after 40 minutes did mom realize he was the only other person present when they went missing. Under dad's watch , it would have been no big deal because he likes to leave early for everything. But mom likes to live on the edge where missing 2 stoplights instead of the usual 1 means we are going to be late. We got Brandon to camp with 8 minutes to spare but the only stopping we got to do was on the 101 in horrible Ventura county traffic. From that point on the entire trip was highs and lows. Here they are...

The High Highs

Grandma and Grandpa letting the trampoline live at their house

Spending time with the Lee family

The Lee's letting us relax at their Balboa Island house and my 1st ferry ride

Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge with my cousins

The Adventure Park in Berkeley aka- the junkyard playground

Berkeley kids museum

 The Low Lows

Driving, driving, and more driving. Mom should have had Drew take a picture of traffic because that would have been more appropriate for our week. We ended up deciding to go back to LA in the middle of our trip. Because we still needed to pick up Brandon from camp at the end of the two weeks, that put our total miles driven in So Cal at 1530! Not fun.

Oakland Children's Hospital with my first metabolic crisis

We could not be more thankful for the newborn screening program (some still call it a PKU test) that exists in every state.  Most of you know I have been followed by a metabolic doctor in Indianapolis since birth because the test done when I left the hospital showed that my body is missing an enzyme and cannot make sugar like its supposed to. At that time I had no symptoms but mom and dad were told that I can't go over 4 hrs without food and that under stress like an illness I am at high risk for my blood sugar to get too low. Its sorta the opposite of diabetes where they get diagnosed because their blood sugar is way too high. We don't know whether it was a virus or a combination of events that set off the metabolic crisis (mom said it definitely wasn't from sleeping more than 4 hours between feedings) but luckily we were staying in Berkeley which is 10 minutes from Oakland Children's hospital.  On a busy Sat night we got to cut in front of about 50 kids waiting in the ER and they started an IV as soon as we got there. Mom won't tell me why everyone was moving so fast and what could have happened but I think they were just practicing for when a real emergency comes in. As soon as the IV got my blood sugar back up, I started feeling better. We got to go home the next night and over the next 7 days I slowly got my muscle strength back. 

starting to feel better

Back to myself just a pound lighter

The good news is that mom, dad, and the doctors have a better idea of what my early symptoms are and we have a written plan so that every hospital will know what to do in case this happens again. And I will be able to help them out more when I can say something other than doggie and bye. 

We enjoyed our visit with family and friends but we are happy to be home. Mom says we aren't travelling out of state for a very long time. 

At the Goldstine BBQ in my 4th of july outfit so mom wouldn't get in trouble by miss Traci

Drew and I ready to watch fireworks in Thousand Oaks

Alcatraz Island view from a ferry

My cousin Pier and I on the couch that the boys made from scraps 

Drew and Drew building the couch from scrap wood and other things that float into the Bay

Hope y'all are enjoying your summer

Cheers!

alexa

15 Months and Pictures!

The months are flying by now. Here are my 15 month stats

20.5#
27.25" (when you are below the 1% you count every quarter inch)
teeth- 10 plus 2 more molars coming in
word count- 5. My new words are uh-oh and dah-Gee (doggy with a hard G sound). I also make a great bark sound.
motor skills- running everywhere and starting to jump and stomp
food- Still love it all. Current favorites are blueberries, pears, mango, strawberries, and the quinoa/spinach/pecan/avocado mixture mom and I eat every day for lunch
fav toys- dogs and buckets or purses to put all my favorite rocks in. When I can't find one, I use mom's shoes instead. Rocks fit well in them.
sleeping habits- Mom looks like a zombie because I wake up every 2-3 hours again. When will she learn and give me back my neocate

And I finally have all the pictures from the three cameras. We will start with the Qualls annual crawfish bowl that happened in May and continue to the present.

Creepy little guys. Yes, I am wearing the same 3 month outfit Ms. Traci got for me last year. The new one should be a great fit next year.

Really, I prefer dogs to crawfish

Michael's graduation that I wasn't invited to

But I got a picture and didn't have to sit in through the hot ceremony. Score!

Lots of park days now. Mom rides me up every night and dad joins when he's home

This is my ride. Appropriately called the charriot

Ready to go with mom

Dad drove me once last week. Notice the bottle rack of the bike. In case Ms. Traci showed up at the park he was ready for happy hour

Even Hayley can't turn down the opportunity to hang with me

Just in case you wondered if I could wink

don't I look fast!

mom's favorite park picture to date

The serious look

And my fav... the doggie pictures. I love Sparky

Seeing if she would invite me in

Not sure why she looks scared to see me

Maybe the boys want to play with me

These boys surely do

Or maybe I just need my blankie

So glad mom finally got her act together and got the pictures in order. I was a  little later than I had hoped with this post but hey, life happens. In California now. I hear we may get to see Alcatraz. How cool is that? My 7 year old cousin wants to see real people in the jail. Are you kidding me? I think the historic, old, empty jail sounds perfect.

Hope you are enjoying your first two real days of summer

Cheers!

alexa

Overcomplicated Photography

Mom's goal was to make photography easy and perfect so she could document the cute things I do in an orderly fashion. The real time results, however, have not quite materialized the way she had hoped. This has now led to the problem of how to manage 3 cameras, 3 computers, and 2 cloud storage servers. And the final result of this mess...I can't blog because there are pictures everywhere! Feels better to get that off my chest.  I will now work with what I  have to create this post which is mostly camera phone because they automatically upload. And I have given mom a deadline of June 11 to get her act together and fix this mess. I can't work under these conditions and put out a quality product. 

random easter pic I found

This summer is starting out great. It has been full of weekend trips, lots of family and friends visiting, pool time, and great weather.  I had heard that early summer was the best time of the year and its true. 

Michael graduated on May 14. We have a great photo of it on another camera...go figure. The generic cake shot doesn't have quite the same effect. 

We had family and friends over to celebrate graduation and see Hayley's dance recital. There were 15 people sleeping at our house. No pics of that one but not a hard mental image to compose. 

Other things I have been up to so far include jeeping to the top of the bookcliff mountains

No one trusted me out of my carseat so you have to look hard to find me

amazing view and that tiny line below is I-70

I got to go to my second crawfish boil at Miss Traci's house. Pics to follow in next post- I promise

I have been very busy taking care of bitty baby. Here is her bottle

Putting her in the stroller

Off we go

A few of our neighbors have pools so that is where we spend most hot days

dive practice in case anyone drops goggles

For anyone wondering if Im losing any of my baby fat...ummm, no

You may be wondering why there are no cute close up pictures this time. I mentioned earlier these were the camera phone shots and that camera cannot keep up with me. I am fast and shifts any time my feet are on the ground. Just as soon as I hear the autofocus of any camera set, I run in a different direction- usually laughing. Think Top Gun when the fighter jets try to avoid missile lock from enemy planes in the sky chase. So it now takes a real camera and a photographer ready for action. 

At my last appointment, my metabolic/neurodevelopmental doctor was concerned that I was unusually hyperactive because I did not stop moving/running/jumping the entire time. Although he sees kids 0-3 years old all day long, mom thought he was crazy. Being true American parents, mom and dad like to consider me energetic and free spirited vs out of control.  In the past 3 weeks they have been around multiple kids my age and Dr. E may be on to something. But can you imagine how chubby I would be if I ever sat down??? 

cheers!

alexa

  

14 months

I am finally home from the latest rounds of trips and dr. appointments. And while I was in Indiana, I passed the 14 month mark.  Here is this months summary

• Weight- 19.8#
• Height- 27.0"
• Word Count- 2. I say "ok" and "hi". Nothing that even resembles mom or dad so the contest continues
• New skills- running fast and waving
• favorite food- Everything (even brussel sprouts) except papaya and salmon
• sleeping- The past 3 weeks I have gone from up every 2 hours to every 3-4 hours. Mom says this is a huge improvement and she feels well rested.

While I was in Indiana I got to see my friends Walker, Chase, and Sophia. Walker lives in the house that my siblings grew up in. How cool is that?

It was wet outside (imagine that) and my shoes are designed for non-walkers so I had to ditch the shoes and tights. Thankfully Sophia and I both wear 3-6 mo. so I could borrow a pair of her pants which matched my dress perfectly

wearing my party dress for cinco de mayo

perfect carry-on size

first ring pop- YUM

We made it back home without any travel issues which is such a treat and a rare exception. But makes us appreciate it that much more! 36 hours later we were in the RV headed to Mesa Verde for dad's bike race. Great weather and nice to be camping again.

Here he is finishing the race

Gotta have a camp fire to 

And we are now back at home for a while and enjoying the great weather. I think the cold is finally gone for good. Not a moment too soon. 

Playing at the park with Brandon

Michael graduated high school last night. Somehow mom and dad knew I would not want to sit still in the bleachers so I got to go to a little league game with the Johnson family instead. 

Enjoy the beautiful weather

Cheers

alexa