Lots of Pictures

Since returning from South Carolina we haven't done much, but time has gone so fast. It's hard to believe it's almost July. The most exciting thing to happen to us since getting back was that all three of us had the flu within a day of each other. Nothing's worse than having the flu at the same time as your child. So we all spent a weekend in bed.

Alex playing with his buddy, Jonah, while Mommy and Daddy had a dinner party.

Alex is an excellent eater, a little messy, but very good.

Alex begged us to do his hair this way, I swear.

Alex has learned some new tricks over the last month or two. He is talking quite frequently and sometimes is very persistent. Some of his favorite words are shoe, bye-bye, daddy, mama, and Siggy (the cat - every cat is "siggy" to Alex). His favorite thing to do now is climb up in chairs and couches. He is very proud of his accomplishments as you'll see below.

In May we celebrated D.J.'s birthday in Chaska. It was also Memorial Day weekend, so we went to the parade downtown. Below Alex is showing off his favorite toy... a flag of course. June finally brought some nice weather so we decided to have some fun and go to the park. Alex loved going down the slide and going high on the swing.

This past weekend we bought Alex an inflatable pool and since it was so warm we filled it up for him. He loved it! It was outside, and that's his favorite place to be... so needless to say it was a match made in heaven. Alex got a little confused and thought the plastic storage drawer was his pool.

He loved splashing and marching in the water. He wanted to go skiing but the boat didn't fit.

After a long day of anticipation and playing (without taking a nap), he fell asleep in his high chair while eating dinner.

South Carolina Trip

We took a road trip to South Carolina to see Julie's brother, Jeff, graduate from college. Our biggest concern going into the trip was how Alex would do riding in the car for so long... and he actually did surprisingly well. As long as he had enough snacks, drinks, and toys to distract him he was pretty happy.
Jeff graduated from the Citadel in Charleston (hence the military garb). While spending time on campus we found what Alex's favorite thing is... flags. He loves all flags but specificly the American flag (fitting for our surroundings). Whenever he sees one he will point and says "Cooool".

Alex got to see his Great Grandma Fretwell, who was excited to see him.

On the way down to Charleston we stopped in Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore House. Alex wasn't really that impressed with 100+ year old mansion, but he loved the petting zoo.

The highlight of our trip was watching Alex play on the beach. After a couple of minutes of clinging to Mom & Dad we couldn't get him out of the water. He had no fear, going towards the tide as it was coming in.



These two are my favorite pictures from our trip.

Ten days gave us a lot of family time together, and time for Alex to experience new things.

Here's us taking a walk on the Ravenel Bridge.

Alex sporting his new shades with Daddy

Marching into Spring

You haven't really been able to tell in the pictures from recent posts but Alex has been walking since early February. Now he's a regular walking machine. It's exciting to see all the progress he's making. He will walk into his room and just sit and flip through books for 10, 15, 20 minutes at a time while Julie and I are cleaning or eating. It's cute to poke your head in and see him intently looking at a picture in his book, not even knowing you're there. When he was born Jeff, Julie's brother, got him a pair of Converse All-Stars that we knew he wouldn't wear for a while. Last week Julie put them on for fun, and they almost fit. They make his feet look huge! NBA here we come!

Alex still loves to crawl around and put things in his mouth. This picture shows just what I mean. He loves Mickey Mouse and just happened to put the block in his mouth perfectly. Julie was able to get the camera in time. You can tell by the look in his eye the he knows he did something funny... what a ham!
Last weekend we were in La Crosse for Jon's 1st birthday party. Being only 5 weeks apart Jon and Alex will have lots of fun growing up together. They don't know it yet but they will probably get in all kinds of trouble (fun) together.



Alex played so hard one day that when Julie put him down for a nap he ended up sleeping like this. It was too cute to pass up a picture.

Next month we will be taking a road trip to South Carolina for Jeff's college graduation and were buying some things for the trip. This was the perfect hat to keep Alex's ears and head from getting fried by the sun while we are down there and out playing this summer. He thinks it's pretty cool. He likes to have it all the way down so you can't see his eyes.

One Whole Year

Hi everyone! Incase you haven't heard yet I had my first birthday on February 8th. Now that I'm 1 Mom and Dad are letting me write this blog entry. I want to show you some pictures from all the fun I had.

I was very lucky and got to celebrate my birthday THREE times. First was at home with my new buddy Tyler. He turned one a month before me, so he had this birthday thing down pat. He and I played while our parents watched the Super Bowl. On my actual bithday Grandma & Grandpa Fretwell came out to visit. They brought me a wagon to ride in and Mommy and Daddy gave me a play kitchen. The night before my birthday they put all my toys together so when I woke up the day of my birthday I could play with them... boy was I surprised! Then this past weekend we went to Grandma & Grandpa Fretwell's to celebrate my birthday again, and this time Grandma & Grandpa Kearney came up with aunt Jen. That was a lot of fun. Grandma & Grandpa Kearney gave me a Mickey plane that plays music, that thing is cool!

I got my first experience with cup cakes/cake. They were yummy! I got a cup cake each time we celebrated my birthday. I must be my mother's child because I barely made a mess. Despite some messy hands and face, I was very clean.

Mommy and Daddy didn't let me eat all of these cup cakes, but the one with the candle on it was all mine.

Look Mom, no bib!

This is my new wagon. I can't wait for the snow to melt so we can go for a walk.

Here's one of the many books I got for my birthday. This is one of my favorites.

Mommy and Daddy gave me a bubble bath. They must think I'm going to be the next Santa because they're starting on my white beard.

Ah, my favorite past time - pulling out baking pans. What you can't tell from the picture is that I'm getting ready to practice for my future career as a drummer.
I'm getting so big that I'm showing Daddy how to brush his teeth. He's learning, slowly but surely.
I hope you all liked my first blog entry. I'll try to update more often. Until next time I'm going to catch some rays.