Hi Great-Grandma, I'm mobile, and have lots to say about it!!!!

Grandpa Fretwell and Great-Grandma Fretwell came to visit on their trip up from South Carolina this past weekend, so here's the family. We enjoyed having her visit, because it was the first time she'd met Alex and the first time she'd been up to Wisconsin for a visit in many years.


He's mobile - well, kind of, he can roll.....it's really cute to see him flip himself back and forth as he rolls, it's not a real fluid roll, he kind of gets on to his side and then uses the momentum to flop to the other side, and then when his arm gets pinned underneath himself it takes a little rocking to get it unstuck - it's an amazing next step. We don't have any pictures of the actual progress of the roll, maybe we'll have to take pics soon and make like a flip book out of it, but for now here's what we got.

This is Alex talking and telling stories, he can get very animated with facial expressions and hand movements. If he can say this much without any words we can only imagine what's in store when he really knows how to communicate!!!!

Hail Damage

Some of you heard about the severe weather that came through central Wisconsin yesterday. There was a tornado and softball size hail in Wisconsin Rapids where D.J. works. There was some damage to buildings and cars in the area. Unfortunately D.J.'s car was one of those with damage. It has some good dings and a spider web break on the front windshield. There was a tornado that touched down a few miles from our house, luckily it lost strength and there were only a few things outside blown around. Enjoy the pictures, you always see them on tv, but you never really think it will happen to you.

4 Months Old & Growing

Today is Alex's 4 month birthday! We have lots of things planned for him, tomorrow he's having pictures taken and Tuesday he goes to the doctor for his check up. OK, so it's not the most exciting birthday but he has a lot more to come.
Alex has been talking A LOT lately. He will go on for 5 or 10 minutes just babbling, it's fun and exciting to see him changing. Other new things he's doing is chewing on everything in sight as his first two teeth continue to come in. He always has his blanket or hand in his mouth, nawing away. He is doing well at sitting up (with a little help) and holding his head up. He's also folding his hands infront of him, so it looks like he's praying all the time. We walked into church last week and priest noticed this. He said Alex looked like he was all ready for mass.

Happy Birthday Daddy

Alex is getting bigger and discovering things every day. He has begun cutting his first teeth! The first one came in on Monday and the second started breaking skin on Friday. We like to call them his "alligator chompers". Other accomplishements including rolling from his stomach to his back with some consistancy and realizing he can pull on his toys to make them sing. He continues to be a wiggler, in constant movement only stopping to sleep.

Friday was D.J.'s 26th birthday. Alex decided to buy some plants for the front of the house as birthday presents, with those and some other gift certificates we got a whole new front landscape. It was a nice change as you can see with the before and after pictures. We spent the Memorial Day weekend working around the house, not only did we plant bushes we planted 19 sapling trees around the yard, planted annuals in the whiskey barrels, and stained the deck furniture.

I'm getting so big!!!!

This was the bear suit I was suppose to be able to wear when it was snowing out, but unfortunately it took until April for me to fit into it, so on a day it was a little cool out Mommy dressed me up and we went and played outside. This is my "crazy cow", he sings and dances for me and I love to watch him!! Mommy had a wonderful 1st Mother's Day, I wore the first outfit she ever bought for me before I was born & I looked so cute!!!!

Uncle Matt came all the way from Seattle to see me and my cousin Jon the end of April and here we are chilling at Grandpa and Grandma's; Aunt Jen, Uncle Todd, Aunt Mindy, Grace and Sam, and Nick were there too. We had so much fun and I can't wait until he comes to visit again - Daddy and Mommy said maybe we can go out to Seattle and visit sometime soon too - they said something about flying fish....sounds interesting.

I've been trying to roll over for a couple of weeks, most of the time I get to my side and usually just hang there, but Daddy was quick with the camera and caught me in the act - I'm getting pretty good at it!!!

Mommy and Daddy keep telling me how strong I'm getting, I like trying to stand up, sometimes I would rather do this than sit, I'm not even 4 months old, so it'll still probably be a little while before I'm walking, but I'm working on my muscles.

This is Alex playing with his fishy mat. He's 3 1/2 months old now, he's growing and learning new things everyday. As he told you above, he started rolling over in the last couple of weeks and he is starting to put anything that he can into his mouth. He loves to babble and tell us stories and enjoys playing with his toys. We hope you enjoy the pictures and hope to see you all soon. Love from the Kearney's!!!!

What's Up Doc!

Alex had his two month appointment today. Everything went really well, he weighed in at 11 pounds 10 ounces and 23 inches long. He got his first round of shots today. Four shots to be exact, two in each hip. He wasn't a huge fan of having needles stuck in him, but Mom was right there for a hug and kiss. He calmed down pretty quickly. He will get lots of hugs and kisses tonight.

Happy Easter & 2 Months Old!

Happy Easter! We hope everyone enjoyed this holiday with family and loved ones. We spent the day at home in Plover as we saw family recently, and will be seeing more family soon. Alex slept through church and woke up in time to play in his basket of goodies he can't eat yet.
Today is also Alex's 2 month birthday. He's changed a lot in a short amount of time. In looking at pictures within the last month we are amazed at how big he's gotten. He's begining to laugh and giggle at us, the "e-i-e-i-o" part of Old McDonald really gets him laughing. He especially loves his bear mobile in the crib. He loves to laugh at them while they dance.

This is what Julie likes to call her "Mantourage". Alex, D.J., and Siggy.

More Catching Up

This is Alex's dream Sunday afternoon. Watching TV and chilling with Siggy.We went to Amery to visit Great Grandma Sjobeck. Four generations!
Uncle Jeff spent his spring break staying at our house taking care of Alex. It was a great bonding experience for Alex, and a learning one for Jeff. We really appreciate Jeff coming all the way from school in South Carolina to visit the little guy.
We have a feeling Alex is going to be a genius. He's actually reading the story to Julie in this picture.

Catching Up Pictures

Grandma & Grandpa Fretwell came to visit me in the hospital. So did Grandma & Grandpa Kearney
This is my first day home. That's Siggy, he and I are buds, even though he doesn't look so sure if he wants me around. I know, I was little!
My first bath. Bathtime is fun!
Daddy, you're not Mommy!

Say Hello Alex!

Welcome to the Kearney Family Blog (Plover, WI edition)! We want to share pictures and stories about Alex with you, and since we don't live close to most of you this is our best option.

Alexander Thomas was born February 8th. I know we're kind of late getting this started, but you try typing while holding an infant. Julie was scheduled to have labor induced at 7AM on the 8th (as she was 9 days overdue), but Alex had plans of his own. Around 1AM on the 8th Julie started having contractions on her own. We went to the hospital around 5:30AM and Alex came into the world at 1:08PM. He weighed 6lb 6oz and was 18 inches.

Since then Alex has grown to around 11lb and 22 inches long. He has his 8 week appointment next week so we'll have some more concrete numbers then. Since being born he has had a welcome home party with a lot of family. He's also become a traveling man, going to Amery (twice) to visit Great Grandma Sjobeck, to Chicago when Daddy had a conference for work, and to La Crosse to visit his new cousin (all in the first 6 weeks). We think he is the founding member of AAA Jr.

Enjoy the pictures. There will be many more to come in the future.