heartbreaker

my precious valentine

christmas in february

mimi and grandpa doug came down in early february to celebrate christmas with us. this trip was delayed due to many blizzards making road conditions too dangerous up and down US 31 with the lake effect snow.

declan got many wonderful toys and clothes from mimi and grandpa! we really enjoyed the visit and regular outing to homegoods!



he's becoming more curious about gift packages than he was at christmas

loving mini-corduroy bear, cutest moment

he is dancing to his musical elmo book, a big hit

most people say declan looks just like my dad, i agree!

superbowl ball pit

i stole this picture from jenna's blog. they had us over for the superbowl on sunday night. we all had so much fun! the boys played in the ball pit, declan is so lucky to have a friend with his very own ball pit. it is #1 on his wish list, we're just not sure where we'd put it yet.

can you hear me now?

declan had a successful little surgery last week thursday. he had tubes put in his ears. we had an appointment with an ENT specialist last wed to discuss his ear problems (he has had 6 ear infections in past 6 months) and he advised us to do the surgery asap. it would drain the built-up fluid inside his ears, he would hear much better, begin to speak much more, prevent future ear infections and also that it was a very minor outpatient procedure.

we arrived at 6:45am and while i filled out necessary forms, declan did what he does best, cruised around the lobby, making sure to touch every single chair. and i wonder why he picks up so many colds???

cruising around the lobby

he loves his lambie

waiting to be called back to our room

around 7:30 we were taken back to our room, met with the kind nurses, our ENT and anesthesiologist. we weren't nervous b/c it is such a common procedure and they assured us he would be back out with us in 15 minutes.

the nice nurse took him back for the surgery at 7:45 and brought him back to us at 8, i had barely finished a cup of coffee! he was a little groggy and whiny for the next 10 minutes as the anesthesia wore off, but soon he was smiling at the nurses and pointing at the lights.

this is one of the first smiles, recovering after surgery

i stayed home with him all day and he seemed totally back to his usual self within a few short hours. i also definitely noticed that he could hear the phone ringing which he must not have heard before the surgery due to all the thick fluid that had built up in his ears. poor little guy. we are hopeful that this alleviated some pain/pressure in his ears and most importantly that the ear infections will be a thing of the past!

i'm so excited for him to hear his world better and be able to know what we are saying to him. he should be able to pick up more words now. currently he's saying: mama, dada, ball, bath, bus, mmmmmm (means he's hungry), and night night.


he seemed to be feeling better by lunchtime and had his appetite back!

little helper

whenever we empty the dishwasher, or even open it for that matter, we have a little helper drop whatever he is doing and come running. he is just so interested in the pointy rolling drawers, shiny silverware and the giant door that he can open and close.

baby-hair-o-vich

i giggled at this picture i took of d last week b/c his hair looks really fluffy. i try to keep it combed to the side and nice and flat but he sleeps pretty hard during his naps and wakes up with crazy fluffy hair sometimes!
reminded me of the recently impeached illinois gov, rod blagojevich who is (in)famous for hanging a for-sale sign on obama's vacant senate seat and his hair! we won't be letting declan aspire to be an IL governor anytime soon since 9 out of 10 tend to serve prison time.

declan-o-vich

blago

florida trip earlier this month

naples was so warm and wonderful, the best was the sun on my white winter skin and being able to wear flip flops. tim's mom had a delicious pasta dinner waiting for us the night we arrived from the airport, the next night we all enjoyed a fun night out to a fabulous restaurant with tim's parents and even got out one night for a date while they babysat!

after declan's morning nap we spent our days out by the pool.

in the stroller on the way to the pool which is in the neighborhood, just across the street. notice the tummy peeking out and thighs - this baby is getting c-h-u-b-b-y! :)





for his afternoon nap we wised up and brought the pack & play poolside and he napped there so we could stay out in the sun! don't worry, it was in the air-conditioned cabana. i couldn't resist snapping these pictures of the sleeping baby after his first swim in the big pool. he was worn out! he looks so huge to me!


after breakfast we'd head to the park to play to kill some time before morning nap and pooltime.




he loved to practice his new walking skills around the big driveway!