Alexander's first word is...

HI! It's funny how similar Alexander's first choice of words was to Nicholas' (which was HI, DOG!). And of course, there were other words on the heels of that one...it seems that he's going to be quite the talkative one as well.

The real trick is...well, you know... :)

Alexander enjoys a biter biscuit in the high chair...

Alexander has been responding pretty well to the physical and occupational therapy and so he got to sit up in the high chair for the first time and enjoy a biter biscuit. Well, he at least tried it and some things never change. Talk about messy...

First peaches!

Georgia residents can now rest easy...Alexander has had a bit of your number one export crop and thinks they're pretty good.

First taste of mixed cereal!

Today Alexander had a bit of what is billed as mixed cereal. What are the ingredients, you ask? Well, it's a combination of rice, barley, and oats topped off with a very cute smiling baby.

First taste of peas!

Well, it wasn't split pea soup but pretty much the next best thing in a jar.

Ah, peas. They bring back a lovely memory for Daddy. It was a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away... OK, it was really thirty or so years ago in Fayetteville. It's amazing the nuggets of wisdom one can get from their pals and this one from Keith Brown was a real winner...peas are poisonous! And for the longest time, Daddy would not touch them with a ten-foot pole. The theory was that Keith was more interested in helping himself to my peas in the school lunchroom and I wasn't really bright enough to ask him why they weren't poisonous to him. They say hindsight is 20/20...too bad hindsight isn't particularly timely. :)

As it turns out, I actually do like peas...provided they were fresh-frozen. I've never particularly cared for the ones from the cans because they're...ugh...mushy. But Alexander doesn't seem to mind that all that much.

Keith was an interesting chap but he was definitely wrong about the peas. He passed away about eighteen years ago.

First pears!

Another taste of fruit for Alexander and a jar of pears bites the dust. And a big smile came soon after...

First taste of applesauce!

The firsts keep on coming with some applesauce for our growing boy. He seems to like it!

Long-time eagle-eyed readers of the boy's BLOGs might well have noticed that Alexander's BLOG contains a lot more first food entries than Nicholas' did. And you'd be right!

First carrots!

Here's to good eyesight for our little one...he's starting on that road by downing a nice jar of carrots. He's a little bit messy with them... but he likes them and that's the important thing!

Starting Withdrawal of Topamax!

Topamax is the last of Alexander's seizure medications and we've started reducing the dosages starting with his morning dose. Hopefully we will be able to wean him from the medication and he will remain seizure-free (we had kept the Topamax as a maintenance drug).

It's pretty amazing to consider that we're working on getting rid of this last drug considering that he was on at four medications before his surgery. Two of them were discontinued before he left Washington, D.C. The third one was gradually reduced earlier this spring (it was important to get rid of the phenobarbital before he hit six months to reduce the risk of interfering with cognitive development).

He'll still have the reflux medications to take if we can successfully get rid of the Topamax but we hope he'll eventually grow out of them as his big brother has (of course, Nicholas had to develop allergies so there is another high co-pay brand-name medication we have to get...you are worth it kid but jeez... :)