Aleksander Manuel by the numbers...

7 years ago today, I gave birth on my mother's living room floor. It was the
16th day of the
8th month in
2002. Additionally, it was the
25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. This did not impress me at the time as I was
15 days past my due date and had to move to Montana in
7 days. We delayed the trip until Aleks was
10 days old and my mother is convinced he became dehydrated anyway since he couldn't nurse due to a cleft lip & palate. For
13 months I pumped milk exclusively to feed him and he has had
6 surgeries to date. He just recently learned to ride on
2 wheels on his bike. He owns approximately
753,642 Lego pieces, which manage their way all over the floors of our
900 square foot apartment where
4 of us live in anarchy (on purpose). Aleks was
33 months old when his younger brother Bastian was born and has spent the better part of the last
4 years wrestling with him on our couch. Aleks is a famous artist with drawings displayed in
3 Cleveland-area Phoenix coffee shops. Yesterday, he talked a vendor at the Farmer's Market into giving him
1 dollar in order to buy a donut. He did so without intention, which simply highlights the subtlety of execution. He ate approximately
47 marshmallows in the last two days, which I'm hoping will positively affect his slenderness as he weighs only about
40 pounds and sometimes I worry. He's missing his aunt today as she is
4862 miles away in Pristina, Kosovo and will not make it for his birthday party at
2 p.m. this afternoon (which is
281 miles from Cleveland, in case you thought to make the trip). She called at
2:53 a.m. anyway, but he was asleep in the tent (a fun birthday activity, that). Aleks wanted Bakugan for his birthday and has about
9 of the stupid things so far. It's not good. He also inherited a jar of about
500 pennies from one of his
6 grandparents while visiting for the weekend, which he will roll into
50 cent rolls to add to his funds for purchasing more Bakugan. Since he was born, I've been trying to give him
1,000,000 kisses. I'll have to do the math to see if I've made it yet, but that's an awful lot of math and I have cake to frost...

At any rate, somehow I'm
30 and have a
7 year old!!! How did that happen?!?!



Dear Readers, I'm sorry to have not updated in so long. Both of our computers are currently broken, we've been immensely busy, and I was out of town for quite some time. As soon as the new computer comes, I'll make a night of updating the backstory. I apologize for such a busy, blogless summer. But not to my kids!