Surprise visit with Grandpa Tom! (video)

Turns out, Grandpa Tom was flying into Chicago for a conference the same morning that we were flying back home. When we figured out that we'd overlap a couple hours, we planned a meet-up at the airport! Alexa quickly warmed up to her Grandpa. What a nice visit!

Click HERE to watch Alexa give me five! Click HERE for another video of her people watching.

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Here is Alexa on her second airplane flight. This time, she wore a baby flight vest that is supposed to help keep a squirmy baby in your lap. Um, yeah right! She was still all over the place! But, that's OK. She was all smiles too. What a good little traveler she is!

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Alexa's 1st Fourth of July Parade!

After our adventure in Chicago, we drove back to my friend's house in Evanston, just in time to catch the last 20 minutes of the Fourth of July parade! Good thing we were late. The parade started at 2 p.m. and didn't end until 4:30 p.m.! There is no way Alexa would have been able to last that long, especially in the heat. At least we got a small taste of the parade! It was so all-American!

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After the heat of the parade, my friend's daughters decided to run through the sprinklers. They even set up a kiddie pool for Alexa! Unfortunately, it was too cold for her. The girls, determined to help Alexa cool down, fetched a warm bowl of water that -- surprisingly -- she fit into! She had fun in her little bowl!

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Later, after a nice afternoon nap, Alexa put her Fourth of July outfit back on to enjoy the afternoon BBQ! What a wonderful trip. We had such a good time seeing old friends and introducing Alexa around. Best Fourth of July ever!

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Alexa's visits downtown CHICAGO!

We took Alexa downtown today to meet up with Daddy's friend and his family. Here we are walking through the city and taking the El!

Our destination... Crown Fountain at Millennium Park! It was such a hot day, that we thought the kids would enjoy cooling off. Alexa sure did! She wasn't sure what to think at first, but once she sat down in the water, she loved it! What a great fountain!

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Alexa's 1st Fourth of July fireworks!

We spent a wonderful evening with my college friends at a lakeside park in Wilmette, where we had a picnic and waited for nightfall to watch the fireworks. The park was teaming with families and children! There were pony rides, amusement park rides, a band, food, ice cream... Tons of fun stuff going on!

Alexa enjoyed playing with my friend's Mandy and Michelle. She also had fun with Jen's daughters, who were fascinated by her! As the evening wore on, however, she fought against sleep... She finally passed out in my Ergo carrier at 9 p.m. But when the fireworks started at 9:30 p.m., she didn't stir! That's right, despite the loud noise, Alexa SLEPT THROUGH her first fireworks show!

We still had a great time. She'll just have to wait until next year to see some fireworks!

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Alexa loves eating ribs at Merle's!

Once in Chicago, we realized how hungry we were! Luckily, we met up with my friends who were about to dive into a feast of ribs at Merle's! After eating most of the meat on the bones, I gave a couple to Alexa to suck on. She loved them! We also gave her a few pieces of mac & cheese, which she sort of liked. She ate her baby food as well, but we are trying to get her ready to eat table foods!

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We're off to Chicago! Alexa's fist airplane ride...

You'd think this baby had been a jet setter since birth (wait, wasn't she?) because she was such a good traveler! We got to the airport early. Daddy dropped us off at the terminal and went to park the car. We made it through security and boarding. Once in our seats, Alexa discovered the window and entertained the ground crew by banging on it! Ha! She also enjoyed playing with (eating) the safety card.

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I nursed her for take-off to help with the pressure. And after a short nap, she was full of energy! Every toy or diversion only entertained her for about a minute... And there were a lot of minutes in the short flight to Chicago! Luckily, we made it with no crying. She sucked on her pacifier and looked out of the window on our way down. Our good little traveler!