We're OKAY!

Oh my goodness. It's been 3.5 months since the last post when our blog crippled from the inability to include photos. I am a bad blog mama.

I tried a couple of ways to make it work, and obviously wasn't successful. And then I just lived life. But I'm missing it; writing, sharing, reflecting on our family and activities and putting those reflections on here. We'll probably just start a new blog on a different, FREE server.

For now, though....a bit of a recap.

December

Uncle G2 from Nome, friend Matt and Grandpa Cliff from WI came  to Sitka for deer hunting. They had a good time, discussed "bi-SONE," and Matt shot a giant of a deer. Grandpa loved time with his grand daughter. As they departed, we....

...went to Maui for a week and celebrated Miss A's first birthday there! It was paradise perfect. She learned to pull herself to standing on the condo's furniture and began "scooting." To date, A has never traditionally crawled. Her movement more resembled Gollum from Lord of the Rings: scooting with one leg while dragging the other. She was a champ for travel. She went on at least 7 plane trips in her first year.

Miss A began pointing, not always dead on to what she intends, but we understood.

Just after Christmas, about ten days after turning one, she took her first major, independent steps.

January

We shook during a 7.7 earthquake. Subsequent tsunami warning. Thankfully we were safe and sound, and live on high ground. Kinda exciting.

Around 13 mons. old, A was walking and has never looked back. She runs, side steps, goes backwards, stands up without needing to leverage something, and climbs stairs. A used to "walk" up stairs with hand holding. She wasn't interesting in crawling up. Then, one day, with no practice, she just crawled to our upstairs (supervised, beyond the gate of course). She hasn't mastered crawling down and still wants to be hand held while walking down.

Her first set of 4 molars are through. They surprise me when I spy huge corn-shaped blobs of white in the back of her mouth.

Miss A can't stop eating blueberries. She inhales them. She is officially off baby food and mostly eats with her Mom and Dad. This presents meal-planning challenges for Mom and Dad, who sometimes just eat crap food.

I went to Anchorage for a week of work, and then Andy went to train in Georgia for two weeks. He's certified to teach "Use of Force." Hmmmm...not your usual subject matter? While he's gone I have the courage to trim A's hair for the first time! Dad brings home A her own little Toy Story camping chair she enjoys sitting in or moving around the living room.

February

Miss A loves to take things out and put them back, over and over. She is single-handedly a wrecking ball. Grandma Judy comes to visit and play, play, play. Whales start showing up in Sitka Sound! I went back to Anchorage for a busy three days to help host a big meeting on Valentine's, for the "Alaska Native Youth Success" project I'm a coordinator on.

A shows signs of wanting to start climbing up the couch and chairs. This urge continues and soon I expect she'll make it, so we'll have another level of safety and watching to incorporate.

A is CRAZY for dogs!!! She adores watching the neighborhood dogs run around and do their thing, or even just sit outside their door waiting to go inside. Her body shakes, her pointing finger flails, and many sounds erupt from her mouth. She can't contain her excitement to track their movements. When they lick her and get close outside, she freezes up but loves it.

A stops eating vegetables. All vegetables. Put a pea in her mouth, she may chew on it, but will certainly spit it out. Can't get a vegetable down the hatch for ANYTHING. She will eat fruit all day and all night long though.

Just before turning 14 months, A finishes nursing and switches to whole milk in a cup. Bottles are packed away.

She starts sticking out her bottom lip, and recognizes much more.

A masters understanding and saying "buh-bye." She waves and repeats it long after the person left. She also says "buh-bye" to cars she sees driving away or along our street. She is pretty much down to one nap/day. She has chewed up her crib like a beaver.

For one week she gives kisses, when asked, and on her own. She hasn't done this since that week.

I start planning a trip with my college friends and roommates. We're going to Portland over Memorial Day weekend!

The new Academy class starts for Andy so his OT and schedule pick up.

Near month's end I'm asked to join the spring community theatre play for a role in the first one-act (of six). Rehearsals begin after work, performances in late March.

March

Andy's turn to go to Anchorage for a couple of days. Gotta love seeing friends like G&J, and doing some warehouse shopping to stock up on TP and K-cups, and now canned cups of fruit for A.

Miss A begins walking on the island trails with Mom and Dad, for a little bit anyway. She's tempted to go off-roading towards the huge trees. Only minor trips and falls on the gravel trails.

An awesome string of sunny weather brings promise of warmth and spring. During this lovely weather spell, Amy and A get sick. Booo!

Miss A "talks" all the time. She loves to make noise and she still loves loud noises. She brings out her jacket to indicate she wants to go outside or leave. In the mornings, before going to day care, she brings to me our jackets. She's a great helper with putting on her clothes and knowing what articles go on which body parts. She starts to hate getting her hair brushed.

Did I mention that she feeds herself nearly exclusively? Even yogurt in the morning, she needs her own spoon to play with and begin to get the feel for using a utensil. It gets messy. She has been known to plunge her fist into the yogurt cup she also insists on holding. During most meals she takes her dirty hands and runs them through her hair. Lovely.

A likes to stand and walk on beds, the couch and in the bathtub. Yikes! Whenever she takes a book to open and look through (95% of the time, I'm sure), it's upside down. She reads and looks upside down. Confused or genius?

And...just last night we tried asking her to get "Bucky" (the badger of UW-Madison). She went to the fridge and pulled down his magnet, showed him to me, and then put back on the fridge. What a proud Daddy!

Today, there's fresh snow and some sun coming through. Maybe we'll cruise aboard the Cajun Queen a bit to spy the feeding Whales!

*Amy

"Black Friday!"

Since we're on a photo hiatus and I'm being stubborn in not wanting to pay to post our photos (should we ask the 7 faithful blog followers to help start a donation account?! Kidding...)....I can still write plain text, which is actually easier and quicker to whip up of course.

Last night the power went out around 2am. We were expecting more of this on Thanksgiving when a good storm took life on the water but we only had a flicker outage (right as Santa made his appearance during the Macy's parade--classic!). So overnight was a surprise. Technically it happened Saturday morning but I chuckle to think we had a real "black friday" because when I woke up to realize we had no power, Andy looked out the window to see total darkness. It was like camping. We don't have street lights anyway, but our view down the hill was swallowed.

Why write about a power outage that lasted 2-3 hours? Well, it's our first with a baby. I woke up because the baby monitor receiver, which recharges overnight, started beeping at me with no juice. Then I heard Miss A cry downstairs. I'm glad we could hear her faintly! Andy went down and of course her nightlight was out, but thankfully the darkness didn't seem to bother her. As we nestled back into bed we listened to beeping downstairs, just outside of A's room....the smoke alarm. It needs a fresh battery when not electrically connected. Reminder to self and others, check those 9 volts. Thankfully, again, that noise didn't bother A.

It's just those little things that take on new meaning with a wee one (like temporarily losing the baby monitor to Mother Nature and trying to sleep peacefully without).

As we inventoried our dependence on electric heat and our freezerS of precious fish and food, Andy decided we're saving up for a generator. Not a bad idea to have on hand for Alaska.

*Amy

Stand By

We're having Blogging Difficulties. Apparently after 4 years we've reached the limit for 1 GB of pictures storage. Of course I'm wanting to post pictures of Miss A turning 11 months and of Grandma Cathy's recent visit. We are currently weighing options which apparently seem to include paying a monthly storage fee for Google/Picasa albums to increase our photo storage. Hmmmmm.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving. We went the terrible distance of across the street to spend the meal and day with our friends and neighbors.
Hopefully more soon.

*Amy

Hey, I know you!

Miss A is getting to know her grandparents better even through long distances. Grandma Judy was back last month and now A has met and spent time with her Grandpa Tom. It was such fun during that sunny spell. Thank goodness grandparents are around to take care of their grand-daughter when parents suddenly become sick with a 24-hour flu bug! Thank you for all the love, attention, care-taking and playing.

Awww, hugs to Grandma J! 

She really helped and worked with A on her supported walking.

A great first meeting with Grandpa Tom

Big special kudos to Tom for helping Andy install this propane drip heater on the Cajun Queen. Can't wait to go winter camping all toasty warm! Great work guys. 

And in a Skype call with Wisconsin the other night it was pretty clear that Miss A recognized and was delighted to see her family.

*Amy

Spooky Creatures

G2's catch off our boat this summer inspired A's first halloween costume. She was the mystery creature from the deep, in pink.

The fun started a week ago at the chili cookoff hosted in the Public Safety Academy.

 With friends!

Andy's pumpkin carving a couple of days later.

Moonlighting as a kitty with ears from Grandma Cathy. 

I'm told she rocked them for much of the day at the sitter's.

We didn't trick or treat, but wondered around downtown where the main street is closed off for businesses to give out candy. It was cool seeing the kiddos dressed up taking over downtown. A wholesome feeling with your odd mixture of ghosts, Thing 1 and Thing 2 and the like. We took photos before going.

When we finally parked near the free carnival games, we opened the back door to find her dazed. Miss A then feel asleep right in front of our eyes as we contemplated what to do as the rain drops started to fall. 

I'll admit it, we got her up and out. The rain stopped and she perked up. We joined the crowds while waiting to get our Chinese food (Halloween chowmein is a family tradition). Then we wrapped up A's first Halloween with a lovely and fun Skype call with Uncle Kyle and Auntie Steph; picture us on the floor there on the other side of the window. 

(And no, this octopus did not ink her pants as Auntie asked!)

*Amy

Alaska Day

Alaska Day! A State Holiday! It was October 18th and Sitka was the site of Russia's transfer of the Great Land to the U.S. Our town celebrates like no other location in the state. Sitka has a lot of parades throughout the year and I've been told Alaska Day is the biggest. That's right, I had not been part of the festivities yet as I was in Anchorage the last two years during AFN week.

So this year I booked my ticket back from AFN to partake in Sitka's Alaska Day. What a super decision. It was a fun day off from work!

My plan had been to merge a bunch of iPhone gritty video together into a montage. But, the reality is I just don't have the time or attention span to do so. In order to share some of the fun, and really, it's worth sharing, I'll just post a couple of short vids. I hope you'll put up with it and try to understand.
First up was my favorite, the Sitka High marching band. Can you pick out the tune and theme attire?

I really chuckle at the creativity of the Coho lyrics.

And, why not?

There was much more like the Seattle bagpipers and people shooting blanks in period costume. But if i can't make one video I won't put up every single one I recorded on fair Lincoln Street. We love Alaska Day, a day in which we saw rain, snow and sunshine.

*Amy

Ten Months

While we were on a trip to Anchorage last week Miss A turned double digits in months. It was a sunny day mixed with work and fun, before flying back home to Dad.
So we took pictures two days later. :)

Miss A is eating a great variety but her inclusion of meat has been slow-going. I think the most success we've had is with pork. Venison was not a winner...yet. She is feeding herself more and more which is fun to watch and support. We think avocados are her fave. I am still breast feeding although there were a couple of days into month 9 that nearly convinced me it would end abruptly. With some creative thinking and perseverance we were back on track, for as much nursing as she's doing at this age anyway.

She's not crawling but if you hold on to her by the mid-section she will walk and cruise around pretty much everywhere (for as long as you have the stamina)! She is pivoting around while sitting, scooting backward and some other fun motions but we haven't had to full-on baby proof the house.

A's babble is vibrant and diversifying. Ma-ma and da-da, or dah-dee, is repeated often but we haven't felt it directed at us. We think her first real word, or near word, is "bah" for ball. She says it when we actually play with it!

She just loooves loud noises. Coffee bean grinder and the like bring big smiles and even some head banging that causes her lengthening locks to float about. Her liveliness, joy and energy in these moments are just beautiful and perfect.

Fall Festivities

Fall time brings with it a certain festivity that I am extremely fond of.  Oktoberfest.  We hosted our 3rd annual Oktoberfest.  It gives us a reason to eat bratwurst, slather on sauerkraut, drink a few choice brews, and hang out with friends who also enjoy the suds.

We have a simple request to our guests.  All we require is they walk into the house with a 22oz bomber of something they normally wouldn't purchase.  We end up with all types of beer. German brew, IPA's, Porters, pumpkin beer, and even Lambic's make an appearance.  We welcome all flavors.  As long as it fits into the beer category, I'll give it an honest shot on Oktoberfest.

It brings a grin to my face just thinking about it.  This is a very small sample of what our fridge contained.  Pure goodness. 

Of course Amy enjoys the event and sinking some suds nearly as much as I do.  Even our little A got in on the festivities this year.  No, A didn't consume this year.  Maybe next year. She was definitely dressed for the event though.

As has become customary at gatherings, we headed to the local Baranof Island Brewing Co. and brought home a beverage for all to enjoy.  This was the Back Draught Ale made for the local Firefighter convention.  My wife is great, she decided to go with the whole gallon vs. those tiny 1/2 gallon growlers.  Excellent choice.

Until next year.  Enjoy your Ale, bratwurst, and sauerkraut.  I hope you enjoyed your own Oktoberfest.  Cheers. Prost!

ps-Amy says to never underestimate the party value of an unexpected Etch-A-Sketch.

Thanks, Alaska!

Last week over 600, 000 Alaskans received their annual pay out from the state of Alaska: the Permanent Fund Dividend. One baby was excited to receiver her first. For some reason her parents didn't choose direct deposit, but an old-school check. So the deposit is ready to be made, an investment for her future.

Miss A is so thankful for the treat she tried to eat her original check. Therefore I made a photocopy to memorialize #1 in pictures. She tried to eat the fake as well. Clearly she's teething again at the moment. Our task is figuring out a smart way to invest (some of) her savings for the next 18 or so years down the road. Ahhh, the decisions parents must make.

Truly, the jackpot is actually living in Alaska. That's what I thought while on our mountainside afternoon stroller "hike" today.

We had a wet, kinda crummy summer weather-wise. I think the number of sunny days can be shown on one hand, maybe the start of a second. I'm not exaggerating. A recent string of lovely fall days has been most welcome. I'm more motivated to get our ugly used Bob stroller rolling. Smell the sunshine, smell the change of seasons.

All else is well and we enjoyed a nice visit from Grandma J last week. Thanks for coming and we'll see you as you come through south from Nome!

*Amy

Nine Months

Miss A weighs a whopping 16# 9 oz. She's finally doubled her birth weight! Still petite and healthy. I don't mind as it saves my arm muscles! She is eating away and starting on some pincer skills for finger foods, namely Cheerios and peas/carrots bits. She has 5 teeth that have cut through.

Her gross motor skills are a bit timid. She can basically walk across a room when you hold on and support. As for moving around the ground for herself, well, she's just starting to scoot backwards. She can pivot and get herself into different positions and directions, but stationary otherwise.

Strangers don't alarm her, but while with the doctor the other day she kept looking to me to make sure all was okay. When Andy comes home and he walks down the hall, she starts looking excitedly in that direction until he appears. She expertly tracks us.

Today, almost a week after turning nine months, she showed her first little dance moves! A couple of seconds of moves upon hearing my singing. I loved it! Bath time continues to be a party with the water a-flying. She knows if I'm trying to hide something from her and the word "No" has taken meaning. I forgot to mention last month but she also has great delight in watching our stacked washer/dryer tumble the contents about.

Last weekend she had daddy time when I had to fly up to Fairbanks for work. When I came back she no longer wanted to be cradled as the last part of her bedtime routine. I don't know what changed and why, but I'm still trying to sneak in a song before laying her down in the crib. She doesn't want to be cradled anymore? What's next independent lady?! A trick I came home to tho was flicking the light switches on and off. Good teaching, daddy!

 The ceremonial end of a photo shoot--when the sticker becomes edible. Happens every time.

The evening of Miss A's nine-month date found us briefly on the boat in sunshine.

It's a funny thing for me to consider that she's alive as long as she was in utero. *Amy

Diaper Me!

One evening last week Miss A became fussy early on so I decided to give her an early bath. Once on her changing table she was fine again. So fine that she played with diapers for half an hour. I called Andy into her room and we sat on the bed and watched her.

She didn't care or become distracted that she had an audience. We soaked in the sounds of her nonstop babble and watched her discover surfaces by running a diaper over her wall and into the crack between the changing table & the wall. The fun ended when every single diaper I had lined out was in a pile on the floor (about 15).

It was some of the most fun yet. Watching her play on her own and do new things was a kick. I wish I could show you more, but here's a bit of "Fun with Diapers."

It's A Bird...No, it's an Eagle

The eagle traffic has been heavy and steady this year. Actually, I think it's just that I'm better at spotting them than from my first year in Sitka. As of late I don't see as many as often, but during the winter, spring and most of summer our national bird flew overhead and around our home and island all the time.

It's a normal day to see several of them playing in the wind passes and currents from the mountain behind our house. They can fly by so close I duck for fear of bird crap. Then there's the dead tree not far off the road whenever we drive toward town. Usually I count 3+ hanging in that tree. I can tell their method of sailing over the harder work the ravens exert to cover the same distance. Their golfball heads pop among the trees while we spend time on the boat.

Sometimes they're not so subtle or natural, but downright obvious, like when a juvenile landed in a convenience store parking lot and just starting walk around. Or when I pulled away from the McDonald's drive-thru (I know, I know!) and saw one also doing a close drive-thru (our McD's has an awfully scenic parking lot view).

When an eagle passes overhead and we're sitting on our porch, I'll point and say to Andy, "bird." He doesn't even look up. I say, "hey, you missed a good one of an eagle!" He said, "then, say it's an eagle, not a bird." Although scientific categorizing says I'm technically right, to Andy--and most of us--the eagle is so much more than just a "bird." Their grace, strength and beauty is so romantic/captivating.

We're amateurs with photos and we certainly don't try to take pictures of eagles, but sometimes the moment comes together for us to document just one of our many encounters.

 Photos by our friend, BV, while playing on our camera aboard the Cajun Queen.

 Golfball heads. One above and at least three in the picture below.

 No eagle eye needed to spot the eagle in the picture, below. 

Just like the look of the moon one evening from our yard in early July. :)

*Amy

Special Weekend!

We had such a great weekend! It started late Thursday night when Nikki and Baby V flew in from Anchorage! We had the gift of their company until Monday morning.

Sunday morning of this weekend Miss A was (finally) baptized.  It was a special time and very smooth with Baby V (13-nearly 14 months) and A at Mass. Father Jim was laid back and encouraged their happy noises as we sat up front.

The two girls met one another 3.5 months ago but this is the first time they've had "quality" time together with parallel play and interactions. Baby V is obviously mobile and we took our first stab at baby proofing the house. She loves to say "Hi" and I loved saying "Hi" back!

However A was not as friendly. If Baby V tried to get close or touch her A would melt down. Obviously some personal space issues!

Baby V got to explore around our little house.

Poor gal was just visiting Miss A when she had to watch this reaction!

I always wonder why I don't take more pictures. Shame on me. We had a couple of days of rain together but got out on the Cajun Queen nonetheless. At one point both girls triggered each other and we had a double meltdown going on. It was hard not to laugh at the situation! But Baby V spent time on the ocean and her mama caught a ling cod that was all head waiting for its body to grow. Andy even plucked a tiny halibut out of the water.

The rain disappeared for "brilliant sunshine" on the day of the Baptism. Hurray! What a gift and a chance to also go walking and hang with friends at the beach later in the day.

As I said, Fr. Jim was just great for the sacrament. He didn't flinch when A tried to take his Baptismal reading booklet from him as he read (he even offered it to her), and he seemed to enjoy when A and Baby V talked back and forth at one point.

Miss A only cried out once a couple of scoops of holy water dribbled down, but once she was patted dry all was well again. A seashell with "Peace" inscribed was used for the scooping and pouring of water. Pretty neat and appropriate for here.

 Her lovely and special gown was a gift from Grandma Judy and Grandpa Tom. It fit perfectly and I'm happily surprised she didn't mess with the bonnet.

 Thank you special friends for joining us!

Sunny Day! Thanks for the scenic memory, Nikki. 

It was perfect for visiting with friends on the porch after the service.

Miss A managed to swipe a bit at the cake frosting and maybe got a little to her lips. Not sure, but we didn't offer cake to the newly baptized. In fact, she went down for a nap a bit after the activity. It's tiring joining God's family! We are happy.

We miss you, Nikki and Baby V! I'm glad we got in some adult Euchre playing once the babes went to bed. Can't wait to see her walking soon.

*Amy