Sick as a Dog

I didn't know when I'd take the time to write again, but it turns out I don't have anything better to do at the moment. I'm sick. I'm trying to keep my distance from the baby and trying to rest as much as I can. About a week ago, our toddler had 4 days of fever followed by now his 7th day of a cold and cough. It's a doozy. I thought we were seasoned in the cold and flu department, myself having caught 6 of my son's 7 colds last fall while I was pregnant. But, this one sure has evolved (over the long winter) to be a nasty one.

Anyway, there are several bonuses to having a cold. With kids, you can't tell when they've pooped their pants unless you check, and then the diaper changes are harmless. The leftovers in the refrigerator can stay in there longer. You don't have to hold your breath when you take out the trash. You can't tell if you smell, so why shower? And if you make meals that are way too salty or too bland, they taste just fine. I just did a little science experiment on myself and found out that I'm unable to smell the lavender lotion I used to put myself to sleep during my pregnancy, the same stuff my husband could not stand to be near. No wonder the baby suddenly stopped smelling of rotten milk.

I've been trying to make enough antibodies to keep the baby well, but it's really a lost cause with this cold. He's been sneezing a lot. I had to suck his nose a few times, and he's been doing this strange cough, which is actually pretty cute. He's almost 3 months old, so it's a fine time to be sick. I think one of the biggest downfall to having a bigger family is that the illnesses seem to last forever as they pass from person to person. Actually, this is the only downfall I've noticed so far.

Papa Meets Baby

Alright, so for the last two weeks, it was my dad's (papa's) turn to visit us. He spent the majority of his time rocking the baby or playing with tools (real and toy) with the toddler. He folded some laundry and cooked a couple of meals. During his free time, he read 3 books (Slow Death by Rubber Duck, In Defense of Food, and a Michael Crichton novel), took long walks on the river or through the neighborhood (one walk we clocked at 6.7 miles and the others were pretty long also), did small projects around the house, and he also managed to watch a couple of movies. He was a big help to us, and I think that he had a good, relaxing time also. It was sad to see him go, but we are hopeful that he and my mom will be back sometime this summer.

I'm overwhelmed by the quantity of photos that are produced every time we visit my parents or they visit us or we travel together. Thankfully, I haven't taken a class at the university since December, so I've had time to do some projects. In effect, my photo albums, digital and printed, are up to date. Well, at least they are current up until my dad's visit. Here's what happened or at least a few bits and piecces of what happend:

My husband overhauled the garage once again. This time it was in preparation for my new car. We're waiting on a used Toyota 4-runner. We hope one will come into Fairbanks or Anchorage within the next year, but we're not holding our breath because it's quite a popular vehicle that people like to hold onto. Until then, I'm happy to keep driving my Toyota Corolla. I love it, but it's just not going to haul 4 people's camping gear or bikes or kayaks as comfortably as we'd like it to so something bigger would be nice.

It warmed up, and we went outside to play a lot. This was one of the last days we could walk on the river before the slough overflowed its water onto it. We saw one snowmachine playing in the water a few days later, but that was the last of the river activity until it breaks and the boats can come through. Yes, my son's coat is relatively new. It's a 3T, and he's only 2.

Several packages came in the mail and brought with them big smiles: some Easter Baskets from Grandma Phillis, some clothing that Great-Grandma Carol picked up in Maui, 3 awesome outfits from Great-Auntie Janet including one of the MN Golden Gophers, and a noisy auto-start toy from Great-Aunt Laurie.

After driving out to get a glimpse of the Alaska Range and exploring some backroads in Ester, I took my dad and the baby to one of my favorite places to eat--C&J's--it's a sad excuse for a 50s diner, but the service is great and the food is simple and filling. While we were eating, the baby had an explosion in his pants that I had to care for in the front car seat because they don't have a baby changing station. It was memorable. We followed it up with a trip to home depot, where we found a piece of wood for 52 cents.

The boys spent a lot of time in the garage. One day they built this birdhouse out of the piece of wood, which I later detailed "Papa & Alek 2010." Papa taught our toddler the difference between screws and nails, bought him a drill and set him up with a board of screws. He's now able to take both real and toy screws out of the board with both his drill and screwdrivers. And, yes, we allow this in the house.

Every morning, papa took the little guy downstairs to have breakfast. After breakfast, they would do stretches on the floor. Why are their mouths open? Well, because you must grunt while you're stretching. Dah.

My dad spoiled me. I had asked him a couple of weeks ago to make me another picture frame so that I could add some of my favorite haying photos to create a sort of Minnesota farm collage. He made me two more out of weathered wood, brought them in his suitcase, and even hung them up for me. Did I ever mention he brought an entire wooden toybox on the plane last Christmas? Of course, he did the final assembly here.

He also hung up a few things that my mom had made and given to us during her visit: a growth chart to match the toddler's room, a "No Monster's Allowed Wall Hanging," and this quilt to match the baby's room.

Once he hit two years old he finally had his first hair cut. Daddy did a fantastic job, and our son didn't mind it a bit. Earlier that day, our son found Easter eggs in the house and garage and named off each of their colors to us as he found them. The baby gave us a lot of smiles probably because we were smiling and laughing a lot that Easter morning.

Once again, we utilized our local indoor children's resources on a couple of colder mornings: Gymnasics Inc and Bonkers. Afterward, we picked up some groceries. Fred Meyer's has plenty of puddle boots to choose from this year.

We had our friend Sadie over one night, before she took off to travel for work for a month. We had other friends, who just returned from Mexico for the summer, over another night. And we had a bonfire with our good friends and neighbors another night. It was perfect weather for the bonfire. After our guests had gone home and the boys had gone inside to make dinner, I stayed out and enjoyed the sun in peace with the baby sleeping on my lap.

We even ate free tacos at a refinery hockey game. Then, as quickly as papa arrived, he was gone. My son has learned that people come and go in his life, but that they always come back.

English

Just before our son turned two, he started putting 2 words together. It's a good thing too, because that is one of the 2-year milestones according to the questionnaire at the Dr's office. Some kids don't have any trouble speaking, but as far as our son and all of his little friends in Alaska . . . well, they just seem to be doing about average in the language department. For what seemed like forever, he would just repeat the same word over and over like a broken record until acknowledged. The words he repeated were usually "mum mum" (momma), "da ee" (daddy), "papa" (grandpa), "mama" (grandma), "bolk" (milk), etc. Then, all of a sudden one day he told me "mum mum down" so that I would get off of the picnic table and walk with him in the snow. Now, two weeks later, he's exploding: "boosh (moose) poop," "dog poop," "baby poop." This morning he surprised me with "kank you (thank), mum mum" after I gave him things he asked for. I wish I could take credit for these manners, but it wasn't me who taught him this. I've worked on "please" a lot, but he usually doesn't say it unless asked to say it. While writing this, he asked me for "hot coffa (coffee)." I gave him a mug with hot water and now he's dumping his juice into it and stirring it with his hand. I asked him to pull up his sleeve. We'll clean that up later. He also knows all of his colors, so those are common adjectives he uses when putting two words together. Anyway, he's definitely capable of absorbing multiple words per day even when we don't try to teach him anything. He's saying "read book," and pulling at a box of books, so I better sign out. This little sponge will be fluent in English one of these days.