Transition to Winter

The transition to winter is slow this year. The orange leaves hung on the birch and aspen for quite a long time this fall, 3-4 weeks I would say. During this time, we did an awful lot of hiking. Our baby at 7 - 8 months was just big enough to ride on my back in the Ergo, and our 2.5 year old was just small enough that my husband could carry him in the Kelty pack. It'll be interesting how we will travel next year. I anticipate that I will carry our food, the eldest boy will walk and the new toddler will graduate to my husband's back. On the left is the very last hike we did as a family this year. It was also the last day that the trees held onto their leaves.

The next day, it became cold. And a few days later, I got my wish albeit the leaves rustling in the wind. At 31 degrees, my husband and I and two friends took our kayaks out on the upper chena for a few hours. I wore 4 pair of wool socks under my rubber boots, goretex lined pants over long underwear, 2 warm polyester shirts plus a hooded fleece, hooded gortex jacket, life jacket, and wool hat. I was warm until the end, when it became quite breezy and started snowing on us. During the 8 mile jaunt, my husband and I definitely improved our tandem kayak skills, roughed up the bottom of the kayak quite a bit, and saw some pretty sights, while ice formed on the sides of the river.

The next week, it warmed back up to the 50s and 60s Now, 2 weeks later and heading into mid-october, it is still warm enough that we can hit the playgrounds and be comfortable without winter gear. I have no complaints about this slow transition to fall. Winter is long enough as it is up here in Fairbanks, Alaska.

River Boat vs Kayak

My husband loves river boats, and I love to kayak. This summer, the river boats have won by a landslide.

My soon to retire in-laws recently bought a chunk of land only accessible by boat. In effect, they bought a new boat and gave this 35 year old one to us. It is a used and an abused gas-guzzler, an airboat converted to an inboard, the boat my husband grew up riding in.

It is nice that we have had a motorized boat all summer in addition to our tandem kayak; we do live on a river after all and it only makes sense to keep a boat parked out front. Potentially, our whole family could ride in it. And for as little as anyone that I know uses their boats, it is most definitely smart to have one that is free or almost free, reliable or not.

Still, I'm not always thrilled about this boat or any other boat. It's a time and a money sink from which I reap few benefits. Between this boat and 2 others, my husband has been on 3 long Tanana River Trips, bear-baiting, 2 Salcha River trips, and almost 10 Chena River trips. He's also been fishing in Chitna. I have been on 0 motorized boat trips. I did make it on the river 4 hours this summer in Alaska, 2 with friends on a raft and 2 on our kayak on a date with my husband. My parents spent 2 hours in our kayak when they came up to visit also. And when I visited my parents in Minnesota, I took a kayak trip with my mom down a river that was quite beautiful but we were challenged by 3 log jams along the way.

I'd really, really like to spend a half day or a day on the upper Chena River, the North Fork specifically, in our kayak, but my husband tells me it's not going to happen because no one will want to watch the kids. Today would have been a perfect morning to do it, but he is on the boat now, taking a short trip up to the landing to take it out of the water for the year. I asked him to keep the kayak out . . . just in case. The snow isn't here yet! And the river is calling my name.

There to me is not anything better than listening to the water trickle, the leaves rustle, and the paddles hit the water as the sun shines on my face.

"Pee Floor"

Every parent has a story about something their toddler did that was absolutely embarrassing. My kid peed on the floor of a store.

It's fun to watch these kids grow up. I swear, my kid is an absolute genius and a moron. He amazes me by the things he knows and he annoys me by the things with which he struggles or pretends to be ignorant about. You never can predict their accomplishments and their downfalls. And they, all toddlers, are different.

My son has friends that are very close in age. To generalize a few of these children, one kid is kind of a bully. He'll stand on furniture and hold up toys another kid wants like he is going to hit them with the toy. He'll hide toys that other kids want under pillows or just plain steal them away. But, this kid is also an amazing athlete. He could jump off of the couch at the age of 1 and at 2 I saw him jump off a ladder that was taller than I am. He is also very smart. I can see that he notices details in his environment that many children are not yet able to absorb. Another friend of my son's is a cry baby. He can't share and when he has to or when his toy is stolen, he bursts into tears. He didn't walk until he was almost 18 months old. But, this kid has a great aptitude for language, can speak in complete sentences at the age of 2, is very kind, and also incredibly patient.

My kid is the one who pees and poops--anywhere. Since pretty much the age of 2 he's been potty trained. These days he is nearly two and a half and we give him a lot of leeway. He poops when he wants and sometimes has to be reminded to go pee, but usually he is in control of this too. He can even hold it through naps and through the night now. The problem is that we have been possibly a little too flamboyant about his peeing habits.

His 5 grandparents cheer when he "pees rocks," "pees grass," "pees trees." The babysitter was thrilled when I said it is okay that he pees outside on these things because I guess most parents do not allow their children to do this. "They must use a toilet," they say. Our child gets fun stickers for peeing outside at the babysitters house. He is rewarded with a cookie every time he poops in his potty; he hasn't had an accident for months. My cousin who is a daycare provider warned me that he may try to pee in strange places, like house plants and drains, if we allow him to pee anywhere but the toilet. Yet, daddy taught him to spell his name, to pee on car tires. We and the grandparents have videos and photos of him peeing off of the front steps, of pinching his nose closed and grunting as he poops. Honestly, it is adorable and humorous to us. But, we have confused him somewhere.

Before we walked into the store, I asked my son, "Do you have to go potty?" "No, no, no potty," he replied several times. Once we were in the used toy/clothing store, he found what (I think) was a giant plastic twin bed. It looked like a playground. It had a door that opened and closed, was taller than he is, and there were two chairs inside. I'm not sure if he thought he was in a plastic portable potty or if he thought he was at the playground or if he just thought it was okay to pee on the carpet. But, I turned away for about 20 seconds and he had peed on the floor inside of this thing and was pulling his pants back up.

As we drove home, I told him that he was a very bad boy for peeing in the store on the carpet. He knew this and made the cutest thoughtful face all of the way home in the quiet car. Anyway, I just thought I would tell this story because typically he only amazes me by what he knows and by what he can do. He is growing up in leaps and bounds. And he is the sweetest and most beautiful little boy and big brother for which we could ask.

0.5 and ALMOST 2.5 Photos

From time to time, I aspire to start a photography business, to spend the big bucks and have my family photographed by a professional outdoor photographer, to snap that one perfect image that would unedited look amazing blown up and pressed onto canvas.

I dream sometimes.

I think the reason that I don't do many photo shoots is because I'm afraid of disappointing myself, of realizing I really don't have much talent, discovering my camera isn't good enough, or of spending a lot of money and being disappointed by the work of another photographer. I know taking a digital photography course would give me a ton of confidence but so far it just hasn't fit into the schedule.

This is what I came up with 5 minutes one day and 5 minutes the next day. My kids are easy subjects because they're adorable even when they're grumpy. I forced myself to take some photos now because my son is almost grown out this antique yellow sweater. My German step-grandmother knitted it for me (I think) when I was born. Or perhaps it was handed down to me too in which case it's probably over 30 years old.

It's hard for me to choose sometimes. Is it better to have the subject looking at the camera, or just catch them mid-play?

I love how my sons can already play together. People who have kids further apart just don't know the sweet childhood interaction they're missing out on.

Changes

I feel fall coming. And by fall I mean a brief, frosty season and then 6 months of bone-chattering cold. We recently had a long week of 85-90, humid (for us), and it was brutal. If you're like me and you've lived in Fairbanks for over 5 years your body is conditioned for the cold; anything over 80 feels like fire. We did playgrounds, lakes, pools. And yesterday the Tanana Valley State Fair started and it has been raining and cool ever since. Any Fairbanksian will tell you when the fair comes, it rains. This is how I know summer is almost over.

There is a 3-day long country and bluegrass festival in Anderson, AK (near Denali National Park). My husband had driven to Chitna, 7 hours south to dipnet salmon from the Copper River. So, our friend Sadie helped me take the boys down to listen to music for the day. We met our Good friends down there. And all of the kids were on their best behavior.

After a lot of brining and mess in the kitchen, I smoked 2 loads of salmon like this. Mostly red salmon, some silvers. It takes about 8 hours to smoke a load of salmon. I smoked about 35 fish tails after my husband vacuum froze the main portions of the fish.

And what we didn't smoke or freeze fresh, we canned. We preserved 45 fish total. The weekend my husband went, Alaska residents were allowed to take home 40 fish each. Somehow we ended up with a few of his dad's fish. I'm not even going to relay the 3 day long fishing adventure. It was utter chaos but a ton of fun. I'm so glad I wasn't part of this dirty work.

Today, we met all of my closest friends at the middle school swimming pool in North Pole. My husband had gone to high school where the pool is and he was VERY pleased to see that since then they have installed water-injected slides. It was our baby's first time swimming, and he did fabulous.

I am cloth diapering my son. I find it to be actually more convenient than disposables. They have such great technology now. I never have to run to the store for diapers again . . . or take out the trash. Here my son sits with all of the diapers and covers that I will need to diaper him until he's potty trained. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. And trust me. If I like this, anyone can do it, because really I'm kind of a lazy person.

They sell a washable diaper pail liner and bag for your diaper bag, so once you're ready to do the wash you just throw the bag and the diapers and covers in the washer with the Charlie's soap. No mess. No stench. No gag. No puke. You could put them in the dryer, but I actually use my stairway railing. It's so dry in our climate that they dry very quickly like this and I feel better about saving some of our planet's fossil fuel.

And look at this cutie. He is eating baby food now. So far only rice, oatmeal, and bananas. I've decided not to make his baby food. I've never been very excited about food preparation. I have a two good friends who LOVE to cook and my husband does too. I envy them. But, when I found organic food stored in glass jars at Walmart for a reasonable price, I knew this was the way to go for us. I hadn't found a food processor or baby food maker or freezer storage trays that met my approval and I'd been looking for a while.

Update: Summer Part 1

Nag nag nag. Okay, I'll blog. I'm not a brag blogger or a blogger with really any good ideas to share. I'm not bored, procrastinating, lonely, or cold, which are my biggest reasons to blog, but there has been a lot going on so I better keep up with it anyway.

The smoke just rolled in as I wrote that last sentence. I have a feeling that this is the first day of many yucky smokey days, because we've so far had in my opinion the best summer since 2006 and 2007. Not too many wasps, not too hot, not cold, not too rainy, and most importantly no smoke from Alaskan fires gone wild.

We've had a decent mix of work and play this summer.

My husband is a workhorse when it comes to firewood. He's taken advantage of the state, borough, and federal firewood cutting areas and has found a lot of good wood at a minimal cost. He's gotten 2 loads from a state area past Salcha, 1 load from an area nearby that is open because it was burned in a fire last year, 3 loads from the Army Corps at the Chena Flood Control Project, and 1 load from a friend who wanted some trees down. He's had a little help from both my dad and his dad, which was wonderful. This photo shows the first 3 of those loads. 5/7 loads are cut, split, and stacked already. We hope they will be dry by winter.

The trees we purchased from the Alaska Conservation district were pretty much a success. We helped all of the 25 white spruce through the dry spell of early June by persistent watering. They budded and doubled in size. The 15 jack pine on the other hand have pretty much died. 2 might live, but I doubt it. I suspect these bareroots came from a different farm from the spruce and were not cared for properly.

Our two year old son is really into summer. I think he is going to be a lover of the outdoors just like his mom and dad. He wears his red rubber boots and a hat everywhere he goes. To him, they are the best tools for outdoor play. He uses a real hammer and pretends to split wood like his dad. He spends hours watering . . . the garden, sandbox, slides, stairs of his playset . . . anything. He LOVES to go to any playground and over the last couple of months has gotten very brave on slides and ladders and climbing onto toys all by himself. I would say most of all he likes to watch tractors load piles of dirt, ride 4-wheelers and lawn mowers, and go to his great-grandma Carol's house down the street to play. He also loves to wear his helmet and ride on his dad's bike. I have so many pictures that I don't know how to choose.

He's doing great with potty training. He pees outside without any prompting because it is fun to pee standing and write your name with your pee and he loves to poop inside because he gets a chocolate/vanilla stuffed cookie once he's done. We learned that if you have a boy, you must have a Baby Bjorn potty.

My parents came to visit for over half of a month. They and we had a fantastic time. We went to the Botanical Gardens, the Large Animal Research Station, Chena Lakes Recreation area, and some play dates and field trips at various parks and even at an organic CSA farm. We went to a concert, a band at a coffee house, and had a big BBQ here. They went to the Golden Heart Revue, a comedy show about our gold mining town, caught 75lb of Halibut and other fillets outside of Prince William's Sound (and it was sunny in Valdez!), and got gold at the El Dorado Gold Mine. We took in all of the solstice activities--dressed up for the sun run in gold with a bunch of friends, went to the fair downtown, and the midnight sun baseball game (which went to 3am!) And that's just half of it. We were BUSY and the weather was fantastic.

While my parents were here my husband and I went on THREE dates. This is notable, because I think we probably generally only go on 3 dates in an entire year. We went kayaking down the Chena, to dinner/drinks/movie at the Blue Loon, and to drink beer and play horseshoes with another couple who had a parent in town to watch their kids at our local bar. It was great! It's just not that easy to get out at night when you have kids. People offer to babysit, but they're not really that serious about it when it comes down to it.

We took our almost 0.5 and almost 2.5 year old tent camping. Our older son fell into the bonfire for a split second while he was throwing a tantrum because he wanted to take a marshmallow off of the stick by himself instead of having his dad feed it to him. My husband has super speed in emergency situations, so he was pulled out unharmed. The baby loved the tent. And so did our older son. He begged and begged to go night-night in the tent until he got in there. Then he repeated, "NO MORE CAMPING." My husband after stories and songs offered him visualization of great-grandma's house, 4-wheelers, and piles of dirt and the boy became so happy that he went right to sleep. Our baby is quite agreeable and our toddler has slept many times in a tent that he's had in his room so we knew going into it that it would probably be a pretty easy trip considering the age group we were dealing with.

Well, our baby is grown out of our abundance of under 15lb disposable diapers and doesn't poop constantly anymore. I am off to Blueberry Baby to make our purchase of organic cotton prefolds. For about $100, the cost of a month's worth of disposables, I should be able to diaper him until he's potty trained.

Also, he's almost 6 months old, which means I am about to feed him single grain brown rice. After rice, other solids, which I will make myself. This way I can feed him organic food affordably and also avoid the plastic packaging that contaminates commercial baby food.

So, I will be busy diapering and feeding, cooking and cleaning, but mostly playing and napping.

I love being a stay-at-home mom.

Thumb Could be Greener

The misconception: I always thought that gardening is really easy. It seemed like in Minnesota while I was growing up we would just plant things and they would grow. It didn't seem like we watered much if at all unless there was a drought. And in the fall we were bombarded by produce. My parents grew hundreds of experimental blueberry plants (from the University of Minnesota) that started out so small they could fit into a paper towel. They also grew hundreds of beautiful evergreens from bareroot. It felt like the bigger challenge was keeping things from growing. We were always weeding the gardens and our blueberry farm and mowing the lawn . . . always. Now, I realize my mom's degree in horticulture, her training and network as a master gardener, and her extensive experience from seedlings to soil types and from pruning to pickling played a hand in gardening ease . . . this, coupled with my dad's hard work and intuition. I'm sure too they were experimenting and doing a lot of the work while I was sleeping in until 9 or 10 in the morning.

The background: Last year was my first summer gardening on my own, gardening in Alaska, and gardening in raised bed style. I was pretty successful. So, this spring I tried something new and started seeds in the house. My neighbor is a seasoned gardener. In her small lot, she has 5 giant raised beds and 2 greenhouses and she's only lived here 2 summers. Her tomato and pepper plants are jaw droppers. She told me that to start seeds in the house, I would need a light. She starts her seeds in January so she can start harvesting in June, so I didn't trust this completely. We have a lot of sunlight starting in late February and our living room has extremely large windows. I read on the internet that the low e coating on our windows would not take out any visible light needed for photosynthesis, just ultra-violet and heat. A friend in Minnesota told me she was highly successful in starting tomoto, peppers, melons, etc in her house without a light and my mom too told me to go for it.

The problem: So, I started watering 3 flats of tomato, green pepper, and chili pepper seeds in my house without a light. It was a failure. I had probably a hundred seedlings come up, but they were tiny. Six were sizable. I transplanted those six to my garden and cared for them until one day my neighbor told me "Those are NOT tomatoes or peppers!," right after she identified some wild daisy in an area of my tundra lawn and told me to dig it up and move it somewhere safe. Well, it turns out that my successful seedlings were probably from the worm vericompost dirt that I used to fertilize my soil, not from the seeds I bought and planted. I'm still not sure if they are cucumber or squash or what, but they are from some type of leftover vegetable we had and fed to our worms. Because they were stretching toward the windows, they are leggy and I don't think they'll survive. Next year, I will try a light and use packaged soil.

The other problem: I allowed a friend to help with the planting process and, in her excitement or because she was distracted by my two year old, she planted crooked and too high. I replanted today and now it is much easier to water. She brought to us and planted 2 cucumber plants, 1 tomato (my son had a pair of scissors and cut the tops off of the other 3 tomatoes right in front of her eyes while I ran into the house to get something), and 4 gorgeous pepper plants that my neighbor gave to us.

The good news: All of the pepper plants and the giant grape tomato plant from my neighbor have fruit and will ready in a few weeks. They smell so good. Also, currently, my husband and I are watering 40 White Spruce and Jack Pine trees that we planted bareroot (half are out of hose's reach so we're using these barrels and the orange truck). For sure a few of the Jack Pine are dead, but it looks like most if not all of the White Spruce are doing well so far. The White Spruce are native, and the Jack Pine are not, so this is not a huge surprise. The 3 European Bird Cherry trees and 2 large Birches that we planted last year for our wedding anniversary survived beautifully, even though the cherry branches were pretty badly damaged from moose grazing. Cooperative extension says to prune them this week. Next winter, I'll bag the cherry branches to deter the moose.

It's a learning process. But, with little kids around, it is a great hobby. They like to play with water. And watering is a nice thing to do outside the house for an hour, or two, or three after they go to sleep.

Brothers

My husband and I are so blessed to have 2 beautiful boys. And they too are blessed to have each other. They already show so much love for each other. A two-year-old who helps take care of his baby brother, who gives him kisses, and is patient when the baby is mad. A baby who follows his big brother closely and smiles and coos to his voice, his laugh, or whenever he comes near.

Before I know it, they'll be playing together. Catching bugs, tickling, kicking, chasing, screaming, imagining.

I hope that they remain friends throughout their lives.

Babies Galore

Babies grow up too quickly. At first they're tiny and fragile and you can't wait until their circumcision and belly button heal up and they pass that 2-month milestone when they supposedly will have a much better chance of surviving a cold or flu. Then all of a sudden, they start smiling and then laughing. They roll over and once that happens the rest is history. They crawl, walk, talk . . . and then they graduate from high school and are gone from home forever (well . . . usually).

This is one of the last nights my baby was a real cry baby (a month or so ago). I spent many, many hours in this chair Side Swaddle Swinging (rocking) Sucking Shushing my baby to sleep. The 5 S's. Most times, the chair wouldn't even do it and I'd shush at the top of my lungs while walking quickly in circles around the house. Repetitive vibration (bouncing while walking) I think always beats rocking in colicky times. Anyway, thank you Harvey Karp for writing The Happiest Baby on the Block and giving all of us parents of distraught infants some tips and some peace of mind in 5 simple steps. Those nights are exhausting. I always told myself that those unhappy baby days are not going to last forever. I enjoyed them. And sure enough now they are a distant memory. I miss them already.

This spring of 2010 was an exciting time to have a baby. There were a lot of babies born this spring. Owen, Julia, Niko, Jayden, Brynn, Zoe, Wess & Arthur, Kloe, Oliver, Freya, Abigail, Tyree, Elias, Brianna, and above Riley (2 weeks) with Nikolai (3 months). Yes, 16 babies that I know within 3.5 months of each other. 3 are cousins, 5 are college friends' babies, 3 are co-workers' babies, 2 are kids of old high school friends, and 2 are just friends' babies. Only 3 of the babies were born in Alaska, so I still have a lot of babies to meet. It is and will always be exciting to watch all of these kids grow up since they are so close in age.

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.

2 Years and 2 Months

The two cutest boys on the planet both have birthdays this week. The one on the left: 2 months. The one on the right: 2 years. Happy Birthday, my sweet boys!

Slow Death by Rubber Duck

"Slow Death by Rubber Duck" by Smith & Lourie explains common chemical contaminants in your home, how they affect your body, and how to avoid them. This is the most expensive book I've (actually my husband) has ever purchased. The book itself was not expensive, but the decisions we made as a result of reading it were. However, these improvements in our lifestyle will most likely be reflected in the health of our bodies in the years to come. If you're a parent, a scientist, environmentalist, or care about your health or the health of your children this book is a must-read.