Changing, but always the same- a retrospective

My little peanuts at 9 1/2 weeks

9 days old and leaving the hospital

One month old

One year old (their birthday) nesting dolls

15 1/2 months old... (Noah's feeding Avery snacks)

They may not always like each other, but they ALWAYS love each other :)

See?

Random pictures of cuteness

Alrighty family, who does this baby resemble? His expression just blows me away as completely Rich.

My super helper, Super Noah!

Noah and Papa Gary, his buddy

Playing hide and seek, and tug of war with the blanket

Handsome!

Hmmmm...what to read?

Noah doesn't like what he picked, obviously

another classic "Dad" look

Sleep? Who me?

Ok, this video was taken in the morning, but it is representative. THIS is what Avery does when he doesn't want to sleep. There have been entire nap times where he will lay down for about 10 minutes, then jump for ten, lay down again. He does this until Noah wakes up. He actually did it tonight, they were both in there jumping and laughing. Sigh... I really do think he's going to pop out of the crib. Do you see the air he's getting???

Ickle me, Pickle me, Tickle me too

The poem popped in my head, I thought it fit. How great are my days that I get to be a part of this?

Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too Went for a ride in a flying shoe. "Hooray!" "What fun!" "It's time we flew!" Said Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

Ickle was captain, and Pickle was crew And Tickle served coffee and mulligan stew As higher And higher And higher they flew, Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too, Over the sun and beyond the blue. "Hold on!" "Stay in!" "I hope we do!" Cried Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle too Never returned to the world they knew, And nobody knows what's happened to Dear Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

More from Gary and Sally's visit up north

A leftover from the previous post, but doesn't he look cute in his sun hat?

Here we took the boys up to Flat Top (which you can see in the upper right) The plan was the botanical gardens, but it was a) under construction. b) looked a little rustic and c) several mosquitoes tried to fly off with Sally while we waited for Gary to find the entrance. They tried to pull her out of the car. Plan change. I popped on the boys jackets and baby legs (leg warmers) and we drove UP!

Here they are with Anchorage behind them, and Susitna, the Sleeping Lady. Click on the picture to enlarge and you will see her better behind them on the horizon.

Flat Top

Sally sharing a laugh with Avery. Good thing he liked her, because Noah liked Papa Gary and only Gary. He tolerated Sally because she was with Gary, part of the package. He even went so far as to swat her away a couple of times. The night they left, Gary was holding Noah. Sally put her hand on Gary's shoulder, and Noah pushed it away. Mine!

Brownie Face!

Sally brought the bowl in to share with the boys. Noah got chocolate on his hand so I licked it off. Avery licked the spatula and then smeared his finger in the bowl. Sally licked his finger so the mess would not spread, and now the funniness begins. The next time Sally let Avery lick the spatula, he held up his finger to her. When we finally figured out what he was doing, I thought we would cry we laughed so hard. He wanted his finger licked, cause that's what you do, right? Every time he licked the spatula, he held up his finger to be licked!

We took the boys to the neighborhood park for the afternoon, and Avery found a basketball. (notice his secret service guy)

Talent!

Noah with HIS Papa Gary

Still has his bodyguard

Finally, Gary helped Rich dig post holes. Notice the jackhammer. When you live on a mountain, this is how you dig post holes. They were pulling out rocks the size of my head! But the holes (and fence!) are done. I'll post that later :)

The musk ox farm

When you live in Alaska, you get to do things like take your visitors to the musk ox farm! We have one about 20 miles from our house in Palmer. The oxen are raised for their undercoat, called quivuit (kee-vuu), which is knitted by a co-op of natives. Really cool stuff.

The farm is absolutely gorgeous, mountains on three sides. I think if you really could find Hidden Valley, it would look like this. There is a short "tour" and then you walk out to the field to see the oxen. The great thing was we were in a big fenced in field, with the pens all around. The boys had so much space to run and play.

I never got a good shot of Noah (green hat) because he kept bending down to pick dandelions.

Gary, Sally, and Avery

How awesome is that view?

Stalking the dandelions, you gotta sneak up on them!

These are the musk ox yearlings. Sally told Avery they were dogs, so he kept pointing at them and saying "gog!"

My yearlings :)

What a week!

Wow, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right? Right? I must be stronger this week, because it hasn't killed me yet. On top of the post visitor letdown, we've had some major attitude changes. Let me tell you some things I've learned this week.

1. Teething sucks. Especially the eye teeth. Apparently they are the hardest to get. Avery drools, is cranky, and generally not happy.
2. If I turn my back and Avery gets mad at Noah, he bites. My poor Noah has many.
3. The best place to sit is on Mom's lap, but only if you are the only baby there. If not, push, pinch, scratch and attempt to bite until you are.
4. Despite what I tell them, my lap is evidently NOT big enough for everyone.
5. A 1 1/2 hour nap does crap for improving attitudes!
6. Cribs are good. When everyone is crying, put them in the crib with some toys and walk away.
7.The sun does NOT come out tomorrow. Today was cold and dreary, and was probably the worst day of the week (weather and other wise)
8. Bejeweled is a wonderful, mindless way to ignore crying from said cribs. If you don't know what it is, I'm not telling you, you're better off not knowing.

Pictorial on why I still do this job :)

Outside!

Lisa came over a few weeks ago with Megan (their girlfriend, we'll explain later when they are more verbal that they need one EACH) for a play date. The weather has been so fabulous here that of course we went outside! We have a yard on the west side of the house that is shaded by birch trees and is just perfect. Here, is a pic of the new wagon! Avery was following along solo in the double stroller.


Our neighbors gave us this playhouse/slide that their kids no longer use. I must say I LOVE hand-me-downs. We took off the slide for now, but it doesn't matter to the boys. You can go in and out.

The Three Musketeers on their favorite play place, the concrete pad by the back gate. They'll stay on it for 15 minutes, which is forever in baby time. Notice Avery in his shezz and Noah without them. Definitely a trait he got from his dad.
STICK!

The yard is really coming along, if only we could buy some time to work on it. Rich has bought supplies for a fence, we've marked it off, so soon the boys and I will have a slightly smaller, but fenced play area. I will feel much better about that. Until then, we wagon!

Just Funny!

Who, boy, do these two make me laugh! Here is the full shot of Avery on the floor. For those who didn't hear the story, I told him it was time to go eat breakfast. He laid down on the floor. I told him again we needed to eat. He just laid there like a toy, so I got my camera and took pictures. I don't question, I just photograph.

The toy box, or bok, is an endless source of enjoyment. We've taken off the lid to avoid accidents, and now they want to sit in it all the time. I've also randomly found them in there without my help. It's pretty high for their little legs, especially Noah. That's determination.

Avery likes to wear Dad's visor, and this is what happens when he puts it on by himself.

Yes, I'll confess. I put the monkey there, threaded it through the straps of his overalls. But it's funny!

My slippers...shezz.