Fall update

No official snow on the ground as of yet. We had a nice dusting on the second day of autumn, but nothing lately. Wet and windy for a couple of weeks (and unseasonably warm in the 50's) but now the temperature is hovering between a more normal 30-40 degrees.

I finally bit the bullet and upgraded to a new iPhone. I previously had the 4, so my white 5S is a whole three versions newer! So basically it's my first new phone in 3 years. Lots of fun things to play with: Siri, fingerprint scanning, better video and photo capability. However, the photo below is how I received my new iPhone. Apparently FedEx thinks THIS is the appropriate way to ship expensive electronics! I'm just shaking my head over here.

Fall means health fairs. Lots and lots of health fairs. On the weekends. Saturdays AND Sundays. Ugh. But just for a few minutes during each one, I steal upstairs and take in the breathtaking view from the 7th floor where my office is located. It's especially amazing on a clear day.

These particular fairs were for some of the entities that we are preferred providers for, so that meant my mom and D were both invited. And I got to see my baby on one of those mornings! He charmed everyone, as usual - well, when he wasn't fussy. He comes every year so it's neat to see my coworkers react to how much he has changed over time.

D and I are in the process of reorganizing the living room, mainly due to our TV upgrade. We're finally entering the 21st century with a flat panel television, ya'll! I sold our old bulky armoire on Craiglist (to the son of a friend - although I didn't realize it until he showed up) and then picked up a new lower-profile stand on Craigslist for $40. Unfortunately the new stand is too wide for the space, so I widened my search and found a skinnier cabinet at Target. This new setup is really workable now and gives us quite a bit of open space to hang out. I ended up selling the too-big stand for $40 (broke even!) and the old TV went for free. It was a very productive Monday! Now I need to get rid of our big stereo system that used to be in the living room and is now stashed in purgatory (aka my craft room).

Oh hey, what do you think of our new porch? I think it's pretty sweet - D has a really good design sense. This sort of reads mid-century modern to me. He replaced the rotted wood flooring and some of the supports with cedar boards, basically removing almost all of the existing porch. The stairs were already done - a project he worked on a couple years ago. It's hard to tell from this photo, but the roof supports come out at a slight angle to give a little more walking-around space. The panels are painted the same color as our house and give us a little privacy. Our existing roof doesn't quite overhang the whole porch, so D attached clear plastic roofing panels - which also works to let light through while still covering everything. We still need add stairway railing, extend the gutter all the way over, and decorate!

My mom, Boyd and I attended the Korean wedding of a boy I used to tutor during my breaks from college. Holy smokes, that makes me feel old! His wife is super pretty and they make a cute couple. I think my mom said she works at the Korean consulate office here in Anchorage and he is in the Army. Anyhoo, the wedding food was great - all Asian dishes. The cake was delicious! That's kimchi on the left of the cake (spicy fermented cabbage) and duk (rice cakes filled with sweet bean paste) on the right.

My mom has a little crab apple tree in her backyard so this fall we picked most of the apples, divided them up and made crisps and pies. They're tart so the apples make perfect fillings for pastries. YUM. We also end up with a bunch of apples left over from my work health fairs, so there's a lot of baking going on around here in the fall.

Boyd has been a part of two photo shoots so far. Risha and I are friendly with a gal who reports for one of the TV news stations here in town. She is also a photographer on the side and very sweetly agreed to take a few photos of Boyd a month ago. She's pretty busy, so we're still waiting on those pics. And we had a shoot at my workplace 2 weeks ago and needed some kiddos to be a part of the Pediatrics portion, so my mom brought Boyd - and Risha brought the 3 girls she now watches. She ended up finding a new job with a new family - the girls are 11, 8 and 2.

Rainbows pop up more often now. I've seen maybe one a month - that's a lot, right?

Boyd - 20 months

Last Monday (October 7) was Boyd's almost-20 month appointment/well-check. The doc says he looks happy and healthy! He is hovering in the 50th percentile for his height (33 inches), weight (24 pounds, 14.1 ounces) and head circumference. Pretty average.

He received 2 vaccinations plus a flu shot and was pretty upset during the administration of them, but calmed down really quickly and was totally himself a few minutes later. I think it helped that I gave him a couple edible treats post-vaccine. Boyd was charming as usual to the nurses and even showed the doctor the stamps he received earlier at gymnastics.

I mentioned how Boyd only drinks water and whole milk. Apparently that is ok, although if he encounters any constipation it's also ok to give a little juice mixed with water. We also discussed Boyd's mild strawberry intolerance and the ongoing keratosis pilaris (small bumps on the backs of his arms). In addition to the regular eye check, the nurse took a photo of Boyd's eyes to send off for a scan. It came back normal so they'll repeat the test again at age 3. If the results were abnormal, they would have referred us to a pediatric eye doctor.

At age 2, Boyd should be able to string 2 words together. We're not there yet but the doc says it's good that he know say least 20 words now, can understand most of what we say to him, and actively speaks to us. There were a couple questions on the pre-appointment form that I wasn't able to answer yes to - like if he can kick a ball. I realized that we had never even tried that!

• Potty training seems to be taking a step backwards. Boyd isn't as interested in the potty at our house anymore. But he knows that he's not supposed to pee on the carpet, which happened last night in his room after his diaper came off. I heard some "uh oh's" after I turned around and spied a little wet spot on the floor. Sigh.
• It was backwards day at gymnastics a few weeks ago and he did really well. At home I caught him walking backwards down the driveway so it's good to know he's retaining skills from class. He's also started to hang from the bar in class and supporting his own weight (yay!). He's doing so well on the balance beam and will grudgingly take part in some of the back flips and hand stands.
• We are doing quite a bit of reading. He'll want to go through the same book over and over, and will get impatient if we spend too much time on the pages he's not interested in. He will point out characters or pictures, giggle, and turn back to his favorite pages.
• He's been keeping busy with the train table and tracks I purchased secondhand from Craigslist.
• More words! Thank you, backpack, turtle, caribou (boo), bear, fish, baby (bebe). He'll point to himself and say "me" or "Boyd."
• Two weeks ago Boyd and I hit up the museum for the monthly free day. As usual, we spent most of our time at the water table, but he seemed pretty interested in the turtle, "Chomper."
• Items at our house are either "mama" or "dada." D and I both keep our rubber boots near the front door. Boyd will point out D's and say "dada," then say "mama" for mine. 
• Boats (bo) and airplanes (pane) are his favorite. He'll point those out unprompted.
• We're currently working on colors. Red and blue seem the most recognizable right now.
• Sometimes it seems like he understands what the numbers 1 and 2 mean. We're working on it. 
• If you are walking around in bare feet, Boyd will point to them and say UH OH! He seems to think everyone should be wearing shoes and/or socks at all times!
• We had a couple weeks of beautiful fall colors until a wind storm blew threw and dropped all of the leaves on the ground. On a Saturday that I had off from working health fairs, Boyd and I took a 3 mile walk around the neighborhood. We saw a mama moose and 2 calves munching on some tasty trees, which was a cool sight. Every 20 minutes I would check on Boyd and ask him if we should keep going, he would reply with "more!" So we kept walking. :-)

Patiently waiting to be called back to the exam room prior to his 20-month appointment.

We retired the hooded towels and switched over to regular bath towels. He's officially a big boy.

After bath time.

We've changed the living room around in anticipation of our new flat panel tv! We all really like it so far.

Loves his puppy.

And the puppy is VERY PATIENT.

So incredibly sweet. He does this a lot to Drift and to our cat.

Daddy's headlamp actually fits him.

New down jacket from Costco - only $22! The only downside is every other kid in Anchorage has this coat too, ha ha.

Super awesome day for a walk.

Mim, these may be the 3 moose we saw in our backyard this summer!

Fall day at the Zoo

Two Fridays ago I took the day off since my mom had a quick Homer trip planned with her church. I knew that I wanted to get out of the house with Boyd so off to the Zoo we went! The morning dawned clear with no clouds to be seen - it was so nice to see blue skies after weeks of wet, soggy weather.

I love the Zoo in the morning - few crowds and the animals are usually up and walking around. I made sure Boyd was super layered up since it was 37 degrees when we left the house!

This enclosure held 3 deer and 1 turkey. Everyone seemed to get along just fine.

I didn't even give a second thought to bringing a stroller. Boyd is in a stage where he hates being confined for an extended period of time. What usually happens is I end up carrying him in one arm and pushing a stroller with the other. So the stroller stayed home and I coaxed him to walk about 1/2 of the time. My arms were definitely sore the next morning - this kid is heavy!

All three grizzly bears were out and enjoying the sunny day.

Petting zoo was open! Boyd had a granola bar before we went in and the animals kept going after the crumbs on his sleeve. He loved the bunny. The goats stood together and just "mehhhhed" at us. The zoo worker said that they were waiting to get fed.

One of two Siberian tigers.

Watching the tigers

Bathtime is funtime

I'm usually in charge of bath time and bed time. Lately D has been studying an online course he has been asked to do for work, so he gets an hour of work in while Boyd and I clean up before bed. Lately, bath time starts between 7:30 and 7:45 p.m.

The blue tub gets filled up and Boyd jumps in (usually with a minimum of fuss). He has a container full of tub toys and will ask for the "wawa" to be turned on. He gets a quick washdown and then I just let him play for 15 or 20 minutes, depending on his mood.

Afterwards it's out of the tub and I try to wrestle him with the towel. He likes to help smooth out his jammies and then lay down on top of the bath mat. Some days are easier than others!

Most days Boyd assists with rolling up the bath mat and putting things away. He has started to back  himself into the corner and "hide" from me during this process.

Silly!

Then it's time for teeth brushing and kisses for Daddy before bed!

Boyd - 19 months

• I'm relieved to report that Boyd has figured out how to descend the stairs feet first while pushing backwards on his belly. And he'll also plop down on his bottom and scoot that way too.
• Loves to say the word "door" and point to any door in sight. He'll also request to go "up" and "down." We still hear "mama" and "dada" A LOT. "No no" is a funny one to hear from his mouth too. He's definitely adding words to his vocabulary but these are his favorites.
• He had a weird rash on chest that went away within 2 days. I can't figure out whether it was food-related or a contact rash from clothing or lotion.
• His trusty Columbia green fleece coat has been retired and replaced with a 3T black fleece with hood. I'm a little sad to see that jacket go! It's kept Boyd warm through many adventures and made an appearance in more than a few photos. But alas, it's too short and a bit tight now.
• With the new fleece comes a bigger zipper that he'll help me pull up when putting on the coat. 
• He's offering lots of unsolicited kisses (complete with duck lips) and still cocks his head to the side with a smile to say "I love you."
• Mom called me this morning to report that Boyd said "Hi mama." That's a big deal - two words together! 
• I'm wondering if Boyd is ready for some potty training. A few times I have taken off his diaper and then he gets a mischievous grin on his face and starts to pee on the floor. Then he'll point at the wet spot and say UH OH. Like it happened out of thin air and I didn't see him just do it. Toddlers! So I bought a potty and may see what happens. I think he knows what "tee tee" and "poo poo" mean and I figure it won't hurt to experiment with some training.
• Ordered a play kitchen and wooden food/condiments for Boyd's big Christmas present. And he has a train table with tracks that I purchased off of Craigslist for our house. He already has these items at Grandma Ann's house.
• Last week Boyd played outside in sand box while D completed some front yard chores. At that point we had experienced 10 straight days of pouring down rain, so it was more like mud box! At first he was content to sit outside the perimeter but soon climbed inside and was thoroughly soaked and muddy.

Earlier this month at the Anchorage Museum's free day.

Dollhouse at the museum.

Cool new display in the Imaginarium section of the Museum - a kid-sized plane complete with complex instrument panel.

Alaskan Junior Bush Pilot!

I feel like all is right with the world when my baby sleeps!

The gift of a new book, from my boss's daughter.

We visited the Anchorage Library for a kids' reading event. There is a great grassy area and fountain outside.

Mmm, oatmeal and blueberries for breakfast.

I thought I was SO smart by getting to this new playground early in the morning (9:30 a.m.) last Saturday. It was definitely quieter but everything was wet! We have frost at night so the sun didn't have time to melt it by the time we arrived. Lesson learned for mama.

My sweet boy having snackies at his new (to us) table and chairs.

So funny to see Boyd take up the tape measure and hold it up to something for a measurement. Like father, like son!