Summer wrap-up

I'm happy to report that this summer went a lot better than I anticipated. Having a colicky baby really limits your activities, so as Boyd matured it was wonderful to get out and enjoy Alaska. Of course we (I) didn't do nearly as much as past years, but that's to be expected with a little baby. I was able to fish the Kenai from Centennial in Soldotna, camp on the Russian River and bring in 2 reds, and visit Homer for my birthday. Not too shabby!

We're all pretty bummed that D's parents left town to make the trek back to Minnesota. It was really great to have them in Alaska all summer to spend time with us and Boyd. But they will be back next year for a big event, because...

Risha is getting married! Everyone is pretty excited about the happy event, which is tentatively set for July 5th - but of course that date is not set in stone. She and Gabe have less than a year to plan, but D and I were able to do it and they will too.

Boyd is teething again. Sleep has been awful - waking every 2 hours and staying awake for about 60-90 minutes at night, and taking crazy short 30 minute naps. BUT last night he slept for 9 HOURS straight! I know it's a fluke but the extra sleep for me was a godsend, especially since D is gone for 7-10 days on a hunting trip. Thank goodness my mom is here or else I would go completely bonkers.

Had coffee with some girlfriends this morning and we all managed to be kid-free! Was so nice to see them and catch up.

On to some Boyd pics - the vest is from Grandma Mim and I found the trapper hat on sale. So cute!

Alaska-tough baby

Boyd has two pairs of Carhartt overalls - a necessity for any Alaskan baby. These photos make me giggle. He's pretty adorable.

Sweet dreams & full tummies

Boyd fell asleep the other night in my arms as I read to him. It was so very sweet - and hasn't happened again! I hope he comes to love books and reading as much as I do. At night he still wakes between 1 and 2 times per night, but I only feed him once and take the time to change his diaper. I dread the next round of teething because it will interrupt his sleep once again.

We are continuing with solid food for him - he loved the mashed bananas and has so far made the funniest faces when eating sweet potatoes and pears. Apparently he is not a fan of those! The experts say to keep trying because it can take up to 10 times before a baby "likes" a new flavor.

Here is our kiddo in his highchair. We decided against a traditional one since our dining room space is pretty limited. This works perfectly - it clips on securely to the counter and he can be a part of the action in the kitchen.

Solid food

Boyd tasted his first solids today - bananas, yum! He loved it. Seriously, the kid was grabbing my hand and the spoon for more. He was definitely ready. We can't wait to introduce some other items into his diet. Next will be avocados mixed with a little breast milk.

D had to hold Boyd's arms down so he wouldn't swipe the spoon out of my hand!

Boyd - 6 months

Our baby is 6 months old (as of August 14)! I know D and I aren't perfect parents and we make our share of mistakes, but Boyd seems pretty healthy and quite happy, so we must be doing something right!

Recent milestones:

• Fine motor control - lately he has been digging his thumb into anything he can - mostly my skin! Continuing the hand waving, and putting his thumb and middle together while moving his hands around.
• Grabbing & showing preference for toys.Actually, he is swiping anything within reach - our clothes, my hair, fingers, our food and drinks - you get the picture. He's SO fast and strong too - one moment of inattention and he has grabbed something
• Sitting up longer and sometimes is able to push himself up from a propped position.
• He loves the sound of his own voice and is getting LOUDER. Quite the chatterbox.

I realize that I'm behind on blogging some past out-of-town trips that we've taken...will try to post those soon!

Friday update

I am so happy to report that Boyd has had a couple of really great nights! After going to sleep around 9 p.m., he was able to self-soothe all night until at least 5-6 a.m. Yahoo! He went without a nursing session during the night too (aka night weaning). Going to bed is still a major challenge. Sometime soon we will have to do some major sleep training, which means lots of crying. :-(

Milestones: 

• Reaching out
• Sitting independently
• Possibly starting the teething process again - upper front

My birthday weekend in Homer was a blast and it was so great to spend lots of time with family. Unfortunately D had to work on Saturday so he wasn't able to make the 4-hour drive down. I'll post photos and have a recap shortly.

Privacy

Hi readers -

I'm thinking about making my blog private because of little baby Boyd. It sort of makes me nervous to have so many photos of him in such a public venue.

If you visit my site and want to continue doing so, would you please shoot me a note at my blog email (audryalaska @ gmail.com) to have me put you on the list? Or you can leave your email in the comments section of this posting.

I'm more than happy to share our adventures and accompanying photos, but with people that I actually know and care about.

Thanks!

Boyd - 5 1/2 months

Boyd is 5 1/2 months and I just scheduled his 6-month check-up for August 24th which is 10 days past his 6-month birthday but who's counting. I'm hoping he is able to sit up unassisted and can roll over from front to back by that time. Come on baby!

This morning I noticed he transferred the Sophie teether toy from one hand to the other - a big milestone! He's been showing a raking grasp lately and banging/shaking his toys. More babbling - we have interesting conversations sometimes. :-) He also just started tilting his head to one side and leaning over slightly, like he's looking at something around the corner. It's the funniest thing.

We need to get him additional learning aids. Everything is either a stuffed animal or teething toy. He's learning cause & effect now, i.e. bang on the toy piano, noise comes out!

Boyd news update

Summer always zooms by, but it seems like this one has gone faster than normal. Too much work and not enough play, I guess. Now for your regularly scheduled Boyd update:

• The teething process is continuing. Boyd started sprouting the second bottom tooth shortly after the first one came through - within a week, I think?. We gave him some Children's Tylenol (after I called the 24-hour Nurse Line to double-check the dosage) for a couple nights but it really didn't seem to do much the second night. Lots of drooling, gnawing on everything and general fussiness. Sleep went downhill for 3-4 nights - he wouldn't go down until 10:30 or 11 p.m. Ugh, but it was better Sunday night. He seemed to be in a pretty good yesterday evening (Monday).
• He has begun to make a "bbbbb" sound, which is new, and I think it's because of his new teeth!
• Still fascinated by his hands - has been holding them up and twisting them back and forth.
• His legs are super strong! Stands upright with some assistance. Sits upright but not quite by himself yet. We need to practice that more. This morning as I got ready for work and my mom played with him, he propped himself on his forearms rolled onto his back. I think he was as surprised as we were!
• Although we lay him down to sleep on his back, he invariably finds his way to his tummy sometime in the night and for naps. Although, if he's sleeping somewhere unusual (like on a bed at someone's house) he stays on his back or side. 

Playing around with Grandma Ann and his piano - and his feet!

 

What a goof!

I haven't left town since last fall so it was AWESOME to head out to the Kenai River and meet up with D's parents at Centennial Campground in Soldotna. It was a quick trip - just Saturday night. We left Anchorage at 5 p.m. and Boyd slept for a little over an hour. He was a little fussy after waking but did pretty well during the trip. Putting him down for the night was another story though! Finally slept at 11 p.m., ate at 3 a.m. and up for the day at 7 a.m.

We all had a great time just hanging out and eating lots of good food! Grandma Mim watched Boyd while the rest of us went fishing. D caught 2 and I brought in one red (sockeye salmon) during the space of an hour. We both hooked and lost a couple but that's the fun of fishing. My waders sprung another leak so a new pair may be on the horizon if D isn't able to fix them.

We all overnighted in my in-law's camper, and baby Boyd slept on one of the pull-out beds with me. We barely ever co-sleep so it was a nice change for me. Much easier to nurse like that in the middle of the night!

 

Happy to just hang out with Dad...

 

My birthday is Sunday so EVERYONE (D's parents, mom, Risha, Gabe, me, Boyd & D) are heading to Homer for a long weekend. Wish us luck!

Afternoon in the sun

Last week we saw some beautiful, sunny weather with temperatures in the low 70's, which is HOT for Anchorage. On Friday, D and I sat on the deck before dinner with the munchkin, who was sporting a neat hat that my friend Susie bought for him. I love it because it covers Boyd's sensitive little baby neck and has a wide brim to shield his eyes.

He loves playing around with Daddy! 

Boyd photos

...

First tooth!

Mr. Giggles here has sprouted his first tooth! It's his bottom right and I felt it a couple days ago when he grabbed my finger and shoved it in his mouth. Our boy is hitting all of these milestones and it makes me realize that he won't be a baby forever. Sometimes I get so caught up in the difficulties of day-to-day parenting, and I have to remind myself to slow down to enjoy this adorable little guy.

Other Boyd news:

• He has found his feet and is especially entranced by the left one. Grabs it every chance he gets. Also likes to grab his -ahem- boy parts when the diaper is off.  
• Just discovered he is ticklish under his arms - so funny! He giggles and giggles when we tickle him there. 
• D has been making sure Boyd and Drift spend more time together. Last night I held Boyd next to Drift - he was petting the dog's fur and face, and laughing. Really adorable. Drift seems to like Boyd a little more which is great. 

Don't know if I mentioned this but Drift seemed sick while I was pregnant and then the day Boyd was born the dog took a turn for the worse. Turns out he had prostate problems and then was diagnosed as diabetic! He has since lost his eyesight and is pretty much blind. He has no energy and sleeps all of the time. Poor puppy. So now we give him insulin 2x per day. He has started to gain a little weight back but it's really heartbreaking to see Drift as a shell of what he used to be.

Baby lifejacket

This is mostly just a reminder for myself to purchase a baby/toddler life jacket for Boyd next year before boating season. Just talked with a friend who says an Alaska outdoor expert recommended the Salus brand of PFD's for kids. They're very highly rated and will last more than just one season.

Found one here that should fit Boyd next summer: Salus Marine Wear Nimbus Child Life Flotation Vest (30-60 LB)

Boyd - 5 months

We fall more and more in love with this little goof everyday! By now he is beginning to sit up by himself for very short periods, reaching towards our faces, trying to eat my hair (!) and passing stinky gas like a 50-year old man. Twice now we've fed him rice cereal in a bottle of breastmilk at night to improve night sleeping. We didn't do it last night and he slept just as well (waking at midnight for a feeding, then up at 4 - no feeding - and up for good at 7 am. Definitely an improvement!

5-month photos:

Had a nice weekend with my in-laws. They took a break from their busy fishing schedule to visit with us and Boyd. AND they babysat while D and I had our first away-from-baby date since before Boyd was born! We went to the movies and perused our favorite book store, TitleWave. Pretty exciting stuff for us. :-)

New camo outfit from Uncle Doug!

Never too early to appreciate a cocktail as big as your head.